Jose and Eduardo Quiroz are no strangers to the streets themselves.  Born two years apart in Oakland, California, the pair of directors endured a less than perfect childhood and family life as they fought to deal with an alcoholic father, poverty and the trials of the streets while maintaining their dreams of success.  As teenagers the brothers got their first taste when their record label now under the name of Darkroom Studios was born, but their love of story telling pushed the brothers beyond the music business and into filmmaking as they shot their first feature on Super 16 for 3,000 dollars.  Despite an incredibly low budget, the brothers managed to get that first film called Paper Napkins into several film festivals and have been making films ever since. 

"I think we realized that we tell stories really well," Jose said.  "We would always tell our friends stories, and well, everybody laughs.  One thing led to another and we just said, 'Shit, we should write a movie.'"

While their first film didn't have much measurable success, the Quiroz brothers liken Paper Napkins to their film school.  With no formal training, the directing duo received operating instructions from the camera rental house, and managed to learn to operate the old camera completely hands on. 

Although film school wasn't in the cards for Jose and Eduardo, Dopegame 2 marks a milestone as the two budding filmmakers have successfully created an empire literally out of food stamps, desire and an overwhelming support from friends as they have long since left the inexperienced filmmaking behind.  

Dopegame 2 is the story of four crooked cops who make up the Oakland Task force, a division created to take down drug lords and clean up the inner-city streets.  While the four have an amazing track record with solid collars, their methods are less than orthodox as they beat and murder suspects, plant and sell drugs and break every code they are sworn to uphold.  An ambiguous look at right and wrong, Dopegame 2 is a realistic look at corruption and crime as it paints a vivid picture without a true "good guy."

"These are some bad guys, they're really bad guys, but at the same time, they do good things.  They brought down these huge drug lords that were putting dope out there killing people," Jose said.  "I think we like to have the bad guy get away in the end." 

The main characters do manage to live through the tale paving the way for a possible third installment in the Dopegame series in which the brothers might attempt to bring the characters from the first film together with the characters from the second, but for right now, the Quiroz brothers are focusing on the upcoming release of this latest film, and with the original Dopegame slipping into Blockbuster's top 200 of the year list, hopes are high.

"Obviously there's only so much you can do with going straight to video, but we want it to do the absolute best it can.  We want it to outdo everything we've done as far as rentals," Eduardo said.  "We'd love for somebody to see it and want to work with us. So far this is the best thing we've done, but we can do better." 

And it will be surprising if these talented directors don't improve exponentially as they manage to grow and learn through their experience as they continue on with their two man show.  The brothers write, direct, produce and even provide their films with soundtracks through their Darkroom Studios label, making each film truly a "Quiroz Brothers Picture," and coming from unbeatable odds, Jose and Eduardo are truly an inspirational story of success. 

"If there's a problem, you find a solution," Jose said of the hurdles they have had to overcome.  "We always figure something out." 

With that positive outlook, the Quiroz brothers are confidant of the success of their latest release Dopegame 2. 

"This movie is the first movie that it's absolutely without a doubt the best thing we've ever done," Jose said.  "It shows all of our abilities, our talents."

According to Eduardo, the film could go head to head with the storylines developed by the major studios, and with the right budget, and right people giving them support, the film could be a major Hollywood success.

"We're really, really extremely proud of this movie."