Lights, camera action in Calexico By Leo Miramon, Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 10, 2006 2:23 PM PDT
CUAUHTEMOC BELTRAN PHOTO
Actor Chris Cleveland (as Border Patrol agent Scott, left) points a gun at Joey Gaytan (as Julio, an illegal immigrant smuggler) after Emilio Roso (as Manuel, an undercover cop, right) tackled him to the ground while filming “Border Lost” in downtown Calexico on Tuesday.
Violence erupted in downtown streets here Tuesday when guns were drawn and criminals fought to get away from federal officials.
Then someone yelled “cut,” and everything came to a stop.
Onlookers jammed downtown sidewalks to get a glimpse of Los Angeles filmmakers working on the movie “Border Lost,” which began shooting in Calexico on Monday.
David Murphy and Scott Peck, both of Los Angeles, teamed to write the movie that deals with border violence, and now the pair is producing and directing the project in this border city.
The movie is about federal agents getting ambushed by “border bandits” and how the agents take the law into their own hands to get back a kidnapped agent, Peck said.
He added the total production time for the movie will be no more than a month, filming here and in Los Angeles.
Peck and Murphy work for Instinct Production and Picture Suite Films out of L.A. and will be in town for the next six days, Murphy said.
Murphy said his film crew was searching for a rural-looking area near the U.S.-Mexican border. With the help of the Imperial County Film Commission, they found what they were looking for in the Imperial Valley.
“The Imperial Valley Film Commission was so nice, and they helped us out so much in getting us a lot of things,” Murphy said. “We thought it would be a good idea to come down here.”
Several L.A.-based actors and a few local actors filmed on location near the intersection of First Street and Heffernan Avenue on Tuesday afternoon.
Film crews will be in Calexico as well as on U.S. Bureau of Land Management property and other desert locations throughout the week, said Susie Carrillo, president of the Imperial County Film Commission board.
“Movies like this one that are filmed here bring revenue to the Imperial Valley as well as puts us on the map,” Carrillo said.
Carrillo added “Border Lost” depicts several issues that may occur on a daily basis in our border towns.
Murphy and Peck, who have directed and produced other films, commercials and music videos, said “Border Lost” should be out by winter.
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