Producer John Waldron talks ‘Locker 13’

Producer John Waldron recently spoke with “Breakthrough Entertainment” about his new feature-length anthology film “Locker 13.”

Locker 13” tells stories of a down and out boxer (Ricky Schroder) who is given the opportunity to become a real golden gloves killer; an assassin (Rick Hoffman) who kidnaps three people in order to find out who hired him for his latest hit; a new recruit (Bart Johnson) who is initiated into a lodge of fez-wearing businessmen where hazing can take a malevolent turn; a member of a suicide club (Jason Marsden) who introduces real fear to a man about to jump to his death; and a young janitor (Jason Spisak) who discovers a portal to another universe.

Q: How did you become involved in this project? And tell me about your vision for it?

A: I am a part of a production company called Brothers Ink. It was founded by identical twin brothers Adam and Donovan Montierth from here in the Valley probably 10 years ago. They saw a short comedy film of mine that won a bunch of awards, asked me to join their company and we developed the concept for this feature film – “Locker 13.” They have mastered the short film genre as filmmakers and we wanted to come up with a film that was very similar in tone to the “Twilight Zone.” There are four standalone vignettes in the film and then there is one story that weaves all the way through it that ties all of those other chapters in.

Q: The movie has an amazing cast! Was it at all difficult to get so many tremendously talented actors attached to the project?

A: Not really! If you are naïve and do not know any better, you can circumvent the traditional arenas of going through managers and agents whereas if you are in the industry they say you just do not do that. But we did what we had to do to get a hold of people. And once we started getting some big attachments on the film, it helped to attract higher caliber acting talent and crew. It was synergy. And I have to honestly say that the “Locker 13” script tells a wonderful story. We found that if actors think that it is a good story, it is well-written and is going to be done in a professional way, they want to work.

Q: Finally, at what stage of development does this project sit at this moment? I understand that you are raising funds on Kickstarter to help finish the film and get it into theaters nationwide. Why is that?

A: It is done, shot and in the can. We are in [post-production] right now. This is just a good opportunity to get other people involved in [the project]. We initially sold interests in the film that are monitored by the Securities Exchange Commission. We had a set a goal and once we reached that goal that was pretty much all we could raise. But we wanted to involve a lot of other people who really want to see the product get finished. The interests were pretty large to buy in and a lot of people say, “I would love to get involved but I cannot afford to buy a whole share.” So this is just a wonderful opportunity for people who want to support us, want to get some memorabilia or props from the film and want to see the film early or get copies of it to do so. It is part fundraising and part marketing. It is goodwill. It just a wonderful way to get word out about our film.

Help fund the completion of “Locker 13” by contributing to the Kickstarter campaign and receive such rewards as your name listed in the film’s end credits; a copy of the screenplay; a copy of the graphic novel; props and costumes from the film; signed merchandise by the cast and crew; an invitation to a screening of the film; and much, much more!

Joseph J. Airdo

Joseph J. Airdo is a film critic, producer and on-air personality for Breakthrough Entertainment, a talk radio show airing 10-11 a.m. Saturdays on KPHX 1480 AM and BreakRadioShow.com that shines a spotlight on the practical perspectives of the topics and themes explored in movies. He has a pet duck named Frozen who is as opinionated about movies as he is. E-mail him at joseph.airdo@gmail.com.

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