Let's Make a Movie! "The Birthday Cake" aka "Que Le Muerda" Short Film

Duration: 3:33 613 transcript words EN summary

Video summary

Belgica Rodriguez, an actor and content creator, shares her journey of transitioning from making standard YouTube videos to producing a personal short film titled "The Birthday Cake," also known as "Que Le Muerda." This eight-minute romantic comedy centers on a first-generation Mexican-American woman who brings her boyfriend to her family home for the first time. While he quickly bonds with her relatives and enjoys the spicy food, the story takes a humorous turn when he encounters the traditional custom of smashing cake in someone's face on their birthday, a cultural nuance that highlights the unique experiences Rodriguez gained from her partner's influence. Producing this project required Rodriguez to wear every hat, serving as the writer, producer, set decorator, designer, editor, and actor alongside other Bay Area-based talent. She enlisted the help of friends who offered special rates and family members who volunteered their time, yet the production still cost over ten thousand dollars. To bridge the financial gap, she has secured fiscal sponsorship from Brave Maker, which allows viewers to make tax-deductible donations via text or online contributions. Rodriguez encourages supporters to check if their employers offer matching gift programs, noting that all funds raised between now and September will be directly invested into the film's production. Beyond direct donations, Rodriguez offers several alternative ways for the community to support her creative endeavor. She invites people to cast her in future short films or commercials, purchase tagged products from her YouTube videos, or use specific coupon codes found in the description box. Even those who cannot contribute financially are encouraged to leave encouraging comments, as the process has been emotionally challenging despite being fun. Her goal is to transform these combined efforts into a successful screening event next summer, where she hopes to share this heartwarming and relatable story with a wider audience in a theater setting.

Read the full video transcript

Hi, my name is Belgica Rodriguez and I am an actor and a content creator. Well, I make YouTube videos and I'm learning how to produce films and how to write them and really just how to become a filmmaker in general. And just like everybody says you have to make your own work. And I have been but this time this time it's personal. No, I'm I'm serious. This time it's a story that's personal to me because it's based on how my partner taught me all of the things that make my experience uniquely Mexican-American that I didn't think about before I met him. Like did you know it's pronounced Ajax and not Ahax? But that's a story for a different time. This film is called The Birthday Cake, El Pastel de la Muerta, and it's an 8-minute rom-com about a first-gen Mexican-American woman bringing her boyfriend to her house for the first time to meet her family. And he gets along with them right away. He's eating all the spicy peppers. He's getting along with the tias. But then comes the cake. He does not understand why Mexicans smash your face into the cake on your birthday. If you want to support a Latina immigrant filmmaker like me make a funny, heartwarming, relatable story then you can donate through BraveMaker. And I thought I could do this alone like with my own money. I was like, oh, eight pages, eight minutes, how much could it be? Well, it's expensive like $10,369 expensive. And that's with my friends giving me very special rates and family volunteering to help me and me wearing like all of the hats like I'm the writer, producer, I'm crafty, I'm the set decorator, set designer, editor, and probably a bunch of other things. And this film is fiscally sponsored by Brave Maker, which means that your donations are tax deductible. So, you can text cake to 44321 or click the donation button below and you can choose either a monthly or a one-time donation. And you can get your money doubled if your job does matching with which a lot of jobs do. So, ask your boss or just check if you guys have Benevity or anything like that. And in the note you can put Belgica Rodriguez. I'm also acting in this, but other than me I have some Bay Area actors that I cast and Maria Gloria is going to be directing the film as well as she helped me polish the script. John Uribe is the director of photography who I did Pizza Monster with and Camille Serrano that I've done a few projects with in the last couple of years. She's going to be the assistant director and a bunch of other Bay Area-based crew will also be involved. If you can't donate today, you can still help me out by either casting me in your next short film or commercial. You can buy one of the tagged products in any of my YouTube videos or use a coupon code in the description of this video and any money I make between now and September, which is when we're filming, I'm going to put all of that money towards production. If you aren't currently casting or shopping, you can leave me an encouraging comment because this, of course, is really fun, but it's also very hard. So, I already spiraled a couple of times. I know it's going to be okay. I know that next summer I'm going to be screening this film in a theater and it's going to be amazing. So, donate today or at least comment, like, and subscribe.