playing the character of James, and Glatzer and Westmoreland cast their cleaning lady in a small role. They borrowed props from their cleaner's niece, who had recently had a quinceañera, and mimicked her video of the ceremony to create part of the film. Although the script called for the actors to speak "Spanglish"—a mixture of English and Spanish—neither Glatzer nor Westmoreland were fluent in Spanish, so many of the actors translated their own lines from English. The teenage cast members also improvised dialogue for some scenes and provided their own clothes to wear in character. The film was shot over eighteen days in April 2005. It was filmed on location in Echo Park inside Glatzer and Westmoreland's house and in three houses on their block that their neighbors allowed them to use for little or no money. Many of Glatzer and Westmoreland's Echo Park neighbors also stood in as extras. Due to California's child labor laws, they could only film with the underage cast members for six hours a day, so cinematographer Eric Steelberg used a hand-held camera with few accessories to maximize the time they could spend filming. Steelberg filmed the project in high-definition video format, which was converted to film during post-production. The film's soundtrack included reggaeton songs as well as music composed by Westmoreland's brother as a favor since the filmmakers could afford little else. Robin Katz finished editing the film in August 2005. Release Quinceañera premiered on January 23, 2006, at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award in the dramatic feature category. Its U.S. distribution rights were bought by Sony Pictures Classics while its international rights were purchased by Celluloid Dreams. The film was later screened at the Berlin International Film Festival before its theatrical release. The film opened in limited release in the United States on August 4, 2006, earning $95,400 on its opening weekend from eight theatres. It gradually expanded over the next three weeks, achieving a widest release of 96 theatres by its fourth weekend. Its theatrical run lasted for 14 weeks, concluding with a total gross of $1,692,693. It grossed $830,094 internationally, making a total box office gross of $2,522,787. It was released in DVD format on January 9, 2007. Extra features on the DVD included an audio commentary with Glatzer, Westmoreland and the film's actors, a "making-of" featurette, and a mock