Uruguay-born, Southern California-raised writer-director Gustavo Sainz de la Peña is an indie filmmaker with the passion and enthusiasm of a hard-core Comic-Con fan. I.e., he’s one of us.
Gustavo Sainz co-wrote the script for The Prey — an enthusiastic creature feature directed by brothers Cire and Matthew Hensman — starring genre icons Danny Trejo (Machete), Adrian Paul (Highlander), Nick Chinlund (Con-Air and The Terminal List), and Kevin Grevioux (Underworld). The film will be available on the new indie-friendly streaming portal MoviVue on Friday, September 20. The transactional video-on-demand service prioritizes independent filmmakers by giving them a larger cut of revenue than other streamers.
We caught up with Sainz as he works on his directorial debut, Baby Racer, to chat candidly about the state of independent filmmaking, creating a brand-new mythical monster using practical effects, why he’d love to work with Sylvester Stallone, and his advice for aspiring young filmmakers.
Making a Monster on a Budget
Wealth of Geeks: The Prey: Legend of Karnoctus is about a platoon of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan who encounter a terrifying, mythical creature known as Karnoctus that is sort of like an Afghani Bigfoot. How did this story originate?
Gustavo Sainz: Eric [Cire Hensman] is a very accomplished commercial director with over 200 commercials under his belt. We decided, you know what? Let’s come up with a really cool story and integrate a monster into the storyline.
We are big fans of the movie Predator, and there are legends in Afghanistan of cave-dwelling creatures. [The Karnoctus] is some sort of missing link or something — some creature that never evolved in the light and became kind of photosensitive.
WoG: Why did you choose to make a monster with practical effects instead of CGI?
Sainz: Everybody involved in the production are all Comic-Con geeks. We go to Comic-Con every year. We love practical. One of the directors, Eric’s brother Matthew Hensman, worked for this one special company called Dark Shadows Studios. He created the monster suit because every else in town who knew how to make a monster suit either went out of business or wanted to charge $120,000. So we just made it ourselves.
WoG: You mention the movie Predator, and Danny Trejo starred in the 2010 sequel Predators. Is that why you went after him for The Prey?
Sainz: No, no, no. It was absolutely a coincidence! We were looking for a star that we could put in the movie that we could afford and Eric, the director, had a direct contact because he knew Danny from his dad’s construction company. Danny took his brother to work with them and that kind of created like a secondary relationship.
Then we had to figure out a way to get [Trejo]. And then we had to deal with his agent, and it was a back-and-forth. Danny turned out to be perfect because he’s very much a favorite sci-fi/action actor. He was an absolute doll to work with: great person, great actor, great attitude on set. We couldn’t ask for anything more.
The State of Indie Films Today
WoG: Estimable directors such as Martin Scorsese have said that superhero movies “aren’t cinema.” Do you think there is room for indie films and blockbuster Marvel movies at cineplexes?
Sainz: I think we’re on the cusp of a new revolution that happened with Scorsese, Brian De Palma, and George Lucas in the ’70s because right now Hollywood is absolutely dying. The people who are running the studios sadly do not understand how to make a movie. You put all these people in a room who are charging insane amounts of money and creating all this stuff that nobody’s really asking for. Before you know it, there’s $100 million that went down the drain.
There’s a huge fear of technology and I always tell everybody, “Listen, AI is not going to take your job away. The person that knows how to use AI is going to take it.”
Sylvester Stallone is Still the Man
WoG: If money were no obstacle, what actor would you like to appear in one of your movies and why?
Sainz: Sylvester Stallone because, first of all, he started out as an outsider. With Rocky, he stuck to his script even when the studio didn’t want to use him. Stallone evolved over the ages and is always changing ideas. He’s mashing things up and has no problem doing independent films that are $15 million or $20 million. Stallone also revived a bunch of old action guys with The Expendables. He’s just got a really great attitude towards the industry that you always have to constantly evolve. You always have to look for the next interesting thing.
WoG: Is action your favorite genre?
Sainz: Action-fantasy is. I also love anime and horror movies such as The Babadook. The movie that got me interested in making movies was actually Big Trouble in Little China. That was the first time I saw a movie that had a mash-up of a normal story with fantastical elements and I said, “Oh wow!”
Race Cars and Native Americans
WoG: Tell us more about your upcoming directorial debut, Baby Racer, starring Lazarus Tate as Anthony “Baby” Robison, which is currently in preproduction.
Sainz: Baby got disqualified [from a race] and goes to Tokyo looking for illegal-racing organizers. They’re run by a team owner named Roy Ritter [Rob Wight], and what the racers don’t know is that Ritter is using the team to traffic drugs. So there’s a whole new underground thing going on.
WoG: You are part of the Native American Film Initiative and working on a documentary called Red Eagle. What is that about?
Sainz: There are tons of great stories that haven’t been told about Native Americans. We’re finishing the documentary Red Eagle, which tells the story of the first Native American to win the Medal of Honor. This guy was the real-life John Wick.
Hopefully, we can take Red Eagle to the studios and turn it into a feature film. That’s the reason why we started the Native American Film Initiative to tell all the interesting stories Native American culture has.
Advice for Aspiring Filmmakers
WoG: What advice do you have for young filmmakers who might want to do what you are doing but get discouraged by financing and budgets?
Sainz: I’m in my late 40s and what I really want people to know is that I am a huge, huge fan that got lucky enough to make movies. Everybody that’s trying to do something right now, the only thing stopping you is your time because technology [that will help you] is around the corner. You can shoot a great movie in the woods with an iPhone. All you have to do is put [the idea] on paper and get a couple of frames. If the movie stinks, don’t worry. Make another one. You will literally get better.
