Coyote (2014) Online

Coyote (2014) Online

Following three stories that encircle the lives of immigrants, you enter into a world of desperation, sacrifice, and even death. The characters in the film are portrayed by true people of many different backgrounds and walks of life. Their voices are heard through the screen, their lives are saved one by one from the audience's awareness about the truth regarding immigration. As for the coyotes, they are reflected indirectly by demonstrating their power they have on the people who want a better life. High cost human trafficking and the promise of a better life if they cross are factors of hopeful dreaming. Coyote is an archive of those who attempt the cross to change their lives, change their souls, and eventually change the world, for better or worse.

The original actor who was to play the character Ramon failed to provide his contact information to the casting crew. Out of desperation, the crew decided to post the actor's audition video online and posted flyers around downtown Tucson with the hopes of drawing him in. The actor was later dropped due to lack of contact.

Although Lou Pimber and Roberto Diaz are the major stars in the film, they never actually met on set. Both actors shot all their footage on consecutive Saturdays: Diaz shot all his footage on the first shooting day and the following weekend Pimber shot his.

Lou Pimber was hired the night before filming. By morning, the entire crew was surprised to see that he was well prepared for shooting and many of his shots as Ramon were exactly as portrayed in the original script.

Mark Arvizu was the only actor to show up on set to play the coyote character. Originally there were two coyotes in the film. His pistol in the film was functioning Glock 23 but no ammunition was present on set, and for safety reasons, Lou Pimber checked the pistol before each filming session.

Steve McKee's character El Guapo (El Americano AKA The American) was originally for a Spanish speaking actor. Steve is the only character in the film that speaks English.

Roberto Diaz, Eduardo Ramirez, and Brianna Contreras actually act on a working ranch. The ranch is the Scott Bell Ranch in Nogales, Arizona and their ranch caters to herding cattle instead of goats.

Jesus Rodriguez, who plays Sativo was originally a character that called for an elderly land owner. Later on, Sativo's character was changed to a younger man to represent Sativo as the son of a rich father and land owner. Jesus at the time of filming was under-aged.

The entire cast and crew except for Lou Pimber, Angelica Rodenbeck, and Eduardo Venegas had to go through a Border Patrol checkpoint.

Nickolas Duarte originally volunteered to be the assistant director, but immediately on set he requested to be the cinematographer for the entire ending story.

The scenes with Lou Pimber and Mark Arvizu have an SUV in the background. At the time the SUV had driven through heavy desert brush, puncturing two of the tires. The director later decided to use the road to prevent any additional problems and the crew shot while the tires were slowly deflating. In the raw camera footage one can hear the sound of the tire losing air.

All scenes that portray Mexico is actually Nogales, Arizona in the United States. The crew filmed in specific angles to eliminate any signs that show English writing or American companies.

All the "bar" scenes in "Mexico" AKA Nogales, Arizona took about ten minutes per bar to shoot. The biggest obstacle was finding complete strangers to act during the scenes. These strangers were local patrons and had already been drinking prior to the crew arriving.

In one city scene, Eduardo Ramirez wears glasses and plays an extra in the background opposite to Roberto Diaz's daughter, Aile and his dog, Drake

There are no goats in the entire film.

The crickets in the film, the background "street music", and the candle scene were all done with post production sound effects.

The opening shots of the mountains are part of the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge and touch the border of Mexico. Immigrants still cross through the refuge illegally into the United States. Farmers on the State side that work and live within the refuge will sometimes find human remains of those who attempted to cross but did not survive.

The largest delay regarding the production of the film was the editing process because the editors and the writer/director and more than half the crew did not speak Spanish. Amistad Media was brought in to translate the film during the editing process.

The film was written in English but later translated into Spanish. It was originally written as a five minute short film named "The Van" but was later extended when writer/director Adam Ray talked to a friend of the family who lived close to the Mexican border. He based his extended script off the stories of people that were abandoned by 'coyotes' or human smugglers. "The Van" story is the beginning of the film, followed by two stories that entwine one another.

Brianna Contreras, the actor who played Karolina shouts a line about sheep when she's arguing with her on screen father, Amadeo, who is played by Roberto Diaz. In the script she was meant to say goats. Later on she had to dub her voice into saying "cabras" instead of "borregos", which actually means sheep. During the editing process the director liked how she said 'sheep' so it was kept in the film. In the entire film there are no sheep or goats or any livestock on screen.

The editor of the film was recovering from surgery and for the final cut the film clips were posted on private Youtube videos then translated to the second editor by phone or online.

Eydie Gorme passed away during post production of the film. Eydie Gorme's version of "Historia de un Amor" with Trios Los Panchos was one inspiration for the director. There are two versions of the song in the film, one sang by Carla Turco and another played by Jorge Nolla on guitar.

There are many correlations between the director's father and the character Francisco: The character Francisco originates from the first idea of the film named "The Van." The director's father actually drives a van and is named Francisco. In the original story line the character Francisco is an artist, as is the director's father. The director's father actually introduced Adam Ray to those who directly dealt with coyotes and immigrants (personally and politically), inadvertently creating the inspiration for this film.

Coyote is a collaboration of Taxman Entertainment Pictures and Amistad Media. This collaboration is considered a Maldito Film.

Carla Turco, the vocalist who sung the cover to Historia de un Amor recorded the song in a closet in her downtown Tucson office. She was a little shy and needed a dark place to concentrate on the song.