When Lupe gets stuck in space, she uses her Latin heritage to kick alien butt. From punk rock to Venezuelan folk music, from a creepy worm-monster to a hilarious grandma/granddaughter cooking scene, this short film breaks new ground, bringing Latin representation and tons of fun to the sci fi genre!
When Lupe gets stuck in space, she uses her Latin heritage to kick alien butt. From punk rock to Venezuelan folk music, from a creepy worm-monster to a hilarious grandma/granddaughter cooking scene, this short film breaks new ground, bringing Latin representation and tons of fun to the sci fi genre!
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Story
Mission Statement
I love to tell stories about the outcast, the immigrant, and the resilient spirit of people on the margins. With LUPE Q, I’m exploring these themes through an action packed comedy filled with laughs, tender moments, and creepy monsters. Together, we’re going to put Canadian Latin sci fi on the map.About The Project
HELLO!
I’m Javier Badillo, producer and director of LUPE Q AND THE GALACTIC CORN CAKE. I’m so excited to be bringing you a Latinx musical sci fi comedy, featuring diverse teens, punk rock music, and traditional Latin food… in space!
THE STORY
This five minute story will introduce us to our heroine Lupe Q, the grouchy lead singer of a truly terrible punk band. Little does she know that the traditional skills passed on by her Abuela will turn out to be her superpower, so she and her band can defeat a GIANT SPACE WORM.
The short film begins with Lupe grudgingly learning from her Abuela how to cook arepas, a traditional Venezuelan corn cake that you fry on a hot pan. But all Lupe really wants to do is go and practice with her band. After all, arepa skills are totally unnecessary right?
Wrong! As Lupe and Abuela’s corn-cake smacking rhythms slowly build into a full Latin musical “clave”, we see Lupe and her band in the very-near future as they play the punk rock concert of their lives–in space! But their usually ear-shattering, enemy-crushing wall of sound seems ineffective. All appears to be lost when giant worm monster drags Lupe off the stage, unfazed by her punk rock wall of sound… but can this creature withstand the fusion beats of punk rock combined with a Latin arepa rhythm?
(Storyboard art below by Lucas Green).
With delicious arepas, Latin polyrhythms, and the power of embracing her heritage, these kids just might save the planet. And Lupe will have to realize grandma will always get the last word.
LITTLE MOVIE, BIG PLANS
We have big plans for this short. First, we will submit this short to festivals around the world, starting with the 10 year anniversary of the famous, fun and fabulous FILMQUEST genre festival in Provo, Utah, in fall 2023. (Fingers crossed!)
It doesn’t stop there: even though LUPE Q AND THE GALACTIC CORN CAKE is a standalone short film, it will also serve as a proof of concept for our full length feature, LUPE Q AND THE GALACTIC EARWORMS, which is going to camera in August 2023.
We’ll be using this entertaining and ambitious short to showcase what a creative, scrappy indie production like ours can do–and that we can play with the big leagues at film markets.
THE LUPE FEATURE FILM
The LUPE Q feature was co-written by me and my partner Nat Marshik from 2020 to 2021. It’s a full-fledged action-packed sci fi adventure with Lupe and her band. Written with development support from Telefilm Canada, CreativeBC, and the Blood in the Snow Horror Development Lab, the script was a finalist at LA Sci Fi, Beaufort, and FilmQuest festivals in 2022 and 2023.
Underneath this fun-packed sci-fi premise, at its core the world of LUPE is a story about the resilience, adaptability, and innocence of youth, while paying homage to the rebellious spirit of punk rock subculture. There are enormous interpersonal emotional stakes for the trio of teenagers that lead the story, and this is where the heart of the movie hides in plain view. The short gives us a peek into the banter, rivalries, and ultimately the deep trust between three bandmates as they fight for their lives on a smoke-filled space alien concert stage.
We already have an amazing team of creatives on board for both the short and the feature, including cinematographers, casting directors, concept artists, digital animation artists, stunt coordinators, production designers, special effects experts, and even a life-size space worm! Learn more about our team in the next section. (Storyboard art below by Lucas Green).
CELEBRATING THE OUTCAST
I love to tell stories about the outcast, the immigrant, and the resilient spirit of people on the margins. You might know this already from my Leo-award winning feature, Roads of Ithriyah, a war drama.
With LUPE Q, I’m exploring the same themes but from a different angle - through an action packed comedy filled with laughs, tender moments, and creepy monsters.
The punk rock themes draw on my own experiences. In the 90s, I soaked in the underground punk culture and toured Southeast Asia with my punk band. I saw first hand how music can connect people from different cultures and backgrounds. (That's me in the picture below!)
Years later, I immigrated to Canada, and spent my 20s navigating the immigrant experience of building community from the ground up.
Again and again I found that outsiders (whether social outcasts, queer people, or immigrants), are capable of amazing things and deserve to be celebrated. With that in mind, I want my story to tackle big themes, such as being BIPOC in a politically charged current-day North America, but with a sense of humour, big scares and adventure. The tone of the LUPE world blends the thrills of urban teen sci-fi Attack the Block (2011), with the good-natured parodic humour of Galaxy Quest (1999).
VISUAL and MUSICAL INNOVATIONS
The world of Lupe is also filled with music - from energetic punk rock to Latin grooves. For this short film, we are excited to have teamed up with an amazing trio of musicians who will bring authenticity to the cultural and musical “fusion” that drives this story.
Venezuelan-Canadian musician, Richard Villalobos, will compose the Latin songs that Abuela uses to teach Lupe the arepa-making rhythm. Canadian punk rock musician Jeff Speers will compose Lupe’s punk rock themes. And rising Canadian film composer Chihiro Nagamatsu will compose the soundtrack score.
To stay true to the eclectic punk rock spirit of my story, and deliver Lupe Q’s highly visual cinematic style, I have also teamed up with award winning comic artist and fellow Venezuelan-American immigrant Carlos Etcheverry.
For the short, Etcheverry will be enlivening the end credits with this mixed media punk rock aesthetic, giving us a taste of a larger universe of adventure that LUPE inhabits. In the upcoming feature, Etcheverry’s animated sequences will turn action sequences into a music-video-style feast, featuring his trademark “hand-made” digital animations, pixelart, and mixed media collages. (That's Etcheverry's illustration for Lupe!)
BUILDING COMMUNITY
Every film I’ve ever made has been impossible without the support of community. I’m so excited to invite you to continue this journey together.
With LUPE, we are espeically excited to eventually get back to Kamloops and reconnect with the Secwépemc community who we plan to involve in the filming of the feature.
My relationship with the Secwépemc community in Kamloops began with the filming of my first feature film, Roads of Ithriyah, and it will be an important bedrock of the feature film’s production. I am already in talks with the Tkʼemlúps te Secwépemc office and the Thompson-Nicola Film Commission to arrange locations, crew, and accommodations for three out of the five weeks of the production. We are all looking forward to working together and bringing film jobs and training to their communities. Our supporters will be able to share in this experience of connecting and learning.
WHAT’S NEXT?
We’ve raised most of the money for the short already, but we’re looking to raise another $5,000 toward post-production and special effects. Every dollar raised from this crowdfunding campaign will be matched by an anonymous supporter of our film, allowing us to meet our budget goal and turn out a high quality short film.
We know that an awesome short film will help us attach the name actors that our feature needs, and showcase what we’re able to do.
By joining our team and community, you become an integral part of a longer journey of the full LUPE Q UNIVERSE that will bring together local crews, actors, and community.
Whether you’re here for the the indie filmmaking, the punk rock, the LGBTQ and Latinx representation, or the sci fi, we are excited to connect each other across differences and uplift our creative dreams together!
JOIN US!
I always punch above my weight. With your help, let’s put Canadian indie Latin sci fi on the map.
SPREAD THE WORD
The only way we will reach our crowdfunding goal is if we reach beyond our networks. If you’d like to be a part of supporting Latin heritage in movies, YOU can make the difference in our success!
Please share our campaign via your social media, email, word-of-mouth, however you want! We can't do this without you!
Feel free to copy and paste, and share!
Twitter:
Help filmmaker @javier_badillo by supporting his groundbreaking scifi comedy LUPE Q AND THE GALACTIC CORN CAKE about a Latinx teen punk rocker who learns that the power of Abuela's corn cake is the secret to defeating a space monster! Join them on @seedandspark: https://bit.ly/3XP8ElS
Instagram:
Help filmmaker @javier.in.the.band by supporting his groundbreaking scifi comedy @lupeqmovie LUPE Q AND THE GALACTIC CORN CAKE about a Latinx teen punk rocker who learns that the power of Abuela's corn cake is the secret to defeating a space monster! Join them on @seedandspark
Incentives
C$10
Arepa Hi Five
Thanks for the arepa! We'll definitely put every cent towards the screen!
Expect a shout out on our social media (make sure you share your links with us!)
Thank you!
Claimed: 0 of 50
C$25
Monster Slayer
Woo-hoo! Thanks for your great support.
Send us your FACE and we'll make sure you are seen battling the GREAT WORM CREATURE!
We'll post it on our social media for the world to share your intergalactic prowess.
And watch your name in lights, in the thank you section of our credits!
Thank you!
C$50
Space Cadet
You may laugh at the title, but it takes real galactic grit and mettle to make it to outer space as a cadet!
For your support, we award you with a STORYBOARD PANEL with YOU in it, fighting Galactic Wormblorks. Its a thing.
Plus! We will put your name in our THANK YOU list in the movie credits!
Claimed: 7 of 25
C$100
Corn Farmer
Corn is the intergalactic currency! Corn is the new crypto!
You will receive a personal invite to a virtual Q&A with filmmaker Javi, once we're in post-production (ETA: sometime in March or early April). Ask him all the hard questions! Or just sit back and learn the behind the scenes details in all their glory.
You'll also see your name in our thank-you's in the credits!
Claimed: 6 of 25
C$500
Guitar Warrior
Dang! An electric guitar! That is awesome, thank you! We're going to slay some space monsters with it!
Director Javi will schedule a zoom call with you one-on-one, and you can decide how you want to spend the half-hour. Want to learn how to cook arepas the right way? Done. Want to chat about the immigrant experience? Why not! Want to play a few rounds of Jackbox Games? Let's go! Or wanna be an introvert and let Javier get some sleep? Break out the melatonin!
Either way, your name will be sparkling in our credits with a big THANK YOU.
AND you'll get a sneak peek of our film as well!
Claimed: 1 of 10
C$2,000
Spaceship Engineer
Or should we say... Executive Producer. AND bonafide spaceship builder.
Talk to us, because you're now part of the inner circle. No going back now.
Claimed: 0 of 2
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Wishlist
Use the WishList to pledge cash and loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an incentive directly.
C$10
Arepa Hi Five
Thanks for the arepa! We'll definitely put every cent towards the screen!
Expect a shout out on our social media (make sure you share your links with us!)
Thank you!
Claimed: 0 of 50
C$25
Monster Slayer
Woo-hoo! Thanks for your great support.
Send us your FACE and we'll make sure you are seen battling the GREAT WORM CREATURE!
We'll post it on our social media for the world to share your intergalactic prowess.
And watch your name in lights, in the thank you section of our credits!
Thank you!
C$50
Space Cadet
You may laugh at the title, but it takes real galactic grit and mettle to make it to outer space as a cadet!
For your support, we award you with a STORYBOARD PANEL with YOU in it, fighting Galactic Wormblorks. Its a thing.
Plus! We will put your name in our THANK YOU list in the movie credits!
Claimed: 7 of 25
C$100
Corn Farmer
Corn is the intergalactic currency! Corn is the new crypto!
You will receive a personal invite to a virtual Q&A with filmmaker Javi, once we're in post-production (ETA: sometime in March or early April). Ask him all the hard questions! Or just sit back and learn the behind the scenes details in all their glory.
You'll also see your name in our thank-you's in the credits!
Claimed: 6 of 25
C$500
Guitar Warrior
Dang! An electric guitar! That is awesome, thank you! We're going to slay some space monsters with it!
Director Javi will schedule a zoom call with you one-on-one, and you can decide how you want to spend the half-hour. Want to learn how to cook arepas the right way? Done. Want to chat about the immigrant experience? Why not! Want to play a few rounds of Jackbox Games? Let's go! Or wanna be an introvert and let Javier get some sleep? Break out the melatonin!
Either way, your name will be sparkling in our credits with a big THANK YOU.
AND you'll get a sneak peek of our film as well!
Claimed: 1 of 10
C$2,000
Spaceship Engineer
Or should we say... Executive Producer. AND bonafide spaceship builder.
Talk to us, because you're now part of the inner circle. No going back now.
Claimed: 0 of 2
- Updates
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Current Team
About This Team
NAT MARSHIK - Co-Writer, Executive Producer
Born and raised in North Vancouver, BC, Nat holds a Bachelor of Arts with Honours from McGill University, where she majored in Gender Studies, and a Fine Arts Diploma from Langara College.
From 2010 to 2016, Nat was active in Vancouver’s poetry and creative writing communities, producing the poetry chapbooks riverveins, Outlines, and Face to the Wind, and the short memoir MILK IT! She was awarded the poetry mentorship prize by Plenitude Queer Literary Magazine in 2014, and in 2016 her queer short memoir, The Rabbit, was a finalist for Room Magazine’s creative non-fiction prize. In 2020, her short screenplay THE LANTERN (co-written with Javier Badillo) was a finalist for the Reel Work Filmmaking Initiative script competition (BIPOC TV & Film Toronto). In 2021, her feature comedy screenplay LUPE Q AND THE GALACTIC EARWORMS (co-written with Javier Badillo) received development funding from Telefilm Canada and CreativeBC, and was one of 12 projects selected for the inaugural Blood in the Snow Genre Development Lab in Toronto. By day, Nat provides professional bookkeeping services to arts & environmental non-profits.
JOSH FARNWORTH - Producer
Josh is a producer from New Westminster, BC. He produced the Crazy8s award winning short film Itsy Bitsy Spider (2020) and later produced Good News (2021) which premiered at the Austin International Film Festival. Josh works as production coordinator on numerous big budget productions in Vancouver, including A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting (2020) and The Last of Us (2023) for HBO Max. He recently completed his first feature film, the sci-fi drama JONAH.
DALLAS HARVEY - Co-Producer, Creature Design / Prosthetics / VFX
For over 15 years, Dallas Harvey has worked as lead designer and key effects artist on many TV, Film & Music vidaeo productions. His FX work through his company DHFX has been published numerous times in the world-wide publication Make-up Artist Magazine, and he is a twice published author in the Lab Tech section of the magazine. In 2015 he was a Leo Award nominee for Best Make-up in the short sci-fi film Gord's Brother. In 2017 he designed special effects for The Exorcist Season 2 for Fox TV network, puppeteering custom builds, creating realistic props, silicone body duplicates, blood rigging, dental acrylic teeth, custom sculpting fabrication and concept design. Javier and Dallas have collaborated on a number of indie projects in the past, and will be working together on the short film version of Lupe Q and the Galactic Earworms in early March 2023.
JUAN PABLO GONZALEZ-AMAYA - Co-Producer, Production Designer
Venezuelan-born Juan Pablo’s CAD skills, international fine art sculpture exhibition, and years of experience in prop production have made him one of Vancouver’s up-and-coming designers across film and TV. Juan established his company Fiction Factory Props, and equipped it with cutting edge fabrication tools, including CNC cutting, CAD and ZBrush modelling, paired with SLA and FDM 3D printing services, through which he continues to create new concepts, innovate production methods, and bring to life well-made stories. Juan’s most recent builds can be seen on a number of productions, including Netflix’s The Main Event (2020), as well as TV shows including Arrow, Snowpiercer season 2, and the teen musical Julie and The Phantoms (2020). Juan will be the production designer of the short film version of Lupe Q and the Galactic Earworms in early March 2023.
MARCO BOSSOW & ANDY BROWN - Directors of Photography
Marco Bossow is an award-winning cinematographer based in Vancouver. As the Co-founder of Transmute Pictures, he created the popular Star Wars webseries "Bucketheads" with his business partner Andy Brown. His passion for Science Fiction and its larger-than-life stories drove him to take up a place behind the camera after a lengthy stint as an editor and camera assistant honing his craft in Canada's film industry. He's an associate member of the CSC. Marco was the DOP on a short film directed by Javier in 2017.
Andy Brown is an award winning CSC Associate Cinematographer. Through his vast experience on top quality Vancouver film and television sets, Andy has developed a keen eye behind the lens, giving him the experience and capabilities to create stunning images and thought-provoking stories. His work in the camera department include The Revenant, Fifty Shades Darker, Once Upon a Time, and The Haunting of Bly Manor, among others.
TODD LEBLANC - Sound DesignerTodd LeBlanc is an award winning Sound Designer based in Sechelt BC on the Sunshine Coast and is the go-to collaborator for many independent filmmakers and artists. From feature length narratives and documentaries, to animated shorts, podcasts, live events, and more, Todd elevates each project he works on through his many years of experience. In 2022, he was nominated for and won the LEO AWARD for Best Sound in a Motion Picture for Javier’s feature film “Roads of Ithriyah”.
CARLOS "ORIPOTO" ETCHEVERRY - Comic Book / Mixed Media Artist
Awarded “Comic Book Artist of the Decade'' by his native Venezuela’s Zuplemento Magazine, Etcheverry has developed a unique storytelling style alongside his fantastical illustrations. He moved to Los Angeles, invited by the late Silverlake “jewel”, Ghettogloss Gallery to show his comics blown up on canvases. He is influenced by artists and storytellers such as Windsor McCay, Tanino Liberatore, Phillippe Druillet, A. Jodorowsky, and R. Crumb. Carlos will be collaborating with Javier on the short film version of Lupe Q and the Galactic Earworms in early March 2023.
AMANDA VOLL - Stunts Supervisor
Amanda Voll is a stunts coordinator and actress with 10 years experience as a parkour practitioner, and stunt woman. She was a featured female athlete of the World Parkour and Free-running Federation (WFPF). Her stunt work spans a wide number of TV and film projects including Siren, Motherland: Fort Salem, Charmed, Stand Off, Heaven Stunt, Everfall, Wynonna Earp, Tin Star, and Fargo (season 2). She works often with stunt supervisor Brett Armstrong, who is mentoring her to become a full time stunt supervisor. Amanda is collaborating with Javier on the short film version of Lupe Q and the Galactic Earworms in early March 2023.
SAMI GHALI - Special Effects SupervisorSami Ghali is a Tunisian-Canadian Special Effects Supervisor, a trained blacksmith from Europe as well as a metal fabricator. His traditional artistic talent together with his industry knowledge and experience enabled him to work in every aspect of the Canadian motion picture special effects industry. He has held positions from lead metal fabricator, to on set supervision, to department head. He contributed to, or was responsible for, the special practical effects of: Power Rangers (2016), Pirates Of Caribbean – Reshoots (2016), Lemony Snickets (2017), Lost In Space (2017), Dangerous Lies (2019), Nancy Drew (2019), When Calls The Heart (2021). Sami was Special Effects Supervisor on Javier Badillo’s feature film Roads of Ithriyah (2022), and is collaborating with Javier on the short film version of Lupe Q and the Galactic Earworms in early March 2023.
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