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Director Vincent Miller clearly breaks from the typical indie fare with this heartfelt, human story. "Gabriela is definitely much closer to the spirit and style of a Moonstruck and Like Water for Chocolate than to the cynical and disturbing films that have dominated the independent film scene for the last several years," says Vincent Francillon, CEO of Power Point Films, which is distributing Gabriela. "The easiest way for a young filmmaker to get attention for himself has been to do a Tarantino rip off, so I hope the fact that Miller has made such a warm film doesn't obscure his artistic talents. He's a brilliant new filmmaker with a very original voice. He’s the anti-Tarantino."

Gabriela has also been credited with inspiring the Premiere Weekend Club. The newly formed organization is devoted to motivating Hollywood to make more films with Latino characters that don’t pander to stereotypes. The Premiere Weekend Club promotes Latino projects on a grass-roots level and will be handling the PR for the film. "Gabriela is a great film for us to rally around," says Gil Botello, President of The Premiere Weekend Club. "Latinos are excited about it, but it will also cross over to the mainstream audience, because it’s a an outstanding film that presents the characters as just people who happen to be Latino."

Miller gives us a universal love story with a comedic edge. Gabriela features variations on the theme of "love" as portrayed through romance, passion, lust, betrayal, stolen kisses, true love, broken hearts, tears, and laughter.

Miller cast many roles against "type." Except for the parts of Gabriela, her family, and the police officers in Mexico, which needed to be played by Latinos, Miller auditioned actors of every background. The result, a quality multi-cultural cast, speaks for itself.

Miller wrote the character of Mike as sweet and romantic, but always intended the character to have the kind of edge that only a strong intense actor could bring to the part. The key was to create a sensitive, romantic lead without making him too soft, a character that would appeal to both men and women.

Casting the lead actor proved to be challenging. Refusing to compromise, Miller spent close to a year looking for the right actor and after seeing many talented people who weren't quite right for the part, he cast Jaime Gomez only three weeks prior to shooting. The payoff was obvious. Miller says, "Jaime is sensitive, yet strong as Mike. A big reason why I was so calm on the set was that I came in every morning knowing Jaime was going to deliver. He consistently did an outstanding job." Many people who have seen Gomez's tough and dangerous side will be impressed to see him giving this more subtle performance in a romantic lead. Gomez feels a strong connection with the character, "I think most of the stuff that was written by Vincent was tailor made for the way I try to be in life," says Gomez. "It's a great story. It'd be nice to see more love stories like this, more passionate things about relationships, things that bring tears to your eyes."

Seidy Lopez radiates an intense beauty in the role of the intelligent but emotionally torn character, Gabriela. Ms. Lopez is best known for her debut starring performance in "Mi Vida Loca," after which she had been primarily cast as "street-wise" and uneducated girls. Lopez appreciated that Miller saw past her typecasting and gave her the opportunity to play a dynamic, professional woman in a romantic film. She says that she could relate to the cultural conflicts of Gabriela, of being torn between what she grew up being taught and what she feels. "Vincent wrote a wonderful character. It's a beautiful love story and a beautiful film."

Zach Galligan performed the difficult role of Gabriela's fiancé, Pat. Galligan portrays Pat as an innocent victim of circumstance in a love triangle, and makes it believable that Gabriela cannot abandon him for Mike. Miller intended for the audience to feel for Pat in order to show the realistic struggles that a person can go through with love. "I think the tendency with most love stories is to make things really black and white. It would be really easy to root for Gabriela to leave Pat and be with Mike if I went the typical route and made the fiancé an obviously horrible person who mistreats her. But real life is usually not that simple. If Gabriela leaves Pat, she will hurt him deeply. He can not be easily dismissed and written off without repercussions." Galligan says, "The main reason I was attracted to the project was that the script was really good. There's a dearth of real material out there, stories that are good, warm, and funny. I guess everybody else had the same reaction to Gabriela because they got a lot of really good people."

Miller says that the Director of Photography, Adrian Rudomin, has unlimited potential and played a key role in creating the rich and stylized look of the film. Limited in the budget and shooting schedule, Miller needed to create a style for Gabriela that was simple and repeatable, on time, on budget, and still be of high quality.

Miller says, "Frankly, quality lighting and art direction is much too risky for most independent films which tend to be lit flatly in order to save time and money. Most independent filmmakers, even the successful ones, are forced to sacrifice the look of their films in order to achieve quality performances with believable characters. I wanted great performances and a rich visual style that would help enhance the mood of the story and of the individual scenes. Even though keeping the characters real is such an obsession of mine — especially when I’m using so much off the wall humor, which can undercut the realism if you’re not careful - I also have an appreciation for how much the visuals can contribute to the magic of film and help make your story and characters larger than life."

Perhaps where Miller’s film school experience paid off most was in his understanding that the only way to pull off his ambitious goals was through an extensive amount of pre-planning. Miller spent several weeks of preparation before production, rehearsing actors as well as planning the lighting and camera work with Rudomin. Miller was able to give the film a unique style and mystique. The beautiful Chinese film, Raise the Red Lantern was a key inspiration. Miller says, "I wanted a warm look. We weren't afraid to go dark at times, in order to silhouette the actors. We used a lot of long lenses, and back-lit the actors whenever possible. We created our own unique world."

Rudomin comments, "Working with Vincent was inspirational. With him, the lighting had to reflect character, and always had to represent the rich emotions of the story. Vincent is a very talented director who knows what he wants visually, and brings a lot of humanity and a lot of warmth into every one of the roles." In addition to Rudomin, Miller hired much of his crew from among his talented classmates at USC Film School, which made the movie like a family project.

"Vincent was always interested in telling stories about real people that were poignant and humorous," says fellow former film student and Associate Producer, Steven Swimmer. "More than anyone since Bryan Singer (Usual Suspects) and John Singleton (Boyz in the Hood), it was clear to a lot of the other students and to the professors that Vincent would be the next big success out of USC Film School. I think that Gabriela will launch him as an independent director with a strong vision."

Gabriela was shot in a grueling three week, twenty day, 16 hours a day schedule, in the Los Angeles area. The bar and nightclub scenes were shot in one twenty-two hour day. Miller was surprised so many of the extras, friends recruited by himself and other crew members, stayed until 4 A.M. and danced their hearts out, despite the fact that no music could be played during dialogue. The crew also participated as extras in between working. With a low budget, the filmmakers had to rely on the generosity of friends and family to donate their time. Gabriela is truly a labor of love for Vincent Miller, the cast and the crew, and this is reflected in the film's passion and warmth. It is a beautiful, funny, yet true-to-life story.