What does it mean to foster a chosen family? To find a community so welcoming, it becomes another unit of intimacy altogether? For film producer Edgar Rosa, it meant cultivating a hub of artistry at an early age.
Born in California, but raised in Iowa, Rosa was involved with the Des Moines Playhouse by age 5. As he got older, he added the Heartland Youth Choir and his school’s drama troupe to his list of extracurriculars. These adolescent arts communities quickly became “a second home” for Rosa. Theater being his main interest, it was in high school that Rosa considered pivoting to film, after a teacher at Central Academy assigned the class to write a movie review. Rosa wrote about Gladiator, and the teacher, noticing his passion for media, encouraged the young student to pursue cinema further.
Rosa studied film production at Emerson before returning to Los Angeles to earn a Master’s in producing. Now, Edgar Rosa is back in the Heartland to witness the Iowa premiere of Bob Trevino Likes It, a new film directed by Tracie Laymon that Rosa co-produced alongside Laymon and Sean Mullin.
The comedy-drama centers on Lily Trevino (Barbie Ferreira). At the beginning of the film, Ferreira delivers most of her lines with a smile, regardless of the abuse Lily encounters. Her most pressing struggle is her immature father Bob (French Stewart), who irresponsibly demands much of her while not providing support in return.
When Bob cuts off contact, leaving his emotionally unstable daughter on her own, Lily, like most young adults, takes to the internet to satisfy her curiosities and anxieties. She befriends “Bob Trevino,” another man she mistakes for her father, and starts an online correspondence with this new Bob (John Leguizamo). In the midst of new Bob’s digital benevolence, liking her posts and commenting on how good a daughter she must be, Lily finds herself buying into a fantasy: maybe she can quite literally choose her own family.
It’s a fascinating and idiosyncratic depiction of young womanhood. Archetypal images of women’s unhealthy engagement with social media are typically for platonic or romantic attention, but Lily posts for paternal validation. What is so disarming about the film and its performances is the way it navigates the two poles of comedy and tragedy. Often, you find yourself laughing when the characters are suffering and pouting when they are grinning. When Bob’s wife Jeanie (Rachel Bay Jones) wonders if her husband is being catfished, Bob says my favorite line in the movie, “She’s screaming into the void! No one even likes her posts!”
Yes, it’s hilarious, but it’s also deeply troubling and relatable. For many in their mid-20s, oblivion is easily found online. By the time the film reaches its end, you’re mostly left with your own tears.
“The script was incredible. I bawled my eyes out like four or five times after just reading it,” Rosa said. Bob Trevino Likes It was Rosa’s first time as a lead producer, marking a new chapter in his career. “It was very much in line with how I perceive the world, therapy, trauma and how to heal.”
Set in northern Kentucky and southern Indiana, it becomes clear that living in a small town does not automatically mean you feel a sense of community. About these themes, director Laymon said, “Sometimes we think our small acts of kindness don’t matter in our ‘small’ everyday lives, but they do. Whether we’re holding the door open for a stranger at the store or saying something kind to a stranger online … we do have the power to make a difference in the whole world, no matter how small our towns or communities.”
The film also deftly highlights loneliness within the supporting cast, as Jeannie grieves the loss of her and Bob’s young son. Concurrently, Lily works as a live-in aide, and though she assists with her roommate Daphne’s (Lolo Spencer) physical disability, she is blind to Daphne’s emotional needs as a friend.
“The secondary story that’s equally as beautiful is the evolution of Daphne. Seeing how that friendship with Daphne grows alongside Lily’s friendship with Bob, completely separate and autonomous… that’s my favorite relationship in the movie,” Rosa said of the dynamic.
Bob Trevino Likes It encourages audiences to reflect on the people we pull in and the ones we push away, and Rosa advocates that just because a community may not be immediately visible, that does not mean it is unavailable.
While Lily may not find support in her biological family, Rosa pays special attention to his own. “I owe everything to my mom Tamara Elwell. She’s my rock. Everything I do is for her.”
It’s special to witness artists from the places we call home step into a larger spotlight. Rosa, a mixed-race man, is dedicating himself to projects that bolster equitable representation. Rosa and his business partner Marie Alyse Rodriguez formed the production company Purple Intuition with diverse storytelling in mind.
“A part of me always wanted to have an opportunity to shoot something in Iowa or come back and present a film here [to] pay homage, pay respect, and give people who started me and my creative endeavors the kudos they deserve,” he said. “I wouldn’t be here without the artistic community in Des Moines. In a time when arts programs are getting defunded, I want to be a part of the vocal chorus that makes sure stuff remains funded. Arts programs need to remain funded.”
Bob Trevino Likes It opens at Varsity Cinema and FilmScene this Friday. Edgar Rosa will join Varsity Cinema for a conversation at the premiere Friday night and will introduce the film Saturday, April 5.
