Trailer for "The Invitation"

"The Invitation" is the second film I worked on with Alberto Barboza, a director and friend I met at UCLA film school. "Premeditation," which was Alberto's thesis short film, generated momentum with favorable response at festivals, garnering an award at the LA Latino International Film Festival that led to attention from Showtime. Showtime provided air dates for "Premeditation," in addition to funding for a second film, which became "The Invitation."

The story centers on two young painters, each of whom are being promoted at a gallery opening by a husband-wife team of art sellers. There is competition among the artists and among the gallery owners, Gloria and Marco, to outsell the work of their chosen protegés, and determine who will be established as the new sensation in the fickle art world. The film reveals that in the world of art, as elsewhere, success is often determined by political machinations and one's willingness to sublimate their personal values to overcome the competition.

Although some key crew positions carried over from "Premeditation," such as DP Chris Bernal, I did not edit the film. This time out, the production team had the honor of working with the great Caroline Ross, who has contributed her editing talents to episodes of "The West Wing" and one of the great entries in the political satire/sci-fi genre, "Starship Troopers." I had the pleasure of assisting Miss Ross, and then porting the project over from AVID to my Final Cut bay at the Cimarron Group to do the online. I monkeyed around with the footage during the slow days at Cimarron and came up with this trailer.

The film aired on October 5, 2005 on Showtime and has since played in several festivals.