Miguel del Campo is a Mexican-born independent filmmaker with a handful of horror-dramas under his belt. He studied filmmaking at UPAEP in Puebla, Mexico, and then at the NYFA’s Los Angeles campus. With a wealth of production experience gained through working on music videos, features, and commercials, he now works at Lionsgate in marketing and home entertainment. He has directed numerous short films since 2011, his two most noteworthy being The Bell-Ringer and the recent A Lovely Death which has performed well on the festival circuit.
Can you tell us a little bit about your upbringing and the area you grew up in?
I was born and raised in the beautiful state of Puebla, Mexico. I am the middle brother of three – and two of us always wanted to pursue a career in the arts. My family has always been very supportive with my artistic endeavors. I remember that my brothers and I used to film, with my father’s camera, all sort of things including a remake of a Star Wars film and other small stories. The thing that I’ve always loved about my country is our beautiful culture – including our food, our history, and traditions. My favorite holiday has always been Día de Muertos. I remember that my family used to take us to a small rural town to see all the beautiful ofrendas and that always caught my eye. I believe that everything that I have lived with in my country, has inspired me to tell my own stories and to become a better person. There’s beauty all over our country, especially with our people. No wonder why some of the best filmmakers come from this country.
What inspired you to pursue filmmaking, and how did you get started in the industry?
That’s a story that I never get tired of telling. I remember one time my parents took my brothers and I to watch a film. In order to get to this movie theater, you had to go down an escalator and I remember buying the tickets at the box office and walking past the candy shop. Then you had to go down some stairs to go the auditorium, and finally we were in our seats to watch this wonderful film called Toy Story 2. When the movie ended, we were going up the stairs and I remember that I felt fascinated and, in that moment, I decided to become a filmmaker. Of course, when I was a kid, I didn’t know exactly what each position does on a movie set and it wasn’t until I started studying at the college Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla that I realized that I wanted to become a film director.
After I got my bachelor’s degree in Filmmaking and Audiovisual Production and having directed some short films, I started working for some small production companies and during these jobs, I realized that there was so much more that I wanted to learn. That’s why I decided to enroll at the New York Film Academy. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a scholarship to study my master’s degree. However, thanks to a lot of hard work and help from my loving family, I was able to enroll for the 1-Year Filmmaking Conservatory program. A few months later, I moved to California, and I spent a lot of wonderful months learning about what made the Hollywood industry the biggest film industry in the world. Then, when the COVID 19 pandemic hit the world, all our classes had to be taken online and I had to go back to Mexico for a while. Nevertheless I graduated, and a few months later I went back to California with a work permit to start a new life in the USA. It was very hard at the beginning, I was working from one set to the other. I worked for a lot of different short films, a music video, some events, and a feature film. Finally, one day I received a call to work a full-time job for two amazing companies called “Pixelogic” and “Lionsgate” at the Marketing and Home Entertainment departments. I started working at these amazing companies in August, 2021 and I’m still proud of being a part of such a wonderful team. Not only this, but I’ve also been able to learn about the Marketing side of the filmmaking process which is something extremely important that, unfortunately, not a lot of filmmakers consider when they start working on a project.
Can you tell us about a particular film or filmmaker that has influenced your work and why?
This is a hard question to answer because there’s been a lot of different films and filmmakers that have influenced my work in different ways. The incredible film Macario by Roberto Gavaldón showed me how films can deal with heavy themes such as life and death while also representing the culture of a country. I also love the work from other Mexican directors such as Alejandro Galindo with films like Una Familia de Tantas and Campeón sin Corona, Arturo Ripstein’s El lugar sin límites and El Castillo de la Pureza, Guillermo del Toro’s Cronos and El Laberinto del Fauno, Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma and Children of Men, among so many other wonderful Mexican directors.
If I’m being honest, I never thought of myself as someone who would be interested in filming horror films, but I found out that this is a great genre to represent themes that can’t be fully explored in other genres. I’m not interested in filming the typical horror films that are only meant to shock and scare the audiences for 90 minutes. I’m interested in those films and TV shows that transcend by creating compelling stories and characters on which we can relate, because they are talking about themes that are present in our lives. The Witch and The Lighthouse by Robert Eggers have been a big inspiration for me recently as well as the show The Haunting of Hill House by Mike Flanagan. Not to mention, The Shining by Stanley Kubrick, Let The Right One In by Tomas Alfredson, Chronos by Guillermo del Toro, The Exorcist by William Friedkin, etc.
What do you think are the essential qualities of a successful filmmaker, and how do you embody these qualities in your own work?
When I think about what a successful filmmaker really means, I don’t think about awards or international recognition. I believe that a successful filmmaker is the one who is able to transmit to its audience their own point of view about a certain theme. The way on which they see the world that it’s different and powerful than the rest of the other filmmakers. If you give the same screenplay to two talented directors, they’ll both direct two completely different films.
It’s hard for me to see myself as a successful filmmaker because I feel there’s still some things that I can learn and projects that I need to work on before even considering myself as the best filmmaker I know I can be. What I feel completely fine saying is that the more projects I’ve directed, I’ve felt more confident in my work, and I believe that each time, I’m getting closer to work on those films with the themes and characters that I am attracted to direct.
Can you walk us through the creative process behind A Lovely Death, from ideation to final product?
The funny thing is that this project was never meant to be sent to film festivals. This was only supposed to be a film exercise for our first semester at the New York Film Academy. I remember that I wanted to make something good, but with a small budget because I didn’t have a lot of money back then to film big things like some of my classmates. Being an international student in the US is extremely hard, especially when you have a limited budget. So, this is why I decided to save most of my money for my thesis film and I started to think about what I could do with my limited budget.
When I was coming up with ideas for a short film, I remembered an idea that I had for a feature screenplay that told a story about the Grim Reaper. So, I decided to make something that was inspired by this idea, but with a different story. However, I didn’t want to make a typical horror short film, and this is why I decided to make a musical, horror and romantic short film on which the music complemented the acting to help the audience get through the story.
After I presented the short film to my teachers and classmates, the short film was collecting dust for a very long time. And then, the COVID 19 pandemic happened. Because of this pandemic, I had to finish half my program online and I had to go back to Mexico. Not only this, but I also wasn’t able to direct my thesis film and I really wanted to start sending my work to festivals. So, we hired an amazing music composer to work on this project as well as someone to work on the color correction and grading. So far, we’ve been selected to participate in four festivals, and we are hoping to get selected in more.
What challenges did you face during the production of your short, and how did you overcome them?
Like I said, the budget was extremely limited because of my financial situation and because I was saving my money for the thesis film that I never got the opportunity to do. Because of this, I had to reduce a lot of things on the script such as locations, characters, etc.
Fortunately, I had the help of such an amazing cast and crew. I really couldn’t have done it without them. It was because of them that I was able to get such a good reception from my teachers and the other classmates.
How did you balance the artistic vision with your available tools when creating the film?
I think that when you work on an estimated budget, you realize exactly what you can and can’t do. The budget can be an obstacle or an opportunity, because good filmmakers can find ways to be creative with the tools that they have. Fortunately, I had the fortune of studying with such an amazing institution filled with great equipment.
I couldn’t shoot in more locations or hire more actors, but I was able to fully take advantage of these locations, and less actors meant more time to develop these characters. This might be a small short film, and perhaps there are things that I would do better now if I could, but I still think it’s a lovely short film that told what I wanted to tell.
A Lovely Death has some rather topical and disturbing themes once the viewer dives deeper into the story. Did you draw on any real-life inspiration for the short?
I didn’t really draw inspiration from my own life for this project. Sure, I believe that real-life experiences probably affected the way I direct and write, but I think that I drew a lot of inspiration from films and TV shows that I admired for this project. For example, all the horror films and TV shows that I previously mentioned.
Also, I believe that my own point of view about the themes that my film is about, such as life and death, were directly affected by my experiences as a Mexican man. The way my culture sees death is so much different than the point of view of different countries, for example the USA. If you ask me, there are so many worse things than death – like the loss of your humanity or the loss of your reason to live. These are some of the themes that I feel very passionate about when it comes to what I want to write and direct.
Can you describe the role that storytelling plays in your style of filmmaking, and how do you ensure that your stories are engaging and impactful?
I think that great filmmakers find their own directing style through the themes of their films, their cast, their visual style, etc. I don’t think I can call myself a great filmmaker yet. However, I do believe that my directing style was directly affected by my own culture and the films and shows that I loved while growing up.
I’m someone who loves to write about dark stories and themes. Not to mention characters, that along with the story, are on the risk of losing their humanity. For me, the most important thing when I am writing a screenplay is the characters, because I want the audience to relate to them and reflect the themes that I want to talk about through them.
One of the things I like to do to create engaging and impactful films is to work on multiple genres in a single film. For example, for my short film A Lovely Death, I decided to write it as a horror/romantic/musical film. It was my first time writing a romantic film as well as a musical. Not only this, but I also wanted the music to guide the spectator throughout this romantic journey. So I had to consider this while we were shooting on set, given that the music would be later added in post-production.
How do you collaborate with other creatives, like your crew and actors, to bring your vision to life?
As an introvert person, sometimes it can be challenging for me to express myself to other people. This has been also challenging when it comes to directing because a director has to be a leader and to be able to express their artistic vision of what they want the film to feel like and look like.
Fortunately, my experience working on multiple projects has helped me to become more confident and to find easier ways for me to express myself. This is also why it’s always important to find the right people to work with. I find the process of casting and rehearsal very stressful. However, when you find the right actors that have an idea of your vision and the characters you created, it makes the whole process of rehearsing and blocking much easier.
What can audiences expect from your upcoming projects, and how do you hope to leave a lasting impression with them?
Right now, I am still on the festival run for A Lovely Death and we just got selected to participate at the Miami International Science Fiction Film Festival this April which is exciting because it’s the first genre festival we’ve been selected to participate in.
I’m also sending my feature screenplay La Parca to film festivals as well as screenplay competitions. This is a project that I am very excited about because it’s a love letter to the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema as well as a twist on the monster subgenre that we are very used to.
Finally, I’m still working to get started with the production of the thesis film that I never got the chance to film. This is a very interesting project because it deals with the racist stereotypes about Mexican people in the Hollywood film industry. It’s about how these stereotypes are so deep-rooted in society that it might be impossible to fight back against them.
I think that these three projects can show the audience that I am not afraid to try different genres, and that I have a distinctive voice that is worth to be heard in this industry. I am hoping to one day become an international recognized Mexican filmmaker in both the Hollywood and Mexican film industries.
What advice do you have for aspiring filmmakers looking to break into the industry?
The first advice I would give is to write and direct as many things as possible. Not everything will be festival worthy, but you will be able to practice and learn what to do and what not to do.
The second advice would give to read as many books as possible about the specific role of the filmmaking process that you are interested. These days you can find all the necessary information online, and a lot of it for free. Also, learn a little about every single aspect of the filmmaking process because the more you know about the whole process and what each role requires, the more you will be prepared.
The third advice I would give is not to let a budget define your worth as a filmmaker. These days you can film a short film, maybe even a feature film, with just your phone. It’s amazing what technology can do these days. Not only this, but try to find human stories in the small things. You don’t have to direct an expensive sci-fi or fantasy short film in an expensive set with tons of props and costumes to make a good short film. Direct what you have experienced or films about the themes you feel passionate about and never direct what you think most people would love to watch. Show everyone why your voice deserves to be seen and heard on the big or small screen.
My final advice would be to be ambitious, but not with big and expensive things that will elevate the cost of your budget. Be ambitious with the stories that you are trying to tell. You don’t need a big budget to direct something that only you can direct. Also, try to experience with genres that you never considered before, and maybe even get inspiration from multiple genres, and create a unique viewing experience.
A LOVELY DEATH
