NO TE OLIVDES
A Musical Film!
INTRODUCTION
NO TE OLVIDES tells the story of Maria, a closeted twenty-something Chicana as she takes her grandmother Elena back to her very musically inclined ancestral village in Mexico for one last trip.
While the two share a “no secrets” catchphrase, Elena is hiding a small secret from Maria — she’s been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and doesn’t have long to live. No Te Olvides is a coming-of-age musical film filled with relatable characters and a story we all know and love. Our narrative is a love letter to our abuelos.
It's a nod to the intergenerational struggles of so many 1st and 2nd generation American families. It's a universal story filled with music, dancing, and a whole lot of tequila.
PROJECT BACKGROUND
No Te Olvides was named as one of the top 1% of over 10,000 scripts in one of the premiere screenwriting competitions, the Austin Film Festival.
It was also selected to The Black List’s Musical Fellowship. The Musical Fellowship was the first one of it’s kind created in The Black List’s extensive history, specifically for this script. Advisors on the project included La La Land Oscar-winning songwriter Benj Pasek.
As quoted from The Black List, “This is a beautifully written musical that manages to be both rich in scope and intimate in detail. Its celebration of Mexican culture, growing old, and never allowing age to get in the way of the pursuit of happiness is deeply rewarding to read.”
Creator’s POV
Growing up in an immigrant single-mother household meant a childhood filled with music, strong women, and stories of the past. My abuela would always tell me stories about our patria, a wonderful little village in the middle of nowhere called La Noria.
Abuela was always a bit of a mystery, and hid her illness from me as a child. So when she passed sooner than expected, I felt like my connection to La Noria — the place she always wanted to take me to — was lost.
As life went on, I’d hear anecdotes about her from distant friends or relatives. I’d hear about how she was the sweetest woman in La Noria, the best singer, the town therapist, the most fun person at a party, and apparently the village heartbreaker: one man found me on Facebook and said my grandma was the love of his life (damn, Abuela).
She led a much more interesting life than anyone I knew. So as a filmmaker, all of this made me wonder why movies tended to reduce older characters to the do-no-wrong advice givers supporting our young protagonists. NO TE OLVIDES unapologetically aims to flip all of this on its head by placing an older Latina woman as the lead: dancing, drinking, making mistakes, and yes: having a spring fling in Mexico.
NO TE OLVIDES is much more than a Mexican story, but a love letter to the millions of 1st and 2nd generation Americans, to our families that had to work so hard to get here, and to the thousands of La Norias all over the world. Finally, this story is my own imagining of what my trip to La Noria might’ve been like with Elena, who I still miss every day.
CONTEXT
Alzheimer’s is continually increasing in number, being one of the top 10 leading deaths in the United States, according to the CDC. It has also become the sixth leader of adult deaths, and number five among adults 65 and older. For Elena being in this age group, Alzheimer’s affects her in the worst way possible. With this being true, Elena has less time than she expects to experience her time in La Noria.
Elena’s Battle with Alzheimer's
Men and women experience Alzheimer’s differently, women experiencing it worse, that also being true for Elena. Data from the CHAP study indicates 19% of Black and 14% of Hispanic adults age 65 and older have Alzheimer’s dementia compared with 10% of White older adults.
CHARACTERS
Adriel
Panfilo's calmer other half, Adriel is wise, easygoing, and has the voice of an angel.
Featured Villagers
The Villagers of La Noria are feisty, snappy, yet the kindest people in Durango
Sensitive but with a bite, Abuela is on a mission to re-connect with her roots back home. Light dancing, strong belt.
Elena
Soft-spoken, sweet, but struggling to find her voice and place in the world, Maria must find her own inner courage to reveal some of her darkest secrets. LGBTQ+
Maria
Singing, dancing, and still ready to flirt, Victor is equal parts charming, empathic, and full of understanding.
Victor
Fiery, crude, and a bit snappy, Rosita is Elena's wise but sometimes immature little sister.
Rosita
She is poised, confident, and charismatic. As Maria's love interest, Xochil instills the passion in Maria to embrace who she truly is.
Xochil
Warm, friendly, but a little ostentatious, Panfilo still thinks he's 19 and refuses to believe otherwise.
Panfilo
OVERARCHING THEMES
Latinx Family
The triumphs and struggles of being a Latinx Family. The Catholic upbringing, the tight sense of community and the pitfalls of that tightness. Family, as much of a pain as they can be, is there to push you, for both good and bad, but most of all, love you.
Life and Death
Elena Alzheimer’s diagnosis makes the clock tick quicker to the inevitable end to her life. Knowing time is fleeting, she wants to visit her home to hold onto memories that seem to be fading more and more each day, while still celebrating a wonderful life.
Coming of Age
Even in old age, Elena has to learn that her ways of pretending everything is ok, need to come to an end. For Maria, she will discover what it means to truly be happy and loved for who you are, not for what’s expected of you.
LQBTQ+
During her time in Mexico, Maria discovers that a place she believed to be old and backwards, instead teaches her to embrace her true identity.
PRE-VISUALS
SAMPLE TRACKS
“Welcome to La Noria”
“Elephant”
“Under the Moonlight”
“This Dress”
“Making Menudo”
“One With the Wind”
MARKET OPPORTUNITY
60% Of the U.S Hispanic population is under the age of 35.
The Latinx population continues to shift more into 2nd and 3rd generation consumers that embody the “brown-ish” identity. The U.S. - born children of immigrants make up 12% of the nation’s population.
There’s a major shift happening in modern media consumption – from demographics to devices, according to Nielsen. "With Gen Z [born around 1997-2016] representing the most multicultural generation in the U.S., understanding how content resonates across increasingly diverse platforms and audiences is more important than ever. They are showing a more robust tie to streaming and device ownership.
The film industry is going digital. According to the 2021 THEME Report, the U.S. digital market increased 11% and the international digital market increased 24%, when compared to 2020.
The theatre business still stands strong against the ongoing digital transformation. For all of moviegoers, the Hispanic/Latino category represented 24% of moviegoers, and 23% of movie ticket purchasers.
FILM COMPARABLES
Flora and Son (2022)
It follows Flora, a single mom who is at war with her son, Max. Trying to find a hobby for Max, she rescues a guitar from a dumpster and finds that one person's trash can be a family's salvation.
Budget: 4 million USD
Box Office: 20 million USD via Apple TV+
Distributor: Apple TV+
The Farewell (2019)
Billi’s family returns to China under the guise of a fake wedding to stealthily say goodbye to their beloved matriarch — the only person that doesn’t know she only has a few weeks to live.
Budget: 3 million USD
Box Office: 23 million USD
Distributor: A24
Sing Street (2016)
A boy growing up in Dublin during the 1980s escapes his strained family life by starting a band to impress the mysterious girl he likes.
Budget: 4 million USD
Box Office: 14 million USD
Distributor: Lionsgate
Shooting Plan: MEXICO
All film/video productions shot in Mexico and whose primary exploitation will be done outside Mexico are considered an “export product” and will be exempt from Value Added Tax (VAT). All your expenses for a 0% VAT have to be billed by one company, and that company needs an authorization from the IRS (SAT) prior to invoicing the project.
• According to IMCINE, a project has kicked off open to international co-productions and foreign directors, whereby IMCINE will grant about $20,000 per project.
• Granting film permits can take up to a month if you plan shooting in protected areas.
• There are towns with all or most of the comforts you’ll find in a city, or are close to a city that will provide them, but there are also towns with limited services like lodging, cell phone coverage or even running water and electricity. Most colonial towns are found in Central Mexico and the Pacific Southwest.
Movies shot in Mexico: Sicario, Roma, Babel
Meet the Team
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Nerris Nevarez-Nassiri
Writer/Composer/Lyricist
Nerris has lived many lives as a standup comedian, Disney Imagineer, YouTube Creator Award Winner, and recently turned down a job at The White House to pursue his lifelong dream of writing movie-musicals.
That investment paid dividends when his 2021 feature script MO’ALLEM made the Finals at the 2022 Austin Film Festival and when his 2022 script BHAI/HERMANA landed a shopping agreement with Khrisp Entertainment.
His latest script, NO TE OLVIDES, won the inaugural Musical Film Fellowship from The Black List. Nerris has also been awarded fellowships from The Disruptors and Minorities in Film. His commercial directing has seen him work with clients such as Disney, Aputure, Cirque du Soleil, and others.
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Anthony "Tony" Estrada
Producer
Anthony "Tony" Estrada is a Los Angeles-based producer, writer and director. A native of Southern California, and a third generation Latino, he has been working in the entertainment industry for the past nine years. He currently works for one of the top selling hip hop artists of all time, as part of her growth development team as she expands her entrepreneurial and creative endeavors across multiple sectors.
Previously, Tony wrote, produced, and directed scripted corporate content for Niagara Bottling. He has produced branded content and commercials for several other national brands including; CBS, Mattel, Lyft, Niagara Bottling and Los Angeles County. He then migrated to working as part of the management team for global superstar, Jennifer Lopez.
Estrada is developing the stage musical, Labor of Love, and the social thriller, Those Who Fear Us, that latter of which is currently being shopped as a novel. His first book, a ‘motivational memoir’ is being developed for publishing by a NY-based literary agency. He served as the producer on the indie pilot, CLASSIFIED for co-creators, Chris Carvalho and Chris Plaushin. Under his E Squared production banner, Estrada continues to pursue projects and opportunities that help develop the influence of Latinos in front of and behind the camera, in the film, television, and non-scripted genres.
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Simón Wilson
Composer
Simón Wilson is an award winning Los Angeles based film and television composer. After assisting and studying under Theodore Shapiro and receiving credit on major studio productions (Trolls World Tour, Bombshell), he has gone on to score documentaries such as Rhino Man and Momentum, write additional music for shows like Netflix’s Delhi Crime and Disney’s The Mysterious Benedict Society, score the NBC special Celebrity Escape Room, and regularly contributes music to Hans Zimmer’s Bleeding Fingers and Extreme Music catalog. He holds the Best Music award at LA’s 48 Hour Film Festival for four years in a row, and his latest projects include a National Geographic doc series and a feature in collaboration with On Native Ground called Gift Of Fear.
Simón is a multi-instrumentalist as well as a classically-trained singer, and his compositions draw on a broad palette of musical influences, from cinematic orchestral music to modular synths and hybrid electronic scores. His profound attention to detail and his gift of precision tied to his relentless work ethic are just some of the qualities that ascend his love for music into a professional, modern composing career. The end goal, which Simón pursues diligently, is to tell story with sound in a way that is compelling, evocative, and original.