Matt :
Can only imagine you have some fun stories to tell that has got you to where you are as a filmmaker today do you have any would can tell ?
Luke :
Well
it certainly hasn’t been a smooth road. I started filmmaking back in 2005 and
made a few shorts and had some really good momentum going for me. However, life
got in the way and I spent most of my 20’s slacking off and partying instead of
focusing on my career goals. Now I am married, have kids, and settled down so I
have refocused my efforts on filmmaking and it has recently started to pay off
a bit.
Matt:
3
movies under your belt and just came back from SinS a few weeks ago how was the
whole experience ?
Luke:
It was pretty incredible. I
really didn’t know what to expect. I had never met ANYONE in person and was a
bit nervous, but luckily I met up with some of my online buddies like John
Lauterbach, Alex Murphy, and Bob Ferriera and wasn’t just standing around like
a lost puppy the whole time. Nick DeCarlo was nice enough to let me sell my
flicks at the Beneath the Underground table, so I was able to sit there and
meet almost everyone at the event as they filtered through. It was fun and
nervewracking at the same time. I was able to sign some autographs and take
some pictures with folks, which was completely surreal to me. I’m just some
dude selling his micro-budget flicks, so to have anyone interested in them
enough to want an autograph was exciting and totally humbling at the same time.
The event was great, and it really felt like a family atmosphere which was a
nice change from the usual Convention atmosphere.
Matt :
Deadbeat
your latest people are saying you have taken a different route without spoiling
it for people what's the inspiration for the change ?
Luke:Well my previous films were pretty similar, in that they were both fantasy/horror films that dealt with afterlife and destiny. For this film, I was inspired by people I know in real life who are complete dead beat dads, total scumbags. I have no respect for people who don’t take care of their children. So basically, I wanted to make a movie that was basically a big FUCK YOU to those people. Whereas my other films have a lot of masked characters, chases, fights, etc. This one is much more simplistic, yet I think the message is stronger and more grounded in reality.
Matt:
Who or whom do you look up to in life as a filmmaker in the indie community ?
Luke:
Really
anyone who works their ass off to become successful. I have seen first hand
just how much hustle it takes to be even mildly “successful”, so I have a lot
of respect for everyone in this scene. It is a 24/7 job, and if your heart
isn’t completely into it, you will never have a chance. But as for who I look
up to, I am a big fan of French horror. Guys like Alexandre Aja, Juilen Maury
and Alexander Bustillo…I feel like French films are more brutal, yet more
elegant and artistic. They aren’t just exploitation flicks with gore and tits.
I am also a huge fan of Scott Schirmer for making one of my all time favourite
films, Found, for less than 10 grand and getting it onto the shelves of places
like Wal-Mart. That is a huge success for indie horror and inspirational to
those of us who don’t have huge investors or big money backing. I also admire
guys like Jimmy Screamclauz, filmmakers who have a truly unique voice, I always
respect that over copycat filmmakers.
Matt :
Your short deadbeat is showing soon with a host of others in Detroit are you looking forward to the screening and new fans ?
Luke:
Absolutely! I am so stoked to have it playing alongside some of those other talented filmmakers. I live in Pennsylvania, so unfortunately I won’t be able to make the screening, however, we are planning our own screening here in PA. The hope is that we can build more and more of these screening around the country and expose more and more people to the “underground” scene and build it into something tangible where these filmmakers can have real success and make careers of this no-rules filmmaking. I believe there is truly an audience out there for it, they just need to be aware that it exists. It’s really not so much about any of our individual films screening, but working together to build a bigger audience for these types of films.
Matt:
What have been your stand
out movies for 2015 in your opinion ?
Luke:
My
favourite films of the year have been Androgynym, Eat, and Goodnight Mommy. I
like a wide variety of films, but I prefer movies with a strong story and even
stronger characters.
Matt:
Any
experiences in filmmaking over the years good or bad that you want to comment
on ?
Luke:
Well
my first feature, Under the Rainbow, took 6 years to finish. The post
production was slowed because our first editor moved to the Philippines, then
our second editor came down with brain cancer…it was a mess. At times I even
doubted that it would ever get finished. But I stuck with it and saw it through
to the end. You can’t give up on this stuff or your done, no matter what life
throws at you. To have it finally finished and to complete a successful limited
run release of it was like a gigantic monkey off my back and allowed me to move
forward and focus on the future.
Matt:
What
does the future hold for you ?
Luke:
Well
Dead Beat is getting a special edition proper release with lots of bonus
materials and a short film from the early days of West 2nd Productions. The
next short we are putting out isn’t a horror film, but sort of my no-budget
take on super-hero films, which I am really excited to show people. After that
I am focusing on my next feature, which is about a struggling taxidermist who falls
into the dark world of underground human taxidermy. I hope to really take the
next step with this whole filmmaking career with this next feature film. Also I
plan on exploring Video on Demand and getting my films out to a new market.
I would like to thank Luke for one of the final interviews in this batch focusing on the Indie Horror community it has been a pleasure and yet again this is another one that I fully enjoyed ..
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