Robert M. Young's film - In A Little Spanish Town
Critically acclaimed, award-winning writer, director, producer and cinematographer (often referred to as one of the Godfathers of Independent Film in America), is turning to us, his supporters, audience, filmmakers, film-lovers and storytellers alike, so that together we can make his next feature film, In A Little Spanish Town.
In A Little Spanish Town is set in Los Angeles today and takes its characters on an unpredictable journey where their paths cross in ways they never imagined.
As with all of Young's films, at the very heart of In A Little Spanish Town, we are allowed to take an up-close and personal look at ourselves as human beings and the complexities of the world we live in today, through its characters.
This is an entertaining ride with a musical lean on it, in which Young peels off the layers of humanity and reveals the good, the bad and the posibilities.
Young says humbly: "This is the best script I've ever written."
In A Little Spanish Town - The Directors
Robert M. Young and Edward James Olmos will direct In A Little Spanish Town.
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Over the past forty years, while achieving their individual creative milestones, Young and Olmos have collaborated on more than ten films. They share the same aesthetic: don't romanticize, don't glamorize, don't exploit, don't manipulate, don't be gratuitous and most definitely don't play the results. Ask yourself, where is the story?... Then put the camera where the story is.
Arie Verveen is producing In A Little Spanish Town alongside Young and Olmos.
In A Little Spanish Town - The Music
The script is interwoven with 18 songs written in the early 1900's, hits by major artists throughout the ages. Olmos will collaborate with Young in arranging and producing these classic songs for the film and will perform several. This brings Olmos back to his roots as a singer, songwriter and producer of artists such as Eric Clapton and B.B. King.
In A Little Spanish Town - Making the Movie
All funds raised will go completely towards the production of the film.
Our intention is to start production in early summer and have the film completed by the end of the year, ready for distribution in 2017.
In A Little Spanish Town - Rewards
We are very grateful that you have taken the time to see what we are doing. All contributions are appreciated. Please spread the word about our campaign!
Our perks will give you an opportunity to experience the filmmaking process.
We believe this is a meaningful movie and you will be proud to be part of it.
Sincerely,
Robert M. Young, Edward James Olmos and Arie Verveen
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IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO KNOW MORE
ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS
VISIT THE GALLERY
TO SEE MOVIE CLIPS, TRAILERS,
BEHIND THE SCENES DOCUMENTARIES
AND INTERVIEWS
OR READ ON...
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Robert M. Young - WWII photographer in the US Navy in New Guinea (1942)
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In the 1950's, Bob was one of the pioneers of underwater filming and spent six years making films about the creatures in the sea. He swam with and filmed sharks in the open sea while they were feeding that inspired the book Jaws.
In the 1960's he filmed four of the first eight NBC 'White Papers,' for which he received two George Polk Awards for bravery in Journalism, an Emmy, a Peabody and a Hillman Award.
During the Civil Rights Movement, he filmed Sit In which included an interview with John Lewis, a current member of Congress.
He trekked 300 miles with rebels behind enemy lines during the Angola war.
He lived with and filmed the last migration of traditional Eskimos.
He documented the slums of Palermo, Sicily, before they were destroyed. A National Network destroyed the film because they said it was "too powerful."
Bob then transitioned into fictional filmmaking.![]()
Robert M. Young filming Nothing But A Man (1964)
Bob has dedicated his filmmaking career to cultivating humanity by way of his groundbreaking films and to giving 'a voice' to those who have none.
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Nothing But A Man (1964) Ivan Dixon and Abbey Lincoln
Nothing But A Man, a collaboration with Michael Roemer (said to be Malcolm X's favorite movie), was celebrated by the Venice Film Festival and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being 'culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.'
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Alambrista! (1977) Edward James Olmos
Alambrista! is a film about Mexican migrant workers which is as relevant a story today, forty years later. It was made possible by a Guggenheim Fellowship Young received. It was his first collaboration with Edward James Olmos. In 1978, the Cannes Film Festival honored this film with the first ever Camera d'Or Award.
“Watching Bob work his belief in putting the camera where the story is and allowing ‘situation’ to breath life has been the most rewarding artistic experience I've been privileged enough to take part in. A genius in documenting human behavior whether it be in fact or fiction has made his work timeless and mesmerizing. It has been a total blessing spending the last forty years by his side.”
Edward James Olmos
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Short Eyes (1977) Curtis Mayfield
Short Eyes, based on Miguel Pinero's play was being filmed in The Tombs in NYC, when inmates threatened to kill its director. They requested Young direct instead. He accepted and rewrote the script with Miguel Pinero, while making the film.
In November 2014, Quentin Tarantino played Short Eyes and Fortune and Men's Eyes, two controversial '70s jail dramas about violence and rape as part of a double bill at his New Beverly Theatre in Los Angeles.
“They really opened up the movies... After them, movies could never deal with prisons the way they'd dealt with them ever again.”
Quentin Tarantino
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Extremities (1986) Farrah Fawcett and Robert M. Young
Extremities was a very difficult and personal film
for Young to commit to. He struggled with the idea of making the movie but his daughter
said he should. Farah
Fawcett's performance, as a woman who manages to fight back when
victimized by a rapist, garnered her a Golden Globe Nomination for best
actress.
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Dominick And Eugene (1988) Robert M. Young, Ray Liotta and Tom Hulce
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In Dominick And Eugene, Dominick (Tom Hulce), mentally challenged as a result of an accident in his youth and his twin brother Eugene (Ray Liotta), struggle to deal with life. In a Q&A at the 25 year anniversary screening of Goodfellas in Tribeca, NYC, Ray Liotta noted that his performance in Dominick And Eugene was instrumental in Martin Scorsese casting him for his role Goodfellas.
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Triumph of the Spirit (1989) Willem DaFoe and Robert M. Young
Triumph of the Spirit was filmed inside Auschwitz
Birkenau. It is a story about a Greek boxer who was interned in the death
camp. Once on location, Young and Olmos realized the script they had could not justify the
harsh reality of the camp. The script rewrites promised did not meet the
psychological truths. With thousands of extras arriving for the
first day of shooting, Young took the script and rewrote the first scene, then
shot it. He continued like this until the movie was complete.
"Bob uses the phrase 'play the facts' quite often. I think we've tried to get some sort of the reality of the daily life in the camps. We have never really gone for effect."
Willem Dafoe
"Bob Young is a humanist, a gentle man, tackling a very ungentle subject."
Robert Loggia
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Battlestar Galactica - Edward James Olmos
"Bob directed five episodes of Battlestar Galactica. His direction of Episode 7 in Season 1 (Six Degrees of Separation) set the aesthetic for our show that we followed from that point. It paved a path for our success."
Edward James Olmos
In the 1950's, Bob was one of the pioneers of underwater 
Nothing But A Man (1964) Ivan Dixon and Abbey Lincoln
Alambrista! (1977) Edward James Olmos
Short Eyes (1977) Curtis Mayfield
Extremities
Dominick And Eugene (1988) Robert M. Young, Ray Liotta and Tom Hulce
Triumph of the Spirit (1989) Willem DaFoe and Robert M. Young
