Kanopy - The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo
The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo is a fresh and genre-defying film about the life of radical Chicano lawyer, author and counter cultural icon, Oscar Zeta Acosta — the basis for the character Dr. Gonzo in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, written by his friend, legendary journalist-provocateur Hunter S. Thompson. Relevant now more than ever, this urgent, untold story probes issues of racial identity, criminal justice, and politics, while giving Acosta his due place as a brilliant but troubled man who changed American history.
Interview with Writer/Director Phillip Rodriguez, Writer David Ventura and Producer Alison Sotomayor
Watch The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo on Kanopy
Why did you make your film?
Phillip Rodriguez (director/producer/writer): Oscar Zeta Acosta captured my imagination from an early age. My father was a Mexican-American lawyer who handled all kinds of cases including the occasional police brutality case. For me, the Los Angeles County courthouse of that era had a noir glamour about it. Civil Rights cases, Charlie Manson, bomb threats. I was very proud that my father worked in such an environment. I recall my father had once shared tales of the crazy Mexican lawyer who thumbed his nose at the system by attending court barefoot with flamboyant ties and briefcase.
Later as a Berkeley undergraduate, I read Acosta’s cult classic books The Revolt of the Cockroach People and The Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo. The books puzzled me – they were imbued with the brutal intimacy of confessionals and the mysterious power of sacred texts. I was struck by the author’s candor and capacity for self-deprecation, characteristics not commonly associated with Civil Rights era heroes – most of whom maintained holier-than-thou personae well after they’d made their tawdry compromises with the post-revolutionary order.
Acosta defies the easy moral dualism of Civil Rights storytelling. Unlike more commonly known figures of that era (think the gentle, self-sacrificing Cesar Chavez) Acosta’s story is rife with contradictions, many of which reveal a nuanced and complicated picture of Mexican-American identity politics of both then and now.
I was drawn to Acosta’s contradictions. He was a complicated man: part man-child, part committed revolutionary, part high-wire performance artist. As a writer, he chronicled his life in vivid and idiosyncratic strokes; as a lawyer, he worked within a system he loathed for the rights of the dispossessed; as an activist, he earned both the adoration and scorn of those he claimed to champion.
When I finally got around to reading Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, I was incensed that a white counterculture hero like Thompson would resort to the demeaning, racist characterization to which he subjected Oscar, a person who I considered Thompson’s better. Acosta was no sidekick. I figured someone should correct the record. Turned out to be me.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
Phillip Rodriguez: I want the audience to share in Acosta’s courage, disorientation, rage and joyfulness. I want to introduce to audiences a significant and transformative figure in California and American legal, literary and cultural history. The goal of this project will rescue this important historical figure from obscurity and provide context for a figure whose complexity is emblematic of today’s Latino – young, urban, impatient and ready to rumble.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
David Ventura (co-writer): Oscar’s journey in the show is one man’s search for his place in society. This instinct to fulfill his need of being valued along with his search for self-actualization are universal to the state of being human. Audiences can relate to Oscar’s quest for appreciation and respect in the eyes of others. The need to develop his unique talents to benefit the world is something for which we all strive. We see Oscar’s fight against a social structure that provides increased anonymity and boredom as our own. Oscar shuns anonymity, dreads boredom and seeks to dispel his anxieties just like us all. So, when he turns to strange behaviors, drugs and sexual experiments as a form of revolt, we know where he is coming from.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
David Ventura (co-writer): The original inspiration of the show was to make a drama from Oscar’s novel “Revolt of the Cockroach People”. This was fine, except for one glaring problem: No one knew who Oscar was. Faced with this obstacle, we decided that telling Oscar’s life story as a documentary was the only way to expose audiences to this unique character for whom we cared so much. As we put the film together, it became clear that a standard telling of Oscar’s life would not do. If we made a Ken Burn’s style documentary, it would not do justice to Oscar’s “Gonzo” approach to life. The unique style of the film was dictated to us by our subject and the times he lived in. The evolution of both the script and the film were results of necessity and justice.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
We have received overwhelmingly positive reviews from the press and community. Here are just a few press quotes to share with you:
“The flyest history lesson since Hamilton.” - Remezcla
“Astonishing” and “A Must-See Film” – Salon
“Brilliant, Original and Genre-Bending” “It isn’t the typical PBS fare (welcome, young people)”- Latino Rebels
“Fascinating” - NBC News
“Genre-defying” L.A. Taco
“Remarkable, informs, entertains, filling your mind with challenging, provocative ideas.”
Sacramento Bee
“Fascinating” - NBC News
“Larger than life” - People Magazine
You can read more reviews here:
Our IMDB page can be found here:
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
Alison Sotomayor (producer): At first, we were generally surprised by the overwhelming positive press reviews we received. But upon reflection, it was unmistakable that we produced a successful, innovative PBS documentary, which engaged viewers, especially Latinx viewers, through various digital platforms and real-time activities.
Above and beyond the film, the team participated in community screenings and film festivals nationwide, and created a grassroots movement and buzz about the film by executing an aggressive social media campaign months in advance of the broadcast. Ultimately, we engaged more than one million users on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
We worked with our publicity team to not only land press outlets to review the film, but to also review the launch of the film’s trailer, and review the unveiling of three murals of our main character Oscar Zeta Acosta in targeted cities nationwide (Denver, Colorado; El Paso, Texas; San Antonio, Texas). Commissioned artists worked off the same image of Acosta, re-imagining him and his life work through their own perspectives, focusing on themes of pride, oppression, protest and justice. After the completion of the murals, the production team shared and re-shared posts on social media.
We employed guerilla marketing tactics for maximum impact and exposure of the premiere by connecting viewers in-person and in real-time. Along with the mural concept, which inspired random people on social media to create their own murals and artwork on Acosta and share their images, we used a video truck that played a 30-second promo of the film, promoting the broadcast and our Instagram handle of “tonight’s” premiere. The truck drove throughout Los Angeles for six hours, targeting specific neighborhoods and high-traffic areas the day of the national broadcast.
Moreover, on the day of the premiere, and during the month of the 50th anniversary of the East L.A. Walkouts, the team distributed film merchandise and posters to students at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles, and spoke about who Acosta was and his significance to their community. In exchange, the students posted photos of themselves at school, in front of Acosta banners and images, promoting the premiere on social media.
As a result of our comprehensive engagement campaign, we brought in new Latino press to cover and celebrate the film. We incorporated a new generation of young people, especially thousands and thousands of young Latinx users, who knew nothing of Acosta and who became engaged online. We spoke to them through real images and innovative, animated graphics that they related to, and in turn, they continue to follow the film and engage. We came to various communities in-person and in real-time, allowing new audiences to become aware of film and of Acosta.
Nielsen ratings showed that 12% of the PBS audience watching the March 23, 2018 premiere of “The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo” came from Hispanic households, the highest proportion from this population since last fall’s “Hispanic Heritage Awards”.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
We are hoping to connect with international distributors interested in the film, along with aggregators who can explore the possibility of the film on Netflix or other VOD platforms.
Who do you need to come on board to amplify this film’s message?
International distributors, aggregators to explore the film to be on Netflix, film festival directors, sales agents, buyers.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Why is this film so relevant today?
Would you like to add anything else?
Yes, to find out more about our film please visit:
The film is also streaming on Kanopy, a video streaming service, that offers thoughtful films to universities, colleges and public libraries for free if they are a member.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo is a fresh and genre-defying film about the life of radical Chicano lawyer, author and counter cultural icon, Oscar Zeta Acosta — the basis for the character Dr. Gonzo in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, written by his friend, legendary journalist-provocateur Hunter S. Thompson. Relevant now more than ever, this urgent, untold story probes issues of racial identity, criminal justice, and politics, while giving Acosta his due place as a brilliant but troubled man who changed American history.
Interview: May 2018
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We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
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The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo
Length: 55:56
Director: Phillip Rodriguez
Executive Producer: Benicio Del Toro (who portrayed Oscar Zeta Acosta in the 1998 cult movie classic, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas opposite Johnny Depp who portrayed Hunter S. Thompson)
Producer: Alison Sotomayor
Writers: Phillip Rodriguez & David Ventura
Phillip Rodriguez: Director, Producer, Writer: Phillip Rodriguez is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and veteran content provider for PBS. His films bring to light the complexities of Latino culture, history, and identity at a time when our nation’s demographics reflect unprecedented growth in the Latino community and the concomitant demand for relevant storytelling. Rodriguez’s investigative documentary Ruben Salazar: Man in the Middle explores the life and mysterious death of the pioneering journalist, and won Best Documentary at the 2014 San Antonio CineFestival and the 2014 Denver XicanIndie Festival. RACE 2012: A conversation About Race and Politics in America was awarded a 2013 CINE Golden Eagle Award in the Best Televised News Division – Informational/Current Issue category. Latinos ’08 received a 2009 CINE Golden Eagle Award for Best News Analysis. Brown is the New Green: George Lopez and the American Dream was awarded the 2008 Imagen Award for Best TV Documentary. Rodriguez’s other critically acclaimed films include Los Angeles Now, Mixed Feelings: San Diego/Tijuana, Manuel Ocampo: God is My Copilot, and Pancho Villa & Other Stories. In 2006, Rodriguez received the first annual United States Artists Broad Fellow Award. This annual award honors the country’s most accomplished and innovative artists. A graduate of U.C. Berkeley, he has an M.A. in Latin American Studies (Honors) and an M.F.A. in Film and Television from UCLA. His fellowships have included Senior Fellow at The Dorothy Leavy Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University, Fellow for Documentary Filmmaking at the Institutefor Justice and Journalism at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism; Senior Fellow at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.
David Ventura: Writer
David Ventura is a freelance screenwriter. He has been writing for eleven years while taking classes in writing and filmmaking at AFI and attending seminars and workshops. David worked as a story consultant for the PBS documentary, Ruben Salazar: Man in the Middle. He has written the script for the PBS documentary, The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo, which explores the life and legacy of controversial Chicano civil rights activist/attorney/author Oscar Zeta Acosta. David is currently working on the story of the greatest land swindle ever attempted in the U.S. titled The Baron of Arizona. David Ventura lives in Torrance, California where he navigates the surf breaks of the South Bay to avoid trouble from surf gangs and sharks.
Key cast: Jesse Celedon (Oscar Zeta Acosta), Jeff Harms (Hunter S. Thompson)
Looking for: sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists.
Social media handles:
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/brownbuffaloproject
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/BrownBuffaloPBS
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/BrownBuffaloFilm/
Funders: The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Latino Public Broadcasting, California Humanities, and The Office of Los Angeles City Councilman Gilbert Cedillo
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month?
National PBS premiere has passed (March 23, 2018) and window of streaming on PBS.org has also passed. But, the film can be streamed for free at educational institutions and libraries on Kanopy.com, and can be purchased at: www.BrownBuffaloFilm.com