Your new movie Space
- in a few word, what's it about?
Space takes
place in the year 2050. It’s about astro-biologist Dr. Ada Gray and her
fellow astronauts aboard the Udo, who fight for survival after an accident
leaves them stranded in deep space.
With Space
being a space-bound science fiction movie, is that at all a favourite
genre of yours, and some of your genre favourites?
I’ve
always loved outer-space fiction from a young age. Grew up watching
classic Star
Trek with Kirk and Spock, as well as reading Ray
Bradbury’s R
is for Rocket, and enjoying movies like Silent
Running (Bruce Dern’s greatest performance) and Outland
(1981) directed by Peter Hyams, with Sean Connery. More
recent examples would be Moon
(2009) from director Duncan Jones (Sam Rockwell’s greatest
performance). That’s in addition to the profound thematic influences
Japanese and French science fiction had on me (Osamu Tezuka’s Phoenix series
was a direct inspiration, and also writers Pierre Boulle, Moebius, and
Jean-Claude Mézières).
(Other) sources of inspiration when writing Space?
The
novel The
Wanderers by Meg Howrey, which everyone should check
out, even if you don’t normally read outer-space fiction.
Do talk about Space's
approach to science fiction?
I
heavily researched the technicals of the rocketry, astro-biology, and
astronomy in the film; as well as the theoretical sciences, such as the
nanite technology and the VASIMR plasma-based propulsion engine. One of
the biggest challenges was working with the actors to nail down the jargon
spoken in the film, conveying the essentials of what was going on, without
being needlessly confusing. I feel like Kubrick’s 2001:
A Space Odyssey and Stanislaw Lem did a good job
with that, so I borrowed a bit from them.
Making a movie set in outer space on a rather low budget,
what are the challenges? Obviously
a micro-budget film of this nature limits what you can achieve, (hence why
there’s a line early on explaining that the spaceship has artificial
gravity, which saved us from having to do costly wire work). Originally, I
wasn’t sure if we were going to be able to show any exteriors outside
the spaceship, but luckily we were able to include a few VFX shots. They
became essential to telling our story. The VFX shot of the landing on the
Ceres planetoid might be my favorite. Also, I have a friend over in
Australia who put together the spacesuits, helmets, patches, and logos
used in the film. Doug Marr is his name, and he does phenomenal work.
Everyone swiped a piece of it after the wrap, myself included. I believe
our lead, Lara Jean, kept her entire spacesuit. Do talk about your space ship
set, and how was it achieved? We
worked with an amazing studio in Glendale, California called Fonco
Studios, owned by Fon Davis, a legend in the film effects field. He’s
pretty much worked on every film you’ve ever loved, from Starship
Troopers to The
Nightmare Before Christmas. His house has several pre-made spaceship
interiors, (the cockpit used in the movie being a big one). In addition,
his team came in and helped us put together the rest of the sets in a
single day, which anyone can tell you is nothing short of remarkable.
There was an incredible amount of talent that went into creating those
sets, especially given the time constraints. Everyone should check out and
support Fonco Studios, Space
couldn’t
have been made without them. What can you tell us about
your overall directorial approach to your story at hand?
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I
come from a horror background (I even worked as a horror reviewer myself
for a bit). Because of that, I watched a lot of low-budget films,
independent horror films, and realized the economic value of the found
footage genre. The problem is that a lot of found footage films have a
tendency to look alike, with a similar subject matter and aesthetics. So I
thought it would be interesting to take the found footage concept to
places it hadn’t really gone before (Europa
Report is one of the few sci-fi found footage films
I can point to). I started to research the filming techniques currently
being used on the International Space Station, as well as theorize about
what video transmission technology might be like thirty years from now.
Some of it turned out to be shockingly prescient, like the thirty-eight
minute section of Space which
operates almost exactly like a Zoom call. The relationship between
isolation and video chat has become a huge part of our lives, and I’d
like to think Space kind
of called that one a bit. Do
talk about Space's
cast, and why exactly these people?
I
love everyone in the cast. I went to theater school with some of them.
Others I have worked with for fifteen years. I like to say, “I don’t
direct actors, I direct around actors.” Lara Jean, Kurt Quinn, Justin
Michael Terry, James R. Hilton, Michael Klug, Ellysa Rose, Quincy Saadeh,
Len Kabasinski [Len Kabasinski interview
- click here]. They are all consummate professionals. They make my job
easy. Some of the parts I wrote with specific actors in mind, Dr. Gray,
Tomcat, and Mitch the Bitch being the biggest examples. But others came in
and were a total revelation to me. Kurt Quinn showed up on the first day
with a flawless French accent and delivered all his French lines
perfectly. No one coached him on set. That was all Kurt. Michael Klug as
Phil King was a one-take wonder, which was a life saver since we had so
much movie to shoot on any given day. And Lara Jean in the lead of Dr. Ada
Gray is next level, without a doubt. I’m a huge fan of her work, and I
honestly think this is one of her greatest performances.
A few words about
the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere? We
shot the film in eleven days, (for essentially a thousand dollars a day).
That just doesn’t happen. But everyone both in front of and behind the
camera put their heart and soul into it. We were fortunate enough to shoot
the movie on RED cameras, so we were all constantly excited by the quality
of the footage we were getting. They were long, but fulfilling days. There
were a lot of logistical challenges, sure. We took our little troop
everywhere, from the hills of Joshua Tree to my own apartment bedroom for
the escape pod sequence (no joke, my cat sat just off camera watching the
actors holler and cry their guts out). It really was just like that Red
Hot Chili Peppers lyric: “Space may be the final frontier but it’s
made in a Hollywood basement.”
I've read
somewhere that you financed Space
with the winnings you got from participating in The Price is Right -
is that at all true, and could you elaborate? That’s
right! I won the $11K budget for the film playing Plinko. I am forever
grateful to the producers of that show, and Drew Carey (he and I have the
same birthday, incidentally). When I won, I didn’t have a script or even
the story. It seemed nuts to make a movie set in outer space on such a low
budget. But I knew this was my chance. Paranormal
Activity was made for the same amount of money, and
Christopher Nolan shot his first film Following for
$6k. Limitations can really breed creativity, and I wanted to take the
chance to create something unique. The
$64-question of course, where can Space
be seen?
Space is
currently streaming on Amazon, iTunes, and other VOD platforms. You can
watch it in 4K on these sites too, which I highly recommend. The link is
here: https://geni.us/SpaceMovie.
Anything you can tell us about audience and critical
reception of Space?
As
an independent horror film, Space
has
to work its way into that culture of fans. Horror fans are the best fans
in the world, and they love the unique and unusual. For some who might be
tired of the found footage trope, I think they’ll be pleasantly
surprised by our radically different take on the formula. Critics have
appreciated its slow-burn approach to outer space fiction. It’s been
compared a number of times to John Carpenter’s Dark
Star and Claire Denis’s High
Life, which I certainly take as a high compliment. At this point,
it’s really a matter of getting the word out there for more people to
enjoy it, to take that spine-tingling trip to the stars.
Any future projects you'd like to share? I’m
in pre-production on my next feature film, a black-and-white, surrealistic
vampire thriller called Blood
Covered Chocolate. We have almost the entire budget raised, and
we’re set to roll cameras at the beginning of next year. A lot of
excellent talent are already involved, including scream queens Debra Lamb [Debra
Lamb interview - click here] and Helene Udy [Helene
Udy interview - click here]. It’s about a recovering drug-addict named Massimo, who
fights to protect his girlfriend and loved ones, after he is turned into a
vampire by an ancient, shape-shifting creature. It’s in the vein of Thirst and
Only
Lovers Left Alive, and it should be arriving late 2021.
What
got you into filmmaking in the first place, and did you recieve any formal
training on the subject?
My
career in film began at the age of five, when I acted in films such as In
the Line of Duty: Ambush in Waco, starring Tim Daly. I received my
Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Northern Colorado, where I
performed in Little Theater of the Rockies and directed for the stage. What can you tell us about your
filmwork prior to Space?
Space is
my feature film debut, but I’ve been making short films for the past
twenty years. I started when I was sixteen and never stopped. All of my
work has fallen into the horror and thriller category, even when I
wasn’t consciously aware that I was gravitating to it. Through my film
company, American Courtyard Productions,
LLC, my work has been recognized
by the Toronto Wildsound Film Festival and the Las Vegas Film
Festival. A
short film collection of my work was recently distributed by Meridian
Releasing Group, and received awards from Women in Horror Film
Festival,
Sixth Sense Horror Film Festival, and the Oniros Film Awards. I won the
Second Round Drama Award from Austin Film Festival, which Moviemaker
Magazine lists as one of the Top 50 film festivals in the world, for a
feature screenplay I wrote called Monkey
Mouth, about my father’s experiences teaching
music to prisoners. You can pick up a copy of my short films here:
https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B07WFJ97BP/
How would you describe yourself as a director? Coming
from a micro-budget, independent film background, I think I’m a very
prepared director. I storyboard every shot and scene of my movies, long
before I get on set. I’m meticulous with my vision, but always open to
improvisation from actors and crew, which improves the whole. I try to
remain humble, and never think I know all the answers, or have all the
solutions. I try to be generous and caring, because I know how much
courage it takes to get in front of a camera. Long story short, I try not
to waste anyone’s time. As a storyteller, I’m drawn to surrealism and
absurdism. That’s one of the things I adore so much about the horror
genre. It is essentially modern art gone mainstream.
Filmmakers
who inspire you? Lars
von Trier, Dario Argento, Alfred Hitchcock, John Ford, Julie Taymor,
Howard Hawks, John Carpenter, Wes Craven, Jean-Luc Godard, Hayao Miyazaki,
Rod Serling, James Gunn, Clint Eastwood, Luis Buñuel, Mario Bava [Mario
Bava bio - click here], Leigh
Brackett, James Whale, George A. Romero, Ishiro Honda, Ray Harryhausen,
David Lynch, H. Tjut Djalil, David Cronenberg, Mary Lambert, Apichatpong
Weerasethakul, Kenneth Branagh, Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Misumi, Harold
Ramis, Peter Jackson, Len Kabasinski [Len
Kabasinski interview - click here] … to name a few. Your favourite movies? There
are so many. I make it a goal to experience as much film from around the
world, and throughout its hundred-some year history, as I possibly can. I
will say my all-time favorite horror film is Dario Argento’s Suspiria
(1977). Everything in that movie (from its lighting, cinematography,
camera movement, acting, effects, music) is absolutely perfect. ...
and of course, films you really deplore?
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Gosh,
I know how hard it is to make any movie, so I’m always wary to formally
badmouth something (my friends know it’s quite a different case in
private) - but I will say Ari Aster’s Midsommar…
not my cup of tea. Your/your
movie's website, social media, whatever else?
You
can follow Space on
its Facebook website:
https://www.facebook.com/spacethemovie/
You
can follow me at https://www.facebook.com/TheRealMonteLight/
And
for only $5 a month, you can support my filmmaking journey and my next
film Blood Covered Chocolate at
https://www.patreon.com/TheRealMonteLight
Thanks
for the interview!
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