Today we’d like to introduce you to Erika Miranda.
Hi Erika, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
Trailer [Trash] Magic has a long journey. We started working on this story as a team a few years ago. But it had a life before it got the Cafecito Productions team. I am so proud that it will have its premiere at The Chinese Theater via LALIFF on May 30th. Below is what writer Keatyn Lee has to say about the process and the women that makeup Trailer [Trash] Magic.
Trailer (Trash) Magic began as an exploration of the small insular communities that dotted the Northern Appalachian Mountains where I grew up. I was deeply curious about the stories of Granny Witches, who allegedly once occupied shanty structures around the lake I spent my summers swimming in. I was fascinated by how they supposedly brought their healing magic over from Ireland and traded and collaborated with the Cherokee people to learn all they could about the plant properties and superstitions of the mountains. And also, by the others who called themselves Rumney (An oE shoot of an oE shoot of Roma people) who tarmacked or worked in roofing and never seemed to stay in West Virginia through our cold winters. I imagined a world in which these people all shared their secrets to create an epic kind of mountain folk magic but continued to hide it from those of us on the outside, knowing we’d most likely find a way to steal and commodify it.
But through a collaboration with Erika, our director, the series became about much more than that. It became about the emerging diversity in the southern mountains and telling the stories of those who don’t fit the typical Appalachian stereotype but survive there all the same. We continued to dive into the obstacles the people face that are as old as the mountains themselves but also began to examine the new ones that have cropped up for those who sit at intersections of oppression. As the story was already about women who came from different cultural backgrounds existing in the same family, Erika, as a mixed-race person, was able to see herself in the characters who struggle with where they fit in the world as bastions of separate heritage. She encouraged me to push on that until we were able to create a multi-racial, multi-cultural, multi-magical family of strong, funny women whose personal and familial struggles will ring true to a panoply of folks from all over the world.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
This movie means so much to me for many reasons. It has served as the perfect catalyst for my latest journey through the idea of “identity.” In a very technical sense, it was my first time directing a film or story of any kind. Through this experience, I have expanded my artistic identity and subsequently can now add the title of “Director” to my resume. It’s a title I never dreamt of holding, but here we are… and I couldn’t be more grateful.
The true gift that came from making this movie was being able to explore my own heritage and sense of personal identity through the words and the characters that this movie gave life to. Once the movie was finished, I was very nervous to show it to people, and even more worried about submitting it to festivals.
Throughout my life I have fought to belong to a club that I deemed the “club” of all clubs, the elitist of all groups- “The Latina Club”, a club wherein you proudly and fully embrace your Latinidad (who knows if this club actually exists, but it should). Although I wanted to be a part of this club, I rarely felt good enough or Latina enough to be a part of it. And truth be told, there were times where I allowed others to make me feel like I WASN’T “enough” to fit in.
I was born to a Mexican father and a white mother. A mix that afforded me the privileges that come with having lighter skin and a white parent. A mix that also gave me a life and a family to love in Mexico. But sometimes, instead of embracing the beauty of this mixture, I got trapped in the feeling that two halves weren’t quite equal to a whole. I let the opinions of others ignite feelings of not belonging, of not having the “right” to claim a piece of me. A piece that was instrumental in my upbringing and integral to who I am.
So, I was scared about this movie because I spread some of my own fear into these characters- brought to life by these incredible Latina-American actresses. I was scared these characters portrayed in Trailer [Trash] Magic wouldn’t be enough, wouldn’t be Latina enough.
But then I let the movie work its magic- and fully embraced the bravery and tenacity that these women brought in portraying characters who also straddle two worlds and two identities while failing and succeeding-loving and fighting. The invisible string that brings us together is the humanity of it all.
I am reminded of our first rehearsal together. I asked the cast and crew present to share a time where they felt as though they didn’t “belong”. During that next hour, through tears and laughter, we all shared moments of when our Latinidad had been questioned or quantified, and we came to the conclusion that this was in fact a story about belonging.
Fox, a nine-year-old Afro-Latina, is born into a family of Appalachian-Latina witches living in a trailer park in Georgia. It’s about how she finally comes into her own, finding her place in the world and her place in her own mixed family of witches and ultimately becoming the most powerful sorceress of them all.
There is a line in the movie that says:
“A little Catemaco, a little Appalachia. You’re lucky to be receiving them all.”
A character is describing a blend of magic potions that she is using to heal a neighbor, using herbs and practices that come from Catemaco (Mexico) and Appalachia (U.S.A). I find comfort in realizing that this line embodies all that I am. In my life, I might change it to “a little Cuernavaca, a little Georgia.” But nonetheless, it was embracing the combination of those two places and cultures with the multitudes of lessons they each brought, that healed me. It was what made me feel whole, made me feel enough- just like Fox. But, like Fox, it wasn’t until I realized that embracing my identity (as I DEFINED it, as I KNEW it) would be the key to unlocking my superpower and would be what ultimately led me to deepening my purpose of storytelling. It quite literally led me here to welcome everyone the Trailer [Trash] Magic club, where all are welcome 🙂
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Indie filmmaking is not always easy; in fact- it rarely is easy. But it is rewarding! I am proud and most grateful to our team for coming together and giving voice to this story of these witchy and wild Latina women. I am also extremely proud to be among the cohort of indie filmmakers in Atlanta, paving the way for our city. Atlanta is the perfect place for creativity and storytelling, and I hope it can remain this way for many years. The independent eco-system is at the heart of every creative economy.
At the beginning of our process, we submitted our script (before filming) to the Film Impact Georgia Grant- and we won! Here is some of the feedback from the judges. I am very proud that they saw what our team was after in writing a script like Trailer [Trash] Magic.
“The Trailer [Trash] Magic script so quickly and expertly builds a world with multiple generations of Latina women and explored magical realism with a deftness that immerses the reader and takes them along for a journey filled with unquestioning wonder.”- Molly Coffee
“This was a delightful and entrancing short! The ties to this film and the protagonist’s quest bring several familiar notes that reflect Georgia and its Latinx communities. We need more fantasy stories in honor the South as magic is happening all around us every day.”- Trent Farrington
“What the world needs right now is a little more magic, and this script delivers that plus so much more. With a standout array of Latinx representation that we rarely get to see in a film.”- Nina Lee
“A tight story on generational magic that’s full of surprises.”- Chuck Thomas
I hope we make our fellow indie filmmaking community proud.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you.
Luck is the people who came together to make this film!
CAST
Jasmine Washington as Fox
Melissa Haas as Esper
Mary Lynn Owen as Minty
Luna Rivera as Bird
John Henry Ward as Billy
CREW
Writer- Keatyn Lee
1st Assistant Director- Viviana Chavez
Production Designer -Isabel A. Curley-Clay
Production Designer- Moriah Curley-Clay
Key Makeup Artist – Haley Stevens
FX Makeup Artist- Genie Bolet
Costume Designer – Tiuana Bell
Script Supervisor- Riley Broome
Caterer Viviana Spejcher
Prosthetics- Rachel DeUrioste
Color house- Forager Collective
Colorist- Lindsey Mazur
Color producer- Denisse Juliana
Key PA-Emily Pinzon
Set PA- Marcos Cotlar
Production Assistant- Anngel Lewis
Production Assistant- Geanna Orozco
Prop Assistant- Yasmin Ford
Director of Photography- Erik Van Lenten
Gaffer- Bryan A. Pederson
Key Grip- Daniel Nilsson
Grip- Danil Pervukhin
VFX Supervisor-DJ Shea
2nd AC- Michael Reu
1st AC- Lily Sanders
Sound Mixer- Maikol Yzquierdo
BTS photographer – Jacky Cheng
BTS Video- Johnfrank Dieguez
Editor- Brian Shephard
Composer- Chris Gravely
VFX Compositor-Dustin Seltzer
Clifton Guterman, CSA, Big Picture Casting – Casting
Executive Producers- Erika Miranda, Rhys Lynn, Avery Sharpe, Sarah Steele, James Rayner
Producers- Erika Miranda Caitlin Hargraves, James Rayner
Special Thanks to: Nona Media, Isabel Ruiz, Film Impact Georgia,
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.cafecitoproductions.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cafecitoproductions/
Image Credits
Jacky Cheng
