Filmmaker Jon Garcia and actors Ernesto Reyes & Jesse Tayeh ("Luz"): "Love Takes Courage"

Show Notes

Dennis Zooms with the three men behind the new prison romance "Luz;" writer-director Jon Garcia and actors Ernesto Reyes, who plays prison newbie Ruben and Jesse Tayeh who plays his seen-it-all cellmate Carlos. They talk about shooting in a real prison in Oregon, why they couldn't wear blue during shooting and including actual inmates in the film. Jon discusses the strong chemistry between the actors and how he knew they were the right choices and the actors talk about the strong bond they forged working on the film. Jon talks about the culture of machismo that's explored in the film and enlisting his own mother to play Carlos's mother in the film. The trio also talk about their approach to the film's two powerful sex scenes, why they were important to the film and what they were like for the actors to shoot. Other topics include: getting the tortilla-making right, bringing levity to serious work, the kind or unkind ways we speak to ourselves, the way guys razz each other for dumb things like the way they carry their books or drink from a bottle and the gloriousness that is Costco pizza. https://www.lakeproductions.org/