BEHIND THE LENS #327: Featuring Simon Phillips and Ryan Lacen

We've got some drama, some action, and some laughs for you in this episode of BEHIND THE LENS thanks to our special guests SIMON PHILLIPS talking SURVIVE THE GAME (and more!) and first-time feature director RYAN LACEN talking ALL THE WORLD IS SLEEPING.

Kicking off the show is none other than SIMON PHILLIPS! Regular listeners already heard me rave about Simon earlier this year when director Paul Tanter was on the show and we dove into their dark comedy STEALING CHAPLIN. Well, now we've got Simon joining us live talking about his latest film, the action-thriller SURVIVE THE GAME in which he costars with Bruce Willis, Chad Michael Murray, and longtime "General Hospital" favorite Sean Kanan! Ssssh! Don’t tell anyone, but Simon and Sean are THE reasons to see SURVIVE THE GAME. And talk about fun-filled and insightful!! Listen as Simon and I talk about SURVIVE THE GAME, shooting in Puerto Rico in February 2021 (and the film is releasing less than 8 months later!) and the safety protocols in place, working with Bruce Willis and Sean Kanan, and how his character of "English" came to be thanks to director James Cullen Bressack. And we bounce into STEALING CHAPLIN, as well as some tidbits on Simon's upcoming work – FORTRESS (another Willis film), the three-volume horror anthology THE UNITED STATES OF HORROR, Season Two of AGE OF THE LIVING DEAD. Plus, Simon talks about dark comedy, character-driven performances, the benefits of theater as a training ground for comedy, and so much more.

Then writer/director RYAN LACEN joins us fresh off the world premiere at the New York Latino Film Festival to talk about his debut directorial feature ALL THE WORLD IS SLEEPING. The story of a young Chicana mother in New Mexico battling drug addiction in an effort to keep her daughter, the film has a unique generational mother-daughter perspective and Ryan balances the gravitas and horror of the subject matter with interesting and beautiful imagery showcasing a first-rate cast that includes Melissa Barrera, Jackie Cruz, and Jorge Garcia. Listen as Ryan talks about the genesis of the story, maintaining the female POV, working with his cinematographer Michael Garcia in developing visuals to evoke the internalized thoughts of Chama – the main character of the story, casting, shooting in New Mexico, working with some 35 eight and ten-year-olds, locations and company moves, score, and more. ALL THE WORLD IS SLEEPING is currently on the festival circuit.

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