For producer German Michael Torres “A No Makes It One Step Closer To A Yes”
By Luis Reyes
Producer German Torres has two films currently streaming, Kill Chain an action thriller shot on location in Bogota, Colombia starring Academy Award winner Nicholas Cage and Havana born actress, Annabelle Acosta that is now available on Amazon. The other is a perennial Halloween horror movie Truth Or Dare currently on Netflix.
Torres took time out from a busy schedule in between production meetings to give an exclusive wide-ranging interview to Latin Heat.
“Truth or Dare I created and sold it to the Syfy channel and once it aired it got picked up by Netflix. I am really proud of that little film production as it is a great horror movie that has done unexpectedly well.”
On Kill Chain, “My years of experience in developing movies and getting things done enabled me to quickly put the producing package together for Kill Chain that involved a number of professional relationships I brought to the company I was working for. An original script by Ken Sanzel (Numbers, Blue Bloods showrunner) that was a focused unique noir thriller with a hot girl, guns, action and a man with a past.” He added. “I sent the script to Cage, made him an offer, got the production money through Avi Lerner’s Millennium films and it was a go.” The movie was shot in Bogota, Columbia for budgetary reason that afforded the film tax breaks, appropriate locations and a professional crew base.
He also recently produced another horror thriller Karma and a 13 episode docu-series for NBC/Universal called From Beyond.
German is of Mexican-American descent and grew up in North Hollywood, California. As a child he loved to write down stories for his family. “ I knew I wanted to be some kind of storyteller.”
At 18 years of age he landed a job at a local radio station where he was exposed to the trade publications Variety and The Hollywood Reporter where he read about current films and their productions. Deciding he wanted to be at a studio, he literally called Sony studios/ Columbia pictures Human Resources and inquired and tested for available temporary job openings. He scored high on the test and was assigned to a producer Denise Di Novi. He recalls, “ I did not know who she was until I walked into her office and I saw the posters for Batman 2 and Edward Scissorhands. Then I realized she was visionary director Tim Burton’s producer.” He quickly transitioned from temporary and became her full time assistant and worked on the Oscar winning film Ed Woods.
In retrospect, “I was so lucky and thankful to have been mentored by her as my first entry into the business.”
Torres stayed with Di Novi for four years, (she is presently at Warner Bros.) then it was time for the next step in his trajectory, which meant gaining talent agency experience. He secured employment at International Creative Management better known as ICM, working in their talent department but soon moved over to the literary side where he was able to work directly with writers and directors.
Torres demonstrated his skills by packaging a Taylor Hackford film Proof Of Life starring Russell Crowe and Meg Ryan and Baz Luhrman’s Moulin Rouge.
Torres hooked up with a young writer Silvio Horta (Ugly Betty) and he co-wrote and produced The Chronicle, a 22 episode limited series for the Sy Fy channel.
His secret to his early professional success, “…is being original and authentic with yourself. It is important to connect with another human being; friendships help you, as people like to be around like-minded people that share creative visions. Relationships are important and you must be completely engaged in your work.”
As one of the few Latino producers, Torres is quick to point out that Latino script stories must have a universal appeal. “They can’t be so niche or specific a storyline. It must have a connection to a much larger audience otherwise it is difficult to sell.”
He gives as an example; a border-crossing story. Is it a horror story, or an action movie or a heartfelt personal story about your Grandma’s crossing? What is the approach? Perhaps it could be a Border story about your grandma in which she is an alien with superpowers who is a superhero, now we are broadening the audience. It is still a border story but it takes place in a Sci-Fi realm. Commerce and art are not exclusive, it is a business. His advice to young aspiring writers and producers,
“Be authentic but also remember, your first audience is agents, producers and executives.’
As to what kind of producer he is, as there are many kinds of producers and job functions, he describes himself as,
“ A creative producer….. in that I generate the elements of a production. I find the content; I figure out the best platform (studio film, television, streaming etc) Attract and attach a director interested in the content and finally another production entity and talent. Once I package all the key elements to make the movie my work is done. Then it is up to a line producer or production manager in charge of the physical elements to make the movie.”
With almost twenty years of experience Torres remarks, “It is still a challenge. But I believe in myself, my skill set and my passion and resilience.” Referring to potential projects he has in development, “ I no longer look at NO as a rejection, now I see it as is one step closer to a YES.”
Torres is a member of the Producers Guild of America and a member of the Television Academy and a former board member of NALIP.
Kill Chain is now currently streaming on Amazon, Karma is on Prime Video and Truth or Dare is available on Netflix.