The beginning

FINALLY, FINALLY we can say with comfort that our brand new movie has gotten some wings and is beggining to prepare for take-off...

Due to contract negotiations, we won't be able to spill the beans on what this THIRD Digital Work Studios movie is to be about, but what I can say is that yesterday Tuesday November 18, 2008 an important group of human beings (including ourselves, obviously) got together, and these human beings committed to move forward with our next project that has been brewing in our minds for quite some time now.

Thanks to everyone that has helped us along the way.

We are all super-duper excited, and we honestly cannot wait to see this film...
We are very humbled to have been chosen to make this... and I can't believe it. I can't believe it.

Once everything is in place, negotiations are final, and in order I will be more detailed, but in the meantime I am going to savor this moment. :)

Also we don't expect to start filming anytime soon, we hope to begin filming somewhere around Fall 2009.

Great strides

The waiting is killing me...
but we are working very hard behind the scenes, in what is to be a very challenging project...
The process is has been painfully slow, but if everything goes well... We would be starting pre-production by January 2009...
Aaaaggggghhhh!!!

Hopefully we will have a very active blog starting in January, or hopefully sooner...
:)

The Passing of a Giant

My Grandpa Juan Manuel Wheeler and I. (2000)
_______________________________________

On Tuesday, September 16 my grandpa Juan Manuel Wheeler passed away.
He was bigger than life in many ways, and he lived life to the fullest AND had a huge impact in all of our lives.
He was a poor kid from Mexico who became a giant in his field and in the region of Coahuila and Texas, he started as a radio personality and later he created a TV station on which he was the owner and the main anchor for the news.
This was the most trusted man, way before the internet, and when TV ruled the world.
He was my hero.
He cursed worse than a sailor, and his daily mission was to make everyone around him laugh.
He wore very cleancut suits with a crazy tie and had a huge mustache. His pride was his voice and his voice was his life.
His voice was very commanding and deep, and when broadcasting he sounded like a Mexican version of Walter Cronkite.
Naturally, he had a way with words.
As a kid he never finished elementary school, he had to work to support his Mom and the rest of the family.
He taught me many lessons that I will never forget. He was always there for me and he inadvertently did things that changed my life forever.
He was a great mentor and a great friend.

You were a fighter, and even though it hurts losing you, I still laugh at all the insane things that you did every day.

That's all I could write.

I Love you.

the update

I haven't updated the blog for a while now...
I try to keep focused that this blog be dedicated to our films, and since we haven't started preproduction on our third film, well, that leaves the blog pretty much with zero updates.

Oh and Ash Wednesday: Capitulo Unus? Release date?
Well our soon to be ex-distributor, or our never-was distributor postponed the signing and obviously the release date, so we are back at square one on the distribution side...

I know. It is as bad as it sounds. jajajaja

However, as usual, one door closes and many open... we are already in talks with various distributors that are interested. So I'll make sure and post something as soon as it happens...

And also, on our third film... we are in the midst of something really cool, exciting and very inspirational... so stay tuned.
After everything gets into place we should have a very active blog even before pre-production starts... yeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaahhhhh
:)

"Step up to recreation!" commercials

______________________________
Apart from movies, I have to make a living and what better way to make a living on doing video productions for television...
We recently finished shooting some really cool commercials for a "Get fit" campaign for the City of San Antonio.
Thanks to our good friend Jody Garcia and everyone at Parks and Recreation for their help and their trust!
You can see the commercials here:
http://www.sanantonio.gov/sapar/stepuptorecreation.asp

:)

Hector's Surgery

Our good friend Hector Hernandez is having surgery on his back (OUCH!)
He actually emailed me and told me he was going to be "carved up like a turkey!"
He's funny... like funny ja ja...
Good luck HH...
May the force be with you!

Where I am and where to go...

To be conformed is to be dead.
:)
jajajaja
I woke up today with a complete sense of nonconformity... almost disturbing....
I am not conformed with what I am doing... and it is frustrating and liberating.
I must say that I do feel very accomplished. We've done better than what I expected...
After we finished our second movie (ASH WEDNESDAY), it was very draining and left us quite satisfied with the results...
HOWEVER since finishing we've been focusing on our other dreams... For myself, I am now focusing on my family and I've been studying and learning music... AND I am making dinero by selling my work to do commercials, TV shows, presentations, etc...
I am very good at what I do, however there comes a point when it's not challenging anymore...
And I felt that way 3 years ago before doing ASH, and now I feel it again...

However our next project is going to need a lot of attention and that's why we've been patient. We've been training. And when the time comes, we'll be prepared.

Our next project is about someone who inspired Paco and myself a lot. This particular person showed us that you can do anything NO MATTER WHAT.

That is where our focus will be.
To be continued...

PS: One of my greatest inspirations, George Carlin, died this week... This man meant a lot to me, and he too showed me that anything is possible, that your path is malleable, and how you can bend it anyway you want... He was a rebel and one of the best entertainers with lots of substance... I will miss him very much... :(

FYI: Goerge Carlin was more successful in his "golden" years than he ever was in his youth...
To make a long story short, he, at one time owed the IRS thousands of $$$$... He had 2 choices. Work hard and straighten up or go to jail. Fortunately for us... he worked hard, and gave us some incredible performances... I saw him once in Las Vegas (where he sat there reading and testing his routines), and once in San Antonio... :)

Kid Barrio

YAY!
I just finished (yesterday) the new video (this is my 3rd music video) for our friend el Basi (stagename L BASI)
He's going as a soloist with this new song KID BARRIO...
The video kicks ass! IMHO jajajajaja
This song has hit the charts in Mexico City and is in heavy rotation at Reactor.
If you haven't heard it, skip on over to L Basi's site now! (and click on Kid Barrio)
We shot at the beginning of June so it was sooooo f***ing HOT!!!!
Thanks to everyone that came out...
El rik, Gera "el Bombon", Barbara, etc, etc.....
I loooooove this song, and hopefully we made justice to the song!

In the works at DWS

As of today, we still don't have a release date for Ash Wednesday, HOWEVER something really cool is brewing in our factory...
I am so excited.
The downside is that this upcoming project will take a while to pre-produce, and will probably start filming until spring 2009... It's kind of a complicated process....
In the meantime I am learning the art of music.
Music has always been important to us, but we never had the time or the dinero to forge on...
so we decided to start learning music and instruments... I bought some drums and I am learning my son's guitar... jajajaja
I am also investing in a serious midi-keyboard setup to compose orchestrated music for movies... etc....
And apart from freelancing for $$$$ we are tirelessly working on our very passionate next feature...
We will be posting some really exciting new stuff in the coming months so stay tuned...
:^D

post from a post...

This is a blog post from our friend Alex Probst (who designed a bunch of stuff from Ash), but he posts the reflexions of another close friend Mario Aldrete (came out in EL ESCAPE, jajajaja)
and here it is:
http://alexprobst.blogspot.com/2008/04/just-another-note-on-how-skateboarding.html

In the meantime...

We will be a little busy preparing our new movie, which will take a WHILE...
and we mean a while.... jajajaja
so, I will probably not be posting for a bit... HOWEVER I will be posting updates on ASH, and other minor stuff...
Our next project will involve a ton of pre-production, and is very ambitious and scary (but not in a horror movie sense, just in the sheer magnitude of the whole thing...), but we're up for the challenge, and we are very excited...

In the meantime:


:)

Into the Unknown

Yesterday I FINALLY signed the contract that will put Ash Wednesday: Capitulo Unus in front of consumers worldwide...

After several YEARS (since 2006, OUCH! jajajajaj)...
...seems like yesterday, several of us quit our jobs, we worked hard and had tons of fun making ASH, and finally the final step of getting this film seen has finally arrived...

As soon as we're given a release date, you'll be the first to know (blog readers :)...

So NOW WHAT??!??

jajajajaj well that is by far the most frequently asked question and the answer is... as far as our next project, expect something much better than Capitulo Unus. Even though we are extremely proud of the film, one learns through experience... and so our natural evolution will lead us to something really cool.

I have begun to write and there's a lot of things going on, but it looks like it would be something a little different than ASH (for now)...

OK, also I must add that ASH and EL ESCAPE both have myspace pages!

ASH myspace

EL ESCAPE DE LOS SANTOS myspace

Thanks for all your support, we hope you rent or buy ASH WEDNESDAY: CAPITULO UNUS!

Salud.

The indie film movement

This is yet another non-requested opinion, and this time I am going to rant about the independent film movement...

The Oscars gave an interesting insight and while the media keeps pounding on how boring it was because nobody has even seen the films that were up for awards.

The only film that made more than 100 million

dollars was the indie hit JUNO. Juno also won Best Picture at the independent spirit awards (where Chris Eska's August Evening won the John Cassavetes Award. Much congrats to his team!)

The others made less than $65 million (in theatres).

What's interesting is that these meaningful movies that are quite unique and thought-provoking get shunned by the public but shine at all the award shows.

The truly sad part is that the big studios are making these movies only as side projects, and when they make them, they make them with a very modest budget compared to the big blockbusters.

I guess that's the independent filmmakers job. Our job is to illuminate the world to our truly unique vision and perspective.

Our passion for telling a story is almost tangible. We don't see it as a job, we see it as our duty.

I truly salute everyone that is pushing the limits...

As we set to the task of delving into our next not-yet-named-feature, we are all incredibly excited about the whole independent movement.

Some movies are fun, but there are others that are unforgettable...

:-)

Opinion: The future of distribution

HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray
What is to be the future format for watching movies?

As I'm sure you must have not heard by now... The HD war is over, and the winner is Blu-Ray!

Hmmm the bad thing is nobody cared...

And that got me thinking into the future for distribution, obviously being an independent filmmaker I'm affected by this.

Well let's quickly talk about the past and the present state of distributing feature films.

Ever since its introduction the feature film has been enjoyed the most at a movie theatre. It is easy to get sucked into a great story told by a huge screen and loud speakers...

A movie could last months or even years in theatres... No one could take the movies home, so it was natural that movies would last for months in theatres...

Later on with the advent of Home Video (VHS) Hollywood became very nervous of this newfound technology. They thought people would never go to the movies again.

Video rental stores devoured the film business, but later found out people still went to see the latest movies... And that was only because for a movie to come out on VHS, you would have to wait more than 8 months to even a year until it came out for rental (and forget about buying a film, since it would cost 80 to 100 dollars to purchase a VHS copy!)

DVD came along and shook the film business again, only this time it was for the better, economically at least.

Almost 80% of Hollywood's profits are from DVD's today. For a big budget movie that is only going to stay at the local theatre for two months (at the most) it will barely break even... After the 2 months they would release the film on DVD and really rake in the profits.

You see DVD's are cheap to produce and now people could buy their favorite film on high quality AND receive bonus features for a super low bargain prices (there are DVD's at the dollar store!!!).

So everyone wins...

So along comes Blu-Ray HD, and is promising to replace the DVD... Don't get me wrong, the quality is jawdropping, but I am not paying 30-40 bucks for quality...

I honestly think that Blu-Ray is not competing against HD-DVD, it's real competitor will be online download video rentals and purchase sites... (iTunes, Jaman, are great examples)

With the advent of high-quality screens on phones such as the iPhone, the new nokia phones, and other smartphones this will also be an important factor in the consumption of media...

These next 2 years will be very interesting to see where everything is going...

Staying Independent

It is very exciting to see this as an independent filmmaker because of the wealth of opportunities this creates.

I can't wait for the revolution...

_____________________________________

References:
http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/16/toshiba-pulling-the-plug-on-hd-dvd-already/

http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/15/wal-mart-to-officially-discontinue-hd-dvd-sales-by-june/

Hector's Dad passes away (Updated)

Hector Hernandez's Dad passed away yesterday afternoon.
We are deeply saddened and it is in these times when I am at lost with words.

But please let's show Hector, Jaqueline and his family know that they are not alone, in this difficult time.

You can post your support here in the comments, or you can send him a personal note at this email hh @ digitalworkstudios dot com.

Update:

Beloved husband, father, and grandfather, Elisandro P. Hernandez, age 71, passed peacefully from this life into the presence of God on Wednesday, February 6, 2008. He was surrounded by those who loved him. Chano leaves a legacy of hard work and dedication to his family. He is survived by his wife of 41 years, Cruz C. Hernandez; children, Henry (Diane), Greg (Adriana), Hector (Jacqueline), Javier (Angelica), Jaime (Sarah), and Imelda; 9 grandchildren: Ashley & Saul, Jacqueline & Jeniffer, Diego & Sofia, Armando & Mario, and Gilbert; numerous other family members and a host of friends. The family would like to express its deepest appreciation to all those who kept the family in prayer.

Visitation will be held at Castillo Funeral Home on Sunday, Feb. 10^th at 10:00 am to 7:00 pm with a Rosary recital to follow. Mass will be held on Monday, 10:00 a.m. followed by a gravesite service at San Fernando Cemetery #2.

Happy Ash Wednesday!

Well today is Ash Wednesday. jajajaja

I guess today would be a great day to let everyone know the details about the distribution of Capitulo Unus and of our future.

Well, Ash will be distributed by Laguna Productions and they will be our main distributors in the United States and would be our intermediary for the rest of the world... We are working on distributing to the rest of the galaxy, but it doesn't seem this is going to happen anytime soon...

Until then, the plan would include distributing the film, starting with the U.S. on pay-per-view/video on demand, etc... And later on to follow with a full release to DVD and would be available to retailers everywhere.

We had several options in distributing Capitulo Unus, and Laguna, apart from giving us a great deal, we liked the way they work the DVD market.

They focus primarily on the Hispanic market, but are really strong and cemented in the retailers that matter (including WalMart, Best buy, Blockbuster, among others)

As of now we don't have a release date, but of course we will post it here first! ALSO, thanks to everyone for the amazing amount of support.

ALSO, on the "future project", let's just say that it is in the works. jajajaja

What I CAN say is that we have to grow out of our comfort zone. We have done the best we could with very, very... very limited resources.

Now it's time for the next step.

:)

Oh the media machine...

_______________________________________________

This is from the MovieMaker winter 2007 edition. The mag is still out there in bookstores (I guess until the new spring edition comes out !?!) It is circulated worldwide.

It's been a while, we've been quite busy, on some uninteresting projects (that's code for "not-movie-related") jajaja
I was featured in MovieMaker magazine, last year, but I didn't get a chance to pick it up, until this weekend...
So here it is...
You can download the article as a PDF here.
It's an article about how cool San Antonio is, and how it shines in our movies...
We filmed several scenes for Ash Wednesday: Capitulo Unus, but the one that stands out is a scene we shot in Di Galvan's house, where she lies dead on the floor, it's a 3-4 second flashback scene, but the surroundings are really cool, very representative of San Antonio...
Her house was even shown on HGTV as part of a national TV show highlighting homes in South Texas...

So finally, when can everyone get a copy of Ash? When will it be released, etc.???
All I can say is soon. Very, very soon!

We'll post all of the details as soon as everything is finalized and ready to go...
:-D

State of affairs, state of mind (currently)

What the hell are we after?
success? the american dream? a car? $$$$? a house?
to each his own, and I of course do not speak for every person who is part of the digital work studios project(s), but truly there comes a time when consequences have to be accepted and just work your way out of a hole.

I dug myself (personally) into a huge hole.
We finished Ash Wednesday: Capitulo Unus in late January of 2007, and from there on, I have spent a lot of my personal earnings on that film that took close to a year to make.
In 2007, we spent it trying to find Ash Wednesday a distributor, and get our career going with part 2 of Ash...
Well, we went to live in L.A. and then we went to the film festival in NY, and while I was focusing all of our efforts, there was no income being generated... Not that I was blinded by the movie, but I knew that the opportunities that were coming, I HAD TO TAKE THEM...

So it was a risk. A risk that at the end doesn't even look right.
It's blurry.
Why? Was Ash Wednesday, the launching pad, that we would expect it would be?
Well, YES and NO.
Ash was not accepted into the major festivals and it didn't get the huge distribution deal that we expected, HOWEVER it earned us something more important than that.
First and foremost, we think we offer quality, and nothing else... and that many people respect what we make, and that we are honest and very hard-working.
Thanks to Ash, we have many new friends in all fields... that dig what we do, and are ready to help us, as well as we are there for them.

So what happened to Ash Wednesday and the aftermath?
Well I cannot get into much detail, but we are REALLY excited that in early 2008, Ash will be distributed nationwide in the United States. (more soon on that)
Also, another important question is:
What happened? Why was Ash not the big success we expected?
Well, that's not a very fair question right?
simply because you can't judge its' success or failure if it has not come out yet, right?
So I guess we would be ready to answer that in a couple of years...
In the meantime, we're just happy that we're not entirely broke and that this year has been a great year full of great memories, and I expect even more fun stuff in 2008.

Oh and on the big economic hole I dug myself into... jajajaja... I started, or I guess I have continued to do my local TV show in Eagle Pass, TX.
What? a TV show? jajajaja Back in 1998, I was young, newly married and jobless, my uncle let me do a TV show and all I needed to do was come up with advertisers, so we made a TV show.
That experience taught me how to shoot and edit, and how to communicate.
The show lasted until 2003 and NOW I am resuming the show... it's called EL ANTI-SHOW, and it's a really goofy program full of nothing but really nutty stuff...
I am now slowly crawling out of my financial abyss, and it permits me to stay creative, so it's all good.... jajajaja

However, movie-wise, I am in writing mode, and I have some really cool treatments... some are goofy and some are crime-related, but whatever we do next, it is going to be really cool... so stay tuned, we're still working hard!

Happy holidays to you all.
Thank you for keeping up to date with us, and let's make 2008 even better!
Let's kick some ass! jajajajajaja

Lt. Col. Frank Slade: Out of order, I show you out of order. You don't know what out of order is, Mr. Trask. I'd show you, but I'm too old, I'm too tired, I'm too fuckin' blind. If I were the man I was five years ago, I'd take a FLAMETHROWER to this place! Out of order? Who the hell do you think you're talkin' to? I've been around, you know? There was a time I could see. And I have seen. Boys like these, younger than these, their arms torn out, their legs ripped off. But there isn't nothin' like the sight of an amputated spirit. There is no prosthetic for that. You think you're merely sending this splendid foot soldier back home to Oregon with his tail between his legs, but I say you are... executin' his soul! And why? Because he's not a Bairdman. Bairdmen. You hurt this boy, you're gonna be Baird bums, the lot of ya.
-Scent of a woman (1992)

Music Video- CAST YOUR VOTE!

Missing Women
Patricia Vonne
Directed by:
Ricardo Mendoza



It's been a while... jajajajaja
Happy Holidays from all of us...
While we are working hard we are a bit quiet, we're brewing ideas and other great stuff, so expect a lot of info in the upcoming months...
ANYWAYS, straight to the point of the title...
Our friend Patricia Vonne is up for the Viewer's choice BEST AUSTIN VIDEO AWARD from the 2007 ME-TV Viewer's choice awards!
The video was of course produced by us (DIGITAL WORK STUDIOS) HINT HINT!
So go now to this website and CAST YOUR VOTE!

Patricia, is also going to be in San Antonio LIVE with Del Castillo on December 29th at Sam's Burger Joint! So buy her new record, cast your vote and watch her perform live!
Best of luck to Patricia!

Oh, and when you vote, you'll be registered to win a huge flat screen TV, so if you win it, please invite us for a screening of ASH WEDNESDAY... jajajajaja

Cool!

Ash on TV (again)

Happy to report that the segment containing our interview with American Latino TV will re-run the first weekend of December... Check your local listings!
The show is nationwide (US) and covers the positive aspects that latinos are achieving in the United States and throughout the world.
Special thanks to Renzo and Wilton for covering the story.

When & Where to Watch:

San Antonio WOAI/ NBC 4 Saturday @ 12 Noon

New York WWOR/ My 9 Sundays @ 4:00 PM

Los Angeles KABC/ ABC 7 Late Night Saturdays @ 1 AM and Sundays @ 4 PM (please check local listings as well)

We are currently seeking distribution options for ASH WEDNESDAY: CAPITULO UNUS AND we are writing the script to our next project which will be something that will be risky but very challenging.
Stay tuned.