STRUCK Directed By Taron Lexton
Questions answered by Nathan Lorch - Producer
Shane: Tell us about your film?
Nathan: My film is about a man that gets struck with an arrow directly through his heart but won’t come out and doesn’t hurt him. He now has to learn to live life with his new strange flaw, and deals with people not being able to accept it. Once apathetic, his friend sets him up on dates to help him get back his vigor, only to further drive him even deeper in to his new found loneliness. Little does he know his life is about to change forever…
S: How did you come up with the idea for the film?
N: My wife, Milena Ferreira, came up with a similar idea for a feature film four years ago and has been struggling to get it out on paper. One day on a romantic trip to Northern California she was literally “Struck” with an idea on how to make it work for a Short Film, which we then made months later, and earlier this year developed it into the feature it was originally intended for.
S: Was this a school project?
T: No.
S: How did you find your cast?
N: The first person we signed on for this project was the director, Taron Lexton. He was a long friend of both of ours and after he took an interest in us, we gave him the script for this project which he immediately said “yes” to. From there he knew many of the cast which he called and forwarded the script…Bodhi Elfman, Kelly Preston, Marisol Nichols, and Michael Fairman. Milena and I knew Jason Dorhing & Erika Christensen so we sent them the script them and sold them on the idea. The project just flourished from there.
S: How long did the film take? (From conception to final edit)
N: The idea was thought up around March ’07, filmed in June/July ’07, and then edited, scored, and mixed by Dec ’07. The director was quite busy so we had to work around his schedule which is why it took a bit longer than most short films.
S: What was the most difficult part of the shoot for you?
N: Securing all the locations with minimum budget.
S: Tell us about the films festival experience so far?
N: We have gained a lot of exposure through going around to many of the festivals in the US, and even some abroad. Meet new people, make new contacts, people you want to work with in the future; those are the things that we have taken with us from the Festival Circuit.
S: What has been your most interesting Q&A so far? What was your favorite question? How was the dialogue afterwards?
N: The one thing that people find the most intriguing about our film is our cast, because for a short film we have quite a few celebrities. And this happens to be one of the most fun questions to answer because we’re as shocked as most people with who we were able to get to act in our “little” short film.
S: What films or filmmakers inspire you?
N: The Scott brothers are two of the filmmakers that create works of art the influence me to want to make films.
S: What made you decide to become a filmmaker?
N: When I watch a film that really gets me, you know REALLY makes me feel the intended emotion from that filmmaker, it makes me want to do the same with other people. It’s a powerful form of communication, and I really feel that these art pieces mold our future. That’s one thing I don’t think most filmmakers understand: we’re our future and we’re creating our future.
S: What is next for you?
N: My wife and I have a production company, 625 Productions, that’s developing a few different feature films and a Pilot.
S: What is next for the film?
N: Another half a year of Festivals, then broad distribution.
S: If asked to give one piece of advice to a new filmmaker making their first short film… What would it be?
N: Just Do It! Don’t hesitate, don’t listen to anyone tell you that it’s hard and you “can’t do it.” That’s bullshit! All it takes is an idea, then the drive to want to bring that idea to fruition. If you have those two items, you’re good as gold. Get out there and make it!