Over the next two weeks we’ll be talking with a handful of filmmakers showing their work at the 2010 Newport Beach Film Festival. We ask each filmmaker a quick five questions about - them, their career, their film, their actors and what they do when not behind the camera.
Today’s film, SHOOT THE HERO, rocks the house with a Tarantino style action comedy, and a pinch of mistaken identity. In the film, couple Nate and Kate are thrown into the middle of an armed heist while out shopping for matching wedding rings. Soon tension between the robbers becomes a full-fledged gunfight, and the aftermath is a jewelry store full of bodies and bullet shells with only Nate and Kate surviving. Meanwhile, on a desolate stretch of desert road, two slackers, find themselves stranded when their beat-up ride sputters out of gas. It all hits the fan when the two stories converge in a deserted town, where all four find themselves in the clutches of a ruthless gangster, and the night quickly unfolds into an all-out gun battle.
I talked with director Christian Sesma and threw him our quick five-question shoot out. Here’s what he had to say:
Q: How did you hear about the Newport Beach Film Festival?
A: I heard of the film fest through Samantha Lockwood, the leading lady of SHOOT THE HERO, and also just through the film festival circuit buzz. I'm from SoCal, so I know of all the good fests going on. There's really only a handful here in California.
Q: Tell a little about the story of your film and the production of it.
A: The story of any movie is always pretty amazing. And I guess, ours is no different. After my 2nd feature, a teen horror indie called ON BLOODY SUNDAY (Warner Home Video) I needed to keep the ball rolling and came up with a concept to make 3 short films that all form one cohesive story and make it for nothing. I also wrote it as a way to showcase all the elements of a mini mainstream studio flick (romance, action, comedy).. And when we began sending out the script it generated some real interest with some cool genre talent actors (Jason Mewes and Danny Trejo). We were fortunate that Producer Denise Dubarry took it on and believed in the marketability of a cool Action/Comedy indie. I knew that at that low-budget level no one was making action/comedy indie films, much less with actors that have such HUGE cult followings, so we set out to make a fun lil' flick for the film geek/internet guys (which includes me LOL). So, as it does, the snowball became bigger and SHOOT THE HERO became my first real movie with a decent low-budget and some great, great talent. We shot the film in 12 days, all in mine and Denise's hometown of Palm Springs, Ca. The community really came out in full force to support us.
Q: Tell a little about yourself and your story in filmmaking.
A: I've been a movie geek since day 1. I didn't go to film school. I graduated San Diego State University with a degree in Cultural Anthropology. And in 2003, after a ruptured appendix landed me in a hospital bed for 4 weeks, I came across famed filmmaker Robert Rodgriguez's 10-minute film school article and it was there that I decided I was going to take a shot at making a short film. So 6 months later I picked up a camera and made a short film that landed on the short film fest circuit, right off the bat. I followed it with a second action/suspense short, and in 2005, made my first indie no-budget film called SIX-THIRTY, a teen thriller that got picked up for DVD distribution in 2006. After that, I made a teen horror film called ON BLOODY SUNDAY, in 2008, for Warner Home Video and then came my break out with SHOOT THE HERO in 2009. I followed that with a Latino comedy, IM NOT LIKE THAT NO MORE, starring famed comedian Paul Rodriguez, which is hitting limited theatrical release on April 23rd, in 20 cities. Currently I'm about to enter pre-production on really kick-ass genre action film called DEEP RED that I co-wrote with fellow SHOOT THE HERO star Paul Sloan, set to shoot in New Mexico in June.
Q: Your take on the performances of the lead actors, (set backs, triumphs, impressions, good surprises, etc.)
A: SHOOT THE HERO is unique in that it gives Jason Mewes the leading man role. Now, everyone knows Jason as "Jay" from Jay and Silent Bob in the Kevin Smith films (Clerks, Clerks 2, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, etc. etc...), and I wanted to give him his first serious role outside of that persona. Samantha Lockwood, as his fiancée, was an amazing leading lady, and those two together give it a real quirky rom-com feel. What I’m sure audiences will walk away talking about is the 2nd Act stars (the film is written around two separate stories that come together in the 3rd act) are the bickering comedy duo called THE SMITH BROTHERS played by Nic Nac Nicotera and Mike Hatton. Those two guys are hilarious, and we had such a great time with them improving. And then, of course, once we reach the 3rd part of the film, Danny Trejo as bad guy "Crazy Joe". Now the other cool part of SHOOT THE HERO i think is the memorable supporting roles that come from other widely recognizable faces in Nick Turturro, Fred "the Hammer" Williamson, Taylor Negron and even HBO's late night sex pot Katie Morgan. I think that every 10-15 minutes in this film you're being introduced to actors you recognize along this mini rollercoaster ride. And again, we shot in this in 12 days on an extremely tight budget so these actors had their work cut out for them.
Q: What do you do when not making a smash indie film?
A: When I’m not actually in production on a project, I’m extremely hard at work writing, trying to get another project off the ground. I’m 100% committed to becoming the next mainstream writer/director...but in all seriousness I’m always catching new movies, hanging with the family and just really loving life, trying to enjoy all it has to offer!
Catch SHOOT THE HERO at this year’s festival: Wednesday, April 28th @ 5:30 p.m. inside Edwards Islands Theater 1
Buy tickets here:
http://newportbeachfilmfest.tix.com/Event.asp?Event=256906
Watch the trailer for SHOOT THE HERO here:
By Kelly Strodl
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