INTERVIEW: ‘Lights Out’ is yet another film in the Sesma indie-verse
Photo: From left, Mekhi Phifer and Frank Grillo star in Lights Out, directed by Christian Sesma. Photo courtesy of Quiver Distribution / Provided by KWPR with permission.
Christian Sesma is making quite the impact on the indie film scene. The genre director has cornered the market on action flicks that attract Hollywood talent, and he seems to be working nonstop with no end in sight. His previous cinematic efforts include Vigilante Diaries, Pay Dirt, Take Back and others, and his rotating cast of actors include everyone from Val Kilmer to Richard Dreyfuss to Dolph Lundgren.
His latest is the fight movie called Lights Out, produced by Brandon Burrows and written by Chad Law and Garry Charles, with Burrows providing some additional writing. The film, starring Frank Grillo and Mekhi Phifer, follows the character of Duffy (Grillo), who is a homeless veteran forced into a life of competing in underground fight clubs. Phifer plays Max Bom, who is Duffy’s entry point into this hidden world of blood and bruises.
Lights Out will be released on digital platforms and in theaters Friday, Feb. 16, from Quiver Distribution.
Recently Hollywood Soapbox spoke with Sesma about Lights Out and his growing indie-verse. Here’s what he had to say …
On how Lights Out emerged from his previous film, Section 8 …
“It’s all like the Sesma shared indie-verse. [laughs] We had just wrapped Section 8, like literally, and took the holidays off obviously, and then the same producer, Brandon Burrows … was able to start conversations about putting together a new ensemble for this fight movie. And Frank and Mekhi they had a window to do this, and they asked me if I wanted to do it and go right back to back, just roll right into this one, take the holidays off, and then we roll into this with the same crew, very similar locations, etc., etc. I read the script. I was like, yeah, this could be something cool if we can make it like a total ‘80s throwback Roadhouse / Lionheart movie. Can we make it contemporary? Can I make it feel gritty, contemporary, grounded, like L.A. style. I was up for the challenge, and I think it turned out good.”
On emphasizing character and story over pure action …
“I think it has to or else I’m just waiting for the next action beat, and then it becomes a glorified stunt reel. I have to also like who I’m watching, too, so obviously this one I had been big friends of Frank and Mekhi’s and [Jaime King’s] … And so the ability to put them all together in one place sounded really cool, and I thought it would be compelling. They had to be compelling enough for us to care about, otherwise it would be a standard fight movie that everybody clicks in, clocks out. This one we fought to make it … I wouldn’t say a very character-driven fight piece, but at least a character-explored fight movie that you actually took some time and tried to explore these relationships and these characters and the dialogue and all that stuff to support all the fun fight stuff.”
On the influence of Akira Kurosawa …
“Interestingly enough, being a giant movie nerd and cinephile, one of my favorite movies is Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo. … It’s this lone ronin who kind of walks into a town, kicks some ass, saves some people and then just walks out. That was all Yojimbo was, but it was so epic. Obviously they made Last Man Standing after that, based off the same thing, and all the spaghetti western series off Kurosawa’s stuff. I tried to take a deep dive, and I hope it feels like there’s a little more substance to this than the normal fare. Like, oh, there’s something being said there, even if it’s wrapped within a cool fight movie / popcorn flick. There’s something going on. So same thing, I definitely try to approach it from that lone samurai wanders into a town, helps some people and walks off kind of thing. That idea I think we love to see over and over again.”
On how he recruits his cast …
“I think Hollywood really is a small town, and good folks like to work with good folks. And I think just like any job or any career or any community, good people want to work with good people that are driven and have the same vision and want to make actually good work. So I hope that that translates, and, yes, I’ve had the opportunity to work with a lot of the same actors. We’re planning on future things that we can work on as well together, so I love working with a lot of the same actors. You have this familiarity that you can help kind of capture that magic in a bottle. Everything seems very natural, and the chemistry is already there. … Trust is already established, so now that trust is established, we can dig down deep and get to work on it.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Lights Out, directed by Christian Sesma, will be released on digital platforms and in theaters Friday, Feb. 16. Click here for more information.
