Hyperlight is an amazing indie sci fi short film that looks & sounds like a million bucks. With amazing story, performances & special effects. The only downside is that it is a short film not a feature film. Its about two elite astronauts wake up in the abyss of space; they return to their stranded ship and discover the surprising reason behind their mission’s catastrophic failure. It stars Jeananne Goossen (The Walking Dead, The Night Shift) and Peter Shinkoda (Daredevil Season 1 & 2, Falling Skies) and is directed by Nguyen-Anh Nguyen (The Akira Project). The film was just released online at shortoftheweek.com and will screen on opening night at Sci-Fi London International Film Festival on May 1st, 2018 (sci-fi-london.com). It’s already getting rave reviews across social media.
The film was shot on Blackmagic URSA Mini 4.6K and URSA Mini Pro.VFX compositing in Fusion and edited and finished in DaVinci Resolve on Lenovo Workstations. Camera and post-production services we re provided by CineGround. Sound design and music by Cult Nation. Hyperlight was made possible with the support of these partners: CALQ, Blackmagic Design, Cinepool, DMG Lumière, Lenovo, Alchemy 24, CineGround and Cult Nation. We got to interview director Nguyen-Anh Nguyen and star Peter Shinkoda who we loved as Nobu in Netflix’s Daredevil series. By @SteveSievers
Interview with actor Peter Shinkoda.
How did you get involved in this short film?
I became a fan of a short film that director Anh Nguyen directed that was making the rounds online a couple years back. Turns out an actor pal Osric Chau starred in it and it was shot in my hometown of Montreal where director Anh Nguyen is also from. I commented on the film and Nguyen and I became acquaintances after that. In early 2017 he called upon me and asked if I’d consider “coming home” to act in his new short film effort. I read the script and agreed to it. I asked another friend Jeananne Goossen to act alongside me. She read the script and agreed to it and she eventually became a producer on it as well she was so impressed with it. Working with friends is the best.
Very impressed with your acting in this short film. What did you draw from for your character.
Thanks. I appreciate that! I felt my character wasn’t too complicated, but I did feel the role was a sever departure for me and the alpha males I’m used to portraying. I quite enjoyed the idea of conceding my “power” to Jeananne’s character who is the true hero of the film and to do that I played a closer version of myself and the real world where this dynamic is actually common. It was a chance to elevate the female and at the same time “elevate” my acting versatility by being the vulnerable one in distress. I quite enjoyed it.
For a indie short film, it looks like a major motion picture on the scale of Gravity. What do you hope this project turns into? A full length or a spin-off?
I know that Anh Nguyen has plans and this short was a small piece of a larger story. He and writer Nicolas Billion have written more for perhaps a feature or even a series. I don’t know too much about that but for me it was a chance to help by offering up my services and help nurture the Asian talent out there instead of complaining about lack of diversity in TV and film. Mission accomplished here I think.
Interview with director Nguyen-Anh Nguyen
Before we get into questions about your amazing short film hyperlight. Tell us, where did your passion for film making come from? Was there a certain movie or show you saw that made you say I want to do this for a living?
As a kid, I used to spend all my weekends at the library. When I was 12 I discovered Tome 1 of the manga AKIRA and requested that the library lady order the remaining 12 tomes just for me. She did and my mind was scarred for life. It led me to watch the anime AKIRA which really showed me how immersive and beautiful a film could be. But I didn’t really know I wanted to be a filmmaker until much later in life. I became a dentist in 2004 and worked in the US one year, before going back to university in Film Production, as I had been consistently consuming movies for much of my early adulthood.
Congrats on Hyperlight. I’m very impressed with the story. How did you get writer Nicolas Billon on board. What a twist in the short film!
I helped produce a short film for a friend on which Nicolas acted as screenwriter. It was a coming-of-age comedy, but I loved his writing style and one day while the team was busy shooting, we went to have a coffee on the back of the grip truck and I told him about the idea for Hyperlight. Turned out he was a HUGE science fiction nerd and we had a blast discussing all those stories, theories and films we loved. He really helped shape all the theoretical concepts about Fusion energy and FTL speed, into a cohesive story arc and that twist made the whole story dramatic enough to carry a film.
For a indie short film, it looks like a major motion picture on the scale of Gravity. Credit has to go to you & your team. Tell us the challenges of pulling off these amazing sets and CGI.
The answer to the polished look for the film really is simple, I have been working with a tight group of friends and colleagues who are all really talented and who believe in my vision. My production designer Laura Nhem really worked miracles on this film. She has been working on most of my projects for the past 6 years and when told about Hyperlight, she said: ‘most definitely not possible with the money you have’. But my DP Simran Dewan and I scaled down the idea and really tried to shoot smartly with our resources – reducing coverage, getting tighter shots and really putting the energy and budget into the most important sceneAs for VFX, my friend Santiago Menghini has been by my side all these years and was instrumental in overseeing the visual effects for ths. I had a very small but world class team in VFX: concept artist Alex Figini and generalists Santiago Menghini, Greg Ng and Michael Christophersson did most of the effects on this on their free time. It took over a year to go from conceptualization to finished compositions for the VFX. Finally, I also co-own a camera/postproduction house in Montreal, CineGround Media, which was instrumental in achieving a high production value to the whole thing. Our colorist, Simon Boissonneaux, did wonders and really helped smooth out and merge all of the many different visuals into a cohesive film.
How did you get the amazing cast of Jeananne Goossen and Peter Shinkoda?
I knew Peter from the online world after I had done THE AKIRA PROJECT, as he was a big fan of the film. We spoke about doing something together for years and he finally agreed to it once he read the script for Hyperlight. He convinced his friend and colleague Jeananne Goossen to come on board, as we wanted to do a film that was proactively asian in casting, but also in the creative team. Most of the key creatives (director, DP, production designer) are from asian descent. Jeananne really believed in the project as well and came on board as an executive producer to help us finish the film with as high a quality as possible and bring it to the finish line.
What do you hope this project turns into? A full length or a spin-off? I feel like I can speak for a lot of viewers that we want to see more of this world you and your team have created.
I’m hoping that we can expand the universe of Hyperlight into something bigger for sure. I’m currently working on a VR experience for some of the space sequence for the film and have a feature treatment for the script ready. Depending on the reaction to this short film, we’ll try developing this into a more fleshed out universe. You can already see more of the backstory on the film at: www.hyperlight.io