Dark Passage
A part-time driver’s last ride of the night may be the last ride of his life.
Interview with Writer/Director/Producer Roshni "Rush" Bhatia
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Thank you! At the time, we had graduated from New York Film Academy. My classmates, now close friends, and I decided to produce a bunch of short films for fun. I love horror, and they love creating. We combined our passions to create fun little horror shorts. Also, the new iPhone had come out, and we wanted to film via the new wide-angle feature and see how it played as dash cam POV in the dark.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
If you've fallen in love with movies such as Halloween, Conjuring, or Scream, OR if you're under 18 and have a low tolerance for videos more than a minute long, this one is for you! LOL.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
Well, I usually like combining real-life issues to create pithy horror movies. And while we left the inner philosophy of this mini-world up to the viewer to decide, for me, it came from creepy Uber rides where there were times I felt seriously unsafe. Using that as a launch point, we tried to reverse roles to see what would happen!
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
The script had a short turnaround and was pretty consistent with the overall output. However, the filming decisions evolved every step of the way. Writing a film can be fun when you're not thinking about the logistics of bringing it to the big screen.
Once you get to the drawing board and decide the efficiency with which you will pull it off, it becomes challenging BUT fun... But still challenging. At first, I had the dumb of filming it in a moving car, but it was only when we started breaking things down to their nuts and bolts (no pun intended, haha!) that we figured it out, i.e., all we needed was a driveway, a car and the best crew in the world. I feel fortunate that we got them all!
PS: Big thank you to Kevin and Stephanie Segall for trusting us with not destroying their driveway.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
The response to this one-minute film was overwhelming. I never thought that a short of this length would do better than the longer ones we made in the past. For starters, in the first 24 hours, we received an insane number of views with retweets from many people, including Die Hard screenwriter Steve E. De Souza. We won at festivals, including Raindance. We got into Dances With Films, Cinequest, and 50 others. Ever since, it's only been getting better; this morning, we received a selection from a smartphone film festival. So yes, it's been rewarding, and yes, I'm still surprised by it all.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
I hope people see the value in constantly creating, even if it means getting out and shooting something for fun with your iPhone for a few hours in a friend's driveway(true story).
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
The more the merrier!
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I hope people are encouraged to try out genres that aren't as popular... We need more horror!!! And, of course, don't be a creepy driver or rider! Haha.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
I hope there's never a serious debate about this film except... Should it be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture or Best Actor? Shout out to Anastasiia Polishchuk and Marcus Eddie!
Interview: September 2022
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
Dark Passage
Length:
1 minute
Writer/Director
Roshni “Rush” Bhatia is a writer-director living in Los Angeles. Growing up in Mumbai, Rush was inspired by filmmakers and writers including James Cameron, Ridley Scott, Richard Matheson, and Rod Serling.
Rush has several films currently in the festival circuit, with selections at Leeds, Dances With Films, Cinequest, and more. Her one-minute short film, Dark Passage, shot on an iPhone, won the #SixtyScarySeconds competition at Raindance Film Festival and has been singled out for praise by Hollywood heavyweights, including Die Hard screenwriter Steven E. De Souza. Rush has also been nominated for Best Writer by the Horror Writers Association of America for her short film, Plasmid. She recently had her short story featured in an Alien vs Predator anthology called Ultimate Prey.
For more on her and her work, you can follow Rush on Instagram @roshnibhatia and Twitter @rushbhatia.
Producer
Virginia Blatter is a Swiss/American producer and director based in Los Angeles, California. She has worked on numerous award-winning productions for film and is known for directing award-winning short film 'No Longer Perfect' (2020) as well as producing horror/sci-fi films alongside award-winning writer-director Roshni "Rush" Bhatia such as 'Plasmid' (2018), 'Shadow at the door' (2019), Dark Passage (2019)- winner at Raindance Film Festival, Celebrity Stalker (2020) and Insiders (2020). She has directed the pilot episode of 'We are the Mafia' and has recently been involved as a production manager in the feature film Café Americano (2020), produced Imaginary Friend (2020) and Play It By Ear (2022). She had other successes with producing award-winning film Gay, Asian, Immigrant (2021) and You Up? (2019).
Key cast:
Looking for:
film festival directors, journalists, producers
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/rushbhatia
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/roshnibhatia/
Hashtags used:
#darkpassage #shortfilm #horror #filmmaking #film #indiefilm #video #oneminute #oneminutehorrorshortfilm #oneminutefilm #trailer #indiefilm #director #rush #today #movie #filmmaker #photography #youtube #vimeo #dreadcentral #deadentertainment #bloodydisgusting #bloodyhorror #sfx #hollywood #ruemorge #losangeles #cinema #movie #shortfilmfestival #iphone #filmproduction #apple #iphonefilmmaking
More info: