ROBERT CURLIN

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

 

Robert Curlin moved from hometown Jackson, Tennessee to Houston, Texas, during junior high in the early 70’s.  Always keenly interested in politics and the U.S. Constitution, Curlin grew up hoping to one day become a U.S. Senator and eventually a Supreme Court Justice. 

His parents say he’s never been “quite the same” since Watergate.  While a freshman at Texas A&M, Curlin decided to pursue broadcast journalism.  As a senior, he transferred to University of North Texas to concentrate on film studies (with a self-imposed focus on animation); leading him to begin working professionally with nearby Dallas’ production crew & talent market. 

A former On-Camera Agent for The Mary Collins Agency, he’s been based in Dallas for the past 25 years.  Curlin and partner Andrew Boks opened Pinpoint Ideas & Solutions in 1994--producing commercial campaigns and negotiating talent deals for ad agencies & production companies all over the country. 

In 2007, Curlin agreed to meet with Justin Malone, a young filmmaker pitching a VERY big idea for his first feature documentary looking at illegal immigration.  After some modifications to the project’s aim & budget, however, the initially resistant Curlin agreed to partner with Malone and MPS Studios to form .025% Productions to complete “Undocumented.”

Curlin jokes some people facing midlife crisis have torrid affairs—instead, he’s re-kindled his flame with “We the People,” (in order to form a more perfect union).  

Witness the biggest cultural phenomenon of our time.

UNDOCUMENTED (Una pelicula by Justin Malone) ©2008 by .025% Productions, LLC. All rights reserved. 

About Us

Started in 2007, this original documentary hails from Dallas-based .025% Productions—an independent collaboration between Pinpoint Ideas & Solutions, Malone Media & MPS Studios—seeking to illuminate the invisible struggles left in the wake of the biggest cultural challenge facing America today:  illegal immigration.

Increasingly having to “request” to use English now, and noticing the rise in Spanish-only billboards or businesses throughout his boyhood neighborhoods, Director Justin Malone felt the federal government’s lack of uniform immigration law enforcement complicated by cultural and language differences, carried the side effect of forging two societies.  Further, flared tensions seemed to follow unintended misunderstandings arising from these differences.

For nearly six months, Malone hounded Executive Producer Robert Curlin to pitch his documentary idea.   Yet because of the nature of his 16-year-old Pinpoint Ideas & Solutions, Inc., a TV & Radio commercial producers’ services company, Curlin kept refusing to meet with Malone, as he had no interest in taking on or pursuing feature projects.

Having learned Curlin carried a lifelong interest in politics and Constitutional history, the ever-persistent Malone appealed to some others in the business to approach him also--using that political interest to consider at least meeting with the young director.   It worked.  The two set up an initial meeting in September 2007, after a mutual friend told Curlin, “Hell, the kid sounds cut from the exact same political cloth as you—and the way you run your mouth politically, you’d be a hypocrite not to at least hear him out and offer up some suggestions, even if you don’t want to take it on.”

Malone had already assembled a young multi-ethnic crew to begin asking questions and they had been attending both “pro-” and “anti-” immigration rallies in and around Texas (including one sponsored by the Ku Klux Klan in Alabama).  As the two sat watching clips and discussing the project possibilities, a common thread was beginning to show through to Curlin—in nearly all cases, TV news cameras were also attending these rallies, yet very little of what Justin’s crew was encountering was being shown on “the news.”  A former reporter and admitted news junkie, Curlin could not ethically ignore what he was seeing—a country being wrecked by bureaucrats guided solely by political self-interest, being aided by a media presenting only half-truths.

Seeing Malone’s persistence & passion for the project, as well as an undeniable talent for visual storytelling, Curlin became convinced broadening the project’s scope might offer a golden educational opportunity--not only for the young crew, but the often misled American public.  He wanted to alter the approach by sending the crew around the U.S., in search of how deeply these socio-economic issues affect the entire country, not just border states.  Moreover, to make the story more personal, he insisted Malone would narrate the final cut—a recounting of “impressions left” from their journeys.

“My hope was using a more ‘enthusiastic-than-experienced’ young crew to approach people might relax them more than talking to a seasoned, suited-up-TV-news-type reporter” Curlin says.  “It would give people with all kinds of interests in the immigration debates the opportunity to discuss THEIR key points or issues more openly and comfortably.  The story would grow from changes in Justin’s own perspectives, as people from all walks of life enthusiastically discuss just how the system is broken from their P.O.V.—while the crew discovers living and working conditions nearly everywhere they never dreamed could exist anywhere in America today.  Ironically, it was the federal government who avoided talking on-camera; the Department of Homeland Security refused more than several requests in multiple cities to allow Justin to even speak to a Border Patrol Agent.”

The unlikely duo teamed with Dallas-based MPS Studios (and its editorial arm Lucid Post), to form .025% Productions, and thus began the nearly 9-month shooting journey— ultimately travelling to over 25 U.S. cities and Guatemala, amassing nearly 400 hours of interviews, protests, and commonalities along the way.  The year-plus editorial phase was driven by ever-changing current events (2008 Presidential elections were in full swing, so discussion of immigration topics was deliberately kept “off-topic”), along with additional research required to work out stock footage clips from the past century and music rights to compliment the stories gathered on money trails, activist motivations, political doublespeak, and challenges facing all immigrants and citizens, as people resort to taking the law into their own hands out of frustration.

Malone has condensed the final result into an eye-opening, music-driven, fast-moving 95-minute feature look at the biggest cultural phenomenon America has ever witnessed.  It represents an incredible collection of personal challenges facing those who risk their lives each day seeking a single goal:  to simply better their lives, in any language.

UNDOCUMENTED is currently seeking festival/private exhibitions throughout the country, and will be available on DVD this summer.  For more information, to join our mailing list, schedule an interview or a showing in your area, please contact us. 

Key Crew Bios

JUSTIN MALONE

DIRECTOR /

 D.P. / SR. EDITOR 

 

Director Justin Malone is no stranger to the world of illegal immigration.  Malone was born in Dallas, Texas, into an extended family of construction workers.  Consequently, he witnessed not only the effects illegal immigrants had on the working class, but even on his childhood home.

His father was a photographer who took up politics; his mother, a film enthusiast who relished classic cinema.  With loving support from both his parents and grandparents, Malone developed a unique combination of artistic force matched with political enthusiasm.

In high school, Malone began experimenting with video production/editing--shooting music videos and making short films.  In 2001, he headed to Florida to attend film school at Full Sail University.   In 2003, he started Malone Media; and has produced/directed/edited music videos and promos for artists such as Cassie Holt, Encyk the Grizz, Joint Method and One Up. 

In 2007, Malone partnered in .025% Productions--a venture with Executive Producer Robert Curlin and Dallas-based MPS Studios, to complete production of his most ambitious project yet, “Undocumented.” 

With a combination of imaginative energy and a desire to influence through inspiration and media, Malone hopes to wake Americans up to the invisible struggles taking place in their own backyard.

LIOR SPIRER

MUSIC SUPERVISOR /

ASSISTANT EDITOR

 

At 21, Lior Spirer is the youngest of the core “Undocumented” crew; his eagerness reflecting the passion of a more experienced pro.

Originally from Tel Aviv, Israel, Spirer and his family packed up their belongings (along with the family cat) and headed to America when he was 10 years old.  Within 3 days of arriving, Lior started school--and in a month’s time had a passable command of the English language. His love of music, which knew no language barrier, helped teach him.

After listening to Sublime in 6^th grade, Lior picked up a guitar to start a band.  He pursued his natural drumming abilities in high school; playing a variety of concerts and venues by his junior year, including the nationally renowned “Warped Tour” Music Festival. 

He graduated Media Tech Institute in June of 2007, and started seeking out recording opportunities.  In October, however, he answered an ad on Craigslist for an unpaid intern on “Undocumented”--leaving the interview hooked on the project’s potential. He felt the movie. 

Lior agreed to take the job--and has steadily continued to work his way up, to Assistant Editor, Assistant Camera and eventually to Music Supervisor, through his resourceful love of music from all over the world which helped forge collaboration with director Justin Malone.

 

Contacts