*Interview* Brian Skiba Talks His Latest Movie ‘The 2nd’

AR: Hi Brian, thanks for coming to chat with me

Brian: No problem at all, thank you for having me

AR: What initially got you onto the path of directing?

Brian: When i was four years my uncle stole a reel of Star Wars and we watched it on the movie projector. From then on i wanted to be a film maker then i went to college and got into screen writing and wrote my first film and it was picked up by E1 and that launched my career.

AR: Did you have any influences in cinema growing up?

Brian: My dad was a funny kind of film watcher, we weren’t into the big classics. It was all about martial arts, we watched Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, John Carpenter etc and there was comedies like Spaceballs and the slapstick kind of stuff, cheech and chong. All the stuff i grew up on definitely crossed over into filmmaking where i have action, horror-comedy, thriller and christmas movies. Them sort of films my dad showed me have influenced me as a director.

AR:Your most recent release which is out now is called The 2nd, for people who don’t know about it, what can you tell us?

Brian: It’s a father and son story it’s about a father who wants to see his son on Christmas vacation. The father and son are estranged and the father wants to take his son on this trip away, he hasn’t spent much time with his son, he’s a Delta Force team leader. His son has fallen for the supreme Court justice daughter and the supreme Court is currently in the process of fighting whether or not the 2nd amendment should be changed. This is where we get a small group of people who want to kidnap the judges daughter too force his hand.

AR: What attracted you to the project?

Brian: The opportunity to tell the story that had some undertones of things personal to me. My kids were involved in a school shooting. A feel the 2nd Amendment is a very grey area. The 2nd amendment has been around for generations. There’s some huge issues with it and it’s become an interesting project. I thought i would draw more attention too it and say how do we sort this problem? Even with the coronavirus and stuff people are still shooting places and people up. So what’s the solution? It’s not an easy one and both sides are gonna get hurt. Politics is not black and white game it’s more of a grey game. That’s why this project came to my attention I wanted to tell a father and son story and also highlight that the 2nd amendment is a topic that still needs to be discussed.

AR: What was the shooting schedule for the movie?

Brian: It was a 15 day shoot. We had a great cast and crew…

AR: Where was the movie shot?

Brian: In Los Angeles, Cal Poly

AR: The movie featured loads of action sequences, was it challenging putting so many action sequences together in such limited time?

Brian: We had a great cast and i had brought in some stuntmen, stunt co-ordinators and special effects guys and they have all worked on big shows like American Horror Story. At this time they weren’t working and were looking to do a fun movie. I wanted real explosions, stunts and gun fire and they all came on board. It was such a great team effort.

AR: Ryan looked very hands on when it came to his action sequences…

Brian: Ryan’s a mans man so to say. He spent alot of time with military guys on the show ‘Shooter’ and they had taught him how to fight and handle guns. Alot of the fight scenes we would film with him first then bring in a double and film the exact same sequence and that way we were always covered. For the most part we were able to use Ryans takes.

AR:The end of the movie is left wide open! Are you hoping to franchise this?

Brian: That’s the plan. We nearly have another script written. I am looking to see how this performs.

AR: Will the sequel pick up directly after this one?

Brian: No, it picks up a while later.

AR: You have directed a whole host of genres, what would be your favourite to direct?

Brian: Action by far is my favourite, the aspect of it and i get into the fighr it’s the one im most passionate about. Then thriller and I’m starting to dabble in horror.

AR: What’s next for you after The 2nd?

Brian: I have another show that’s on hold because of the COVID-19 situation and I have a movie coming out October 1st called Deadly Excursion, it’s a pretty fun thriller.

AR: Thank you so much for your time Brian

Brian: Thanks for having me on!

THE 2ND is now available on VOD and Digital