Please tell us about the projects you worked on before making ‘Scarlett’. How did you start, and how did you learn to make films?
Scarlett is my first project and the one that introduced me to filmmaking. I had the opportunity to join a cinematography workshop during the pandemic and Scarlett became our final project at the end of it. Since I was a child, I wanted to write and this workshop and mostly my work in Scarlett allowed me to notice how much I enjoyed writing for cinema and directing. The year after I got into film school and now, I’m learning new ways to make films at university
Tell us about ‘Scarlett’. How do you describe it?
Scarlett is a story about connection with a little fate defying. The story holds a special place in my heart as is a story I wrote along with a long-distance friend (my Scarlett) back in 2014 when we were 14. It’s a story that has been in the making for almost 10 years. Scarlett is also a story about taking risks, both during the short and the production. All the team took risks to bring the story to life, just like the protagonist, Akemi, who’s willing to risk everything for someone she loves.
Please tell us about your favorite filmmakers.
At my core I’m a lover of fantasy, magic and science fiction. When I was a kid, my mom showed me “Pan’s Labyrinth” and I wanted so bad to find a labyrinth of my own. I’m really inspired by Mexican directors focused on magic, mainly Guillermo Del Toro (with the previously mentioned Pan’s Labyrinth, Pacific Rim and most recently Pinocchio) and Jorge R. Gutierrez. I love the magic they put in every film and the colors! I love their views in animation and determination. Also, I really, really like the focus they have to detail in different areas (like the detail put into Gutierre’s character’s designs, sometimes made by his muse Sandra Equihua) or in the case of Del Toro the detail that in a lot of his films there’s a character who gets stabbed near the armpit as an easter egg of an anecdote of his childhood.
If you were given a good budget, what would be your ideal project?
Probably something animated to fully enjoy a story driven by magic, fantasy or sci-fi. I would love to make a full feature film about the story of Akemi before she met Scarlett and her travels through time. Or a film about mythological creatures. I would love to bring to life and movement the drawings and illustrations made by my friends, or the stories I wrote back in middle school with my best friend at the time.
Describe how you would ensure that production is on schedule. What steps would you take?
Mostly get a really good, no-nonsense AD and work with them and the other departments on what you want to accomplish. I know me and if I were left to my own devices the film would never be completed. My Ad in Scarlett was like a rock, always keeping me and the team in check. So, long story short, get a good AD, work the objectives of the film and the time you have available (money as well) and just accept that sometimes you must let go that “another one” shot. (Losing light, or gaining it as it was our case when the sun rose, is also a really good motivator to stay on schedule, especially in indie productions)
What was the hardest part of making ‘Scarlett’.
Mostly my lack of experience. Even though I had written stories before, Scarlett was the first time I ever wrote a script, let alone direct something. The script started too long and had to be cut a lot, from almost 40 pages to 30 to the eventual 15 we ended up with. The fact that just a week before filming I lost my job, got rejected from university for the 3rd time and lost my first car that belonged to my great grandma didn’t help. The first night of filming, after almost 10 hours of shot after shot I had a panic attack, I was sure I wasn’t cut for this, and I wanted to give up. Unbeknownst to me, Leslie, who plays Akemi, saw me. I half pulled myself together and went to shoot the next scene. Leslie copied my panic attack in the scene, and it came out amazing. After that everything started looking up
If possible, tell us about your next work. What plans do you have for your future work?
Right now, I’m mostly focused on my studies and graduating before I’m 30. But I have lots of shot scripts that I would love to shoot sometime in the near future. I’m also planning to get my title by making a short thesis film based on a short story I wrote back in middle school about a ragdoll serial killer, so that would be my next big project if everything goes according to plan!