A Conversation with "Showdown at the Grand" writer/director Orson Oblowitz.

Name: A Conversation with "Showdown at the Grand" writer/director Orson Oblowitz.
Uploaded: 2026-02-10T18:39:34+00:00
Duration: 18 min 28 s
Channel: Elements of Madness

Elements of Madness

EoM Senior Interviewer Thomas Manning recently spoke with writer and director Orson Oblowitz to chat about his latest film, "Showdown at the Grand." Oblowitz talks about the thematic through-lines across his filmography, as well as collaborating with Terrence Howard and combining their mutual love for the sanctity of movie theaters in this project. "Showdown at the Grand" also stars Dolph Lundgren, John Savage, and Amanda Righetti.

In select theaters and on VOD November 3 2023. #ShowdownattheGrand #ShoutStudios

www.shoutstudios.com/showdown-at-the-grand

Official Synopsis:
Proud cinephile George Fuller (Howard) loves the movies like no one else. As the owner of a movie theater, he's always got the best seat in the house. But when corporate developers threaten his livelihood, he finds himself closer to the action than he ever imagined! Now Fuller must defend his family business against an onslaught of ne'er-do-wells alongside legendary action star Claude Luc (Lundgren) as art imitates life in a showdown for the ages.

Directed/Written By: Orson Oblowitz
Cast: Terrence Howard, John Savage, Amanda Righetti, Piper Curda, Dolph Lundgren

Official Trailer: youtu.be/QQC9VelKz5A?si=fureukxtj-CMjHXs

Category

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Short film

Transcript

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00:00Hi and welcome into EOM Presents. This is Thomas Manning, senior interviewer for Elements of Madness.

00:05And recently I got a chance to sit down with director Orson Obliewicz talking about his new film Showdown at the Grand,

00:11which stars the likes of Terrence Howard, Dolph Lundgren, and John Savage, among many other recognizable names and faces.

00:19And this film is as much a love letter to movie theaters as it is to 80s action films.

00:26And I really enjoyed talking with Orson about his joy for cinema in all forms and the presentation of cinema

00:35and just how much that means to him as a storyteller and just personally, individually as well.

00:43So thanks so much to Orson Obliewicz for a great conversation.

00:47Hope you all enjoy as we chat about Showdown at the Grand.

00:51It's great to meet you and I really do appreciate your time today.

00:54Yeah, great to meet you as well. I'm enjoying looking at your Cliff Booth Hollywood Stuntman shirt over there.

01:03And, you know, that's what it's about.

01:06That's right. Yeah, I got that at the New Beverly a few years ago.

01:09I think it was January of 2020. I got to go see Once Upon a Time in Hollywood there.

01:15And Michael Madsen was doing a Q&A. So, yeah, a lot of fun memories there.

01:21That's amazing, dude. I love that film so much and that theater.

01:27Yeah, absolutely. And if you're ready, I can head right into it.

01:32Yeah, let's rock and roll.

01:34Awesome. Well, as you mentioned there, I know you love theaters and are drawn to just, you know, your passion for, you know, the cinema.

01:42And I've always been drawn to movies about movies because I think that really gives the filmmaker an even more direct opportunity to display their love for the art form.

01:54And I know your family has a pretty extensive history in filmmaking.

01:58So can you share a little bit about how your passion for film has developed over the years and what it means for you to make a movie like Showdown at the Grand that is really such an honest statement of that passion?

02:11Yeah, you know, my mom, my parents came from South Africa where movies, for the most part, were censored.

02:20So when they came here, they were kind of a little more, honestly, like kind of rebellious, avant-garde film and theater lovers and actors and stuff.

02:29And so, but early on, like I got exposed to kind of like the theater as this place where you could see things that went beyond kind of like our reality, you know?

02:41So like I have a few really distinct memories going to my dad one time we were driving and UCLA was just like in the middle of day playing a print of Fellini's Eight and a Half.

02:53And I was probably like 10 and he's just kind of an impulsive guy.

02:56So he's like, I'm going to stop and watch this movie.

02:58And I was like, okay, so I just watched it.

03:00And I remember being amazed at, I didn't really understand everything going on, but amazed at the fantasy and that you kind of live in this whole other world.

03:10It was probably the first time I'd seen a film really subtitled and in a theater and all of that.

03:15And so I was lucky to have a little bit of that kind of cultured upbringing through them.

03:20Um, but then I kind of, you know, drifted kind of more towards into genre and, and, and, and that, and I think the theater for me has always been a place of refuge.

03:30The cinema, um, it's, I think that's why, you know, over the years people have, it's always been a point of conversation, right?

03:42Like we can't lose the movie theaters.

03:44We have to support the movie theaters, all of this.

03:45So that's the, from my family being in film, that's how I learned to love it.

03:50On the other hand, um, this film came out of lockdown right at the beginning.

03:55When I started seeing all those theaters closing, um, you know, giant ones, Arclight, all of these places that still haven't come back.

04:03I just kind of quickly started penning a movie about, you know, what I kind of, in my mind was like Cinema Paradiso meets Assault on Precinct 13.

04:13And that was the early inklings of it because I started to imagine like in living in a world for a year or two where what was it like to have a world without movie theaters?

04:24And it was not fun.

04:26Like I wanted that back, that experience that, you know, 15 or dollars was really important to me to spend, to go there and enjoy films.

04:36And, um, yeah.

04:40And can you share a little bit about the history of the theater where, uh, showdown at the Grand was filmed and, you know, why you chose that location specifically?

04:49Well, I mean, there's, there's several, there's several kind of like reasons that happened.

04:53And we were actually supposed to film in New Mexico originally, and we started having to change our location.

04:59So I had spent a long time on, there's this great website, Cinema Treasures, um, that basically has archived all of the last standing theaters in America.

05:10And it's truly an amazing resource.

05:13So I was obsessively going through it and we were going to shoot in New Mexico.

05:17So we went to New Mexico, Texas, looked at all these amazing theaters.

05:20And then eventually, because of production reasons, we had to bring it back to LA, which is my favorite place to film.

05:27I filmed all my movies here.

05:28I gladly film everything here.

05:30Um, I think it's got, you know, it's the home of kind of Western American film.

05:40And, um, we were searching and I was like, oh, you know, with our time and location, it just, nothing was going to work.

05:47And I found the Warner grand.

05:49I also worked as a, and still do some things as a location manager.

05:53So I'm pretty savvy and producing a bunch of films.

05:56And I just went down there to San Pedro and I was like, this is it.

06:00Like I walked in and I was like, this is the best option possible.

06:05Um, not only was the best option possible.

06:07I was never, I, if I had a hundred million dollars, I wouldn't have found a better theater, you know?

06:12But the truth is I didn't need a hundred million dollars.

06:14That theater was, the timing was great.

06:16The schedule was great.

06:18Everything was perfect.

06:19They were amazing.

06:20And the theater was built in the 1920s by the same architect as Alexander, as the, who built the Pantages Theater in Hollywood.

06:27One of the most renowned movie palaces in the world.

06:30And this was built for Warner Brothers.

06:33And it, San Pedro never became kind of like what Hollywood was, but the Pantages.

06:39So it kind of went into disrepair, but the city did a really good job keeping it alive.

06:44And when we found it and then Terrence went and checked it out and he was like touching the, the, the, the, the curtains and like feeling the, like the, like the, the incisions in the wall.

06:55And, and we just, it just felt like home for all of us.

06:59And it's so funny.

07:01I recently was watching Babylon and the end of Babylon takes place in the same theater in the Warner Grand.

07:07And I got all excited with it, you know, cause I was like, yeah, I must be on the right path.

07:12Cause I actually really liked Babylon.

07:14Everyone hated it.

07:15I was like, this is a fantastic film, but you know, similar kind of the newie, but yeah.

07:22Yeah.

07:23And you mentioned Terrence and I know he has, he really has a deep love for independent theaters.

07:28Um, and he has his bring back the movie theaters campaign.

07:32So I'm sure that having him as a partner on a showdown was a very special experience.

07:38So, you know, what did you appreciate about your collaboration with Terrence in that regard?

07:42I mean, I, I mean, it was as good an experience as you could possibly have, especially when you're like walking into a film.

07:49Um, with me, who's kind of like an unknown, nobody.

07:53And you got Terrence, who's, you know, got Academy Award nominations, started on one of the biggest TV shows, been worked with Denis Villeneuve, uh, you know, um, all these great filmmakers over the years, you know, they worked with Robert Downey Jr.

08:07Like just, he's been at the big time, many times, and this was probably the most kind of like rough and tough film that, and I was like, and he just rolled with me so hard.

08:19He, and he really brought like, the character was written a little more gruff and gritty around the edges, a little more like I know country for old men, I would say.

08:29And he brought it very much like a sensitivity and a heartfeltness that I think saves the movie in a way.

08:35I, I think the film would be a much lesser movie if Terrence kind of brought that side to it.

08:41And we've become friends.

08:43Like, I, I really hope that we become collaborators.

08:47I, I, a lot of the other actors in film, in the film are people I've worked on two or three other movies with.

08:52So, um, I think we really clicked and he just brought, and he loves this stuff.

08:58And he actually comes from his grandmother, was a, was a, was a famous, um, black theater and black exploitation actress.

09:05And she was in one of my favorite movies, black Caesar.

09:07So when we, and I found that out, I was like, dude, black Caesar was the, one of the films that made me want to make movies.

09:13And he was like, we just kind of vibe when we realized we were just kind of in a similar wavelength of like what we loved and what we wanted.

09:20So, yeah.

09:20And, uh, as you alluded to earlier, you consistently work on low budget and fast paced productions.

09:30And, you know, oftentimes this requires you to come up with pretty creative solutions to certain challenges in the filmmaking process.

09:38Um, you know, and on larger productions with more resources, I feel like this creativity might not have been inspired in the same way.

09:46So how has working on low budget projects continued to influence who you are as a creative individual?

09:52I mean, you know what, you're never comfortable.

09:57There's no, like, there's no trailers, there's no dressing, there's, I mean, there's dressing rooms, but it's, it's, you know, you're always on your toes.

10:04I love it.

10:05I think that you just kind of have to be, the filmmakers I grew up loving came out of that kind of like low budget, intense, um, fast paced filmmaking.

10:18Where, you know, Sam, George, George Fuller is named after two people, George Franju, who ran the, uh, Cinematheque Francais in France and made the great film, um, Eyes Without a Face.

10:33And Sam Fuller, the great American filmmaker, who was probably my biggest hero as a filmmaker, who really revolutionized making low budget genre films in the forties and fifties and being able to tell a great story with them.

10:49And he never, he always figured out a solution, you know?

10:53And I think that was the kind of approach that I always wanted to take was like, every problem is a, there's a solution to every problem and that forces us to be more creative.

11:03So I think in this film, I mean, you see it that like, it's not perfect.

11:08It's got imperfections.

11:09It's got grit.

11:10It's got, it's got a lot of chinks in the armor.

11:14But I think what it makes up for that is in heart and us trying to zig where other people would zag.

11:21And, um, that's why I love doing it.

11:23I've produced a lot of low budget films.

11:24I like making them.

11:26You also get a creative, you get a lot of more creative freedom.

11:28Like there's no one telling Terrence what to do.

11:31There's just us talking.

11:32There's no one really telling me what to do.

11:34There's just us talking it through, you know?

11:37And then when a problem presents itself, we figure out a solution.

11:40And whether it works or not, like you have to make the decision to do it.

11:44So, yeah, I mean, I think that like all filmmakers, I think there's right now, we have a lot of giant bloated budgets and the films that are being made from these bloated budgets, especially in the streamers, aren't mirroring the quality, you know, of the money.

12:03And you also have a background as a cinematographer.

12:07I know you've been the DP on multiple projects.

12:10Um, so now for you as a director, how does your cinematography background, um, continue to influence your visual sensibilities as a director?

12:20And then also your approach to collaborating with, with other DPs, since you know what it's like to be in their shoes.

12:27Um, I think it's twofold.

12:29I think on one hand, like I have a pretty strong visual sense of what I want.

12:33I would say on this film though, I stepped back a little bit because there were so many other aspects I had to do, um, as managing people and managing time and just COVID.

12:45COVID, it was a little very hard.

12:46So I couldn't, I didn't want to micromanage the visuals so much, but as a cinematographer, I think what you learn is.

12:54And, and becomes one of the biggest decisions as a director is where to put the camera.

13:01And that's a, mainly the biggest.

13:04Influence you can have as a filmmaker is where do I put the camera?

13:09How does it move and how do people move within it?

13:11And if you kind of get that on the day, then you've done your job everywhere else beforehand, hopefully.

13:18And I think as a cinematographer, that taught me that that was really important.

13:23And also it taught me to not doubt what the cinematographer was telling me.

13:29Like if my DP and Noah Rosenthal is my second film with him actually, and we're quite close outside of film as well, uh, outside of making movies is that I can rely on them.

13:42They become a little bit of a therapist to you.

13:44And I've been in that position as well to a filmmaker.

13:48So, yeah, but also like, I can be a pain in the ass because I'll be like, I just wanted, you know, why can't we just do this?

13:54Why can't we do that?

13:55And I have to remind myself that like the cinematographer is always looking out for the best of the film.

14:01And sometimes as a director, you can almost get in the way of the movie.

14:09And, uh, there's, there's a line from Terrence Howard in this movie.

14:13And I know he's quoting Woody Guthrie.

14:16Uh, he says some folks, they'll rob you with a six shooter and then others with a fountain pen.

14:21And I think for audiences who are familiar with your work, they'll notice that a thematic through line in some of your stories is this idea of fighting back against corrupt systems.

14:32And, you know, fighting back against people who are overbearing in some way.

14:36So can you speak to the importance of exploring these issues in your stories and, you know, what that means to you as a storyteller?

14:43Yeah, that's, that's awesome to hear that.

14:46Yeah.

14:47I mean, I think I've tried to keep that as a through line, everything I've written and tried to make, because I would say the, the theme of my films is how much does a dollar cost?

14:57You know, like, and, and I think that that's a question we're asking ourselves as society a lot lately.

15:07And I've always been fascinated with that.

15:09I also work at, not at work.

15:12I, I, I, um, practice as like a street photographer outside of this.

15:15I've done it my whole life.

15:16So I spent a lot of time kind of amongst the people per se, and money solves a lot of problems, but it also isn't the only thing that is here for our time that gives us that our time on this earth.

15:31And I've been a lot around a lot of really wealthy people who are miserable bastards.

15:35And I think that's the whole thing.

15:38And I think the question is like, you know, what, what does it mean when we start losing our culture, when we start losing the places that are most important to us?

15:45When we start losing the places that are the fabric of our society, of our neighborhood, of our meeting places, all because it's some extra money.

15:54And then you take a look around you and, and suddenly one day you go, wow, the world's changed a lot and not for the better.

16:02And I think we're seeing that as a world collectively right now and trying to come to terms with that.

16:07We're seeing that as an industry collectively right now and trying to come to terms with that, with the strikes and the issues with streamers.

16:13And I wanted to see what it was like, you know, I've always tried to imagine what's it like when you're just a person, you know, in Queen, my first film, it was a woman who loved what she did and it gave her her sense of character and identity.

16:27And that's all she wanted.

16:29And the money was secondary to the life, the life around her club.

16:33And in my film, five rules of success was about a guy who had been basically wrongfully incarcerated his whole life.

16:41And when he came out, all he wanted was what he told was what they told him he should have, which is his own piece of the American dream to run a restaurant, to have success, to have money, to have jewelry, to have tattoos, to have good clothes.

16:53And what he realizes in the end is he was actually more at peace when he was just sitting in a cell with nothing in this kind of Buddhism-like way.

17:03And in this way with Terrence in this movie, it's, this is, we don't even show his life outside of the theater because it doesn't matter.

17:13It just, it means nothing.

17:14That is just, you know, he could live in a motel, the place where he is himself.

17:18You know, he doesn't have a wife, he doesn't have kids.

17:21He is kind of like a, as like, almost like a Trappist monk devoted himself to this establishment.

17:30Now, Terrence and I had a lot of talks about, like, did he make the right choice and kind of this, like, meta way.

17:36Terrence doesn't think he did.

17:37I think he did.

17:39So it's really interesting for us to have that.

17:42Because the truth is he could have taken the money.

17:44It's probably inevitable that that theater is going to die.

17:46And he could have gone on and lived a nice life, but he doesn't.