Meet Keven LaCroix of North Hollywood

Today we’d like to introduce you to Keven LaCroix.

Hi Keven, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up in Orange County, CA. Ever since I was young I was always making up stories and characters. Anything from drawing to making songs on the guitar was a great outlet for me and really I have to thank my Mom and Dad, Claudia and Steve LaCroix, who supported me and encouraged me to continue in not only the arts but in finding my voice. When I was a teen I really got into writing and after making half scripts and character ideas I would really try to find what to write but as you know, unless your families super rich or just traveling around the world, it would be pretty boring to say the least.

Although the life of a teen in California can still be interesting, I was self aware enough to know mine wasn’t. But it was then where I found my home in the movie theaters. I would go see movies with my friends and family at the local Century Stadium 25 aka Cinemark Century Orange and looking back a lot of big moments in my life happened at that beautiful theater. It was at that theater after watching Reservoir Dogs that I was convinced that I could make a movie. But like all people I went through my own little crash course in what was movie making.

I made better scripts (Still not good…but better) and dug into the interviews and documentaries of directors, writers, and producers and really anything I can get my hands on to better understand the movie making process. A few key moments at this time really changed how I write and how I looked at great stories in general. One would be my Mom getting me GTA Vice City Stories for the PSP. That game not only showed me what creative ways you can take on characters but the world they share while filling it with things in our world and having a spin on it that not only can poke fun but also give a message. It also didn’t help that my rebellious kid nature naturally would go against the world/parents that say it was the end of our future. But when my Mom gave me it while heavily stating “Dont tell your Father I got you this for you” I still looked at her with not just amazement but like I was given a hidden secret of adulthood but in reality it was so much more than that. Funny enough my second key moment was from my Father who would give me a DVD of a film before saying “Dont tell your Mother I let you watch this”. He would give me the hit cult classic film, Walter Hill’s 1979’s…THE WARRIORS. This film was not only a changing point for me but it almost confirmed everything I loved about the story and characters and themes in the games and films I consumed at that time. The characters ranging from good to batshit insane was like a GTA game come to life. The world was dark but still filled with so much color from the costume designs to the set locations. The themes of The Warriors and the story telling was magical and got me into Aristotle’s “The Poetics and the Art of Rhetoric” which let me find out that the story telling beats that the film mimics in “The Odyssey” transcends time and mediums. Everything was a confirmation that this writing and characters can translate beyond anything I knew but that It was also a beautiful time capsule.

The last big thing at that time to effect me and my writing was seeing a film with my friend Josh Senne at the time which was David Fincher’s and Aaron Sorkin’s masterpiece “The Social Network”. The writing down to the directing process let me find out all the things needed to not just be a good leader, a great artist, but more importantly the best thing for the story and audience. Sorkin’s ability to unabashedly write his quick, detailed driven, and witty dialogue in the frames of young men in college who would most likely be saying “like” every 4 words, like real college kids that time, was a weird way for me to understand that it was not just okay but better if you blend your “Voice” in the characters. Fincher’s directing was an enlightenment to me in that the same hard work and detail that Sorkin put into the script was needed and really should question each line in the script while adding the details of “the world” of that story. All these interviews and stories of the behind the scenes of that film were just helpful confirmations that not only highlighted the film but felt like a film itself.

All this kind of pushed me to really take my stories to a higher level and where I really started my path in the arts.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Well alot happened from trying to stay float in the animation industry after highschool in 2012 till 2017 where I was living in a crappy mobile home with three other people while trying to produce and get into the film industry. To be short it wasn’t great…from 2017 to 2019 I would fall out of love with the animation/film industry and some people in it as the “Me Too Movement” and the aftermath of it changed the landscape and my interests. It wasn’t until the end of 2017 where I had a break through in my future. I was producing a pilot for an Adult Swim show when I was given a little money and a challenge to produce a short film to add to my resume. With no idea on what to do for the short I came across something beautiful. I was listening to my friend Chris Allison (guitar, vox) and Michael Feld’s (drums) new band “LORDLOUD” and when I heard their last track on there EP “In” called “Silent Spoken”…I saw and heard the future!

Dog Days…The story of 3 criminals who find themselves locked in an abandoned warehouse with explosive dog collars attached to their necks. They soon find out by The Captor that they have 1 day to plan and steal 3-5 million dollars from a Mob game. Not only will they have to go along with this lunatic’s plan but deal with each other and the problems with living a life of crime.

It was crazy…I literally had the whole trailer and almost all of the plot right there in that night of just repeat listening to that song and writing on my shitty Mac desktop I got from my parents on my high school graduation. The story and trailer would drive me and lurk in my head for years and even to this day I still cant believe how clear it was to me that this was what I needed to do…It felt very much like God was telling me what my path was and even then I still felt like I wasn’t meant to make this and when you see the trailer you’ll see why. A lot more obstacles and challenges presented itself in the form of rewrites, funding, and just the movie making process. The film would go from getting interest and 30k before falling apart in 2020 when the “Corona Virus” hit worldwide. This set back would let me go back to the writing board and really hone my script while finding better people for the films crew and cast before trying again in 2022. It fell apart again due to a lead actor at the time leaving the project 2 weeks before filming. It wouldn’t be until November 2022 that I would finally see the biggest help in the making of this film. I met Mario Niccolò Messina aka Nick of “VChannel/INSVRGANCE” and Al of “Films And Pictures” who took a chance on me and my film and above all else where great mentors and people to really give me the hard talks. Nick was always giving great advice and still has this punk rock mentor attitude to making films and truly is one of the best producers and people to make films with. Together we had secured the full funding for Dog Days but that was only the beginning of the hard work.

I could tell you about 100 things that went wrong but this part of the story will tell you my drive and the beauty of the hard work in to making this.

In early 2023, I had to find a race course or speedway for a big car race in my film. After many people telling me it cant be done and that it would be too much money and headache for a beginner like me to find and secure I was about to give up and rewrite the scene. Until I met Christine at Willow Springs Speed Way. I was in the parking lot trying to think of a way to get her to not only agree to letting it us use the speedway but trying to get it at such a low price that even now makes me laugh at how low an offer it was. Anyway, There I am in the parking lot knowing damn well she wouldn’t agree to my sob story on how I needed this speedway until I walked through the door and met Christine. She was bright and smiling as I entered the office. When she asked why I was there I stalled for a couple seconds before asking “are you hiring?” to a confused look. She said no but if I wanted to leave my number I might get a call. Well I didn’t wait for the call and instead called everyday for a week. In what I only know assume was an attempt to get me to stop calling, they eventually said I could work cleaning and doing basic work around the speedway.

For a month I would work hard and long at that track and everyday smile through it all as I compliment Christine and everyone I worked with even when I was really tired and worried if this would work. At the end of the month I was given my last check from them before I signed both paychecks and asked to purchase something there. Christine confused and surprised asked what I wanted. It was there when I told her about my goal for this film. I told her the truth and showed her my storyboards I drew for the film while explaining how I was willing to work at that speedway for the rest of the year if it meant we can use it for just one night. I though that just telling her everything when I first met her wouldn’t work clearly, but If i got to know her and show her my actions and path I was willing to go through for the film she would at least see my dedication and at that moment…after telling her everything…she asked how much was our budget for the speedway…I told her expecting to be laughed out of the office…but she didn’t do that. She smiled and said she would email me with her answer. After a couple days and a lot of email checking haha I saw her email. That moment was one of my proudest cause there it was…5k for the speedway when it was usually 26k (actually it was 4,475K since I used my 2 paychecks towards the speedway) and what was an obstacle that I though was too high for me was suddenly gone…all that was left was our film.

The process of making this film saw all sorts of struggles but funny enough those struggles almost felt like it helped make the pressure and feel of the films plot more real and raw. We saw happy moments of course but I can safely say we all really poured our blood, sweat, and tears to make a great film and something I still cant believe is my first in many films.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I was very lucky that a couple months before the film started up, I was given funding for 2 original video games that me and my company KYS aka Keep Your Smile Productions is well underway in. We are really excited in a secret horror game that I cant talk about right now but is attached to another project we have on the film devision. It will blend the bodycam game genre with the horror classic stealth game mechanics of Rockstar Games’ “Manhunt” all the while bringing something unique horror fans will enjoy. The 2nd is a video game called “Papi’s Pizza” a Paperboy -esque game where you deliver pizzas around the town but with a South Park sense of humor. This game is not like the other games we are making as to show more diversity in our slate of games but also what were capable of while surprising players.

Right now, we at the game division of Keep Your Smile just really want to make things that we would have loved to play as a kid but even more so now. I think we will have Papis Pizza done by the end of 2026 but other than that we really want to continue on the games side and maybe dabble in anime in later years.

The company is also going into graphic novels with a 4 issue backstory on DOG DAYS the film. It will tell the events leading in to the film and it’s really nice to continue exploring the world of Dog Days but even more so to tell more of the characters pasts to help build more lore for the world.

I think that thing that sets me apart is my ability to give other artist the space to do what they do best, not quit, and the ability to think outside the box. Take for instance, in the film theres a car chase and race, shootouts, and bunch of other things a first time filmmaker would never attempt nor even get right, if given the opportunity. We overcame those obstacles, not because I thought I was the best writer or came up with the best way to shoot the scene, but from giving the crew and cast enough room to feel the scene out in rehearsal’s and on the day of shooting. I also feel like not quitting on the scripts high concepts and set locations was really a proud moment in all of this for me. I was able to get away with a lot and its weird to say that I got everything I wanted. I really hope the film and this interview shows people that you can get all you want in your film or project too…its just going to take a lot out of you as well as time…but its worth it.

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
God…I’ve taken a lot of risk for the film and the art in general but its funny cause Ive loved making it all along the way that it never felt like we were risking anything. I remember while filming on the last day of a set location, we needed to wrap a shootout scene in like 2-4 hours. The resulting coverage was a blur for all of us. I remember one lead coming to me at the end of the shoot saying he was nervous we hadn’t got the shots we needed all the while I had a bit of extras unhappy with the direction taken to get the shots. To say the least I was risking a lot on that day and felt like this was probably where the film would die in the editing room.

Fast forward several months later and I’m on that scene in the editing room. The shock on my face after editing it and having the music sync up like it was all meant to be, was not only thrilling but weirdly eerie. I felt like that a couple times on the film where after editing the scenes, adding the music, and really focusing on story it all just felt so natural and weirdly in sync with what we added in later in the moment. God was there on set and in the process the whole time but its funny how we dont see it until it all comes together…kinda of like life I guess.

I will say some of the best risks was our leads! First was Caroline Hallum, our female lead in the film. She was always ready and down for whatever we threw at her. She had the beauty and seductiveness hands down but we needed her to also bring that badass fem-fatale energy of Beatrix Kiddo (kill Bill), Lorraine Broughton (Atomic Blonde), and Kate (Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s film “KATE”) to the character and she delivered in spades. I remember discussing with her that her character “Bev” in the film is not a love interest or a damsel in distress but a f**king dog like the other two leads and she took that and ran with it. She’s a gem both professionally and artistically and I cant wait to do more art with her and just see her career grow.

Second was our other lead Lanre Idewu. He was a great talent that brought a sophistication and smooth killer vibe to the character. He not only saved the film several times along the process of filming but he always had a cheerful and energetic way about him that was infectious. I remember when I first got in contact with him he was so into the character that it felt like I was talking to the actual character I wrote on the pages. It was about 2 days later when he finished reading the script that he sent me a video of him racing around his street in his car as he said he was born for the role. I knew he was going to kill this role but he and Caroline were truly the few actors I’ve met that elevated the material enough that I still pray to God for bringing us all together to this day.

The other cast and crew were all great and again I could write a whole book on why but these were the two people who really paid off that big risk of the film.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevenlacroix2000/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keven-lacroix-687905181/

Image Credits
Derick E. Morales – HEADSHOTS
Clint Howard II – FILM STILLS