Jason J. Loya: Writer / Director / Lumberjack

Our art director Robyn Gorgos and gaffer Phillip Smith built the interior of a motel room from scratch. Check out our production stills - linked near the top of the page and near the bottom of the page - to see the motel room for yourself. Incredible, simply incredible.

Producer Katy and production manager John also contributed to the construction effort. It goes without saying that in independent cinema, virtually everyone who has a stake in a movie takes on extra jobs above and beyond their credited position. Director Jason and yours truly (composer Ryan) drove around the seediest parts of the San Gabriel Valley to furnish the seedy motel room set with equally seedy set dressings.

The budget of the movie - while it ultimately was just right to make the movie possible - didn't allow for truck rental to haul the furniture for the motel, and we couldn't come up with anyone within a 50 mile radius to loan us such a vehicle. So we had to transport a scuzzy bed comforter, a lampstand drawer, a couple of lamps, and a headboard (and probably more stuff) in Jason's four-door sedan, all at once. The intuition strengthened while playing Tetris was definitely helpful for this occasion.

But when the headboard didn't fit quite right for the trunk, that's when Jason became a lumberjack (of sorts):





We'd like to give Salvation Army guy some thanks for his assistance, i.e., the rusty saw (which was better than nothing).