EL COCODRILO

EL COCODRILO
Digital Press Kit
CONTACT INFORMATION
Steve Acevedo 210.710.0700 [email protected]
PRODUCTION INFORMATION
Original Production Format: RED EPIC
Total Run Time: 15 minutes
Genre: Narrative Short Film
Screening Format: 4K ProRes 422
Language: Spanish w/ English Subtitles
Country of Production: USA
Websites: www.facebook.com/ElCocodriloMovie
www.elcocodrilofilm.com
www.imdb.com/elcocodrilo
SHORT SYNOPSIS
A Mexican journalist and a cartel assassin collide in a diner, with tragic
consequences for both.
LONG SYNOPSIS
When Eduardo, a Mexican journalist who has reported on the corrupt ties
between the cartels and the military, is pressured to reveal the names of
his sources, he flees to the U.S. with his young son. Little does he know that
hot on his trail is Raul, a cartel sicario dispatched to assassinate him. In a
cruel twist of fate, Eduardo must succumb to his darkest impulses in order
to protect himself and his son.
CAST BIOS
Jacob Vargas (Eduardo):
Jacob Vargas began his acting career when he was discovered breakdancing
in a schoolyard at age 12. His introduction to acting came with a bit part as a
breakdancer on the hit TV show DIFF’RENT STROKES. In 1995 he won the very first
ALMA Award (for Emerging Artist of the Year) for his work in both Allison Anders'
MI VIDA LOCA (1993) and Gregory Nava's MY FAMILY (1995). He later starred in
films such as SELENA (1997), GET SHORTY (1995), AMERICAN ME (1992), ROMY
AND MICHELE’S HIGH SCHOOL REUNION (1997) and the cult favorite NEXT
FRIDAY (2000) as Ice Cube's nemesis, Joker. He later shined as Tijuana cop
Manolo, 'Benicio del Toro''s partner in Steven Soderbergh's Academy Awardwinning film TRAFFIC (2000), which earned him a Screen Actors Guild Award and
another ALMA Award. He then made us laugh as Sammy the chef in John
Moore's FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX (2004) and brought depth to Marine sniper
Cortez in Academy Award-winning director Sam Mendes' war drama JARHEAD
(2005). In 2006 he starred as a straight-arrow DEA agent opposite Laurence
Fishburne and Paul Walker in the action drama THE DEATH AND LIFE OF BOBBY Z
(2006) and joined an all-star cast as a politically charged busboy in Emilio
Estevez's historical drama BOBBY (2006) and played a psychologically tortured
drone pilot in Alex Rivera's sci-fi political love story THE SLEEP DEALER (2006). Not
satisfied with just being labeled as an actor, he has also been focusing his
talents on writing and producing through his production company, Third Son
Productions. In 2001 he executive produced and starred in the independent film
ROAD DOGZ (2000). He also co-produced and starred in the stage play
“Latinologues,” which ran on Broadway in 2005 and is available on DVD.
Through Third Son Productions, he is currently developing several feature film
and television projects.
Shannon Lucio (Justene):
Shannon received her BA in theater from the University of Southern California.
Shortly thereafter, she landed her breakout role on Fox's “The O.C.” Most
recently, she collaborated with Aaron Paul and Lena Olin on the feature film,
QUAD, and was featured as a series regular on a pilot for TNT called "The Tin
Star." Past notable credits include FIREFLIES IN THE GARDEN, with Julia Roberts
and Ryan Reynolds, FEAST OF LOVE, directed by Robert Benton, and recurring
arcs on "True Blood," "The Chicago Code," and "Grey's Anatomy." A founding
member and Creative Executive of Filament Features, Shannon is involved in all
aspects of production. She starred in and produced BAGGAGE, Filament's first
short film, and more recently, Maere's music video “Amen.” She is represented
by Paradigm Agency and Untitled Entertainment.
Hugo Medina (Raul):
Most recently Hugo Medina shot the feature film ON THE RUN in Los Angeles and
performed in the play, "Balm in Gilead" in New York which featured Academy
Award Nominee Michael Shannon and was produced by writer Beau
Willimon. Hugo received his B.A. in Theater Arts from UCLA where he performed
in “Ubu Roi,” “La Victima,” “Love Suicides at Sonezaki,” and “The Respectful
Prostitute.” He has had the opportunity to study theater and performance in
over 12 countries. He premiered in the play “Melancholia” at the Los Angeles
Theater Center and later performed at the Scotland Fringe Festival where it won
the Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award. Other credits include
“Hedda Gabler,” “Kasimir and Karoline,” “A Midsummer Nights' Dream” (Dir.
Christopher Ashley), “Everything Nice,” “The Revenger's Tragedy,” “Camino
Real,” “Refraction,” “1001,” and “Rosencranz and Guildenstern Are Dead.”
Some film credits include FRIENDS WITH MONEY(Dir. Nicole Holofcener), THE
WAILER, and MOE. T.V. credits include the CBS hit show “The Unit” written by
David Mamet. Hugo received his M.F.A. in Acting from the UCSD graduate
program.
Manuel Uriza (Captain):
Born February 22, 1975 in Mexico City, Manuel graduated with a Law Degree in
1998 from the Universidad Anahuac. He moved to the United States in 2000 to
pursue his two passions: Horses and Acting. Manuel has Guest Starred in the
popular USA Network series "Burn Notice", and can soon be seen in the
upcoming, highly anticipated, Mexican teen comedy
MALAVENTURA(2012). Manuel recently filmed on location in Mexico, the
suspense thriller THE GUARDIAN, based on the 1948 Academy Award
Winning Film "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" Adolfo Alvarez (Miguel):
Adolfo Alvarez was born in Los Angeles, California on September 31, 2003. He
has 2 older brothers, Alonso (his identical twin) and Jose. Adolfo began acting
When he was 6 years old. He is known for his humor and light-heartedness. He's
very happy to have worked on EL COCODRILO. Adolfo has done commercials for Bank of America, The City of San Diego Board
of Tourism, Kellog’s Frosted Flakes, The Discovery Network, and T Mobile. He also
acted in "Kids React to You Tube Stars", directed and created by Benny and Rafi
Fine.
Jaime Alvarez (Busboy/Sodier):
Jaime Alvarez is a bilingual Latin American Actor of Mexican roots. Raised in
Guadalajara, Mexico, Jaime always dreamed of being an actor, yet the lack of
resources available to him, kept his dream as "just a dream." It wasn't until he
was able to relocate to Orange County, California that his dream begun to take
form. Jaime first started exercising his passion for acting on the stages of Fullerton
College, where he arduously studied theater and performed in major theatrical
productions. His lead roles in "West Side Story" and "Roosters" earned him best
actor awards in both productions. His acting development continued as he
studied and performed in other stage productions such as, "Boyle Heights" by
Josefina Lopez's ("Real Women Have Curves"), and William Shakespeare's
"Twelfth Night" at the California State University of Long Beach, where he also
attained a Bachelors Degree in Dramatic Arts. Some of Jaime's television credits
include "House M.D.," "The Event," "CSI," "Criminal Minds," and "The Shield." Jaime
has also appeared in films such as, KILLING FRISCO, THE LEGEND OF BUTCH AND
SUNDABCE, IT’S A MATCH, TO THE BONE, and EL COCODRILO. He has also
currently been added to the cast of the feature film in pre-production,
APOCOLYPTIC PLAYGROUND. His commercial appearances include Microsoft,
General Motors, Ford Focus, Wendy's, Wells Fargo, Dos Equis, and Starbucks. His
voice-over work includes video games such as, "Red Dead Redemption" and
"Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advance Warfighter 2." Jaime currently continues
to hone his acting skills with master acting coach, Ivana Chubbuck, and is
grateful to be able to live his dream working alongside many other passionate
artists.
CREW BIOS
Steve Acevedo (Director)
Steve was born and raised in San Antonio, TX. Soon after graduating with a MFA
in Cinematography from Florida State University, he began directing and DPing
commercials in Texas. He has served as Director of Photography on the feature
films, SATELLITE OF LOVE and COWBOY SMOKE as well as the feature
documentaries, SOJA: LIVE IN HAWAII and SOLARIZE THIS (Post-production). In
addition, he has shot numerous short films, music videos and reality television
shows, working throughout the United States and other locations such as
Mexico, Aruba, Honduras, China, Puerto Rico, etc. In 2008, Steve was one of
three directors selected for the Disney/ABC-DGA Directing Fellowship. He is
currently participating in the 2012 NBC Directing Fellowship. Steve is currently
based out of Los Angeles, CA.
Alfredo Barrios, Jr. (Writer)
Alfredo is one of the executive producers of the hit USA network show “Burn
Notice.” Barrios was born and raised in Los Angeles. He’s a graduate of Harvard
College and Harvard Law School. After a five-year stint as a litigator at the Los
Angeles office of O’Melveny & Myers, he ventured into screenwriting and was
staffed on various television shows, including “First Monday,” “Mister Sterling,”
“Lyon's Den,” “Law & Order,” “Just Legal,” “Close to Home,” and “Justice.”
Stacey Crawford (Producer)
Since she could remember, Stacey Crawford had planned to leave her
small town and move to California to work in the entertainment
business. Growing up as an actor, dancer, and singer, she always had
the desire to entertain an audience. Stacey studied business at
Michigan State University, while taking theater classes -- and ended
up falling even more in love with the art of creating from behind the
camera.
Upon graduation, Stacey started her career as an internal consultant
at The Walt Disney Company. At Disney she worked across the
company’s variety of businesses – but it was after spending time with
the Walt Disney Studios and ABC she knew she wanted to be a producer.
Landing at talent management company, ROAR, Stacey was quickly promoted
to manager in the lifestyle and branding division, which she helped
run. At ROAR, Stacey produced, Aisha Tyler’s (THE TALK, FX’S ARCHER,
TALK SOUP) directorial debut, the short film, COMMITTED, which Aisha
also wrote and stars in. This project was packaged with brand capital
from PepsiCo. was part of their national digital campaign, and was
accepted into the short film competition at the Toronto International
Film Festival (STIFF).
In 2011, Stacey produced her first feature length film, BUCK WILD, a
comedy, currently in post-production, featuring Joe Stevens from TRUE
GRIT. Shot outside of Austin, TX, Stacey was lucky enough to work
alongside a talented crew who mostly works on Robert Rodriguez’s
films.
Stacey continues to live in Los Angeles, and works for Telepictures
Productions (ELLEN, ANDERSON, EXTRA, TMZ) where she runs the original
branded entertainment department. Producing original content for
variety of platforms in collaboration with some of the world’s most
innovative brands.
In addition to her rising career at Telepictures, Stacey continues to
produce independent projects, adding to her growing resume of: EL
COCODRILO (Short), RIPPLE EFFECT (short), and VALENTINE’S DAY A
DOCUMENTARY (short).
Woody Andrews (Producer)
Woody started his career in New York City writing pilot coverage and quickly
jumped into the LA film scene in 2008, assisting and providing vital coverage for
Ben Kruger's (“Brother's and Sisters”) blockbuster HUNTED at Paramount Pictures.
Upon finishing his duties on HUNTED, Woody again teamed up with Ben Kruger,
this time helping develop a film for Tony To (“The Pacific,” “Band of Brothers”).
Since then, Woody has optioned multiple projects both domestically and
overseas while still finding time for production. Last year, he teamed with Hunter
Williams from Busted Knuckle Productions, winning the 2011 LA 48 Hour Green
Film Festival and the 2011 LA Movie Awards. The short SHOOTING FOR
TOMORROW received critical praise at last year’s Cannes Short Corner, allowing
Woody to again team up with Busted Knuckle to produce the high concept
horror thriller THE WHISPERING DEAD.
Woody is currently working with Williams and Scott Michael Campbell,
developing a project for executive producer Tim Moore (J Edger, Mystic River,
Gran Torino). The film is slated to shoot in October 2012 in Montana.
Armando Salas (Director of Photography)
Armando Salas is an LA based Director of Photography working in features,
commercials, and music videos. He recently wrapped production on the
feature SHANGHAI CALLING starring Bill Paxton, Daniel Henney and Eliza Coupe.
Other film credits include DARK MIRROR, IFC’s top On-Demand film of 2009;
COCAINE COWBOYS, an Official Selection at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival;
SAILFISH, and SOPHIE’S REVENGE. His music video credits include Katy Perry,
Jason Mraz and Josh Groban. You can view samples of his work online:
salasfilm.com
Ricardo Jattan (Production Designer)
My passion for building and designing started modestly in Toronto, Canada, my
home town. My ideas were big but our premises were small. I founded a small
business with my best friend and we created miracles from our garage. Its great
to have vision, but in order to really grow you need guidance and mentors.
Moving to the United States allowed me to assist and learn from some amazing
production designers over the course of nine years and it gave me the
grounding in construction, management of crew and of budget that is so
crucial on every job whether it be a film, television commercial or styling on a
book. It was from that great education that I became a production designer
and have never looked back.
I love the new challenges on every job. If it’s a sleek modern interior, rustic aging
façade, or futuristic ship or a child’s bedroom, I have a wonderful team of
people who have collaborated with me for many years to bring these ideas into
reality. I endeavor to make every situation work regardless of challenging
budgets and tricky logistical locations.
I have worked on several feature films, and over 500 commercials. I’ve been
extremely lucky to have collaborated with famous directors, producers and
celebrities.
After more than 20 years in this business I still love my job, designing is in my
blood. I’m happy to be part of a group of people coming together and
creating a beautiful set under tight deadlines and budget. Late at night in a
cold studio its heartening to hear laughter and see smiles on the faces of a small
transient family that come together for one project, one day perhaps, and
together we create something very real but somehow its also magical.
Steven Lang (Editor)
A native of Long Island, Steve graduated from SUNY, Stony Brook with a B.S. in
Business Management. Once in Los Angeles, Steve got his professional start at
Robert Greenwald Productions as an assistant editor and hasn't left the editing
room since. Steve has had the pleasure of working with top television writers
and producers, including David Milch, Steven Bochco, David Kelley and Jerry
Bruckheimer. He has held every position possible in post-production, including
co-producer of the last four seasons of "The Practice." Steve's recent editing
credits include the pilot of USA's "Necessary Roughness," "The Firm" for NBC and
all six seasons of USA's "Burn Notice."
Jason Murgo (Composer/Sound Designer)
A native of San Antonio Texas, Jason began his musical journey at the age of 5
pounding out mostly atonal music scores accompanying thunderstorms on his
parent’s grand piano. This is where it is predicted that his deft compositional
touch for dynamics and thematic prowess was born.
He expanded his playing knowledge on drums, bass and guitar through out high
school and college playing in various bands including such Austin notables as
Ant Man Bee, The Visitor and most recently The Apologetics.
Jason started Machine Says Yes--Music & Sound Design in 2000 and has been
composing nonstop for TV and film ever since. He’s worked with some of the
finest directors in the industry—most notably Michel Gondry, Jeffery Plankser and
Tom Hooper. His music can be heard underscoring some of the biggest brands
in the world including Motorola, MTV, AT&T and Honda among many others.
Gillian Zwick (Costume Designer)
A central Florida native, Gillian Zwick graduated from Florida State University’s
Fashion Design program. While there she became heavily involved in the MFA
Film School's short film projects. She is currently living in Los Angeles and working
in various Costume Departments for television and film, while still maintaining a
driving passion as a Stylist and Costume Designer on indies, shorts, music videos
and viral content.
Hans Marrero (Fight Coordinator)
Born in 1985 in Beaufort, South Carolina, Marrero’s upbringing was defined by
discipline and structure. Son of Hans Marrero Sr. (USMC RET.), former Chief
Instructor for the U.S. Marine Corps, young Marrero was introduced to the world
of martial arts at the early age of four. As his father instructed hand-to-hand
combat at Paris Island, Hans Jr. was quick to soak in the skills and intricacies of
the family practice.
Carrying on the legacy, Marrero went on to discover and train various forms of
martial arts throughout the United States including Kobushi-sessen jutsu, ShoriniKempo, Kyo Kushin, Kai-Kan, Aikido, Matsukazi-Ryu (Jiu-Jitsu).Eventually landing
in Arizona, Hans became intrigued with a new sport just beginning to make it’s
way from the underground scene, Mixed Martial Arts. While attending ASU,
Marrero decided to test his skills in the cage and, at 18 years old, his fighting
career began.
Headlining venues such as Rage In The Cage, Ring of Fire, X-1 World Events, and
HDNet Fights, for 5 years Hans fought his way to a 15-3 pro record. Although an
extremely well-rounded competitor, he gained plenty of attention in the fight
world with his signature form of submission to quickly end most opponents; the
armbar.
Using his experience and knowledge for even greater good, from 2003 to 2006
Hans became senior instructor for the police combative training academy
where he taught close quarter battle to law enforcement and military
personnel. In addition, he also dedicated time to teaching civilian self-defense
and competitive mixed martial arts.
Realizing much success in the combat sports industry, Hans decided to apply his
past experiences and physical abilities to follow his dream in film. Packing his
bags and moving to New York, Marrero put his natural charisma behind
cameras and landed hit roles in television series and movies such
as WARRIOR and COPOUT.
Today, Hans remains very active in both Mixed Martial Arts and film.
CREDITS
Directed by
Steve Acevedo
Written by
Alfredo Barrios, Jr.
Produced by
Woody Andrews
Stacey Crawford
Producers
Steve Acevedo
Alfredo Barrios, Jr.
Starring
Jacob Vargas
Director of Photography
Armando Salas
Production Designer
Ricardo Jattan
Editor
Steven Lang
Costume Designer
Gillian Zwick
Original Score by
Jason Murgo
Fight Coordinator
Hans Marrero
Casting Director
Karen Ryan
Cast
Eduardo
Captain
Miguel
Justene
Raul
Busboy/Soldier
Jacob Vargas
Manuel Uriza
Adolfo Alvarez
Shannon Lucio
Hugo Medina
Jaime Alvarez
Crew
Production Coordinator
1st Assistant Director
2nd AD
2nd 2nd AD
B Camera Operator
1st AC
2nd AC
Gaffer
Key Grip
Best Boy Electric
Swing G/E
Sound Mixer
Make-up Artist
Art Director
Prop Master
Assistant Costume Designer
Key Set PA
Mary Stuart Deibel
Kris Pyland
Andrew Alexander
Tucker Forbes
Alexander Alxandrov
Joe Hendrick
Yevgeniy Shrayber
Vanessa Wolf
Michael Gioulakis
Con Haffmans
Martin Wright
Cameron Owen
Martin Kittappa
Art Anthony
Erin Thiele
Brendon Parker
Maranda Nichols
Nick Miller
Production Assistants
Studio Teacher
Assistant Editor
Assistant Fight Coordinator
Stunts
Armorer
Sound Designer/Mixer
Film Colorist
Background Talent
Skylar Grabecz
Marko Dragan Zecevic
Cory Krik
Brigitta Kristensen
James Kilton
Ayhan Tongadur
George Mederos
Geovanny Corvera
Sam Madina
Kris Pyland
Jason Murgo
Yoram Tal
Edward Joyce
Huguette Laforid
John Greer
Kunta Mazimba
Special thanks to the following for their generosity and support
Ernest & Diana Acevedo
California Pizza Kitchen
Marc Carlini
Johnny Frazen Exclusive Casting Studios
Ariel Gonzales & Vanessa Martinez
Zach Nasits
Armando Riesco
Rob Shipp Air Culinaire
Tony Wei Sunrise Café
Martin Weisz
Additional support provided by the Austin Film Society through the Texas
Filmmakers' Production Fund
El Cocodrilo
(The Crocodile)
The events and characters in this motion picture photoplay are fictitious. Any
similarity to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental.
A Cirila Films Production I www.steveacevedo.com
2012 © Steve Acevedo. All Rights reserved