What was the most important thing for this movie to achieve from a narrative and character standpoint? 

S – For me personally, I feel like this movie needed to be a ride. You needed to feel the intensity of these life or death stakes on the surface, but underneath that you need to feel an intrigue toward these two mysterious figures. 

T – Yes! High stakes. The tension throughout the movie has to be held and the gravity of the situation has to keep being heightened. From a character standpoint, those stakes have to do with the relationship between our two main characters—the audience has to know that there is a lot of history and a flood of different emotions that both of these characters are working through to keep going to the end. 

S – The “why” of both characters is there the whole movie, but it’s so buried that it takes the whole film to start to unravel those revelations. I like films that are rewatchable because you see different things when you watch them a second time and I think that is part of what I wanted to achieve personally.

U – I just hope people see the truth in these characters. I feel like audiences have been wanting a short like this for a while.

What makes a film interesting for you? What are three qualities that you look for in a movie? 

U – What I want is to be entertained. To see something new. Or to see something told in a new way. And to have conversations about it afterward. The more fun the whole team and audience is having the better. Metaphor, theme, and art are still important to me. But at the end of the day I entered this for the fun of it. I try to never forget that.

T – My interest is peaked in a film when I notice creative cinematography, when color is used with meaning, or when I can feel the emotions through the score of a scene. Three qualities I look for in a movie: 1)  Like Uvaldo said, fun, no matter what genre we are in, you have to entertain the audience, 2) bold characters with strong intentions, 3) lesson or message, what was the film maker saying or wanting us to get. 

S – For one, rewatchability as I said in my last answer. Some of my favorite movies didn’t become so until my 2nd or 3rd watch. I think there are a lot of subtleties that you can’t pick up on until you’ve seen certain movies more than once. Second, I’d say the originality of the concept. The ability to make me see the world in a different way. Inspire my imagination and transport me to different worlds. It’s like traveling to non-existent places or places I just knew nothing about to expand my thinking about the world. Third, is probably a distinct emotional arch. I think the best movies have something to say and a POV from which they are saying it. I think similarly to the way films can take us to different places they can also make us feel and see things we might never otherwise. I think films have the power to make us more tolerant and understanding towards one another.

What is your opinion on the portrayal of LGBTQ community in popular media?

U – I think there is a lot to be desired but I also see so much nuance and complexity coming out as of late, I hope to add to this diverse conversation. 

S – That’s an interesting question, for me as a white, cisgender, heterosexual male, but an ally to the many marginalized communities out there. I think representation is so very important and it’s starting to happen more and more, but we still have ways to go in mainstream popular media. 

From my vantage point, I think there is a big problem with representation for representation’s sake. I think in art we want to reflect the diversity and complexity of the world we live in, but a lot of that interesting complexity gets watered down in a lot of mainstream work. I remember this quote from a long time ago from Jordan Peele where he was talking about how Martin Lawrence in the late 80s was a hero for him growing up because it was the first time he saw a depiction of a black character as an asshole. A lovable asshole, but nonetheless an asshole. To me, I think we should be striving for that kind of complexity in media across the board where all marginalized folks such as the ones on the LGBTQ spectrum can be the protagonist, but also the antagonist or the love interest or the mentor or the lovable asshole. Ideally representation can be through a variety complex characters rather than having their sexual orientation be their only character trait.

All that said, there are better people than me to answer that question and we should take the time to listen to them.

T – As a proud member of the bisexual community, the fact that we are getting more LGBTQ+ stories out there in popular media is a win on its own. Shows and movies like Sex Education, Love Simon, and most recently Heart Stoppers, are great stories that I am so glad that kids now a day have to watch and see reflections of themselves in. When I was growing up there was one, it was GLEE. (unless you had cool parents that let you watch reruns of Will and Grace) We need more queer artists to keep telling queer stories. I love that diversity and inclusivity is a part of casting for current storytelling. Like Spencer said, I do want to see full humans who are queer and not their queerness being their only character trait. Minority communities getting more and more representation in TV and film brings more awareness to the issues that surround them, we get to provide empathy pills through our camera lenses into your screens to digest. The more empathy we all can have for one another, the better this world will be. 

What project helped you launch your career?

S – I don’t know. I don’t know if any one project has launched my career. I would say I (with the help of friends and the other artists I’ve worked with) have launched my career. We sort of made our own career, and are continuing to do so. There’s not some magical lottery ticket that we’ve cashed in to make us get to this point. We’ve just kept making movies. There’s no on project that’s been a rocket ship that has taken us from zero to the moon so far, you know.. For me it’s been building the ladder. One rung at a time.

U – I’ve been doing short films since I was young. I have always been doing this. So yeah, one rung at a time. 

T – For film, I would say being cast as Collin in “FLUX” and for theatre, I would say being cast as Finch in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Both projects showed me that I could lead. That I as an actor was good enough for a casting team to pick me to hold the weight of their show. Both gave me a lot of confidence that I have been able to take moving forward. They both also challenged me with a TON of homework and left me with a lot of lessons learned. 

What criteria do you use when building your team? 

U – Whether we inspire and challenge each other to make the project excel.

S – We work with small crews often. So the most important thing for me is someone is skilled that can clearly enhance the film, but also mixed in there needs to be excitement.

T – Indie filmmaking is a lot of weight spread heavily on not a lot of people, so anyone who I know can hold their own with a smile and help others when they can is who I want on my team. Who is nice and good at their job. Who will pitch in and go above and beyond. 

S – On “FLUX,” one of my earlier films, the film Trevor just mentioned a bit ago which is on Youtube, Trevor and I had a couple of readings with five or six people. One of them was an older actor who I had seen in other work and initially imagined for the role. Despite being very talented, I got the feeling he felt above the project, which you know I was very young at the time, but still. It rubbed me the wrong way.

Later we ran into Sean Ross who was talented, but a lot less experienced. His intensely infectious enthusiasm ended up being the perfect addition. So it has to be that combo of skill meets excitement for the project for me.