TAMIU, Laredo Film Society Schedule Feature Filmmaking Workshop, Screening Sept. 7 - 8

A new collaboration between Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) and the Laredo Film Society  (LFS) will bring a Feature Filmmaking Workshop focused on the creation of low-budget films Friday, Sept. 7 at 1:30 p.m. at TAMIU’s Student Center Theatre.

The Workshop will be free of charge to students and those with student IDs. It will be followed by a screening Saturday, Sept. 8, of two movies created by notable Laredo talents.

TAMIU associate professor of film Marcela Moran, who directs the University’s media production track for the department of communication and psychology,  said the initiative features the special insight of Laredo-born filmmakers and artists.

“This is an exciting opportunity that will bring home the talents of Laredo-born writer-director Alejandro Montoya Marin, and Laredoan Scarlett Moreno, a Los Angeles-based actress, director, and stylist,” Moran said, “The Workshop will focus on basics like lighting, writing, and, producing, in addition to the thornier issues of time constraints and working on a small budget.

Both filmmakers are winners of revered independent filmmaker Robert Rodriguez' (“El Mariachi”) “Rebel Without a Crew” contest, which invites up and coming filmmakers to make their first feature film in two weeks with a budget of $7,000 and spawned a popular reality TV series.

Montoya Marin's film is titled "Monday," and is about a "newly fired man hired to assassinate his ex's new love interest."  Moreno's  feature is titled "Phaedra,” and is about  "a disco-loving doll collector who becomes entangled with a drug dealer."

Both Montoya Marin and Moreno’s  films  will be screened at the Alamo Drafthouse on Saturday, Sept. 8 at 7:30 p.m.The screenings will be free of charge to students, but donations in support of local film production will be accepted at the door at both screenings and Workshop events.

“Through this collaboration, we’re able to talk about the particulars of low-budget film production with the creators themselves…and then see the visual fruits of their labor,” said Moran, herself an award-wining independent documentary filmmaker.

Karen Gaytán, spokesperson for the newly formed LFS, said the collaboration is a concrete expansion of the group’s interest in educating and empowering the Laredo community through the exhibition of film and media arts.

“Our driving philosophy is to provide a space for Laredoans to explore cinema that may not otherwise be exhibited at local venues, as well as to create opportunities for young film enthusiasts to learn about the craft. We’re especially excited that this event has a real Laredo connection and students can see the possibilities existing in the film industry,”  Gaytán said.

Marin was born in Laredo Texas and raised in Mexico. Since a very young age, he has been interested in film. He studied marketing and then attended Vancouver Film School in Canada and then moved to Albuquerque to join the growing film industry. His films include: “Intrepido” (2009), “The Princess and the Musician” (2013), “The Joneses” (2014), “Low/Fi” (2015), “Monday” (2016), and “Leslie” (2017).  They have screened at the Cannes Film Festival, Raindance, The Napa Valley Film Festival, Hollyshorts, among others. His  award-winning short film, “Monday,” was adapted as part of the documentary show, “Rebel Without a Crew.”

Moreno is one of five first time feature filmmakers chosen by Rodriguez to be on “Rebel Without a Crew,” the docuseries following the filmmakers as they attempt to make their first features in two weeks, with only $7000. She grew up in Laredo and attended TISCH School of the Arts, earning her BFA in Acting & Journalism. She then moved to Los Angeles to pursue her wildest dreams.

For more about TAMIU’s media production track and its Communication program, contact Moran at 956.326.3407, , email amoran@tamiu.edu, or visit offices in Anthony J. and Georgia A. Pellegrino Hall, 313.

For more on the Laredo Film Society, email hello@laredofilm.org or follow their social media channels on Facebook: Laredo Film Society (@laredofilm) and group: Indie Film Lovers Twitter/Instagram/Letterboxd: @laredofilm

For more about the “Rebel without a Crew” reality TV series, visit: https://www.indiewire.com/2018/03/robert-rodriguez-el-mariachi-reality-tv-rebel-without-a-crew-1201941225