Photo by Peri Pakroo.

It was a pleasure to welcome actor MorningStar Angeline and Production Designer Kevin Pierce into our living room studio yesterday for Self-Employed Happy Hour! MorningStar and Kevin helped bring Drunktown’s Finest to the screen, a gritty film portraying life in Gallup, New Mexico—a city dubbed “Drunk Town, USA” by “20/20” in the late 1980s. This moniker planted a seed in the mind of Director Sydney Freeland, who grew up in the Gallup area. Freeland started crafting a screenplay in 2005, aiming to develop an authentic depiction of the people and experiences in this community, and ended up writing and re-writing for more than six years. With the help of Executive Producer Robert Redford, the film premiered at Sundance last year, and is currently continuing to screen nationwide.

We talked with MorningStar and Kevin about the making of the film and their experiences with the film industry in New Mexico, LA and elsewhere. Director Sydney Freeland called in from Sundance to share her story as well. Listen below or download at iTunes!