Kitty Clark Fritz/Special to the Tribune

Niki Mangin (right) smothers a laugh backstage as fellow comedian Chris Otero does his act onstage at Downtown's El Rey Theater. As Otero performed, a crew filmed scenes for the movie "Homeless," written by Albuquerque comic Steven Michael Quezada. "This project has been an amazing experience," said Mangin, who has a part in the film.

Kitty Clark Fritz/Special to the Tribune

Albuquerque stand-up comedian Steven Michael Quezada centers himself in the green room at Downtown's El Rey Theater before going onstage to perform a routine that was filmed as part of the movie "Homeless." The movie is based on a stage play written by Quezada in 1989. He adapted the screenplay in a week and a half.

Kitty Clark Fritz/Special to the Tribune

Actress/comedian Niki Mangin (center) is joined by stand-up comic Chris Otero (right) and makeup artist Jessica Montoya for a backstage toast at El Rey Theater before the start of filming for the movie "Homeless."

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He wrote it as a play. He adapted it as a movie screenplay. He stars in it. He directed it.

He might as well edit it, right?

Stand-up comedian Steven Michael Quezada is finally bringing his popular stage play "Homeless" to the big screen. With a shoestring budget, he assembled an array of creative giants in Albuquerque's Hispanic community.

And when the shooting was completed in November and the editing process bogged down, Quezada took over, working nights and weekends to whittle his baby down to 103 minutes.

"I ended up editing it myself," Quezada said, "because I knew it so well."

The film tells the riches-to-rags-to-riches story of a comedian who becomes homeless, struggling with mental illness as he attempts a comeback. Quezada, 43, says it's not autobiographical - "just a bad dream I had when I lived in L.A."

The production was a lot of work, and the learning curve was high, but the comedian seems to have taken it all in good humor.

"It's exhausting, sure, but everyone's excited about it," Quezada said.

The film is a collaboration among a who's who of creative talents in the Albuquerque area. Among them:

World-renowned photographer Oscar Lozoya is the cinematographer.

Tijeras artist Michael Ostaski designed the set.

Miguel Martinez, a star of many Vortex Theater productions, is Quezada's supporting actor.

Veteran Albuquerque balladeer Freddie Chavez wrote a song for the movie.

For most of them, this is new territory. Quezada admitted as much during a break in filming the final scenes at El Rey Theater in November.

"I learn as I go," he said of his directing debut. "I'm a writer/comic/actor. This is my first time before the camera. It's a very humbling experience."

And a learning experience, too.

"I learned I'm not as smart as I thought I was," he said. "I learned I'm not as organized."

While the idea for the movie has been kicking around since the 1980s, when "Homeless" first came into being, it took Mark Padilla, owner of Lesmen's Music, to provide the spark that turned it into reality.

Quezada revived "Homeless" for a few performances in 2005 at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque. Padilla had seen Quezada headlining "The Three Cochinos" with fellow comics Chris Otero and Silver, and Padilla decided to record the live night of comedy for sale on DVD.

That was the dry run that made them think they could make a movie of "Homeless."

"I always thought he's really talented," Padilla said of the veteran comic, who has performed nationwide with George Lopez and Paul Rodriguez.

As executive producer, Padilla went out and bought $10,000 in film equipment. A woman walked into his store asking $300 for eight lights that were exactly what he needed.

That showed Quezada this could really happen. "I figured I'd better get my ass in gear and write it." He adapted the screenplay in a week and a half.

Much of the filming was done last year on a small set created in the back of Lesmen's Music at Lomas and San Mateo. Padilla said they would shoot between 4 and 10 a.m., before the store and recording studios opened.

"You're there five or six hours and you shoot about 30 seconds of footage," Padilla said. "I wasn't used to that."

The movie was made for about $20,000, Quezada figures. All the cast and crew volunteered their time. No one took a salary.

Padilla found a few investors but bankrolled most of the movie himself.

"It's always a gamble," he said of such a project. "But this one I felt like there was really good talent."

The movie is on track to be finished by May. Quezada wants to arrange a screening in Albuquerque.

"Then I want to take it around the state and show them what we did, with nothing," he said. "Hopefully we will inspire some people."

And then it's off to the film festival circuit.

Reel Deal Productions, an operation out of Santa Fe owned by a family involved in Quezada's 1990s play "The First Chicano President," came on board to help finish shooting "Homeless." Reel Deal wants a crack at shopping the movie among its connections in Los Angeles.

Sabrina Edwards of Reel Deal Productions oversaw shooting of some of the final scenes at El Rey in November.

"Working with Steven is a great experience, because he's always making me laugh," Edwards said.

Reel Deal will focus on Quezada's next project, "The First Chicano President," later this year. And Edwards said Reel Deal will help promote "Homeless."

Quezada isn't a stranger to filmmaking. He has done extra work and has had small roles in "Beerfest" and TV's "Wildfire," both filmed in New Mexico.

He has a role in "First Snow," the Guy Pearce movie shot in Albuquerque last year and due in theaters next month. It was directed by Mark Fergus, one of the Oscar-nominated writers of "Children of Men."

It was behind the scenes that proved a challenge. Quezada's educational experience continued during the editing process.

"I learned a lot," he said. "I learned that you need more people on the set, for continuity. I learned how people end up on the cutting room floor."

The movie should look familiar to fans of the play, with a few tweaks.

"The play didn't really have an ending," Quezada said. "Movies have to have a Hollywood ending."

Will it be a Hollywood ending for Quezada, a West Mesa High grad, and his old pals?

The comedian doesn't see why not. He likes the odds of his old-school Albuquerque crew.

"What's better than badass?" he said. "Badass is badass; I don't care where you're from."

"You've got all these old buddies you talk to, and people bring their talents together," Padilla said.

Padilla, photographer Lozoya and singer Chavez go way back to the South Broadway neighborhood, where Lozoya still has his photo studio.

"Oscar, I've known him since age 15 or 14," Padilla said. "Steven I met when I got the store 22 years ago. Freddie Chavez I met about 15, 20 years ago."

"We came from the same barrio," Chavez said, "but we didn't know each other back then."

You can hear Chavez's music on KANW-FM (89.1), and he plays regular gigs at Yanni's Opa Bar in Nob Hill and at Gardu¤o's on Montgomery, among other venues.

He met Quezada at the original Our Place, a bar on South Coors. Chavez wrote music for Quezada's production of "First Chicano President" at the KiMo in the early Õ90s.

Chavez, like the others, didn't ask for money.

"We just want to see this thing go," he said. "We'll worry about that later."