{"id":52105,"date":"2020-08-17T12:15:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-17T18:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/casting-call-pilot-for-tv-series-is-set-for-montezuma-county\/"},"modified":"2020-08-17T18:15:00","modified_gmt":"2020-08-17T18:15:00","slug":"casting-call-pilot-for-tv-series-is-set-for-montezuma-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/casting-call-pilot-for-tv-series-is-set-for-montezuma-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Casting call: Pilot for TV series is set for Montezuma County"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Director
Director F\u00e9lix Enr\u00edquez Alcal\u00e1 and author Chuck Greaves have announced a casting call in Montezuma County for a independently produced television series.<\/span>Adobe Stock image<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A local novelist and a well-known film and television director have teamed up to produce a television series based in the Southwest and filmed in Montezuma County.<\/p>\n

Chuck Greaves, a mystery novel writer living in McElmo Canyon, and F\u00e9lix Enr\u00edquez Alcal\u00e1, a director known for his work on episodes of highly rated television shows like \u201cThe Good Wife,\u201d \u201cCriminal Minds\u201d and \u201cBreaking Bad,\u201d are recruiting Montezuma County locals for small roles and as crew members.<\/p>\n

Greaves and Alcal\u00e1 live in Montezuma County and were inspired to create something that would also boost the local economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to bring a television company to Montezuma County,\u201d Greaves said. \u201cA production like that would bring, what we would spend, approximately $3 million per episode for each of the six episodes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two met six months ago through a mutual friend and decided over dinner to work on a project. Their experiences in Montezuma County gave rise to a television show idea, titled \u201cBadwater.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Alcal\u00e1 knew from experience that if they took the typical route to create a television show \u2013 partnering with a production company and a distributor \u2013 they would lose creative control.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would go through so many changes,\u201d Greaves said. \u201cSo what we are going to do is completely different.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Chuck
Chuck Greaves<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Greaves and Alcal\u00e1 plan to produce the pilot episode independently with private funding, then shop the pilot around for a company to pick it up. The process would allow Greaves and Alcal\u00e1 to \u201ccontrol the final product much more readily than we otherwise would,\u201d Greaves said.<\/p>\n

Alcal\u00e1\u2019s connections in the industry and his experience directing a variety of projects would allow him and Greaves to \u201cmake a quality television show at half the price,\u201d Greaves said.<\/p>\n

Filming is set for 10 to 15 days in October in Cortez, Mancos and Dolores. Alcal\u00e1 said the mayors of Cortez and Mancos have been supportive of the project.<\/p>\n

Alcal\u00e1 hopes to film in iconic buildings like the old county courthouse.<\/p>\n

Shooting and sourcing the cast and crew locally would boost local trade and the economy, Greaves and Alcal\u00e1 said.<\/p>\n

If the television show were picked up, the producers would include a nonprofit component to teach locals about acting, trades and what goes into making a television show, Greaves said.<\/p>\n

Montezuma County residents are invited to an open casting call on Tuesday, Aug. 18, at the Mancos Community Center on 130 Grand Ave., from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

The contemporary series is about a small Southwestern town that borders a Native American reservation, so Native American actors are encouraged to join the casting call, Greaves said.<\/p>\n

\"F&#xe9;lix
F&#xe9;lix Enr&#xed;quez Alcal&#xe1;<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Alcal\u00e1\u2019s idea for the show was inspired by current injustices, especially racial injustice. \u201cBadwater\u201d is about the \u201cgray area of drama; there are no clear good guys and bad guys,\u201d Alcal\u00e1 said. \u201cEveryone\u2019s just trying to fix issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a Mexican American who grew up in Texas, Alcal\u00e1 said he \u201chad to push every inch of the way\u201d to accomplish what he has.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey just don\u2019t let you in (to the industry),\u201d Alcal\u00e1 said.<\/p>\n

Major characters of the story include a Native leader, a white sheriff, a Black social worker and a Latina district attorney.<\/p>\n

Greaves and Alcal\u00e1 say they would hire a Native writer for the series.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to train people in the writers room,\u201d as well as pay them minimum wage, Alcal\u00e1 said. \u201cIt would be a great honor to say we started something for the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

The film\/television industry in New Mexico is a $2 billion industry, and it would be \u201cexciting to start a film community in Southwest Colorado,\u201d Alcal\u00e1 said.<\/p>\n

Resumes and headshots are encouraged but not required, according to a press release. Actors and crew would be paid wages that align with the Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, Greaves said.<\/p>\n

The pair want to line up 41 to 45 cast members within three to four weeks, Alcal\u00e1 said.<\/p>\n

He emphasized that masks and social distance rules will be followed during the casting call, per SAG-AFTRA guidelines.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe union in California will shut us down if we don\u2019t,\u201d Alcal\u00e1 said.<\/p>\n

Production in October would require a nurse on set and testing for the cast three times per week, Greaves said.<\/p>\n

ehayes@the-journal.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Katie Chicklinski-Cahill contributed to this article.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

If you go<\/h4>\n

What:<\/strong>
\n Open casting call for actors and extras for a television pilot.
\n When:<\/strong>
\n 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday.
\n Where:<\/strong>
\n Mancos Community Center, 130 Grand Ave., Mancos.
\n Note:<\/strong>
\n Resumes and headshots are encouraged but not required. Masks and social distancing will be strictly enforced per SAG-AFTRA guidelines.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Writers hiring local actors, extras, crew members in Mancos casting call<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52106,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[21,13,28,83,60,337,2460],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-52105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-cortez","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-headlines","tag-mancos","tag-montezuma-county","tag-television","tag-television-industry"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52105\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52105"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=52105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}