Nick Matthews

Stephen Dorff is almost mythical as a person and persona. He exudes an intensity and dedication to the craft that is formidable. I loved it. He embodies the character in a way that asks everyone to bring their best work to like to work with? and Ashley Benson. What was this dream cast

John Travolta is an absolute legend and came completely in character. I never had any interaction with him where he wasn’t fully committed to his character’s story and point of view. He really drew a crowd the days he was in town, and I respected that he went out to the fans and signed autographs and took photos to try and respect their time and effort in coming to see us make the film. He’s a legend for a reason.

Shiloh is very seasoned and had to carry this entire movie on his shoulders and stand against the likes of so many legends. He’s fearless, courageous, and kind in a way that makes everyday worth the exhaustion–we’re talking about mountains of dialogue and action that are being captured at breakneck speeds. Just unflinching. Truly impressive and with this can-do attitude that favored the success of the scene.

Movies like this come together quickly and we got really lucky. I love actors and feel honored I get to share an intimate creative space together.

Shiloh Fernandez, Stephen Dorff, Kevin Dillon

You work with some amazing talent in Mob Land, including the likes of John Travolta, tremendous visual ideas but is also someone that gives me complete creative freedom. He’s someone I will go to bat for time and time again. Very few directors get these big names and make a film with such a strong voice–especially with their debut feature.

Every great collaboration is built on mutual respect and trust. Nicholas is one of a kind–he’s adaptable, industrious, tenacious, fastidious, and funny. He’s got these

The writer and director of Mob Land is the very talented Nicholas Maggio who is making his feature film directorial debut with the movie. What was your collaboration process like with Nicholas during the shooting of Mob Land?

Murders….it was propulsive, character driven, and atmospheric. As someone raised in South Carolina and Kentucky–I felt honored to make this alongside him.

Mob Land was originally titled American Metal, and it was a script I read years ago. It felt like an immersive southern neo-noir. Something about it reminded me of Cormac McCarthy and Place Beyond the Pines, and Snowtown ailing Sheriff Bodie (John Travolta) tries to find those responsible and protect those he loves.

Nicholas Maggio and I connected on Instagram. I found his work as a photographer intimidating. There’s a rustic grunge that felt like something straight out of the 70s. Once I met him, we clicked over stories, music, and our backgrounds (he’s also very fucking funny) which led to shooting some commercial campaigns together. We developed a common visual language and shorthand in that process.

Did you know as soon as Mob Landentered into your professional orbit that this was a production you wanted to be a part of?

The entire process was a whirlwind. We landed in Georgia and were off to the races scouting locations, casting the film, hiring crew–all while listening to metal and hardcore. This was a 3 week pre-production and given that timeline, we devised a set of rules for our photography to guide us since so many of the pieces were coming together quickly. Our shooting schedule was 14 days (11 principal and 3 splinter unit). We only achieved that by shooting 2 units at the same time for half the film and using 2 cameras for our main unit work, which was a new approach for me. A lot of the preproduction was spent figuring out how to creatively capture the set pieces, while staying on budget and schedule. You have to enlist great people and set them free to do great work.

Black Veil is an exciting Southern Gothic horror anthology that was envisioned by Dan Myrick (writer/director Blair Witch Project). Dan is a delight of a human and a real visionary. It was a smaller, fast-paced production but we set out to make something that would terrify and

You have two other films in the pipeline: Black Veil and Bone Lake. What can you tell our ever-inquisitive readers about these intriguingsounding productions?

Despite being a horror film, I drew from a well of inspiration. Of course, the earlier SAW films were an inspiration. Some of those films included Deep Red, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Se7en, Blade Runner, Don’t Breathe, Zodiac, Klute, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Snowtown Murders, and Lost River.

Saw X is ostensibly a horror film. Were there any specific films in that genre which inspired you as you were lensing this sequel?

You have another big film set to premiere on September 29, Saw X. Going into this tenth chapter in the very popular Saw franchise, were you pretty excited to be part of this?

X in Mexico City and feeling like I was completely transported by the locations of our film.

Since Mob Land is set in Alabama, we were fortunate to shoot in Georgia and Alabama. I grew up going to both of these states and have such fond memories there. We couldn’t have gotten these images anywhere else–the lush greens, the unforgettable golden sunsets, the moving clouds, the giant humid landscapes. I remember seeing the first cut of the film shortly after shooting SAW the table. He was always off-book and insistent on performing everything with as little artifice as possible.

Mob Land was shot in the beautiful state of Georgia, A.K.A. The Peach State! As a cinematographer, were you more than able to achieve the look you and Nicholas Maggio were aiming for?

The original SAW was a film I was desperate to watch in highschool, despite growing up in a religious home where we weren’t allowed to go to movie theaters. I finally convinced my dad to rent the film at Blockbuster. You can only imagine the level of depraved excitement I felt getting a chance to be a part of this beautiful and macabre story.

Dinklage as an Art PA on the indie film Pete more aptly shows the hilarity and absurdity of this craft like that film. And secondly, I had the joy of working with Steve Buscemi and Peter

This is easy for me. Living in Oblivion for two reasons. First, I watched this film at a critical moment in my life. I’d just moved to LA and booked my first crazy feature JackRabbit 29. It was a hell of an experience and some of my closest collaborators were formed on that movie because of what an absolute terror the production was. We were working 6 day weeks and on one of our off days I watched it with my gaffer Cole Pisano and a few friends. No film

Final - SILLY! - Question: Favorite movie about the making of movies - Living In Oblivion, Ed Wood, The Player or Swimming With Sharks?

I remember shooting that film for director Benjamin Wilt on the old Red MX cameras–the ones that used to overheat and were these massive bricks to hold. It was my first production out of college and I was terrified of excite audiences. I’m not sure what the release schedule is for that, but I can’t wait for people to see what we made. wasting someone else’s money. Most of the lighting was handled by gaffer Cole Pisano and myself–we were incredibly small. We shot with a lot of naturalism and a very handheld docu-style aesthetic. In a way there’s a lot of similarities from that first production to Mob Land–both are very southern stories. I learned so much making that film and still cherish everything I learned. I could never have guessed where life would take me.

Your first credited film as a cinematographer was the 2009 short film In Loving Memory. Any special memories of that freshman production?

Bone Lake is Mercedes Bryce Morgan’s latest film, and our second collaboration together. I can’t say much about the film, but this erotic thriller is some of my most heightened and beautiful lighting I’ve crafted in my career thanks to a talented Georgia crew and great producers from LD Entertainment.