The Bite Magazine - Spring/Summer 2021 - Issue 29

bitefilmreview bandits to continually divide the passengers into various ethnic, cul- tural and economic subgroups to find a group of people that none of the thugs identifies with - a group they can feel good about robbing. I spoke to director Nino Aldi, actor and co-producer Jake Hunter, and director and producer Patricia Chica about TRIBES and heard their opinions on the short movie, the passion behind it, and their thoughts on self-identity. Nino Aldi is an American film- maker who is a member of the Director’s Guild of America.While TRIBES marked his 7th directorial short film, he has a mystery-thriller feature film called STILLWATER which he directed, co-wrote, pro- duced and independently financed. With over 15 years of experience in the industry, he has worked on numerous film and television pro- grammes, including NBC’s The Voice, as a field producer. The director realised his passion for cinema at a very early age and wanted “to make his own movies and act in it”. Later he dropped out of college, was offered a scholar- ship, and moved to Hollywood at the age of 19 ‘to figure it out.’ He always wanted to direct but didn’t have the confidence at first. Starting as a production assistant in Hollywood for eight years, he worked his way up and eventually started making his own movies. “I felt my destiny was creating art,” he said. He spoke about his early start and the biggest challenge of sur- viving in Los Angeles. “I had a bunch of roommates, and every- body wanted to be an actor,” he explained. “Six months later, they were gone; that’s been the status quo for years.” However, he did not give up, and upon working on the popular American show The Voice, he gained enough industry contacts and money to produce his work. “I don’t watch nearly as many movies as other people do, but I probably watch more videos about making it.” Nino was drawn to the TRIBES because it dealt with a pertinent issue in our society about separa- tism and how different we all feel we are from one another. “I knew immediately when I first read the script the way I wanted to tell this story. I envisioned a tone and style that would uniquely parallel the narrative and, hopefully, hit home on the notion that, in essence, we are all part of the same tribe.” Actor and producer Jake Hunter, a former pro-baseball player from New York, has an impres- sive resumé of over a dozen film and television roles. He starred in the 2020 Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman, Tommy Lee Jones film, The Comeback Trail. He is working on a new Amazon Prime show called Class Act - a series he wrote, produced and stars oppo- site Oscar-nominated actor Eric Roberts. He moved to New York and then to Los Angeles to “just try and make it happen and fully commit to it.” Before making it, he lived out of his truck, worked as a waiter and bartender, and a personal trainer. He remembered saying to himself, “I have to learn to create stuff because no one is going to give me an opportunity based on having no training, no experience, no connections.” Jake decided to make a short movie himself; he found a manager who agreed to sign him up without experience and only on photogra- phy. Later, he introduced Jake to Nino, “So Nino read my first draft and was like it sucks. And I was like, yes, help me, and eventually, we got our project into the big LA fes- tivals.”When it came to the script, Hunter loved the idea from the first sight and confessed he was Images provided by Chica Art