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Guam Feature
Film Project
In Development
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I Fuetsan I Tao Tao (Strength of the
People) is a coming of age story about a wayward and rebellious
'Chamaole' (mixed) youth who finds connection and empowerment by embracing
his Chamorro (indigenous Pacific Islander) heritage.
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The
film is the second independent feature project, and third dramatic film
from writer/director Alex Muñoz, a Los Angeles-based filmmaker of Chamorro
descent. His other works include Riot for Showtime, and Living
the Life, a $2.5 million indie film which won best domestic film at New
York Latino Film Festival. He is fresh off of his big win of Best Documentary
for Lil Skrappy Boy at Urban World Film Festival in New York.
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We invite Chamorro
artists to design art
for future newsletters!
Please send artwork to guamfeaturefilm@gmail.com Artwork will appear in this
portion of the newsletter and we will feature a mini profile on each
artist.
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We encourage further forwarding and distribution of this
email newsletter.
Dear Family, Community and
Friends:
Hafa Adai! We are excited to send you the first official Guam Mixed Martial
Arts Feature Film newsletter. You will be receiving bimonthly newsletters
to update you on the progress of the film.
Chamorro writer/director Alex Muñoz just recently wrapped two major time-consuming projects.
He is now focusing on completing the script. We are ramping up.
Currently, preliminary casting
is taking place on Guam. Cory Caso, Burt Sardoma, Jr. and Ben Salas
have done a fantastic job identifying talent for the main roles of the
film.
While Alex focuses on completing the script, please hold off on questions
and inquiries. The first draft is expected to be completed by August
1.
Alex is expected to be on Guam in August or September to continue with
preliminary casting and shoot a trailer for the film.
TIMELINE
Making a movie is like climbing
a mountain. It’s a massive undertaking requiring money, manpower,
organization and intense focus.
The timetable for an independent feature film is always fluid since each
phase of production depends on the previous phase being completed.
Financing depends mainly on having a solid script; production depends on
funds being in place to shoot and edit the film.
Development is often the slowest and most- frustrating phase of production
because raising money to shoot a feature film is difficult and challenging.
Making movies is a risky endeavor and investors want to be reasonably
confident they’ll see a return on their money. Again, the key element
is a strong script, and we promise to deliver.
At this stage, our goal is to complete the script this summer and move into
the serious business of raising money.
2008
Summer: Script completed
Fall-Winter: Obtain production financing/begin official pre-production
2009
Fall: Production/Post production
Distribution and international premiere
GUAM
PROJECTS
MUD: Should’ve Known
Check out the music video from
this band from Guam at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v =2hVhp1OqkfQ
Under the American Sun:
A documentary about the epic migration of Filipino workers to Guam after
World War II. Alex Muñoz completed a short promotional trailer for the
project with producer Bernadette Provido Schumann. Burt Sardoma will direct
the feature length version of the documentary. Visit their website at http://www.camproxas.com/
Matto Saina-Ta As Hurao/The
Return of the Elder Hurao
A short experimental film brings to life the spirit of the ancient Chamorro
chief Hurao through chant, dance and performance.
This acclaimed short film screened at festivals around the world including:
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Native Film
& Video Festival at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American
Indian
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University
of Hawaii, in conjunction with National Geographic All Roads Film Festival
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Hurao was
the first international selection of the Pollywood Film Festival in New
Zealand, where it screened around the country with other short Pacific
films.
Prutehi Hao
- Protect Yourself
A group of Department of Youth Affairs youth on
Guam created a fun video about safer sex and HIV/AIDS prevention. The video
is streaming online at the Prutehi Hao website, a project of the Guam
Department of Public Health and Social Services’ STD/HIV Prevention
Program. View the video at http://www.prutehihao.org
Who Took The Kelaguen?
A short comedy created by the
youth at Department of Youth Affairs through a Films
for Youth film workshop and supported by the Guahan Project.
Screen Writing Workshop
Alex will offer a screen writing
workshop during his next visit to Guam. Dates to be announced.
New Music Video
A
new music video is being shot for PC Munoz's new single "Family
Matters" in August in San Francisco.
NEWS
Alex is currently completing the
first draft of the screenplay for I Fuetsan
I Tao Tao, which will be finished by August 1.
The script then goes through a series of revisions. Working with expert
writers, mentors, advisors and technical consultants, Alex will fine tune
the script to complete a final draft, which is then broken down to create a
budget and production schedule.
This script was selected for development at the Sundance Institute Writer's
Lab, which provides backing and support throughout funding, production and
distribution.
Meanwhile, the team has been working on casting to find the main actors, including
the teenage lead and mixed martial arts fighters to play his rivals and
opponents.
ADDITIONAL
INFO
• Casting in Los Angeles in
October.
• Alex is stepping down as
director of the Camp Roxas documentary, Under the American Sun. Burt
Sardoma will take over but Alex will stay on as supervising producer/
director.
• Interns needed on Guam and in
Los Angeles.
• Check our myspace site for updates at www.myspace.com/guamsfirstfeature
• Alex will officially be
relocating to Guam as soon as funding is in place for the film.
Keep a look out for our next newsletter which will include
more info on Project Workforce.
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Director Bio
Alex Muñoz
Alex C. Muñoz is an inventive
Chamorro writer/director whose work explores the inevitable collisions
between cultures in the modern global environment and advocates for social
change. Muñoz’s films are edgy and stylish, while humanizing
marginalized populations and giving voice to the disaffected—Latino kids
loot stores in Riot, Showtime’s 1997 anthology of the Los Angeles “Rodney
King” riots; gang girls implode in the feature drama, Living the Life; the short film Dilemma dissects racial tensions at a Los Angeles area juvenile
detention camp. Muñoz received his master’s degree in fine arts at University
of Southern California’s School of Film and Television, where he began
directing music videos and commercials, notably with John Leguizamo as Miss
Liberty for MTV’s Rock
the Vote and an MCI spot featuring
Dennis Miller. Por
Vida, Muñoz’s first short feature,
premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. His debut feature film, Living the Life, starring Jay Hernandez, was released in 2004 and was
honored at the New York Latino Film Festival as that year’s Best
Domestic Feature Film. Muñoz is founder and creative director of FYI:
Films by Youth Inside, a revolutionary program that teaches filmmaking to
youth incarcerated in probation camps. Based on his experiences working in
the camps, Muñoz wrote and directed Dilemma,
a short film starring several of his FYI graduates. Dilemma premiered in New York at the Urban World Vibe Film
Festival and had its European premiere at the Torino Film Festival in
2006. Muñoz is now turning the lens to his Pacific roots. The Return of our Elder Hurao is a
short impressionistic film about a Chamorro chief who resisted Spanish
conquest. Working with at- risk youth in Guam, Alex produced Prutehei Hao, a safe sex video for Pacific youth. He is currently
writing a feature film, I
Fuetsan I Tao Tao, to be shot in Guam and
California. He is currently in pre-production on a feature-length
documentary film focusing on a group of Chamorros who are constructing an
ancient Chamorro sea faring vessel, the flying proa. Muñoz was just
awarded the Best Short Documentary Film at the Urban World Vibe Film
Festival in New York. Munoz is a Sundance Fellow, and a Rockefeller
Foundation and USA Artists Foundation nominee. He is currently in
production on Camp Roxas: Under the
American Sun. A documentary film focusing on the epic migration
of Ilonggos to Guam during the post World War II era. Visit his site
at www.myspace.com/alexcmunoz.com
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Team
Bios
Karin Williams - Producer
Karin Williams, an independent
documentary producer of Pacific Islander heritage, is currently based in
Los Angeles. She is known for her passionate work championing
indigenous cultures and social issues. Karin’s projects have screened on
national PBS and at film festivals across the USA and the Pacific. Honors
include five local Emmys and the Peabody for television production.
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Cory
Caso
Cory Caso (aka "Johnny")
is a Guam-based filmmaker. Cory worked with Alex Muñoz on Films for
Youth Inside productions, Talking House music videos, and Who Took the Kelaguen? with youth at Department of Youth Affairs on Guam. In
addition, Cory worked on the Under
the American Sun documentary about Camp Roxas. Cory is helping to
authenticate language/slang and mixed martial arts terminology in the
script. In addition, he is helping with the casting.
Bernie Provido Schumann
Bernadette Provido Schumann,
producer, is a professional public health advocate who utilizes the
creative power of film to showcase the uniqueness of Guam and Pacific
Islander communities. She is currently working on a 60-minute documentary
film project on Camp Roxas, Under The
American Sun. The film tells the story of the historical
migration of Filipino skilled and unskilled laborers from Iloilo, Philippines
who arrived on Guam in 1946 to rebuild the island soon after World War II.
The daughter of Ilonggo migrant
workers, Schumann began her career in public service with the Guam
Department of Public Health and Social Services. Her professional
experience includes collaboration with the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control, Office of Minority Health, the Secretariat of the Pacific
Community and the World Health Organization. She co-produced Prutehi Hao (Protect Yourself), an
HIV prevention youth video, and Matto
Saina-Ta As Hurao (The Return of the Elder), a short film about an
ancient Chamorro chief. She also served as the site location coordinator
for the documentary, Out In Silence,
a fear of disclosure project. Schumann is the co-founder for the
Rotary Club of Guam Sunrise Films For Youth, a program which engages
at-risk youth in the film making process. She also is a member of the
Rotary Club of Guam Sunrise and board member for the Pay-Less Supermarkets
Community Foundation. Schumann earned a bachelor's degree in nursing
from St. Louis University, St. Louis, Mo., and a master's degree in public
administration from the University of Guam. She is also an avid
runner competing in short- to long-distance events.
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Ben Salas
Vicente Salas, most call
me "Ben." Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, raised in Saipan,
Northern Marianas Islands. Guam holds a special place in my
heart due to the fact that I spent many years as a child here
and my mother is Guamanian. I'm married and a father of
two. I'm a graduate of the Northern Marianas College's
Audio/Visual Production program and have worked on a multitude of
local productions from Saipan Cell/Guam Cell Communications commercials to
a handful of short films entitled Fish
Out of Water, The Churchgoer and Dandan,
Saipan. I have professional experience in Audio/Visual Production and Post-Production editing/cutting
but still consider myself a student of the craft and desire
further knowledge and experience. Industry vets I have worked with
include Foley artists Butch and Les Wolf, Greg Curda and
actor-director Dan Shor with whom I still maintain close contact.
I can say with all due humility but total
confidence that I am the biggest mixed martial arts super fan and
enthusiast in the universe. I may not be a pro-fighter myself but I
know the workings of the sport inside and out and am friends with many pros
and sources. If mixed martial arts were a woman, I would be
married to her eternally (but you'd better not tell my wife that). I
am also the mixed martial arts journalist for MP Magazine, a
Titan Media Group publication.
My other plasma
abilities and mutant superpowers include creative writing/scripting,
scoring tracks with Garage Band and Soundtrack, hip hop free styling,
spoken word poetry, acting and consistently keeping my wasabi to soy
sauce ratio at 20:2. Seriously. My most-recent work
of film was State of
Liberty, a TV-pilot/experimental piece with Dan Shor in which
I did writing, shooting, scoring, camera work and acting. It was
shot entirely on location in Saipan with an all-resident cast and crew and
zero budget . . . well no, the HD camera and
lunches paid for by Dan was the budget.
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Burt Sardoma, Jr.
Burt Sardoma, Jr., started his
career in television production more than ten years ago. Over the course of
this time, Burt gained invaluable experience as an editor, cameraman and
lighting technician while working on numerous projects on Guam. Other
experience included work as a grip and production assistant for Fast
Forward Productions for Discovery Channel, 1998 on Storm Warning, a recreation of Typhoon Paka devastating the
island. He is the director for the Camp Roxas Film Project, Under the American Sun, working
under Alex C. Muñoz, supervising
director/ producer for the film project. Seven years ago, Burt teamed
up with other talented videographers and started his own production
company, Videoworks. In the four years since their opening, Burt has landed
projects involving large local companies including the Bank of Guam, DFS,
Louis Vuitton, Citibank, Guam Humanities Council’s guampedia.com website
and a public service announcement on Drunk Driving funded by the Office of
Highway Safety. Videoworks recently expanded its marketing capacity and
added years of valuable and proven service in research and public relations
work for the Government of Guam as well as the launch of numerous products
for private sector companies throughout Guam and the CNMI. He has gained
exceptional experience working as the cameraman with Los Angeles-based director
Alex Muñoz and the island's youth on a film production team. With director
Alex Muñoz, in conjunction with the island's youth, Burt worked on
three short films which included Prutehi
Hao (Protect Yourself), an HIV/AIDS 15-minute video, Matto Saina-Ta As Hurao, a 60-second
film spot, and recently, Who Took My
Kelaguen? In addition, he served as a video and editing
instructor for Guam Community College. Burt attended the Independent Producer's
Academy beginning and advanced workshops sponsored by Pacific Islanders in
Communications.
Vicente P. Diaz aka "Cotch"
Now residing in San Diego, California, 28-year-old
self-employed male graphic artist Cotch designs for Undisputed, a mixed
martial arts and fitness gym. The photographer for San Diego's own
mixed martial arts entertainment production. With two others, he
started a clothing company which retails on Guam. Lastly, he designs
for Fokai (a Guam-based company) with a California store front in San
Diego. He also helps cultivate the culture of Guam by assisting with
graphic work for upcoming feature film I Fuetsan I Tao Tao, written
and directed by Alex Muñoz.
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Jaymee Carvajal
A film producer/editor based in San Diego, Jaymee will be
assisting in editing content for the website.
Daniel Sanchez
Daniel is an up-and-coming young
Chamorro filmmaker. Discovered during a Films for Youth workshop on
Guam, Daniel worked on the Prutehi Hao video, Matto Saina-Ta As Hurao video, and was recently hired to work
on the set of the Under the American Sun documentary about Camp
Roxas. Daniel was the proud recipient of the first Films for Youth scholarship
sponsored by the Guam Rotary Club: Sunrise Chapter.
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