Sobrevivo

The original concept for Sobrevivo was inspired by a location that my co-producer and writer had visited. It was a stage equipment and lighting rental house a few blocks away from the hospital where I was born. She described it as "a magical place" where "time stood still." That's because the top floor of the building was host to an incredible array of stage props, lining the past 40 years of American pop culture. I've always been amazed by the idea of past things losing meaning, only to take on new form in the current day. Maybe it's because that's how we evolve and grow older as humans; things that we write off at first can have meaning and relevance in our lives, right now.
With this location and those concepts in mind, we began to write Sobrevivo. I read the first version of the script on a plane ride back from Germany in January, 2013. I remember looking around at other passengers, wondering if any of them had a clue about the insanity on the page in front of me. It was a complete roller coaster ride and a story in which we watch the protagonist, April, start off as a dependent house wife, only to turn into a self-sufficient woman roaming the world of the un-dead.
Before they became the loved un-dead masses that they are today, zombies weren't always so mainstream. It took having conversations with your friends at the video store (yeah, remember those?!) to realize that your buddy was also popping in VHS cassettes late at night with a bucket of popcorn and smiling as people were torn from limb to limb by flesh eating ghouls.
I remember that as a kid, my favorite part of the week was walking into our local video rental store, Star Video. I was drawn to the glass display case to the left of the check out desk, where all of the glorious and gruesome VHS box art stood just out of reach of my young hands. Return of the Living Dead, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: The Dream Warriors, and Mountaintop Motel Massacre glowed in front of my eyes like a mystical treasure chest. I was infatuated by what these boxes promised; an absolutely beautiful nightmare that picks at the strings of our adrenaline and fear-filled hearts. If I close my eyes and take a deep breath, I can remember the sight of Jiffy Pop and candy, the smell of their old rug, and the grimy, greasy feel of a VHS cassette that passed through so many hands.
Before Facebook LIKES even existed, people actually spoke with each other in person and could recommend a "great flick" to another friend by passing them an actual tape and reading the back for more information. The days of video store horror films may be long gone, but like the props in our first location, their memories and essence still stay strongly intact.
And with those memories came Sobrevivo, a film that like many others I had seen before it, would play a vital role in my life. It has always been a dream of mine to direct a zombie movie. This was my opportunity to join the ranks of other directors whose work inspired me, to maybe have one of those boxes like the ones I was enamored by at Star Video. It's been an incredible amount of work putting this film together. I wish to thank the hundreds of people who made this happen financially, physically, artistically and spiritually. I hope you enjoy this film as much as I enjoyed looking at those VHS boxes in Star Video.