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And welcome to the film’s blog. It’s pretty early in the process but things are moving along nicely with the film right now and I thought I’d start telling you about it.
Exactly one year ago today, I read an article in the Washington Post Magazine about Juan Gomez, a Georgetown University student. The article written by reporter Phuong Ly not only captured my attention but also captivated my imagination and I thought to myself that this story would make a great documentary. I don’t think that I’m wrong and I hope that you’ll eventually agree.
I obtained Phuong’s contact information from a friend of mine, another Washington Post writer, and I asked Phuong if she could put me in touch with Juan Gomez. She politely declined, letting me know that Juan and his lawyers had asked that his contact information not be divulged. She did give me contact information for Cheryl Little, Executive Director and Founder of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center and one of Juan’s lawyers. Instead of making a cold call, I decided to send her an explanatory email telling her who I was and what I wanted to do. I didn’t hear back from Cheryl right away.
After a couple of weeks, I said to myself that maybe it wasn’t to be…either this story wouldn’t be told, or at the very least, it wouldn’t be told by me. But shortly thereafter, as I was sitting at my desk at work, I heard my phone ring. The caller ID indicated that I was getting a call from Florida and thinking that it might have something to do with my sister (she used to live in Tampa), I immediately picked up the receiver. At the other end of the line was Cheryl Little and she explained that she hadn’t responded to my email because no one knew whether Juan would still be here after the expiration of his first private bill. She finally decided to give me a call after Senator Christopher Dodd introduced another private bill that would keep Juan and his brother Alex in the US until March of 2011.
And that’s how it all started…