CORTADITO Preview – Meet Broad Shoulder Productions

Editor’s Note:  LatinX filmmakers in Chicago have a unique story to tell.  Add to that, a desire to use innovative blends of theater and film for storytelling.  Meet Broad Shoulders Productions- who fits this profile and whose film “y/our home” was selected to be a part of the CORTADITO short film showcase—based on the success and interest aroused by the first viewing-- is getting a second screening the Gene Siskel Film Center on November 10 at 8 pm.

Here Picture this Post (PTP) talks to members of the Broad Shoulders Productions (BSP) about their work as a group and individually—J Antonio (Tony) Mendoza (TM), Luis Cardenas (LC), and Nathalie Galde (NG).

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Luis Cardenas
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Tony Mendoza
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Nathalie Galde

(PTP) How did Broad Shoulders Productions (BSP) get started?

(TM)  We started as a collective in 2009 when several of us realized that we all were hungry to help each other’s story get made.  At that time, we were just a bunch of friends who didn’t know what they we were doing, just trying to make each other laugh.  Fast forward almost 10 years later.  while we still try to make each other laugh, we’ve grown up and changed our focus to Educate, Evoke, and Entertain our audiences.

WHO are the people of BSP and what roles do they play?

(TM) There are about 13 active members of the BSP collective and then we have several other members scattered across the country.

We collaborate with all types of artists, each with their own goals and their own ways of telling a story and work really hard to not have a singular voice.

While we could give you a complete detailed list of all the members of the collective it might be best to focus on three of our Latinx producers and what they have produced and are producing in 2018.

Nathalie Galde (BSP Company member) plays Stephanie in Stuffing the Turkey, Nathalie in y/our home and is the creator of our next short The Tramp. A Miami native, Nathalie Galde takes great pride in her first-generation status and diverse Latinx background. A graduate of the University of Miami, she rotates hats as an actor, director, and producer between the stage and on-camera—especially with comedy and improvisation. Her most recent project is producing and appearing in ImproviSEXation - a sex-positive and body-positive improv show.)

Luis Cardenas (Chicago-based documentary filmmaker and photographer and BSP Company member) is Director of Photography for Stuffing the Turkey and The Tramp, and Co-Creator and Director of y/our home. He has worked on numerous live comedy shows as cinematographer and editor, mainly with Chicago Underground Comedy and events, such as The Comedy Exposition in 2015 and 2016, and The Daily Show’s Hasan Minhaj’s Homecoming Tour at Thalia Hall. Most recently he was the primary shooter and editor for the first annual Moment Circus festival.

And, I am BSP’s Founding member and currently the company’s Managing Artistic Director.  I was the writer/director of Stuffing the Turkey, Producer of The Tramp and y/our home.  I grew up in the very small town of Steger, Illinois; and as early as the age of four, can remember spending all of my time with my younger brother creating our own programming to show our mother, then our grandparents, and then the kids at school.

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Actress, Writer, Producer, Nathalie Galde and Art Director, Pablo Ponce on the set of Stuffing the Turkey.
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From Left to right: Director: Tony Mendoza, Director of Photography, Luis Cardenas, discuss the next shot with actors, Dennis Davies & Ana Maria Alvarez
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Nathalie Galde and Digital Technical Director, Jesse Folks having fun while on the set of the feature film, Stuffing the Turkey

What was the inspiration for y/our home?

LC:  My family is the inspiration. This is my story.  My parents thought they were leaving me and my partner an amazing gift by letting us take their house when they retired. However, years of neglect had left that home in a state of disrepair that would have eaten up any potential savings if we tried to fix it ourselves. These were issues that my family knew about but chose to ignore or deal with at a later date that never came. It was really stressful as my partner and I started to feel like we’d be stuck if we said yes to their offer. The expectation was for us to just settle down there forever. It was really hard, but I backed out. It was a decision that consumed so much of my life that the most cathartic thing I could do was make a film out of it.

What was the inspiration of The Tramp?

(NG) Inspiration for The Tramp came from an improv scene. My friend and his scene partner established that they were at the "make-out point" on some hill overlooking the city. I came out and started playing as though I had a tag and spray and was cleaning their windshield. The two responded as though it was annoying, but then discovered in that moment that I was one of the mimes abandoned by Cirque du Soleil.

At that point more cast members tumbled out and portrayed acrobats, contortionists, jugglers, etc. It was a moment that stuck with me well after leaving the stage. I felt the need to explore these abandoned characters. mime and found it funny that the mime was cleaning the windshield through mime.

What are the special insights to Latin/x culture that BSP brings to its work?

(TM) All three of us have very different upbringings but we all are proud to be Latinx.

Being the only Latinx family when and where I was growing up meant that I had to assimilate fast and be what others wanted me to be.  I was way too white to hang out with the other Latinx kids. But, I wasn’t white enough to hang out with the white kids.  So, I just spent my childhood alone, in the middle, always.   By the way I am not white and to this day I don’t speak Spanish because our mother was afraid of what would happen if the wrong person heard us sound different.  It was a legitimate fear.

From my vantage point, I was and am able to see that there are so many things that the two groups have in common that my work always strives to make a point of highlighting these similarities.

Stuffing the Turkey is about a middle-class family who is Latinx.  The Father and oldest daughter are professors, the mother is a commercial airline pilot, and the brother is in medical school.  They suffer from self-induced pride, fear, guilt and joy; just like every other human.  They are defined by their flaws and accomplishments, not just by being Latinx.

How have the current politics in the US affected your point of view about your work?

(TM) In a time where people are actively trying to separate us and make us focus on our differences, it is more important than ever to show that we are all human.

How important is diversity to BSP?

(TM)  When we first started as a collective I was the sole member that was a person of color.  It was 2009.   We always consistently had only one female member in the early days too.  It wasn’t that we were actively excluding anyone.  It is just that we were not aware how diversity and longevity go hand-in-hand.

Now in 2018 our membership is more aligned with how diverse we have become as a nation.  This is the first year where the number of members who identified as a Person-of-Color (POC) equals the number who identify as Latinx.   The number of women who are in leadership roles has also increased.

This change in diversity was not a conscious choice.  We were just looking for new collaborators and our only qualification was that they needed to tell unique stories in a unique way.

What are the common themes in y/our home, Stuffing the Turkey and The Tramp

(TM) Luis, Nathalie and I come from three very different backgrounds and each of these pieces tells our stories, but, in the end, all three are about finding your home and being comfortable in your own skin.  Nathalie’s story is a comedy and Luis’s story is a drama, but they are both about finding your place in a world that does not necessarily want you to exist and figuring out a way to thrive anyway.

(LC) Stuffing the Turkey and y/our home share a lot of the same DNA as they both tackle complex family dynamics. They explore the ways that we communicate with those close to us as well as showing different kinds of expectations that family members can impose on one another. Both narratives really speak to the experiences of Latinx families today and especially immigrant patriarchs being forced to reconcile with the ever-changing world their families live in. Life moves at a much faster pace now, so it’s interesting to see the evolution of long-standing family traditions and ideals.


How does your work represent the Latinx community?

(NG)  Very simply put, we are writers, artists, comedians, etc. who happen to be Latinx. We always wear that rep on our shoulders. Sometimes we're inspired and motivated to write about the issues and lifestyles that are relevant to our Latinx community. Sometimes we're inspired to write about things and topics that feel more universal, regardless of our ethnic background.

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Director of Photography, Luis Cardenas adjusting the settings on the camera before the next take.
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Director, Luis Cardenas will have his first short film screened on November 10th as part of the Cortaditio short film festival at the Gene Siskel Film Center.
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Actress and Writer, Nathalie Galde is producing her next short film, "The Tramp" with BSPfilm
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Directors, (from left to right) Tony Mendoza and Luis Cardenas location scouting for their upcoming feature film.

When, Where and Tickets:

"y/our home"  will have its second screening as a part of the Cortadito Showcase on Saturday, November 10 at 7:45 pm.  Tickets can be purchased on the Siskel Film Center web page for Cortadito.

“The Show-Show” – ‘A sketch/variety/who knows, show’ will premiere at the Crowd Theatre on Wednesday, November 14 at 8pm.

To get tickets to “The Show show” and other BSPfilm events bookmark the BSP Facebook page.

 
All photos by courtesy of BSP Films

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