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Meet Richard Pines and Imelda Paclibar of RicMel Productions in Marana

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Richard Pines and Imelda Paclibar.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Richard and Imelda. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Currently, I am enjoying the recognition of our short film, “Bequest” which continues to garner multiple awards. Ten wins one nomination to date to include Best Arizona Film 2019 Chandler International Film Festival- in which I portray the Old Civil War Veteran and the role of Rico. I’ve written a Western feature screenplay-“Purgatory Plains” that is gaining some accolades four Wins two nominations and am currently writing the sequel. My journey was not easy back in the 80’s, I was managing a sports bar in San Diego while going to auditions in Los Angeles. I took advantage of any possible opportunity  acting on stage as Bob Ewell in “To Kill A Mockingbird”, garnering an Aubrey Award as Best Supporting Actor and being cast in featured bit roles on television as Rudy in “Renegade”, This lead to 7 Co-Star credits, “In Plain Sight”,” Days of our Lives”, and “General Hospital”.

I started my career as an extra on the Academy Award film “Gods and Monsters” and earned my SAG membership as a stand-in for Dennis Farina on the made for television movie, “The Corpse had a Familiar Face” starring Elizabeth Montgomery.

I met my “soul mate” in 2004, Imelda Paclibar. She and I share a common passion in theater and acting—she studied at the prestigious American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. In 2003, we moved from California to Florida, en route we stopped in Tombstone — that was such a memory to remember! We were bitten by a” bug” as they say — we fell “in love” with the Southwestern culture, yet we continued on our journey to Florida. At that time, I thought my interest in “acting” had ended. Three years later, we moved back West to Arizona.

My interest in Acting was rekindled. Since we’re both actors, we spent a great deal of time in Tombstone and outlying areas participating in different “ re-enactment shows” for years.

In 2013, I was introduced to videography when Imelda brought a huge video camera that she was using at Access Tucson, a community public television where she was learning Video Production. After a couple of years, funding for Access Tucson had subsided. We decided to continue Imelda’s television show, “The M.E.L. Show ” (M- motivate E -educate L- laugh ) virtually. Thus, MELPINES. The TV was born. Its purpose is to educate and motivate the viewers as well as take them to places they would like to go but may be unable to that gives us great joy. We are currently still in production with the show, having produced over 30 episodes.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The road was not smooth at all. I went through many challenges. As an Actor, I had to leave a wedding ceremony to make it to a film that I was cast in and the producer could not change the shoot date. I slept in a car and changed clothes in it. I drove thousands of miles between San Diego, Los Angeles and Tucson to audition for whatever role I thought would be perfect for me. I also went through a divorce and got paid with “Chinese food” for print work that I did. More details are described in my book, “Actor’s Rendezvous”, that is presently in publication. My lead actress in Bequest, Imelda severed a tendon in her foot and production was pushed back two weeks on Bequest. I had felt so burned out dealing with all sorts of people in the industry, so I decided to create my work.

As a first time Writer, Director, and Producer of an award-winning short film, “Bequest”– I faced different challenges from casting to budgeting to dealing with the challenging personalities. As a screenwriter, I had to learn to format correctly for the screenplay of “Purgatory Plains”. I remember changing the format –line by line –only to discover “it was correct all along”.

Please tell us about RicMel Productions.
Ricmel Productions was formed when I created my first experimental Western film called, “The Lost One”. With that experience, I proceeded to shoot “Bequest” with a much more educated strategy. We are very proud of “The M.E.L. Show”, as a” husband and a wife team-“– that ‘s Ricmel Productions. We combine our talent and experiences to release 32 episodes: 2015-2018The M.E.L Show (TV Series).
– Steampunk Festival 2018 Old Tucson Studios (2018)
– Journey to Alcatraz & San Francisco (2017)
– Pocahontas Jamestown Virginia (2017)
– Graceland- Home of Elvis Presley (2016)
– NYC New Year’s Eve Time Square (2015)
Complete listing/access of episodes are available online @MELPINES.TV For some people, they may not get to see these places but with “The M.E.L. Show” they can enjoy the beauty and learn the history of these great destinations.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I can honestly say nothing as all entertainers have their own story of, “Struggle”. We are looking at different options for “Purgatory Plains”. Obtaining the funds and distribution are most challenging in having a “picture” shot. with a budget coming in at around $200,000. I have started writing the sequel for “Purgatory Plains” and it will be completed in 2020.

In the meantime, I work as a high school teacher-Cholla High School Credit Recovery Program and have helped over 400 kids graduate helping kids graduate, that’s where I truly find great satisfaction contributing to our society.

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