Goldove’s new Science fiction/Horror film, Lumina, only in theaters Friday, July 12th. If you love government conspiracies, space, aliens and some blood mixed with comedy, this is the movie many critics claim is the new cult classic on the block. There’s no exaggeration there because it really punches way above its weight.
A terrifying sci-fi thrill ride, Lumina follows four friends desperately searching for their abductee friend in a DUMB – DEEP UNDERGROUND MILITARY BASE. Whether they find their friend or not, what they find in the desert of the US to the sands of the Sahara, will change their lives forever.
In his feature directing debut, Gino McKoy leads a cast that includes the legendary Eric Roberts as well as up-and-coming talents Ken Lawson and Sidney Nicole Rogers, Rupert Lazarus, Eleanor Williams, Andrea Tivadar and Emily Hall.
The process of bringing the film Lumina to life involved significant challenges. After numerous agencies were unable to commit to a director, the film’s screenwriter, Gino J.H. McKoy decided to direct the film himself. Together with his mother, Lynda, they secured a domestic wide release service distribution deal in 2019 with Entertainment Studio Motion Pictures/Freestyle Releasing, which would have covered 2000-2500 screens across the U.S. and Canada, along with output deals with Lionsgate, Netflix, and FilmNation.[10] However, after 18 months of negotiations, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic brought the film economy to a standstill, resulting in the closure of theaters and the cessation of film production. This made a wide release infeasible. Despite these setbacks, the McKoys continued with pre-production and planned to revisit distribution after post-production.
The financing for the film was secured through Lynda’s longtime friend, David Seychell. During a planned trip to discuss the film’s financing in July 2020, Seychell was critically injured in a private plane crash in the Colorado mountains.[10] After weeks of treatment in Colorado and Toronto, Seychell began to recover and his paper contract for Lumina was found intact at the crash site.
Preproduction in Morocco
In Ouarzazate, director Mckoy enlisted British DP Larry Smith, who had formerly worked with Stanley Kubrick.[11] However, their journey to Marrakesh was interrupted by a call concerning threats against producer Lynda Mckoy from service producer “M”, leading them to return to Ouarzazate. Upon arrival at CLA Studio, they found “M” orchestrating a strike, alleging the producers’ non-payment of bills, while Lynda’s persistent requests for invoices had been ignored. Proofs of correspondence and partial payments were subsequently presented. It was later revealed that “M’s” assistant had been secretly storing the Moroccan crew’s financial documents.
On a single day, all cast and crew underwent COVID-19 testing due to producer Lynda Mckoy’s concerns about inadequate protocol adherence. Lynda and Hudson Mckoy, parents of the director, received false positive results. They then traveled to Marrakesh in a privately rented bus for retesting and self-isolated at the Opera Plaza Hotel. Concurrently, Gino rode in the production bus serving as a decoy, attracting the attention of the authorities searching for the Mckoys.[11] Upon discovering the Mckoy’s location, ‘M’ directed police to their hotel room.[11]
The Mckoys informed officials that the embassies of the UK, US, and Canada were aware of their situation, and kept their predicament confidential from the crew at the Rotana Hotel. Subsequently, the local authorities ordered the closure of the CLA studios for disinfection and quarantine. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, this led to the halt of sci-fi set construction in Ouarzazate, and service producer ‘M’ demanded payroll for the Moroccan team during the studio shutdown.
In Marrakesh’s Rotana Hotel, pre-production occurred in a secure environment. However, five actors from the U.S. and U.K. ceased their involvement prematurely, despite ongoing contracts. In an unprecedented event in Hollywood history, Director Gino J.H Mckoy identified this as a planned act to undermine Lumina. The actors retained their compensation, representing a unique case of potential project sabotage exceeding not just financial issues.
In 2020, SAG-AFTRA instructed its members to avoid working on the film Lumina, which allegedly failed to comply with required COVID-19 safety standards as per the union’s Global Rule One, making it one of the few movies to proceed without union support.
Despite the challenges faced, the Lumina team managed to prevail and secure this wide release in theaters and also resolve all issues created by the previous cast with SAG.
As a part of their campaign, the Lumina Film Sweepstakes started on May 28th.
Everyone can enter to win “The Space Rover – Polaris Razor” as the grand prize and 5 other contestants can win a 10K USD prize by either purchasing an advance ticket, sharing the trailer or a mail in postcard, no purchase necessary to enter and win. Rules and regulations are listed on lumina.film.
Amazing story