5 QUESTIONS FOR FILMMAKER LESLIE RIVERA ————— Papi Ramirez vs Giant Scorpions

by Le Anne Lindsay, Editor

Tinsel & Tine’s 5 Questions Series continues with an old friend, Leslie Rivera, Les and I met at a screenwriting class, at the University of the Arts, a ways back, I’m not gonna say how long. We reconnected in the last 2 or 3 years on social media.

Les is a Puerto Rico born writer/director/producer who has, since we met, made a number of low budget independent short films and documentaries, he’s a winner of the Philadelphia Film Festival’s Philly Pitch and a Sundance Screenwriter’s Lab semi-finalist.

Les is also an educator of low budget filmmaking techniques. Be sure to check out his Youtube Channel – Les El Blatino Cineninja, which is full of video tutorials that teach movie magic like the one below:

Most recently Les has been working on a 5 part limited series called PAPI RAMIREZ VS GIANT SCORPIONS, which he’s combined into a feature length film.  I got a chance to see the film in the early stages – it’s a crazy fun, high energy throw back to the B-Movie era of super creatures; but it also delivers a sentimental message on new fatherhood.  See Trailer Below:

“Papi Ramirez vs Giant Scorpions” PROMO VIDEO 2020 from Papi Ramirez vs Giant Scorpions on Vimeo.

Now on to 5 Questions for Les Rivera video interview…

If you wanna come back to enjoy the video interview at your leisure, but want the quick 5 Questions Highlights…

T&T: In a nutshell what was the main inspiration for wanting to become a filmmaker?

Les Rivera: Way, way back in the day, even before our screenwriting course. I was in a dance company. I was a core company member of Rennie Harris‘ Pure Movement. I was fortunate enough to tour with them all over the world, and during a particularly long plane ride, cause technology wasn’t like it is today, where there’s a screen for entertainment in front of you on the back of the next person’s seat. I went to the library and brought with me several random books. One of them was Robert Rodgriguez‘s “Rebel Without A Crew” It’s essentially a diary of the making of his first feature film “El Mariachi”. And the way he explained the process, was like a sport, the more you do it, the better you get at it. You don’t sit around thinking about it too much or theorizing. And prior to being a dancer I was a gymnast, so it was a concept that I understood very clearly. I always loved movies, but I didn’t aspire to be a filmmaker. Back then the thought of picking up a camera and making a movie was non-existent. But there was something about reading this book that made filmmaking a reality and turned on a switch like that (snaps his fingers)… [See more in video interview]

T&T: I know that you have a unique studio for making films. But tell our audience a bit about your location and process.

LR: Around the time my daughter turned 2 years-old, my wife and I decided to move closer to her family in North Carolina. Our interim apartment was teeny tiny. I didn’t even have enough space to store my filmmaking equipment. I heard about a storage unit facility that was allowing bands to rent out units so they could rehearse. And another friend was using a unit as an art studio. So I got myself a unit, wasn’t quite sure what I was gonna do with it, but the idea of having a space… 2 weeks passed and then on a Friday night around 11:30pm, my daughter was sleeping, my wife was chilling, I decided to head to the storage unit, just to putz around a little bit. And I noticed a scale model car was coming out of one of the boxes, a Twighlight Zone kinda scene came to mind where you’re out in the desert all alone and you hit something and get out of the car to see what you hit… I filmed that in the storage unit that night… [See more in video interview]

T&T: “Papi Ramirez vs Giant Scorpions” this has taken many twists and turns leading to an upcoming screening at the Salem Horror Fest 2020 in Oct. Give us a some background on this work, how it started, how it’s evolved.

LR: After that first night, I started making a lot of little scenes like the first one and then started stringing them together. The only thing that made it seem cohesive is that they were all in black in white and they were all kinda moody. The scorpion wasn’t even a part of it yet. I take this very short piece and send it to the Philadelphia Latino Film Festival with a note that says I have this “feature film” and here’s the first 20 minutes. To my surprise they responded Yes, send us the film we would love to screen it! So now it’s only 3 months away from the Festival and I don’t even have a script. I go from 20 minutes of mostly atmosphere to a fully rendered feature film. But being under deadline was good because it made me finish something… [See more in video interview]

T&T: What’s been the most memorable response you’ve received thus far from anyone, after seeing “Papi Ramirez vs Giant Scorpions”?

LR: I knew that the movie was too long when it screened at the Philadelphia Latino Film Festival. But, I’ll never forget there was a dad there with two young sons, and at one point in the movie he stretched out his arms around his kids and drew them close. And that idea of fatherhood is what I wanted more than the thrills. When I saw that, it hit me and I knew what to continue to work towards. [See more in video interview]

T&T: Name your Top 5 favorite movies from a mix of genres and Top 5 from your favorite genre of B Movies?

THEY LIVE (1988) & ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK (1981) John Carpenter films, Bruce Lee in FIST OF FURY (1972), 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968) Stanley Kubrick, ALL IS LOST (2013) Robert Redford, also Silent Films in general because of all the visual imagery.

For B-Movies – FLASH GORDON (1980) scored by Queen, THE MONSTER SQUAD (1987) , ATTACK OF THE KILLER KLOWNS (1988), FRIGHT NIGHT (1985), TREMORS (1990) CRITTERS (1986) [See more in video interview]

Follow Les Rivera – Youtube | Instagram | Twitter | Website

Papi Ramirez vs Scorpions has been chosen to screen at both Salem Horror Fest and Nightmares Film Fest in Oct 2020 ⚰️💀🔪

POST UPDATE 10.24:

I’m still in shock over here after learning that “Papi Ramirez vs Giant Scorpions” won the top prize at Nightmares Film…

Posted by Les Rivera El Malito on Saturday, October 24, 2020