Private Project

Sidewalk Entrepreneurs

A vegan chef, Tango dancers, a pro skateboarder, a drug dealer and a shaman all share the same office space in this documentary film. Following a group of enterprising skateboarders, Sidewalk Entrepreneurs, explores the lives of people making a living on the streets of Mexico City and their impact on the city's underground economy.

  • Jefferson Elliott
    Director
    Theme Park in the Making
  • Jefferson Elliott
    Writer
  • Alan Mosco Lopez
    Key Cast
    "Alan Mosco Lopez"
  • Gabriel Garcia
    Camera
  • Alan Mosco Lopez
    Camera
  • Jefferson Elliott
    Camera
  • Adriana Elliott
    Translator
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Experimental, Feature, Short, Web / New Media, Other
  • Runtime:
    48 minutes 10 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    January 1, 2019
  • Country of Origin:
    Mexico
  • Country of Filming:
    Mexico
  • Language:
    English, Spanish
  • Shooting Format:
    super 35mm
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Jefferson Elliott

Jefferson Elliott (Director/Cinematographer) is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Seattle. He began his career in film as a Production Assistant at Chris Pratt's New Wineskin Productions. His work includes narrative shorts, documentaries, animation and feature films as well as commercial projects. In his passion projects, Elliott seeks out stories and issues that are often part of our daily lives but commonly overlooked and/or largely unreported on, but always at least a little weird.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Sidewalk Entrepreneurs offers a unique view into the lives of people making a living on the streets in Mexico City. As we cruise the streets with group of entrepreneuring skateboarders, they introduce us to street merchants and entertainers from all walks of life. These micro-business owners candidly describe what it takes to develop your own business on the sidewalk either legally or illegally. Although Street workers are often blamed for heavily contributing to the city's ever expanding underground economy, many actually pay taxes. Some workers even receive government grants, while others are members of their own private labor unions. So far, government efforts to eradicate street-work have not been successful and this film documents why that is for the best.

Making this film was an amazing experience. Many thanks to the all skateboarder film crew that made this film possible, without them I would have been stuck in traffic and robbed on the first day. Please Enjoy our film.