[voiceover] This time on Filmmaker.

[voiceover] This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

On the web at arts.gov.

And by Oolite Arts: what Miami is made of.

Hello, my name's Gabriel De Varona.

I'm the writer and director for Hurricane Flora.

Hurricane Flora is a drama comedy about a Cuban American family who get together during a hurricane, to ride out the storm.

I hope you enjoy my film.

[reporter] And this is a monster of a storm.

It could be the strongest hurricane on earth.

[dj malanga] Oje, oje, oje, my people DJ Malanga here, bringing you an urgent hurricane update.

Miami Beach is under mandatory evacuation, baby.

You do not want to throw down with this one, mi gente.

It will kill you.

Board up with your friends and family, and let me provide the music for your hurricane parties.

[burt] I don't get how shooting your dad's interview during the hurricane is smart.

Hijo, it's not smart.

Okay?

It's convenient.

How is that convenient?

Because he's not gonna kick us out in the middle of a hurricane if I start digging into his prison story.

Babe, slow down.

I'm just saying, man threw half a papaya at me the last time.

Oh, why are you laughing?

That hurt.

I got a seed in my cornea.

You'll be fine, little baby.

Just don't get political.

I can't promise that.

I keep it real.

Don't get political.

[burt] Wow.

He's still remodeling, huh?

[samantha] Yeah, it never ends.

Let me get in there first, okay?

[burt] All right.

[samantha] Mama.

Papa.

[mom] Samantha.

Hi.

What are you doing here?

[samantha] I just had to mandatorily evacuate the beach, so I thought- No, of course, of course.

[samantha] Papi.

Nice to see you too.

You know, it's been since like Christmas?

Yeah.

Okay.

So, I didn't come alone, and I was wondering if maybe Burt could crash with us too?

Burt?

Butt?

Burt, Dad.

Burt.

Like the Muppet.

Hola, Senor Domingo.

Yeah.

Nice to see you again.

Si, Senora Domingo.

Nice to see you.

[samantha] Come on.

He doesn't have anywhere else to go.

What would Jesus do?

Jesus?

Our home is your home, too.

Thank you.

Gracias, Senora Domingo.

[ernesto] Hey, don't worry.

Cucaracha, that's a dance, right?

It's nothing.

Just can you put up the last couple windows for him, please?

[mom] Yes.

Can you please help him?

[samantha] Just go inside.

Help us with the water.

I can be your muscle, Senor Domingo.

[ernesto] Have you ever board up your home, in the old fashioned way?

Have you?

Si?

Just go.

Papi.

Papi?

[reporter] To talk to some of those folks earlier today, and they've done everything they can to get ready, but wow, this is a pretty great event.

And right now, it's a category five hurricane.

[mom] Samantha.

Hmm?

Are you threatening me not to?

Claro.

[burt] So, have you been back to Cuba since you left?

Even if I could, what do I want to go back?

I don't know.

I heard Fidel did some great things for Cuba.

Yeah, right.

10,000 souls can't tell you what that son done for them.

Revolutions have casualties.

Burt.

What do you know about revolution?

Huh?

I took a class in Latin American Revolutions at NYU.

Ah, Senor Domingo, are you okay?

Yeah, just finish the window, please.

You're bleeding.

[reporter] But we cannot rebuild your life.

[samantha] What happened?

[burt] Nothing.

It was an accident.

An accident?

He cut himself.

I caught the wood before he really got hurt.

You might not respect my perspective.

Wait, I didn't know that.

[burt] Hey, I went on a hunger strike for Paul the gorilla, okay?

Accuse me.

I'm gonna change in my camisa.

[mom] Goodnight, Burt.

Goodnight.

Why is she yawning?

She's like force sensitive to negative energy.

What?

Get all our situated.

I'll go talk to him.

Alone.

[reporter] There's no windows left on those cars.

[reporter] Gonna get a lot worse- [dj malanga] DJ Malanga still here, mi gente.

I am in our hearing in Fruit Studio.

Playing records- What are you doing?

I'm building camera.

Can you go get the lights?

Yeah.

Before you get blown away?

Quietly?

[dj malanga] Hang in there.

Looks like the worst is yet to come.

Let's send this metal track by Albi Silk out on the airwaves.

Hopefully it's chill.

Come in.

Your hand okay?

So, why haven't you turned this into a bowling alley or something?

How come you didn't tell me you were in the revolution?

Never brought that up.

Ever.

That's the point.

Ensena.

Por favor.

Of course.

I won't.

[samantha] Shit.

[burt] Good thing I brought this bad boy.

[samantha] Okay, Papi, just say your name and occupation to the camera for me.

Ernesto Domingo, owner of the Domingo Tires in Coyocho.

[samantha] Okay.

It's okay.

It's just you and me.

What did you do for the revolution, Papi?

What made you change your mind?

Fidel.

[samantha] Tio Tico?

Didn't he die during the Mariel, coming to the States?

No.

No.

What did you see?

What's wrong?

Why do you have to be like this?

you, Dad.

Don't point at me.

Oh, sorry you don't like getting yelled at.

Maybe you shouldn't dish it out.

[samantha] That's not true.

I care.

I care, Dad.

Because people need to understand.

Because I need to understand.

Samantha.

Mi hija.

[samantha] Burt.

Mom.

Ernesto, no.

Ma.

Pa. [dj malanga] Looks like that's the worst of it, mi gente.

Tremendo force of nature, bro.

I hope that you are all okay, chilling with your mamis and papis.

DJ Malanga with you and the fam through the storm, baby.

Let's go out with some oldies but goodies.

I know what gordito means.

Kind of how we share our past traumas, and if we want to, if we feel like it's right, if we need to.

Why do we need to?

So, all these kind of questions were popping in my head.

And that's kind of the gist of it.

It was a mixture of my cultural background, and then this documentary filmmaking background.

I knew that it was gonna be named after a hurricane, since it is set during a hurricane.

I figured that's the best title, is hurricane something.

So, I started going through different hurricanes that hit Florida historically, and I found out actually there was a hurricane Flora that hit Cuba a few years before the revolution kicked off, I believe.

And it was like a really bad hurricane that wiped out a lot of the island.

I didn't go out my way to find that title, but the title kind of worked somewhat metaphorically, with the whole Cuban family background.

Emotional, personal, and I would like to think funny, or at least truthful.

The scene of Sam and Ernesto doing the interview was a highlight, because I had never really directed an emotional scene like that, especially one that, it's a very subtle change in it.

And then as far as just shooting wise, fun, the highlight part would've been shooting the hurricane going into the house sequences.

I rented about four very high powered fans that would shoot supposedly 35 per hour winds at the actors.

Every film that is great does have this in it.

I would say authenticity.

It felt like what they were saying was authentic and to who they are, and it came across clearly, and people engage with it.

I think that makes a film great.

Hi, my name is Lauren McGarrett, and I'm the director and writer of Mock Tails From The Pub.

Mock Tails From The Pub is a shortcoming of age film about a young woman who works as a bartender, but soon comes to believe that her current position doesn't really serve the actual dreams that she has in her heart.

I hope you enjoy the film.

[van] My name is Van, short for Vanessa, but I just like Van.

You ever think about the role your name plays in your life?

Like a Rose by any other name would smell as sweet sort of thing.

My last name is Nebulous.

Yeah, I know, right?

Nebulous.

Like my nebulous future.

I'm a mixologist.

It's like a fancy word for bartender.

At least, that's what my boss says.

The only difference being, we don't have to interact with clientele much, and spend a lot of time mixing drinks in the back, which is good for me, since I'm not much of a conversationalist.

Well, except with you.

You're easy to talk to.

So far.

But working in a pub is also a little ironic since I don't drink.

I never got accustomed to the taste of alcohol.

Except with beer.

I love a good beer once in a while.

So, what am I, a non-indulgent introvert, doing here?

Well, I don't even know.

I wanna be a writer.

Not for a newspaper or a website.

A novelist, an artist.

It's what I got my degree in, but instead, I'm stuck here pouring fruity drinks.

I just graduated from school, but it feels like my life's got no direction.

I've spent years waiting for my life to begin, the day I write my breakout hit.

Maybe that day's today.

I want my stories to make people think.

Stories like Stephen King and Mitch Albom.

Or like Ben Curtis who wrote my favorite book, You Drive Me Crazy.

The kind you read and never forget.

The ones that get better the more you think about them.

[van] Water.

Salt water.

Ocean.

Sea creatures.

Sea creatures in the ocean, plotting their revenge on humans.

No.

Family.

A family on vacation.

A family on vacation and nothing ever goes as planned.

No.

Space people.

Space people in space, doing spacey things.

What if there was colonization in space, and the colonized decided to rebel against their oppressors and that starts a war?

A space war?

No, that's been done.

But my greatest story just isn't coming to me.

My life is a void of inspiration.

[speaker] The thing with inspiration is it can come from anywhere.

Sure, you can wait around for that one magical idea to hit you, but have you ever thought that maybe your idea is staring you in the face?

I used to work at a grocery store and I absolutely hated it.

Stocking shelves, ringing out rude customers, cleaning up baby vomit from the shopping carts.

But the thing is, those experiences that I thought were so negative back then would serve as tools for my first bestseller.

Creatives get in the mindset of thinking that their careers will take off when they do their first great project.

It's not true.

Your career starts the moment that you decide that you wanna become a writer.

So, draw from what you have around you, in this chapter of your life.

Maybe it'll take you into the next.

[van] My name's Van, and I'm a mixologist.

It's not my first choice job, but it does pay the bills.

I give this kind of cool, when you think about it.

It's like I'm an alchemist in a fantasy game, and I create the elixirs for your adventures.

Wait, alchemist.

The story of an alchemist who creates potions in another world.

Now this?

This is amazing.

Its theme, with being a creative working another job that probably doesn't really match up to what your goals are.

That comes from my own life as a creative person, and what I feel many people who work in artistic careers often go through when they're working a second job.

My main character doesn't drink alcohol, but she works as a mixologist.

Mixed in with Tales From the Crypt, or something, like a play on words like that.

My production team and actors came together in a very quick way.

The main actors are my siblings, and the only crew was my husband.

The pub was actually just my mom's house in her kitchen.

It was all put together very quickly, but I'm very happy with the way everything turned out.

When you finally feel satisfied with it, as the filmmaker.

And that can be after the second draft, it can be after the 15th draft.

The story isn't finished until you feel that it speaks to you.

To be a filmmaker, you just have to get started creating your film.

And it doesn't matter if you're using your phone, or a million dollar camera or anything.

It's just about taking that first step to bringing your film to life.

That's what makes you a filmmaker.

[voiceover] This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, on the web at arts.gov.

And by Oolite Arts: what Miami is made of.