12 fun facts that I learned from David F. Sandberg and Lotta Losten at the Lights Out Press Day.
On Sunday, July 17, 2016, I was lucky enough to sit down with some of the cast and crew of the upcoming horror film, Lights Out. Each interview lasted about 15 minutes and was an absolutely blast. Everyone was very friendly and I learned a lot from everyone who I got the chance to talk with. Instead of trying to combine every single interview into one really long article, I have decided to break down each of the interviews into a series of interesting tidbits that I found to be the most interesting. I will be releasing one daily leading up to the release of the film on Friday, July 22, 2016. The interviews will be released in the order in which they were conducted. This is the final interview of the 4 interview series. This final interview features director David F. Sandberg and his wife Lotta Losten. The first interview was with actress Maria Bello and can be read by clicking here. The second interview was with writer Eric Heisserer and producer Lawrence Grey and that interview can be read here. The third interview was with Teresa Palmer and Alexander DiPersia and can be read by clicking here. Lights Out opens in theaters on Friday, July 22, 2016.
I also reviewed the film which if interested, you can read by clicking here.
Interview: David F. Sandberg and Lotta Losten
12. All the characters in Lights Out are named after someone in the film or were somehow involved with the project.
11. Sandberg watched a lot of Italian horror films from the 1980s and 1990s.
10. As a director, Sandberg wanted the character of Bret to be the rocker dude but also the responsible character. He wanted the character to be very well-rounded which is why there are many elements to his personality.
9. Lights Out is based on a 2 and a half minute short film which Sandberg and Losten made together. The short film was entered into a contest where Losten won best actress.
8. Sandberg and Losten made several short films together. All the short films were made for next to nothing and were done just for fun. The short film for Lights Out never really went anywhere until they decided to upload it. After that Sandberg stated that everyone in Hollywood was reaching out to him about directing a feature length film.
7. The original idea for Lights Out simply started by trying to think of something that was scary and could be shot in a small apartment with only one person starring in the film. This is how the short film became a reality.
6. Sandberg never went to film school but always had a passion for filmmaking. He said that working on Lights Out was like him going to film school. He didn’t even know when to yell “action” on set.
5. Losten had to quit her job to fly out to Hollywood to talk with James Wan about the film. She mentioned that she was beyond nervous doing that because she knew that the entire thing was a huge risk.
4. Sandberg and Losten were flown out by New Line from Sweden to Los Angeles. They had absolutely no clue what was going to happen. They first met with James Wan at the premiere of Fast and the Furious 7. Losten said she was so poor that she actually had to go to Goodwill in order to buy a dress for the event.
3. While film is a visual medium, Sandberg spent most of his time on the sound design and mixing. James Wan really inspired Sandberg to focus on the sound.
2. The most important thing about this entire project for Sandberg was to define how Diana sounded when she moved around the house and apartment. Sandberg said there was a really specific sound that he was looking for and spent a lot of time finding it.
1.The staff at Warner Brothers were so impressed with David F. Sandberg that they immediately asked him if he wanted to direct another feature film for them. Sandberg is currently directing Annabelle 2 for Warner Brothers and mentioned that shooting it is a “much easier experience that is far more relaxing” since his first feature film has now been completed.
