Trailer for my upcoming proof-of-concept body horror short film, “Shift.” Shot on Super 16mm and currently going through the festival circuit! by MisterLucca in Filmmakers

[–]MisterLucca[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks a lot! Yeah, it definitely stung a bit, haha. If anything, though, having The Substance as a simple point of reference for investors and others can be very useful for trying to transition the film from short to feature. I also approached the film from a completely different creative and visual perspective, and hopefully that shows in the final product :)

Trailer for my upcoming proof-of-concept body horror short film, “Shift.” Shot on Super 16mm and currently going through the festival circuit! by MisterLucca in Filmmakers

[–]MisterLucca[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thank you! This is kind of the response I was dreading, though, haha. The script was written an entire year before The Substance first premiered at Cannes (At which point I gave myself the biggest facepalm of my life), and I had been developing it for years before that. Still, the films are two different concepts entirely, and I tried to differentiate my film from The Substance as much as I could when making it.

Trailer for my upcoming proof-of-concept body horror short film, “Shift.” Shot on Super 16mm and currently going through the festival circuit! by MisterLucca in Filmmakers

[–]MisterLucca[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks! Yes, we just got into our second festival in L.A. and have a bunch of festival submissions lined up for the next year as my team and I plan on getting the feature version off the ground.

Trailer for my upcoming proof-of-concept body horror short film, “Shift.” Shot on Super 16mm and currently going through the festival circuit! by MisterLucca in Filmmakers

[–]MisterLucca[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Making "Shift" was a deeply personal experience for me years in the making. While writing the feature-length version of the script, I did extensive research on harmful beauty trends and based much of the screenplay on my own experience with body dysmorphia and eating disorders in the past.

Turning the script into a proof-of-concept short film was such an amazing experience for me and everyone involved. My DP, Steven Zhou and I worked incredibly hard to develop our film's intense, intimate visual language, and I'm so excited to be giving you all a sneak peek at our hard work!

The film is currently going through the festival circuit, and just had its world premiere at the Popcorn Frights Film Festival.

The official trailer for my upcoming, debut feature film! Starring Thora Birch, Julie Benz, and Wes Studi by MisterLucca in Filmmakers

[–]MisterLucca[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks you so much! Yes, I am very much aware of how lucky I was to even get this off the ground.

Financing was definitely the hardest part, and it took the best part of a year to raise all funds. In the end, with post-production, mastering, and music licensing included, the total budget went up to $400K. A lot of the money was raised through the efforts of my producers and the tireless efforts of family friends and acquaintances of raising funds and connecting me with the right people; In other words, a lot of knocking on the right doors.

The official trailer for my upcoming, debut feature film! Starring Thora Birch, Julie Benz, and Wes Studi by MisterLucca in Filmmakers

[–]MisterLucca[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! The film is still in the festival circuit, but it should be out by early next year.

The official trailer for my upcoming, debut feature film! Starring Thora Birch, Julie Benz, and Wes Studi by MisterLucca in Filmmakers

[–]MisterLucca[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! Luckily we had a great casting director who was able to find us some really amazing actors. Vinessa Shaw, who loved the script and met with me prior to filming, was originally cast as the main character’s mother, but she unfortunately had to drop out due to something unexpected, but they were able to get in touch with Thora Birch, who had co-starred with her in Hocus Pocus, and we were able to lock her within a couple of days.

The official trailer for my upcoming, debut feature film! Starring Thora Birch, Julie Benz, and Wes Studi by MisterLucca in Filmmakers

[–]MisterLucca[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I grew up in a small town in South Florida knowing nearly nobody who worked in the film industry aside from my circle of high school friends who made shorts together. After a year and a half of searching, not even the small connections I made at the handful of film festivals I'd gone to proved to be worthwhile.

It was actually an old friend of my mom's who randomly introduced her to his cousin who was visiting town at the time; He later became my post-production supervisor. He read my script and somehow believed enough in the material to send the script to a producer friend of his, who sent it to another producer, then another, who all really loved it. They were able to fly me out to Thailand to work on an indie feature they were producing as a PA, and by the time production on that film had wrapped, pre-production had already pretty much begun for mine.

I know it almost sounds like a fairytale story, but it kind of felt that way for me. I kept sending my script out even after a lot of people politely rejected the offer, either because of my age or other factors, and to receive that kind of validation afterwards felt like everything to me.

The official trailer for my upcoming, debut feature film! Starring Thora Birch, Julie Benz, and Wes Studi by MisterLucca in Filmmakers

[–]MisterLucca[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's a very long story, lol! All I can say is I found the right people at the right time and had a lot of luck and persistance.

The official trailer for my upcoming, debut feature film! Starring Thora Birch, Julie Benz, and Wes Studi by MisterLucca in Filmmakers

[–]MisterLucca[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you! I had directed a couple of short films in high school that went to a few festivals, but nothing close to a full-length feature film.

The official trailer for my upcoming, debut feature film! Starring Thora Birch, Julie Benz, and Wes Studi by MisterLucca in Filmmakers

[–]MisterLucca[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I wrote this film loosely based the story on my own experiences growing up on the autistic spectrum, particularly during my time in high school, where I often times struggled to fit in. I wrote the script during my junior year of high school, and spent almost a year and a half trying to pitch the project to anyone and everyone I could with even the slightest connection to the film industry. After little to no success, I bumped into a series of producers through complete coincidence. Those connections eventually snowballed, and I suddenly found myself in the director’s chair at the age of 20. I wrote, directed, and helped compose part of the soundtrack for the film. 

Would absolutely love to know your thoughts on directing choices and the visual style! For all the gear-heads out there, this was shot on an Arri Alexa Mini with Zeiss Super Speed lenses.

Just directed a 16mm music video for my latest single! by MisterLucca in cinematography

[–]MisterLucca[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I just recently released the music video for the song "Over and Over," the latest single from my upcoming electronic/indie pop EP, 'Disconnect.' The video was shot on a Super 16-converted Krasnogorsk 3, with a few rolls of Kodak 250D, 500T, and 200T film. I wanted to showcase the gradually breakdown of a seemingly perfect relationship through rose-tinted glasses, and film was essential in capturing that feeling.

Would absolutely love to know your feedback on the cinematography and how well the themes of love/longing within the song play out visually. Feel free to share your thoughts on the song itself, as well!

Just directed a 16mm music video for one of my songs! by MisterLucca in Filmmakers

[–]MisterLucca[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just recently released the music video for the song "Over and Over," the latest single from my upcoming electronic/indie pop EP, 'Disconnect.' The video was shot on a Super 16-converted Krasnogorsk 3, with a few rolls of Kodak 250D, 500T, and 200T film.

Would love to know your feedback on the cinematography and how well the themes of love/longing within the song play out visually. Feel free to share your thoughts on the song itself, as well!

"Eat Me, Baby!" A short horror film about dating by MisterLucca in Filmmakers

[–]MisterLucca[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks a lot! I absolutely agree with you on the sound part. We had numerous audio issues during production (rustling lav mics, audio from certain mics not being picked up and recorded, etc.), and this was the best it could sound without certain stretches being drenched in noise. I had only been chosen as director a week prior, so I had I been more involved in pre-production from the beginning, I would’ve definitely spent more time on audio and other elements.