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[0:00] Robert Bannon: Welcome to The Roundtable. Christopher is here. Welcome to the show.

[0:32] Christopher Piñero: Thanks for having me.

[0:34] Robert Bannon: Christopher, you are a director, but you didn't start that way. You went to school to be an actor. So my question to directors is what was the moment you were like, I'm ready to boss people around. This is my set now. Let's go.

[0:47] Christopher Piñero: I was actually in acting class and the teacher had a former student who went on to direct and made a short film. And they screened it for the class and I watched it because I had been thinking about directing for a long time. I just thought I'd do it when I was older. And I was sitting there watching it. And I think in some sort of motivational speech to myself, I went, I can do better than that. It wasn't even in some cocky way. It was just more like, all right, enough of this. You don't even like acting; go direct.

[1:25] Robert Bannon: As an actor, that sounds about right. You look at somebody else, I could do this better, but you actually went out and did it. So for a film like this, for The Prowler, which is a short that is in the LA Short International Film Festival, which is going on, which has already gotten rave reviews. You've had it in the festival circuit. What's it feel like to get it off the ground? It's one thing to have an idea. It's one thing to say I'm a director. It's another thing to have a film that's eligible for an Academy Award. So what's it feel like?

[1:52] Christopher Piñero: Well, you have to win an award, I think, at the festival to then you can submit yourself for the Oscars or something. I think that's how it works. But no, it's really cool because I honestly just wanted to make this and drop it on YouTube. Because it's a proof of concept, proof of tone, proof of craft, all of that. And I was just like, I just want to put it on YouTube and it's to get my feature made. That's the whole reason why I made it. But then I started sending it around to friends and stuff and some people were reacting to it. I was like, well, let me just submit to a couple of festivals. And then we got into some and I was like, well, maybe I should keep submitting for a little while and then ride this out and see how it goes. I didn't expect to get into LA Shorts at all, to be honest. It was really cool to get that email.

[2:46] Robert Bannon: It's a really big deal and it's a really exciting thing. So congratulations.

[2:50] Christopher Piñero: Thank you.

[2:51] Robert Bannon: Reading about you and your history, your heritage and Puerto Rico and where your family is from is important to you. It's an important part of the story. So how do you tie that legacy and that heritage to a film that's for everybody? How do those two worlds connect?

[3:08] Christopher Piñero: Yeah, it's funny because you hear all this stuff when you're growing up and I heard stuff about the Chupacabra and just demons. Because I was also raised Catholic, which is, at least in all the Puerto Ricans that I knew, everybody was pretty much Catholic. And so there was the stuff about possession and just all this scary stuff when you're 10 years old. All this stuff is just, I'm under threat. It's going to happen at any moment. But then as I got older, I started to realize a lot of this stuff had an explanation. You learn things, certain family members, stuff. And I started to realize that a lot of the time, the scariest thing isn't what's out there or some external threat. It's something that's more grounded.

[4:05] Robert Bannon: Absolutely. Look, as a little Catholic Jersey boy.

[4:09] Christopher Piñero: Jersey, nice.

[4:10] Robert Bannon: I get it. Alright, so tell me, what is this film about and who's in it? Because you got some people with some credits. We got some TV film credits, some stars in this movie. So how do you describe what it's about?

[4:22] Christopher Piñero: In hopes of preserving the experience, I try to say as less as possible, but I would just say it's a tense psychological experience where shifting perceptions reveal a much darker truth.

[4:41] Robert Bannon: That's all you need to know. If you're in LA, you got to go see it for yourself. And if you're not in LA, is there plans for this to be available? You said there's a feature. So do you have a feature of this vein ready to go?

[4:57] Christopher Piñero: Yeah, I've been developing it for the past few years. And this short has become the opening sequence to the feature.

[5:06] Robert Bannon: Well, I got 50 bucks, Chris. Maybe that'll help.

[5:09] Christopher Piñero: Hey, any bit helps.

[5:12] Robert Bannon: I got 50 bucks and I'm ready to go. Tell us about your cast. Who's in this? And how did you find them? And how'd you get them to say yes?

[5:20] Christopher Piñero: Aaron's in it. Aaron Dominguez is in it. And I've been talking to him for the last three years about my feature. And we got kind of tired of waiting for that to happen because there were strikes and a bunch of craziness here with the industry. So we were like, let's just prove ourselves again. Let's act like we have no credits to our name and let's just do this to the best of our ability. And luckily he was down because he's a busy guy. And he set aside two days and we shot it quickly. And the other actor in it is actually my wife. And I've been working with her since we met, really.

[6:07] Robert Bannon: That's incredible. Is it hard to work with your wife? Is it fun? Do you separate the work from your personal life?

[6:15] Christopher Piñero: Honestly, when she's acting, when we're on set, it's pretty easy. It's when we're talking about the script. Because she's not just an actor. She's more than that. She's always my first read. She's always the first person that reads my stuff and gives me her reaction to it. But when we're on set, it's just her first take in this. Because she hadn't acted in a while. She was pregnant during that time. And we also have a young kid who was three at the time. But she was pregnant during those scenes. And she hadn't acted in a few years. And I was like, I'm going to give her one to warm up and see where it goes. But she did her take and I was like, just do that again for safety. Just do that again. That was so good. Just do that again. And that way we have a backup. But that was perfect.

[7:18] Robert Bannon: In the can. Done. In the wrap.

[7:20] Christopher Piñero: I was either going to say she's the steal of a deal and you got her for a good price. Or maybe she's the most expensive actor you've ever hired. I don't know how you look at it. Either way, it might be one or the other.

[7:32] Robert Bannon: So for people who have the chance to see this, why should they see this if you're a fan of horror? Maybe you're scared of horror. What about it? What do you promise when people come and check it out at the festival and in the future?

[7:44] Christopher Piñero: I think it gives you a new perspective on horror on the slasher genre. I think it gives you a new. It has a fresh take on that genre, I would say. And I think that's that alone for me, if I was because I am the first audience member when I direct. And for me, I was like, if I saw this in a movie or in the theater or whatever, I would be pretty happy with it. So I think that's that alone for me is enough for audiences out there to go see it.

[8:15] Robert Bannon: It sounds good. I'm a scaredy cat. I'm scared. I'm scared of every movie. But I'm going to say I'm ready for this. I'm ready for people to check this out now that it's done, now that it's wrapped, now that you're in festivals, now that you have this acclaim that you as the beat goes on in this role, it's rolling out. Do you look back to the starting of the idea of directing and now when you see the success of it and that this is a skill set that you have, it must be pretty fulfilling. It must be a pretty great feeling to have put this out and where it is right now.

[8:45] Christopher Piñero: Yeah, because I was actually talking about this recently. I was like, it's kind of weird. Because internally, I feel like I'm really good. I have to feel like I'm really good. But it's been just me and my wife, pretty much. I'm telling her, I'm like, I am really good. Trust me. Trust me. I'm really good. But then when other people start to say they like your stuff or they really like what you're doing, then it starts to be like, this feels a little weird. And then I drop the defensiveness and I'm like, oh, cool, cool, cool.

[9:26] Robert Bannon: I guess he's really good. I think he's really good, everybody. You'll have to check it out and see for yourself. The Prowler is going to be in LA. If you're in LA for the next few weeks, you got to check it out. Make sure you see it. And then the future will follow you. The links will be below for people to check out Instagram and see what's next. And maybe the features around the corner. So everybody stick around. The best is yet to come.

[9:46] Christopher Piñero: Thank you for making some time for us today. Congratulations to you, to your wife, this incredible cast and crew. And we look forward to what's next.

[9:52] Robert Bannon: Thanks so much for having me on. I appreciate it.

[9:53] Robert Bannon: Thanks, Christopher.