2.30 Filmmaker Interview with Luke Salewski

In today's episode, I interview Luke Salewski about his film "The Lights Above," a genre crossing short film set in Los Angeles in the early day of 1942. The film was selected as a finalist for the 2024 Student Academy Awards.

Listen to hear about how Luke and his team creatively sourced their period furniture, a last minute casting change, and how they came to find the 1939 Cadillac convertible that is featured in the film.

Books mentioned in this episode include:

• Dracula by Bram Stoker

• Dune by Frank Herbert

• Children of Dune by Frank Herbert

• The works of John Truby

  • The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller

  • The Anatomy of Genres: How Story Forms Explain the Way the World Works

Films mentioned in this episode include:

• "The Lights Above” directed by Luke Salewski

• Battle: Los Angeles directed by Jonathan Liebesman

• 1941 directed by Steven Spielberg

• E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial directed by Steven Spielberg

• Star Wars Episode VI: The Return of the Jedi directed by Richard Marquand

• Jurassic Park directed by Steven Spielberg

• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers directed by Peter Jackson

• "Jimmy" directed by Luke Salewski

• "Audio Description" directed by Luke Salewski

Follow Luke and the film on Instagram @lukejsalewski and @thelightsabovemovie and check out the film website at https://thelightsabove.com/.

You can also listen to the full interview on YouTube below.