While Pedro González Arbona, a young Spanish film composer, and I attended the VIP screening of Tempting Fate (produced by KevStel Group) in Houston over the 4^th of July last year, we walked the red carpet and witnessed much of the paparazzi and press attention directed at the actors and movie producers.  Pedro had his time in the spotlight as well.  It was indeed an exciting evening!

On the red carpet with Pedro González Arbona at the Tempting Fate premiere, July 4, 2014, Houston, TX.

I was proud to be there for Pedro, traveling from Seattle, just to meet up for this special milestone in his life.  An avid photographer myself, I was happy to join in with the professional photographers to capture the memories for Pedro’s portfolio as well.  I expect that was only the first of many opportunities Pedro will have to participate in these types of events.

Opportunities to Meet the Press

As I mentioned in Part 1 of this series, Pedro had live press interviews the night of the premiere.  He was interviewed on the red carpet by two Houston stations: Sky Houston, from Majic 102.1 radio station and Usenika Usoro from Afro Centric Television Network. (Unfortunately my requests for copies of these interviews went unanswered.)

Pedro was interviewed by radio personality Sky Houston.

Pedro’s red carpet interview in Houston.

The next day, Pedro was scheduled to do a television interview for SpeaksTV, a local cable channel in Houston.  Most of the actors had arrived in Houston before the movie screening and already had their interviews.  They were on their way back to LA and other locations across the U.S. that they called home.

Watch the short video clip below for a teaser with each person in the show!

Like the night before, we were again direction and GPS challenged on our travels in the Houston area.  This time the GPS led us in a very circuitous route over surface streets to a multi-story office building outside of downtown.  There were virtually no cars in the parking lot on this Saturday afternoon, the building was locked, and we couldn’t find a sign to confirm we were at the right place.  We used the after-hours security phone and finally reached someone who could let us in the building.

In the ‘Green Room’

When we arrived at the television studio, we were greeted by Kevin Nwankwor, Tempting Fate producer/director.  We apologized for our tardiness, but luckily there was no harm done as there were other interviews still in progress.  We sat in the green room (my comical name for the waiting room, in reference to the TV guest’s pre-interview room commonly referred to on NBC’s Tonight Show).  While waiting, we conversed with Kevin and his wife and producer Unoma Nwankwor, executive producer Emmanuel Ojeah, and Ramsey Nouah, Nigerian actor and star of Tempting Fate.  Ramsey is the winner of the 2010 African Academy Award for a lead role in the Nigerian movie, Figurine.

Actor Ramsey Nouah in the SpeaksTV studio.

Pedro with Ramsey Nouah, aka Ugo.

Nollywood, Nigeria’s version of Hollywood, is a growing film industry and the 2^nd largest in the world after Bollywood in India.  The Nwankwor’s are from Nigeria, and with Ramsey’s affiliation with Tempting Fate, the Nigerian audience is a very important market for this movie.  The movie will open in theaters across Nigeria on Friday, July 17, 2015.

While waiting for Pedro’s interview, we learned a bit about Nigeria.  At the time Nigeria was in the early aftermath of the kidnapping of a group of girls by terrorist Boko Haram.  The Nigerian government’s response was a hot topic of conversation.

Kevin Nwankwor (writer/director/producer), Pedro, and Unoma Nwankwor (producer)

I asked Ramsey about Nigeria’s spiritual climate in relation to the Christian theme of Tempting Fate.  Nigeria is equally divided between Christianity and Islam.  The conversation turned to social media.  In referencing Ramsey’s Facebook page (over 100,000 likes at the time), we found out that his identity had been stolen on Facebook and that the page wasn’t his.  He doesn’t use social media at all.  I was saddened to hear it, realizing how frustrating it would be to have that sort of false promotion and unauthorized use of one’s personal name.  It was shocking!

We were the last to go in for the interview.  Before we did, I gave Unoma, who is also a successful author of several Christian fiction novels, a signed copy of my book, Journeys to Mother Love.  She graciously offered me the opportunity to guest blog on her site, unomanwankwor.com.  That post, Author Spotlight ~ Ardis A. Nelson, was published in August 2014.

We bid the Nwankwor’s farewell, thanked them for their invitation to the premiere, and pledged our continuing support for the movie.

Pedro’s Interview at SpeaksTV

Pedro and I were greeted by Voké Ogueh, producer for Talk Time Show, the SpeaksTV program that was spotlighting Tempting Fate.  Voké was at the premiere the night before, but we didn’t get a chance to meet.

Voké prepping Pedro for his interview segments.

Talk Time Show is not filmed as an interview dialogue between two people but is pre-recorded as separate segments. I was invited to join Pedro in the interview, but declined.  This was Pedro’s moment to shine.  I watched the filming from behind the camera man’s angle, and occasionally coached him.

Pedro at ease in front of the camera.

I could tell that Pedro was very accustomed to being in front of an audience.  He was a natural on camera and spoke with clarity and command.  (He has acted in several theatrical productions in Madrid, and also starred and co-directed “Noises Off” in December 2013.)  Not having the pleasure of seeing him act in person, and certainly not in English, this was a priceless experience for me.

Voké prepped Pedro telling him what they wanted to know about the movie’s music.  In the first segment Pedro explained how he composed the music, first being inspired and touched by reading the screenplay.  When he received the film, his music was inspired more by the actors and how moving the scenes were on screen.

Pedro and me with Voké on set at the SpeaksTV studio.

In another video segment, Pedro was asked to describe some of the music.  He spoke about the Brother’s theme music that he wrote with multiple variations throughout the film, matching the mood of the scenes.  I watched Pedro compose some of that music while in Spain the year before and was quick to recognize it in the movie: violin, cello, and guitar—a trio of beautiful strings.

Voké was particularly interested in the African music in the movie.  In another segment, Pedro described how he added African instruments to some of the songs and a female African soprano was hired to add humming as well.

Pedro wrapped up his studio recording with a 15-second teaser for the show (below).  For the benefit of their Spanish speaking viewers in Houston, they also had him close the commercial teaser in Spanish.  We wrapped up our time at the studio with a few photos on the set.

Editing of the interviews and adding Pedro’s music to the final show took a few weeks.  The interview was broadcast in Houston on July 26 (video below) and posted on youtube.com for viewing online.  (Pedro’s segment starts at 9:30 into the video.)

Farewell to Houston

Pedro and I had a leisurely dinner at a very American restaurant at The Galleria and had a long overdue conversation to catch up on family and personal news.  We ended our day by reviewing, selecting, and posting a photo album on Pedro’s Facebook professional page. (Like it to show your support of his musical endeavors.)

Touring the Johnson Space Center.

The following day was reserved for a tour of the Johnson Space Center.  Pedro was on his way back to Madrid on Monday morning. It was a whirlwind trip—less than three days together on this once in a lifetime experience.

Click image to sample soundtrack or purchase on Amazon.

I’m ever so grateful that I was there to witness Pedro’s dreams come to life on the big screen.  His star is starting to rise.  For a few days it shined over Houston, soon it will shine across Nigeria as well, and hopefully over all of America too.

The Tempting Fate soundtrack will be released on February 12, 2015.  And then everyone will get to hear for themselves how great this soundtrack is.

Stay tuned for lots more exciting news about Tempting Fate and the music of Pedro González Arbona!