- 4 months ago
Luke Sparke is a movie director who is days away from releasing his new film Primitive War in theatres here in America. I had the chance to sit down with him to talk about the inspiration behind adapting the novel into a movie and the challenges of bringing dinosaurs into the gritty backdrop of the Vietnam War.
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00:00Well, originally I asked for $25 million and six months to film, and I got, you know, a couple of bucks in six weeks.
00:06Fire on anything that moves.
00:12Did the dinosaurs have feathers in your movie?
00:15Yes, the dinosaurs have feathers, and that was something that I wanted to do because of the boy.
00:19I'm telling you guys, there's monsters out here.
00:23Can you talk about the sound design of your dinosaurs?
00:26Yeah.
00:26How do you figure out the noises that they're making?
00:28That's a good question.
00:29Full Metal Jacket meets Jurassic Park, highly anticipated with the film.
00:34At what point do you realize that you've reached this magic level with the audience now that there's excitement for it?
00:41It's very weird.
00:43It's a very weird feeling to reach it because as an independent filmmaker, you just never know, right?
00:47Like I put up, this is my seventh film, and, you know, you put up the trailers online and it either, you know, it gets traction or it doesn't.
00:54And most of the time, it just kind of just is in the ether of YouTube and you hope for the best, right?
00:59But I think the moment was when we put out our teaser trailer back in April and suddenly it was like a million views in 24 hours.
01:06And like we didn't know that we're just, like I said, just an independent filmmakers in Queensland.
01:10So you hope, you think, you know what I mean?
01:13You dream.
01:14But there was this feeling on set when we were making it.
01:17There was sometimes when you're making films and productions, you get feelings.
01:21And sometimes they're like, this isn't very good.
01:23And then you watch it and you go, hey, it was actually better than I thought it was or vice versa.
01:27But there was this feeling on set where this was kind of something.
01:30And even though it was grungy and it was really hard to make and we're all in it together as this, you know, little group, there was this feeling.
01:38So when the trailer hit and people seemed to like what we were doing, it was definitely like, oh, here we go.
01:44Right.
01:44Here we go.
01:45You said there's that feeling on set.
01:48And then when you're watching it back in the dailies, is that just the right story mixed with the right setting, mixed with the right cast, mixed with the right everything?
01:58100%.
01:58100%.
01:59And it's just this, you can't describe it, I guess.
02:02It's like it's it.
02:03You know, when they say you've got it, it's this indescribable feeling.
02:06But it's a gut.
02:07It's an instinct.
02:08And, yeah, when we watched the dailies, we were like, hey, this is actually pretty good.
02:14Yeah.
02:15It's just a weird feeling.
02:16Because this is the second time we're talking.
02:18We did a Zoom interview a couple months back.
02:19Now we're actually in person.
02:21And when that trailer hit my feet on TikTok, I was like, what is this movie and why is it not out right now?
02:28Yeah.
02:28You cut the trailer yourself.
02:30The first teaser I had a hand in, but it was done by a fabulous trailer maker.
02:35The next trailer we dropped at Comic-Con, I cut that one myself.
02:38And even going to Comic-Con was such a weird thing, you know what I mean?
02:41Because as an independent Aussie film, it just doesn't happen.
02:44We were the first ones ever to get invited to do Ballroom 20, which was when I walked in there to do the tech check.
02:51And there's like 5,000 seats.
02:52It's like, again, another indescribable moment where I'm like, oh my God, like, how are we going to, who's, like, we've done one teaser trailer and we're here at Comic-Con.
03:01This is not a sequel.
03:02It's not a reboot.
03:03It's not a remake.
03:03It's literally an original idea that hasn't really been done.
03:07Dinosaurs in Vietnam.
03:08There's never been a mashup like that.
03:10And then I'm walking into this ballroom and I'm like, what the hell?
03:13And then the next day we were at the event and we're out in the back room with the cast and, you know, Trisha's getting texts being like, oh, you know, my panel, she's got friends there, obviously, because she's done it a million times at Comic-Con, you know, with all her Battlestar things.
03:27And she's getting texts saying, you know, this was the capacity in my room and we've got other actors that were telling me it's okay, like, whatever happens, happens.
03:35And, you know, the attendance apparently was down.
03:38There was no Marvel or Star Wars and all that, even though for me it was amazing.
03:41But then to walk out on stage and it was, like, standing room only in this ballroom and people kept coming in and I was like, this is just crazy that this movie is resonating in a way it is.
03:53When you take on the task of making a dinosaur movie in today's age as an independent filmmaker, what are the biggest challenges for you?
04:02Give the people what they want.
04:03I mean, they give the promise of the premise.
04:05As much as filmmakers love to say they, you know, it's making it for me and as long as I'm happy with the film, which I am, it's a big swing.
04:15You know, when I went in for this, I was like, it's going to be a big swing and it's either going to work or it won't.
04:20Some people won't like it.
04:21Some people will be like, this is just, you know, cheesy, campy bee stuff because dinosaurs in Vietnam sounds ridiculous.
04:27But, you know, I went into it going, let's make it as kind of grounded as we can with the military aspects and the Vietnam, which I think, again, resonates in the trailer.
04:36And then, you know, introduce these dinosaurs and just swing for the fences and, you know, give people what they haven't seen before and give people what they want.
04:44Like, if they want to see dinosaurs fighting soldiers, if you see the trailer and you go, I want to see dinosaurs fighting soldiers, I give you dinosaurs fighting soldiers.
04:51You had a military advisor on set?
04:53I did.
04:54What is he looking for to make sure the way that people are carrying everything they're carrying themselves is accurate to what it should be?
04:59Yeah, yeah.
05:00He's there to make sure that it's 100% accurate.
05:02I had Captain Dale Dye who did Saving Private Ryan.
05:06He co-wrote Platoon.
05:08He's, you know, he's...
05:09Oh, he co-wrote Platoon.
05:10He co-wrote Platoon.
05:11So he looked over the script for me.
05:13You know, I would like to say that we're friends.
05:15We've worked together a couple of times.
05:16So I reached out to him and said, hey, I've got this crazy script and he's a Vietnam veteran himself.
05:20So I wanted to make sure, again, I'm not, you know, I'm not like out there being like, this is just a corny thing because I want you to look at it and make it look real.
05:28And make sure a Vietnam vet could look at this and go, yeah, I guess you could believe this is a real thing.
05:34So he gave me lots of advice and we sort of helped, he helped me with, you know, the script.
05:38And then, unfortunately, he's retired these days and he's an amazing guy.
05:44I can't speak highly enough of Captain Dye.
05:46But I did get one of someone who's worked with him and he's then gone off and done his own shows called Freddie Joe Farnsworth.
05:54And he's done like Brad Pitt and he's done lots of different shows around Hollywood.
05:57So he came over to Australia and just whipped the guys into shape and was there every day with me.
06:03And it was great because I was able to say, look, I'm focused on, as an indie film, I got like eight, nine, ten different hats on set.
06:09Yeah, I want to go into that too.
06:11So I was able to say to him, you go look after the cast.
06:14I need him to go and clear this building or I need him to go and, you know, take down that dancer over there.
06:20You go over there and tell him exactly how you would do it.
06:22And he's like, got it.
06:22And he would just go do it.
06:23And then I'd say action.
06:24I'm like, I love it.
06:25Wow.
06:26But that's just having the right people in the right places.
06:29For someone who's watching this interview right now and they hear that you're a filmmaker, what tasks exactly are you doing?
06:36Because you wrote the script too, right?
06:37On this particular job?
06:38Yes, on this particular one.
06:39A primitive one.
06:40Yeah, so I adapted the book.
06:42So I wrote the script and I directed it, which is great because that's my favorite part.
06:47But to get this film done in what we had, so I'm also the production designer.
06:51So I designed all the sets and I was there every day before I directed and like building them and helping construction and setting the things.
06:56And this is what I wanted to look like.
06:57And so there was no one else.
06:58It was me.
06:59I was also the editor of the film.
07:03I'm also...
07:04Did you cast?
07:05I help.
07:06I help, you know, the idea.
07:08So my wife is also my producer.
07:11All the hats I don't wear, they have a very small team around me who wear all the other hats.
07:15So she's the casting director.
07:17So she helped me cast and she produced and she's like the accountant and she does all the other background stuff behind the scenes for me.
07:24So, yeah, I was the director, the writer, the editor, the production designer.
07:29Now it's all...
07:29It's not coming...
07:30Now it's all...
07:31Now I'm going blank with what else I have to do.
07:33I also was the, like, the script continuity.
07:37Like, there was no script continuity.
07:38It's all me on set doing all that.
07:41You're reading the script to make sure everything's...
07:43Yeah, and watching the continuity and watching, making sure nothing gets seen.
07:47Because before I became a director, I was a costume.
07:50I was in costume.
07:51So I handled all that stuff anyway.
07:52So I'm very au fait with how to make sure that that works.
07:56And when you were out there in the jungle, once you finished directing, you also had a set on the side where you can watch all the dailies back right away to make sure it was what you wanted?
08:04Yeah, I had a small editing truck on set so I could duck in there at lunch and check with the guys and watch some dailies.
08:11Which I think was around the time we sort of knew it was starting to look pretty good.
08:14Because I would always see the cast sneaking a peek and I'm like, hey, what are you guys doing?
08:18Watching my stuff, I like to keep it close to my chest.
08:21And they're like, man, this looks good.
08:23Wow.
08:23Which was great.
08:24But yeah, there's a bunch of other titles which are not coming to my mind that I have done on this movie.
08:28But they're sort of like the main ones.
08:32And also the visual effects producer, visual effects supervisor was a task I took on for this film as well.
08:39So I went and found all the guys to make the dinosaurs, which is an amazing team that I have.
08:45Again, very small.
08:45But I just started pounding the pavement straight after we finished and just thought, how am I going to do this?
08:51We don't have ILM.
08:52We don't have these big companies.
08:55And I just got together this sort of team of like an animator, a compositor, the guys who make the models of the dinosaurs.
09:05And then I grew up from there.
09:06The models on the computer.
09:07Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
09:08The models on the computer.
09:09So I just grew up from there.
09:11And then now I have this team behind me of like 100, 150 artists that just were amazing throughout the process.
09:17But it was still me every day running the whole show.
09:20So Primitive War is considered an indie film.
09:22Have you?
09:23It's so big.
09:24It sounds insane.
09:25It sounds insane.
09:25Every time I say it, I'm like, and touching on that.
09:28It's just, it's such a hard perception of how we've been talking a lot of how do we present it.
09:33Because when people hear independent film, there's a perception of, oh, it's independent.
09:38But the trailer says the opposite.
09:39But the trailer says the opposite.
09:40So it's a very hard line.
09:42Yeah.
09:42Because if someone does it like a Nora, the one that Oscar last year, you know, as an independent film, you know, a couple million dollars.
09:49And they go, wow, what an amazing film.
09:51But if someone does it with dinosaurs, you kind of go, is it going to be good?
09:54So it's that hard perception.
09:56How many days did it take you to film a movie?
09:58Well, originally I asked for $25 million and six months to film.
10:01And I got, you know, a couple of bucks in six weeks.
10:05When you say you asked, you're just asking.
10:07That's when I was pitching it.
10:09When I was pitching it in Hollywood a couple of years ago.
10:11Because I got the rights in 2021.
10:14From the book adaptation.
10:15From the book adaptation from Ethan.
10:17And then I got to, you know, I wrote it pretty quick.
10:18Because when I read the book, I really had the, in my mind's eye, exactly how I would do it.
10:23You know what I mean?
10:24It's a good read.
10:26And also I could just go, these scenes will work, adapt it.
10:29And these ones might be, you know, not work with the storyline I want to take.
10:32Because it's, you know, as with every book, you've got to adapt it.
10:35Right.
10:35I've only got two hours to tell a story.
10:38But, yeah.
10:38So, I wrote it pretty quickly.
10:39And then I pitched it around town here in Hollywood.
10:42Can you say what studios you went to?
10:43No.
10:43I'm not going to say that.
10:44Okay.
10:44Okay.
10:45No.
10:45Just in case.
10:46Okay.
10:46Yeah.
10:46For the future.
10:48But, no.
10:48I pitched it around town.
10:50And the feedback, you know, was, you're not Steven Spielberg.
10:53How are you going to do dinosaurs?
10:54Which is, I mean, look, it's a valid question.
10:56People want to know.
10:57And people want to know, you know, that's how Hollywood works, right?
11:00You do one.
11:00And they go, oh, that makes sense.
11:01You're the alien guy.
11:02Or you're the dinosaur guy.
11:04Or you're this guy.
11:04They love to pigeonhole you in a thing.
11:07For a reason.
11:08Because then it makes them feel safe that you can handle it.
11:11But I knew I could do it.
11:13And so I pitched it.
11:14Nothing happened.
11:15And then I came back from another premiere.
11:17And I just said, screw it.
11:18Let's just do it ourselves independently.
11:21And then you independently raised the money from who?
11:24Just friends and family.
11:25Friends and family.
11:26And then a really close-knit of really amazing private backers that just saw what I was trying to do and just backed me the whole way.
11:33So a big shout-out to those guys if they're listening.
11:35Very cool.
11:35Yeah.
11:36Thank you, guys.
11:36Yeah.
11:37How do you get it into theaters?
11:39Because there's an AMC here at Universal CityWalk here in Hollywood.
11:42Or, yeah, I think it's Hollywood.
11:44They have your poster out there.
11:46But if it's independent, how do you get into movie theaters over here?
11:49That's another big hurdle, which, again, I've had to handle.
11:52And there's no title for that.
11:53I guess it's just the executive producer title, which is another one.
11:56Again, I'm going to keep adding this as I go through.
11:58And another one was the EP.
11:59And promoter.
11:59Was the EP and the producer.
12:01I also produced it with my family.
12:03And then I'm also the EP.
12:04So that all takes on that life after the show of how do you get it to the audience.
12:10So, again, I pitched it around.
12:12I had a sizzle reel and we were doing the effects.
12:15Pitched it around.
12:15But I've done, again, seven films.
12:17So I kind of know how the system works a little bit.
12:20And I was very conscious of this film of just not just getting the first deal or just getting a terrible deal.
12:25Because it's very easy to fall in that trap of going, hey, we've got someone that's interested.
12:29Let's sell it for a little bit and then see what happens.
12:31And it gets dumped on VOD or it gets, you know, just lost in the ether.
12:35And you never, like, then you go, well, that's it.
12:37I've sold the rights.
12:38And so I've kept the rights this whole time myself.
12:42So I'm kind of, like, almost self-releasing it in a way where we're running the entire show still.
12:47Which is still a good feeling because I feel like the safest hands are still my own in a way.
12:53But we found a company called Fathom.
12:55Well, not found.
12:56But obviously they do events and they do entertainment and they do amazing stuff.
13:00They're before all the AMC.
13:01Yeah.
13:02Yeah.
13:02So I talk to them as much as people pitching me to buy it.
13:06And then they go in touch.
13:07And they're just amazing people to work with.
13:09They're fans themselves.
13:10And I felt connection straight away because they get excited.
13:13And I get excited about things.
13:15So when someone's sitting there going, well, Mr. Spock, they start talking about numbers and things.
13:19I'm like, this isn't creative.
13:22And I get there's that part of the business.
13:24But these guys were excited.
13:26And they pitched me how we could get it out there with me still controlling it and then releasing it.
13:31And so we did the deal with them.
13:33And it's been, you know, I hope it's going to go well.
13:36You know what I mean?
13:36And they got me all the cinemas because they're connected with AMC without going too much into it.
13:43How many cinemas are there that you can watch here in America?
13:46It's heading up towards the thousand mark.
13:48Wow.
13:49Yeah.
13:50AMCs and other?
13:51Regal, Cinemark, you know, all those sort of main ones that deal with Fathom, which is great.
13:55And then some, I think, some independent ones has also reached out and booked it and that.
13:59And it's all, like every film, this film definitely, it will sort of live and die on its opening weekend.
14:05So if it goes well on its opening weekend, we can expand out to even more screens.
14:09Oh, wow.
14:10So that's what we would love to do is expand and see it sort of take a life of its own.
14:14And people sort of find it, discover it, get behind it.
14:17So that's kind of the hope.
14:18For you as a filmmaker, producer, director, everything on this project, are you only thinking in this week now?
14:24Or do you have plans like, okay, we've got to get on to demand in a month.
14:28We have to do, like, you think that far ahead?
14:30All that's coming up, yeah.
14:32Like, I've been thinking about this week first.
14:34But, yeah, then we've got to think about how we're going to get out to the rest of the world and the rest of the people.
14:39So that all is part and parcel of executive producing.
14:42Because, like, once it gets to here and if it does this way, then we go that way.
14:44But if it does this way, then we go this way.
14:46Something like that.
14:46Yeah, something like that.
14:47You know what I mean?
14:48Again, it's like, it's a lot of work and a lot of brainpower processing to figure it out.
14:55But, you know, I just, I think it's going to go well.
14:57We've shown it twice in Australia now, two premieres down under.
15:01And the reception's been good.
15:03The reception's been great.
15:04It's been great.
15:05I think people are very surprised by it is what I keep hearing.
15:08They're like, oh, my God.
15:09That was just, it's a lot of stuff for two hours.
15:12And it's funny because, like, I also help run the social media.
15:15Like, I'm across all that.
15:16So if anyone does comments, I will see them.
15:19And it's funny because, like, you know, I'm a fan myself of Star Wars and Aliens and other franchises.
15:24So I grew up on these chat boards or forums back in the day before there was social media.
15:29And would always be texting and having conversations about movies and breaking it down.
15:33Now I see people doing it about this movie, you know, especially book fans or even people who haven't read the book, you know.
15:38I wonder what dinosaurs would be in it.
15:39Oh, I saw some comment this morning going, I bet you they've shown all the good stuff in the trailers and there's nothing left to see.
15:44And I'm like, nope.
15:45You know, it's just funny to see it myself.
15:47And I know the whole thing.
15:49And I've seen the whole from where to go, you know, because I don't like in movies when they give away too much in trailers and clips.
15:57And as much as everyone's been asking me, you know, cut clips and we'll put them on Entertainment Tonight.
16:01I'm like, no, no, I'm not really showing anything.
16:04So, again, it's all through my hands.
16:06You know what I mean?
16:06Like, I get to be the final say, which is a good feeling because I kind of think I know what to do.
16:11Is it crazy that shows like Entertainment Tonight want to put your independent film on there?
16:15Yeah.
16:16Yeah, it's great.
16:17You know what I mean?
16:17It's again, it becomes a life of its own.
16:19And I think it's happened since the teaser Comic-Con.
16:21Now it's kind of just like, you know, now almost almost kind of like a mini studio production.
16:27Well, it feels like when you look at The Hollywood Reporter and having podcasts and doing everything else.
16:31It feels like a little mini studio film when it's not.
16:35Does that happen because the trailer did so well?
16:38I think so.
16:39I think so.
16:40I think so.
16:40It went well.
16:41People just resonated and it just looks good.
16:44You know?
16:45Yeah.
16:45It's hard to talk about myself.
16:46I'm never usually this open with it because I'm, you know, I'm very much like I did it,
16:50so I don't want to talk about it.
16:51But you kind of got to put yourself out there.
16:53Yeah.
16:54How do you decide what dinosaurs to put in the movie?
16:56Because in Primitive War, there are different species.
16:59So you have to narrow down what you want.
17:01How do you know what they look like?
17:02Are you just following the drafts of what Ethan drew in the book?
17:05Yeah.
17:05Yeah, we tried to follow as much as he could in the comic because that's what really got
17:08me involved was seeing the comic cover of the Utahraptor jumping on a soldier.
17:14So I kept the Utahraptors pretty close to their counterparts.
17:17And then there's some dinosaurs in the book that I just couldn't fit, unfortunately, so
17:21I'd love to put them in maybe a sequel.
17:24And then, yeah, it's just deciding which ones in the story would make sense.
17:27And also then the budget as well.
17:29How are we going to create this many dinosaurs on the budget that we had?
17:33But I kept pushing, I kept pushing.
17:36What's the, well, I'll go into that after.
17:39Do the dinosaurs have feathers in your movie?
17:41Yes.
17:42The dinosaurs have feathers.
17:43And that was something that I wanted to do because of the book and the comic and everything
17:47to make them look like the counterparts.
17:49Also make them look like what kind of paleontology thinks they look like now, but also keeping
17:53with Ethan's book.
17:54So it's that fine line and then adding a little bit of my own influence.
17:58Because you have to add your own influence.
17:59Because again, this might be the only dinosaur film I get to make.
18:02You know, I always try to think like that.
18:03I always try to think this might be the only film, this might be the only time I'm on this
18:06podcast with you.
18:07It might be the only time I'm at San Diego Comic-Con.
18:08I got to take, I don't take anything for granted.
18:10You know what I mean?
18:11Because it's such been a long road to get here.
18:13Who knows what's going to happen, right?
18:15So I'm always like, this is the only time I might make a dinosaur movie.
18:18I have to put my stamp on it.
18:20So let's go paleontology, let's go Ethan's book, and let's go a little bit Luke's book.
18:24So people go, that's the primitive war design, T-Rex, whatever.
18:28The one image that went crazy viral was the three raptors with the knife in the eye.
18:33Yeah.
18:34Was that a difficult decision for you to release to the public?
18:37Did you want to save that?
18:38That particular shot?
18:39Yeah, it was.
18:40That was the shot that we had the most conversation back and forth in that first teaser trailer.
18:44You know, how much do we show?
18:45How much do we don't show?
18:47I wanted to show it.
18:48And I'm always the guy saying, don't show it.
18:50I'm like, I love the J.J. Abrams mystery box approach with not showing too much.
18:55That's why the next trailer doesn't really have much of the story.
18:59It's kind of just like dinosaurs fighting people.
19:02But that one, I definitely, I'm the one to push for that.
19:05Because I'm like, we have to show them something.
19:06We got to show people that there's something cool in here.
19:09So, yeah.
19:09That's what hooked my attention.
19:11Yeah.
19:11Yeah.
19:11I did that.
19:12Yeah.
19:13Wow.
19:14Do you have a paleontologist that you consult with this stuff, similar to how you have the military advisor?
19:19Yeah.
19:19I had a couple that I sort of, they didn't come out to set because they were American.
19:23A couple I just emailed and just had a sort of conversation back and forth.
19:26A few of them in Montana and Utah and that.
19:29So, you know, just get a little advice.
19:31Yeah.
19:32But mainly copying the book story because I didn't want to go, didn't want to have another on top of everything else to be like.
19:38And then they would be like this.
19:39And I'm like, okay, well, I need them to do this because of the story.
19:41So, we'll just do that.
19:43Right.
19:43Being a fan of Entourage, what was it like working with Jeremy Piven?
19:46I love Entourage.
19:47I can't deny it either.
19:49I love it.
19:50I was actually watching it when I was working on some other big shows like The Pacific.
19:54It was on around that same time on HBO.
19:57And I was working on HBO's The Pacific.
19:58So, a lot of people were talking about it on there.
20:02But, yeah, working with Jeremy was great.
20:04I mean, that's what I wanted.
20:05I wanted to bring in that sense of his energy into the scenes.
20:09I didn't want just another sort of stuck-up military colonel, which would be correct.
20:14But I just wanted just this flavor.
20:16And Jeremy brings that flavor to it.
20:19And it was great having him there.
20:21And as soon as I said action, you know, he brought that energy.
20:24And we would sort of – every act is different.
20:25Some actors like the action, cut, let's go again.
20:29Other people like Jeremy were a bit more loose and a bit more like, hey, I'm just going to say action.
20:33And let's just run three, four takes together.
20:36Let's just keep it going.
20:37You know what I mean?
20:38Get the energy in the room.
20:39So, by the time take two, three, four games around and we're all together, it's like, hey, we're getting some good stuff.
20:44This is some cool stuff.
20:46And you might miss that magic.
20:48It becomes, you know, action, cut, go again.
20:50Everyone has a break.
20:51Everyone has a drink.
20:52But to keep it going, that's where I think some of the magic happens.
20:55What do you think your specialty is when directing an actor for an intense scene?
21:01My specialty?
21:02Yeah.
21:03Finding the magic, that's kind of – yeah, that's my biggest thing is just allowing them the leash.
21:08You know what I mean?
21:09I'm really sort of – my creativity is more everywhere else.
21:13You know, watching the props, watching the backgrounds, watching where the shots, where the dinosaurs are going to be.
21:19And with the actors, I sort of give them a lot of space to find themselves.
21:22And I'll step in if I go, okay, we need more or we need less.
21:25But, you know, usually I'm like, you do you and I'll see how it goes and then we'll go from there.
21:30So, for me, it's giving them the leash.
21:32Right.
21:33Jeremy Piven called you the Australian Steven Spielberg.
21:36I saw that.
21:37Is that a crazy compliment for you?
21:40Because taking on such a giant task in an independent film for this is pretty – really, really crazy.
21:47It is very crazy.
21:48And to see it and to read it and it caught on, you know, for the last week or so, his statement.
21:54So, I've been contacted by a lot of people about it.
21:57It's cool.
21:57It's obviously, you know, a moment you go, wow, that's awesome.
22:01I don't want to be, you know, I want to have tickets on myself.
22:05But, like, I can see why he would say it and why it would catch on because it's a dinosaur movie.
22:10And look, I absolutely love Steven Spielberg.
22:12He is one of my idols.
22:14I guess when you watch some of my trailers in the movies, you kind of see it in there.
22:18So, it's an ultimate compliment to me.
22:22What's the most expensive filming day?
22:24The most expensive filming day on this movie?
22:27Yes.
22:28On Permit of War.
22:28They were all pretty expensive, you know, for our budget for an indie film.
22:33The days when we're on the boat, I guess you see in the trailer, there's a whole boat scene and that.
22:38That was pretty expensive.
22:39And towards the end of the movie, which hasn't really been revealed in the trailer as much,
22:42but there's a facility and lots of troops and soldiers running around.
22:46And all that stuff starts adding to the budget.
22:49But because it's all kind of set in the jungle, it's one of those things where I knew I could do it
22:53because it's not like it's every day in the cities and thousands of people and, you know, the Avengers or something.
23:00You know, it's all kind of like once they're in the jungle with these seven dudes, it's like, you know, they're there.
23:04In Australia, we have all these awesome jungles down the road from where I live.
23:10So, I knew it was achievable on the budget.
23:12But, yeah, once you start getting, like, hundreds of extras and boats and tanks and everything else,
23:17it starts definitely raising the budget.
23:20I think at the beginning of the movie, we have, like, a village, a Vietnam village.
23:24And, you know, in the book and in the script, at least, it was just, like, a few troops, a million around,
23:29a few buildings and whatever.
23:30And I'm adding in, like, tanks and helicopters.
23:34And, you know, because I'm just like, let's just go big.
23:36Let's just swing for the fences.
23:37And also, as I'm the production designer and the director and everything else, I kind of have a final say over it.
23:43So, when I come across things, I came across a gentleman who had all these tanks and helicopters.
23:49Oh, wow.
23:50I didn't even realize, like, an hour or so away from where I live.
23:53And it's where you go in.
23:54It's where you go.
23:55And I've been on other shows, like some other bigger military shows before I became a director,
23:59where they go, oh, well, that tank is actually 1948 and we're 1946 or the other way around.
24:05You know, whatever it is, and you can't really use it.
24:07Where I go in, I'm like, we can make this work.
24:09What we'll do is we'll change it this way and do this, but it's the production value becomes exponential.
24:13You know what I mean?
24:14So, once I saw this whole thing, I'm like, we're taking all of these.
24:17We're going to put them all in the movie.
24:18And everyone's like, but not in the script.
24:19I'm like, no, we're going to put them in.
24:21So, it's all, it's funny.
24:22Again, you just go, that's magic.
24:24I didn't expect that.
24:25So, you're finding these things along the way and you have to just roll with the punches.
24:28Did you go over budget for the movie?
24:30Did I go over the budget?
24:32Probably.
24:33I mean, probably.
24:33I definitely pushed it as much as I possibly can.
24:37And then that was the shooting portion.
24:39And then it was always, we said, because people ask me, how are we going to do the dinosaurs?
24:42Even my own crew.
24:43When I sat down and said, let's do it.
24:44Did you have an idea, even once you finished, you knew what you were going to do?
24:47Yes.
24:47Or you don't figure that out in post?
24:49You have that vision right away.
24:50I had the vision right away.
24:51So, I shot it knowing that I'm going to do it, but it's how to achieve that is always the next question.
24:55So, we shot it for the budget we had.
24:58And then over the last 18 months, we've been adding to the budget every couple of months to push it forward to go, let's get this scene right.
25:07Let's make sure the dinosaurs look good and everything else.
25:09So, yeah, it's been interesting.
25:11What's the run time on the movie?
25:12Two hours, 15.
25:14Two hours, 15 minutes.
25:14Wow.
25:15Which is the exact same as the latest dinosaur movie that came out.
25:19Other dinosaur movies in the ether at all.
25:21Yeah, the one that came out recently.
25:23Okay.
25:24How much of that is special effects with dinosaurs?
25:29The run time.
25:30The run time.
25:31How much is it with dinosaurs in the run time?
25:33Yeah.
25:34A lot.
25:35And that's the most costly part, right?
25:36Yeah.
25:37Doing all the effects.
25:38Yeah.
25:39Once the dinosaurs arrive, I think every five minutes there's something to do with dinosaurs.
25:43Wow.
25:44Yeah.
25:44So, there's no like 45 minutes go by where it's like, let's do the drama.
25:49And again, I see the online comments and a lot of people are expecting that.
25:52They go, oh, well, I'm sure it'll be like, you know, one dinosaur in the bush and then drama for half an hour.
25:58It's not going to happen.
25:59Not this movie.
26:00For a movie director like you, what is the night before the release going to be like?
26:05Because we're six days away, right?
26:07Yep.
26:08Yeah.
26:08It comes out August 21st.
26:09Yep.
26:10Today's August 15th.
26:11Yep.
26:11So, six days away.
26:12Yep.
26:13What are you feeling now?
26:14A couple of days away from our premiere as well on the 18th.
26:18Here in America.
26:19In LA, yeah.
26:21It's kind of like Christmas Eve.
26:23Do you know what I mean?
26:24It's kind of, I've always said it's kind of like Christmas Eve.
26:26It's that, when you're a kid, you know, it's that nervous excitement and trepidation.
26:31You know what I mean?
26:31Like, am I going to get the gift that I want under the tree?
26:34It's kind of like, is this going to land?
26:36Are people going to like it?
26:37Is it going to expand out?
26:38Is it going to catch on?
26:39Who knows?
26:40You know what I mean?
26:40It's all in the hands of everybody else.
26:42What does it take for you to do a sequel at Primitive War?
26:46The opening weekend would be good.
26:48You know what I mean?
26:49Probably not.
26:50Like, that's probably me just being facetious.
26:51But, you know, obviously it would really help.
26:53But I think this movie will have legs on VOD.
26:55I think it's a great streaming movie.
26:58You can sit back and watch it for two hours and it's engaging, that's for sure.
27:03So, I think it just needs to go well, obviously.
27:07It just needs to go a little well.
27:08Right.
27:09Enough to get talking points to get me a sequel.
27:12Can you explain to me how, when you have a movie and it's done its time in the movie theater,
27:16does Amazon Prime reach out to you and say, we want to put this on for six months?
27:20And then Peacock's like, no, we want it for a year.
27:22And then you make the decision on where you want to put it?
27:25So, I've never had that yet.
27:28So, I can't really talk about it.
27:29I think that's how it could happen.
27:33Yeah.
27:33Who knows?
27:34Like, I think it's going to be just, you know, how it goes in cinemas.
27:38And then, yeah, there might be a fight between the two.
27:41Like, there's definitely offers on the table now.
27:43I had a call yesterday with my team and they're like, look, there's people biting at my ankles to get a hold of this film.
27:49But, again, it's just got to be, for me, the right deal that makes sense.
27:52Yeah.
27:52And they're even going to get me in the room now with some of these offers so I can talk to them face-to-face to be like, how are you going to do this for my movie?
27:59You know what I mean?
28:00Like, explain to me.
28:01Wow.
28:01Because I've just, you know, worked so hard in this movie.
28:04You know what I mean?
28:05Like, and it's kind of like, it's a bit of an, you know, sort of an outlier, you know, where people go, they love to have their numbers, right?
28:13They go, well, if you have, you know, an A-list actor and you have this and you have that, then it's going to do this much and we'll buy it for this.
28:19But if you do this, it's going to be straight to VOD movie.
28:21But we're kind of like in this zone where it's kind of like, no one knows because dinosaur films don't come out that much, you know?
28:27So no one knows how it's going to go.
28:29So it's very interesting.
28:30When you're filming an actual scene with the dinosaurs, do you have puppets on the other side so that the actors can interact with them?
28:35I used every trick in the book that I could on the budget that we had.
28:39So, yes, there was a couple of times where we had puppets of the Utah Raptors.
28:44And that was really cool.
28:46That was more when we were in the facility.
28:48There's some in the trailer, some shots in the trailer.
28:50In the facility, because it was where I really get it on sort of flat ground, the puppets.
28:53But most of the time we were shooting up in the jungles and ravines and canyons and crazy locations that I pushed the crew to walk through again on a very small team.
29:03And are they lugging all that equipment?
29:04Yes.
29:05I mean, yeah, they have to.
29:05They have to.
29:06They have to, yes.
29:08And then we had this big monsoon come in one week and it just turned to mud and everything was just terrible.
29:13And we couldn't get our trucks up the hill.
29:14And luckily, the gentleman with all the tanks and that, he had all this military equipment.
29:18And so, we quickly ran him and as a producer, you're going to turn that into sort of how you're going to make that happen.
29:24So, my producers, Carmel and Carly, they got on the phone and worked with Alex, my first AD, who's also wearing multiple hats.
29:31And he's also visual effects and everything else.
29:33And we got on the phone and got the military equipment in to actually get up the hills to get where we needed to go.
29:38But we could only take like two people at a time and like a little bit of equipment.
29:41So, it was a whole nightmare of logistics that come into it.
29:45But, you know, there was some of our crew were like, well, we should just pack up and go somewhere else.
29:48And so, there's all these questions and answers you got to sort of think on your feet.
29:52And we said, no, we're going to go.
29:53How about we change this scene to over there?
29:55While we're doing that scene, we'll get things up the hill and we'll get there later.
29:58And then we're going to get down to the waterfall and do that.
30:00And so, it was this whole logistical nightmare.
30:02How does it work with permitting there in Australia?
30:04Can you just, since you're in the jungle, can you kind of just adjust wherever?
30:07For permits?
30:08Yeah.
30:09Yeah.
30:09I mean, it's a thing.
30:10Luckily, most of the stuff we were shooting on was private property.
30:13You know what I mean?
30:14So, guys who owned, you know, there was one gentleman that had, you know, a big cow.
30:19I think his thing was cows.
30:20But at the back of his property was just this amazing jungle hill that he, you know, he's like, it's a jungle.
30:26You know what I mean?
30:26You can go back there and do whatever you want.
30:28So, location scouting took us a while to find these places.
30:31But, you know, I've worked on some other films that have been around in those same zones.
30:35So, I could sort of go, oh, let's go to Palm Grove for that scene.
30:38And there was a couple more we had to find.
30:40So, we found his place, which was really great.
30:42What kind of cameras do you shoot on?
30:43What kind of cameras?
30:44It was the Ari Alexas, the large format, large format Alexas.
30:50And then we used vintage lenses on them to give a bit more of like a Vietnam old school anamorphic feel.
30:57So, it has that sort of, you know, quasi-platoon.
30:59So, it's not just so sharp and slick.
31:01Because a lot of the productions in Hollywood, you know, is very slick.
31:05You know what I mean?
31:06Which is great.
31:06You know, Superman and the other dinosaur movies that have come out.
31:09It's all very much very slick.
31:11Awesome.
31:12So, I wanted to lean in the complete opposite way.
31:14To go, you know, we're the grungy cousin.
31:18You know what I mean?
31:18We're the rock and roll cousin.
31:19That's what I keep saying to this movie, to the other franchises that are out there.
31:22You know, we're kind of like the rock and roll cousin.
31:24You know, so even the camera choices and the camera lenses is a bit more like, it's grungy.
31:29You know?
31:29What were the toughest decisions that you had to make while filming?
31:34While filming?
31:35For example, like the monsoon.
31:36Yeah, apart from all the logistical stuff.
31:38I think some of the early ideas is I wanted to do it slick.
31:41I wanted to have, you know, cranes and all these awesome toys that they use because to get the shots in my head that I wanted.
31:48You know, we'll have this camera crane sweeping around and come back around this way.
31:52And the budget's just like, no.
31:54You know, you can do that, but then you're going to miss out on all this other stuff.
31:56So the decision I made to make it grungy and to make it sort of more handheld, where it's almost like a Saving Private Ryan platoon feel in the war, that then leads on to after effects.
32:09Because then suddenly we're like, okay, now we're going to do a handheld camera in a valley with dinosaurs behind them.
32:15So then all the animators are like, so we have to do it handheld.
32:18We're not doing that nice camera, you know, cranes where we can put the dinosaurs in.
32:21Now it's all cameras doing this.
32:22And the dinosaurs are in the background moving.
32:25So it all affects, decisions that affect everything else.
32:28And that was a hard choice because they were like, are you really going to do this?
32:31Are you really going to make me do this with the dinosaurs?
32:33I'm like, yeah, it'd be cool.
32:34It'd be cool.
32:36And the feathers as well.
32:37A lot of people were like, don't do feathers because they're very difficult to do in the animation.
32:43And it was very difficult to do, but I'm glad we did them.
32:46But that was a tough choice to do.
32:48Can you talk about the sound design of your dinosaurs?
32:51Yeah.
32:51How do you figure out the noises that they're making?
32:53That's a good question.
32:54And again, I've got this one amazing sound dude, kind of like me.
32:57He's just a one-man band.
32:58So he's done it all.
32:59You know, when you watch this movie, it's Chris Goodes here in LA.
33:03He's an Australian that moved to LA.
33:04Luke, I'm so excited for this.
33:06Yeah, he's an Australian that moved to LA.
33:07So we just got to just, again, just me and him.
33:08There was no big corporate team or big discussion.
33:13It was just me and him just working it out together.
33:15And there's been stuff online about how dinosaurs sounded.
33:18I know there's like a famous YouTube clip out there of like, the dinosaurs could sound like this.
33:22And they kind of sound like big ducks and all this kind of stuff.
33:24And we listened to it.
33:25And I'm like, I mean, how do we really know, right?
33:28I mean, how do we really know what a dinosaur sounds like?
33:30I'm sure out there somewhere, some paleontologist is like, I know exactly.
33:34Do you know Colossal Scientists?
33:36No, I don't.
33:38They brought back the dire wolf.
33:40Have you heard about that?
33:40Oh, yes.
33:40I have heard about that.
33:41Eventually, maybe they'll do a dinosaur.
33:42Maybe, maybe.
33:44Exactly.
33:44And then everything could be wrong.
33:45Everything could be wrong.
33:46And all these movies and everything I'm doing, right?
33:49So, you know, it's hard to say.
33:51There's that fine line where people go, it's not a documentary, it's a movie.
33:54And I don't like that saying so much in my career because I think you should try to at least, if you're going to do it, try to do it right, right?
33:59But again, with my own ideas in it.
34:02So, yeah, we got together and he just came up with a whole bunch of different ideas and put, you know, lots of different animals.
34:07We used a lot of birds because the Utah raptors eventually, we think, evolved into birds, all that dromosaurus family of raptors and everything else, you know.
34:18So, we used a lot of birds as a base and then sort of worked on a bit more base around them to have that sort of feeling because they're bigger, you know.
34:25Or we looked at, like, goannas or crocodiles and be like, imagine, or a Komodo dragon sound and imagine that, you know, it's extrapolated to a T-Rex.
34:34How would that feel on a massive creature from this creature to a massive creature?
34:38Right.
34:38So, we worked on a lot of that.
34:40That's all we can really do, right?
34:41Base it on some sort of science and some sort of, you know, these are reptiles, they're birds, and then to use that to launch pet into something else.
34:49And in the final trailer, there's two T-Rexes at the end, the father and the mother, the Rex.
34:54So, we wanted to, again, make them very different.
34:56So, they have two distinct sounds and two distinct roars.
35:00You know, it's all this kind of really nerdy film stuff that gets to go into it, and I hope people pick it up on it, you know.
35:05Oh, I'm sure they are.
35:07Yeah, I mean, the Sydney premiere, a lot of people said, I can't believe you've made us feel something for two Tyrannosaurus Rexes,
35:14because there's this kind of storyline in there with the two of them.
35:16And I was really pushing it in the edit to try to see if it landed.
35:20And in Sydney, everyone said, I can't believe you made us feel something for the dinosaurs.
35:23I'm like, well, that's good.
35:24And that's something.
35:26Mission accomplished.
35:26Yeah.
35:27Are there flying dinosaurs in the movie?
35:29Yes.
35:30Are those hard to animate and create?
35:32Yes.
35:32Everything's hard.
35:35But, yeah, obviously, it has another level.
35:37And we actually redid those scenes twice.
35:40In post?
35:41In post.
35:42Because the first time, you know, the film was going to be one thing, and now it's turning to something else.
35:47So, again, when we started watching the dailies and we started doing some of the early models that we had, we were like, well, this is what we'll do, and this is what the movie will be, because this is our budget.
35:56And then when we saw, I think, the T-Rex, there's a T-Rex sequence, because he's chasing the guys.
36:00And once that was all final, we were like, oh, my God.
36:05You know what I mean?
36:05We were like, this is actually really cool.
36:07And then I went back and watched the flying dinosaur scene.
36:09I'm like, this doesn't match.
36:11So I had to pretty much scrap it and start again from scratch.
36:15Oh, wow.
36:15Yeah.
36:16Is that just, that's lost budget then?
36:18Yeah.
36:19Yeah.
36:19It was very disappointing on this scale film, you know what I mean?
36:23To have to stand there, and everyone's like, we can do it.
36:26What do you think?
36:27And it comes down to me, you know, and I was like, scrap it.
36:30Wow.
36:30Because there's no point, right?
36:32Like, you've got to swing for the fence, you've got to make it good.
36:34So we scrapped it and started all over again.
36:36What kind of weaponry do you use?
36:38Weaponary in the movie.
36:39Yeah.
36:40Is it all from Vietnam War?
36:41Yeah.
36:41Yeah.
36:42It's all authentic Vietnam.
36:43We had a great armorer, and he was there every day who worked with the military advisor.
36:48And again, he's, everyone's got their own little nerd sections of all the people on
36:53set, right?
36:53You've got the camera nerds, you've got the lighting nerds.
36:55So true.
36:56Because everyone's like their own, you know, which is great because they're so passionate.
36:59The sound design guys.
37:00The sound design guys.
37:01Listen to this.
37:01So the armorers, the armor nerd, you know what I mean?
37:04So it's like, you know, we're talking about, you go over and talk to him, and he's talking
37:07about the M203s and the, you know, what version of the M16 was used at this particular
37:12time of the war, and what kind of cult, you know, cult 45s and the AK-47s, and he'd come
37:16out, and he's like, I got this extra special AK that's got like a folding stock, and we
37:20can use this in a scene.
37:21I'm like, great, I love it.
37:22Like, and that's the sort of stuff I used to do on set as a costumer.
37:25I used to be right near the director and go, hey, I've actually got like a, we're in
37:29a trench in World of One, you know, I've actually got some German armor or a German
37:32mace.
37:32I remember one day I was like, I've got this like original German mace that they use in
37:35trench.
37:35He's like, I love it.
37:36Let's get it in.
37:36Because if no one tells the director, they're going to be like, this is what I got.
37:40Like, so I'll always be there.
37:41So I tell my team all the time, like, come and ask me anything.
37:44If you've got some nerdy thing or some crazy idea, tell me.
37:47And I'll be like, let's get it on screen.
37:48Let's go.
37:49You are the king of decisions being the director.
37:51So everyone's just throwing things at you.
37:53Like, do you want this like this?
37:54Yeah.
37:54Hey, should we do this at three o'clock?
37:55Yeah.
37:56Yeah.
37:56Yeah.
37:57Is that overwhelming?
37:58Well, you have to get used to it, and that's kind of your job, right?
38:01Like, and luckily, as a director, you kind of have to love it.
38:05Otherwise, you'd be crazy.
38:06You know what I mean?
38:06So I do love it.
38:07I love being there and just, you know, working all out and telling people, you know, where
38:11to go and what to do and how I want it, you know?
38:13So, yeah, the armory, we used all authentic weapons, and that's cool.
38:18And then the costume design as well, I think, in this film is like really, really well done
38:21because everyone's got their own distinct style.
38:24You know, everyone's like, you know, you think in Vietnam, everyone's just wearing green,
38:27and you could do that.
38:28But the costume designer, Tracy, she really worked hard on, like, making sure everyone's
38:32got their own style.
38:33So when you watch the film, everyone's different enough, you know?
38:36We pulled out some original, you know, Vietnam jackets and pants and helmets.
38:42They're all real.
38:42They're all original.
38:44So, yeah, it's been really, really cool.
38:45How long ago did you start the production filming of this movie?
38:49We started in April last year.
38:52April last year.
38:53When did you find out that there was another dinosaur movie coming out being released this
38:57year?
38:57Did that, like, stump you?
38:59That really sucked.
39:00Did it?
39:00Yeah.
39:01I mean, look, it's all worked out.
39:03But at the time, I think we were, like, two, three weeks into our production.
39:07Like, how would I know?
39:09You know what I mean?
39:09And, yeah, I was like, oh, man.
39:12You know what I mean?
39:13Like, at the time, we were just like, well, we just got to go.
39:16You know, I had, like, one sort of thought.
39:18And I was like, all right, don't worry about it.
39:19And then what really kind of sucked was early this year when the dinosaur film dropped their
39:26trailer and there's, like, Spinosauruses in the water and there's all this stuff.
39:30And I'm like, oh, no.
39:32Because you had a Spinosaurus in the water?
39:33Yeah, we did.
39:34And the funny part is in the book, it's a different dinosaur.
39:37In the book, it's a Caprosuchus, which is, like, a big giant, not giant, but a big crocodile,
39:41like a bull crocodile that sort of walked a bit higher than a normal crocodile does now.
39:46Are those bigger than regular crocodiles?
39:48I don't think that, I think they're bigger, but some of our saltwater crocodiles in Australia
39:52are kind of similar in a way.
39:54But that was the problem.
39:55We had it pre-viz, you know, which is the early version you do of the visual effects.
40:00The first thing I do is pre-viz out the dinosaurs, which is, like, a really basic-looking thing.
40:04You know, when people watch it, they're like, is this the film?
40:06I'm like, no, no, no, this is pre-viz.
40:08Don't freak out.
40:09You know, because then from there, we just get the sense of what's happening in the shot.
40:13The space in conversation.
40:14Yeah, yeah, and then we can send it on to the animators who then watch that and go,
40:17okay, that's kind of what you wanted, and they'll do their own thing on top.
40:20You know, we had the pre-viz out of the Caprosuchus scene on the boat, and people watched it,
40:25and the feed, because I always love having people come and see it.
40:28It's kind of like a test screening.
40:29In Hollywood, they love the test screenings, and I don't really like full test screenings,
40:33but I have enough where I have people come and see it to be like, is it working?
40:35Do you understand what's going on?
40:37And the main feedback from the first screening was people go, oh, they're just big crocodiles.
40:41I've seen that before.
40:42I've seen Lake Placid.
40:43I've seen, you know, Crawl.
40:45I've seen crocodile movies.
40:46We should be using more dinosaurs.
40:48And I was like, you know, it's a pretty good note.
40:49You know what I mean?
40:50So I said, all right, let's change it.
40:51As much as I think they're cool, and I love to put the Caprosuchus in a sequel and whatever.
40:55But for this particular one, I was like, you know what?
40:57That's a cool, cool, cool note.
40:58So then I changed it to Spinosauruses, and then this trailer comes out from this other movie,
41:02and there's Spinosauruses in the water.
41:04And I was like, oh, man.
41:07But, you know, hopefully it all works out, because we hadn't seen Spinosauruses for a
41:11while, you know, since the other one back in, like, 2001 or something, the other dinosaur
41:16movie.
41:17And I was like, let's bring the Spinosauruses back, and we'll have the fins coming out of
41:20the water, and it'll be really cool.
41:21And then this other trailer comes out, and the fins coming out of the water, and I was
41:24like, ah.
41:27Anyway, luckily it's a small part of that film.
41:29Do you have little mini dinosaurs, too?
41:31Yeah, we've got the, I think the smallest ones we have is the Deinonychus, which is
41:36like the same family as the raptor, and it's like a smaller version.
41:40Were you a dinosaur expert before taking on this movie?
41:43I wouldn't say an expert, but I'm a dinosaur lover, you know what I mean?
41:47There's a great story, when I was in kindergarten, back in, like, 1990, I was in kindergarten, and
41:52for show and tell, I brought a whole bunch of these, like, really old school, because
41:55the 80s dinosaurs, before JP came out.
41:58So it was like, the T-Rex had the tail on the ground, and it was all kind of different
42:01to what we know now.
42:02But I brought a whole bunch to school, and my teacher, Mrs. Duff, liked it so much that
42:06she made me go around the entire school and show the same show and tell to every class
42:10of all these dinosaurs.
42:12So I've always loved dinosaurs.
42:14Wow.
42:14Yeah.
42:15Land Before Time.
42:17Love that movie.
42:18Did you have an approach of how you wanted to make sure that war and the dinosaurs and
42:26sci-fi and horror all blended together?
42:29Because you're combining a lot of different genres, per se.
42:33Even as you say it, that sounds crazy, right?
42:35It does.
42:35It's a really big thing to chew on.
42:39Yeah.
42:39Was that hard to find the balance of keeping all of those throughout the whole film?
42:42It was, because you could make this film one particular way.
42:46If you just went horror, it would be one thing, right?
42:49But I didn't really, yeah, as much as there's horror elements in there, and there is, there's
42:52some crazy scenes where you're like, ooh.
42:55I didn't want the whole film to feel like some sort of crazy horror or sort of an elevated
43:00A24 movie.
43:01Like, this is, it's very much is what it is, right?
43:04It's dinosaurs versus soldiers.
43:05So at some point you have to go, that's what I want to tell.
43:08But yeah, it's a fine line to work all that out.
43:11And the military aspect alone, I wanted to make sure that, again, like I said, we respected
43:15the military because it's a real conflict.
43:18People really obviously died in this movie, so, in the war.
43:22So that was something I really wanted to make sure I worked on and, you know, kept it sort
43:26of true to the, as much as I could to the veterans.
43:29What was it like when you had dinosaurs eating people?
43:32How do you film those kind of shots?
43:34Yeah, for those shots, I don't want to reel too much before the movie, but for those shots,
43:38Maybe more on the director side.
43:40Like, how do you, how do you make that happen?
43:42Yeah.
43:42How do I make that happen?
43:43It was, you got to get the actors into the headspace.
43:46You know what I mean?
43:46And luckily the actors that were doing, that do get eaten, they obviously had a lot of
43:51preparation for it.
43:52So we had a lot of conversations about how that's going to work and how we're going
43:55to do it and how they're going to be and feel.
43:57And I think they did a really great job.
43:59But for the, for that one, we kind of had lots of different mocap ideas and we had sort
44:03of guys in, in, in mocap stuff because I wanted to make it feel like shit was happening.
44:08And are the guys, the dinosaurs, they're playing dinosaurs?
44:10Yeah.
44:11Wow.
44:12Yeah.
44:13So crazy.
44:14Yeah.
44:15When you got the dailies back and you're looking at it, did you feel there was something special
44:19about it?
44:20Yeah.
44:20Yeah.
44:21A hundred percent.
44:21I think there's every day I was like, this is really good.
44:25You know what I mean?
44:25Like this is, again, for what we were doing, it's, it's hard to look in the perspective
44:29of the world, but for what we were doing, I'm like, man, I think we're pulling this
44:32off.
44:33You know, like, um, yeah, a hundred percent.
44:35Who would you say this movie is for fans of like platoon?
44:39What else would it?
44:40Yeah.
44:40I think there's a certain cohort of people that maybe they're our age that watched maybe
44:44the land for time or the early, you know, the early dinosaur movies in the nineties,
44:48um, who have grown up and matured and kind of maybe want those movies to mature with them.
44:55But maybe they're not getting what they want, uh, because it keeps reverting back to,
44:59you know, toys and, and, and kids and everything else.
45:03And I think there's definitely, and that's cool.
45:04I have no problem with that at all.
45:06Right.
45:06Cause I love those movies too.
45:07You know, Spielberg, Jurassic, the first Jurassic Park is like my, maybe my second favorite movie
45:12of all time.
45:13I saw it when I was nine years old.
45:14It was a huge impression on me to make, um, to be a director, you know, him and George
45:19Lucas.
45:20Um, so, but I think there's a certain group of my age that would go, I would love to see
45:25adult dinosaur movies.
45:27And just like anything in life, when you're trying to advertise or make a product, if
45:31there's a gap in the market, that gap can get filled.
45:33And I feel like this fills that gap for people that can, you can watch those movies and you
45:37can watch this one and get two different things out of it.
45:40So I think that's for, there'll be a huge cohort of people my age who I hope go and see this
45:44movie to go, I've always wanted to see this.
45:47And this is filling that, that, that, that gap.
45:49Have you seen it on the big screen yet?
45:51Yeah.
45:51Twice at the premieres.
45:53Oh, Oh, you sat through them.
45:54Uh, yeah, yeah.
45:55I always, I always sit through them.
45:57I sit through, you know, I'll probably even duck into a cinema here in LA when it comes
46:00out and watch it with an audience.
46:02Cause I always like to hear reactions and it's good to see, you see enough and then you
46:06go, Oh, that one works.
46:07Cause everyone reacts at that particular moment.
46:09It's always fun picking up times that scenes go for one audience or the other.
46:14You know, there'll be one line in a premiere, got nothing.
46:18And the next premiere, Oh, that's a funny line.
46:20I'm like, Oh, okay.
46:21Didn't work for them, but it works for these people.
46:22It was very interesting to see that as a director and I always like to plan for the next one
46:27and you know, what works and what doesn't.
46:29But yeah, I've seen it twice on the big screen because this was like hot off the press.
46:32Like we worked this movie, like this, this movie killed me, you know, like we worked right
46:37up until the, the date for, you know, the, the, the delivery.
46:41I was like, yeah, I was like, what is the final date before you need the cinemas?
46:44They're like this date, which is like July 31st.
46:46And I even like, like two weeks ago.
46:48Yeah.
46:48You were still editing it?
46:49Yeah.
46:49Yeah.
46:50Wow.
46:50Not editing.
46:51I was working all the effects and the, and the, and the color grading and the sound mix
46:55and everything else.
46:55So, but yeah, we even blew past that date.
46:57And I was just like, I'm sorry, we're still going because we're like such as it's like
47:02me and Alex is my, my offside in the edit room and that's it.
47:05And then we have the, the, the, the visual effects guys and they're like one, one color
47:09grader and one sound guy.
47:10So it was like really small team and we just kind of blew past it.
47:14We're like, I'm sorry.
47:15We just got to get it right.
47:16If I give it to you now, it's yummy.
47:17Like I'm not going to do it.
47:18So we spent like the next, like last weekend, I think it was last weekend, weekend before
47:23either way, it was like this massive weekend where none of us slept.
47:26And I mean that literally, but none of us slept.
47:28It was almost like one of those courtroom scenes where you see the guys walk around with
47:31their tires off and they're like all tired.
47:33And it's like, okay, so this scene, we've got to get some more color.
47:36And it's like, we're all tired and we want to go home, but we're like, we're here until
47:39it's done.
47:40And it was crazy.
47:41The craziest thing I've ever done.
47:42I was like, what are we doing?
47:43This movie better land.
47:44You know what I mean?
47:44Like how many times do you have to watch it in full to make sure a frame didn't drop
47:49out?
47:49Yeah.
47:50Yeah.
47:50So I had like Alex back at the studio and I was up at Cali Grady and when we were watching
47:53it through, I had to read and be like frame number 700 and thing that dropped out.
47:57Can you please repatch it?
47:58And he's like, okay.
47:59Is this on export or is this on, like, is this the final export where you're
48:02watching it back?
48:03Yeah.
48:04Yeah.
48:04So we were like, had this whole tag team going on.
48:06We were like, this is this neat fix scene.
48:08He'd send it.
48:09We'd patch it.
48:10And it was kept going around and around.
48:11So I was watching again and again and again.
48:12It was probably not how they make films in Hollywood, but it was like, I'm like, this
48:16is how we're going to do it.
48:17This is how we're going to get this done.
48:19Is it just one giant timeline?
48:20Yeah.
48:21At that point it was.
48:22Yeah.
48:22In what, in what program?
48:24Well, I cut on final cut.
48:26I cut this whole movie on final cut.
48:28I really enjoy final cut.
48:29Like it's just a good operating system for me.
48:31Right.
48:31But I think at that point in time, we'd put it into Resolve and then something else by
48:35then.
48:37Are they making it in After Effects also?
48:39No, we didn't really use After Effects that much in this one.
48:41Oh, wow.
48:42Yeah.
48:44What a task.
48:45It was.
48:45It was crazy.
48:46It was the hardest thing I've ever done.
48:47Like this movie is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.
48:49Like, so a lot of blood, sweat and tears.
48:51I know people say that, but there's literally in this movie, like blood, sweat and tears.
48:54For fans of the book and Ethan, has he seen the movie yet?
48:57No, he hasn't.
48:58Wow.
48:58Is he going to the premiere?
48:59Yes.
49:00Very cool.
49:00Yes.
49:00Yeah.
49:01I like to keep things pretty close to my chest.
49:03So I know he's, I've shared stuff with him.
49:05He's always, you know, writing to me and we have calls together in that.
49:08And he's like, can you show me what it looks like?
49:10And I like to wait till it gets to like the last, you know, a fully rendered shot.
49:14You know what I mean?
49:14And I showed him some stuff early and he was like, he was very happy, which was good.
49:19Which is good.
49:19I like to make people happy.
49:20August 21st, the film comes out.
49:24If anyone goes to see it in theaters, is there one scene that you can let people know that was a really exciting scene for you to film that they can be on the lookout for?
49:36Without saying too much.
49:38It's all pretty good.
49:39I mean, I really enjoy it.
49:41I really, and the last two premieres I've sat through, I get lost in it myself.
49:45But halfway through, I was like, I'm just watching it as a fan because I love dinosaurs.
49:49And this is the movie I want to see.
49:50So a couple of times, look, when it gets to the end, it gets to the climax.
49:55Like I was sitting right next to the actor who plays Miller at the premiere.
49:59Miller, who's a really, really good actor and a really great character in it.
50:03And he was awesome because he was like doing all the reactions because he hadn't seen it before.
50:06He was like, oh, oh damn.
50:08And he's like grabbing my arm.
50:10It was a good experience to do it.
50:12And I got through the end of like this big sequence at the end with these two T-Rexes.
50:16He gets through that and he's like, wow, what an ending.
50:19And I turned to him and I'm like, that's not the ending.
50:22It's not over yet.
50:23And he's like, what?
50:24And when it gets to the ending, I haven't shown anything in the trailers.
50:28And it's my piece.
50:30So when it gets to the ending, it's like, I was like, I'm going to take the ending and I'm going to do something for me.
50:36And I'm going to do it in a very different artistic way.
50:39And I'm really excited for people to see that.
50:41Luke, this has been awesome.
50:42Thank you so much for making the time.
50:43I have something for you too.
50:45Oh, what is it?
50:46It's a gift.
50:47You can keep on your shelf here.
50:48Okay.
50:50It's a challenge coin.
50:51Wow.
50:52Primitive War official challenge coin.
50:54This is awesome.
50:55It's in the military and a lot of people have these challenge coins they give out.
50:58So we've got an official Primitive War one.
51:01Sick.
51:02Thank you so much.
51:03That's all right.
51:03You can keep it on your shelf.
51:04I am.
51:05Luke, this is awesome.
51:06Guys, go see it.
51:07August 21st.
51:10AMC Regal.
51:11Yeah.
51:11Yeah.
51:12Look up all the times.
51:13It's all around.
51:13I really hope people go out and find it and like it and we can expand out.
51:19Luke, thanks for coming.
51:20Bye, everybody.
51:21That was so good.
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