The Baby Cries

Marco is going to all lengths to unite his protective husband David, his estranged conservative parents and his newborn daughter in a dramedy about love, faith and devotion.
Marco and David, a married gay couple and their newborn baby, adjust into family life with very little sleep. Marco calls upon his strict Catholic parents to 'help out' and meet their newborn daughter. Reluctantly the grandparents arrive, but with a world wind of disapproval. Will this family conquer their differences and find the ties that bind? Will love conquer all? A gay story, told in a different way. More honest, more real, sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking. Always with more diapers.

  • Mario J. Novoa
    Director
    The Yellow Ribbon, Goodbye My Love, Spying Games
  • Mario J. Novoa
    Writer
    The Yellow Ribbon, Goodbye My Love, Spying Games
  • Mario J. Novoa
    Producer
    Trona, The Miracle of Tony Davis, The Yellow Ribbon, Goodbye My Love, Spying Games
  • Kristen Wair
    Producer
    The Miracle of Tony Davis
  • Martin Morales
    Key Cast
    Modern Family
  • Matt Pascua
    Key Cast
    Wild
  • MJ Silva
    Key Cast
  • Miriam Peniche
    Key Cast
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Grito Del Bebe
  • Project Type:
    Short, Web / New Media
  • Genres:
    comedy
  • Runtime:
    12 minutes 30 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 1, 2014
  • Production Budget:
    15,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Latina/o Queer Film Festival
    Los Angeles
    April 10, 2014
    North American Premiere
  • Cinema Diverse: The Palm Springs Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
    Palm Springs, CA
    September 18, 2015
    Festival Favorite
  • The 26th Annual Tampa Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
    St. Pete Beach, FL
    October 9, 2015
Director Biography - Mario J. Novoa

Mario J. Novoa is a professional film director and producer who resides in Los Angeles, California. Mario began his career in the arts in high school as an assistant director, where he learned the art of stage direction and production management. Taking full of advantage of working with actors and learning the technical craft of television production, he worked in various live newscast productions as writer and producer of Odyssey News Update.

FILM INDEPENDENT'S PROJECT: INVOLVE diversity mentoring program provided Mario the opportunity to further learn the process of filmmaking.

Through FILM INDEPENDENT, Mario Novoa attended the Producing Program at THE LOS ANGELES FILM SCHOOL. There he further developed his directing, producing and marketing skills. During his time at L.A.F.S., Mario produced five short films, two of which won an industry award.

Mario opened his own production company, Novoa Entertainment in 2000. All his skills and efforts led him to develop a business plan that would provide him a sustainable business model for media production. The “bread and butter” of his business consisted of event videography, local broadcast TV commercials and segments for nationally syndicated TV shows like THE MONTEL WILLIAMS SHOW. Mario developed some “real life” business skills in the process like copy writing and design concepts, and developing client relationships.

Mario has produced and directed dynamic ad campaigns for The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, Cedar Sinai Hospital, The W Hotel Hollywood, MOFILM UK, The Hollywood Business Owners Alliance. He also produced the feature film The Miracle of Tony Davis, feature documentary Gay Latino Los Angeles: Coming of Age, short play The Baby Cries. In late 2013, Mario conceptualized two marketing campaigns for The Reel Studio and ELEVATION TV. In 2014, he produced TRONA, Backstory, Underground Masterpiece, Ay Jose and feature doc L.A. A Queer History.

Mario J. Novoa's The Baby Cries short film, which he wrote/produced/directed, first premiered as a stage play in Los Angeles and later Dublin, Ireland in 2012.

Mario Novoa received a Producing degree from The Los Angeles Film School in 2000 and Bachelor of Science degree in Internet Marketing from Full Sail University in 2013.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

"Film Directing allows me tell a story with a bunch of other storytellers - cinematographers, sound mixers, production designers, line producers, creative producer, etc. Directing has been a devotion for me as I have studied techniques from various masters and have put them into practice, time and time again.

The Baby Cries was an effort to tell a comedy about a family coming together after years of separation. The catalyst comes in the form of a baby which serves as the impetus for our protagonist Marco, to invite his parents to help take care of his newborn daughter.

I wanted to explore an LGBT story that had to do with family, multi-generations, homophobia, love, Latino-American culture and faith. While most Gay comedies focus on romantic relationships and the follies of close friends, I wanted to follow an LGBT connection in contemporary American family life. I've always been a fan of 1970's & 80's television shows like "All In The Family, Family Ties, Good Times, The Cosby Show, and Roseanne, and this was my homage to these great comedies.