It all started when I saw an article about Jonathan Fajardo. His photo as a 7-year-old Latino boy in baseball uniform, sparkling eyes, and a huge smile was captivating.

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But Jonathan grew up to join a gang, and at 18, he killed a 14-year-old black girl and was sentenced to death. Since there's no death penalty in California, Jonathan was serving a life sentence in San Quentin.

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I wanted to know, Why? Why does a cute boy like that turns out to be a murderer? So, I requested the prison authorities permission to visit him. But another prisoner got to Jonathan before I could, and slashed his throat. I was mad that I didn’t get to find out and the question nagged me even harder.

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Then, one day I was standing in line at the courthouse to pay a traffic ticket, and there he was a few people ahead of me - a Latino young man, shaved head, and tattoos all over. There was my chance to find out.

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I rushed over to him. "Oh my God, are you a gangster?"

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He looked at me like fell from the moon, but then said, "Yes. 18 Street Gang." He stretched his arm forward proudly, showing the number 18 tattooed on his hand.

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"I’ve got to find out why would anyone join a gang. Do you mind giving me your phone number?" He did.

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And so, I ventured deep into the Los Angeles "hood" and found out what I wanted to know, particularly, that not everything we see and hear about them is the way it is.

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In the short, Encounter, I challenged myself to tell the story without dialogue. I relied on the acting, cinematography, and sound. Except for the lead guy, all the gangsters were real gangsters, not actors. They did a pretty good job, don’t you think?

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I hope you enjoy watching the film as much as I enjoyed producing and directing it – Actually there were times that it was sheer hell. Everything that could go wrong, went wrong. But we pulled through.

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Thank you for reading and watching.