Toothpaste

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Runtime: 16 minutes
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DVD $89

Synopsis

Two best friends consider taking their relationships to the next level. The decisions they each make are as different as the outcomes.

"I trust him. I love him. I don't know what else there is?" Best friends Jennifer and Christina discuss their ideas on what constitutes a relationship that is healthy enough for sex and its corresponding responsibilities. Both have boyfriends and both believe they're ready. Jennifer and Carlos have been together for a year and Cristina and Bobby's relationship is three weeks old. The two girls show that they are responsible enough to get protection, but their respective sexual encounters lead to decidedly different results.

Credits

Written by high school seniors Gladys Sanchez, Laura Coria, Kristal Villarreal and Amanda Ramirez, from Mission, Texas in the Rio Grande Valley. Directed by Ben Younger (Boiler Room, Prime), shot by Guillermo Navarro (Hellboy) and produced by Michael Waxman (Collateral).

Click here for the full cast and crew.

Honors

2004 South Texas Contest Winner, Mission, TX
Aired on Manhatten Neighborhood Network and set to air on Showtime, Free Speech TV, Chat The Planet, and Varsity Television
Featured on the TODAY Show
Screened at 2005 Cine Las Americas Film Festival, Westport Youth Film Festival, and the T Tauri Film Festival
Used in school districts across the nation

The story behind the story

Originally entitled Someone's Sorrow, Toothpaste was shot over two days in Mission, Texas. Mission has a population 46,000 and the majority of the crew members drove south six hours from Austin to participate. Before shooting started, the city of Mission hosted a dinner for the crew and writers. Though based in New York City, Scenarios USA felt right at home in the Rio Grande Valley, where it was founded five years ago and where Scenarios' films Don't Dance With Death, Nightmare on AIDS Street, and Today I Found Out were shot in 1999 and 2001.

The five teen writers worked alongside Ben Younger (Boiler Room, Prime) as he directed their story and their peers interned on set with different crew members. Younger strived to "give [them] a professional experience" and mentored them on how to break into the movie business. The City of Mission embraced the film shoot and secured locations, meals and supplies for the production. The Fire Department even lent their largest fire truck twice to Guillermo Navarro and his camera crew.

Toothpaste premiered theatrically with A Memoir to My Former Self (Miami, FL) and All Falls Down (New York City) in December 2004 in New York City.

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