Today we’d like to introduce you to Ben Floss
Hi Ben, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Instead of talking about myself, I’d like to tell a story of something I’ve done.
In 2022 I started a new job at a large studio space. It took all of a few days to think about how interesting the space itself was, how it’s entire space could be utilized, and most importantly- how spooky it was in the dark.
It was cluttered with blind corners, stacks of equipment, and open spaces cornered by set walls, obscuring every wall and edge.
A coworker and I were there late one night, walking through the space. He mentioned how perfect the studio would be for a horror movie, and I agreed with him.
He said it needed the right story. I agreed with him. So I came up with the bones to make a story from:
“A man thinks that he is alone, but isn’t.”
From there, I started shooting. I was often alone in the studio, and had access to it on nights and weekends. I would bring in my camera, use some odds and ends from around the studio, and started piecing together the details of the story through improvised scenes and camera tests-
-all while avoiding being caught by the studio supervisors.
There was never any script for this. It was all improvised, thought up in the moment or story-boarded a day or two beforehand. I’d then take nights, weekends, or days alone in the studio to shoot them.
After some time, a few friends- Michael Lipton and Zach Heintz- started to help me out. We would spitball story beats, shoot them over the weekend, cut the footage together, then repeat the next weekend.
There were several ups and downs filming this way. For one, it became very unreliable to bring outside people in. I was still shooting portions of the project completely alone.
For second- since we didn’t want to be caught, we did very little to change the environment. That proved to be a very hard challenge, since the layout of the studio changed frequently, meaning we were very much up to the whims and fancies of the studios decisions, and had to work around it.
On more than one occasion filming halted because the studio had become unrecognizable from what we had shot before. We would re-group, consider options, pick a direction, and keep going.
In the end we wound up shooting an entire feature film, in secret, without a script, with no budget, crewed by at least 1 person and at most 6 people (depending on the day).
Mega Blood Moon: The Freelancer is a labor of love by the skeleton crew that manned it, and the kind volunteers who gave their time into editing and post-production, and I can’t thank those people enough.
They are:
Cameramen and Co-producers-
Zach Heintz
Michael Lipton
Executive Producers
Carlos Arata
Brian Lee Boehner
Actors-
Alicia Crook
Liam Santa Cruz
Aimi Tran
Beau Hogan
Producers-
Ashton Glover
Joel Ruiz
Editor-
Jun Shimizu
VFX Artist-
Tim Carroll
Composer-
Skylar Sarkis
Sound Engineer-
Michelangelo Muscariello
Sound Mixer-
Ryan Meadows
And supported by-
Anthony Del Monte
Bill Schell
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The making of the film was as chaotic as it was improvisational. The constant re-configuring of the story meant that there was no certainty of it getting completed. The threat of being caught meant that at any moment, should I have been found out, I would have been both out of a job and unable to finish the movie.
Mega Blood Moon: The Freelancer is an independent feature, so even as we are nearing completion, the roadblocks are many. There are a small number of people working feverishly to make sure it is seen by as many people as possible, but independent films do not have the support that larger films have for promotion, visibility, or sales.
The struggle is constant, with the need to switch footing and strategize a near constant, mixed with the uncertainty of getting a small independent feature in front of a wide audience.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Mega Blood Moon is an independent film production company. It was founded by Ben Floss is 2023.
We specialize in stories of the weird, the strange, the spooky, and the bizarre.
Our first film, Mega Blood Moon: The Freelancer, sets our standard for what these films are: Fun.
Of all the strange weaves of the strings of fate, the most curious of all are those that glow a crimson bright under the light of The Mega Blood Moon.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
Never take anything too seriously.
Things change, plans fall through, entire studios change in a week and throw your plan into disarray, your supervisor catches you filming your second to last shot that involves setting a puddle of 99% isopropyl alcohol on fire in an enclosed area-
-Just roll with it. Don’t overthink things and take every advantage you can, and do your best to lean into whatever skid you hit.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://megabloodmoon.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sanguinemoonbase
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@megabloodmoon
