Dear Chapman Community,

My name is Erick Crespo (MFA ’08) and I’d like to share with you the upcoming theatrical release of my film Journey of a Female Comic, which chronicles the ups and down of an immigrant female comedian trying to make it in Hollywood. It’s also a comedic, yet inspirational, story about the pursuit of the American Dream.

journey-movieposterLike many of you in the entertainment industry, and aspiring filmmakers, this is a story I could easily relate to. And also like the heroine of the film, I’m an immigrant from Cuba who found a home in this great nation, which made me believe that my dreams of making films were possible. And then I found Chapman University, the conservatory, film temple and dreamer’s sanctuary where I nurtured such dreams.

Chapman taught us the film language and its grammar, but more importantly, the desire to be storytellers, to connect with others and to passionately pursue our dreams, no matter how unattainable they seemed. With those valuable lessons I set out to make a small movie, with no crew and no budget; just my Canon DSLR and an iMac, but applying the same principles I was taught on shooting 35mm film on Panavision, and with the same passion.

The small film grew on scope, but not in budget, so the entire film was edited and post-produced on my 25” iMac. I edited, did color grading, wire removal, open caption subtitles, VFX and all the post-production until the final creation of a DCP. Then AMC Independent bought the film for theatrical distribution, and now our humble movie will be opening the same week of Spiderman 2. I wonder how many iMacs they used on that!

I’d love to invite all the Chapman community to watch Journey of a Female Comic on Opening Weekend, May 2, 2014. We don’t have the marketing budget of Spiderman 2, of course, so we need the support of our fellow indie filmmakers, and the whole Chapman community.

It’s really hard for independent films to go to theaters, which is why we have to support all indie films so we can keep on making them, and show the distributors we too have a voice.

You can buy tickets on the AMC website or at the theater box office:

https://www.amctheatres.com/movies/kiki-melendez-journey-of-a-female-comic

(Enter your zip code to find nearby theaters)

Here are the two theaters near Chapman University:

  • AMC – Orange 30 with IMAX & ETX
  • AMC – Tustin 14

Please tell your friends and family, invite them for a night of laughter and tears. Help us get a strong opening weekend, so we can prove that independent films are worthy.

Grab your camera, iPhone, whatever you have; let’s make our movie, tell our stories. The road to Hollywood is wide open.

Thank you, Chapman!

Erick Crespo
MFA film production ’08
Dodge College of Film and Media Arts

Learn more about Journey of a Female Comic:

Explore and Connect Further: