QUANTUM STORM WIKI ON “THE SECRET OF ANGELIKA5”

THE SECRET OF ANGELIKA5 [ANGELIKA5] is a 2009 SciFi, dramatic web series written and directed by David Quintana-Lujan. It is the second web series produced by Quintana-Lujan, this series was the first produced under the studio name, Quantum Storm Productions. In the near future, a young girl, Angelika McAdams [Brittany Clark], awakens after having an aneurysm [or stroke] and is raised by two adoptive parents who took care of the young girl, keeping a close eye on her recovery. Along her new life start, she makes new friends, centering her juvenile tendencies with a close neighbor, Brianna Fuller, who introduces to nothing but constant trouble, drama and teenage concerns. Angelika is frequently visited by a ghost-like woman, who calls herself “Ms. Rachael,“ who is a harbinger of the future, or maybe just a figment of her imagination. With each new visitation of this “harbinger” a coincidental set of migraines occur that eventually end up giving Angelika incredible super power abilities. Her best friend, Brianna [Angelica Grayson],has the reverse effect and she too begins to have visitations from a paranormal group of beings called “the Vapor People.” As the two girls begin to grow with their abilities, it becomes a struggle for power between good and evil. The powers from the future are then introduced, but we learn that they have hid themselves in the deep past, hiding from a powerful foe. Can Angelika unite with her friends to help unlock the secret of her abilities and defeat the evil plans of the “Vapor People?” ANGELIKA5 features Angelica Grayson, Jessica Yanker, Maque Garcia, Saira Ramos, John St. Germain, Eddie Enriquez, Alan Berkowitz, Patrice Kentimenos, Kacey Kelley, Mary King, Larry Carrell, Matthew Jasso, Shelley Boozer, Caterra McAlexander, and Rainey Beaumier. 

Directed by D. R. Quintana-Lujan 

Screenplay by D. R. Quintana-Lujan
                    Brittany Clark
                    Angelica Grayson 

Story by D. R. Quintana-Lujan
            John St. German

Based on Characters by D. R. Quintana-Lujan

Produced by D. R. Quintana-Lujan                        
                 John St. Germain
                 Jennifer Lightsey

Executive Producers Barbara Johnston
                            D. R. Quintana-Lujan
                            Barbara Clark 

Starring Brittany Clark & Angelica Grayson 

Cinematography by D. R. Quintana-Lujan 

Edited by D. R. Quintana-Lujan
              Andrew Quintana 

Music by ASIA
             Randal Behan
             Zeca Mahoney

Production Company Quantum Storm Productions 

Running Time 22 minutes per episode 

Countries United States 

Language English 

Budget $45,000 (52 episodes)

THE SECRET OF ANGELIKA5 is an ultra-low independent web series directed and produced by David Quintana-Lujan from March 2009 to December 2014. The entire web series was developed and filmed in the county of Montgomery in Texas. A large casting call was made to find every actor in the show, over 100 teens tried out for the series and only three were picked; those being Brittany Clark, Angelica Grayson, and Rainey Beaumier. A casting call for the parents in the show was even tougher, eventually landing spots in the series were Maque Garcia [picked because of her deep Spanish accent], Saira Ramos [for her approachability], and Eddie Enriquez [for his soap opera good looks]. Because the series was being developed in south Texas, the director wanted a heavy cast of Latino talent in key roles. 

SEASON 1

Seven locations were used, most owned by the parents of the teenage actors, the introduction of the Lightsey Ranch and lake property, and one prime home owned by the Grayson family in Waller County. Each of the 52 episodes for the series was estimated at $870 per episode, each averaged five hour shoots on the production set per day, and the scripting was purposely written for twenty minute episodes; as the director-producer believed [at the time] that shorter “fast paced” episodes was perfect to watch from the internet. Filming of episode one began in February 2009 with a small cast and crew after a long and exhausting talent search to fill roles. The series co-writer, John St. Germain, played the part of Angelika’s father for the first season. Over the course of three weekends, the production team completed four episodes and also worked on the "season ender" which was planned as the eighth episode. Production teams remained small in the first two seasons to keep the cast ready to move from one location to another to complete as many scenes as possible in one day.

Episodes were immediately released upon completion and the cast screened every new episode before they were launched on a studio website. By the first summer of production, all eight episodes were viewable online and there was an instant rush of viewers who watched the first season, trying to figure out what the secret of the series was all about. Meta data for the series was impressive as the first season reached out to over 80,000 fans from various countries. 

Because the director-producer was stationed overseas for most of his Navy career, promotional advertising was produced by spreading the work through contacts made across Europe and western pacific locations during his military career which helped bolster the existence of the low budget show worldwide. What also helped was that the sultry, Maque Garcia, was also a local celebrity in Houston, Texas; as she was recognized as the weather and traffic correspondent on the local Latin network stations. Her popularity brought in higher numbers of views from the local community which helped bolster a new line of fans who followed newly released episodes to the series every weekend.

Helping to bring in new fans to the show, the opening credits for the first season used the music track of “Ride Easy” from the world known rock band, ASIA. The director-producer was able to legally procure the use of the track for the cost of $150, which was a complete surprise to the lead singer of ASIA, John Wetton, who absolutely thought the track was perfect for the opening credits of the show and wrote a letter to the studio about using the track. Search engines for the title track from ASIA’s song helped boost the existence of the show at every turn and the studio considered the first season a complete hit with over 85,000 in the first year of the show. 

 

SEASON 2

Season two [2010] introduced new characters and actors to the show. The director-producer was so impressed with the minor success of the first season, he began to expand the writing in of new characters and bending story arcs into several different directions; but said that all of the story arcs were required to build solid character development and bring the show to one final confrontation at the end. This new season saw the departure of John St. Germain as Arthur McAdams and the studio hired the talented Larry Carrell to fill the void. Another new actor, Daniel Gallehugh was brought in to play villain in the series, which brought a lot of heated opinions towards the potential violence in the series. The studio lost the rights to use the ASIA track from the first season, due to a shift in the policies from the bands distribution rights and their publisher. The director-producer immediately commissioned a new track from an indie music source to fill the void. Season two was well received, but was not as successful as season one. Season two ended the series in a wild, but very strange manner which left many of the shows fans in a proverbial lurch. 

 

SEASON 3

Season three [2011] brought a new track for the opening credits performed by ASIA entitled “Light The Way” which came from their most recent “Omega” album, which brought a lot of excitement to the show. This season also introduced a character “Sabrina” as the third lead of the show, played by Jessica Yanker of Sugarland, TX. The writing to this season was more focused and the cast had more chemistry with the lineup than the previous seasons. The series story line shifted, giving insight that the entire environment in the series was more of a holographic world [or a dream] more than reality. With a solid promotional push, one character, Deputy Blair [played by Mary King] got a lot of attention and became an instant fan favorite of the show when she was introduced in the third season. King performed her part brilliantly for never having any previous acting experience. She was used in several other projects outside of Angelika5 and was instrumental in helping create a short film entitled, Sparkies. The new episodes of Angelika5 were extended to twenty-five minutes and each episode told a complete story, closing arcs that were once toyed with in the writing department. 

 

EXTENDED PLOT LINES

A pair of “Razor Episodes” – smaller short film episodes that present a separate, but important plot to the main series – were released by the studio the same year and during a break in the production cycle. A pair of episodes were put together in a relatively short time and all were produced in the town of Montgomery, TX. A super being, Tamara Amvet [played by Shelley Boozer] tries to prevent a group of traitorous soldiers from entering a secure holding chamber of humans who have been frozen in suspended animation. Her methods at handling the mercenaries seem a little harsh, but Amvet is only trying to prevent a larger problem from surfacing. Boozer was so excited about playing the part, that she practiced the part of playing a super hero with telekinesis by using large stereo magnets to move metal objects around. The two razor episodes were both dramatic and very dark, a far departure of what the director-producer was producing in the main web series. Could these razors have opened a subplot showing that the entire inhabitants of Angelika’s town are actually asleep? 

 

FROM COMIC BOOKS TO VIDEO

Season three also introduced new characters that were developed by the director-producer in a comic book entitled “Deadly Force” released under Blackhawk Comics in 1992 and brought into the show. The lead character Bianca Wolfe was performed brilliantly by Kacey Kelley, was part of a military team who infiltrated the town through a “dream like” doorway, where they were aware of a different world outside of the town where Angelika lived. The Bianca Wolfe character was performed so well by Kelley, the director-producer began production on a spin-off short film called, BIANCA: 2029 released on YouTube and was well received by fans. The team was searching for missing combat members who were “captured” by an alien force. One character named Tamara Amvet, played by Rachel Epps [previously played by Shelley Boozer], was gifted as a top level telepath with the abilities of telekinesis and played a significant part in focusing the story arc for the new season. None of these new characters ever crossed with Angelika during the series run, but opened the possibility that the entire town was not what it seemed. 

 

CRAZY ENDING TO A SEASON

Season three ended in stunning fashion, presenting the power of the “Vapor People” dragging one of the lead characters, Brianna, away into a secrete passage in her own room and then being replaced by a dopleganger. The entire season received high marks from critics and fans alike, viewer numbers returned to the high 80K area as season one did. As the studio and the cast began to plan schedules for the next season, Larry Carrell stepped out of his role as Arthur McAdams to work on a film project of his own and would later be replaced by the talented actor Matthew Jasso in season four. Jasso's entry into the series changed the dynamics of the Arthur character and brought in an action packed version that helped boost the production standard of the show. During the season break, the director-producer began production on a film called “Ghosties” with an all new cast of young teens; some cast members from ANGELIKA5 made cameos in the film. The change of pace from shooting web series to feature films took a strain on the director and he extended the hiatus of the web series to rest.

SEASON 4

Season four [2012] introduced the idea that the harbinger “Ms. Rachael” was a time traveler, who was being sent back in time to inform Angelika of impending danger that could shift the balance of power [of good versus evil] towards the darker forces of evil. Each new episode showed Ms. Rachael showing Angelika how to use her power to influence people around her and how changing moments in the past could make for a better future. A new evil character named “Melissa,” performed by Patrice Kentimenos, introduces the “Vapor Peoples” last dire attempt to win the battle against good. A splinter episode is presented as the season ender, showing that the group of resistance fighters who traveled into the past to hide from an alien presence, have equal evil operatives in their circle who desire to return to the present. 

 

WAS THERE A SEASON 5?

Even though season five were written and planned for production, the series final season was never completed. The director-producer has a movie script which he has been trying to pitch for production. He has contacted many of the main actors from the series to help complete one full feature film to complete the series, but no movement to start production has occurred since 2016. Over 88 various local actors performed parts in the series and at least one episode was filmed in Midland, Texas, with an all new cast, far outside the production locations, cast and crew in Montgomery, Texas. 

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LANDING THE PERFECT LOCATIONS FOR YOUR INDIE FILMS

It shouldn’t be a huge undertaking to land the perfect scene location for your film. In the case of indie film making, most production teams make the mistake of writing a script and then start looking for places to fill the scenes. When locations become the focus of a scenes success, they’re labeled as burdens of choice when the right place either can’t be found or the perfect place just couldn’t be confirmed prior to production. When a writer begins putting together a script, he should consider what locations, materials, wardrobe, running water and most importantly, power sources that are around for the planned project.

A few months ago, one of our Quantum Storm .357 [QSE .357] E-Magazine  issues covered the importance of pre-production and what a good filmmaker should consider prior to establishing a production budget before estimating costs. Because listing the things that you already have in your pocket can save you a lot of money if you don't need to go out and search for it, get permits, permissions, or establish communication with the local community prior to filming. A good producer, with established prior experience, will have a list of things that could help out a project before pre-production has begun. A bad producer will have no idea where to start and a plethora of last minute searches that could hinder production efforts with a "winging it" mentality that will frustrate the entire production team every time a new location is needed.

The job of a producer isn’t just to order people around to help find locations, but it's also the job of the producer to actually get off his ass and establish contacts with the local community, personally ensuring one on one contact, so that the locations can be attained at little cost as possible and even perhaps used for free in future projects. Bum Producers try to evade this part of their job and most of time struggle to make any contact with the right person(s); most of time it’s due to not having the right charisma or personality to mingle with the right city crowds or property owners.

In my years as a line producer; trust me I've worn man hats in my own indie film  productions, I’ve had my challenges to find locations for the right scene in a film. I’ve spent my time location spotting even when I’ve been out with my family on burger runs. The search never stops and I do my best to find the property or home owners to get the rights to shoot my indie film projects there as often as I can. Grimes and Montgomery Counties in Texas have proven to be some of the friendliest places to gain access to various, epic locations. I've produced a little over 30 indie film projects with locations that have extended the "script to film" environment to unexpected levels.

One location, that I call my "go-to" location, when all else fails, has been the scene location called "The Lightsey Ranch." This property has been in almost every indie film I've ever filmed. The location is perfect; far from main roads, ambulances, fire houses, with a closed property, access to power, restroom, shower, and running water, plus plenty of room to maneuver. Even better is that it's located in a private community with strong supporting neighbors who know whats going on there from time to time, even late at night. The location has been used in various types of movies and web series productions, from ghost stories, to Science Fiction, to murder mystery, to paranormal, and even a zombie movie or two.

Recently, we started working on two new projects at the ranch [one SciFi, the other a paranormal film] and with the new greenery starting to sprout this spring, we expect to catch some great scenes out there. Be sure to check out next month's issue of the QSE .357 because we will be presenting a trailer and some in-depth behind the scenes looks at several studio projects!

I've worked with a few Bum Producers recently who have attempted to take me to court and take control of the Lightsey Ranch property by filing court papers and threatening a "demand of a lean" on the property. Yeah, their desire to make use of the property to make films is so childish and over the years I had to make legal changes to keep the property off the ownership of the film maker [me] and the private film studio that I own and operate. Believe me, it happens and greed is out there, so always cover your ass and don't trust anyone in the indie film business, especially when they claim to have money and know the business!

What has been lost over greed is the importance of the positions are in film teams. Remember that producers establish the materials for the director to use and deliver the kind of project a good script can emphasize. Executive Producers being in cash flow and investment opportunities. Seldom to producers actually take part in being in the filming development phase of the production, unless he's staked his reputation in monetary value for the projects delivery. If that is the case, then that producer is called a "pigeon toe" - essentially, "...some asshole who gets in the way a lot..." of the production efforts and slows everything down by constantly demanding certain changes to the films production because he found something else to add to the film; or more commonly, he's found another investment opportunity by adding some person, location, music track, or other useless item to the film.

Finding a good location that can be used time and time again is gold, folks. New directors need to absorb the fact that Bum Producers love to use the same locations over and over again from one film to the next, with little artistic flair in the projects they choose to support. Before you agree to work with any producer, check out the work they've done before; more especially the materials they brought to other projects. You don't want to step on any toes using scene locations that were used in another movie in the same way.

That's why it's very important to have an experienced, strong and knowledgeable director to lead the production team and who isn't afraid to say "No!" to a producer every once in a while. Successful film teams can't look up to a "suck up" whose always kissing a producers ass just to keep him around for "this" or "that" reason.

Stay strong, my friends. Continue to search for those new and interesting film locations!

Ride Easy,

D. R. Quintana
Editor in Chief

2021 WRAP UP VIDEO MESSAGE FROM QUANTUM STORM PICTURES

PRODUCER/DIRECTOR/EDITOR
D. R. Quintana

2021 COMPLETED PROJECTS:

Havoc 114 Feature Film
Awards: Best Director, Best Editor, Best International Film, Best Trailer, Best Music Video,
Best Movie Poster

Havoc 114 Music Video
Awards: Best Music Video, Best Song [by AWAKE]

IN PRODUCTION FOR 2022 and 2023:
Grey Panic, Lions Den, Angelika5 [The Movie], Iscandar [Mini Series], Terminators [Mini Series], Pieces of 8 [Mini Series] & Werewolves in Montgomery County.

BE SURE TO WATCH THE VIDEO MESSAGE FROM QUANTUM STORM PICTURES CEO
D. R. QUINTANA

THE VIDEO CONTAINS A SPECIAL TRAILER AND MUSIC VIDEO FOR THREE PROJECTS CURRENTLY IN PRODUCTION 

YOU MUST BE A SUBSCRIBER TO THIS BLOG TO WATCH THE SPECIAL VIDEO MESSAGE 

HAVE A FANTASTIC NEW YEARS!