Valley cities try to woo independent filmmakers

SAN JUAN — This city’s new library was filled to capacity Saturday night as residents turned out for a screening of the newest homegrown movie.

Susto follows a ghost-hunting team as it explores haunted areas of the Valley. It filmed partially in the old San Juan Hotel, and for economic development leaders, it marks another step toward making the city the “little film mecca” of the Valley, said Economic Development Corp. Director Miki McCarthy.

San Juan’s foray into films began in 2006, when the development corporation helped filmmakers Michael Ray Escamilla and Mando Alvarado make the city their home base for shooting Cruzando, a particularly high-profile Valley film.

The corporation invested $25,000 into the film — money that leaders note was spent in San Juan to support local businesses.

“Basically, that catapulted us into being a city for filmmakers to contact and work with,” McCarthy said. “It gave us the name and the industry. Since then we’ve had five local films come and film in San Juan.”

McCarthy said the films bring jobs to the city, experience for locals interested in the industry and money for local businesses. They also bring exposure to the city if shown at film festivals around the country.

The development corporation has not given money to a film since Cruzando, but has assisted other production companies with getting help from merchants, finding locations, shutting down streets for filming and coordinating with law enforcement.

San Juan’s not the only city pursuing filmmakers. Nancy Millar, chair of the RGV Film Commission and director of the McAllen Convention & Visitors Bureau, said six cities are members of the commission — Alamo, Edinburg, Harlingen, McAllen, Weslaco and Mission.

“There has definitely been an increase in the activity with independent films down here,” she said. “Maybe we would get one project per year (in the past) and now we’re working with five, six — and that’s only the RGV Film Commission.”

Millar said the commission, which helps filmmakers with casting calls and site locations, has worked with projects that have hired as few as four or as many as 40 people to work on them.

“They’re bringing jobs,” she said. “Maybe more important than that, they’re bringing experience to the local community.”

Quint Rodgers, the director, producer and screenwriter for Susto, called the decision to film in his native South Texas a no-brainer.

“The Valley is my filming territory,” he said. “Every city has its own beauty and its own essence.

“The stigma in the old days was, ‘Why would you want to film a movie here?’” he said. “But there’s beauty here and so much talent here.”

Rodgers has worked on three projects in the region, working in several local cities, and said he hoped some exposure would result. Susto was reviewed for the Miami Film Festival after it was finished last year and will show next month at an Alamo Drafthouse in Austin.

“People always ask me, ‘Why do you make movies here? Why don’t you go to Hollywood?’” he said. “I say, ‘Why would you go to Hollywood when you can make movies down here?’”

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Elizabeth Findell covers Pharr, San Juan, Alamo, the Mid-Valley and general assignments for The Monitor. She can be reached at efindell@themonitor.com and (956) 683-4428.

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BACKGROUND
Read more on Cruzando, or watch it online
Learn more about the RGV Film Commission