Life & Work with Samuel Luna III, Lucas Luna of Silver Lake

Today we’d like to introduce you to Samuel Luna III, Lucas Luna.

Hi Samuel Luna III, Lucas Luna, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
We are The Lunas, a multiracial, filmmaking brotherly duo hailing from Pomona, California. Brought up in a blended family, in a diverse neighborhood, we try to incorporate our unique childhood into our expressive stories. Sam is the director/editor, who was a professional singer and guitarist in Portland math-rock band “Echo Pearl Varsity”. Lucas is the actor/writer who studied film media and philosophy at Cal State Fullerton. Together we try and make stories that reflect common man philosophies, combined with the spirituality of daydreams and the occasional nightmare.

In 2020, we found ourselves living in the same city for the first time since we were kids. With not much to do during lockdown, we started watching films every Friday and rating them, just for fun. At the time, Lucas was staying at our grandma’s house near the now-gone “Royal Vista Golf Course” in Rowland Heights. One day, we came up with the idea to shoot a one-man movie — a quiet story about a man wandering the course, reflecting on memories of his father. That project became “Memories of Green”, our first completed short film. Now, five years later, we’re in post-production on our fifth short “Awakening” — and this one has more than just a camera package and a PA. We’ve grown a lot since then, but have learned to recognize that the start of our filmmaking journey came from a very familial place. We continue to stay true to our themes, ideas, and tone with every new project.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Filmmaking, at its core, is a challenging art form. Nothing about it comes easy — especially when you’re independently funding and producing. One of the biggest hurdles has been building and managing crews on micro-budgets. As we’ve had to wear multiple hats on all of our productions. Post-production has it’s own challenges as well, one misstep can throw off the entire pipeline. There’s so much to learn — workflows, numbers, precision — and without a strong grasp on how post actually functions, it’s easy to fall short. Thankfully, Sam’s experience as an assistant editor on features has grounded us in the fundamentals and the importance of doing things right. Still, every part of the process presents its own challenges — regardless, with our blessed resilience and dedicated crews, we’ve managed to hit the finish line each time.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
thelunasareforever.com

Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
Favorite pods are The Big Picture, Team Deakins, and Pardon my Take

Contact Info:

• Website: https://thelunasareforever.com
• Instagram: thelunas.film
• Other: https://vimeo.com/thelunas