If you enjoy wholesome stories about a grandmother-grandchild relationship, we have an amazing pick for you: BERTIE THE BRILLIANT by Gabriela Garcia Medina. As a comedy piece about a young boy working chores and errands to raise money for magic show tickets, he is soon faced with a problem as his grandmother loses her job. With a combination of comedy, a musical, and magic, this piece is surely a captivating watch. We are so excited to share our 5 Questions With series today featuring Gabriela Garcia Medina!
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What inspired you to start making films?
I’ve always loved film and filmmaking but never thought it was accessible to me. When I turned 30, I decided I would put all my energy, my passion and my heart into it. I knew it would be a difficult journey as I’d never seen other female Cuban-American writer/directors succeed in this industry, but I like a challenge, so I went for it! You only live once so I wanted to fight for my dream! I want to spend the rest of my life telling stories that are visually cinematic, and that evoke emotion from audiences, while inspiring empathy and compassion. I also really yearned for the collaborative art that is filmmaking. I was a storyteller before being a filmmaker but it was not collaborative. I thrive working with others, I am inspired by the world and by my peers.
Were there any challenges in making this project?
A major challenge was not having enough money…I ended up having to come out of pocket to make sure my team was paid. Coming out of pocket was hard because I’m not financially wealthy, so it was a sacrifice to put life savings toward the project, but I am happy to have done so, especially in an industry where I constantly have to prove myself to be allowed a seat at the table (and even after I prove myself, it’s still not enough), I am happy to invest in myself and in my vision and career. Another challenge was casting a young actor who was willing to wear make up. Originally MAYA was a drag queen, and BERTIE wanted to be just like her, however, no young actor was willing to dress in drag. This made me sad because that very reason is why it’s important to have stories like this one. Unfortunately I ended up having to change the role of MAYA from a drag queen to a drag king, at which point young actors felt more comfortable wearing more “masculine” make-up. I was sad that I couldn’t tell the story as I had originally intended it, but was happy with the outcome, as I do feel we still have a strong message about gender expression and identity. Another challenge was working with a young actor who was making his debut (he’d never acted before and I was asking him not only to act, but to also sing, dance and do magic all at the same time)! Luckily he was a sweetheart and his parents were a dream so we were able to get a great performance despite the high demands of the role. Lastly, COVID made it very difficult and expensive. We wanted to abide by all COVID protocols and safety measures as we didn’t want to put any of our cast and crew in danger or exposure, but this meant that either we had to have a COVID compliance officer on set at all times and testing available on set (which would have been VERY expensive) or we’d have to have a fully vaccinated set and ask cast and crew for negative tests before coming to set. Some cast had said they were vaccinated (but weren’t) and they didn’t disclose the truth until the last minute, which made it very difficult for us, because we had to do some very quick recasting. It was super stressful, but everything worked out for the best. I really believe that everything always happens as it should.
Is there any type of message or emotion that you hope the viewer takes away from watching this film?
I want my audiences to feel joyful, filled with magic, to walk out of the theater with their heads held high and a smile on their faces. I want this to feel like a little nugget of happiness, a warm marshmallowey feeling that gives viewers hope and joy.
How does it feel to be able to screen the film at HollyShorts?
Hollyshorts is an Oscar-qualifying world-renowned film festival and it’s an honor that BERTIE will screen there.
What’s on the horizon for you?
Right now, if I’m being honest, on the horizon is SURVIVAL! The strike hasn’t been easy. I have two kids and two dogs and a mortgage and no work coming in, so in this very moment I am most concerned with survival! However, I am always thinking about the next thing. I am working on three screenplays. LITTLE CON LILI which was Top Five on the LatinX List (the Black List) that I hope to get a SAG waiver for and shoot as an indie…hopefully soon. I have four other features in development with incredible producers and production companies (but those are all on hold at the moment), and I have a television series that I’ll be developing as part of the Rideback Rise fellowship. I also have three short films I hope to make by the end of the year, just waiting to get financing confirmed.
Thank you Gabriela for taking the time to answering our questions. Be sure to check out BERTIE THE BRILLIANT at the upcoming HollyShorts 2023 Film Festival on August 17th at 2:30pm for the category “Latinx.” Click here to get tickets for the 19th Annual HollyShorts Film Festival, running from August 10th – August 19th at the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres.
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