QUANTUM STORM WIKI ON “GHOSTIES – THE WITCHES SPELL”

GHOSTIES – The Witches Spell [Ghosties] is a 2014 paranormal, dark comedy short film written and directed by David Quintana-Lujan. It is the first film produced by Quintana-Lujan, and the first feature film produced under the studio name, Quantum Storm Productions. In the present time, a group of teenaged ghost hunters have struck out seeking ghosts during the summer. After they are introduced to a real black witch, who gives them a spell in passing, do the young team of ghost hunters begin to actually see the paranormal images of people who passed away. But are the ghosts truly real or a joke laid out by the local graveyard lawn keeper who’s tired of kids breaking into the property looking for ghosts? GHOSTIES features Jessica Yanker, Alan Berkowitz, Fabritzia Faustinella, Matthew Jasso, Kacey Kelley, Robin Galley, Travis Coker, Mary King, Angelica Grayson, Daniel Erik and Warren Lightsey. 

Directed by D. R. Quintana-Lujan 

Screenplay by D. R. Quintana-Lujan 

Story by D. R. Quintana 

Based on Characters by D. R. Quintana-Lujan 

Produced by D. R. Quintana
                  Darla Redwine 

Starring Anisah Khan, Ashlyne Redwine,
            Katelyn Merricks, Haley Coker,
            Emily Thompson, Tanner Fontana 

Cinematography by D. R. Quintana-Lujan 

Edited by D. R. Quintana-Lujan

Set Assistant Joan Yanker

Music by ASIA
             Randal Behan
             Zeca Mahoney 

Production Company Quantum Storm
                            Productions 

Running Time 48 minutes 

Countries United States 

Language English 

Budget $8,500 

 

 

GHOSTIES – The Witches Spell [Ghosties] is an ultra-low independent film directed and produced by David Quintana-Lujan in May of 2014. It was entirely filmed in Montgomery County, in the state of Texas with a soft budget of $8,500. Most of the cast were young teenagers [or "tweens"] and their mothers all helped with the production requirements behind the camera. 

After the director-producer completed the third season of his webs series “The Secret of Angelika5,” he was looking for a new project to work on to break away from the “quick film format” that was being used on his successful web show. In February of 2014, he made contact with a woman named Glenda Rovito who introduced him to a new group of actors in the downtown Houston area. After attending a film premiere for Matthew Jasso’s action feature film, “BACKLASH [2011]“ the director-producer was introduced to a group of teen girls at the premier who looked like a talented and excited bunch. One little redheaded girl stood out of the bunch who caught the director-producers eye, Ashlyne Redwine, who was loud, proud, full of energy and had a positive strength that the director-producer could work with. Later the same night, he was introduced to her mother, Darla  Redwine, who was looking for a project that her daughter could star in and both began talking about working on a project together. Through the one contact with Redwine, the director-producer realized that he would have access to an entirely new group of talented young actors. The director-producer went home and began to look for a script that would fit the format of having an all teen cast. 

A week after discussion project possibilities with Rovino, the director-producer settled on rekindling an old short film idea he created in 2006-2007 while he was living in New England, entitled “Ghosties.” This short film project involved a group of young girls who searched for ghosts and used an old book of spells that helped them conjure up ghostly spirits. The director-producer re-worked the scripts, added a few new characters, and then produced a third script in the short film series as a feature film. The scripts were shared with some of the parents, who immediately signed on to add their teenaged child to the possible production. Rovino’s teenage daughter, Drucilla, who had already worked brilliantly with the director-producer in an episode of Angelika5, was first selected as the lead for the new film. This did not sit well with a few of the mothers of cast, mainly Darla Redwine and Kaylyn Merriks, who felt that Drucilla was an amazingly talented and trained young actress and felt that her performance in film might overshadow the other children in the cast. Now in a position that he might lose access to a large group of young actors prior to signing contracts, the director-producer removed Drucilla from the production and changed the script so that there wasn’t just one teen leading the cast in the future film. 

In mid-March 2014, the director-producer met with several mothers and contracts with releases were happily signed by the small group of moms. The meeting was important as filming requirements were discussed in great detail. The team covered wardrobe, filming locations and possible casting additions to fill in the adult roles in the film that were still not cast. Alan Berkowitz and Jessica Yanker were brought in from the cast of Angelika5, Matthew Jasso was brought in after he promised to make a film with the teen girls at his February film premiere, Fabritzia Faustinella was contacted to read for the role of the Black Witch. So much material matters were brought up in each new meeting, that the pre-production phase for the film moved the filming dates up a full month. The director-producer felt confident that filming could start in May and shared the news with the mothers of the cast, positioning the entire production in the town of Montgomery, Texas. 

To the surprise of the entire cast and crew, the film began production on the second weekend of May 2014. The cast and crew spent the day of the first day of production filming at various locations in Montgomery, Texas. First was a stop at a Karate studio, which was actually a fitness center that was owned and operated by Eddie Enriquez, who also played a role in Angelika5. At the end of the first location, a new talented, natural actress, Emily Thompson, was added to the cast. Her audition with the director-producer forced him to make the decision to bring her to the production and add her as a character to the script. The second location was at a storage center where the director-producers own family van was parked inside a storage room to simulate night time, where the teens took turns delivering their lines. The third location was a night shoot at the Lightsey Ranch, a water front property that was also used extensively on the set of Angelika5. Over the course of the first night of filming, a cold front moved into the area which helped quell the sound environment as the crickets and frogs fell silent during filming. Furthermore, the cold front brought in thick clouds that prevented the moon from casting light on the sets, and thus the conditions were perfect for filming. 

After the first weekend of shooting, the teen actors were wiped out and they completed over 60% of the film. The director spent three more weeks working in the remaining scenes and also performing ADR to some scenes to ensure the sound was pristine in the final phases of editing the film together. One scene that was a required flashback in the plot of the script, was shot separately from the rest of the production. This scene concerned the role of the leading ghost, “Beheaded Betty,” who was played by Kacey Kelley [also of Angelika5] was shot over the course of two hours at a historical park in the town of Montgomery. This one scene in the film catapulted the feature in ratings from a G rating to a PG rating; as the character apparently commits suicide after her lover never returned from a cattle roundup. 

With Ghosties finally “in the can” and editing all but done, the film would be released to the public in August, one week before school started in the local area. Ticket sales were handled online and the studio team prepared t-shirt and poster sales for the films premiere. The first showing of the film was presented at the Alamo Draft House in Katy, Texas and, unlike most independent films in Houston, Texas that were premiered at a bar, this premiere proved to have had the largest attendance in the city’s history as every seat in the auditorium was sold out, there was standing room only, and the management in the theater claimed that food sales went through the roof. Every attempt to build the excitement was presented to the masses that arrived to view the film, most of who were teenagers too. Houston’s Independent films known favorites, Nicholas Nicholson, Hector Luna, and Irving, Texas’ Steve Luke were in attendance and gave the premiere startling reviews. The performances of Alan Berkowitz and Fabritzia Faustinella eventually won awards for Best Supporting Actors and the director-producer won awards for Best Film and Best Producer.

With the films huge success came a little bad news as one mother, Kaylyn Merrick and her daughter chose not to be part of the films premiere as her teen child was cast in a 48 Hour Film Festival and didn’t want to associate with the rest of the cast’s success at the premiere. Even though some of the cast members were heartbroken that one of the co-actors didn’t make the premier to complete a team photo, the reception following the premiere removed all doubt as the young cast was welcome with wave upon wave of cheering fans and instant local stardom. This one premiere proved that Ghosties was a big hit with the teen genre and, if proper measures were taken to promote a solid production, that there was a large potential for children’s movie productions within the independent film scene in Texas.

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WHAT DOES "OFFICIAL SELECTION" ACTUALLY MEAN IN FILM FESTIVALS?

 Yeah, it's that time of year again when Indie film teams across the country start submitting their projects into film festivals across the internet. Many of those teams are filled with the overwhelming urge to get an awards laurel stamped on their indie movie poster as "evidence" that something they filmed was produced with "professional prowess." Chins are often held higher with every new laurel that is set on their poster, like an award pendant that is proudly pinned on the chest of a soldier in front of his unit, because he was the guy who went out of his way to do the job, who did his job without complaint and left his family for months while he was on deployment. But is simply receiving a laurel for an "official selection" really something to brag about? Do these awards actually help an indie film reach the next level of success?...No, not really.

Seriously, getting selected just means that someone paid for the admission fee and the check cleared, the indie film submitted by a team hasn't been reviewed at any point of the acceptance procedure. It's not like there's a group of judges that watches each submission and says, "Oh yeah, this one HAS to be in our festival!" - But I am sure that there are films on the submission line that ARE expected to raise eyebrows if the right name is listed in the credits. For now, for anyone to brag about their film "being selected" for this or that festival is like someone getting an award laurel for filling out an application for a 5K run that won't start for another month. Remember, "selection" films are not reviewed for required film format, legal paperwork, legitimate film making experience...nothing. As a matter of fact, a large quantity of films aren’t even previewed by judges.

Furthermore, members who pay for their film being submitted to a festival, must also pay extra fees for "nominations" in their own application. That's right, studio teams have to pay cash and submit for their own nominations! Positions that are paid for consist of various genres film categories for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Producer, Best Director, etc, etc, etc. And again, judges for these festivals don't recognize "instant performances" in every indie film that was entered or selected and giving them awards for their performances. Plus there's no reassurance that all of the films submitted into a film festival are even previewed by final judges at all. I've known all about these "festival follies" for many years; and a solid reason why I never entered into film festivals since I began working on my own indie film productions.

Super-duper amateur film makers tend to jump on the "excitement band wagon" and have a proven record of thriving on their initial success of simply being entered in a film festival. These idiots often release trailers on YouTube [which is a big no-no during the submission process] and try to prove that viewers numbers prove that the film has a large sized group of fans [apparently outside of the film teams line of family and friends] who are interested in seeing the big movie they just finished putting together. 

 

Film teams who boast of having an "editor from LA" ready to take over the projects post production, claim to have one just in case their initial submission turns out to be a bust; I'm not sure why a film team wouldn't have such phenomenal access to an established post-editing credential and not use that person on all of their film projects? - Seems a little odd, wouldn't one think? Oh my oh my, the cracks that slowly but surely begin to form when the truth about someones low-life integrity about knowing absolutely nothing of the film industry begins to show.

It's a known fact that meta-data has proven the members of how an indie film team love to watch their own films over-and-over again, trying to help build the numbers of the viewing counter on their YouTube account. These issues were investigated on in the Quantum Storm .357 E-Magazine [QSE .357] Issue 5, a few issues back, where we proved in a studio video investigation on how to check someones meta-data on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and any other online platform, to see what the real outside viewers numbers were to a film teams "successful" trailer or full feature film. When internal numbers are removed from the equation of viewers, industry professionals will know what the real numbers of views are; and trust me, they do look at all of the meta-data they can on any project submitted to them.

What I honestly like to see are the amateur first time leading indie actors who also enjoy the ride of tasting success through the fruits of their limited experienced performances; most of whom have never really worked on a real production or were never educated on set through experienced directors or assistant directors. Most of these people will never see the light of day as a lead or supporting role on a film project that is a step up from the film they just finished. Most are complete no-bodies who are given roles and promises of "riches to come" when they "ring that bell" of success. And unfortunately, where there is one; there is also a slew of other cast and crew members who are on that ride of just hoping that the film was "selected" by the film festival in question.

I like watching indie movie trailers. Seriously, I enjoying watching them as much as I liked being a child and walking though the toy aisle of a grocery story, looking at all of those hollow plastic cars and airplanes, saying to myself then, "Why would anyone want to buy that crap?" - Amateur indie film trailers are the same. They often boast of "film producers" you've never known [or truly want to know], credits are displayed on top of actors performing their parts, the sound is bad, the nauseating music selection is as horrific and reoccurring as the swishing sound of the ocean being replayed over and over and over. Plus I like the fact that right away, even an unbiased outsider will tell you that someone in that film production never made a film trailer in their life...but it looked like certain people in their group HAD to be presented in it; you know, people that you've never seen before in any film what-so-ever, except in their own film community.

Most normal people [like me] can see it now...a group of amateur indie film makers huddled around in prayer, waiting for that one film festival to accept their film after the entry fee was paid...waiting for the approval email that their film is IN; with some director or indie "film producer" whose already prepared a laurel to post on his or her Facebook page, just waiting for the moment that he can hit the post key. Once the news gets out, the laurel is passed out to their small team of actors an the hype begins. There's no reality but the fact that an entrance fee was paid and now the next big step in the festival process is about to begin, but this time, the next round will prove who is truly the experienced film maker from the people who just put something together with camera and no real idea of how to use them.

And even IF the film wins an award or two, what is the next step for the amateur film makers? Do they post another link on their Facebook page to show the film to the outside "millions of local fans" who are dying to see their film? Has their number one "film producer" ensured that he's paid the yearly subscription to his website to post the film and bring in that lucrative meta-data to provide to future distributors the large numbers of future fans who are wanting to see the film in question? - Something that we introduced on the QSE .357 [Issue 4] is that amateur indie film producers and directors who have no knowledge of what meta-data is or where to get it and are just people who are winging their indie film productions along. But you can bet your ass that after seeing this blog, they'll google it and be the "purveyors of knowledge" the next time you ask them, because they'll have read this blog entry too.

Current Meta Data for QSE .357 E-Mag

The truth of the matter is, if you don't have any experience in promotions, advertising, or proven connections within the indie film circuit, your film will die a sure death of never being seen by anyone that actually matters in the film industry...but hey, there's always another BIG new indie film to make...or perhaps you can be bold enough to pull a "Nanae Volle" and create your own Inde movie award festival and sweep the BIG awards with your super amateur, peace of shit film!

 

Nuff said.

Editorial by D. R. Quintana-Lujan
Editor in Chief

 

 

STUDIO “E-MAGAZINE” TO RETURN THIS OCTOBER!

It was only a matter of time before the studio began efforts to restart the best E-Magazine in the state of Texas and bring the Quantum Storm E-Magazine [QSE] [literally] back into full swing. In the past, the publication was filled with organized storytelling, some intensive investigative reports, impressive layouts and fantastic award winning photography from cover to back cover. Even better, the studio has been receiving an overwhelming response from past subscribers to get the e-mag back out on the streets where it belongs and they will get their wish on October 1st!

With the resurgence of new upstart indie film and indie series productions starting to stake claim in the state of Texas and with no bonafide publication informing local actors and producers, having an inside look at following their progress or reviewing their work, a call has come out for the e-mag to return to the Internet and do what it was doing best; constructively critiquing new indie films with an unbiased eye and sharing the information with other film makers in the state. Our publication was widely known who tearing through the over-hyping fluff, getting to the real stories behind some awkward film productions that were only fledgling films at best and separating the amateur from the more professional projects within the indie film circuit.

The new e-mag will also plan to encompass one-on-one interviews with new actors, directors and producers, plus give detailed information about where to view the films that have been released for general viewing or not. The new publication will also single out those productions who have presented trailers and some good advertising, but failed to produce a real product to a viewing audience. One of the better angles getting more attention in the indie film circuit are the plethora of Facebook pages promoting films in progress and which are never released to the general public; the new QSE format will aim at those formats as well, outline weaknesses and strengths from each Facebook page that is critiqued.

The cost for the subscription to this new e-mag with be negligible as paper copies are not reproduced, but profits will solely be spent on e-mag reporters and photographers who will be back on the road making contact with some new production teams to bring you good stories and investigate areas of concern happening in your local community and beyond. As the publication did during it's first run, it is expected that the QSE will eventually have a large fanbase with subscribers located outside of borders of Texas with some worldwide exposure, due to it's complexity in sharing information with indie groups on the world wide web.

Like before, complimentary issues will be given to persons on the cover, persons interviewed, and businesses identified in each new release of the e-mag, delivered via email and in PDF format. Each new episode of the QSE will be released every 60 days at first during the remaining months in 2021, but then monthly in 2022. This blog will present updates with a brief summary of what to expect in each issue with subscription information. The team is already excited and ready to get things moving in the right direction with selected stories for the first three issues of the year!

If you have a story idea or a film production that you'd like for us to cover, let us know by sending an email to us here. We will be required to ask you a few questions prior to accepting your story pitch, as we do not accept stories from anonymous sources; for obvious legal reasons. So get excited, the first issue is all but ready to roll out for October 1st and we guarantee the first issue of the QSE Volume 2 will be an eye opener!

AWAKE HELPS RAISE THE EXPECTATION OF HAVOC 114

A few years ago I was working on a script for a SciFi that was about an alien abduction in New Hampshire, when the name of the band AWAKE fell into my lap from an unlikely source; that source being an actor from San Antonio, a cast member from the now defunct zombie film project "Zombie Reign" - a  now well known San Antonio, Texas indie film that wasted five years of actors and crews lives over the vanity one idiot who claimed to be a professional director. The bands leading member and guitarist, Maksim M. Dragan had been longing for a chance to put their work on a film project for many years and kind of had the feeling that the right project at the right time would bring his band and music some real success.

 

I kept the band in the periphery of my mind until I started working on a project that I thought needed a little surge in the soundtrack of a new film. When HAVOC 114 began to take shape in production, I started thinking about adding more meat to the film and contacted Dragan, asked him if he was still interested in producing some music for another zombie film; but for a real movie production that was surging closer towards completion. He sounded overly surprised and was shocked about me asking to use some of his work for our project, and he reassured me that his band was in the middle of putting together a new track called "I got this" with a new lead singer.

 

There was a little inside joke that had started to form through out the film, as most of the cast on HAVOC 114 had already started to use the line, "I got this" during the production even before Dragan had told me the title of the song he was wanting to pitch for our feature film. Over the course of a few weeks, he kept me up to date with the status of the songs production and the angle that the song was going for. It was at this moment that I began to feel that if the track had some good punch in it, that we could advertise our film with a dark, but a cool ass music video to fuse our ideas together. Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, I felt that we would require a recurring promotional ad to run until the final film was released for all to see. We were going to need something new and edgy to keep future viewers fed until we had something crisp and polished to present to them.

 

The day that Dragan contacted me, telling me that the song was complete, I didn't hesitate to download the track and take a listen to it. The opening riff on the guitar was perfect for what I was expecting and the the rest of the performance had my mind afire with the possibilities of the track and the possible punch of success that it would have with a proper music video. I called Dragan suggesting an idea of the band [all dressed in black] performing in a junkyard setting at night, to give the presentation of tough and rugged look for their on camera performance while small segments of HAVOC 114 was playing throughout the video. I wanted the video to look dark, illuminating only the band members faces and their instruments. I think that the local director did an outstanding job in the end.

 

Another month would pass by before AWAKE finished work on their music video performance, which was filmed on video by local Director Josh Bermudez in Monterrey, Mexico, and then the footage was sent to me in Texas for editing. The problem I had then was that we were limited on what good completed film of Havoc was composited and ready for release. But obviously knowing that the song was about being on the highway with a club full of trusted bikers, I thought that showing the soon-to-be infamous "Texas truck barreling through the Texas darkness" at the beginning of the music video would show how professionally Havoc was shot at night; something that has become a staple of what to expect throughout the zombie film we were finishing up at that time.

 

I completed putting the music video together over the course of two days picking some of the better and darker portions of completed scenes, then submitting the music video to  an executive producer for review a day later. We were both excited about the opportunity to have the track for the video and the film, later saying that, "The song grows on you the more you listen to it." We listened to "I got this" while we shot some pool and drank Whisky & coke, getting the feel for song at a high volume. We knew that this would only be the start of bigger things to come for our first studio feature film. We wanted Havoc to be filled with great music of many genre's and this was a fantastic start.

 

For over three months, the "I got this" music video by AWAKE was released on both YouTube and passed around on Facebook circles through several posts. The existence of the video was out there, but the potential of the music video truly wasn't tested until just a month ago, when the video was submitted into the film festival arena, where it won an award for "Best Original Song" at the Paris International Film Festival in France; making it an instant international hit. Passing the news of the videos success to Dragan was a complete hoot, as when I tried reaching out to Dragan, he was busy teaching a student and unaware of the news I had in my possession. I knew that at the time, this wasn't news you just text over the phone, this type of news had to be passed over personally on a video call, one on one. Needless to say, Dragan was in shock when I gave him the word and his excitement was almost too good to witness over our video call.

 

But the news doesn't stop there. The submission of the "I got this" music video continues on, as there are several more indie film festivals to go in 2021. The chances that the news of the already proven winner of one film festival will spill to the next, giving the track from AWAKE several more chances to be heard in other countries and larger venues that will play the track to a larger variety of future fans is a strong possibility. For now, the band presses on and works on newer material, possibly working on a new album. We are so proud to have worked along side AWAKE to help make their dreams come true; it was definitely a team effort and a well earned WIN for the band!

 

Ride Easy, My Friends

 

D. R. Quintana
Producer/Director/Writer