Luis Garcia, an alum of the BA (Hons) Film and Screen Production course and Robert McKee Scholar, is an Associate Producer on Kneecap, a new comedy drama film starring Michael Fassbender.
Directed by Rich Peppiatt, Kneecap follows the formation of the eponymous Irish rap band in post-Troubles Belfast. Luis describes the film as having a 'fun-loving, criminal element while tackling some serious issues'. He said, 'I loved being part of the process of taking it from development through to production and beyond'.
The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January and has continued to make waves across film and media festivals globally. Luis has just returned from representing the film at SXSW, one of the largest combined music, tech, and film & TV festivals in the United States.
Luis told us: 'At the festival, I attended a few screenings, networked with other filmmakers, and took in the overall culture of the festival (I ate a lot of barbecue). There’s a lot to see and do at these things, so it often feels like things are flying by a million miles an hour, but it’s important to make as many connections as possible and soak in the atmosphere.'
Luis' role as Associate Producer on the film came about when he was working at Shudder Films with Jack Tarling. 'He had set up a development scheme called Mother Tongues, which was setup to find films based in the UK but set in a language other than English, in this case, Irish. Kneecap was one of three films to be selected for development.'
As an Associate Producer, the bulk of Luis' involvement in the project was done at the beginning of the process in the pre-production and prep stages. 'Overall, it was a really good experience,' Luis said, being on calls with the BFI, Curzon and other [industry partners] was a great learning opportunity.'
Luis also reflected on the success of Kneecap so far: 'The reception has been amazing! From getting selected for Sundance and hearing people say it was their favorite film of the festival; to winning the Sundance NEXT audience award and seeing it on the big screen at SXSW, it’s been an awesome experience.'
What's next for Luis? 'I’d love to go back to SXSW,' he said, 'so I hope to sell some of my own projects, and get to see them on the big screen at festivals like SXSW in the future.'
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