Gigi Saul Guerrero read the original script for Culture Shock and told the studio it wasn鈥檛 Mexican enough, and it needed to be.
It was a bold move for Guerrero, at the time an emerging 麻豆传媒映画filmmaker who鈥檇 recently signed with an American agent and was in the midst of her first negotiation with a big-deal Hollywood production house 鈥� in this case, Blumhouse, who was producing an anthology series of feature-length horror films for Hulu and was on the hunt for directors.
One of Blumhouse鈥檚 scripts (then titled The Crossing, and ultimately titled Culture Shock) dealt with the mistreatment of migrants at the Mexico-United States border. It鈥檚 a topic that Guerrero 鈥� a Mexican immigrant to Canada 鈥� had dealt with in 2014 in her critically acclaimed grindhouse short film, El Gigante.
This previous experience piqued Blumhouse鈥檚 interest, and after they screened El Gigante, they sent Guerrero the script so that she could pitch them on it.
鈥淚 read it, and while I knew deep in my heart that this was the movie I had to make my first feature, it was lacking was a lot of authenticity,鈥� says Guerrero. 鈥淚t was lacking strong Mexican characters.鈥�
Guerrero wanted to direct Culture Shock enough to take the biggest risk of her career: criticize the creative before she had the job.
鈥淚 told Blumhouse, 鈥楲ook guys, this is a great idea, but I promise you, if you hire me, I鈥檓 going to make this so Mexican, I鈥檓 going to make this so Mexicano, it鈥檚 going to be appreciated, and here is a two-page sheet with all my proposed changes,鈥� and they let me go for it,鈥� says Guerrero.
The end result premiered on Hulu, fittingly, on the Fourth of July. Culture Shock stars Martha Higareda as Marisol, a young Mexican woman in pursuit of the American Dream, who crosses illegally into the United States, only to find herself in an American nightmare.
鈥淚t was a tough movie to get right,鈥� says Guerrero, who also earned a screenwriting credit. 鈥淚 felt with this movie, it was not worth it to go so horrific with it because we鈥檙e already living it. I want to start a conversation about what鈥檚 happening and also entertain people.鈥�
Culture Shock represents several significant firsts for Guerrero: first time directing a feature-length film, first time premiering a film at a red carpet screening in Hollywood and first time directing in two languages.
鈥淥ne of the coolest things that happened with the cast and crew is that on set, I was directing in Spanish and in English, and it happened so organically,鈥� says Guerrero. 鈥淚 was very picky when casting the migrants. I said, 鈥榃e can only cast Mexicans 鈥� I鈥檓 not going to cast somebody that can鈥檛 do the dialect.鈥� So on set, it was like, 鈥�Vamos, muy bien,鈥� and then, 鈥極K, move on to the next scene.鈥� Everybody felt so involved by that.鈥�
Culture Shockalso stars Richard Cabral, Felipe de Lara, Oscar Camacho and Ian Inigo, while Shawn Ashmore and horror icon Barbara Crampton appear in non-Mexican roles.
鈥淚 was the only creative head on the Blumhouse and Hulu side that was of Hispanic descent,鈥� adds Guerrero. 鈥淭he amount of trust they had in me was so overwhelming but it felt right. I鈥檓 so heartbroken about what is going on at the border. I could tell everybody was heartbroken about what people are doing to each other, and everybody wanted to tell this story. Everybody was ready to tackle something this ambitious.鈥�
Guerrero still calls 麻豆传媒映画home, although she says it was difficult to pursue her dream of making feature-length horror films here in the 604. She had to separate from her homegrown production company Luchagore Productions and head down to L.A. in order to make Culture Shock.
鈥溌槎勾接郴璱s great for service work, but for independent filmmakers, we鈥檙e competing against union rates,鈥� says Guerrero. 鈥淓very crew member, they鈥檙e getting paid very well on Arrow and Supernatural, and all of these amazing shows, and indie filmmakers, we鈥檙e out of crew. Now, thanks to this experience, for future projects, I can slowly bring the team back together.鈥�
Culture Shock streams on Hulu.
