The Story:
Bitter Sweet is the story of Rafael, a small time drug dealer, whose ambitious ways leads him to making some bad decisions. This fictional story is based on things that happen all over the country in cities like Providence, Rhode Island. Story creator Ricky Cano used influences from his childhood growing up in New York City and in Providence. He often witnessed friends and relatives resort to selling drugs as a source of income, and getting in over their heads.
This film is about choices and ambitions. It deals with issues all too familiar to anyone who grew up in the inner city. Do we take advantage of ill-gotten opportunities? or do we elude the temptations of what seems like the easy way out? Bitter Sweet is a perfect example of what usually happens when we give in to the temptations.
The Production:
Bitter Sweet began as a collaboration between Ricky Cano (writer/co-director) and Randy Rodriguez (associate producer) in the summer of 2012 after Ricky had wrapped on the set of his first film Pain, Love, And Passion (Directed by Dahiana Torres). Ricky and Randy set out to create a web-series based on a story created by Ricky, but did not have a budget to work with. They decided to enlist the help of their friends, who served as actors, and set out to shoot the series with a $0 budget. Ricky would serve as the writer and Randy would handle the production side (camera & editing), while they would both serve as Directors. By October of 2012 they were ready to begin shooting what was originally written to be 3 to 5 minute episodes to be released weekly on YouTube. At that time Randy enlisted the help of Rafael Gutierrez, a friend he knew from school, to help with the production of the episodes.
After shooting the first 3 episodes they felt like something was missing from the project. They halted production of any future episodes (which had not been released yet) until they could figure out a solution. In December of 2012 they decided that the project would have more of an impact as a feature film. Ricky, who up to this point had served as the only writer, teamed up with Rafael to make the necessary changes to the script. By the end of December they had a full script that was ready for shooting. An anxious cast waited to receive the new shooting schedule for a project that had been on hold for close to 2 months.
In January 2013 Rafael and Ricky continued production on what was now a feature film. The film was shot 1-3 days out of the week, typically after 6:00 pm. While this is not ideal for shooting a film, it was done to accommodate the actors (who were all unpaid volunteers). Ricky and Rafael now served as the co-Directors of the film. Ricky was pulling double duties serving as co-Director and starring in the lead role. Rafael, aside from co-Directing, also handled the cinematography and all other production roles during the shoots. Principal photography went on until the end of April of 2013, with reshoots for 2 scenes taking place in May of 2013.
In May of 2013 Rafael began editing the film. Ricky and Rafael planned for a cast screening of the film to take place in June (this was to serve as an unofficial premiere for the film as Rafael was moving to Los Angeles in June). Rafael and Ricky both wanted to thank the cast for all of their hard work, so they rented a local theatre (The Cable Car Cinema) to serve as the venue for their screening. All of the cast members were invited (and were allowed to bring 3 guests) as well as a few other local directors/producers. On June 1, 2013 a "rough cut" of the film Bitter Sweet was screened for 100 guests.
Bitter Sweet is the story of Rafael, a small time drug dealer, whose ambitious ways leads him to making some bad decisions. This fictional story is based on things that happen all over the country in cities like Providence, Rhode Island. Story creator Ricky Cano used influences from his childhood growing up in New York City and in Providence. He often witnessed friends and relatives resort to selling drugs as a source of income, and getting in over their heads.
This film is about choices and ambitions. It deals with issues all too familiar to anyone who grew up in the inner city. Do we take advantage of ill-gotten opportunities? or do we elude the temptations of what seems like the easy way out? Bitter Sweet is a perfect example of what usually happens when we give in to the temptations.
The Production:
Bitter Sweet began as a collaboration between Ricky Cano (writer/co-director) and Randy Rodriguez (associate producer) in the summer of 2012 after Ricky had wrapped on the set of his first film Pain, Love, And Passion (Directed by Dahiana Torres). Ricky and Randy set out to create a web-series based on a story created by Ricky, but did not have a budget to work with. They decided to enlist the help of their friends, who served as actors, and set out to shoot the series with a $0 budget. Ricky would serve as the writer and Randy would handle the production side (camera & editing), while they would both serve as Directors. By October of 2012 they were ready to begin shooting what was originally written to be 3 to 5 minute episodes to be released weekly on YouTube. At that time Randy enlisted the help of Rafael Gutierrez, a friend he knew from school, to help with the production of the episodes.
After shooting the first 3 episodes they felt like something was missing from the project. They halted production of any future episodes (which had not been released yet) until they could figure out a solution. In December of 2012 they decided that the project would have more of an impact as a feature film. Ricky, who up to this point had served as the only writer, teamed up with Rafael to make the necessary changes to the script. By the end of December they had a full script that was ready for shooting. An anxious cast waited to receive the new shooting schedule for a project that had been on hold for close to 2 months.
In January 2013 Rafael and Ricky continued production on what was now a feature film. The film was shot 1-3 days out of the week, typically after 6:00 pm. While this is not ideal for shooting a film, it was done to accommodate the actors (who were all unpaid volunteers). Ricky and Rafael now served as the co-Directors of the film. Ricky was pulling double duties serving as co-Director and starring in the lead role. Rafael, aside from co-Directing, also handled the cinematography and all other production roles during the shoots. Principal photography went on until the end of April of 2013, with reshoots for 2 scenes taking place in May of 2013.
In May of 2013 Rafael began editing the film. Ricky and Rafael planned for a cast screening of the film to take place in June (this was to serve as an unofficial premiere for the film as Rafael was moving to Los Angeles in June). Rafael and Ricky both wanted to thank the cast for all of their hard work, so they rented a local theatre (The Cable Car Cinema) to serve as the venue for their screening. All of the cast members were invited (and were allowed to bring 3 guests) as well as a few other local directors/producers. On June 1, 2013 a "rough cut" of the film Bitter Sweet was screened for 100 guests.
