Today we’d like to introduce you to Out Of Touch Productions. Them and their team share their story with us below:
The idea for our production company first came to us in our sophomore year of high school. We had both become great friends and partners in our school’s media class, by that point we were already extremely passionate about filmmaking and knew we wanted to take it to the next level, we just didn’t know what “the next level” was exactly. Fast forward to our junior year of high school where we were presented with the opportunity to produce a feature-length film with the help of our entire media technology class. This film was titled “Tardy Terror’ and is the project that truly launched us into the field of filmmaking. On this project, we learned all aspects of film production (i.e., directing, editing, acting, writing, producing, composing, lighting, and scheduling).
Along with our own personal credits, we both earned an associate producer credit due to our own hard work and dedication. Working together on a feature film with a crew really inspired us to kick our production company into gear! Between the multiple set-ups on Tardy Terror, we would take the time to talk about the steps we needed to take to get everything started up; we eventually landed on the name “Out Of Touch Productions” and had a notebook full of ideas just waiting to be turned into short films! However, one major setback came into play…Covid-19. Months of planning multiple projects were quickly cast aside as the whole world entered isolation. After a few months into the pandemic, it seemed like Out Of Touch Productions was over before it even began.
That summer we both got an internship on another feature film named “Red Stone” which was one of (if not the first) SAG-AFTRA productions to be given the green light during the pandemic. As soon as we started working together again on set, the spark was reignited and we soon crafted an idea for a short drama film called “The Upward Turn”. With the help of the casting director from Red Stone, we were able to find local actors who were willing to work with us. Within no time, The Upward Turn was in production and was officially Out Of Touch Productions first short film!
The Upward Turn was accepted into a handful of festivals that were unfortunately canceled due to Covid, however, just being recognized was more than we could ask for!
The company once again took a backseat as we both had to focus on our senior year of high school during which we both received leadership awards for our work in the media technology pathway. Once we both graduated, we started back up once more, this time creating social media pages and having a logo professionally designed for us. By October of 2021 production had begun on our second short film “THE INHABITANT”. This time we had both decided to venture into the horror genre and make a short film about a dancer who begins to suspect something supernatural is occurring within her apartment. We released it publicly on our YouTube channel in December, and were able to finally show the world what we could do with very little resources!
By January of 2022 our next project had been released, this one aptly titled “I’M GOING TO KILL YOU TONIGHT”. This short follows a woman who must come face to face with her stalker after years of harassment. This short was also accepted into two film festivals and as of doing this interview, we are awaiting our results from others! Currently, we are planning our next project and hope to churn out a new short film every 2 months before leading up to an independent feature! The two feature films we worked on acquired distribution deals, with Tardy Terror (renamed to “Horror High”) being released by ITN distribution and Red Stone being released by CINEDIGM.
We cannot wait for what the future has in store for us and we hope to inspire other independent filmmakers who haven’t found their voice yet.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
The biggest obstacle we constantly face is trying to get new ideas for projects and looking for new actors to work with. We always push ourselves to create our best possible work and sometimes we push too hard leading to a creative block.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Out Of Touch Productions is a growing independent production company based in Dallas, Texas and is ran by Julian Tejeda and Ahna-Marie Cruz. We write, produce, direct, and edit our own films and release them on our YouTube channel, we mainly market and promote through social media apps such as Instagram and Reddit. We believe that what sets us apart from others is our drive, determination, and the knowledge we’ve acquired from being in the field at such a young age.
We’re always proud of the work we put out. We truly take the time to make sure we’re making something we are passionate about. We’re also proud of the work we’ve done on other films outside of our production company.
We want readers to know we are always looking for new people to work with whether it be a crew position behind the scenes or an actor on camera!
Contact Info:
- Email: outoftouchproduction@
gmail.com - Instagram: https://www.
instagram.com/out_of_touch_ productions_/ - Youtube: https://youtube.com/
channel/ UChxdCIXOrqaSuFw2Q7LmT6 - Julian Tejeda IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/
name/nm11718235/?ref_=tt_cl_ wr_2 - Ahna Cruz IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/
name/nm12047951/?ref_=ttfc_fc_ cr18
Image Credits
Rene Garcia
Ahna-Marie Cruz
Tyler J. Case
Abby Glass
