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Your new movie Little Lucha
and The Big Deal - in a few words, what's it about?
Little Lucha
and The Big Deal is at its core a film about two
underdogs pursuing their dreams despite the sometimes relentless
setbacks and roadblocks that come their way. To
put it bluntly, why wrestling, is this a sport you're also personally fond
of? I'm a child of the 90s, so there was nowhere you could turn without
seeing the iconography and larger than life personalities of early 90s
wrestlers like The Hulk and Macho Man. Truly an entertaining and
theatrical sport, I was always drawn to the characters and the
melodrama of it all. Beyond that, I get to experience smaller Lucha
Libre matches here in LA, and there's nothing like seeing those
acrobatics in person! I would say I'm a fan in that I've always
appreciated the art of it all. (Other) sources of inspiration when writing Little Lucha
and The Big Deal? My co-writer, co-director and
co-star Josh Stifter [Josh Stifter
interview - click here] and I truly just wanted to work together on something that
combined our aesthetics and skill sets, and that was the main
inspiration for making it!
What can you tell us about Little Lucha
and The Big Deal brand of humour? I feel like the brand of humor is very much a combination of Josh, Dan
(our producer) and I's type of banter. They've been best friends
their whole lives, which I think is reflected in all of their
screenplays, and I think I fit into the mix pretty seamlessly in that
we all find similar things hilarious. I guess I would describe the
brand of humor as a little bit of sarcasm with a lot of heart. Do talk about
the wrestling costumes in Little Lucha
and The Big Deal, and how much of an input did you have/demand in
their design? Josh's costume was all he and Jenny's (his wife) doing. She made his
cape by hand, helped him with all of the accoutrements, and then
once his costume was done, I took inspiration for mine. I wanted to
wear something that would play well off of the sort of punk rock
nature of Little Lucha's black and gold, but to up the glam factor in
a way that would make sense for The Big Deal. I also took a lot of
inspiration from Ric Flair. I admittedly already owned the feather
robe and the white platform boots, so I found a onesie that I
felt made sense to fit the whole vibe, and that was that! We
costumed the rest of the cast with vintage items that I thankfully had
collected through the years and had in my archives. A few words about your overall
directorial approach to your story at hand? I think the best word is collaboration. I've never co-directed
something like this, and doing so was actually some of the most fun
I've ever had on set. Our approach was pretty relaxed because I think
we just knew what we wanted and also that, above all, we wanted
the film to reflect the joy we felt in making it. You've
directed Little Lucha
and The Big Deal together with your co-writer and co-star Josh
Stifter - so what was your collaboration like during all of this? It was really wonderful! Josh and I have some of the same influences,
and also some very different signature styles, and I think that all
blended together beautifully on this project.
You also
play the lead in Little Lucha
and The Big Deal - so what can you tell us about your character,
what did you draw upon to bring The Big Deal to life, and have you written
her with yourself in mind from the get-go? The Big Deal is at a crossroads in her life. She's deciding whether to
forge ahead in a world that's been really tough on her. I think as
artists, and people, we've all been in a situation where we think to
ourselves, is this worth it? Am I going to keep pursuing this dream?
So we can all relate to her in that way. Josh wrote the first
iteration of the script, and I think he wrote both characters as
combinations of where we were as artists at the time. They evolved a
bit over the years and the drafts (he originally wrote the idea in
2018), but they were both always sort of dream/nightmare versions of
where we've been in real life. Do talk about
the rest of Little Lucha
and The Big Deal's cast, and why exactly these people? I think one major standout is Meghan
Carlson who plays Callie, the
waitress. Her delivery is hilarious and made it hard for me not to
laugh during takes. Another was Alyce D. Cooper, the little girl in the film.
She was just such a professional on set and delivered a killer
performance as well. The people we cast were all wonderful. I will say
a lot of the casting had to do with budget, location, and who was
willing and able to basically make a passion project. As always, it
takes a village! A
few words about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere?
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The atmosphere was relaxed, intimate, fun, and creative. Everyone
was down to get their hands dirty and do what it took to get this thing made! The
$64-question of course, where can Little Lucha
and The Big Deal be seen?
Right now it just hit the festival circuit, so hopefully it can be
seen at a festival near you! Anything you can tell
us about audience and critical reception of Little Lucha
and The Big Deal? We just had our world premiere at LA Shorts International Film
Fest, and the audience seemed to really understand these characters and
their situation. It's always so fun to watch an audience react to a
film you've made. I was so happy they were laughing when I was
laughing. Any future projects you'd like to share?
We're hoping to expand Little Lucha
and The Big Deal into a feature or series, so that's pretty exciting to think about! Besides that, I'm
currently writing a horror feature that will hopefully get made in the
next year or two! Your/your
movie's website, social media, whatever else? @scarletinni on Instagram.
www.scarletmoreno.com Anything
else you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? Thanks so much for having me! It's been a
pleasure! Thanks
for the interview!
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