ZERO ZERO ONE is the Directors Cut to a 2021 horror, dark comedy action film written and directed by David Quintana-Lujan, that has never been officially released to the public. It is the ninth full feature film directed by Quintana-Lujan and his third under Quantum Storm Pictures. In the near future, oil field manager, Kris Castle [Zara Majidpour], is sent out to El Paso, Texas in the middle of the night. Leaving the safe confines of her home in Houston, Texas, she sets out on a nine hour journey to help save a fracking contract in West Texas. After stopping to refuel her large truck in the small town of Havoc, Texas; where unknown to her, a nerve gas agent was accidentally released into the air on the same night that causes the dead to rise in an alarming rate. After her truck breaks down, she is forced to run for her life, and with the aid of another Texas family on the run, she learns quickly that she has fight to survive. Zero Zero One features Saira Ramos, Valjean Eskridge II, Larissa Dali, Sara Mao, Noah Pekari, David Kufner, and Brett Wilson Sr in supporting roles.
Directed by D. R. Quintana-LujanScreenplay by D. R. Quintana-Lujan
Story by D. R. Quintana-Lujan
Based on Characters by D. R. Quintana-Lujan
Produced by D. R. Quintana
Associate Producers Barbara Johnston,
Patty Weisler Hall, James McShan
Starring Zara Majidpour, Saira Ramos
Cinematography D. R. Quintana-Lujan
Edited by D. R. Quintana-Lujan
Music by Lora Mao
Valjean Eskridge II
Production Company Quantum Storm Pictures in association with James McShan
Release Date
Running Time 81 minutes
Countries United States
Language English
Budget $10,500
Zero Zero One is an ultra-low independent film project produced and directed by David Quintana-Lujan in 2020, that was shot entirely at night; there are no day scenes in this film. The film was produced and entirely filmed in four different towns in Montgomery County and Atascosa [South San Antonio] in the state of Texas with a budget of $10,500. The entire movie, from script to film was created and filmed by Quintana-Lujan, while recovering from an injury sustained in December of 2019. All of the screenplay, actor casting, cinematography, and editing was completed in 19 days and without the help of any outside resources. Creators copyright is listed under the date of July 19, 2019.
The production for the film was shot in 19 days over the course of a year; mostly due to the Corona Virus shutdown which forced smaller crews on set during the year 2020. The script for the film was fallout from a previous script and low budget film project written by Quintana-Lujan in 2005, entitled as “Sally Sixkiller; Vampire-Zombie Killer,” starring Cheryl Martino, which was actually set for production in late 2018, but was shelved until a larger group of actors could be cast in 2019. Many of the original items in the original script were kept, but the character names and locations were changed to better suit the studios direction with the new script concept. Martino was originally set to play the part of the leading character in both productions, but could not confirm working on the film in San Antonio due to her busy work schedule.
HOW THE SCRIPT WAS DEVELOPED
The old script was reworked during the summer of 2019 and Quintana-Lujan began to rewrite the story and plot for a newer version of the script, which was then given the working title of Havoc 114. Quintana-Lujan, who is known for making web series projects with titles containing numbers at the end of each title, added the number “114” at the end of the Havoc name, not only to differentiate the name “Havoc” from other titles searched on IMDB, but in homage of Mavericks fighter plane number from the original Top Gun [1986] movie, in which Quintana-Lujan is a big fan of. With the new script completed in July of 2019, an original cast was selected for Havoc 114, which was originally to star Independent actor, Stephanie Greenfield, of San Antonio, Texas and led by first time director, Bobby Lee Osborn, who was personally chosen by the producer to lead the production crew.
The remaining cast and crew were assigned under an “all volunteer” agreement with Quintana-Lujan as the producer, and the film was set for a three week production schedule that would begin in mid-December of 2019; this filming schedule would allow the film to be released in the Spring of 2020, just in time for the independent film screenings that would begin throughout the U.S. and abroad. Original music composer, Lora Mao, agreed to produce the music for the film and she would also play parts of several different zombies and a cameo character in the film. The script for the film was also written as a cross-over piece for the Quantum Storm Pictures Universe which would cross over several other films that were produced by the studio over the course of 14 years.
AN INJURY BEFORE FILMING
In early December while working on another independent film production in Houston, Texas, Quintana-Lujan fell on the set and severely injured his left shoulder which prevented him from taking part in seeing the start of Zero Zero One’s shoot. It was agreed by the production team that the films shooting schedule would be put on hold until the producer’s shoulder healed after an operation. During this break, the producer and Osborn worked together to prepare the best special effects makeup arrangement for the film. The duo did most of the pre-production work over the phone and since the leading actress lived in San Antonio, and to defray the cost for the film, it was agreed that the entire production would originally be shot at various locations in San Antonio. Quintana-Lujan requested the aid of Brett Wilson Sr. and his wife, Diana Wilson, to help secure locations in the town of Von Ormy, Texas, just south of San Antonio and to expedite the legal release of the properties in writing prior to production.
THE PRODUCER FINDS HELP
In early January of 2020, the producer was able to confirm a sponsor to assist in the production of the film. The producer wanted the sponsor to sign on as an investor, but the sponsor refused to sign a contract for the credit and privilege of owning part of the film. So, with the close guidance of the producer, the sponsor began to excitedly procure film and sound equipment, then hired Quintana-Lujan as an independent contractor [via a verbal agreement] to help the sponsor create and develop a movie studio in Montgomery, Texas; as the sponsor had absolutely no experience in making films, procuring locations, writing scripts, editing, casting, camera selections, nor had contacts in the local independent acting field to build future film teams of his own. With the producers help, the sponsor wanted to learn how to develop future films with proper film formats and promotional advertising on his own.
A MAKEUP ARTIST IS HIRED
At the time, it was felt that the sponsorship could help elevate the production level of the film with the procurement of new filming equipment. During this time, Quintana-Lujan affirmed the commission of a makeup artist, Adrianna Villedas, who would be in charge of the makeup department during the entire films production. She proved her work capabilities with the producer and would eventually be responsible for applying all of the zombie makeup on set; sometimes applying makeup for as many as ten actors in only two hours. In mid-January 2020, the producer realized that Wilson Sr and his wife were not accomplishing the task of procuring locations for the film in a timely manner, due to having issues with the “all volunteer” commitment to the film’s production. Instead, the duo in San Antonio spent more time trying to find local people to act in the film instead of completing the tasks at hand. It wasn’t until after the producer paid Wilson Sr “cash for gas,” that one location for the first scene in the production was finally confirmed in writing.
VIDEO CAMERAS USED
By the end of January 2020, the producer was recovering from an operation on his injured shoulder and his team began preparing shoot dates for the film. The sponsor’s equipment arrived to his "studio" [his home actually] and it was first thought that the film would be shot using two Blackmagic 6K HD video cameras with various sound and lighting equipment. By the time the end of the month arrived, two locations were confirmed in San Antonio and the team was ready to begin filming. On March 6th of 2020, filming began with Osborn directing and handling duties as lead cinematographer. Both the director and producer had very little experience using the new Blackmagic cameras, also experiencing issues with limited battery life, and formatting the cameras for use that most of the video work captured on their first night of production was useless and eventually lost. After a disagreement with the productions pacing and cinematography formats being used on set, Osborn left the production and Quintana-Lujan took over as director and lead cinematographer.
The use of the Blackmagic cameras were immediately dropped and the producer, and now also director, requested the team use Canon cameras to complete the film. The director felt that the Cannon’s “ease of use,” extended battery life, and pristine sound capturing capability outweighed the 6K video capturing of what the Blackmagic cameras could deliver. The director-producer knew the RAW footage from the new cameras would present a 4K video format that was acceptable in transferring the film to future streaming sites and/or BlueRay sales.
OTHER CAMERAS WERE USED FOR THE FILM? [*]
Yes, the director-producer required the need to use a Canon 7D camera and at least four Apple 12 Plus iPhones were used in car scenes, action scenes during a slaughterhouse event, and showing a vehicle drive on the highway at night where iPhones were mounted on dashboards and rear windows using a suction cup "jimmy" to capture the scenes. [*]
PRODUCTION MOVES TO MONTGOMERY, TX
Due to issues with finding locations in San Antonio to complete the film, the primary search was for an abandoned house that could not be confirmed, the next day on March 7th of 2020 while driving back to Houston, the director-producer decided that the entire production should be moved to Montgomery County. Due to his experience in producing a plethora of projects there, he knew that he had access to countless locations for the film, that most of the actors in the film lived in that general area, and more importantly, the team would save budget money by bringing the remaining few actors from San Antonio to Montgomery during the weekends to shoot their parts. Greenfield, who is also a mother, could not confirm the scheduled travel dates and also disclosed to the director-producer of a severe neck injury that could have held the entire production liable during required stunt scenes. She was replaced by Zara Majidpour, who was coincidentally working with the now director/producer on a Science Fiction project called Iscandar. Without a skip in the mid-week of March, production to Havoc 114 restarted with the first scene in Atascosa, Texas and then shifted back to Montgomery, Texas the following weekend.
During "Day One" of the shoot with the original production also brought with it an issue that transpired with one of the planned cast members in the opening scene. Before shooting at an isolated grocery store in Atascosa, TX commenced, actor David Perales Jr. - who came highly recommended by Wilson Sr - failed to show up for production, but was immediately replaced by the talented, Val Jean Eskridge II, who just happened to be on the set helping out as a crew member. Eskridge was with the production team due to also working on the SciFi project Iscandar with Majidpour. He "winged" his performance during the first try, not even knowing the script. But with a week to prepare before the retake of "Day One" of the production at the same location, Eskridge's performance as the Store Clerk proved to be a good turning point in the production, providing comedy relief at the beginning for developing the leading character of Kris Castle [Majidpour] into the film. [*]
Two different locations were use for the gas station scene. The first scene inside the store was located in Atascosa, Texas, the location found by Wilson Sr, after he had the production team bouncing back and forth between two different stores. The director-producer was looking for a certain feel and focused on the sound and natural lighting, choosing the Atascosa store as the best one to use for the film. The second scene for the store was located in Richards, Texas - just outside of Montgomery; a store that the director-producer frequented during his work on Angelika5. Ownership to this store shifted several times and Quintana-Lujan was able to get signed releases for it's use almost immediately. [*]
THE INFAMOUS ELVIS PRESLEY PERFORMANCE
The director-producer changed the script in the grocery store scene because the original script was developed to present a comedic and flirty "Machete" type Hispanic character with Perales Jr, who was replaced by Eskridge II. The scene was re-written to present the store clerk making an idiot of himself while working alone in an empty store. A song played in the scene, credited as "The Candyman in Me" was performed by Eskridge II wearing long sideburns and singing in an Elvis-esq type voice while an acoustic guitar played in the background. The song was penned by the director-producer in post editing and the rhythm guitar was later performed by Eskridge II. [*]
THE CORONA VIRUS SHUTDOWN
FINDING THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE [*]
Once the production was officially moved to Montgomery, Texas, the director-producer was on the search for an abandoned home or trailer to use for the very much needed "slaughter house scene," which would be the money shot location for the film. The director-producer searched high and low for two weeks, where, by chance, he landed on an empty property located just outside of Willis, Texas off of "old Texas highway" I-75, leading north towards Huntsville, Texas. There was no access to electricity or running water, but the inside of the home gave plenty of elbow room to move about, and with the cooler weather starting to set in, it was perfect to protect the cast and crew from the outside elements. Better yet, since the team would be filming late at night, the traffic on the back highway was rarely in use and could be masked from view without having to black out the windows.
The director-producer was able to find the owner, who had no problem with renting out the property for the film. The cast and crew filmed at the abandoned home for five days over the course of a month; last minute changes in scenes and one big alteration in the plot of the script was added which required two additional dates of shooting for the scene. Because the director-producer was still recovering from a shoulder operation, he required the use of four camera operators on set to complete shooting the sequences at the abandoned home. Ivan Winkler Sr was instrumental in assisting the director-producer during the latter days of shooting at the location. [*]
THE TEAM NEVER FILMED IN A CEMETERY
During one of the opening scenes in the film, the script demanded a scene being shot at a cemetery. The actual location used was the infamous Lightsey Ranch that the director-producer has used in many of his previous film and web series projects. He spent well over eight hours cutting cardboard and painting headstones for the set, something that the sponsor wasn't happy about as he couldn't wrap his head around how cardboard would fool anyone. When the yard on the property was set up with the fake headstones and a fog machine was activated prior to filming, the entire scene came to life with a movie magic feel all it's own.
Deep down, the sponsor was so embarrassed about how the film production filmed the cemetery scene, that on one of the early screenings of that scene to some of his friends, he cried out, “Those aren’t real headstones, just cutout cardboard!” while the film was playing to the crowd watching the film. Up to the moment of his statement, no one in the room was aware that the set was staged outside of a cemetery. [*]
LARISSA DALI IS CAST
A SECOND INNER PRODUCTION IS COMMISSIONED
Quintana-Lujan commissioned Brett Wilson Sr. to produce a short film that would be added to Havoc 114 as a television show in one of the early scenes of the film. Wilson agreed to produce the short film for $500 and the television addition would be formatted as a black and white zombie film production with a separate cast from the main group. The short film was shot over the course of two days and was titled, Reign of Zombies; a title that mocked a failed production which Wilson [and his family] had worked on in San Antonio from 2015 to 2018. But in a twist of plagiarism, Wilson Sr added vampires and a similar closet scene in his short film; something the director/producer was not aware of and was furious about as it mirrored one of Havoc 114's scripted scenes and the "Sally Sixkiller" project mentioned earlier; which without proper authorization was considered willful copyright infringement by the director-producer. Since then, the film was renamed, Zombie World, and re-released as a short film
When the short film was completed, Quintana-Lujan originally added most of the short film into Havoc 114 as a part of the main production, until Wilson had confided with the director-producer that he had stolen a scene from the now defunct zombie production called Zombie Reign, directed by Ramiro Avendano, that he had worked on a few years before.
Due to Wilson Sr’s admission of willful copyright infringement, Quintana-Lujan was forced to remove a large majority of Reign of Zombies from the final cut of the film and only left parts of the audio track play in the background. This one issue about the misuse[s] of copyrighted material would be a larger problem a few months later.
THE FIRST LOOK OF THE FILM
By November, the director/producer presented a "rough cut" first look of the film to the sponsor, who was not impressed with what he saw. However, the sponsor’s own inexperience with film production was the deciding factor in his disappointment turning into anger that the film didn’t look 100% complete. Due to his severe inexperience in film making, the sponsor was unaware that there were many more steps required to complete the sequencing of the film before presenting a completed project; including Foley, color arrangements, music, pacing; and that this was just how things are usually presented in a "rough cut." Part of being a film maker is having the ability to look at the potential of a film, not judging what only a partial look at the film looks like; the sponsor was failing to see this flaw in his thinking. So, the director/producer promised the sponsor that a more polished look at the film would be delivered in late December or even January, which didn’t help the sponsor cool down. During the same month, Quintana-Lujan, with the help of the Mexican metal rock band “Awake,” secretly produced a music video to help promote the release of Havoc 114, which caught everyone in the production team off guard.
In late December, the sponsor [in a drunken stupor] argued with the director/producer about the progress of the film production taking almost a year to complete and threatened to fire him from his studio[*] for his failure to complete the film. The director/producer knew that the sponsor was only venting his own frustrations over the time being used on the film and a car accident which had occurred on the set during production.[*] But the director-producer insisted the film would be complete in January of 2021, with plenty of room to prepare the film for the independent film festivals that occurred in the spring.
POST EDITING STARTS
FILM FESTIVAL ENTRIES BEGIN
In late February 2021, Wilson Sr, who was at this point extremely excited about the film and swooning at the side of the sponsor at every chance, and the sponsor conspired together to release the first version of Havoc 114 to several independent film festivals in the U.S., where it won some awards. They both also released the Reign of Zombies film in the independent film festivals even though they were warned by Quintana-Lujan about at least two instances of willful copyright infringement in the short film. The good news was that the Havoc 114 Awake music video won several awards for “Best Music Video.” With the shooting schedule now “in the can,” the director/producer presented the finished film in all of its glory to the sponsor, minus the footage from Wilson Sr’s short film, to a small group of movie previewers and a film critic from Dallas, Texas who gave Havoc 114 high marks in production and suggested an R-Rating for violence and adult situations.
This newer version of the film won many independent film festival awards, including: Best Actress [Majidpour], Best Supporting Actor [Wilson Sr], Best Music [Mao], Best Editing [Quintana], Best Makeup [Villedas], Best Sound [Quintana], Best Cinematography [Quintana], Best Producer [Quintana], Best Director [Quintana], and Best Music Video [Awake]. At this point, while on top of winning awards, the director-producer thought it best to prepare a private screening of the film to the cast, crew and their family and friends.
MISINFORMATION ON IMDB
Due to his lack of experience and total excitement about being in his first legit film, Brett Wilson Sr. took it upon himself to produce an IMDB page for HAVOC 114 and falsify information on the database to boost his film career and those of his family. He claimed that his daughter, Brandy Wilson, was credited as Cinematographer for the film, even though she was only on the set for 3 days of a 19 day shoot and was only a camera operator. He also submitted himself for a “Best Actor” award in the Golden Sparrow International Independent Film Festival which he apparently won, even though he was only listed as a supporting actor in the film, at best. Over a short period of time, Wilson Sr. proved to the producer and rest of the cast and crew that he had no real knowledge of film production positions, even listing himself as “assistant director” and “second-assistant director” on previous studio projects to try and bolster his filmmaking résumé.
LEGAL AGGRESSION BEGINS
With a 45 day window to promote the film, a private screening and awards ceremony was planned by the director/producer for the evening of May 28, 2021 in Conroe, Texas. The producer/director and his cast began to spread the word in the local indie film community, their family and friends, and anywhere they could on the internet. The production team was planning a huge, fancy event with tons of glamorous people in the Houston indie film scene to make a statement about premiering indie films and properly delivering awards. The production team was able to get some big names to attend the private screening; a few names were Michael Berry [Radio Show Host], Marcus Luttrell [Book Writer], "Rocking" Robin Smith [WWF Wrestler], Steve Luke Johnson [Indie film critic], just to name a few. The director/producers aim was to reach out to at least 2,000 people in the local area to help bolster the premiere night in such a fashion, that more indie films would be welcomed in Conroe, TX for an extended period of time; something unheard of outside of the tremendous indie film scene in Austin, TX and something to use when the next studio film was produced.
During this time, the sponsor had begun to invest in another film in central Texas. The new production team began using the sponsors studio logo and the director/producer, not aware of the sponsors intent to invest in another project, began to take steps to shut down the other production. Prior to taking action, the director/producer informed the investor, who claimed he didn’t know anything about the other film production and that the director/producer should just ignore the new studio using his studio logo. The director/producer found that strange and dropped the subject, but the sponsor was obviously upset that the news of his investing into another project leaked out so quickly. [*]
However, just as momentum was building to reach their mark, two weeks prior to the premiere, the sponsor - who had never planned such an event in his entire life - wanted the premiere to the film cancelled, because he “didn’t like the way things were progressing,” even though 1433 reservations for tickets were already confirmed [at $20 per ticket] and the theaters corporate owner was willing to confirm the use of two additional auditoriums just to present the feature film.
The sponsor contacted the theaters owner, demanding the screening be cancelled and threatened to file charges with the local police department to shut the event down. The sponsor’s inexperience in independent film production, presentation and marketing were proving to be the downfall for the film, as he filed a lawsuit alleging that the films director/producer was bootlegging DVDs on his own, which was always the intellectual property of Quintana-Lujan, but the sponsor claimed copyright privileges to the film even though the rights to the film were never released to the sponsor in writing.
During an attempt at mediation, the sponsor disclosed that he did not have intellectual property rights to Havoc 114, but was demanding that the director/producer release them to him in writing and with all of the “RAW video,” promotional advertising, and all photography. The sponsor also began to allege ownership of other Quintana-Lujan related film projects that were in development many years prior to the sponsor ever working with the established film director. None of the sponsors claims were ever proven and all of his demands sank in civil court. To this day, Quintana-Lujan and Quantum Storm Pictures retains the rights to the film, all of the footage, photographs and advertisements to the film created by the director.
DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR BEGIN
During this time, Brett Wilson Sr. began to credit himself in positions on IMDB that didn't exist in current and previous productions that Quintana-Lujan had created. Wilson Sr. credited himself as a co-creator, a second assistant director, a co-writer, and he also posted copyrighted video material from Havoc 114 that he edited out of the film on YouTube [see the picture below] without permission. Wilson Sr. went as far to add unauthorized photos of himself on IMDB in an attempt to try and market himself as a "top actor" in the film.
LEGAL ACTIONS END
In May of 2022, after the course of almost a year, a civil judge dropped the lawsuits filed against the director/producer. Shortly afterwards, Quintana-Lujan filed for an appropriate copyright with the Copyright Office in Washington, DC, claiming that the sponsor’s claim to copyright was invalid and fraudulent. The Copyright Office agreed and granted a new copyright to Quintana-Lujan under the production team name of Quantum Storm Pictures, which was inserted into the final version of the films credits. Since his victory with the Copyright Office, Quintana-Lujan changed the title of the film from Havoc 114 to ZERO ZERO ONE, added additional extended scenes and cut several scenes of the old version of the film, also giving the film a totally different ending.
Also being removed from the film were two musical tracks that were brought to the production by the sponsor under two fraudulent contracts which promised percentage earnings of the film, not authorized by the legal copyright holder of the film. The ending to the film has also been altered and re-written with new locations for additional scenes, and new cast members were added to the production.
During the summer of 2022, some cast members of ZERO ZERO ONE began to personally confide with Quintana-Lujan that the sponsor tried to compile a list of witnesses [within the cast] to use against director/producer in court. One actor was asked to sign a letter against the director/producer maintaining ownership of the film and in return the sponsor would approve funding for another horror movie that was in production. The sponsor also wanted other actors in the film to allege that the director/producer stole money from the productions budget and absconded with it. The only persons known to have agreed to file letters against Quintana-Lujan were Brett Wilson Sr. and his family; Wilson Sr attended the initial day of court but never testified. All of these attempts by the sponsor to gain favor from other cast members of ZERO ZERO ONE failed and his allegations of theft from the movies budget were not true and never proven. By the end of July of 2022, Quintana-Lujan began to enforce copyright claims on ZERO ZERO ONE on various websites that contained informational services for the film. Websites most impacted were Facebook, YouTube, and most especially, IMDB.com; where Wilson continues to update the database with faulty information, choosing to add family as production personnel and personal friends at every turn to positions that bolstered his newly formed “film studio.” As stated before, and in an attempt to bolster his “film career” on IMDB, Wilson Sr's claims as being a “co-creator” and “second-assistant director” credits on other film projects that Quintana-Lujan was recently producing outside of ZERO ZERO ONE, plus the private video on YouTube with only his scenes cut from the then Havoc 114 film were all stricken and/or removed from the YouTube and IMDB web sites.
Also during this time frame, Quintana-Lujan began to reach out to the members of the ZERO ZERO ONE cast to both re-shoot scenes and complete the film with an additional action sequence.
STILL NO PREMIERE DATE
As of now, the original ZERO ZERO ONE has not been officially released to the open market, but was released unofficially online at Rumble.com on December 2, 2022, where over 5800 people viewed [as of August 2023] the film in the first hour of the film launch. The original cinema-graphic video files for the film are still under the custody of Quintana-Lujan, and so are all of the promotional material, photographs, behind the scenes videos with cast and crew, and all of the required licenses purchased under Quintana-Lujan’s name. The copyright and exclusive intellectual property rights for the completed full feature film has never been released in writing – as required by law - by Quintana-Lujan, Highwaymen Editions Ltd and Quantum Storm Pictures. The studio will be entering a new production phase for ZERO ZERO ONE in 2024. [*] If would like to request to add or change in information on this Wiki, please let us know here.
