Our Story
When co-Writer/Director Gabriel Barreto was eighteen years old, he was offered a summer job of a lifetime: to be a roadie for Willie Nelson & Family's summer 2008 tour through Texas and Middle America. Gabriel's mother, actress Amy Irving, worked with Willie on the film Honeysuckle Rose (1980) and had maintained a friendship. Willie & Johnny Cash was Gabriel's first concert at two years old. At fourteen, Willie got Gabriel his first acoustic guitar, a nylon-string Martin, not too far from his own, and at sixteen, Gabriel asked if he could work for Willie someday. That day has since come and gone, but the experiences of that fateful summer were burned into Gabriel's memory forever.
While attending FAMU film school in Prague, Gabriel began his working relationship with fellow filmmaker Eliot Routn, with whom he would collaborate on multiple short films, web series, and music videos. Together they worked to build a community of writers, artists, musicians, and actors who would seek to champion diverse voices and talents.
In the fall of 2015, Gabriel approached Eliot with an idea - to make a movie celebrating the community of musicians and artists one finds living on the road, inspired by his own experiences. A rough scenario was outlined involving Willie Nelson himself in-a supporting role. With Willie’s agreement to get involved with the film, Gabriel assembled a crew, with the support of documentary filmmaker Kenneth Bowser, to film the interview scene which kicks off My Cricket and Me. That scene was the core around which the entire script was written, and proved influential and entertaining enough to attract investors and producers willing to help make the film a reality.
While My Cricket and Me pays homage to the road movies of yore, and the trailblazers of Outlaw Country, it is above all else about community and family. From the team of musicians and roadies that mentored Gabriel during that fateful 2008 tour to the artists and performers that have stood by and contributed to My Cricket and Me from its inception to today, the people who have supported us and challenged us have become our close friends and colleagues. We're proud of the community we've built - and it's one we invite you to join.