From Docs to Narratives: Never Stop Telling Stories

Frame grab from the opening scene of "Flowers" Directed by Dean Camara. Written by Din Thomas

May 2026 - For most of my career, going on 20 plus years, I have mainly stuck to shooting and producing sports documentaries & reality based productions. But at some point the desire to charter new territory took hold. In part to stay challenged and find new stories to tell. So in 2017, I took my first departure into new territory by producing and directing 8 episodes of a culinary & travel show, Maria's Portuguese Table that aired on PBS. Season 2 was delivered in 2022, with a bigger budget and bigger crew.

The next step in the evolution was to try and direct something that was all scripted and what better genre than comedy to do it. I teamed up with comedy sensations, The Portuguese Kids, to produce a sketch comedy series for the RTP network out of Portugal. What resulted was Season 1 of "Portuguese Problems", 6 episodes highlighting the funnier aspects of growing up with immigrant parents. 

Din Thomas and Dean Camara on set of "Flowers"

Then last summer I was able to team up another Dean, I mean Din...Din Thomas. And no, it's not Din as in pin, but Din as in Dean! Din Thomas is a man of many skills. He is a former professional UFC fighter, a world class mma coach, broadcast analyst and host, actor, writer. I am sure im leaving some other talents out. Din and I worked together on Dana White's "Looking for a Fight" and have had a chance to get to know each other personally and professionally. He had written a dramatic, narrative script and was looking for someone to help him shoot.

For me it was an opportunity to really flip the script and go all in with a narrative. One that was serious in nature and a challenge to boot. Din agreed to bring me on the project and by mid 2025, we were in full pre-production mode, lining up cast, crew, locations. In late July '25, we all convened in Palm Beach, FL and shot for 5 days. Small crew The end result is a short film called "Flowers" a tense 18 min. film that shines a light on the dark topic of domestic violence. Starring Celines Estevez, a NYC based actress with credits on NBC & Amazon Prime.

On the set of "Flowers" with Sound Op. Nate McWilliams, Actors Celine Estevez & Aaron Jackson

Once I had a first draft edit that Din was happy with, we turned it over to editor, Cory Frost (Grace Point, Shaq Life, Coach Snoop), to finesse and hone the structure of the film. The end result is something we are all proud of and are in the process of submitting the film to festivals world wide.

The whole exercise renewed my enthusiasm for film making. It's not like I ever lost the fire for it, but when you are making a fictional narrative film, if the combination of script and actors don't gel, it usually will suck. Regardless of budget, production value or cinematography, when those two ingredients aren't working, there is very little you can do to make it good. That's kind of why I went the documentary, sports route, the need for fictional words and actors acting were not needed to tell a good story. But Din's script and choice of cast made me feel different and compelled me to go all in! "Flowers" is probably not the story I thought would be my first in the dramatic narrative world, but I am certainly glad that is was!

Screen grabs from the short film "Flowers" Written by Din Thomas & Directed by Dean Camara