We all gamble one way or the other.
I live in the only place in Texas where there’s a casino, and I know many avid gamblers including my beautiful wife.
Today she opened the doors to her new business.
It’s a learning center. A place where kids can learn and have fun. A place where adults can learn either English or Spanish. Teenagers can improve their algebra or reading.

This business had been in her head for many years, but she never had the money for it. Or maybe she had the money and the thought of investing gambling on a new business seemed too scary, too damn risky.

When she finally took the step to quit her job (as a college professor), to take care of our son (full time), she suddenly got her last check ($10,000) and after months of talking about a business, she finally took the plunge and rented a place, invested gambled thousands of dollars and created a place exactly how she envisioned a learning place should be.

Was she successful? YES.

On the first day she opened her website (the place was still in the works), she had filled a whole summer camp session (without any advertising).

The lesson: We all have to gamble; and if we gamble smart, on actual human ability, on passion, on great ideas… Well, you really can’t go wrong with gambling like that. It’s something that will pay off, in some way or another.

On the movie front, our goal is to create the best movies in the world, and we’re gambling with our time. And since time equals money, we have a very valuable asset.

I’ve been hacking at this script for quite a while now, and I am at the final stretch. However, this is a very important piece of the filmmaking process and we cannot afford this to be mediocre or lame. If we are going to put a great amount of money, human effort, belief, passion and a shitload of hard work, then this script has to be fucking great.

If all else fails. We can always go back to initech.

PS: Congratulations Gaby.
PSS: Grisi, thanks for your talent and dedication.
PSSS: Thanks to everyone (on standby), who will help to make the Heart of Treviño possible.

For more info on Gaby’s new biz, head on to: www.thecenterofintelligence.com

Me & Paco getting things done (Hardcore!). (Outside Jesse's House of Art)

Even as far as cliche’s go, today was a very f***ing beautiful day.

And actually, these whole past two weeks have been nothing but amazing, but enough of the generalities and let’s get down to the meat of it all:

• Sunny skies, not warm, not cold. Perfect weather all-day-long.
• We finished our shoot with Jody (Parks and Rec, San Antonio), which was cool (we got to earn our cash).
• Then we went to the Barnes and Noble and stumbled upon a really cool f***ing book called “Film Club”
• Next we visited our good friend Jesse Treviño, to clarify some stuff for the script AND to get another dose of f***ing enthusiasm.
• Next we visited with our good friend Robert G. Rdz, to clarify some financial questions we had for the movie.
• Next we visited with Office of Cultural Affairs (with our dear friends Lindsey & Sebastian!)
• NEXT we went to the hospital. My new nephew Santi Harbison Mendoza (picture below) was born today. Which was THE f***ing highlight of the day. My dear sister Luana was in labor for quite some time until she finally made it through. We were all worried sick, until the news came of the delivery. It’s quite a rush and a quite a heavy feeling of love for a new human being that will take this earth and bend it to its knees. FTW.
• NEXT, Paco and myself were homesick and we hit the road back home. Frank Turner, Basi and propagandhi provided the entertainment for the ride home.
• NEXT, here I am, writing this post. A new uncle. A new perspective. Happy.

On Jesse Treviño: I am happy to report that he looks great and I just admire his f***ing enthusiasm (There’s no other way to put it, there’s “enthusiasm”, and then there’s “f***ing enthusiasm”). Even though his health is not at 100%; his persistence is very overwhelming. Even if I wasn’t making a film about Jesse, I feel very privileged to be in his presence. I don’t think I have ever met a person like him in my life and I am very glad that this movie will let audiences around the world to finally know Jesse.

Me, Jesse & Paco after probing Jesse for some cold hard facts. Picture taken by our good friend Gabe Velasquez.

Also, I am trying my best to write the best f***ing script anyone has seen. I am glad to report that after many, many, many, many rewrites, I have finally grasped the whole concept of the movie. I have been wrestling with the script for almost a year and I am (finally) very happy with what I have right now.

It is filled with surprises and hits all the right notes, but there is still much left to do. And in keeping with my writing spirit I will be in hiding from the world for at least two more months until I finish this damn thing.

Thanks for all your well wishes and support for THE HEART OF TREVIÑO. I can’t wait to finish the script.

Until next time,
Your friend, Ricardo (f***ing) Mendoza.

PS: Thanks again to Jesse Treviño for formalizing our relationship and setting it in stone last week. A handshake can only go so far, but a signature is a commitment. Thanks for trusting us. You will NOT be disappointed.

My sister Luana with my new nephew. aaawwwwwwww.

Basi, Me, Paco & Roger. Happy with contract in hand. Taken Feb 8, day after Frank Turner gig.

This is one of my favorite Treviño paintings. Tribute to John Lennon. Imagine.

There’s many ways to skin a cat, if you were so inclined to, and if you’re in a country where that’s legal, like La Pryor (just kidding).

The way I like to write a screenplay is to first jot down all of the important pieces you’ll need for the script, like grabbing the necessary ingredients before making a meal. This time around I am jotting down not only ideas but shots I have planned, cool quotes, background information and an extended outline. All this is put into my trusty moleskine notebook.

This screenplay is a little special because I’m dealing with true life events and there’s hundreds of pages of research, hours of recordings (both audio and video), and hundreds of pictures to go through.

Once I have a strong feeling for structure in my notes I would type it all up, (I’m not here yet, but I’m close). I would read it, edit, cut, add and do it all over again, until it is completed.

When completed, (and this is the fun part!) I get a stopwatch, turn it on and start  visualizing the movie while reading the script. The movie unfolds as if I were watching it, I feel like a kid playing with a cardboard box. After this I would tweak, add, edit, cut, delete, paste until my heart’s happy and singing zip-i-dee-doo-dah out of its valves.

I hope to have a first draft really soon.

Also, please spread the word, rate and comment our promo on youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SSvqVlXxKw

Stephen King’s book On Writing is very recommended and some screenwriting blogs (google them) are also quite helpful!

At this moment we are currently tucked away from civilization like little chemists, and we are concocting some mixtures that will give pleasures to your heart and soul…

On October 21st we plan to finally expose the website, the teaser and some other surprises for our next film!

This will kick off a long and winding journey into the pre-production of our new flick…
As of now, the script is being written and pre-production should commence once the script has been set in stone.

We have been at it for more than a year on this project and we expect to go for at least 2 more… :-O

All I can say is that it has truly been a life changing experience, and I am very, very excited and grateful for the mountain of work that still needs to be done…

It’s been more than 5 years (2004) since we started filming our first movie EL ESCAPE DE LOS SANTOS, AND 3 years since its release (2006)…

It’s been 3 years (2006) since filming ASH WEDNESDAY: CAPITULO UNUS and it is still unreleased…

It has also been more than a year (April 2008) since the idea for our third film was conceived…

That being said, since April 2008 we’ve been slowly climbing this steep mountain.

We have achieved so many “mini” goals, and I have been privately updating this journal (without publishing)… which I hate because there’s so much material that could be so useful and entertaining (especially with the characters we’ve been meeting with)…

We have fought so damn hard for this new movie… just to get the permissions has been a challenge, to get the support, the writing has been very challenging, the research has been extensive and intensive, every single wall that has gotten in our way we have destroyed it with our bare hands…

we are bloody and we are hungry…

It has been quite a journey and the coolest (or saddest) fact is that we are in the very early stages of pre-production… So there’s still A LOT more that needs to be done…

What’s also cool (at least in my little world) is that we are building all this from the ground up.

We have learned from our mistakes and this time around we are energizing and building an infrastructure way, WAY before we start shooting… It is imperative and of the utmost importance that we attain the support of as much people as we can.

If you are a fan of San Antonio, we need you… If you are a fan of Eagle Pass, we need you! If you’re a fan of Monterrey or Piedras Negras, we need you!

If you are a fan of Art, Love and Life, we need you!

If you want to be inspired by this incredible true story, we need you!

In October (2009) we will be releasing a teaser and a full fledged website that will announce to the world our very precious and ambitious project…

Lots of stuff is happening and for now please help us by subscribing to our blog or to our twitter thing-a-majig…

twitter.com/dworkstudios

ALSO, special thanks to everyone that has lent a helping hand to some humble independent filmmakers (us).

Thank you for helping us make our past two films [sad isn’t it? two films since 2004! Ha!] and we hope you can join us into the dark and treacherous path of our next motion picture.

This week we will head on to even more encounters (or meetings, as the upper class call them) with a bunch of individuals that are crucial for the continuation of our illustrious path.

Before I go, I’ll leave with one of those “inspirational” quotes from a guy that looked like the penguin in Batman:

“Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.”-Sir Winston Churchill

PS: if you are one of the privileged few that have a netflix account, pretty-please-with-sugar-on-top, take 5 minutes of your time and post a review of EL ESCAPE DE LOS SANTOS… thanks!