Paramedic Isais Eschurt waits for Detective Jules Taradico to join him for lunch so that he can break important news to him. But before Isais can reveal anything to him, Jules takes over the conversation with what he just witnessed. Jules was undercover in the projects when all of a sudden he hears screams coming from the next apartment. He goes over there only to find a Veteran had just overdosed. After a handful of minutes he wakes back up and tells Jules a story of what he just experienced, Hell. Isais can’t believe his ears. They jump subject and Jules warns Isais about him helping the addicts in the projects. It turns out the Drug Lord; Louis C is on the hunt for him. Isais confesses that he knows Louis C is after him and he wants Jules to tell Louis C where he will be so that he can prove to the people how bad Louis C is and in hopes the people will make a wise decision to stay clean.

Behind the Story

When I wrote this story I knew I wanted to make it so I can practice filming a conversation piece. The first conversation to popped into my head was the conversation between Jesus and Judas. I wanted to modernize it between a detective and a paramedic who's been friends since they were kids. I wanted to have the story where the detective is undercover for a crime lord and the paramedic works the area to help the addicts. The crime lord wants the paramedic taken out in order to keep the addicts addicted. The detective tells the paramedic without the crime lord knowing because he wants the paramedic aware of what's to come. I wonder if Judas told on Jesus because maybe Jesus wanted Judas to tell so he can be known to the world of his gifts. I wrote the dialogue, but I needed a starting conversation piece to get them acquainted. So I thought about a job the detective came from. Okay, what was that? I wanted a story where an addict came to the revelation of having Jesus in their life. I researched videos on YouTube in order to find the right one. I came across a story where a man who has raised a satanist met a catholic woman and had an incident where Jesus came into his life to save him. I also heard a similar story on the NPR podcast. I thought that was the way to go. I wrote a story where the detective witnessed Jesus coming into the life of a man who just overdosed.

After I wrote the conversion I knew I needed cut-away shots. So I set up a two-day shoot. One location was at a restaurant with the conversation and the other location was at a house where we would see the detective and addicts. I asked this bar-ba-q restaurant for clearance. They agreed and we set up the shoot. I found a cinematographer on Craig's List. I had to pick him up but he had all the gear we would need for the shoot. A co-worker of mine had a friend who lived in an apartment on a high floor with outdoor walkways. Some more co-workers came out to help and also a former police officer. I really didn't know what to do to get everyone involved. Thank God for my wife who helped out a lot and reminded me to get people involved and included. While we waited for the addicts to show up we filmed the detective scene with his girlfriend inside and outside. The former police officer came in handy. He transformed one of the bedrooms to make it look like a crack house. I couldn't believe it.

I wrote two more scenes, one at the beginning where we would see the two friends as kids and one steals something and the other covers for him. The other scene I wrote is where the paramedic visits his drug-abused mother. These two scenes didn't make it into the film only because I couldn't find the time. I really think the additional scenes would have tied the whole film together and made it way better than the completed film. I regret not filming those, but I do love the fact that I finished what we did. There was so much I learned from it.

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