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ROBERT E. ALANIZ
At the age of six, Robert Alaniz had already begun to draw pictures and cartoon characters.
By the time this native of Blue Island, Illinois reached Dwight D. Eisenhower High School, his name was already engraved on numerous plaques and awards honoring outstanding artwork.
At that time, Alaniz wished to be a commercial artist; however, this aspiration faded when a teacher challenged him to participate in the school's production of Auntie Mame.
Fortunately for today's independent film fans, one of the student-actors bowed out just weeks before opening night, thus creating an opportunity for Robert to recognize his true calling.
Knowing nothing about drama, he met the challenge and became fascinated with the theater. When school closed for the 1972 summer break, Robert organized his own drama group, the Calumet Park Players, in the community where he lived. For the original plays he wrote, Robert casted friends, neighbors, and a few willing strangers.
During his senior year, Robert acted in two school plays: Neil Simon's Plaza Suite and William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Over the next few years, Alaniz continued writing and directing his own plays and productions, which soon numbered about two dozen.
As a student at Moraine Valley Community College, Robert acted in another production of Plaza Suite, this time playing a different role in the three-act trilogy. There, he took a Film Appreciation class, which inspired him to leap from theater to film. His first effort, Of One's Own Will (shot on Super 8 Sound film), earned him the top grade in his class.
After college, Robert took a job at WGN-TV in Chicago. Meanwhile, his movie projects continued as his love for filmmaking grew stronger – as did his productions, in both substance and length. When asked once why he didn't make shorter films, he replied: "I can't think that small. The stories I tell take time."
In 1982, after completing Barrymore's Dream, his ninth film, the cold, hard, financial truth of filmmaking dealt Robert a setback. The expenses and resources required to properly produce and promote new films became more and more unobtainable.
It seemed his passion and love for making movies might be an impossible dream. So, as dreamers often do, he set aside his creative passion to focus on real life: marriage; business; home; etc.
That all changed in 2003, when a second chance at filmmaking came from local supporters in his hometown of Frankfort. This group believes it is never too late in life to follow your dreams. As a result, Timeserver, Robert's first film in over 20 years, premiered in Joliet at the historic Rialto Square Theater to a larger-than-expected audience of over 1,000.
Recalling that night, Robert says: "It is a moment in my life, I will never forget. Though not the first time a filmmaker in this area premiered their movie in a theater, we pulled it off with a crew made up of a handful of volunteers, and funds that gave deeper meaning to the term low budget."
Robert's second film in 2005, Barrymore's Dream, is an updated remake of a high school class project.
What began as a short story, written by Alaniz as a class assignment in the '70s, morphed several times into what would be its final incarnation.
"I learned a lot during the making of Timeserver," Robert says, "and I knew the time had come to take that knowledge to the next level."
Barrymore's Dream premiered at the Marcus Theatres in Orland Park, November 11, 2005. It was the first Alaniz film to be available on DVD.
In September 2007, Barrymore’s Dream won in the BEST FEATURE FILM category at the Route 66 Film Festival in Springfield, Ill.
His most recent film project, Bitterblue, represented a real change of pace for Robert, who wanted to do something completely different.
"I had this story floating around in my head for many years about a boy who suddenly loses his parents. Because of this tragedy, he distances himself from everyone, leading those who know him to think something is psychologically wrong with him," explains Robert.
"By hearing that assessment so often, he soon begins to believe he really is mentally disabled. Thankfully, through his friendship with an intellectual and curious girl, he eventually sees himself in a different light and comes to terms with the loss of his parents."
Bitterblue, Sole Productions' first family film and a story with a very positive message, completed production in October 2006 and became his second film to be available on DVD.
At the end of the Bitterblue production, Robert was pretty sure that his filmmaking days had come to an end. The Bitterblue production was extremely difficult and took a toll on his health.
But spite all this, Bitterblue had a wide audience appeal and was a local success, getting coverage from FOX NEWS in Chicago, who did a prime-time feature story on the film.
This in turn, got attention from local investors interested in Robert’s next project, should there be one.
He had an idea in his head for a follow-up story to Barrymore’s Dream, when people who saw the film constantly asked him about the ending that unintentionally left it open for a sequel. He and the young actress in the film, Samantha Kuebler would joke constantly about a second movie, calling it Barrymore’s Dream 2 – Ellie’s Revenge.
"Actually, I love sequels", says Robert. "As a writer, it’s a real challenge to come up with story that continues what was started in the original, but can stand on it’s own without relying too much on the first one. As a director, it’s a challenge to try and do everything you did before, except better.”
So, Robert decided to make his next film in the style of his favorite directors, Brian DePalma and John Carpenter. Even putting his name above the film’s title.
The official title is Robert Alaniz’s THE VISION for two reasons, he says. One, because it’s a homage to film titles from the 70’s and 80’s like John Carpenter’s The Thing or Brian DePalma’s Dressed To Kill and second, because there’s several films with the same title and it needed distinction.”
Robert is presently working on THE VISION with hopes for national distribution.
He lives in Frankfort, Illinois with his wife Carol and two cats, Peanut and Snowy.
Jerry Osborne - 2008
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