Heart On The Diamond - El Corazón En El Diamante
Los Angeles, California | Film Short
Drama, Sport
When tragedy strikes during Cecilia's big baseball game, 15-year-old Cecilia and her mom, Gloria, face an uncertain future.
Heart On The Diamond - El Corazón En El Diamante
Los Angeles, California | Film Short
Drama, Sport
4 Campaigns |
Green Light
This campaign raised $8,130 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
41 supporters | followers
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When tragedy strikes during Cecilia's big baseball game, 15-year-old Cecilia and her mom, Gloria, face an uncertain future.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
In the border town of San Diego, 15-year-old, first-generation American Cecilia Martinez is stuck in a pickle: She must choose between baseball - and family. Third baseman Cecilia is pulled out of her baseball game to translate for her mother, Gloria’s immigration appointment.
That’s when an expired green card results in a foul ball. The duo is unable to persuade a sympathetic immigration lawyer to allow Gloria to re-enter the country if she leaves the US for Mexico to farewell her dying mother.
After rushing back to the game, Cecilia is benched for breach of rules. Her mom angrily challenges the ruling, embarrassing Cecilia in front of her coach, teammates, and the wider baseball community. Unable to speak for herself on the baseball diamond, Cecilia later confronts her mother. She decides she cannot leave the US to start all over in Mexico.
Will Cecilia make it to the playoffs with her team? Will Gloria forego her last chance to see her mother alive – or drag Cecilia to Mexico and damn the consequences?
Baseball is more than a sport to me; it is more of an American Dream. It is the pastime that brought my family together, and the baseball diamond is where I made childhood memories with my second family – a baseball team. I was the only girl on my baseball team for 12 years. A trailblazer with a passion for changing how people saw the sport of baseball and empowering other young women of color to play sports.
Countless hours on the baseball field created endless memories. The one that hits me hardest, and I miss the most, is hearing my parents yell at the top of their lungs at every game, “That’s my daughter!” as I stepped into the batter’s box. Filming this story in San Diego is so close to my heart. The city is the endpoint of my parents’ immigration journey to the U.S.; it is my birthplace, where I discovered baseball.
Growing up, I didn’t see people who looked like me on the screen, and I especially didn’t see women playing baseball. The first time I was introduced to a League of Their Own, I was excited to have seen women make history! I am incredibly grateful that Title IX played a big part in my life as it allowed me to play baseball in high school and supported me to create a community that felt like home.
Corazon en el Diamante, Heart on the Diamond is inspired by intertwining my mom’s immigration experience and my time as the only girl on a baseball team. By doing so, Corazon en el Diamante highlights the demanding responsibilities of being a first-generation and feeling like you are not from here or there: “Ni de a qui o de aya.” Cecilia embodies some of the struggles I faced growing up in a family who immigrated from Mexico to find their American Dream.
This bilingual short embraces Spanish and Spanglish, reflecting on the mother-daughter relationship. Although each immigration story is unique, our talented cast and crew will strive to depict scenes of sacrifice and love from within the Latine community. This film is an homage to all the mothers and parents who cheered me on at every baseball game and to all the immigrant moms and dads who sacrificed something for their kids.
Corazon en el Diamante is inspired by my mom’s immigration story and my time on the field. However, as baseball fans and filmmakers, we wanted to pay homage to our favorite films that inspired us to pursue the film industry and also the films that created lasting memories with our families during movie nights.
The Sandlot’s nostalgia combined with the empowerment of A League of Their Own and 42 combines the excitement of the game yet heartwrenching moments of a Ball Player going against societal norms. While Real Women Have Curves portrays a mother-daughter relationship and the struggles of balancing family and one’s dream.
Sacrifice has no language or barriers, and no Spanish or English can depict how people speak within many first-generation households. As for its themes of family and love, I sought to portray the differences in perspective over three generations. As a team of emerging filmmakers, we understand sacrifice and what it means to chase after a dream. Stories are our dreams.
And we believe in telling authentic stories that uplift narratives unseen in our current media landscape. We believe in pouring our hearts into making something meaningful in our communities.
We want to tell authentic stories about the challenges and obstacles of being a person of color in sports. Some of our unique film challenges include:
- Transporting and Housing crew/ talent in San Diego.
- Ongoing COVID-19-related issues
- Finding a child actor who can speak Spanish
Filming in San Diego is significant to the story's authenticity and our community. Our budget breakdown for Corazon en el Diamante is built with pre-production, Production, and post-production in mind, as we will be traveling and lodging to San Diego, California, while in Production.
Making this film is a homerun in our community. Our goal is to distribute our film to festivals both locally and internationally. We aim to inspire youth from underrepresented communities by showcasing this film in Spanish and English.
We are incredibly grateful for any contribution, and if you can’t contribute now, we would love for you to share our story. Gracias!
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Camera Gear Rentals
Costs $4,000
To create Cecilia's field of dreams, we plan to use a variety of camera accessories and equipment for Grip and Electric.
Art/Wardrobe
Costs $1,000
We plan to furnish sets and create baseball uniform wardrobes for our cast.
Transportation
Costs $1,000
Our cast and crew will be traveling to San Diego for production. We plan to use trucks and vans for transportation needs.
Locations
Costs $1,000
We plan to rent locations, including a house and a baseball field.
Crew Compensation
Costs $3,000
We plan to compensate our lovely artists and crew who contribute their time to make this film.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Martha Rodriguez - Director/Writer
Martha Rodriguez is a first-generation Latina filmmaker, born and raised in San Diego by parents from Guanajuato, Mexico. Her life experiences and culture inspire Rodriguez to empower her Latine community through her films. Martha’s roots and values are a crucial part of her bilingual narrative, which depicts identity and social injustice within low-income, marginalized communities. Martha is proud her family embraces their Mexican language and culture; she hopes to allow underrepresented communities to see themselves on screen. She is determined to bring representation, inclusivity, and diversity to her filmmaking in front of and behind the camera. She wants to tear down barriers and challenge stereotypical labels affixed to the Latine community. As the only Latina of 60 students in her Spring 2022 MFA Production Cohort, Martha consistently advocates for more representation in higher education and film programs for underrepresented communities. Martha is going into her 5th semester at USC in the MFA Program. She continues mentoring first-generation Latine film students to further her desire to impact a new generation of courageous and kind filmmakers unafraid to tell their stories.
Chirsten Vanderbilt Ellis- Producer
Chirsten Vanderbilt Ellis is a third-year MFA Film and Television Production student from Chicago and Texas. Chirsten's passion for storytelling began on an ordinary day in a 4th-grade classroom on Chicago’s Southside. A typical spelling assignment turned into her first thirty-eight-page adventure short story. That experience transformed how she wanted to see herself and others represented in film and television. Thus, her curiosity for potent cinematic storytelling led her to the University of Southern California. As an English Literature major, she took as many film classes as possible through the USC School of Cinematic Arts. After graduation, Chirsten worked in Special Education at a local bilingual elementary school in Texas. Teaching virtually inspired her to create a short documentary highlighting the challenges of teaching Special Education during a global pandemic. Her commitment to championing untold stories continued as a first-year graduate student. During her first semester, Chirsten mentored African-American high school senior boys in film production and writing through the Angel City Links Achievers Mentoring Program. In her second year, Chirsten volunteered through the award-winning nonprofit Ghetto Film School. Both rewarding volunteer experiences deepened her efforts to elevate stories from underrepresented communities.
Hector Martinez - Producer
Hector Martinez (He/Him) is a first-generation Mexican American from Oxnard, CA. He grew up going to the movies, where he found his love for films. The older he got, he realized how little the movies he watched reflected the world he lived in. With an AA from Oxnard College, he transferred to USC as a Film and Television Production Student and a Screenwriting minor. Hector works on writing and producing content that focuses on telling stories with the LGBTQ+ community and People of Color at the center. He strives to tell stories from underrepresented communities.
Daeil Kim - Cinematographer
Daeil Kim, a Korean-American filmmaker, was born in Seoul, South Korea. He moved to the United States at 20 to pursue his passion for filmmaking, which stems from his love for writing and the intricate art of cinematography. Kim co-founded Xylograph Films, a production company in New York, in 2018. They have produced award-winning short films and music videos for artists like Two Friends and Bryce Vine. Red Bull recently hired them to produce a short film, which will be distributed through Red Bull TV. At 24, Kim created his first feature film, distributed by Gravitas Ventures in 2021. Kim is also a recipient of the Sony Future of Cinematography Program.
Franco Vidal-1st Assistant Director
Franco Vidal is an award-winning, proud Peruvian writer and director based in Los Angeles. He earned his BA in film production at California State University, Northridge, where he wrote and directed his musical thesis, "Hot Latin Nights at the Granada!" The film was awarded the Franz Wieser Grant by ARRI, premiered at The Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater, and screened at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival. Franco has served as an intern at Michael Showalter’s developing company, Semi-Formal Productions, and is a Hollywood Foreign Press Association fellow. He is pursuing his MFA in Film Production at USC's School of Cinematic Arts as the recipient of the George Lucas Family Foundation scholarship. Along with working on his projects, he works as an assistant director and takes pride in his work as an AD. With a deep love for pulpy genre films and his Latino identity, his work often reflects one of those loves, if not combines them both.
Daniel Farias - Editor
Daniel Farias was born in Orange County, California, on January 23rd, 1993. A first-generation immigrant, Daniel’s parents hail from Michoacán, Mexico. Upon graduating from high school, he attended Fullerton College and received an associate degree in Film and Television Production. He then attended Cal State Long Beach, receiving a bachelor’s degree in Film and Electronic Arts. Upon graduating from CSULB in 2017, Daniel began his career in production by working on a series of reality TV shows. The shows he worked on include The Riveras and Real Housewives of Orange County. That same year, Daniel started performing stand-up comedy. In 2018, Daniel became the house photographer of a comedy club in Huntington Beach, California. He captured stills of notable comedians such as Melissa Villaseñor, Iliza Shlesinger, Christopher Titus, and Joey Diaz. As a stand-up comic, he has opened for well-known comedians such as Kyle Kinane, Annie Lederman, Kurt Metzger, and Ian Edwards. In 2020, during the pandemic, Daniel started his career as a content creator after his videos went viral on TikTok. He continues to make satirical content for TikTok and YouTube. Daniel hopes to use his talents to enact positive change in the world. He wishes to make people laugh and make them think.
Borna Moinpour - Sound
Borna Moinpour is an Iranian/American Sound Designer/Mixer. He studied and worked as an architect in Tehran and San Francisco. He then decided to follow his passion for the world of cinema and started his MFA in Film and Television Production at USC. He mainly focuses on stories about deep human behaviors and coincidental encounters.
Aric Lopez - Post Sound
Aric Lopez is an MFA Candidate in Film and Television Production at the University of Southern California. His interests lie in exploring the relationships between people and their environments. He has won the CSUN Multimedia Festival “Best Screenplay” award, the CSUN Polonsky Scholarship in Critical Writing, and the Lucas Family Foundation Support Fund for Production at USC. His films have been screened at the Visions of Light and Ojai Film Festivals. At USC, Aric continues to work to bring compelling stories to the screen, developing his skills as a storyteller with each new film.
Erynn Mitchell-Social Media Manager
With a penchant for Old Hollywood, multi-hyphenate Erynn Mitchell is dedicated to recapturing the classic era of cinema in a way relevant to her modern lens. She is a proud first-generation Latina originally from Colorado. Erynn graduated from USC School of Cinematic Arts with her MFA in Film/TV production. @erynnerynnerynn
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
In the border town of San Diego, 15-year-old, first-generation American Cecilia Martinez is stuck in a pickle: She must choose between baseball - and family. Third baseman Cecilia is pulled out of her baseball game to translate for her mother, Gloria’s immigration appointment.
That’s when an expired green card results in a foul ball. The duo is unable to persuade a sympathetic immigration lawyer to allow Gloria to re-enter the country if she leaves the US for Mexico to farewell her dying mother.
After rushing back to the game, Cecilia is benched for breach of rules. Her mom angrily challenges the ruling, embarrassing Cecilia in front of her coach, teammates, and the wider baseball community. Unable to speak for herself on the baseball diamond, Cecilia later confronts her mother. She decides she cannot leave the US to start all over in Mexico.
Will Cecilia make it to the playoffs with her team? Will Gloria forego her last chance to see her mother alive – or drag Cecilia to Mexico and damn the consequences?
Baseball is more than a sport to me; it is more of an American Dream. It is the pastime that brought my family together, and the baseball diamond is where I made childhood memories with my second family – a baseball team. I was the only girl on my baseball team for 12 years. A trailblazer with a passion for changing how people saw the sport of baseball and empowering other young women of color to play sports.
Countless hours on the baseball field created endless memories. The one that hits me hardest, and I miss the most, is hearing my parents yell at the top of their lungs at every game, “That’s my daughter!” as I stepped into the batter’s box. Filming this story in San Diego is so close to my heart. The city is the endpoint of my parents’ immigration journey to the U.S.; it is my birthplace, where I discovered baseball.
Growing up, I didn’t see people who looked like me on the screen, and I especially didn’t see women playing baseball. The first time I was introduced to a League of Their Own, I was excited to have seen women make history! I am incredibly grateful that Title IX played a big part in my life as it allowed me to play baseball in high school and supported me to create a community that felt like home.
Corazon en el Diamante, Heart on the Diamond is inspired by intertwining my mom’s immigration experience and my time as the only girl on a baseball team. By doing so, Corazon en el Diamante highlights the demanding responsibilities of being a first-generation and feeling like you are not from here or there: “Ni de a qui o de aya.” Cecilia embodies some of the struggles I faced growing up in a family who immigrated from Mexico to find their American Dream.
This bilingual short embraces Spanish and Spanglish, reflecting on the mother-daughter relationship. Although each immigration story is unique, our talented cast and crew will strive to depict scenes of sacrifice and love from within the Latine community. This film is an homage to all the mothers and parents who cheered me on at every baseball game and to all the immigrant moms and dads who sacrificed something for their kids.
Corazon en el Diamante is inspired by my mom’s immigration story and my time on the field. However, as baseball fans and filmmakers, we wanted to pay homage to our favorite films that inspired us to pursue the film industry and also the films that created lasting memories with our families during movie nights.
The Sandlot’s nostalgia combined with the empowerment of A League of Their Own and 42 combines the excitement of the game yet heartwrenching moments of a Ball Player going against societal norms. While Real Women Have Curves portrays a mother-daughter relationship and the struggles of balancing family and one’s dream.
Sacrifice has no language or barriers, and no Spanish or English can depict how people speak within many first-generation households. As for its themes of family and love, I sought to portray the differences in perspective over three generations. As a team of emerging filmmakers, we understand sacrifice and what it means to chase after a dream. Stories are our dreams.
And we believe in telling authentic stories that uplift narratives unseen in our current media landscape. We believe in pouring our hearts into making something meaningful in our communities.
We want to tell authentic stories about the challenges and obstacles of being a person of color in sports. Some of our unique film challenges include:
- Transporting and Housing crew/ talent in San Diego.
- Ongoing COVID-19-related issues
- Finding a child actor who can speak Spanish
Filming in San Diego is significant to the story's authenticity and our community. Our budget breakdown for Corazon en el Diamante is built with pre-production, Production, and post-production in mind, as we will be traveling and lodging to San Diego, California, while in Production.
Making this film is a homerun in our community. Our goal is to distribute our film to festivals both locally and internationally. We aim to inspire youth from underrepresented communities by showcasing this film in Spanish and English.
We are incredibly grateful for any contribution, and if you can’t contribute now, we would love for you to share our story. Gracias!
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Camera Gear Rentals
Costs $4,000
To create Cecilia's field of dreams, we plan to use a variety of camera accessories and equipment for Grip and Electric.
Art/Wardrobe
Costs $1,000
We plan to furnish sets and create baseball uniform wardrobes for our cast.
Transportation
Costs $1,000
Our cast and crew will be traveling to San Diego for production. We plan to use trucks and vans for transportation needs.
Locations
Costs $1,000
We plan to rent locations, including a house and a baseball field.
Crew Compensation
Costs $3,000
We plan to compensate our lovely artists and crew who contribute their time to make this film.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Martha Rodriguez - Director/Writer
Martha Rodriguez is a first-generation Latina filmmaker, born and raised in San Diego by parents from Guanajuato, Mexico. Her life experiences and culture inspire Rodriguez to empower her Latine community through her films. Martha’s roots and values are a crucial part of her bilingual narrative, which depicts identity and social injustice within low-income, marginalized communities. Martha is proud her family embraces their Mexican language and culture; she hopes to allow underrepresented communities to see themselves on screen. She is determined to bring representation, inclusivity, and diversity to her filmmaking in front of and behind the camera. She wants to tear down barriers and challenge stereotypical labels affixed to the Latine community. As the only Latina of 60 students in her Spring 2022 MFA Production Cohort, Martha consistently advocates for more representation in higher education and film programs for underrepresented communities. Martha is going into her 5th semester at USC in the MFA Program. She continues mentoring first-generation Latine film students to further her desire to impact a new generation of courageous and kind filmmakers unafraid to tell their stories.
Chirsten Vanderbilt Ellis- Producer
Chirsten Vanderbilt Ellis is a third-year MFA Film and Television Production student from Chicago and Texas. Chirsten's passion for storytelling began on an ordinary day in a 4th-grade classroom on Chicago’s Southside. A typical spelling assignment turned into her first thirty-eight-page adventure short story. That experience transformed how she wanted to see herself and others represented in film and television. Thus, her curiosity for potent cinematic storytelling led her to the University of Southern California. As an English Literature major, she took as many film classes as possible through the USC School of Cinematic Arts. After graduation, Chirsten worked in Special Education at a local bilingual elementary school in Texas. Teaching virtually inspired her to create a short documentary highlighting the challenges of teaching Special Education during a global pandemic. Her commitment to championing untold stories continued as a first-year graduate student. During her first semester, Chirsten mentored African-American high school senior boys in film production and writing through the Angel City Links Achievers Mentoring Program. In her second year, Chirsten volunteered through the award-winning nonprofit Ghetto Film School. Both rewarding volunteer experiences deepened her efforts to elevate stories from underrepresented communities.
Hector Martinez - Producer
Hector Martinez (He/Him) is a first-generation Mexican American from Oxnard, CA. He grew up going to the movies, where he found his love for films. The older he got, he realized how little the movies he watched reflected the world he lived in. With an AA from Oxnard College, he transferred to USC as a Film and Television Production Student and a Screenwriting minor. Hector works on writing and producing content that focuses on telling stories with the LGBTQ+ community and People of Color at the center. He strives to tell stories from underrepresented communities.
Daeil Kim - Cinematographer
Daeil Kim, a Korean-American filmmaker, was born in Seoul, South Korea. He moved to the United States at 20 to pursue his passion for filmmaking, which stems from his love for writing and the intricate art of cinematography. Kim co-founded Xylograph Films, a production company in New York, in 2018. They have produced award-winning short films and music videos for artists like Two Friends and Bryce Vine. Red Bull recently hired them to produce a short film, which will be distributed through Red Bull TV. At 24, Kim created his first feature film, distributed by Gravitas Ventures in 2021. Kim is also a recipient of the Sony Future of Cinematography Program.
Franco Vidal-1st Assistant Director
Franco Vidal is an award-winning, proud Peruvian writer and director based in Los Angeles. He earned his BA in film production at California State University, Northridge, where he wrote and directed his musical thesis, "Hot Latin Nights at the Granada!" The film was awarded the Franz Wieser Grant by ARRI, premiered at The Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater, and screened at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival. Franco has served as an intern at Michael Showalter’s developing company, Semi-Formal Productions, and is a Hollywood Foreign Press Association fellow. He is pursuing his MFA in Film Production at USC's School of Cinematic Arts as the recipient of the George Lucas Family Foundation scholarship. Along with working on his projects, he works as an assistant director and takes pride in his work as an AD. With a deep love for pulpy genre films and his Latino identity, his work often reflects one of those loves, if not combines them both.
Daniel Farias - Editor
Daniel Farias was born in Orange County, California, on January 23rd, 1993. A first-generation immigrant, Daniel’s parents hail from Michoacán, Mexico. Upon graduating from high school, he attended Fullerton College and received an associate degree in Film and Television Production. He then attended Cal State Long Beach, receiving a bachelor’s degree in Film and Electronic Arts. Upon graduating from CSULB in 2017, Daniel began his career in production by working on a series of reality TV shows. The shows he worked on include The Riveras and Real Housewives of Orange County. That same year, Daniel started performing stand-up comedy. In 2018, Daniel became the house photographer of a comedy club in Huntington Beach, California. He captured stills of notable comedians such as Melissa Villaseñor, Iliza Shlesinger, Christopher Titus, and Joey Diaz. As a stand-up comic, he has opened for well-known comedians such as Kyle Kinane, Annie Lederman, Kurt Metzger, and Ian Edwards. In 2020, during the pandemic, Daniel started his career as a content creator after his videos went viral on TikTok. He continues to make satirical content for TikTok and YouTube. Daniel hopes to use his talents to enact positive change in the world. He wishes to make people laugh and make them think.
Borna Moinpour - Sound
Borna Moinpour is an Iranian/American Sound Designer/Mixer. He studied and worked as an architect in Tehran and San Francisco. He then decided to follow his passion for the world of cinema and started his MFA in Film and Television Production at USC. He mainly focuses on stories about deep human behaviors and coincidental encounters.
Aric Lopez - Post Sound
Aric Lopez is an MFA Candidate in Film and Television Production at the University of Southern California. His interests lie in exploring the relationships between people and their environments. He has won the CSUN Multimedia Festival “Best Screenplay” award, the CSUN Polonsky Scholarship in Critical Writing, and the Lucas Family Foundation Support Fund for Production at USC. His films have been screened at the Visions of Light and Ojai Film Festivals. At USC, Aric continues to work to bring compelling stories to the screen, developing his skills as a storyteller with each new film.
Erynn Mitchell-Social Media Manager
With a penchant for Old Hollywood, multi-hyphenate Erynn Mitchell is dedicated to recapturing the classic era of cinema in a way relevant to her modern lens. She is a proud first-generation Latina originally from Colorado. Erynn graduated from USC School of Cinematic Arts with her MFA in Film/TV production. @erynnerynnerynn