'House of Spoils', Cinematographer, Eric Lin

0:00Eric LinThe challenge was really how to have that one source of light sort of travel to all the places we need it to. So then we would tuck in, yeah, like, LEDs everywhere, and give it a very, like, light, you know, just to fill in or just to feel a little bit more of her face or just to have that. Just so, I mean, you know, we're suspending a lot of, like, lighting disbelief 'cause the one light bulb is, like, over here, but it's sort of wrapping around her face as she's, like, looking away from it, you know? And we're, we're hiding all these sort of like, LED tubes all over the place and dimming it way down so that it feels, you know, not like it's lit. And there, luckily because of the, you know, that space, is there's just so much crap that we... You know, it's very easy to hide. It was very easy to hide stuff, right? It wasn't like a flat build…

0:44Jawad MirYeah

0:44Eric Lin... A flat ceiling with right corners. It's like we found plenty of places we could really tuck it in.

0:57Jawad MirWell, we're here to chat about, your film, House of Spoils, which I just saw a couple of hours ago on Amazon Prime. I'll be very upfront with you, I'm not a fan of gore horror, if you want to call it, or Blumhouse particularly.

1:17Jawad Mir... I have seen few, I have seen a few films. And I didn't even know anything about House of Spoils. I didn't even know it existed until I stumbled upon a trailer on YouTube, and, I thought it was interesting the concept of a chef and how that sort of integrates into everything. And it piqued my interest, and I saw it this morning, and I enjoyed it. So…

1:45Eric LinCool

1:45Jawad Mir... You know. Yeah. So it was, it wasn't what I was thinking it would be in terms of my distaste in horror, gore horror, but it was, it was more like a j… it was pretty much like a journey of a chef and how she comes around a… and everything. So, you know, a good film, and I enjoyed it, and your work, in it, of course, as the cinematographer was fantastic, so thank you so much.

2:09Eric LinThank you. Thank you for watching and checking it out. Yeah.

2:12Jawad MirHow did you get on board on this project?

2:16Eric LinLet's see. I think, I think it came through my agent. I'd never met the producers before. But I think, there's sort of a tangential connection. I never asked the producers about it, but they produced the second feature for a director I had, shot, Andrew Sieman's, his first feature. We did this film together called Nancy, Please. He did a second feature with the producers from Secret Engine, Drew Hope, Alex Scharfman, and Lucas Joaquin. And they produced a second feature. So maybe there was some sort of connection there, but, I'm not really sure. Otherwise, it came through my agent. They sent me the script, and, you know, I was immediately, taken with the, with the tone and the, you know, the idea of this chef's journey. And it, you know, it was a very sort of, you know, it's a rich stew of themes. It's a... There's, you know, a lot about, leadership, about, you know, going back to nature, food as medicine, food as nature, you know, and, you know, sort of the, how far the fine dining world can kind of go away from that.

3:27Eric LinBut also, you know, her journey as, like, becoming a leader and also a woman, you know, in a, in a predominantly male, you know, industry, and how, you know, she finds her voice. So I thought there was a lot that was very rich about it and super interesting. And I, and I loved the sort of the tone, that was in the script that, you know, I think made it cross into the film of just this really, you know, odd house, that starts to become, starts to, like, sort of reveal itself and its secrets and how it sort of weighs in just as the chef's journey sort of starts to become more and more intense and stressful. So, you know, I was really taken with the script. And so I met with, Bridget and Krudy, and yeah, we just, you know, seemed to ha… share similar ideas of how to execute the film, and I'm really thrilled that they brought me on board.

4:15Jawad MirYeah. And i… you know, for me, when I saw the trailer, it was this... You know, you, there's a lot of shows out there about, I think there was one called Chef's Table, and there's tons of others, and, you know, the idea of seeing food being filmed. I actually p… co-produced a feature documentary called Baristas…

4:34Eric LinAh

4:34Jawad Mir... Which is about baristas, and it was, like, similar, you know, kinda like how you have to sort of film in a certain way, aside from obviously the story. But that intrigues you, and then it goes from that cleanliness of shots and food and everything to something completely, you know, not only a chef's nightmare, but, customer's nightmare or people who are gonna…

4:54Jawad Mir... Dine, their nightmare. A… A… And did that appeal to you mostly, that little arc, not just with the character, but also the idea of, you know, this wonderful looking food, so fine dining, to something completely disastrous?

5:11Eric LinYeah. I mean, and we sort of, you know, we... Hopefully the camera and lighting, you know, reflect that journey. You know, we have obviously, like, the very structured sort of, quote, un… you know, supposedly Michelin star type restaurant at the beginning of the film, and even the one they visit, when she first gets to the estate, Eric Hoss's restaurant. You know, it feels very, presentational, very precious, and all the food is very, you know, gorgeous, you know, gorgeously designed. We worked with this great food, creator, Zoe Hedges, in Budapest where we shot the film, and she created all those dishes, and they were, you know, they were gorgeous. But, and they were, you know, works of art, but, you know, again, it's like that thing where works of art can be very sterile or very, you know, devoid of, like, the soul or, you know, where, you know, cooking started, you know, in a cauldron on a fire or something like that, you know? And the idea of… Not just that sort of dichotomy but also, like, the back of house and the front of house, you know?

6:11Eric LinWe do, we do that thing in the beginning of the film where, you know, they create the dish and then it sort of travels into the diners and, but, you know, when sh… when Chef is creating the dinner for Toly, like, and, you know, she's improvising, right? She gets all the wrong ingredients, and she's, like, back there and it's all handheld and it's very, like, kinetic because she's just sort of riffing and trying to, you know, throw something together, but out there it's all very calm. You know, we're, we're static on tripods and dollies, and not a lot of camera movement, and it's all presentational, and it's, like, rarefied, you know, rarefied, environment. But then in the kitchen it's like sweat, blood, gore, you know, and, you know, everything's sort of, like, falling apart. And so that kind of, like, dichotomy of that energy also between the, like, even just the back of house, front of house was super interesting also.

7:00Jawad MirYeah. I noticed that and it, some elements of it, I mean, they're, they're not any comparison by any means, kind of reminded me of Ratatouille. You know, the whole idea of…

7:08Eric LinSure. Yeah.

7:08Jawad Mir... You know

7:10Eric LinYeah.

7:10Jawad MirYou know, the, a rat in the kitchen, but obviously it was a completely different thing.

7:14Eric LinYeah.

7:14Jawad MirBut it was in a similar way where whenever you go into the actual restaurant area it was just this, like, you know, amazingly lit room, camera still, steady shots and everything, and that speaks to the story, right?

7:30Eric LinYeah. Yeah.

7:32Jawad MirWhat, dude, what cameras did you guys sh… shoot this on?

7:36Eric LinSo we shot on Sony Venice, one, not the second. And we shot with, yeah, Canon K35 Primes, and then the last third were on, Chameleon Anamorphics. Yeah, when she comes back out. Yeah.

7:53Jawad MirYeah, I know it's, it, was it your first time using the Venice?

7:57Eric LinNo, I've shot on it a few times. Yeah, I really like that camera.

8:01Jawad MirHow do you like it? Yeah.

8:01Eric LinI liked it a lot. I mean, you know, we have a lot of nature obviously, and especially nature at night, so I knew there would be a lot of moonlight. And the dual ISO, especially the high ISO of, Sony Venice I've used a lot. And we had this, I had this great Hungarian gaffer, Zsolt Buti who, q… sort of old-schooler. You know, we had, you know, we were doing night exteriors in the middle of the forest, so we had, you know, big sky panels on condors, and I'd be like, "I only need two-foot candles," 'cause we would underexpose it, you know, for moonlight and stuff like... He's like, you know, "Eric, we're, like, at 1% on this." Like, "I can't go any lower." So we had to, like, pan it away. It's, the c… camera's, like, incredibly sensitive, so you could get, you know, a lot of coverage and a lot of exposure with very little instruments. So that was really necessary for us 'cause we had so much moonlight going on, you know, in the film, and so many, like, night exteriors.

8:58Jawad MirRight. And just on an off note, have you tried the Sony Burano yet?

9:02Eric LinNot yet. Yeah, I've been wanting to, though. I'm very curious about it.

9:06Jawad MirYeah. We purchased one for renting purposes, and it's a…

9:11Eric LinOh, nice

9:11Jawad Mir... Phenomenal camera. It's a phenomenal camera. And that…

9:13Eric LinYeah, it's good.

9:14Jawad MirAnd I know it's, it's trying to replace Venice, but still a lot of studios and production houses still prefer Venice over Burano, for, I think it has rolling shutter issues which they're probably gonna fix, I think this spring. But it's a great camera. I just thought I'd mention that. Just curious.

9:34Eric LinYeah. I've been wanting to try it. I mean, like, a run-and-gun version of the Venice is amazing, 'cause yeah, the Venice can…

9:40Jawad MirYeah

9:40Eric Lin... Get built up quite big and, you know, you want something sometimes that can be more mobile and be able to throw around.

9:46Jawad MirAnd the stabilization on that is amazing. I don't know if you've heard about that.

9:50Eric LinNo. Yeah, I heard about it, but I haven't used it yet.

9:52Jawad MirYeah. It's great. It's phenomenal. Going back to House of Spoils, for me, I mean, there's a lot of things that stand out, right? But for whatever reason, and sometimes you can't explain why certain scenes or certain moments click with the audience, they just do. The scene, I don't wanna spoil it, but the scene is when she's inside, she goes down the stairs and all that unfolds, right? You know what I'm talking about? That entire sequence after she's there alone, that whole thing from a lighting standpoint was really executed well bec… especially with the context of what she was going through, that whole sequence. What were some of the challenges, if any, during that part? Because it wa… it must have been really hard to light and also, not hard to light, but just to be able to, you know, make sure that it's there but it still reflects the mood.

10:53Eric LinYeah. What were some of the challenges? So that, you know, that was a set build.

10:59Jawad MirRight

10:59Eric Lin... You know, we, in the, in the wine cellar we sort of had a portal and then, you know, go into…

11:07Jawad MirRight

11:07Eric Lin... Basically a set. And so we were able to, but we wanted, you know, me and the production designer, Alex Schaller, like, we're very firm believers in sort of, you know, the reality of, the world, right? So we'd, even though we had the ability to pull out walls and we did it a couple times, we tried to stay true to the geography of the place and, you know, I think there was only one time we put the camera, oh, maybe it's two times where we put the camera where there should have been a wall. But, you know, we knew it would be very dim. I mean, like the sh… the shapes she created, you know, like the hanging herbs and all, like, the roots and stuff, and just, like, the shadows and the space and the shapes it was creating were incredible. And so, you know, we knew that we'd, there'd be one bulb that she would turn on, and the question was, like, how much more light would be in the place? And when we turned on that bulb, it was, it was sort of enough. Like, the mood is incredible, right? It's like, we, I think we just spray painted a shitty tungsten bulb and just, like, let that go, you know? And that's, that's the lighting for the whole place.

12:09Eric LinBut what we ha… the challenge was really how to… Have that one source of light sort of travel to all the places we need it to. So then we would tuck in, yeah, like LEDs everywhere, and give it a very, like, light, you know, just to fill in or just to feel a little bit more of her face or just to have that. Just so, I mean, you know, we're suspending a lot of, like, lighting disbelief 'cause the one light bulb is, like, over here, but it's sort of wrapping around her face as she's, like, looking away from it, you know? And we're, we're hiding all these sort of like, LED tubes all over the place and dimming it way down so it feels, you know, not like it's lit. And there, luckily because of the, you know, that space is, there's just so much crap that we, you know, it's very easy to hide. It's very easy to hide stuff, right? It wasn't like a flat build…

12:55Jawad MirYeah

12:55Eric Lin... A flat ceiling with right corners. It's like we found plenty of places we could really tuck it in. 'cause it was low ceilings too, 'cause, you know, we wanted to f… it to feel like a, you know, a true cellar, like it was underground. So I think, I think it was only like six, yeah, six and a half feet maybe tall. Maybe seven feet tall ceilings. So it wasn't, like, very tall ceilings anyway. So we were really, you know, trying to be inventive about where we could hide lights and, but it was like, it's so full of stuff that it was easy to also just, like, put a light above a bookcase and then put a bunch of books, you know, in front of it to hide it from the camera and stuff like that. So it just took some time to just, like, figure out where we needed the light to come from as she moved through the space and make sure that it, you know, it made sense with the one true source that was in there, which is the light bulb. Yeah.

13:43Jawad MirRight. And that's what I liked about that sequence because it's r… you know, in any film, when you're trying to show it's dark, but you also have to lit it up in some capacity so the audience can see it, and sometimes it's a hit or a miss because sometimes you do it in such a way where the audience doesn't fall into that mood because it wasn't properly…

14:02Eric LinRight

14:02Jawad Mir... Done properly. But in this case, it certainly felt like it, that, you know, it was the environment that she was in, and she was feeling the stress and the pain of what she was going through, and the lighting had a lot to do with it. Not to take away from her performance or anything else, but still.

14:20Eric LinYeah. Yeah. It was, y… because we had to... It was interesting dance and prep because that would be our one light source, you know, we had to sort of talk about, with the directors, how that she would move through the space. Like, 'cause I needed that one source to be in a place where I could start to justify where it went, right? If it was in another side, corner of the room, it would be a real problem, right? She'd be completely away from all the light or anything, you know? But, yeah, deciding to put it over sort of this work table, and then she sort of like walks or is constantly, like, moving in and around it, helped us. But, yeah, we had to, like, think about it a lot because it would be that one source essentially.

14:57Jawad MirRight.

14:58Eric LinYeah.

14:58Jawad MirLet's go back to the beginning of your career. What was that one moment, if you can remember, that defined your journey to where you are today? Like a film…

15:15Eric LinThat's a tough question

15:15Jawad Mir... Or a shot or a particular cinematographer? Could be a photo.

15:24Eric LinTo pursue filmmaking?

15:26Jawad MirYeah.

15:28Eric LinHuh. Interesting question. Oh, I don't know if I can say if it's one film. I just remember there was a, there was a time basically in college where when I watched films, I was so, I just wanted to understand how they created that shot or that mood or that, whatever they did, you know? At that time, there was, you know, like, I'm gonna date myself, but Se7en had come out, City of Lost Children, you know, Wong Kar-wai's films were coming out. So they were, they were doing stuff that was just so distinctive visually, and I was like, "How are they doing this?" You know, like Wong Kar-wai's step printing, you know, yeah, and just the look of, like, City of Lost Children and, you know, skip bleach of both that and Se7en. So, you know, I'd, at that point, you know, I'd made videos with friends, but I had no conception of, like, what it meant to shoot film and to treat it photochemically and, like, you know, all these processes, and how to achieve those looks.

16:38Eric LinBut I was just so, it was like detective work for me. I was like, you know, reading every ASC magazine article or any interview I could find with these cinematographers. It was like the first time I learned about cinematographers. Like, who are these guys? You know, Darius Khondji shot both City of Lost Children and Se7en, so he might've been the first. And then Chris Doyle obviously was doing all the stuff with Wong Kar-wai. Those were, like, the first, like, cinematographers I really, like, read everything they were, like, you know, every interview they gave or anything they were talking about to understand how they, achieved, like, mood, lighting, you know, the, you know, all, just the technical side of things. And you know, I would read things in ASC magazine, and I would just have no clue. You know, they're talking about Panavision anamorphic. Like I had, you know, no clue what those were, but I wanted to know, and I wanted to understand. And then I would go back and watch the films on, like, VHS and you know, and like, try to, try to understand what they meant when they said these things. And you know, it, yeah, it was really inspirational. You know, like, I did photography in high school, so I had some sort of grasp about, you know, lighting and photochemical processes in film and exposure.

17:44Eric LinBut, you know, it is still, it was like a foreign language. So I just became so, you know, intrigued and just like, really wanted to, it was, it was like a detective, you know, lesson or something, or a detective story. Like, I was trying to understand, like, how did they get this end result from where they started? So it was really that time, n… yeah, when I was in undergrad that all these films were coming out that I really started to try to, yeah, understand what even filmmaking was and how it resulted. It was like, yeah, it was like magic in a way. Yeah. And trying to understand that magic.

18:18Jawad MirYeah, no, it most certainly is, and thank you for sharing that. I mean, the era of '90s was, I don't know if that's the era that you more or less grew up with, but that was one of the best eras in filmmaking, in storytelling. I mean, some of the most amazing films have come out, and you named one, Seven, right? And so i… it really, it really shapes people up, and I appreciate you sharing that. Thank you so much.

18:45Eric LinFor asking.

18:46Jawad MirWhen you finished House of Spoils, were there any particular times when, you know, when it goes into post, were there any pickup shots involved? If, also, if either when, yes or no, what, do you remember the first time... Were you at a screening, whether public screening or a test screening, when you saw people watching it, or maybe the man… the producers or the management at Amazon or a… anything like that?

19:18Eric LinLet's see. We, yeah, we did do some pickups. They were pretty small things like, inserts of cooking or, you know, moments that we had onset. We had, you know, we had a B camera, who also would sometimes splinter off and do a second unit for us, and a lot of that involved food. Like, you know, we'd shoot a scene where they're cooking with prep, and then if we had to go in tight for dicing onions or something like that, I would help set the frame with the director, but then the second unit would, you know, execute it 'cause food, you know, I'm, I'm sure you came across it with baristas. It can be so tedious, right? It's like…

19:53Eric Lin... To really reflect the process, there's a lot that goes into it, and then to capture every one of those moments, you sort of have to get a lot of, you know, get a lot of details. So, you know, we did that on set, but then, you know, I think they found in the editing they still needed more moments, or to elongate, you know, certain sequences. So we did, a couple pickups where we, yeah, you know, we just were super tight on, like, cutting board or getting her making this moment or something like that. As for seeing it for the first time, it's interesting because, like, as a DP, I see the film, like, many times in the color correct.

20:28Jawad MirRight.

20:28Eric LinBut it's just me, usually it's me, the directors, and, like, the colorist and, you know, post sup or something, and we're just, we've, at that point, you know, we're watching it so many times, like, the impact of everything is lost on us. We're just looking for technical, you know…

20:41Jawad MirRight

20:41Eric Lin... Anything that's inconsistent or, and, you know, that's, like, pops out, the bumps. So the first time actually I saw it with an audience was this past week. They did a screening, right before the premiere. It was on Tuesday. And Ariana and, the food stylist was there, and our editor. I wasn't able to make it to the Fantastic Fest premiere. That was, like, sort of the main premiere. But it was, it's, I mean, it's always amazing to watch a film with an audience for the first time, and, like, they, that they react to, you know, these moments that you alwa… you sort of reacted to when you first saw the rough cut, on your computer. But it was, yeah, it was awesome, and just, like, hear them gasp or hear them, you know, react to things 'cause you know, yeah, just, like, my last memory of the film is so late in the process and we've seen it, like, 20 times while we're looking at the color that the impact of it's all, you know, has been lost. So it's always, this funny joy to, like, revisit it with the audience a few months later and, yeah, reexperience it. So yeah, it was, it's always very special to watch it with an audience.

21:43Eric LinAnd rare because it, you know, they did, I think, four or five screenings, but then it'll be online, and people won't watch it together after that. Just saying.

21:52Jawad MirYeah, no.

21:53Eric LinYeah.

21:54Jawad MirI completely agree. I had that, during COVID. We did a bunch of test screenings, and I had no idea what people were reacting like because they're just on their computer. But there's absolutely, hands down, no better feeling. I think it's even a bit better feeling than making a film, just to sit there and watch the audience or get their reaction after the film. It's just an amazing experience.

22:24Eric LinYeah. And that's, I mean, that's, that's the best part about, yeah, premiering the film for sure, and I wish I could make it, could've made it to the festival because, yeah, it's the one you get to actually talk to audiences and hear their reactions and, yeah.

22:37Jawad MirYeah. There's always next time.

22:39Eric LinYes.

22:40Jawad MirIn y… in this film or just in general in your career, can you, and I know it's a hard question to answer because you can't pick your, you know, for the lack of a better word, your, you know, your favorite babies. But was there a moment or a shot where you felt like, you know, that was really good, and you gave yourself a pat on the back?

23:03Eric LinLet's see.

23:06Jawad MirOr something you're proud of, let's put it that way. I know the other question sounded a little too, you know...

23:12Eric LinYeah. I mean, I could talk about another film. I wanna think about…

23:15Jawad MirSure

23:15Eric Lin... One for House of Spoils. There's, there's definitely a few in House of Spoils, but the, one of the, shots from this film I did called The Sound of Silence with, Peter Sarsgaard and Rashida Jones. He plays a made-up job called a house tuner, where he goes into people's houses, listens to their soundscape of, like, their refrigerator or their toaster or whatever, and believes that, it's influencing them, their insomnia or their anxiety or their depression. And so he'll tweak the soundscape in the house. He'll, like, fix, like, their appliance to, like, to change the audio landscape and then, you know, influence their psychology or their emotions. And so Rashida Jones plays one of his clients. The end of the film sort of culminates in this blackout of New York City. And this was an indie film, so there's no way we're, you know, gonna do anything that, on a scale…

24:09Jawad MirOf course

24:09Eric Lin... That could reflect, like, the fact that New York City is blacked out, other than a few sort of, a few sort of, isolated, shots that we shot in the middle of, like, Green Point where there's, like, no lights. So the end, the, this sort of climactic scene, they go to the rooftop to look out at the city. And originally, so we shot this in Brooklyn, sort of near Crown Heights, on this, like, top floor of an apartment building. I forget, it was maybe like eight floors up. And, we were shooting other stuff in that apartment, and the whole day, like, the Gini crew are schlepping equipment up, you know, eight... It's a walk-up, so they're schlepping up equipment all day. And my initial conception was, like, I'm gonna try to put, like, one small light very far away and hope it feels like ambient light that's sort of illuminating them but doesn't feel like it's a film light. Like, 'cause the thought of, you know, exactly what we're talking about, the thought of, like, lighting something that, where there's no light is obviously the most challenging thing.

25:14Jawad MirYeah.

25:14Eric LinIt's like, how do you make it feel real? How do you... But still be able to read the actors and still feel them. And it was, it was something I always worried about, and I, and I think I walked in that day still not having a firm plan and hoping that I would have time to, like, tweak it. You know, throw this light up and then futz with it enough to make it feel, somewhat real. But, s… so we, and we get to this rooftop, and we chose this rooftop 'cause it's pretty high, too, and, you know, we could see above other sort of apartment buildings, that, you know, we wouldn't see, you know, if people were home and had lights on, we wouldn't really, get into our frame. We'd see mostly, like, Brooklyn rooftops. Now, for whatever reason, it was just the luck of weather, but, it was incredibly foggy that night, right? And what actually happened was when we, when we got up there and we were just gonna start setting up lighting for the scene, there was enough sort of ambient light from the city bouncing off the fog to illuminate the actors, just barely there.

26:14Eric LinI mean, we were shooting on Alexa Mini at the time, and it was at the very toe of exposure, but you could just barely make out their faces. You could see them against the night sky, which is still sort of a purple because of the, you know, the, all the fog. But it felt, it felt so real and so natural and, like, better than... Like, if I turned on a light it would have felt so fake, you know? And so I was like, "I think, I think we can just shoot this." And, you know, we set up the camera, you know, we looked at the exposure. It's like, it's barely there, but if we commit to this, like, you're never gonna be able to make it brighter. So if we commit to this, then we could just do it like this because it looks, it looks, you know, so much more natural than anything, you know, I would have lit with our, you know, indie film package. So I'm the, you know, I'm proud of not having turned on a light in that shot. I guess is the thing I'm most proud of.

27:05Jawad MirYeah. No, that's amazing. It's always interesting how sometimes those things unfold and the universe is trying to help you to figure it out, and

27:13Eric LinYeah. Yeah

27:14Jawad Mir... Again, it's an amazing feeling when things just…

27:17Eric LinYeah, totally

27:17Jawad Mir... Work out. When you're stressing over it and trying to come up with a plan, nothing works, and it just happens.

27:23Eric LinYeah. You can't count on it, but when it happens it's pretty incredible.

27:25Jawad MirYeah, I know. I know.

27:26Eric LinI mean, even, it's interesting 'cause even, I mean, still speaking of fog, in House of Spoils, for, like, the, any time we were sort of shooting the garden or any time there was some sort of, supernatural element, I would ask for a lot of atmosphere, even outside, which is, you know, very tough to do because of wind. But we wanted to give it that mystical quality or this otherworldly feeling. And again, just by the geography of it, like, by the time we wrapped shooting, the area around our house was com… is always wrapped in fog, like, all the time. And, you know, we shot over two months, so by the time we ended there, like, a lot of the night exteriors, especially towards the end of the film where you see all the hazy fog, it just, it was, you know, it's obviously from, the geography and, nature helping us. But, initially when we first started shooting, we were co… constantly adding fog, you know, for outdoor scenes. But, like, nature caught up with us, I guess, or helped us at the end. And that end scene just feels so much more epic because of that, so we were really lucky.

28:26Eric LinYeah.

28:27Jawad MirThat's amazing. That's always good to hear. I wish there was a way of... You know, I... There's a lot of, like, behind-the-scenes stuff in this podcast and there's so many other podcasts, but just e… even in interviews with the press junket, you always hear these stories, and they're just so fascinating to hear, like, how, you know, what you ex… what audience experiences in, like, 30 seconds or a minute.

28:49Eric LinYeah.

28:49Jawad MirAnd how, and what kind of hassle you had to go through to get that done. It's, it's incredible.

28:55Eric LinOh, yeah.

28:55Jawad MirYeah.

28:56Eric LinYeah.

28:56Jawad MirAwesome. What's, what's cooking up next for you, if it's something that you're able to share?

29:03Eric LinNothing firm to share. It's funny, I've been getting a lot of horror scripts. So maybe another horror film, which I enjoyed. But yeah, we'll see. We'll see. Yeah, nothing firm yet.

29:15Jawad MirIs there a genre that you would like to tackle besides horror? 'Cause obviously you know what happens in Hollywood or in the film world. You become kinda, like, you know, pigeonholed into one role.

29:25Eric LinYeah.

29:26Jawad MirSorry.

29:27Eric LinIt's, let's see. I mean, I haven't done any sort of sci-fi yet, which I would love. But I would say, you know, my filmography sort of, is sort of all over the place, I think because... Well, hopefully. We'll see. I don't know. Maybe my agent has other thoughts. But, I, you know, for me, whenever I read scripts, it's all about the character and the story journey as opposed to the genre. So I'm always, like, super invested in interesting, you know, directors with interesting takes on, you know, wherever this character or this story is going, no matter the genre. So we'll see. Hope… maybe I can keep hopping genres, which would be nice, because I feel like I've been able to do that. But sci-fi is one I haven't done yet, and I, you know, when I was a, especially in high school in the '90s, I was a huge sci-fi nerd, so, it would be, it would be fun to tackle one of those.

30:17Jawad MirAmazing. That's awesome. Well, I hope you get to.

30:19Eric LinThanks.

30:20Jawad MirThank you so much for this chat. I appreciate it and your work on, House of Spoils.

30:26Eric LinYeah.

30:26Jawad MirI, you know, again, like, you, one of the things you talked about earlier was Se7en, and, I think Se7en was one of the first films, I could be wrong, that created that look. Maybe Alien 3 as well, which was also David Fincher.

30:42Eric LinSure, yeah.

30:42Jawad MirIt created that l… it created that look. And most of his films are like that. But, you know, i… in this film, and there's a lot of film wh… which try to sort of borrow from Se7en in terms of look, but sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. In this one, it definitely created that ambience and it worked for me, so I, you know, congratulate you on that.

31:06Eric LinThat's a huge compliment. I appreciate that. Thanks again for having me and speaking to me about the House of Spoils. I really enjoyed our conversation.

31:14Jawad MirLikewise. And for our audience, the House of Spoils is on Amazon Prime, and I would love to chat with you in the future for any other projects that may come your way, which I'm sure there will be many.