By Rick Lombardo

Left to right: 2nd AD Marge Piane, Latino Committee Co-Chair and 1st AD Ricardo Mendez Matta, director Carlos Ávila, producer Moctesuma Esparza, Latino Committee Co-Chairs Rick Lombardo & Maria Jimenez-Henley, and moderator David Valdes. Photo: Terry Lilly

Director Carlos Ávila's first feature film, Price of Glory, explores the family dynamics of a former and failed fighter who tries to manage his three sons in and out of the ring. Ávila had been trying to get this project off the ground for more than five years. It took a revised script, a motivated New Line Pictures, the increasing interest in Latino-themed projects and Jimmy Smits' commitment to play the lead character, that finally helped get the film on the fast track toward completion.

The DGA Latino Committee recently sponsored a special screening of the film and a Q&A discussion between Ávila and the film's producer Moctesuma Esparza, and moderated by longtime Hollywood producer and DGA member David Valdes. The discussion revolved around the inherent challenges of getting any film produced, especially a Latin-themed one.

Valdes: What about casting? Did you bring it to them with Jimmy Smits attached?

Ávila: "...That wasn't the deciding factor. They were interested in the project and wanted to work with us, they liked the story. Jimmy wasn't the make or break factor. However, Jimmy was an excellent choice. What I liked about Jimmy was that you have a man with a youthful persona ... and I think it's very much a reality that in our community it's not unusual for a man 17 or 18 to have children. In my conversation with him, we connected. We shared the similar take on who [his character] "Arturo" was. It felt right.

What about casting after Jimmy? What did you do?

Esparza: "We had a huge open casting call like I had with Selena. We got three of our main actors from that call. Carlos found Ernesto Hernandez, the kid who plays Johnny, in the line and pulled him out. He began working with him and by the end of the day he was doing scenes with Jimmy." 

Ávila: "He had never acted before at all. He was a junior in high school. The American Dream! In fact, one day we had to wrap him early so he could attend his prom."

Having done boxing movies and knowing how difficult it is just physical conditioning must have taken two or three months to train your actors right?

Ávila: It was actually just six weeks. Fortunately we had a situation where all three young boxers had some martial arts training. It helped quite a bit.

Did you have any concern with safety issues?

Ávila: We were moving along so quickly that that was the major concern. We tried to schedule the fight scenes last so that if there were any problems we would have already shot most of the principal photography and it wouldn't delay the shooting schedule.

Did you categorize the various fights and work out which routines would be used when?

Ávila: There was a dramatic arc to each of the fight scenes. We concentrated on trying to underscore what the drama was going to be in the appropriate scene. We also tried to find ways to make it more exciting and dynamic. It was really a case of sticking to an idea and following through on it.

How many days did you get budgeted for shooting?

Ávila: We asked for 39 days and were given 33, but we ended up shooting 40 anyway. One day in Vegas, two days in Phoenix and the rest here in Los Angeles. The beautiful rooftop scenes were shot in Nogales. It was such a phenomenal vista with the United States on one side and Mexico on the other with the big border wall. While we were up there we actually saw five young men cross the border illegally. That was like a better show than what we were doing.

How did you train as a director? Did you go to fights or watch Raging Bull and the Rockys?

Ávila: I was working under the assumption that it was going to be hard to get myself approved as a first-time director on the film because of the action sequences because of the boxing. There was a series on PBS I produced called Foto-Novelas and on one of the episodes we actually shot a couple of fights, some fairly elaborate fights given the resources we had. So that turned out to be a director's reel. For this film I worked with Ben "The Jet" Urquidez and went through the process of learning to stage fight sequences. How to stylize them when I needed to and give it a very dynamic sound quality. You study something like Raging Bull, which I know you worked on, and it was a textbook for me. But I also realized that you had many weeks and many millions of dollars. We had eight fights and nine days to shoot them. I realized I couldn't do it the way you guys did so I found ways to shoot as smart as possible.

How did you fill up the arena for the big fight scenes with all the extras?

Ávila: The magic of CGI. We were throwing relatives into the shots to fill up the screen.

Audience: This movie is a man's movie not just a Latino movie. How do you get around getting labeled as a Latino film?

Ávila: We are certainly proud of the fact that it represents Latino characters and is a story that has Latino roots. Certainly we were not shy about the music we selected for it. It is a dilemma. Me and Jimmy, our mantra throughout then interviews was that it's an American movie with a Latino heart. We wanted to be proud of what we were doing and yet not alienate the audience. It's clearly a dilemma.

What was the biggest adjustment you had to make?

Ávila: Time isn't the enemy but it usually works against you. We made it clear that this was a movie that needed to be shot in 39 or 40 days. We were told we had 33 yet we ended up shooting 40, so time was an issue. I think it was also just the boxing. As a first-time director you see yourself out there in the middle of the forum with hundreds of extras, trucks and big lights and everything. That's something you have to make a mental adjustment about. You're not making a short indie film with a $3 million budget, you're shooting what is the next step up in your career."

Rick Lombardo is a director-member and a Co-Chair of the DGA Latino Committee.

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