RIDGECREST REELS IN INDY FEATURE "SILENT CROSS (November 15, 2002)

(Ridgecrest)---When Oakland, CA, director Joaquin Alvarado was doing some pre-production computer scouting of desert locatins for his independent feature SILENT CROSS, he found fim commissioner Ray Arthur www.filmdeserts.com. The resulting email and phone calls led to the majority of the film's desert scenes being shot in Ridgecrest, a city of 25,000 located 2 1/2 hours northeast of Los Angeles in the Mojave High Desert. According to Arthur, "Joaguin and I spent about 45 minutes on the phone during that first call. He had originally chosen two or three locations from our website but the more we talked and the more I understood the story, the more locations he liked." Arhtur and Alvarado, both at their computers, went from location to location selecting the best sites for Alvarado's first feature. In the end SILENT CROSS spent seven days shooting scenes at "The Narrows," a rocky, boxed canyon 20 miles southwest of Ridgecrest, and "Poison Canyon," located 15 miles east of the city.

Both locations serve as a US/Mexican border-crossing site as the film deals with that subject in an interesting "movie within a movie" format. The main character, Marshall, is filming a documentary of the many aspects of Mexican emigration to the US and the perils of border crossing in the southwest. Marshall takes his documentary one-step further and joins a group of Mexicans as they make their journey. Danger and possible death await as the feature film records the making of the "documentary." Director Alvarado is also the screenwriter, and his wife Becki Couch-Alvarado is the film's producer. Many of the cast and crew of 45 are also independent filmmakers in their own right.

Executive Producer Steve Lovato noted that several other locations were initially in the running but fell by the wayside once Ridgecrest was discovered, "We looked at El Centro and the Imperial Valley, and seriously considered New Mexico for a time, but the beauty and uniqueness of the Ridgecrest locations, and the support of the Ridgecrest Regional Film Commission made our decision very easy."

Both "The Narrows" and "Poison Canyon" are managed by the BLM, and the California Film Commission's "Film California First" program will reimburse the feature's production company, Jingletown, 100 percent of its fees for Public Land film usage; a point that did not escape Executive Producer Lovato. Director Alvarado also had high praise for the locals, "Working with Ray at the Ridgecrest Film Commission, Peter at the BLM, and our monitor Rick Clark really made this film possible. As with most 'indie' shoots, the schedule was tight, but these guys did everything we asked and then some tokeep us going. It was a real partnership. As for the locations, they were stunning and brought the story off the page. The desert in and around Ridgecrest is some of the most pristine I've ever seen. It was a real find."

When principle filming of SILENT CROSS is completed, several weeks of postproduction will ready the independent feature for next spring's film festival circuit, and distribution later in 2003. Director Joaquin Alvarado was so taken with Ridgecrest's desert locations that he plans to use the area again next year for a 'bottled water' commercial. According to Alvarado, "nothing says "thirsty" like the Mojave Desert!"

The Ridgecrest Regional Film Commission estimates that the seven-day production generated $168,000 in local revenue.