Savvas Christou has been experimenting with filmmaking since high school. His lifelong passion led him to move to LA in 2016 to study Filmmaking at NYFA. Since then, Savvas has written and directed 13 short films; 5 of which were awarded in local and international film festivals. One of his latest shorts; A Scream That’s Trapped Inside’ (2017) was awarded as the ‘Best Short Film’ in 19 Festivals are all around the world. Over the last year, Savvas has focused on his debut feature film titled ‘Katherine’s Lullaby’, a psychological thriller. His currently in post-production and is looking for distribution in 2020.
indieactivity: Why did you get into filmmaking and screenwriting?
Savvas Christou: I come from a family of artists. Both my father and grandfather are painters, while everyone in my family plays music. My father had strong influences on me. I grew up watching him painting every day and this way he introduced me to the magical world of arts.
Ever since I was young I liked to watch movies and comment on them. The first time I was involved with filmmaking was when I was a student at Aristotle’s Fine Arts School in Thessaloniki. I was writing stories and then trying to persuade my friends to help me turn them into movies during the weekends. In the third year of my studies, I took a 6 month transfer program in Dublin where I took a deep dive into creating experimental videos and incorporated some techniques in my early work.
Filmmaking is a form of expressing feelings and problems. It’s exciting every time you get to be on set or create something from nothing but your thoughts.
indieactivity: How does an indie filmmaker distribute his/her film’?
Savvas Christou: Distribution is always one of the major challenges of an indie filmmaker. My lighthouse as a filmmaker is to be obsessed with bringing into life the best story possible and make the audience resonate with the characters. After that, there are many channels to pursue, like festivals, events, cold reach-outs, mouth-to-mouth referrals, but in every case, it’s a different recipe for a different filmmaker. Surely, who you know – but most importantly who knows you, can be a catalyst in our industry.
indieactivity: At what period in the filmmaking process, does an indie filmmaker need to start planning for distribution?
Savvas Christou: I try to bake in the distribution plan right from the beginning. As soon as the story is there, I always ask myself, “do you see this being a movie that can become part of a table conversation?” I always strive for originality, a unique story with a strong voice. If I turn towards a more artistic approach, then the distribution plan will have to be adjusted as well; and this is something I know from the beginning. Execution is indeed what will move the needle, but distribution planning should always be in the back of our heads, from the very early stages.
indieactivity: Indie filmmaking is a model based on zero-budgeting or small budgets. How do I get my film in theatres with such a budget?
Savvas Christou: I’m still not sure if theater-distribution is the most appropriate channel for an indie film. Being at the beginning of my career, as a first step I try to be realistic on how much money I can raise, before start writing the script. The last thing I want is to go back to my story to make changes due to unrealistic expectations on the budget.
For my debut, I wrote the story around 2 main characters and 2 main locations (a cabin and the forest around it). I invested a lot in nailing the story and the emotion, and during principal photography, I was obsessed in achieving the highest quality possible, even with the small budget I secured. I believe that making smart choices from the very beginning will play a very important role in securing distribution later on.
indieactivity: How can filmmakers finance their projects?
Savvas Christou: Nowadays there are many ways of raising money. Usually the first attempt, it’s trying to raise money from ‘’the 3 F’s’’: Friends, Family and …Fools. Beyond that, I see a lot of funding activity lately via fundraising websites, where people buy into the idea and donate money to bring the film to life. As a filmmaker pursues the fundraising journey, many professionals come our way who in turn open other doors, which can lead to potential financiers.
Since “Katherine’s Lullaby” is my debut film I have very limited resources and connections. This made me face the hard challenge of starting something from zero. This constant fight with reality and expectations made me stronger and more creative to handle the small things and trade offs that come with a low-budget movie.
indieactivity: What films have you written? [with titles, year, links to watch (trailers)]?
Savvas Christou: So far I have written and directed 13 short films, 5 of which were awarded at American and International Film Festivals. My short film “A scream that’s trapped inside” (2017) was awarded “Best Film” at 19 festivals such as the Aab International Film Festival, Direct Short Online Film Festival, Equality International Film Festival, North Hollywood CineFest… Also recently (2019), the short film was selected by the Meridian Releasing Group to be included in the anthology of “MGR Collective Horror Volume II”.
You can watch the trailer of “A scream that’s trapped inside”
“Inevitable” (2016) won 2 awards on Direct Short Online Film Festival, “Lilith Come Out” (2016) won an award on the Alternative Film Festival and “Capture” (2017) won 3 awards on The Magic of Horror, Paris Play Film Festival and Direct Monthly Online Film Festival.
I also wrote my debut feature “Katherine’s Lullaby” starring William Kircher (“The Hobbit Trology”) and Tori Kostic which is in post production and we are looking for distribution within the year.
Apart from that I have been writing my next feature which it’s based on a psychological thriller as well.
indieactivity: Talk to us about your concept on collaboration?
Savvas Christou: For me personally, networking has played a huge role in my path so far. I was lucky that I managed to get in touch with remarkable people in the field who believed in me and my vision. My main goal is to continue to grow this circle and be able to cope with the vast demands of the profession. A feature film hides many difficult issues on its way, so it is absolutely necessary to go with a group that believes in you and the film. I am very grateful and lucky to have the cast and crew with me in this journey. We worked together perfectly and this is reflected in the result. To sum up, collaboration is the key to every successful production.
Another short film that I wrote and directed is “6:00pm”.
indieactivity: How do you find the process of filmmaking as an indie filmmaker?
Savvas Christou: Making a movie is quite a challenge. Making a movie as an indie filmmaker is way worse than that. In smaller productions, you trust and create a warm environment with the people you work with. You can’t make a film alone. And because you work hard for long-hours with people sharing the same vision with you, you end up creating a new family – your cast and crew.
indieactivity: Describe your recent work, or film, take us through pre-production production and post production. Marketing too?
Savvas Christou: My latest film is “Katherine’s Lullaby”. I wrote, directed and produced the film – currently in the post-production phase. The story is about a teenage runaway who’s trapped by a delusional 45-year old man, pretends to be his daughter in order to escape. This sick but loving relationship, evolved to a family she would kill to have.
The idea was born in 2014 after a random conversation that I had with a homeless person in Thessaloniki, Greece. I shot this story as a short film in 2016 with the title “The adoption of my child”. Since then the characters have changed and reshaped many times since as time passed, I focused on nailing the emotions throughout the story .
When the script reached a satisfactory point, I started meeting with various producers here in Los Angeles to get opinions, advice and share experiences, in order to get ready for the shoot. In August the principal photography took place successfully in Wrightwood, CA, and now we are in the post production stage. Upon completion by the end of the year, it will be sent to both film festivals and partners for global distribution.
As previously mentioned, the recipe for success is purely a strong team – and these are the super-heroes of ‘Katherine’s Lullaby’:
Producer: Melissa Gutierrez Clavijo
Cast: William Kircher, Tori Kostic, Jolene Andersen, Jairus Carey, Meghan Hanako, Chris Barry, David Lee Hess, Rey Marz
Director of Photography: Manuel Velasquez
Production Designer: Alix Seskin
Editor: Javad Emami
Costume Designer: Gratannia Pandjaitan
Music Composer: Dimitris Mann
Production Coordinator : Cindy Quijada
First Assistant Director: Joud Alamri
Second Assistant Director: Sebastian Garcias
Stunt Coordinator: Stanford Dickson
Production Supervisor: Antonia Saval
Art Directors: Eduardo Bautista, Santiago Fierro
First Assistant Camera: Jhonny Fabian Sarmiento
DIT and Second Assistant Camera: Maria Sevilla
Second Assistant Camera: Marley Maitland
Script Supervisor: Javier Augusto Nunez
Sound Mixer and Boom Operator: Andrés Acosta
Gaffer: Ernesto Pletsch
Key Grip: Emmanuell Sarierra
Best Boy Grip: Juan Carlos Herrero Villareal
Best Girl Electric: Jude Abadi
Grip: Konstantinos Pateronis, Eli Tahan
BTS Photography: Victor Soares, Elena Garcia Rojas
Location Manager: John J. Lozada
Make up Artist & Hair: Raquel Dos Reis
Special Makeup effects Artist: Romina Porras
Key Production Assistant: Luis Fox
Production Assistants: Victor Soares, Leroy Smith, Yuliana Alvarez, Demetri York, Mary Mar Fernandez
Sound editor & designer: Javad Emami
Song “Katherine’s Lullaby” composer: Nefeli Christou
Song “Katherine’s Lullaby” lyricist: William Kircher
On set Chef: Alexandre Steimer
Second unit Director: Konstantinos Pateronis
Second unit Director of photography: Jhonny Fabian Sarmiento
Still photographer: Maria Angela Quiroga
Still photographer assistant: Valentina Olarte
Props Graphic Designers: Abdullah Bin Suqat, Sara Barber
Social Media Manager: Lexi Kostic
indieactivity: What are your future goals?
Savvas Christou: My life-dream is to be able to make a living out of the movies I make, and for my movies to travel all around the world. I am committed to work with people I admire, and push myself to constantly evolve as an artist and a storyteller. Along with the completion of “Katherine’s Lullaby,” I’m working on the script of my next feature film, which will also be a story of a psychological thriller.
indieactivity: Tell us about what you think indie filmmaker need in today’s world of filmmaking?
Savvas Christou: Be as creative as you can. There are always (smart) ways to make a film. Find a concept and stick with it, focus on the emotional journey, and say your message to the audience. Your own passion and a superhero team besides you will lead you to success.
indieactivity: Briefly write about your career?
Savvas Christou: There’s a lot of talent in the world and your dedication and devotion will help you discover it step by step. This way, someday you will also be discovered from somebody else. I’m always open to learn from and share experiences with the people around me. This led me to create my own team and invest a lot in it, as we will probably grow together as artists throughout our careers. The door is always open for more good people to join. That’s my secret.
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