Emerald City is a short film about two guys traveling along the U.S. / Mexican Border. Rigo has spent most of his life in foster care after his parents were deported. Upon aging out, he has been searching for a direction... which he may have found with rumors of a religious community based on Santa Muerte, the Saint of Death. Paul dropped out of college after a fight with his father, who was laid off from his job at a GM factory. Paul plans to join the Border Patrol though he tells people he's heading for the Pacific Crest Trail... but in fact he's really exploring something else, a side of himself that he can't tell anyone about.  

 

Cast:  

Paul - Havon Baraka
Havon Baraka was born & raised in "mini-Vegas" as he calls it aka Atlantic City, New Jersey, and the youngest of four from his mother, Christina Frommer. Havon has been writing & acting since age 5 and even studied 'Playwriting & Screenwriting' at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Diagnosed with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) at a young age, Havon dove into acting, writing, stand up & directing as a means of expression and hasn't looked back.
 

Rigo - Alan Vazquez
Alan Vazquez is a Mexican-American actor born in Tijuana, BC and raised in San Diego, CA. An aspiring filmmaker since he was a kid, he went on to graduate from Vancouver Film School when he was 21 years old. His passion for acting started years later when he attended an acting class with the intention of learning to direct actors better. He went on to sign with Shamon Freitas Agency and has been working as an actor ever since then. 
 

Penny - Arasha Lalani
Arasha Lalani is an Indian actress based in Los Angeles. She quickly discovered her passion for performing when she captained her Oral Interpretation team in high school and achieved a national championship title in Original Oratory. She trained in a unique interdisciplinary program at Emerson College where she studied Performing Arts, Comedy, and Broadcast Journalism. Growing up in a dual-culture household, she dreams of bringing her and other immigrant stories that often go unheard to the screen. Her past credits are largely on-screen in films such as Speech Therapy, Monet, Fatherhood, The Bench, and more. This past year, Arasha joined the cast for Youtube sensation, Smosh, where she continues to work on her comedy. She is endlessly grateful for her parents, her brother, and her loving friends for supporting her as she lives her dreams. 
 

Steve - Rob Riordan
Rob is stoked to be part of "Emerald City." Originally from Las Vegas, he's had the pleasure of traveling the country and world performing at various theaters such as Utah Shakespeare Festival and even La Festival Teatro de la Cuba. He most recently starred in "Concessions"—a proof of concept short endorsed by Sean Baker and Kevin Smith—which can be viewed on the Kodak Presents’ YouTube channel. His previous films include the feature The Surprise Visit as well as several short films like "F**king Flaubert?" and "Nova Ovum."  

 

Production Team:

David Bobrow, Producer, Screenwriter.  Before "Emerald City," Bobrow wrote, directed, and produced the short film, "Country People," which won awards at several festivals (Qflix New England, Oaxaca Film Fest, New Rennaissance Film Festival Amsterdam, Blastoff L.A., Cannes Screenplay Contest, Flicks London, Rome International Cinefest). It streamed on GayBingeTV, VimeoOnDemand, Plex. It is distributed by Gonella Productions in Paris, France.

Josef Steiff, Director.  A professor of Film at Columbia College Chicago and hailing from Central Appalachia, Steiff is drawn to stories about human connection, especially in difficult circumstances, and his feature films and shorts have exhibited throughout the world.  His most recent, "Jesse James," won over 50 awards at 116 film festivals, including Santa Fe Film Festival, LGBTQ+Toronto Film Festival, Festival Internacional de Cine LGBTQ+ de Mexico, Cinema Diverse, El Lugar Sin Limites Festival de Cine LGBT, Tokyo International Short Film Festival, and KASHISH.  "Jesse James" is currently streaming on QueerBee and GayBingeTV.  

Matt Hayward, Cinematographer.  Based in Los Angeles and Chicago, Hayward strives to capture emotional images that convey the story, themes, and ideas of the films he works on.  Awarded American Society of Cinematographers Heritage Award 2018 for Outstanding Cinematography and awarded National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Student Award, his additional training includes an ASC Master Class taught by Hoyte van Hoytema, ASC,FSF,NSC.

Alex McCourt, Sound Mixer.  Working on a variety of TV series and films like Food Paradise, Sparklers, Smiling Friends, Collide, The Delicacy, and Ghosts of Spring Mountain, Alex McCourt is an Audio Engineer with a great love and knowledge of music & sound recording and mixing. His years of experience in production and post production within studio, live and field environments are an asset to "Emerald City."

Melissa Lawrenz, Editor.  Born in Stockholm, raised primarily in the midwest, with stints in England and Canada, Lawrenz regularly edits commercials, multi-million dollar branded content, social media campaigns, internet video for A.V. Club, Clickhole, and The Onion, as well as The History Channel's Gangland TV series and four episodes of The Onion Film Standard.  Her independent narrative work includes It's You, The Other One, "Cut Out," "Towing," "Dumplings," and "Jesse James."  

 

The Image:
The look of “Emerald City” is designed to reveal the feeling and story of the vast desert of the southern boarder while conveying the loneliness and alienation of our main characters at the start of the film. This will be achieved by using anamorphic lenses to portray the region’s expanse and a natural lighting look to portray the hardness and indifference of the desert. A desaturated color will also contribute to this story line. As the story progresses, Rigo and Paul become closer and no longer feel isolated from society and each other.  Telephoto anamorphics, tighter framing, and a more saturated color palette, along with warm, flickering fire light will be used to help convey this part of the story and the conclusion that love can be found any place and among even the most opposite of strangers.