Director Carlos López Estrada, poets Mila and Olympia talk Summertime

Summertime, a spoken word musical directed by Carlos López Estrada (Raya) hit theaters in LA and New York last Friday.

The love letter to LA, which incorporates the voices and perspectives of 27 poets, is an incredible work heading toward a theater release expansion on Friday, July 16.

The massive undertaking which travels all across Los Angeles with a cast of vibrant, passionate characters whose day in and day out lives in the city are both triumphant and challenging, is a must-watch.

Culturess had the opportunity to chat with the director and two of the film’s poets, Mila Cuda and Olympia “Ollie” Miccio to discuss the heart and stories that went into Summertime.

Summertime Interview: Director Carlos López Estrada and poets Mila Cuda and Olympia “Ollie” Miccio on their spoken word musical

Culturess: I watched Summertime and I thought it was amazing. So, I wanted to know what sparked the idea behind the film?

Carlos López Estrada: It really all started about two and a half years ago. I was invited to a spoken word poetry showcase where both Mila and Ollie were performing as well as 25 other young poets. I was just so inspired and moved by the experience that I came back a few days later and proposed to the director of the organization that we try to adapt it into a film. That was sort of the beginning of the long journey that became Summertime.

Culturess: Cool. I thought the concept was really exciting because it is a love letter to Los Angeles and actually a love letter to the self as well. Was it hard to balance an ode to the city with the deep exploration of belonging and owning the story throughout the film?

Mila Cuda: As far as the inspiration, and also the love letter to Los Angeles and how that came about, so many poets are in the film. There’s about 25-27 of us in the film that wrote the film together, and I think the love letter to the city actually came very naturally and it wasn’t so much–We didn’t necessarily set out to be like we’re going to make a love letter to the city.

We set out to be like we have 27 poets, we all want to tell a story. Somehow we all connected over the fact that we found belonging in the craft of poetry and in telling our stories within the larger context of the city. So, I think the story evolved really beautifully and also very organically just because we were all trying to depict our own corner of the larger tale of the city. It kind of weaved together in a way that was exciting and not necessarily planned.

Olympia “Ollie” Miccio: Just to piggyback off you, I remember we had a meeting where I think Carlos was like, “Okay, guys. Just write whatever you want, and we’ll come back two weeks from now and see what we have.”

We all went around in like a big circle and read the poems we had envisioned to be in the movie. Some of it was really loose concept. It was so interesting seeing even then, like oh my gosh, wow, they kind of fit together! They kind of go together. I don’t know. It was cool.

Culturess: Oh, okay. So that means the home motif that comes in toward the end, that was more organic, too, then as you fit the poems together. Because I thought that was really interesting in the film as more things are revealed about what makes a home between a person and a city, I thought that was really enjoyable and beautiful.

Carlos López Estrada: It really has little pieces of all the participants in the final movie which I think is what’s so special. We’ve seen plenty of portraits of cities, plenty of portraits of LA, but I think to see LA through the eyes and voices of 27 talented poets, it’s something I have never seen. It’s what I find so magical about the movie.

Culturess: Yeah, I’ve never seen it either, and I thought it was perfectly captured, how it all came together. Especially the interludes of the artwork, the graffiti art. There was a long extended period that I found fascinating where we were just seeing the different art styles before we go back into the medium of poetry.

Carlos López Estrada: We were shooting with all the poets, but we simultaneously had a documentary unit that was shooting all around LA in different neighborhoods trying to capture aspects of the city, like the graffiti and the street art. But also people going about their day and existing without any sort of script or prompt. The finished film merges those two worlds, and I think in a really exciting way.

Culturess: I think so, too. What were your favorite locations to shoot in?

Carlos López Estrada: I actually loved shooting both of Mila and Ollie’s scenes. Shooting at the Venice pier was definitely incredible. It’s such a gorgeous location and filming with Ollie was really fun. And Mila’s day was really difficult because shooting in a bus is no joke but it was also wonderful that we had access to that. Mila could just take over the bus for the whole day and perform her poem over and over again.

Mila Cuda: I got to see Elysian Park at the very end but shooting on the bus really was so magical. As someone who takes a lot of public transit, that was something I wanted to be as part of my scene. It was so fun to have this whole bus to ourselves.

It was also hilarious because it was like middle of summer, you know the AC is off, we’re all sweating. We’re all like crammed in this bus. Carlos is like contorting in the corner to get these shots, you know to make it look normal like natural, but there’s a full crew of people hiding in the corner of that bus. It was really just magical to just see. And it was incredibly challenging and fun.

Culturess: It’s a great moment in the film. You said that you wanted it to be in a bus. Did you guys get to decide how you wanted to shape your performance for your poems?

Mila Cuda: I definitely think that was a big part of the process, us deciding.

Olympia Miccio: Totally. I just shot in Venice which was obviously amazing because that’s where I’m from. I remember, too, I think the scene that we shot was the first day of filming. I remember we were at the water at like the crack of dawn and there was this group of dolphins was going by.

Culturess: Oh my god!

Olympia Miccio: It was just so magical, and we were all like wow, that is just so beautiful and perfect. It was very–we had full artistic liberties to do whatever we wanted. Carlos is amazing at really listening to exactly what you want and really believing in your vision. I think that’s why the movie turned out so amazing, too, really taking on board and listening to everyone’s crazy ideas and really making them happen

Carlos López Estrada: You’re going to make me cry over here.

Olympia Miccio: *Laughs* Aw.

Mila Cuda: As far as everybody’s individual scenes, I was also the poetry supervisor for the movie. I worked with all the poets individually to help workshop their scenes. It really was the poets coming forward and being like hey, I want to showcase this part of my story which means I want to show my neighborhood.

For me, I wanted it to be on the bus because that’s where I spend most of my time in the city. I’m always going somewhere, I’m commuting between different places, and I also don’t drive. I am a gay who does not drive, so the bus has always been something I associate with living in LA.

It’s cool to see everybody come forward and be like this is my corner of the city that I want to showcase. This is where I want to see my scene evolve from and then have Carlos and everybody on the crew work to make it happen. It was amazing and such a big undertaking.

Culturess: I love how collaborative this was, also that you guys were blessed by dolphins before you head straight into it. So, is it down to even the minutia?  I know, Ollie, you were on roller skates as you went down the boardwalk and we got to hear your poem, “Oh Venice.” I thought that was fantastic. It was a lovely introduction to the film after “La Overture.”

Olympia Miccio: I probably should have learned to roller skate a little better before. I was skating on these skates from the ‘80s that I bought for $5. They were really bad, but it worked out good.

Culturess: It did! There were some great shots in that opening. Same with yours, Mila, in the bus. Your shots in the bus, they were claustrophobic but they were great. That whole takedown of the bigoted man and the beautiful exploration of childhood moving into identity and love was amazing as well.

I think all the poems struck such a chord as you’re watching. Discussions of self-love, self-worth, to figuring out relationships, to moving throughout the city in different communities. I thought it was just gorgeous.

Mila Cuda: Thank you so much.

Culturess: I have one last question. [Summertime] is also a musical so the combination of dance and rap in this was amazing as well. You said that everything organically came together but was the idea about dance being incorporated as well as music there from the beginning? Or was that something that came through as you workshopped the film?

Carlos López Estrada: It was definitely something that came into existence through our work with the poets. For that particular dance scene, Paolina, who was the poet who wrote the “Red Lipstick” poem and scene, originally that scene was going to take place in a car. However, she mentioned that maybe while I’m looking out the car, some people on the street can be dancing or wearing red dresses. From there on, we developed it into what you see in the movie.

As much as possible, we tried to follow the poet’s gut. So, whether it was Mila saying that it was important for her scene to happen in a place of public transit, whether it were a metro or a bus, or whether it was Ollie knowing that they wanted their scene to be in Venice. Or Paolina who wanted to explore some dance. It was always trying to build off of whatever the poets thought would be the best presentation for their work.

In some cases, we were able to do it as they imagined. In some cases, we had to workshop the idea or build it with them. Or say, “Hey, that location is proving hard to find, but we found this other location that we feel can accomplish something similar.”

So, it was really a collaborative experience and, since we worked with so many different poets, every single scene was so different. It provided different challenges. It provided different opportunities. That’s why I think the movie feels so alive because every time you meet a new person, the rules of the movie change, the tone of the scenes changes, the tools that we’re using to tell the story changes. The character and personality of each poet is so, so different.

It’s very similar to that experience I first had at that spoken word showcase where it was one after another. A new personality, a new story, and a new way of telling the story. I think we were able to capture that energy.