John Suits is an award-winning producer and director who has been involved in both indie filmmaking and commercials. He has produced films such as Cheap Thrills, Just Before I Go, 400 Days, Bad Milo!, and Extracted just to name a few. He has worked with some of the biggest names in Hollywood. He produced and directed his upcoming space psychological thriller, 3022, which comes to select theaters, On Demand, and Digital on November 22 from Saban Films.
World Film Geek had the opportunity to talk with Suits about his latest film.
John, thank you for taking the time to talk about 3022. I thought this was a really good film that played out like a psychological thriller set in space and I really enjoyed the twists and turns throughout the film.
I’m so glad to hear that. Thank you.
What inspired you to produce and direct 3022?
I got the script about 5 years ago and I really wanted to make the film. But, when the option was up, I took a break from movies. This was after I became a dad. I focused more on commercials and advertising. Well, I began to miss movies and the option for the film was back after 3 years. I really wanted to do the film and I told the producers what I think the budget would be and I wanted to make them happy. So, that’s how I got to do the film.
You have an excellent cast including Omar Epps, Kate Walsh, Miranda Cosgrove, and Angus Macfadyen. What was it like working with the cast?
The cast was super awesome. They did an excellent job with their roles and they even infused their own ideas into the characters. Especially Angus, who felt like he would do it a different way. So, they all brought their own ideas and they were super chill and super patient. They were a delight to work with.
What stands out in the film are the numerous twists and turns in the story. Was all this directly from the screenplay or did you add a few things in the script as well?
I am a huge fan of [screenwriter] Ryan Binaco’s works and the general structure of the story was there. As I let the characters infuse their ideas into the film, I collaborated with Ryan on what would be the best way to combine our styles into the story. We would figure out a way to bring both of our styles to the film and I think it really elevated the film as we went through a grueling shoot with not much time and budget.
Speaking of the shoot, how long did shooting take and what obstacles did you face during shooting?
Well, we shot the film in 17 days and the major thing was of course, time and budget. But, we had an excellent team with Will Stone, our director of photography and David Ebert, our production designer. They did an amazing job at elevating the sets, which are a story of its own. We couldn’t afford a big soundstage due to our budget. So, we actually made the sets on the parking lot of one of the soundstages. It sounds crazy, but we wanted to convince everyone that they were on board a space station and the fact we shot this on a parking lot is quite insane (Laughs). The cast were super chill about it. They didn’t ask ‘why are we shooting on a parking lot?’ but we got through it even with some sound challenges and all, but we hope we made it look like it was set in spaceship.
That’s amazing! Well, you convinced me, so I’m sure you will convince others as well.
(Laughs) Thank you so much!
Finally, are there any new projects in the works that you can talk about?
I just finished directing a film a few weeks ago called Breach. It stars Bruce Willis, Thomas Jane, Rachel Nicholas, and Cody Kearsley and…it’s another spaceship movie. (Laughs). What a coincidence! I wanted to do this spaceship movie and now I did two.
3022 is coming out November 22. This film proves the psychological thriller can work well in an outer space setting. Thank you so much John for taking the time to talk about the film.
It’s been a pleasure. Thanks for having me!
A special Thank You goes to Katrina Wan PR and John Suits for making this interview possible.
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