SCA Alumni Screening Series Presents: PARAISO TRAVEL

ABOUT PARAISO TRAVEL

Adapted from Jorge Franco’s acclaimed novel of the same title, Paraiso Travel (which has broken box-office records in Colombia) is the story of Marlon Cruz (Aldemar Correa), a young Colombian man who, motivated by his girlfriend Reina (Angélica Blandón), leaves his comfortable life in Medellín and flees with her through Guatemala and Mexico, across the borders, illegally into the United States. Marlon’s journey, which takes him through seedy strip clubs, dance halls, homeless hostels, and the streets of Jackson Heights, ultimately takes him to a place he could not have predicted. Directed by Simon Brand, with a screenplay by Jorge Franco and Juan Rendón, Paraiso Travel also stars John Leguizamo, Margarita Rosa de Francisco, and Ana de la Reguera.


ABOUT THE GUESTS

Simón Brand (Director) began his career more than 15 years ago in Bogotá, when he directed his first music video for a local rock band at the age of 17. This marked the start of a successful filmmaking career that includes over 100 music videos and 150 television commercials for Coca-cola, Nabisco, Unilever, Pepsi, Toyota, BMW and others.

He has filmed on all the continents, showing his creative vision and raising his level among his colleagues to the point where Gatopardo magazine has designated him one of the fifty most influential people in the World of Latin American entertainment. Brand has won MTV, Clio, Telly and FIAP awards, and has been nominated for numerous Grammy awards. He has worked with megastars such as Enrique Iglesias, Shakira, Juanes, Thalía, Jessica Simpson, Chayanne and Alejandro Fernández, and many more.

Eleven years after starting his own production company, Kree8 Productions, in Miami he was ready to fulfill the dream of a lifetime and make his own full-length feature film. He moved to Los Angeles, where he discovered the script for his first film and made his debut as a film director with Unknown (Mentes en Blanco). The project developed for two years with producer Rick Lashbrook and the dream became an incredible and powerful experience, a film that included great actors like Jim Caviezel, Greg Kinnear, Barry Pepper, Joe Pantoliano, and Jeremy Sisto.

Paraíso Travel is his second feature film.

Santiago Díaz (Producer) began his postgraduate studies in 1995 in film direction and production in New York. After graduation, he was contracted by Prego Television in Bogotá, Colombia. He assumed the responsibility, as executive producer, of leading the large but newly created production company for commercial publicity in the nation.  His work has taken him to many of the Andean and Caribbean nations where he has produced hundreds of commercials and other audiovisual projects. He has worked with publicity for clients such as Nestlé, Coca-Cola, Sprite, Toyota, Renault and Sony Music, learning about the Latin American film industry through this direct contact.
 
In July of 2000, he was hired by the Spanish production company Trivisión to produce the full-length feature film, Severo Ochoa, La Conquista de un Nobel, in New York. He also produced Colombian director Sergio Cabrera’s documentary film about the life of the notorious Colombian narco-trafficker Pablo Escobar. He founded Spots Inc, a commercial production company based in Miami and Los Ángeles, that represents some of the most sought-after directors of commercial publicity in the world. Two of his directors have won the Leon de Oro award at the Cannes Film Festival for Best Commercial of the Year.

Jonathan Sanger (Executive Producer / Partner and General Co-Director, GI) produced The Producers – The Musical (based on the Broadway musical by Mel Brooks), starring Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, Uma Thurman and Will Ferrell.

In 1978, Sanger debuted as a producer after winning the interest of Mel Brooks’ new production company, Brooksfilms Ltd., with a “small” film directed by David Lynch in England. The Elephant Man, a moving story filmed in black and white with actors John Hurt and Anthony Hopkins, had a major impact on the public and the film critics, earning eight Oscar nominations in 1980, among them Best Picture. It won the British Academy’s Best Picture and the French Cesar award.

Sanger’s next project as a producer was the exciting story of the actress Frances Farmer, Frances, with Jessica Lange, Kim Stanley and Sam Shepard. Lange was nominated for the Oscar for Best Actress and Stanley for Best Supporting Actress. C/W Productions invited Jonathan to join them, and he supervised production of the film Mission Impossible II. In 2000, he produced (with Ed Elbert), his first large format (IMAX) film: NSYNC – Bigger than Live, a concert movie of the most popular music group in the United States.

In 2001, he produced Vanilla Sky for Paramount, with Tom Cruise and Penélope Cruz, written and directed by Cameron Crowe. In 2003, he produced Suspect Zero for Paramount and Tom Cruise’s production company, C/W Productions, with Aaron Eckhart, Ben Kingsley and Carrie Ann Moss.


To view the full schedule of films during the Alumni Screening Series, click here.