Contemporary families who challenge punitive parenting norms must ultimately face the most inhumane disciplinary actions. Based on Latin folklore, the new horror short film, ‘Legend of El Cucuy,’ chronicles the work of the titular demon, which comes for the most deviant children in the night. In its 14-minute runtime, the thriller explores the intersection of mythology and modern parenting choices.

The movie, which was written and directed by Cynthia Garcia Williams, is presented in English and Spanish. The drama stars Diana Sanchez, David Jofre, Obriella Witron, Effie Cacarnakis, Isabella Fell, Nicci Bates, Hannah Zamora and Vanessa Arcia.

‘Legend of El Cucuy’ follows Laura and her husband Carlos (Sanchez and Cacarnakis), an American couple of Latino origin, who choose to live as permissive parents. But their choice to raise their daughter Isabel (Witron) without discipline has resulted in a very rude, disobedient child.

After Isabel’s teacher, Mrs. Renford (Bates), informs the couple that she’s worried about their daughter‘s disobedient attitude in school, Carlos begins having doubts about their behavioral strategy. However, Laura is determined to make different choices from their parents. Due to their increasingly contradictory approaches to parenting, Carlos tells Laura about the titular creature’s origins. He soon realizes that his decision was against his better judgment, as that same night, El Cucuy pays their family a visit.

‘Legend of El Cucuy’ screened at The Yarrow Hotel and University of Utah in January during the Unstoppable section of this year’s Slamdance Film Festival. In honor of the short being an official selection at the Park City-based festival, Williams generously took the time to talk about scribing and helming the project during an exclusive Zoom interview before the thriller’s screenings.

Film Factual (FF): You wrote the script for the new horror thriller, ‘Legend of El Cucuy.’ What was your inspiration in penning the screenplay for the short? How did you approach sscribing the script?

Cynthia Garcia Williams (CGW): The movie was part of the Laliff Inclusion Fellowship, and it was sponsored by Netflix. That was a really great experience.

I think we spent almost a year learning. They really give you a lot of support through the process, and that was great.

The script came from a time where I was really trying to evaluate my parenting through the years. I was questioning how much discipline is enough and what’s too much, and that’s a big question of the movie.

There are also generational questions around parenting. I’m a child of immigrants, so there were so many things that they tried to do differently that I’ve tried to do differently. Now I see my daughter trying to do things differently. So I examined that also when I was writing.

The final thing I was inspired by was the villain. I love origin stories; it doesn’t matter what or who it is, I love it. So when I was thinking about the legend, El Cucuy is the boogie man in many Latin American countries. So we were raised with that. We were told to behave, or El Cucuy will get you and take you. So I wanted to shed some light on where he came from and how he became who he is.

For me, 22 years sober. I think there’s nothing scarier than an alcoholic parent. So I added that element to this character. I ended up having a lot of compassion for him.

It ended up being really hard because I really fell in love with him and felt a lot of just how regretful he was. I felt really sad about that, but I had to remember he’s evil. (Williams laughs.)

FF: In addition to scribing the screenplay, you also directed the film. How did writing the script influence the way you approach helming the movie? What was your overall approach to directing the drama?

CGW: It was great. I think that this movie is the movie that I walked away from feeling like I was an actual director. It was my fourth film, and I learned a lot. I got a lot of strength from this movie, for sure.

It was a bigger budget, so there were more things involved. It’s different than shooting a little film in your backyard. (Williams laughs.) So we had locations and a three-day shoot; that was the longest shoot I’ve ever had.

So I walked away from that feeling confident in my ability to direct. It was the first movie that I did a storyboard for. I also brought other professionals into the fold.

So seeing costumes, hair and makeup blossom was amazing. Working with the composer and telling him, “This is what I hear,” and then having him develop things, was really magical.

I think making a movie is magical just in itself. It’s a miracle that movies get made, as there are so many moving pieces. But for this movie, it was the first time that I was like, oh my gosh, this is exactly what I saw in my head. That was a really good feeling.

FF: Like you mentioned earlier, you worked with Netflix on ‘Legend of El Cucuy.’ How did working with the streamer influence the trajectory of the short’s production?

CGW: They were really, great about giving notes. That was the first time that I had anybody look at something that I had written, and not from a fellow writer looking at it; it was the first time a studio was looking at my writing. So that was a neat, interesting experience.

I’m not sure who was reading it on that end, but I felt that they really understood what I was trying to do in the story. So I really appreciated their comments.

I don’t have really any of the kill your darlings kind of thing. If somebody has their input and it makes sense, and it usually does, then I’ll just change it. I’m attached to the story and what makes the story the best. So my words are important, but they’re not the end all be all. I’m always willing to change things.

One of the things that they wanted was a more definite ending because I left it pretty open in the beginning. But that’s for the feature. (Williams laughs.)

FF: Speaking about a feature, are you interested in turning this short into a full-length film? If so, is there any development on the project?

CGW: Yes, I am interested in making a feature. I’ve finished the script, so that’s great. But other than that, I’m trying to find somebody that might be interested in developing it into a feature.

I just shot my first full-length feature as a director and a co-writer. So I feel really confident and prepared to work on developing the ‘Legend of El Cucuy’ feature next. So that’s what I’m really hoping for – that somebody will be interested and will want to partner to bring that feature to life.

Most people that watch it come away saying, “I need to see more. I need to know what happens.”

FF: ‘Legend of El Cucuy’ stars Diana Sanchez, Obriella Genesis Witron, David Jofre, Effie Cacarnakis, Hannah Zamora, Isabella Fell, Vanessa Arcia and Nicci Bates. What was the casting process for the thriller?

CGW: For the casting for this film, MR Casting helped. Diana Sanchez is the lead and she’s fantastic. I’ve worked with her on multiple movies and she’s just so incredibly talented, beautiful and wonderful to work with.

Obriella Genesis Witron is the little girl and I saw her in a reel and I’m like, “That’s her.” The two actresses couldn’t be more perfect as mother daughter.

The same thing was true with David Jofre. He actually auditioned for the role of the father that Effie Cacarnakis played, and she’s a beautiful soul.

So with David, I was like, “I think that’s El Cucuy.” So I asked him to read and audition, and he did. He’s also wonderful.

We just had the most fun, in terms of being Latinos on set with a really heavy topic. I think for the cast and for myself, it was both heavy and fun, in terms of, is the monster coming out now? He’s all done up with makeup.

But I think in that scene, Diana was really great about bringing in the emotion that that scene needed. It shook us all a little bit. I think that that’s something that we all didn’t expect.

Then the other actresses, Hannah Zamora and Isabella Fell, were little darlings. They were running all over that beautiful mansion, having a blast in these vintage beautiful dresses.

Then Vanessa Arcia played Doña Ignacia. She’s a very small part, but I think her part was pretty important, as was Nicci Bates, who played the teacher.

FF: Speaking about the costumes, particularly the hair and make-up, how did you create the looks for the characters?

CGW: I developed a new respect and admiration for the hair and make-up departments, as their work is very difficult. Sam Cota was the key hair stylist and key makeup artist, and she did it all by herself. I’m not sure how she was able to do that. Just the prosthetics alone took a really long time.

She also had to try to work within the budget, which was also difficult. Facial hair is so expensive! We thought, how badly does this monster need a beard? (Williams laughs.)

FF: The location also played a major part in telling the story in the movie. How did you choose the mansion where you shot the drama?

CGW: Well, the mansion was built in the1840s, so I feel like the universe brought that location to us and put it in my lap. Not only the location, but the person who owns the mansion.

They also have a ranch on the property with fields of avocados and lemons, and it was so beautiful.

The owner was so excited about having us shoot there. His family had owned that property, which is now considered California, since it was a part of Mexico.

I really wanted the El Cucuy story to be set in Mexico. But then we thought about, how are we going to get there, especially with such little money?

So I felt like being able to shoot in that ranch made it seem like we were in Mexico. He has this flagpole in the front of the house and he let us fly the Mexican flag there, and that was just a wonderful experience. So it fit perfectly.

I loved that the owner’s got a lot of beautiful old furniture and original things all over the house; it’s just gorgeous. I felt like it was nice to tell a story about a Mexican family that were wealthy and really had all of the material things that you can have and want. But they were missing other things.

FF: The music in ‘Legend of El Cucuy‘ was composed by Paul Zambrano. How did you work with Paul to create the score for the short?

CGW: Paul is incredibly guilt gifted. His work was just magical. I’ve worked with him on a couple of projects now and it’s shocking how he really is able to pick up what I’m trying to say. I’m not even really sure how he’s able to do that.

With ‘El Cucuy,’ I love the music when we go into Mexico. In the first round that he did, I heard it and I said, “I think it needs trumpets because I wanted it to sound like a Mariachi.”

He’s like, “Trumpets?” I’m like, “Yes, I think it needs trumpets.” He’s like, “I don’t know about that, but I’ll try it,” and he did. Then we were both like, “Oh, that’s what it needed.” It almost sounds like the trumpets are crying in the background, and I love that part.

FF: Besides creating the music for the film, how did you also

Craft the visuals with the project’s cinematographer, Ashton Rae?

CGW: Well, Ashton is another person who I was speaking the same language with during the production. I love all of his shots, but there’s one scene in the kitchen that looks exactly like what I saw in my mind. The whole movie looks like that, but that scene in particular is one of my favorite shots.

She and her lighting team are incredibly talented. Accomplishing what we were trying to do in three days was not easy. We were turning day into night and making sure that things were lit well, especially for people of color. But it’s dark because it’s a horror, right? Overall, I think they did a very good job to make sure that people were lit right, but that it still had that creepy feel.

I also have to mention our costume designer, Edward Lewis Garcia, because he was fantastic. I was blown away by these beautiful vintage dresses that the girls got to wear in the film.

El Cucuy is another area that I was like, “Oh my goodness, this is exactly what I saw in my head!” He was able to bring that to life, too.

FF: ‘Legend of El Cucuy’ (had) two screenings during this (year’s) Slamdance Film Festival. What does it meant to you that the thriller was selected to be a part of the festival?

CGW: I am not sleeping as I am so excited!

I just came off of a feature, so that has its own process of unwinding and coming down from all of that adrenaline. We wrapped that on December 15.

So now going right into Slamdance, I feel so incredibly blessed. I’m staying grounded and not getting too wrapped up in all the possibilities. But I would be lying if I said I wasn’t incredibly hopeful.

I know it’s an experience to meet other filmmakers and professionals in the industry. That’s especially true for the the feature that I just wrapped, and then also wanting to develop ‘Legend of El Cucuy’ into a feature.

I know that this is a really great opportunity to meet the right people. It’s all about meeting people and developing relationships, so I’m excited about that.

Slamdance gives you a filmmaker’s Bible that’s 32 pages, and it’s fantastic! It maps out everything you could possibly need, and tells you, “Do this, do this, do this.” I’ve followed it to a T.

They are incredible. You can always reach somebody if you have a question. They’re very, kind and they want to make sure that you’re having the best possible experience.

I’ve been to some festivals where you’re kind of left on your own. They tell you where the lodging is, and that’s pretty much it. When you’re a newer filmmaker, it can get really overwhelming. You don’t initially know what you’re doing at a film festival, and you’re like, “Okay, this is what I’m supposed to do.”

So Slamdance has been really good. They’ve definitely taught me things that I hadn’t even considered at any other festival that I’ve been to.

So I’m excited. I’ve been told that they’re like a family, and then once you’re part of the family, you’re in. So I couldn’t think of a greater group of people to be related to! (Williams laughs.)