Until Death Do Us Part, 20min,. USA
Directed by Leonardo Daccarett
In technology advanced dystopian future of New Angeles. Detective Lucius Caine is assigned to the murder of Marcus Rhyne, high level agent of the Japanese megacorporation Yanasawa. With evidence alluding to his wife, Uma Rhyne, being diagnosed with Kipnosis (Kinetic Integration and Psychosomatic Neural Overload Syndrome) makes her a prime suspect to his murder. His one night visit to her estate pits the enigmatic detective and a cold/calculated corporate in a battle to outwit the other.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23872148/?ref_=nm_flmg_knf_t_1

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?

The idea came to me in the form of a question. During the 2020 lockdown, I had been going through a Columbo marathon with my father and not long after I went to revisit Blade Runner. It was during my reviewing of Blade Runner where despite the many times I had seen it, I could never connect or really get interested in the Deckard character played Harrison Ford. I liked the performance, but was never interested in his story. So after hours of watching Peter Falk masterfully play Detective Columbo throughout his life, I asked myself "Would Blade Runner work if Columbo was the protagonist?" This sparked an interest I already had with the cyberpunk genre as I always loved media such as Ghost in the Shell and Akira, as well as even dabbling in the Cyberpunk 2020 table rpg in high school. So I got to writing and thought this could be fun challenge to see if I could pull it off.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?

I started writing the film back in early 2022, with that idea of a Columbo type detective in this cyberpunk dystopian setting. I had taken the setting of New Angeles from a tabletop campaign I wrote when I was in high school and just added it. Originally the script was around 35 pages and included an opening, not to dissimilar from how a traditional Columbo episode would open, we'd see the antagonist (Uma Rhyne) commit the crime of killing her husband and then Detective Caine of the NAPD would show up. The final product follows most of what was originally written, minus the 15 minute intro. We shot the film in November of 2022, and began editing in January of 2023. It took a year in total of post-production as the challenges of attending the film school and having time to edit really delayed the process. It eventually completed, but was kept on the drive since I had committed to my next short film in 2024, which took up much of my time as well as a few more films I was producing. It wouldn't be till 2025 that I eventually screened and released the film, making 3 years from when I had initially written it.

3. How would you describe your film in two words!?

TECH NOIR...

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?

The biggest obstacle had to have been the scope. For a relatively simple concept it took a while to understand how to even make it. Never done anything like it, so much of it had to be figured out as I was making it. I had knowledge of VFX and stunts, but not enough. The fight scene originally was much bigger. We would see Uma actually brutally murder the Yanasawa bodyguards in the hallway before reaching Detective Caine, and in the final scene where Caine fights Mia it was much bigger and more complex with guns and more martial arts. However, this proved to be impossible to feasibly accomplish with the time given, with only 4 days at our disposal, it just wasn't gonna work. So we cut out the hallway scene and shortened the Caine/Mia confrontation. As previously stated there was a whole different intro which also never happened - this would have easily added another 2 days of shooting. However, that intro was later adapted into the Music Video Dark Fires, which is the ending original song of Until Death Do Us Part. Do in no small part this was a school project and it was my first time making a film of this scope, the time given to me was just not enough to accomplish the whole vision, but it definitely was a great learning experience that informed my decisions of my next film.

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?

I went into it not really expecting a specific response, but just curious to see if it was an overall enjoyable experience. Much of what I heard did make me feel satisfied in knowing that my experiment did come across and it was very positive. You never know sometimes how people will react when you do a project like this, because while it's a cliché story - there's that added element of a buffoon type Detective who is somewhat funny and endearing. So it's a little different from your typical noir where the protagonist is a more serious character and I wanted to see if it could resonate with people. Evidently it seemed to have work and I'm glad it did.

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?

I was very young, could've have been older than 12 I think. I used to watch the behind the scenes of movies and just the creativity that went into fooling the camera with miniatures or matte paintings, or force perspectives - it all fascinated me. The process of making movies was so exhilarating and creating these worlds just sparked my imagination. As a kid I was always the type to run DnD campaigns and write short stories to later post in a blog on some website like creepypasta or even just pass around in my class. So it was just a natural evaluation that I'd eventually make my way into film.

7. What film have you seen the most in your life?

Hard question to answer. I think the safe answer would be Pirates of the Caribbean, I can easily say I've seen it over a 100 times by now and still tend to revisit it every so often. However, I do revisit the Lord of the Rings trilogy once a year and films like RoboCop, Aliens, Terminator, Starship Troopers, etc... are all on my bucket list of just films I have to watch again and again. So it's really just a hard question to answer.

8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?

I'm no expert, but I feel that offering audience feedback is always key for me. Since it just helps to hear from real people what they truly feel about my films. Being in an echo chamber, while spares feelings temporary, it does me no favors when the real goal is to keep making bigger and better movies.

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experiences been working on the festival platform site?

Very positive. Typically before, it was a game of knowing the right people to get into festivals and while I still believe that's still true, FilmFreeway is a good way to get your film out there, faster and to more people.

10. What is your favorite meal?

Ramen...

11. What is next for you? A new film?

So, I'm currently finishing up my last film 'Twilight of the Undead' it's a nice little throwback to '80s zombie action. Took up almost a year and half of production. This film will release later this year in Fall of 2025. I also recently wrapped up a film I was hired to produce which went very well, and am looking to produce an additional 3 films by this summer. During this I'm looking to the future for something very big, I've written my next big project and I'm thrilled to start production later this year - it's gonna be my biggest film yet and can't wait for it.