Projects
Original Content Development
Rockaway Wildlife
2 min, 2022
Directed and Edited by Aldo Romero
This "fly on the wall" documentary explores the lifestyle and surfing scene in Rockaway Beach in New York. Director Aldo Romero characterizes this video as "Cinematic poetry via the perspective of drone footage." The movie serves as a metaphor for contrasting the free-spirited way of life of surfers, skateboarders, and other urban wildlife with dolphins and other marine species found along the east coast. Filmed over the summer of 2021, the eye of the drone captures the day to day life of humans, and animals of the sea that give it life. This short is a tribute to the surf culture that permeates Rockaway Beach and the surrounding areas. A special shout out to the 67th Street crew and the spot that started it all: 90th Street.
Official selection of the 2022 Rockaway Film Festival.
All right reserved.
The Probe
7 min, 2017 (360 Virtual Reality)
Written and Directed by Aldo Romero
An automated space probe named "Annie Em" encounters an extraterrestrial spacecraft on Titan. This is the story of Earth's first fully aware and functioning artificial intelligence. Too bad Earth will never know. The questions posed in this piece stretch the definitions of what is considered intelligence and fully sentient awareness.
The 3D designs of the probe spacecraft and all science are based on many of the designs of the real-life space mission, the Huygens, an atmospheric entry probe that landed successfully on Saturn's moon Titan in 2005. Built and operated by the European Space Agency, it was part of the Cassini–Huygens mission and became the first spacecraft ever to land on Titan and the farthest landing from Earth a spacecraft has ever made.
The first 360 Virtual Reality film under Symbiotic Film has been featured at the Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival, The New York Science Fiction Film Festival, and Animation Nights New York and has just signed a distribution deal with Digital Domain.
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SILENT THREAT: The Web Series
16 min, 2013
Written and Directed by Aldo Romero
Silent threat follows the stories of different characters who use a social media website for UFO abductees called "Silent Threat".
A former reporter named Pete Winston tells the story of a “Roswell” type incident in which he comes wreckage of an extraterrestrial spacecraft shot down over Iowa by a laser satellite in 1986. After being censured by the military, Pete joins the social media site for UFO abductees called “Silent Threat” 30 years later in order to record his story as a video testimonial. While telling his story, Pete also tracks several other characters on the Silent Threat site named, Ted Williams of Brooklyn New York and Maria Suarez in Ozone Park New York, and their stories of encounters with extraterrestrials.
At his own peril, Pete follows a 1992 investigation of a case of corporate espionage leads private investigators SCATTER RODRIGUEZ and RICHARD HARDEMAN to uncover the existence of the apparitions of people reported missing called “The Disappeared”. Upon further investigation, Scatter and Hardeman discover the focus of the new clients is a competitor named the ZENAX CORPORATION and its interest involving materials recovered from the crash, called “Roswell Glass”, and contained exotic matter from a UFO.
Silent Threat was chosen among thousands of film projects to be developed in the "producers lab" at the 2010 Latino Producer's Academy. Episode three, "The Disappeared", was also featured at the 2015 Philp K. Dick Film Festival Europe in Łódź, Poland.
To view full web series, go to:
https://www.silent-threat.com
All right reserved.
The Secret Life of Coins
3 min, 2009
Written and Directed by Aldo Romero
A quarter dollar tries to find love in the form of a tootsie roll in a local disco populated by a community of inanimate objects under a bed in a New York apartment. A cast of objects ranging from candy bars and a variety of coins populate this world with locations ranging from a New York Apartment to a local Bank.
What do inanimate objects do when their living hosts are not around? What do coins do when their human owners leave the house? These are questions posed by this whimsical animated film short. Initially conceived of as a spec television spot for coin-star, the project expanded as the storyline grew. "The point of the exercise is to see how much of a storyline can be injected into an inanimate object," was the question posed by the director, Aldo Romero.
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Storage Unit #57
21 min, 2006
Written and Directed by Aldo Romero
Produced by Aldo Romero, Suzanne Sitelman & Jovannei Arroyo
STORAGE UNIT #57 is the story of IZZY, a storage facility worker with inner demons. Frustrated by the separation from his wife and the monotony of his job, Izzy begins to see apparitions in a storage locker labeled storage unit # 57. One night, Izzy receives a phone call from a mysterious character named REED who hires Izzy to deliver packages for him. When Izzy enters the storage unit and finds the package, he encounters the apparition of a bloody woman standing by a crate with something living inside.
When Izzy discovers that Nancy is not an apparition, but still very much alive, he realizes that there is a supernatural connection between this phantom of a dead man and a girl named Nancy who turns out to be his daughter. Izzy develops a relationship with Nancy after saving her during a robbery. But the relationship takes a bizarre turn when the supernatural apparition of Reed returns to haunt him.
"Finally, a great indie horror film!" Jackie Lewis - Film Fan
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Resurgence
18 min, 2004
Directed by Aldo Romero and Kendall Brown
RESURGENCE is a documentary that serves as a reflection of New York as a city in the aftermath of 9/11. Slam poetry is juxtaposed over still images and video footage to convey the feelings and political atmosphere of New York during the crisis. Filmed weeks after the attacks, RESURGENCE utilizes imagery and slam poetry to convey the pain, anger, sadness, and conviction towards a resolution of individual New Yorkers as Americans.
Much of the footage, filmed during the days and weeks after the attacks capture the feeling of New Yorkers at the time. Much of the footage was shot at Union Square as an improvised vigil formed there when a college student began to draw on the ground of the park. Passersby began to get involved and accelerate what was started by the student with drawings and writings. This evolved into the infamous "Union Square Vigils" which turned into a cultural event that included music and performance in this gathering of artists, musicians, and anyone needing to express themselves. It was the ultimate expression of democracy. What had its origins in one of the most tragic events in American History evolved into a rebirth or resurgence? It reaffirmed the positive rather than the negative.
The Poetry is performed by the acclaimed slam poet, Sharrif Simons, who has appeared on HBO's "Def Poetry Jam". Many social and political themes emerge in the subtext of the piece through the pulsating slam poetry of Mr. Simmons.
All right reserved.
Simulator
12 min, 2001
Directed by Aldo Romero
Rebounding from the break up of a relationship with an game designer, LIZ attempts closure when she returns to collect her belongings. She discovers there is more to meet the eye when she encounters the creation of her ex boyfriend... a self aware robot named DRAX. This first short film was featured on channel 13 WNET's "Reel New York.
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