One Man's Legacy

Al Castellano

During the years Cinco De Mayo was celebrated on a massive scale in San Jose, a gentleman named Al Castellano wanted to capture these moments, so he decided to start filming the festivities in the 80's and continued to film these celebrations throughout the 90's in downtown San Jose.

In 2002, Al and his wife, Carmen, started the Castellano Family Foundation which is an organization that is dedicated to:

1. Promoting Latino arts and culture.
2. Enabling Latino youth and youth of color to achieve their education goals.
3. Investing in the leadership of Latinos and our nonprofit partners.

For more information about the Castellano Family Foundation click here

Behind the Scenes- Al Castellano Interview

While this organization is thriving, Al was still thinking about all the wonderful events he captured during the Cinco De Mayo festivities and wanted to create something to share with the world. So, in 2015, with the help of his daughter, Carmela Castellano-Garcia, they contacted Legacy Films and Media, a video and media production company in San Jose to make a documentary film. Al was the executive producer, narrator, and the event videographer on the documentary project. Mark Shepherd of Legacy Films and Media, LLC was a producer, and Carmela also served as a producer.

Carmela Castellano- Garcia

Mark, the CEO of Legacy Films and Media, and his team were ready and excited about this project, so they got to work. They started by going through the footage Al captured. In total, there was 22 VHS tapes which totalled 40 + hours of video footage. Then they needed something to tie it all together, so they decided to create the narrative of the film through an interview with Al Castellano.

Al answered questions about the formation of the Cinco de Mayo celebrations that drew millions of people on an annual basis, and the details that made it one of the best and largest multi-cultural events of all time in San Jose. Al's interview was edited into a concise story and the team worked with the 40+ hours of footage to create a 1 hour and 11 minute documentary! 

While doing this, Mark kept the clients engaged in the editing process by having them pick out what footage they liked and wanted to use. After numerous months of editing, they finally completed the documentary in 2017 for it's premiere in June.

Prior to the big premiere, Mark and his team of 4 individuals on the project made on-line trailers to promote and market their first big screening in front of a live audience. 

The premiere was a complete success and the theater was filled up! People from all over San Jose and beyond came to the premiere event. The film received a huge applause.  Everyone was in awe over how well the documentary came out. When Al came to the stage after the film for a question and answer session, he received a standing ovation! 

Premiere Audience

During this 2 year process, Mark has established a close relationship with his clients and he said,

    

"We became like family."

That is how Legacy Films and Media works. We want to tell your story and build a personal relationship with you because we care.

Following the premiere, there was a huge fiesta with a live band to celebrate the launch of this wonderful story. 

Live Band

Fiesta Gathering

Today the documentary will be shown in colleges and high schools as well as be placed in their libraries for educational purposes. This will allow younger generations to be able to experience another culture and learn something extremely important in history. 

We told their story and it was wonderful. Do you or someone you know like to tell stories? Like and leave a comment telling us your story or contact us today if you want us to make your story into a video just like Al!

Thank you all so much for reading!

-Legacy Films and Media, LLC