1, 2, 3, All Eyes On Me
When a crisis suddenly engulfs an elementary school campus, Ms. Leena, a determined art teacher, tries everything she can to save her frightened class.
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Emil GallardoDirector
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Emil GallardoWriter
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Derek HoWriter
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Emil GallardoProducer
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My-Hanh LacProducer
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Derek HoProducer
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Farelle WalkerKey Cast"Ms. Leena"
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Blanca OrdazKey Cast"Lety"
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Armand MunozKey Cast"Anthony"
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Project Type:Short
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Runtime:15 minutes
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Completion Date:January 28, 2020
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Country of Origin:United States
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Country of Filming:United States
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Language:English
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Shooting Format:RED
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Aspect Ratio:2:1
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
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HollyShorts Film FestivalLos Angeles, CA
Won the Grand Prix Award -
Austin Film FestivalAustin, TX
Jury Award Winner -
Cleveland International Film FestivalCleveland, OH
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BronzeLens Film FestivalAtlanta, GA
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Los Angeles Latino International Film FestivalLos Angeles, CA
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New York Latino Film FestivalNew York, NY
Won Best Short -
Pasadena International Film FestivalPasadena, CA
Won Best Actress (Farelle Walker), Won Best Short -
Official Latino Film FestivalPalm Desert, CA
Won Best of Fest -
Los Angeles Diversity Film FestivalLos Angeles, CA
Won Best of Fest, Won Best Performance (Farelle Walker) -
Salute Your Shorts Film FestivalLos Angeles, CA
Won Audience Choice -
Queen Palm International Film FestivalPalm Springs, CA
Won Best Short & Best Actress -
Cordillera Film FestivalReno, NV
Won Best Drama Short -
Phoenix Film FestivalPhoenix, AZ
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Seattle Latino Film FestivalSeattle, WA
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Key West Film FestivalKey West, FL
Won Best Dramatic Short -
Pittsburgh ShortsPittsburgh, PA
Won Audience Award for Best Short -
CineOdyssey Film FestivalCharlotte, North Carolina
Won Best Actress (Farelle Walker) -
Filmocracy Film FestivalLos Angeles, CA
Won Best Narrative Short -
Magnolia Independent Film FestivalStarkville, Mississippi
Won Best Narrative Short
In 2020, Emil was selected by HBO as a fellow in their Directing Fellowship. He is a Mexican American writer/director from Los Angeles who started his career in the AD department. After working on a variety of productions from commercials to independent features to studio TV shows, Emil left ADing to focus on writing and directing.
Emil’s stories usually deal with difficult topics and are motivated by building empathy for the characters and the worlds they live in. 1, 2, 3, All Eyes On Me, his current film, is no exception.
1, 2, 3, All Eyes On Me won the Grand Prix Award at HollyShorts, qualifying it for the Oscars. It's also won a Jury Award in Austin, been an official selection of four Oscar-qualifying festivals, nominated for the John Singleton Impact Award, and won Best Short at the NY Latino Film Festival, among other awards.
My mom was a teacher for 30 years and watching her over the course of her career created a deep respect for what teachers do and the amount of themselves they give to their students. In addition to shrinking budgets and greater workloads, teachers nowadays also have to prepare their classes to hide or flee from the real possibility of being harmed in their classrooms.
While every mass shooting is a tragedy, it was the cell phone footage of a teacher trying to distract her young class from the gunfire outside by singing to them that hit me especially hard. The compassion and courage she displays under the most terrifying circumstance really affected me. There’s no way for her to fully succeed in protecting her students and yet she’s trying her best. Never is her own safety even a thought.
I made this film to illustrate how incredible these people are and how much they need our help to put an end to this violence.
Stylistically, our intention was to immerse the audience in the moment. While the film is fictional, I wrote it after interviewing several teachers, one of which was in a shooting. The film straddles the line between fiction and reality with the goal of helping the audience attain a true emotional understanding of what it’s like to be in a situation like this.