South of Pico

South of Pico is a 2007 drama film written and directed by Ernst Gossner set in Los Angeles.

Plot
In present-day Los Angeles, a chauffeur, a waitress, a doctor and a young boy each deal with life’s daily challenges. They find themselves at the scene of an accident the moment it happens. This becomes a defining moment in their lives.

One story is a chauffeur named Robert Spencer that assigned to drive a bride Angela (Christina Hendricks) to a wedding. He eyes her in back seat through the rear view mirror while she is pulling up her garter belt. She demands to stop for cigarettes at a local retail store. When he returns she holds him and tells him to kiss her and they have sex at the back of the limousine.

Cast

 * Kip Pardue as Robert Spencer
 * Henry Simmons as Dr. Walter Chambers
 * Gina Torres as Carla Silva
 * Soren Fulton as Patrick Wise
 * Christina Hendricks as Angela
 * Jimmy Bennett as Mark Weston
 * Giovanni Lopes as Jorge
 * Paul Hipp as Comma
 * Car'ynn Sims as Francine
 * Gabrielle Christian as Astrid

Release
The film premiered at the American Black Film Festival in October 2007.

Awards

 * American Black Film Festival - 2007, Grand Jury Award - Best Picture
 * American Black Film Festival - 2007, Grand Jury Award - Best Actor for Henry Simmons
 * American Black Film Festival - 2007, Red Star Award for Originality, Innovation and Vision for Ernst Gossner
 * Pan African Film Festival - 2008, First Feature Competition - Best Director
 * Drehbuchverband Austria - 2008, Thomas Pluch Screenplay Award
 * International Innsbruck Film Festival - 2008, Audience Award
 * International Beijing Film Festival - 2008, Best Picture

Production
South of Pico was shot in various locations around Los Angeles. The story is inspired by a fatal road rage incident in Chicago 2003; a similar case happened in 2007 in Austin, Texas.