Justin always enjoyed acting in school, but even before that, he simply enjoyed getting to perform when he had the opportunity, always trying to tell (way too elaborate) stories playing with his action figures. This passion turned to a legitimate career goal during high school… Justin realized that if he took things seriously, and took the right chances, he could realize his lofty goals.

Justin didn’t stop at training as an actor, though… “I definitely have a wishlist of characters that has been growing since I was a kid that I would jump at the chance to play. I’ve always wanted to be Robin, or an X-Man, or a Power Ranger… ultimately, I realized that martial arts could maybe help land me those kinds of parts.” He’s obsessed with martial arts. He says he has an odd relationship with traditional arts and combat sports, and has been trying to both bridge the gap and explore them separate from each other. “I’m as inclined to watch Van Damme as I am the next UFC card, I just think it’s all too interesting.”

In Rooks, Justin portrays Will Augustine, the film’s protagonist. He met writer/director Robert Maynard at the wrap party for Crossing, and knew Robert wanted to make a feature length film, which he says intrigued him. When Robert pitched the premise of Rooks, Justin said it reminded him of many things he enjoys, but with a fresh take.

Will is a tough character to play. He’s in almost every scene, and (without getting too far into spoiler territory) he perceives time differently than most of the other characters, so Justin faced the challenge of examining every action and line of dialogue and determining how Will would experience it. “For me, it was about figuring out the best way to remember my lines and which delivery felt honest.”

Justin says his favorite location from filming was the bed that belongs to his character. “I had to film in [that bed] a few times, and it was one of the most comfortable I have been in. I just spent as much time under those covers as possible, that’s where you would find me while we were setting up for the next scene.” Independent sources have confirmed that Justin fell asleep on set constantly, even when that bed wasn’t readily available. But when Justin wasn’t sleeping on set, he loved spending time with his co-stars and crew members. He says that not seeing them almost every week is the hardest part about being wrapped. “There was just the right balance of enthusiasm and sarcasm. There were a ton of alternate takes to scenes, many many bloopers. There was also a lot of down time during the winter shoots where a circle of us in the cabin on location would just warm up by the furnace and talk while everyone else was filming. Tons of bonding opportunities in the little moments.”

Justin’s very excited to see the stunt work in the film. In addition to acting, he had a hand in the fight choreography. He says there are also a handful of shots that he knows Robert put a lot of effort into, that he will avoid seeing until the movie releases in December.

We asked Justin for his favorite movie and actor or director (notice that all those words are singular), and here’s what he had to say: “I’ll watch anything that has Ryan Gosling in it, but I’d also say that about Arnold Schwarzenegger. Directors? If I had to pin it down, be totally objective, it might be Edgar Wright, but I’ve seen everything by John Hughes, Sam Raimi, Quentin Tarantino, James Cameron, Tim Burton, and Christopher Nolan. Movies? I have a handful: Serendipity, Say Anything, Bloodsport, The Crow, T2, Endless Love, Batman ‘89, Drive, Akira, Lost Boys, and The Perks of Being a Wallflower.” He adds that he could probably tell you almost every line in order from the first two Spider-Man movies, and wrapped up with “Been a big nerd my whole life, I doubt I’ll ever change.”

A big nerd, indeed. Luckily, most of our cast and crew are nerds, too.

Want a printed copy of this poster? You can pre-order and pick up at Premiere Night!

Nick is another returning crew member, having worked with director Robert Maynard on the score for Crossing two years ago. About working with Robert, Nick says, “I enjoy the energy and passion he brings and the people he surrounds himself with!”

The role of the composer is perhaps a rather isolated one, but Nick did have the opportunity to work closely with Robert even from the very beginning of production, building the score before many scenes were even filmed. Nick and postproduction engineer Amanda Roswick had a chance to come to set for one day as well, to help direct the musical elements of a character’s performance, and they both enjoyed the visit. “I enjoyed working on the scene and assisting where I could, and watching the actors work was exhilarating!”

Nick, like so many of the crew, adores the scene set on the frozen lake… in fact, Nick wrote the music that plays for that scene very early in production, and it’s perhaps one of the most emotional pieces he’s ever written.

Nick faced a new challenge for this score. He had to build a small orchestra to play the various parts. In total, he welcomed seven newcomers into the fold, and we’re excited to share more about them and their process in a future article.

In the meantime, Nick continues his career in music as a bassoonist with the Air National Guard Band of the Northeast, and he’s a private lesson teacher in all instruments, mainly bassoon, piano, and trumpet.

Nick’s favorite films are the Harry Potter series (he writes, “For those wondering, my favorites in order are 1, 7p2, 3, 6, 5, 2, 7p1, 4.”) and his favorite artist is Taylor Swift.

Eleanor’s journey on with Rooks began before the final cut of Crossing was even locked. “I had an amazing experience [on Crossing]! [Robert] really knows how to tell a great story. As soon as he told me he had an idea brewing for another project, I knew I needed to be involved.”

Interestingly, neither she nor director Robert Maynard ever considered her for the role of Nissa. Eleanor had originally intended to play Edi, the role that was eventually portrayed by Michela Lamparelli. However, when Michela read for Edi, Robert reconsidered things, rewrote Nissa to be a better fit for Eleanor, and cast the actresses in their respective roles. Things have a way of working out…

And work out they did. Eleanor is brilliant as Nissa. On developing her character, she says, “For me it really started with analyzing the script. What are Nissa's relationships with the other characters? How does she view them, and how do they view her? What drives her? What is she afraid of? What is her deepest desire? Things like that. It's interesting playing a character with powers too. It's fun to imagine how that would influence your perspective on things.”

In case it’s not clear, Eleanor really takes her craft seriously. She’s an actress through and through. “For me, it's the love of the art. I have always just loved acting so much. It's so rewarding to use your imagination and really explore a role.”

But it didn’t stop with acting for Eleanor on this film. Her character Nissa is something of a leader to a group of characters in the film. Life imitates art in this case, because Eleanor also produced the film alongside Robert. Building relationships with the cast and crew was a huge part of what made production of Rooks so much fun to her.

She particularly enjoyed filming at the cabin in Sutton: “We shot so much of the film there and it was always so much fun just hanging out with everyone while we weren't filming. It felt like home!”

Filmmaking brings a lot of challenges, and Eleanor and the crew faced up to them at every turn. Seeing the fruits of that labor will be a momentous occasion for her at Premiere Night: “I'm just so excited to see all of the shots that we worked really hard to get. There are a few that took a lot of crew members to set up, or we only had a limited number of takes to get right so the pressure was really on. We should release a version of the movie with commentary so the audience can be in on everything that was going on behind the scenes!”

Fun as it may be, we’ll leave the DVD commentary for a later time!

Eleanor's favorite film is Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and her favorite actor is Meryl Streep.
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Sarah had long dismissed her passion for filmmaking. Choosing to obtain her degree in recreation management and then pursuing a career in that field left little time for making movies on the side. “Cinematography had been a dream I let go of in 2015.”

When director Robert Maynard was building his team, he recalled a brief friendship with Sarah during a class they shared 6 years prior. He reached out to her and asked if she might be willing to be part of the crew. He was fortunate she said yes. And for Sarah, it was an opportunity to explore that dormant interest in filmmaking.

According to Sarah, shooting the film was “a very cool experience. I got to see everything for the first time, and being a part of it all was so rewarding!” Sarah, like so many of the cast and crew, loved filming at the cabin in Sutton, though for her it carries a deeper meaning. Her family owns the property, and it’s thanks to her that production was able to film there. To her, “it was some of the things I love most colliding. I’ve always had a passion for filming and editing, and being able to do that on a real film in the place I grew up was awesome.”

Sarah spent months learning and preparing to shoot Rooks before production even began. She and Robert built out a collection of rigs, tripods, stabilizing arms, and some other equipment to really up the ante on the quality of recordings for Rooks, leveraging FilmicPro and the incredible 4K HDR cameras of the iPhone 13 series for almost every shot of the film.

“I’m excited to see the final sequence all come together,” Sarah added. It’s something production spent two very long nights working on… the first from about 4:00 PM until midnight, and the second a week later, from 6:00 PM until about 4:00 AM. Sarah has seen pieces of this sequence, and we can confirm it is coming together quite nicely!

Sarah’s favorite movie is Saving Private Ryan, and when we asked if she has any projects she wanted to plug, she simply said: “Rooks, word on the street is it’s going to be lit.”