Tucson-Based Film “Choir Practice”: Blood Runs Deep in The Desert
Tucson’s original action-crime thriller, Choir Practice, will welcome legendary actor Danny Trejo (Machete, From Dusk Till Dawn) to its production this week! With its tagline, “Blood Runs Deep in the Desert” – the story is a gripping tale of an unconventional Catholic priest, a lost migrant, Tucson cops and a violent international drug gang! (“Choir Practice” is a law enforcement euphemism for “after-work drinks”!)
The locally written, funded and produced SAG feature film project is more than halfway through its current production phase.To this point, locations in Marana, Catalina and King’s Anvil Ranch along Sasabe Road have been featured backdrops. Filming will take place in Nogales and Tucson next week.
Written and directed by Sally Shamrell (actor, restaurateur, UA alum and former KVOA reporter & anchor) during the Covid-19 pandemic, the story is inspired by real people and events: a Tucson Catholic priest and a brutal crime that took place along the Arizona-Mexico border.
Seasoned actor Rodrigo Rojas (Ozark, Modern Family) stars alongside Tucson native Jon Proudstar (Reservation Dogs, Last Stop in Yuma County). The co-lead and breakout star is a recent Tucson High School graduate, JJ Urquidez, along with 90% Tucson and Arizona-based actors. Behind the visual talents of award-winning L.A.-based cinematographer, A.J. Raitano, most of the crew is also local, as Tucson’s own Monsoon Production Services is a co-producer on this project.
Executive producers Shamrell and Glenn Murphy of Flat Dogs Films, LLC, spent more than four years raising funds locally to produce the story, which many Los Angeles based producers advised them to film in New Mexico, due to higher state film tax incentives. “Having grown up in Naco and Bisbee, I had to dig my heels in and insist we keep this story in southern Arizona,” Shamrell said. “The Sonoran Desert is the only landscape that could serve as an additional character in this film. And ss it turns out, our local investors made their contributions based on the film being shot locally.”
Shamrell and Murphy will also work with Monsoon Production Services on post-production, to qualify for Arizona’s new film tax incentives. For more information, contact Sally at (520) 909-4541 or sally@flatdogfilms.com
Film website: www.choirpracticemovie.com
Film Tucson contact: Peter Catalonette pcatalonette@visittucson.org
