Written and Directed by Rupert-Anthony Ortiz Contact Inquires Rupert-Anthony Ortiz 12:50 Productions/Ortiz Indie Films Rupert.Ortiz@me.com (213) 256-1581 Title: Lessons In Life #3 Starring: Ray Thomas and Jordan Ortiz Running Time: 6 min Scale: 16:9 HD Production Company: 12:50 Productions/Ortiz Indie Films Production Completed: March 2013 Related Genres: Drama, Family, Coming of Age Lessons In Life #3 on IMDB: www.imdb.com/title/tt2752066 Official Website: www.lessonsinlifemovie.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/lessonsinlifemovie Twitter: www.twitter.com/lessonsinlife3 Youtube: www.youtube.com/lessonsinlifemovie
LOGLINE Some lessons are unexpected. SYNOPSIS For a boy and his older brother, a lesson in soccer turns into an incredible lesson in life. DIRECTOR S STATEMENT There s something inspiring about the innocence of childhood and seeing the world through the eyes our youth. When I think back to my own childhood, I recall fond memories of the lessons I learned from loved ones. It s this deep feeling of love which drove me to direct LESSONS IN LIFE #3. Inspired by the work of Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu, I sought out to make Lessons from the perspective of our child character, Jordan, shooting mostly at his eye level. Our world seen through a child s eyes, is seen at its purest form--no worldly filters to impose adult judgment on life. The location and backdrop of the film were kept very neutral, whereas in contrast, our two brothers are very colorful and full of life, thus standing out from the world around them. On a simplistic level, LESSONS IN LIFE #3 is a story about a boy afraid to kick a soccer ball. On a deeper level, LESSONS invokes into the audience the idea that to overcome our fears and hardships, we must simply move forward and "kick the ball". With Lessons, I took a naturalistic approach to the story telling. Using a 50mm lens, we see the story unfold as if peering around the corner into the lives of these two brothers. LESSONS IN LIFE #3 becomes a journey and lesson in life, not only for our characters in the film, but for the audience as well. -Rupert-Anthony Ortiz, Director
Production Notes As an Austin School of Film class project, Lessons In Life #3 began as a script for an experimental horror film. The project was to be produced from concept to completion in just 8 short weeks. Director Rupert-Anthony Ortiz wrote the film over 2 days and shared it with his family and friends who ultimately said, This is not you. You re just doing weird for the sake of doing weird, The script went through several more drafts over the course of one week, including Jordan s character as a ghost, until finally locking down the idea of two brothers spending one afternoon together and experiencing life. Rupert enlisted the talents of several people he worked with prior to Lessons In Life #3, which included Birgit Schroeder as Assistant Director, Dana Rasmussen as Director of Photography, Allie Marrie as Makeup Artist, and Brandon Limon came onboard as sound. Brandon replaced Ray Thomas on Sound after Ray expressed interest to Rupert that he wanted to step in front of the camera and get more work acting. Rupert cast Ray in the role of Michael and casted his nephew Jordan Ortiz for the role of the little boy. After cast and crew had been set, production began on February 10, 2013 in Niederwald, a small city just outside of Austin, Texas. Production lasted one day and went through two weeks of editing. There were several test screenings to help shape the film to the final version it is today. Doris Limon plays Jordan s mother in the film. However, in real life, Doris is Jordan s grandmother. For his work in the film, Jordan received a new train set. This is Jordan s first film. Ray Thomas was actually very new to playing soccer when filming took place. Jordan s cape is actually a Superman cape turned inside out. In one draft Jordan was a ghost. One version of the script had Michael as Jordan s father. Most of the film was shot at Jordan s eye level as a nod to Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu.
Five Frequently Asked Questions 1. What was it like working with a five-year-old actor? Jordan was, as they say, a natural in front of the camera. Most of the time, he was oblivious to the fact the camera was even there. That being said, we weren t always ready for what Jordan was going to do or say when we started rolling. One particular moment was during the cereal scene. Jordan was supposed to put only one piece of candy into his mouth, but after calling action, he ended up stuffing a handful of candies into his mouth. The entire crew fell into laughter. 2. What would you do differently if you had to do it all over again? I would have scheduled an extra day of shooting. There were a few scenes I wish we had the time to shoot but just didn t get the chance to. One scene involved Jordan breaking down as his brother drove away. We actually rehearsed this scene with Jordan, but timing got the better of us. 3. What did you learn about directing on this film? You re going to make mistakes throughout the whole process. Don t let it get to you. As a director, you will make mistakes on set, but you learn from them and you push forward. You re the leader on set everyone looks to for answers. This is your vision to get on screen and get your team from point A to point B on time and still tell a story. 4. Where is Lessons In Life #1 and #2? As of now, they do not exist. One of the hardest things to is to create clever titles for my films. I remember surfing the internet and looking at titles of award winning short films when I came across MOVIES MADE FROM HOME #6 playing at Sundance. I thought, okay, this is different and it caught my attention. And so was born the title Lessons In Life #3. What the numbered title does for the audience is to subconsciously create a bigger world for these characters to live in. After watching Lessons In Life #3, you ll want to learn more and might find yourself on Google looking for #1 and #2. 5. Do you plan on making any more Lessons In Life shorts? I never intended there to be more than one film in the Lessons In Life world, however, my producer Carlos Vela, has persuaded me to work on a few more ideas to add to the series. Whether or not these films would have the same characters in them, I m not sure. But they would somehow tie in with each other in some form or fashion.
FESTIVALS and AWARDS Official Selection Hill Country Film Festival 2013 Nominated Best Texas Film Hill Country Film Festival 2013 CAST BIOS RAY THOMAS (Michael) Ray Thomas is a true jack-of-all-trades; a film guru honing yet another one of his many skills by stepping out from behind the camera and onto the screen. Expect to hear more of him, as he will not stop until his talents capture him the highest status and prestige. Ray is currently preparing for the 24 Hour Film Race in Austin, Texas. JORDAN ORTIZ (Jordan) Jordan Ortiz is a five-year-old boy who has acting in his heart. Always a performer at family functions, Jordan was a natural when it came time to step in front of the camera for Lessons in Life #3. This is Jordan s first acting role and he has informed his parents that he wants to do more movies.
CREW BIOS RUPERT-ANTHONY ORTIZ (Director) Rupert-Anthony Ortiz is a producer, writer, director who lives in Austin, Texas. He spent a few years in Los Angeles, CA where he sharpened his filmmaking skills, before returning to direct A BITTERSWEET SABOTAGE, followed up by LESSONS IN LIFE #3. He is currently developing his next short film AN OLD LADY, A COWBOY AND TEQUILA, a short film about an elderly lady who convinces a random stranger to break her out of a nursing home. BIRGIT SCHROEDER (Assistant Director) Upon graduating from business school in Hamburg, Germany, from where she originates, Birgit Schroeder moved to France, where she spent 10 years working in sales, management and business. In 1998 she moved to Austin TX, where she currently lives and works as a partner in an edgy and innovative tech company. Always having been a big performing arts and movie enthusiast, Birgit recently stepped into the movie industry by starting with acting classes, which led her into the role of a casting director for a short movie as well as two short movies as the Assistant Director. At the beginning of 2013, Birgit wrote, directed and edited her first short film, which will be submitted into the festival circuit late 2013
DANA RASMUSSEN (Director of Photography) Dana Rasmussen is originally from Huntington, Connecticut but has lived in North Carolina most of her life. She s had an interest in movies since she was very young. While attending UNC- Wilmington she decided that film was the career path she d like to pursue. She graduated with a B.A. in Film and Psychology. She now lives in Austin, Texas looking forward to growing from her film experiences. Full Production Credits CAST Michael Jordan The Mother Airport Announcer Ray Thomas Jordan Ortiz Doris Limon Nicole Ortiz CREW Written and Directed by Produced by Assistant Director Director of Photography Production Sound Mixer Makeup and Wardrobe Music by Behind the Scenes Director Unit Stills Photographer Craft Services Rupert-Anthony Ortiz Carlos Vela and Rupert-Anthony Ortiz Birgit Schroeder Dana Rasmussen Brandon Limon Allie Marrie Kevin MacLeod Nicole Ortiz Carolyn Ortiz Cheddar Boy Catering