5 Questions with Chris Ortega
1) Can you talk briefly about your background, and how you first got interested in filmmaking?
I don’t remember how old I was, but I watched Rugrats In Paris (on the orange VHS tape) and I was sold! Something about watching characters I was used to in a new setting and story was exciting to me. I knew I wanted to tell stories, but I just wasn’t sure what medium. I always had my Dad's camera growing up, so my friends and I would go out and shoot after school. Filmmaking was my thing from then on.
2) What’s the backstory here - what was the initial idea and how did it evolve from there?
The Ballad of Junior was a lesson of vulnerability for me. I knew every single character in this story. It felt like I was writing a letter to my Mom, my friends, my older relationships, and myself. Brandon and I sat down and dissected every corner of our lives growing up together and realized how cyclic it was. Everything always happens again, and we wanted to write a story that could come full circle like that. When the film ends, you know that the same deal is probably going to happen to Junior the next day.
3) What was the biggest challenge in making this film? And generally what part of the creative process do you enjoy the most, and the least?
The biggest challenge was casting. Half my cast dropped last-minute so Brandon and I hopped in. That’s also my Grandma and Grandpa in there, too! To that point, my favorite part of the creative process is just letting everything happen. There were so many factors limiting us logistically on this shoot, but we just shot through it. Some of the best moments happened that way. My least favorite part of the process is when it’s all over and I get sad.
4) What’s a film you’ve seen recently, new or old, that you really loved and why?
I’m researching/writing for a new film, and I just peeped Midnight Family (2019) by Luke Lorentzen. I think about it every day! It’s a sincere and thrilling story about the Ochoa family who run a private ambulance in Mexico City. Every 911 call highlights the compassion and empathy of the Ochoas, as well as all the politics and morality associated with EMS. The reality of the film is daunting, but there are so many raw gut-punching moments between patients and caregivers, and between the family themselves, all in the back of a tiny ambulance. So so good.
5) What’s next for you?
Next for me is the EMS movie. I was an EMT for 3 years in New York during college and I miss it a lot, so now I have to write about it.
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