Quentin Tarantino, The Film Avenged and Me!
This is a congratulatory post about my friend Michael Ojeda, who's still slated to be our DP for @thetearsees, and the high compliments paid to him by the legend Quentin Tarantino about his independent film, Avenged. Now that Tarantino has blessed his work with an absolutely gushing review, I have a feeling Michael is going to be a little busy!
Michael worked tirelessly and sacrificed a lot to make Avenged (Savaged). It's as fun and violent and insane - in a fun way - as Tarantino says it is.
See for yourself!
I had the pleasure of working on the film for a few days in and around Randsburg, CA, an Old West kind of town near Edwards Air Force base.
The town itself is filled with a lot of colorful characters. Everyone there was thrilled to be working with us and we loved working out there with them! It was hot though. So, so hot. Tarantino mentions the intestines scene and I was there for that! What a blast! Come to think of it, all the scenes he mentioned are ones in which I got to help. How lucky! I'm glad to see Michael finally getting a little of the recognition he deserves.
THE INTERVIEW
In case the episode doesn't start at the section I want, be sure to skip one hour, twenty minutes in to hear the seven minute gush over Avenged!
Imagine for one moment in your life, one of the greatest in your field, an idol, a master taking a few minutes out to praise you.
FROM MICHAEL'S FACEBOOK RESPONSE:
Today I recieved the most validating gift any filmmaker could ever dream for. And it is in the video link below. When Tarantino was asked, "What's the best thing you've watched for the first time in the last year?" The man himself says "Savaged" (Aka "Avenged"). I am speechelss. He even watched my second film "The Russian Bride" and said it was real good too. As an independent filmmaker you put everything you have into each film... it's not just your time... but your money...your sweat and blood, basically you have to sell your soul to make your film a reality. And when the journey is over and the film (your baby) is released into the world more often than not - the most validation you ever see is a few festival accolades and once released you might gain a small fan base. Most likely you will never see a dime.
QuoteSo, why do we do it? Why do we make films? We make them because we crave recognition as artists, we want people to enjoy the crazy worlds we create in our heads. Unfortunately, for small indie filmmakers like me, the little satisfaction we receive from our films vanishes as quickly as the film does from mainstream media. And when that happens we feel broken and defeated and tell our selves, "it will be the next film." And then we have to fight and claw to get the next one made and it gets harder each year. Well, today my friends and family I have been validated, better than any award or money I could ever make from my films... I have been touched by the master filmmaker, Quentin Tarantino himself. Thank you Quentin, you have poured rocket fuel into my tank and I now can continue my fight to make great films for years to come.
I am so excited for him and proud to have given what I could to Avenged. The only thing left to say is... TOO THE MOON!
Oh, and...
WATCH AVENGED!
If any of you are into horror films or revenge films, give Avenged a chance! It's a helluva lot of fun!
STREAM IT ON AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B00UBRGD1M/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r
BUY THE DVD: https://www.amazon.com/Avenged-Amanda-Adrienne/dp/B00X4SA66I
There's also the import version with the original title, Savaged.