 The
three members of 705 drove out from various locations in Orange,
Ventura, and Los Angeles Counties to downtown Los Angeles on a
Monday evening to sit down and talk about their short films “Space
Time Destroyers”
and “Three
Card Studs”,
premiering at this year’s Visual Communications Los Angeles
Asian Pacific Film and Video Festival (VC Filmfest 2003). 705’s
members include Roman Cortez, Chito Arellano, and Tracy Tubero.
They started off as graffiti artists, and then transitioned into
the world of freelance design. The boisterous trio originally
began making movies as a hobby. The first movie they made was
in 1993, when they borrowed a friend’s videocamera and went
into Ralph’s at 3AM and decided to shoot an impromptu video
called “Killer Shopping Cart”. They showed the video
to their friends, who all enjoyed it. Enjoying the attention and
enthusiastic reception, Roman, Chito, and Tracy continued to make
movies on their own time, making use of minimal budgets and themselves
as actors.
Throughout the interview, Roman, Chito, and Tracy showed how close
they are as friends, not just creative collaborators. They would
answer questions for each other, and every question was answered
by all three members in rapid fire succession. Roman said their
motivation behind making movies is “peace and unity,”
while Tracy said it was “to get girls,” and Chito
said “they just want to make people laugh.” They all
agreed that they enjoyed watching funny movies, and they want
to do the same by entertaining others. The 80’s films they
all watched during their childhood influenced them greatly. Everything
they saw in those films translated into part of their filmmaking
style.
Their film “Space Time Destroyers” mixes hip hop and
science fiction influences with several hilarious pop culture
references. “Three Card Studs” is a backyard poker
game turned into a martial arts and special effects display of
705’s unique physical and comedic gifts. Infused in all
of their films is a sense of whacky slapstick comedy that takes
the viewer on seemingly random and illogical story turns but in
the end becomes something hilarious and oddly satisfying.
Eventually, 705 wants to move out of small films. “We want
to become a big production group,” says Roman. The film
festival circuit is a step towards reaching a larger audience.
“This is our first year really playing at film festivals,”
says Chito, “where we originally just showed them at parties
to our drunk friends.” They are excited about VC Filmfest
2003, because “people are going out to watch our movies,
and have, hopefully, respect for what we do,” according
to Roman. “Even if everyone is drunk. In fact, being drunk
enhances the experience of watching our movies,” adds Tracy.
705’s youthful and energetic nature belies the fact that
they have a great deal of experience under their belt. They have
completed twenty one films, most of them between five and ten
minutes, the longest being twenty minutes. Their next project
is a feature length film, which they hope will push their filmmaking
and comedic abilities even further.
Finally, 705 revealed what they enjoyed most about the filmmaking
process. “I enjoy having, from beginning to end, control
over the entire process, controlling the comedy,” says Roman.
“We can’t afford hiring the actors, so we cast ourselves.”
Chito finds greater rewards in the post-production process. “I
like doing the editing, special effects,” he says. Tracy
enjoys the acting process. “We have a loose improvisational
style, just like how we act normally,” he explains. Indeed,
the comedic essence of 705 in real life is translated capably
and creatively into each of their films. Watch out for their films
in the upcoming VC Filmfest 2003, opening Thursday May 1, 2003
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