Clips coming soon!

Me with Gregorio Cazares (Fred Cisneros) and Hector Hernandez at the Fest in NYC.
This is after the second screening of ASH at the Florence Gould Auditorium.

In the spirit of the film's release at the NY festival we will be releasing 3 clips from ASH WEDNESDAY: CAPITULO UNUS.
We will be releasing a different scene each week for 3 weeks.
The first clip released will be on September 3rd.
The next on Sept. 10 and the last one on Sept 17.

After the festival screenings our main goal is to secure distribution for the film.
That goal is getting closer and closer to reality each day. Up to know more than half a dozen distributors have contacted us requesting a screener. AND, we still have the film submitted to other festivals as well, so hopefully we will have more exciting announcements very soon.

We are very excited on releasing these clips!!!!!
The trailer only touches on some of the coolest scenes, but because the trailer is made to be shown on TV and other places where children might be present, we kept it really light.
We figured that the scenes to be posted will be for more mature audiences, and people who have a keen interest in seeing Ash Wednesday, and not just the casual viewer, who might watch the trailer only...

We are seriously pondering which scenes to put, but trust that they will be really cool...!
The clips will be uploaded here on the blog and on our youtube page and our myspace page on the dates listed above!
:-D

Chicote Video (finally)

From Crackle: Echenme A Los Perros (CHICOTE)

The austere nature of this video was made as the ultimate Anti-video or goes against the stereotypical video... jajajaja
Aren't you tired of seeing half-naked women and shaking it for some mediocre performer singing about smoking crack and pimping ho's????
well, I'm not tired of that... jajajaja I don't even watch it...
Mostly because it reminds me that these half-assed "performers" permeate our society with catchy mediocre tunes that don't offer anything intelligent or clever...
I welcome mediocrity with open arms... It makes all of the talented clever artists look good!

Have you ever wondered why the most prolific artists with long-lasting careers are actually still around????

It's because they actually have something to say. Some are pissed, some are happy, some are depressed (the best!!), jajajaja
For example, the Beatles, eminem, bad religion, billy joel, nirvana, the doors...

Nirvana? their lyrics don't even make sense? They struck a chord with their generation because they were pissed and they did their own thing... They didn't follow the norm and people respected that. They could've cared less if they were a hit or not, they had a lot of passion, not ambition.

Also, weren't you tired of buying a CD that only had 1-2 good songs... I hate that... a real artist would dedicate themselves to the entire album and not just create 2 cool songs for the radio and the rest for filler... Bands like Metallica and Queen thrived on having great solid albums, not singles.

Well, let's segue back to Chicote...
Basi (who writes, sings and composes all of the music) is a friend of mine who has been having quite a chunk of success in his musical venture.
He's well known in Mexico, but especially in Monterrey where he lived for quite some time.
His first CD, Historias del Rancho (which includes Echenme A Los Perros, was distributed in Mexico as an EP by EMI Music in late 2006.
The second CD is still in production but will be released maybe by early next year.
Historias del Rancho is also available on the iTunes store in its original full-length album form.

Chicote for you and me...

(1) Cool wide shot on some ancient stones... (2) At the legendary La Bodega Bar, Basi and many of his friends (If you look closely Lic. Tamayao can be seen as well... fueeeeeeeeego...)

(3) Basi, screaming his lungs off... (4) Very cool lady that was having fun shooting the video. AND she does not sell pirated chicote CD's (jeje)

(5) Another nice wide shot (6) Basi with some dudes that were enjoying his music and lyrics...

It's been a while and we've been incredibly busy... Hence the no new postings on the blog...
:-D

We just finished our first music video (tear drop... ) and we will be posting it really soon...
In the meantime, I've posted some pics...

Chicote is a really cool band from Piedras Negras, Coah. (that's one of my hometowns...) and they are on the verge to becoming huge, huge stars...
Their songs not only stick like glue and catchy but have fun, clever and intelligent lyrics to go with everything...
This video for ECHENME A LOS PERROS was made as the antithesis of the stereotypical music video...
We filmed in Piedras Negras on several sites (the market, some deserted terrain, la bodega bar, salsalita's bar, and more)...
The shoot was fun and was shot approx. 3 months ago...
Since a lot of things have been going here at DWS, we finally got around to finish CHICOTE's video and we are very proud for it to be our first...
Thanks to everyone who helped make this video possible.
Paco and I produced the video, and was shot with 2 cameras documentary style.
For more info on chicote, here's the links:
www.chicote.com.mx
www.myspace.com/chicote2005

ALSO, we have just completed a video for the City of San Antonio's Public Works Dept. in association with APWA (I don't know what that means, but it's like the national conference for public works depts....)...
The video is a demonstration on how the city recycled old pavement to make a new street...
It is a new technology that will hopefully help the environment, and save time and $$ nationwide, so we were very proud to be a part that...


This is the cover of Patricia's new CD out September 25th.

AND last but not least we are in production of our second music video, and this time it is for another of our favorite artists PATRICIA VONNE.
Her new song MISSING WOMEN which will be included in her new CD Firebird, and can be heard at the Amnesty USA website, talks about the sad issue that has been foreshadowing Ciudad Juarez for over a decade, and that is the kidnapping and slaughtering of woman.

Her new CD and video will be released in the US and in the UK, and apparently she has been having a lot of success across Europe, where she constantly tours...
Her stuff is on her website:
www.patriciavonne.com
Expect her video anytime really soon...!!!

HAPPY B-DAY to PACO

Happy B-day to one of the producer's of AW:CU...
The Pax-Man... Long distant cousin to Bill Paxton and Bill Richardson...
jajajajaja

NYC Film Fest!

(1) Me and Fred Cisneros (Gregorio Cazares) (2) Me, Calixto Chinchilla & Liz Gardner (Founders/Executive Directors of the Festival), (3) Me& Gaby at the End of Fest Reception in Times Square.


(1) Beatiful view of Manhattan (2) End of Fest After Party (3) Me and Vic at Peter Dillon's


(1) Another cool pic of NY, (2) Vic, Alonso and me at the NY Public Library, (3) Producer Roger D.L.S. with... Roger? jajajajaja


(1) Roger, Vic, Alonso & Paco, (2) Roger, Me, Alonso and Paco (Both pics are from the HBO building at a cool reception after a screening of a documentary called "Recycled Life".


(1) Pax & Pax, (2) No iPod, No Problem! Barco putting on the tunes at Peter Dillon's, (3) Dama and Alonso Wheeler in NYC.

We are back from the BIG APPLE...
Man was that a trip!
We stayed from July 25 until the 30th, and it was a hell of a lot of fun...
Digital Work Studios was in full force and we did our share at seeing films at the New York International Latino Film Festival, as well as visiting the landmarks and the bars around Manhattan...
Our first screening (July 26 at 10:30pm) was not what we expected, as the attendance was low... HOWEVER, some industry people showed up, and liked the movie... so we'll see what happens with that... ;-)
Our 2nd screening (July 28 at 6:15pm) went a LOT better, people were gasping and yelling obscenities at the screen rooting for our heroes and bashing our villans... People who attended told us that you could feel the tension while watching the movie...
I witnessed a lady walk out, and she told the people at front and I quote: "If you want to watch a movie about drugs, rape and torture, go and see Ash Wednesday... It was too much for me..."
What a quote! jajajajaj Although not a positive reaction, but a reaction nonetheless... we already know that this film is not for everyone... you will either LIKE IT (a lot) or HATE IT!... there's no middle ground here... jajajajajajajaja

More industry folks attended the 2nd screening, and liked the film... some audience members even recognized Gregorio Cazares, and snapped up a picture with him...
Dama (who also attended the event) told me that someone told her that they thought that Dama was a real person, and wouldn't think it was an actress... JAJAJAJAJA... she got a kick out of that... she also explained her character to some audience members...

Above everything else the organizers of this festival clearly love movies, and is rooting for the independent, while still getting top-notch sponsors to help us indies find an audience for our movies... We all had a BLAST and I really would like to attend next year's fest, even if we don't have a film in the fest...

Calixto, the festival's founder and leader told me that they LOVED Ash Wednesday, and was really proud to have it at his festival...

There are a sh**load of more pictures that everyone else took, so more pics will be posted soon!

Special thanks to the festival, its organizers, members and volunteers and to the NY people that attended the screening, BUT special, special thanks to our friends who made the pilgrimage to New York in support of ASH:
(in no particular order)
-Chicken Rodriguez, Megan
-Gaby and Ricky M.
-Barbara Del Rio (Dama)
-Susana and Juanita Hernandez
-Adrian, Roger, Paco
-Victor Wheeler
-My Mom and my sistas' Luana and Diana
-Fred Cisneros (Gregorio Cazares)
-Hector Hernandez
-Sonia De Los Santos
-Julio Valdes

I love NY!
Here's a PARTIAL list of my favorite NY movies:

• Scent of a woman
• Ghostbusters
• Devil's advocate
• Unbreakable
• Night at the museum
• Die hard with a vengeance
• Hudson Hawk
• World trade center
• Sidewalks of New York
• Taxi Driver
• The Godfather I and II
  
• BIG
• Saturday Night Fever
• The Professional
• and much, much, more... Post a comment with your faves!