Interview: Justin Barber – Director (Phoenix Forgotten)

 

HI Justin, How are you?

Justin, I am well, thank you.

PHOENIX FORGOTTEN was great! First off the missing person’s process was an interesting aspect regarding UFO’s. Tell us how the film came to fruition?

Justin: Well, I guess the influence for the movie was when I was in high school I was the same age as the character in my movie in 1997. I was growing up with X-FILES. That was my world, I was drawn to that material. Another movie that inspired me was “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”

Did you always want to be a director?

Justin: Well when I was younger I was a journalist. I was editor of the paper, then editor of my college paper. The MATRIX came out and I knew I wanted to make movies.

 

What kind of challenges did you face? Especially being in a desert environment?

Justin: The cast was great. I had a bunch of troopers for sure. We ended shooting in the winter time a lot so it was chilly outside. The cast never complained.

Did you get to speak with Producer Ridley Scott and did he offer you any advice?

Justin: I did, yes. Ridley is a master of fear and a master of suspense. If you think about the scene with Sigourney Weaver’s scene in ALIEN, how much terror you get out of Sigourney Weaver’s breathing alone. To have that kind of fear without dialogue. We worked really hard to make a movie he would like.

You wear a lot of hats, what do you find to be the most challenging?

Justin: I think post-production is the hardest part of the process behind you sit behind a desk.

What is next for you?

Justin: The first thing I am going to do is take a vacation. After that I start writing again.

Official PHOENIX FORGOTTEN site http://www.phoenixforgotten.com/

In Theatres – April 21, 2017