A prayer to Saint Anthony is at the heart of the new feature film Say a Little Prayer. Though writer/director Nancy De Los Santos originally based the story in her hometown of Chicago, a conversation with a San Antonio resident changed everything.
De Los Santos was in town six years ago helping a friend do research for a tricentennial-themed production and met with local nonprofit leader Rebecca Barrera to learn more of the city’s history.
As their lunch meeting wrapped up, Barrera politely asked after De Los Santos’ upcoming projects and learned that she was working on a romantic comedy involving a prayer to Saint Anthony seeking lost love.
“Rebecca looked at me and said, ‘You mean our Saint Anthony?’” De Los Santos recalled. “And I just said, ‘Oh my goodness. We can do the movie here.’ Once that decision was made, everything really fell into place.”
The movie follows three girlfriends from San Antonio who recite an ancient prayer to find lost husbands, and stars Luis Fonsi, Vannessa Vasquez, Jackie Cruz, Vivian Lamoli, Angélica María and comedian Chris Kattan.
Set in such familiar locations as Jaime’s Place, La Villita, Centro de Artes and Main Plaza, and featuring icons of the San Antonio skyline including the Tower of the Americas, the Tower Life building and the Pearl smokestack on its promotional poster, Say a Little Prayer will open in limited national release this weekend.
Thanks to the efforts of locals, the screenings have expanded from originally just AMC Rivercenter and AMC Classic Boerne locations to include eight additional screenings at Santikos Entertainment Casa Blanca running Friday evening through Monday, with one screening already sold out.
Local pride
Out of local pride, San Antonio accountant and community advocate Sylvia Romo took it upon herself to promote the movie by persuading new Santikos CEO Blake Hastings to schedule the additional screenings.
“It’s not too often that we get to see a feel-good movie that is Latino-based, and so I think that our community needs to see this,” Romo said.
The independent film doesn’t have a big advertising budget like other upcoming releases such as Gladiator and Wicked, Romo said, so she enlisted the help of the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and other local advocates to help spread the word. Romo said Hastings told her that if ticket sales warrant, he’d expand screenings to further Santikos locations.
Jaime’s Place owner Jaime Macias fondly recalls the film shoot two years ago when megastar Luis Fonsi — known for his hit song “Despacito” — performed a song he penned for the movie at the Westside outdoor bar and music venue.
Macias had been contacted by Krystal Jones, then the film commissioner for the City of San Antonio Department of Arts and Culture, to put Jaime’s Place on the city’s registry as a potential film shoot location. A producer for Say a Little Prayer stopped by one weekend, and soon De Los Santos was in touch.
She told Macias that “she enjoyed the ambience and the essence of the establishment,” and the popular Westside gathering spot now plays a prominent role in the film, with Jaime’s Place regulars in the scene as extras.
Goodwill and good people
The movie’s main character, played by Vannessa Vasquez, moves from a small town to the big city to pursue her dream of opening an art gallery.
While art galleries and museums are a prominent feature of Chicago, the change of location to San Antonio worked, De Los Santos said. “The public art is just amazing, and the museums are just fantastic and beautiful. There were no major changes that I had to make to the story. It just is a world-class city.”
And beyond the screen, another side of San Antonio emerges. Not only are community members stepping up to advocate for this latest example of Latino cinema, but Macias and others are combining efforts to turn the movie premiere afterparty into a benefit for the San Antonio Food Bank.
Vasquez and local producer Danny Ramos will be in attendance at the 7:10 p.m. screening at Santikos Entertainment Casa Blanca Saturday night and at the afterparty at Jaime’s Place following the screening.
Tejano singer Jenny B had been in touch with Macias to schedule a Thanksgiving Joy fundraiser for the Food Bank, and Macias said the stars aligned to bring both events together on the same night.
“Everything is just really falling into place,” Macias said. “It’s the goodwill of the good people of the West Side that are willing to extend a hand.”
And reflecting on all the help she received from San Antonians, from film incentives through film commissioner Kimberly LeBlanc and good insights from Jones to rehearsal and meeting space provided by film co-producers Robert Treviño of Network for Young Artists and facilitation through arts commissioner and co-producer Eileen Kret, and general support from First Lady Erika Prosper, De Los Santos said Say a Little Prayer is “a San Antonio community movie truly produced by the community.”
De Los Santos said, “The city itself just welcomed us. The people were so kind and generous, which I think is just a trait of the people of San Antonio. You don’t find that in every city.”