{"id":2779,"date":"2012-05-10T14:33:50","date_gmt":"2012-05-10T20:33:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bmovienation.com\/?p=2779"},"modified":"2012-05-10T14:33:50","modified_gmt":"2012-05-10T20:33:50","slug":"stealing-las-vegas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.bmovienation.com\/?p=2779","title":{"rendered":"Stealing Las Vegas"},"content":{"rendered":"

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It\u2019s pretty unlikely for a filmmaker to get his big break after spending more than 20 years as a university professor, but that\u2019s exactly what happened to Francisco Menendez. The head of UNLV\u2019s film department, Menendez showed his independent feature film Primo at the 2008 CineVegas film festival, where legendary B-movie producer Roger Corman also happened to be in attendance. Corman saw Primo and was so impressed that he got in touch with Menendez after the festival and asked him to direct a movie.<\/p>\n

Eric Roberts on the set of Stealing Las Vegas.
\n\u201cI would\u2019ve done anything to direct for Corman,\u201d Menendez says. \u201cThe even better thing would be to bring it home to school.\u201d That\u2019s a reference to Menendez\u2019s UNLV initiative that puts students to work as crew members on professional feature films made by faculty members. Menendez worked with a student crew on Primo, and giving students the opportunity to work on a Corman film would take things to the next level.
\nSo Menendez and fellow UNLV professor Warren Cobb (along with Nr Miller) spent the next year or so working on a script that would become the heist thriller Stealing Las Vegas. \u201cWhat was good about this project was this was really Roger\u2019s idea,\u201d Menendez says. \u201cHe gave me one line, and out of that one line came the movie.\u201d Corman predicted in 2008 that the recession would be a fruitful narrative topic, and the movie involves laid-off workers conspiring to steal from a greedy casino owner (played by Eric Roberts). The cast includes UNLV theater professors Michael Tylo and Nate Bynum, as well as other Vegas residents including Antonio Fargas, who played Huggy Bear on the classic TV series Starsky and Hutch.
\nRoberts is the movie\u2019s biggest star, and Menendez appreciated collaborating with someone who\u2019s had such a long (if uneven) career. \u201cHe was a godsend because he really loved the students,\u201d Menendez says. \u201cHe really would break bread with the students and sit there and tell them stories about the people that inspired him.\u201d Almost all of the crew members came from UNLV, and the movie\u2019s release (it comes out on DVD nationally in the fall) will benefit the university. \u201cWe structured it so half of the revenue goes back to the film department if there\u2019s a net profit,\u201d Menendez says.
\nBefore the DVD release, Menendez hopes to show the film in a few festivals, and the local premiere is part of a new start-up festival, Vegas Film Fest. Corman himself will be on hand for the showing, and Menendez is already hoping to work with the producer again. \u201cI\u2019d make 10 more movies with Roger,\u201d he says. \u201cIf everybody wants to do it like this again, yeah, we\u2019d do it tomorrow.\u201d As for what that movie might be? \u201cThe next one hopefully will be in 3D.\u201d