R. Ellis Frazier, Director, Producer, CEO at BADHOUSE Studios: Why did we need to go to Long Beach [California] and shoot that scene? It was just the location costs and the permit costs and everything are 10 times the amount.
Film Courage: Why did you move to Mexico?
Frazier: I think it’s for a lot of reasons really. Mexico is a very warm country. It’s a warm place and personally before professionally I moved there just to kind of get away from things and to kind of take a break from the hustle and bustle. I originally moved to Cancun, Mexico and lived there for several years and did a lot of writing when I was there. Then later I figured I can’t really retire at that age, so I got closer to the United States and moved over to the Tijuana/Rosarito Beach area. At the end of the day Mexico now it’s my home. I’ve been there over 20 years and so it’s just more comfortable for me. It’s easier to live there, less stress, things of that sort. Professionally, it’s like a filmmaker’s paradise. You can go anywhere, you can shoot anywhere. It’s got all kinds of different looks, the mountains, the hills, the trees. I mean the oceans, the deserts, anything you want to shoot there and I think it’s one of the only places that can (at least in the Western Hemisphere) be truly cost effective without the rebates.
Film Courage: So you can still have a “Hollywood career,” whatever that looks like (entertainment career) and live and be an expat?
Frazier: Basically, yeah. One of the things about where we are, which is Tijuana just below the San Diego border, is that it’s (in theory) the closest international point to Hollywood in the world. That means it’s drivable. We can drive everything and everybody down from Los Angeles without putting them on planes but we’re still working kind of like at a fraction of the LA costs. So it’s that closest international point and when we started…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
BIO:
R. Ellis Frazier is a producer and director, known for Across the Line: The Exodus of Charlie Wright (2010), The Line (2009) and Misfire (2014) and many more. Frazier is the CEO of Badhouse Studios Mexico.
CONNECT WITH R. ELLIS FRAZIER
Advertisement – contains affiliate links
(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)
More affiliates:
Camera we use for interviews – https://buff.ly/3rWqrra
Editing system – https://goo.gl/56LnpM
Sound we use for interviews – https://amzn.to/2tbFlM9
Writers, try Final Draft free for 30-days – https://ow.ly/Gz4w30rDSKt
Other books on Amazon that Film Courage recommends – https://buff.ly/3o0oE5o
