Pizza Monster
Logline
A pizza obsessed boy will do whatever it takes to get his hands on a warm slice.
Synopsis
Pizza Monster is a short film about Sebastian, a 9 year old pizza obsessed boy nicknamed the Pizza Monster. When Sebastian's father brings pizza to the house for lunch, Sebastian immediately mobilizes to get the largest piece while warm and smoky, but his vigilant mother and annoying family members get in the way of him acquiring his priced slice. This nostalgic piece takes place in the early 2000’s in San Jose, California, in a Mexican-American household.
Funding
Your investment will be going towards creating a positive short film and shipping it off to domestic and international festivals. Most of your investment will be going towards the group of individuals that will come together to give life to this film. As far as return of investment, you will be directly involved in advancing the careers of all the individuals involved. You will also help influence and advance the Mexican-American narrative in the media.
Director's Statement
In the age of information, we have been conditioned to want things instantly. However, the best things in life come due to delay of gratification. Pizza Monster is here to remind you of just that in a light hearted way through a nine year old kid and pizza. Additionally, this film is really important for the Mexican-American narrative. My mission as a filmmaker has always been to give justice to Mexica-American stories and that's exactly what I am doing with this piece. Lastly, this a positive message that needs to go out into world because it will make people laugh and it will create new pizza memories.
You can see the directors reel and work at this link:
www.blesstress.com
Thank You
Thank you for your time and energy. We appreciate you and look forward to this journey with you!
Hi! I’m Javier. I’m a storyteller turned filmmaker. When film came into my life at 18 through school, I thought this was the perfect medium to share my stories. That’s when my film journey began. A lot of my work is influenced by being Mexican-American and growing up in the Bay Area. If I were to describe my films, I’d say they are tales of pain and pleasure.
Hello, my name is Belgica Paola Rodriguez-Flores and I am an actress, YouTube content creator and now also dabbling in filmmaking with Javier! I love sharing my experience as an actress and information about the industry through vlogs on YouTube between auditioning and acting. In the last few years, Javi and I have been creating films that touch on the unique experiences we have as Mexican-American people in California and that has been the most fun I have had creating!
Hello everyone!
Hope you have all been doing great. ☺️ Wanted to invite you to the next screening of Pizza Monster at the BraveMaker Film Festival in Redwood City! This will be our start of the festival circuit and means we will be on THE BIG SCREEN!!! 🥳
If you couldn't attend the May screening, or have friends who didn't, this is your chance!
Location: Century 20 at 825 Middlefield Rd, Redwood City, CA 94063
Date & Time: Saturday, July 13th at 10AM
Price: $22 for a single screening or $200 for a Thursday-Sunday pass. Link to tickets: https://bravemaker2024filmfest.eventive.org/schedule/family-friendly-film-program-saturday-morning-663edd84698dd30041de20b0
You can learn more about this amazing Bay Area festival here https://bravemaker.com/film-fest/
Thank you all for your continued support and we can’t wait to see you there!
Javier and Belgica
Photo from the May private screening at MACLA in San Jose, CA.
Hi everyone!
The time has come. We are so incredibly excited to premiere Pizza Monster on May 3rd, 2023 in San Jose!
Below is the link to grab your free tickets! There will be two screenings, one at 7:30PM and one at 8:30PM. The 8:30PM screening will have a Q&A with the Pizza Monster cast and crew. Kindly do not share this link publicly until Thursday as we want to give first dibs to cast, crew, and contributors. We will be sharing the link publicly on Instagram tomorrow. More info in the event link below!
We will be screening other Bay Area short films along with Pizza Monster. Seating is limited to 80 people per session so make sure to grab your tickets today!
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pizza-monster-premiere-tickets-884235390857?aff=oddtdtcreator
Thank you for helping us make it happen!
Javier and Belgica
Hi everyone,
The pizza is on its way! Thank you all for your support. We are happy to announce that the premiere event and screening will take place on May 3rd, 2024 in San Jose, CA. We are teaming up with MACLA/Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana to premiere the film!
If you contributed $100+ your name will be in the credits! If you contributed $200+ you will also receive a link to stream the film. Lastly, if you contributed $500+ we will have Pizza Monster merch for you!
Save the date. Link to tickets and more details to come!
Javier and Belgica
Hello everyone!
It has been a while, but we have been going to work building our crew and cast.
Currently we are still solidifying our cast, so I thought I would share the casting call with ya'll.
When it comes to casting kids, it has been difficult because of the innate challenges it brings. Nevertheless, if you have kids or know of kids who are not camera shy between the ages of 9-11, please consider passing this along to their parents. Non-experience parents in acting are encouraged to apply as well.
You can apply through this google form link:
https://forms.gle/oNigTRU4ECTGXNka9
Here is the info in English and Spanish:
Hello everyone!
I just wanted to go on here and let you know how grateful and thankful I am. Because of each one of you we were able to reach our target goal of 10k - we actually surpassed it and funded a total of $10,156. Our funds won't be disbursed for about another 10 more days, but in the meantime we are getting to work now with casting and assembling our crew.
I am very excited about this part of the journey because the creatives we hire will be using their talents to tell the story. I've put a demanding schedule for the actors because when I think about it - I have to create/simulate a family. Rehearsals are required and even some team outings so that the actors can develop trust, create memories, and share laughter. This will all reflect on the screen.
Stay tune for more updates. DJ mix coming soon!
Thanks again everyone for coming along this journey with us.
Let's deliver this slice to the world!
Best,
Javier 
First of all, I want to thank everyone who has contributed so far. This means a lot to me and the filmmakers that will be involved in this film! Thank you so much! I am thrilled beyond measure by all the support.
I want to update ya'll on an incredible opportunity. There is a July mentorship challenged - so as long as we meet our minimum goal of 7k, we qualify for this challenge. Imagine being selected by one of these producers. If they choose our project, then one of these industry producers will help us make our film and guide us to then end.
Thanks to ya'll we are close to qualifying - currently sitting at $3337 - by this weekend we want to get to 5k and beyond. Thanks again and please if you have the capacity, share our campaign with friends and family.
Here is the link:
https://www.supportourstory.com/pizzamonster
All the best,
Javier
