Exclusive Interview: Ernie Rivera (Citadel Lost)

What made you want to get involved in the film industry?

I honestly done remember I time when I didn’t want to be telling stories, telling stories on screen.
I’ve just always been a lover of movies. I wanted to be in them. As I grew, I wanted to start
telling some stories of my own. But I think things really took a step forward for me when I
started to NEED to tell stories, to tell what’s inside me, and to do so like my life depended on it,
because deep inside me, that’s what I felt.

CITADEL LOST

https://www.citadellostfilm.com/

What is your favorite horror decade and why?

I can’t pick just one decade in horror, because that’s just impossible. I love different periods, and
different genre of horror for what they are. I meet them where they are and I love them. I mean, I
love the whole Cabin killer motif, I love Freddy, and Jason. I love American Werewolf in
London, for its amazing blend of horror and comedy… which I have seen in one way or another
bleed into the future. I love Gremlins, as cheesy as it was, its brilliant. Dale and Tucker… Cabin
In the Woods (the ultimate love letter to horror tropes). Ringu, Battle Royal, Kaiju (I’m counting
it lol). I meet the film where it is, when it is, and I just enjoy the heck out of them.

What sparked the idea for Citadel Lost? Where do you pull your inspiration from?

I mean… I feel like Citadel Lost became its own thing, about family, redemption through pain,
masculinity, and the deconstruction of the American Legend of the “Super-Soldier.” But… If
you’re asking me where the very initial spark came from… I heard a story once, of a pro athlete,
I wont say who. After the fact, they discovered in him years and years of brain damage. He,
unfortunately, tragically trapped his family inside their house and… no more family… no more
him. And I thought to myself, how terrifying that must have been to be trapped with someone
many, many multiples stronger than you, and at the mercy of derangement. But again, I feel that
that was just the initial spark, window dressing. What its really become in a sense is Dante’s
infernoin a tight spaced bunker.

You don’t see too many superhero thrillers. Who is the core fan base for this film?

That is the question isn’t it… I used genre as backdrop for a story, a real human story. I think the
fanbase for this will be people who love heroes, real heroes, complicated, fractured human
heroes. People who love horror, but not straight forward horror. People who love spy thrillers.
But ultimately, I think the fanbase for this will be people who are just sick of seeing some genre
writers, simply coasting on another robot meets space alien part 15.

Do you have any personal tips that you can offer from your own creative process?

Yeah… I mean, I feel like this has been my writer’s crucible. This is after all my first feature
script, my first real script… and we are already starting to place in competition!! So… I would
say. Just start. Commit to doing a thing, and then just show up every day. Attack the work no
matter what.

But to get more specific, about what I do when Im actually writing… I heard once that you need
a beginning, a middle and an end… but not necessarily in that order. If you’re writing a feature,
start on a strong, engaging scene, give the audience a beat to rest, inciting incident at about the
11 page mark. Figure out who your characters are, and what they need in each scene. That will
inform the greater story. And again, all your characters (whether inspired from someone or not)
are all pieces of you, aspects of you. Figure out who they are, who you are in each and every
scene, and figure out how to get what you want.

Lastly, no line is so cool that it can’t be thrown away if it doesn’t serve the greater story… and if
you have a scene, any scene, that happens, and by the end of it the characters or the
circumstances haven’t dramatically changed… gut it, throw it out, make another scene.
How long did it take you to write the script and did you have any stumbling blocks?
I was told by a friend to answer “Citadel Lost took me 4 weeks to write, and decades to become
the man who could write it in 4 weeks.” Lol Really though… I’m not privileged; I have a full
time day job. Every second I wasn’t there, I obsessed over this script. And I wrote it in 3 weeks,
polished it in 1 week. I then submitted on the black list, festivals, I got coverage. I found
common themes in my notes, and I actively addressed what didn’t work. Since originally
submitting, I read through and addressed everything that didn’t work over a 24 hour period. Its
already placed at festival… I’ve addressed the notes from multiple festivals since submitting
there. I addressed only the notes I was getting from multiple readers. Like, if 3+ people told me
something could work better, I addressed it. I feel like this story has a very bright future, and I’m
here for it!

What is the biggest obstacle you see when making Citadel Lost?

Sometimes you have to be a one person studio. You just do. It would be nice if everyone lines up
to help… but that only happens after weeks, months, or sometimes years of focused effort. I feel
like I’ve finally gained some traction, and people are genuinely interested. That makes me, just
remarkably happy.

But… making Citadel Lost… Its intimate, but operatic. I would love for this to get made with a
studio; A24, Searchlight, etc… So the mission today, is to win contests, create pitch material,
including pitch deck (already created), teasers, and a proof of concept. You have to show people
you already have something, and that it is REAL before people will start putting their trust in
you.
I’m here for the challenge.

What needs to be done for Citadel Lost to stand out among a plethora of indie films being
made?

Again, I think its starting to do its thing. I think its starting to stand out. But to get the interest of
the greater communities, I have to build friendships, working relationships, I have to be a one
man studio 95% of the day. I have to win contests, score high on the black list, to get the
managers, to get the agents, to take this to studio, where it can get the attention it truly deserves.
As for standing out as a piece of art… we have the script (if I may say… the script is there), we
need expert direction (I would love if this got attention from a disciple of Fincher of
Villeneuve)… And first rate cast… Don’t know if I should say this, but Im going to say it lol…
My idea for big budget casting, should this get to that point… I would love to play the lead,
Jacob Marcos (as Im doing in the proof of concept) because I believe no one understands his
voice like I do. I would put Oscar Isaac in the shoes of Daniel Kade (best friend of the Marcos
family, and fierce vigilante). I would put Steven Yeun of walking dead as Johnathan Chou
(soldier and phantom). Lastly, I would put Anna Kendrick in the role of Celeste Waverly Marcos.
I think she has s great range of emotional depth she doesn’t always get credited with, and I
believe her off beat energy would serve this transformative character well.

How do you see the world of independent film changing in the next few years?

More noise. More brilliance.
There used to be a giant entry to filmmaking, the technology. But everything has changed.
Almost everyone in this country is going to have a phone and a computer. Not to mention access
to social networking sites. And guess what, if you don’t know how to network… ChatGPT will
tell you. Lol

Anyone can do it right now. Which means everyone interested will do it. And that’s going to lead
to a great deal of background noise… but also a great, great opportunity for people to discover
the next generation of brilliance. And I’m excited for it. And I’m here for it!