FIRST CLIPS! RELEASE ANNOUNCEMENT
“CALIFORNIA WINTER”
Starring Gina Rodriguez, Rutina Wesley, Michael Ironside, A Martinez
Writer-director Odin Ozdil’s California Winter will be released on iTunes and VUDU on 5/31/16.
To coincide with the announcement, we’re releasing two clips from the film – you can access them below for placement on your website.
CLIP 1
https://youtu.be/jXKOapRGDqU
CLIP 2
https://youtu.be/_zNRUzZoph8
A companion piece to topical, award-winning triumph The Big Short ( though, as opposed to it, this is seen through the eyes of ‘the people’) California Winter tells of an ambitious young real estate agent who must fight to save her integrity and her father’s home from foreclosure when the risky loan she advised him on send his home into foreclosure.
Golden Globe Winner Gina Rodriguez (Jane the Virgin) features alongside Michael Ironside (The Flash), A Martinez (Longmire), Rutina Wesley (True Blood), Walter Perez (The Avengers), Erik Avari (Hachi : A Dog’s Tale), and Elizabeth Dominguez in an Odin Ozdil film.
THE NEW TRAILER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yO6-dMDWjgs
EMBED
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
My first direct exposure to the housing crisis was in early 2009, when I worked as a cameraman on a documentary about Latino families in foreclosure. Witnessing people’s bafflement, panic and grief in the face of losing their homes had a powerful effect on me. The emotional fallout from the crash became the lens through which I viewed events as they unfolded, and it was this that inspired me to write the script. I strongly felt that in the media, the human stories of ordinary people’s loss were overshadowed by a focus on the big business machinations that caused the crash.
Recent films like The Big Short, Margin Call and Too Big to Fail show us the drama that took place at the top of the pyramid where billions of dollars were at stake. They’re set in the Ivory Towers of Wall Street and the back room offices of government. I wanted to make a film that could take place in any community, in any city in America. The monetary amounts may seem paltry in the scale of things, but for each of those families, the stakes were just as high.
In California Winter, we see the devastating impact of the financial crisis on a Latino community through the eyes of a father and daughter. Clara and Papi, already grieving the loss of Clara’s mother, struggle to connect as they deal with financial pressures and decision-making under stress as the world around them seems to fall apart. Every potential avenue of relief is blocked, simple interactions negatively construed in the most personal terms.
In deciding how to portray the experience of everyday Americans and explore how millions of people could sleepwalk into a financial trap in pursuit of the American Dream, I decided upon the setting of a mixed-generation immigrant household. This was an important choice for me. It allowed me to draw on my own experience growing up in a Sephardic-Turkish-American household to show the inner lives of families rarely seen on screen, and depict the kind of nuances and complex, specific challenges that inform what’s one version of the “average American family.” The culture clashes and language barriers inherent in bilingual homes add to the potential for drama and empathy, as we realize that many of the homeowners affected literally didn’t understand what they were getting into and fell for propaganda, bad information and outright lies.
Ultimately, I believe commonality of experience overshadows differences in culture, and that films like California Winter can help bridge the perceived divide between people of different backgrounds that coexist in our country. At a time when minority representation on screen is a hot button topic, I’m proud to say California Winter would score top marks on the Bechdel test or any other so-called “people of color” analysis. With California Winter, I wanted to create the type of content I believe audiences are crying out for – good stories with relatable characters that are seldom portrayed onscreen.
Long after Wall Street has recovered and turns record profits, banks continue to enforce predatory policies and tough times continue for many. We still fail to recognize the importance of empathy as a core value – one that should drive decision-making at the highest level. If we could only get there, perhaps risk aversion could become more engrained in regulatory policy, and we could mitigate future crises. I hope people can connect to the story of the characters in California Winter and are encouraged to question the actions of our most rich and powerful institutions, especially when they don’t value or exhibit the most important of human elements – family, honor, love and self-reflection.
-Odin
ADDITIONAL PROJECT BACKGROUND
California Winter, the first feature by Odin Ozdil, was born out of interviews conducted of homeowners in foreclosure in the Los Angeles area in 2009. This was the height of the crash, and with so much unknown, one thing was clear: people had fallen into a rabbit-hole of financial uncertainty, and the crisis was having a profound effect on their lives and communities.
Characters and their stories in CALIFORNIA WINTER are fictional, but based on the very real circumstances people have found themselves in during this crisis.
California Winter is an ultra low-budget film shot in 2010 in JUST 16 DAYS. A labor of love, it stars Michael Ironside, A Martinez, Rutina Wesley, Walter Perez, Erik Avari, and Elizabeth Dominguez. There are many other familiar and talented faces throughout the film, including a supporting role by Golden Globe winner Gina Rodriguez of Jane the Virgin.
From helpful homeowners in Pacoima and Eagle Rock, to the cast and crew, CALIFORNIA WINTER was only possible because of the generous effort of those who believed in the film; giving their time, homes and money to be a part of getting this touching yet unfortunately all too common story filmed.
FACT SHEET
TYPE: FEATURE NARRATIVE
GENRES: Drama, Family, Historical
RUN TIME: 82 MINUTES
FORMAT: HD
ORIGINAL LANGUAGE: ENGLISH AND SPANISH
SCREENING RATIO: 16:9
FPS: 24
CREDITS
An INTRINSIC VALUE FILMS and OZMOSIS PRODUCTIONS film
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY
Odin Ozdil
PRODUCERS
Aimee Schoof, Odin Ozdil, Isen Robbins
MAIN CAST
ROLE PLAYED BY
CLARA MORALES: Elizabeth Dominguez
PAPI: A Martinez
SHERIFF HILLMAN: Michael Ironside
MARCY SANCHEZ: Rutina Wesley
DOUGLAS HARIRI: Erik Avari
CARLOS GONZALEZ: Walter Perez
CAMILA VASQUEZ: Laura Ceron
KEN RICHMOND: Sean Patrick Murphy
HOWARD GORSKI: Rod McLachlan
GERALDO RAMIEREZ: Louie Alegria
OFELIA RAMIEREZ: Gina Rodriguez
CREW
DP: Brayton Austin
EDITED BY: Nelson Brann, Susan Vaill
COMPOSER: Goliath Flores
COSTUMES: Angela E. Thomas
CASTING: Rosalinda Morales & Pauline O’con
