A few months ago, someone told me they had plans to make a sci-fi film in Morocco. They should’ve thought of doing it sooner because Gino McKoy beat them to the accomplishment of the first ever sci-fi feature to be made there. However, filmmaking isn’t always an easy task, and Gino’s film Lumina is no exception. Being shot at a time of the world pandemic and despite numerous issues, the film still got shot. It will be released in a matter of months. It is sure to be different from the traditional sci-fi film. Following the story of a young college graduate as his girlfriend disappears in a bright light which leads our protagonist on a deep search through all kinds of crazy distorted places. I got so excited, I just wanted to speak to Gino, which was difficult at the time. It might’ve had something to do with the film concept’s awesomeness causing some kind of riff in time and space preventing us from talking for quite a while. But eventually we settled on a Zoom call and discussed details.
HNMAG: Is Lumina your first sci-fi film or have you done others before?
Gino: Lumina is my first film I’ve ever done.
HNMAG: So why did you choose Morocco as a location for your film?
Gino: Initially I was going to shoot in North America but because of COVID it kind of debilitated me in terms of shooting here. I had a look at Malta, that was a good choice, but they didn’t have deserts. That created an issue because I needed a desert for some shooting locations. Then I thought about Tunisia but it didn’t have the stages I needed to build the large interior sets on the stages. I scouted Morocco a year prior, and they had the stages, the deserts, most of the scenic locations and a great crew. Morocco is the best, there’s a 20% cash rebate, they have great locations and exceptional crew. The stages to accommodate our sets were 50,000 square feet plus in terms of our builds
HNMAG: But how did you get into Morocco with the COVID pandemic?
Gino: Morocco opened up, but only to BUSINESS travel. We were the first Hollywood Film to be shot after they lifted the restrictions and we were the only movie to be shot in Morocco in 2020 in its entirety. There was an earlier filmwith Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastian that year but it got delayed and they went back in to shooting after. One of the few Hollywood films shot in 2020 to be completed. There were so many of my friends working on projects that got shut down. it was crazy and filmmakers had many delays
HNMAG: How did the people in Morocco feel about having a science fiction film shot there?
Gino: They loved it because they saw a new genre of filming and construction made history in Morocco. The production Art set Director Aziz Rafiq said ” we got the experience from LUMINA which took us to a higher level of set construction in the film industry and we accomplished it, thanks to Gino. We can get more work in this type of Genre ” We shot at the back of the famous CLA Studios where Martin Scorsese, Ridley Scott and many others completed numerous films. Morocco mostly shot ” Sword and Sandals ” movies such as Kingdom of Heaven, English Patient, Troy and Gladiator. When you go into the actual lot of CLA Studios, you see Maximus’s cages and also the chariot Brad Pitt drove for the movie Troy. This country is also historical for Military films. This was the first time they worked on a sci-fi film and it was mainly built by an African art department. I’m creating history as I am the first Canadian film director and screenwriter who ever shot a sci-fi film in Morocco.
HNMAG: So a fair amount of Moroccans ended up being crew members?
Gino: Oh yeah, most of my crew were Moroccans. Except for the heads of the departments, they were Americans, British and some Canadians. But the majority of LUMINA crew were Moroccans. My 1st A.D., Camera operators, Art Director, Stunt team are all amazingly talented and experienced. Just as perfect as some of the guys I’ve worked with in Hollywood. They were VERY excited to work on this sci-fi movie and they worked extremely hard.
HMMAG: Aside from the pandemic and lockdowns, were there any other issues you ran into while filming?
Gino: We had some COVID cases during pre-production, shut down of CLA studios, I got food-poisoning, we had to switch production companies and more which all delayed our production. We finally partnered with Dune Films, they were like family to us. We had a number of other serious problems we encountered, but managed to overcome those obstacles and get through it. Not forgetting COVID testing every 3-4 days for cast and some crew and weekly for others. God is great.
HNMAG: How much time went into building the set? It sounds like it was pretty elaborate.
Gino: Guess what ? We had to work 24 hours with 3 shifts of building sets, 3 weeks before production and some builds during production since we were delayed and behind schedule. It was a record time for building those extensive Sci Fi sets with the Moroccan team. And it was the first for them. Special thanks to Aziz Rafiq – Production Set Director.
HNMAG: What kind of camera was used for filming?
Gino: We used a Cine-Alta, the new Sony camera. My friend Gabriel Bernstein who shot Black Widow with Scarlett Johansen recently, shot it on that type of camera, so we decided to use that too and it was a great camera. For me, I’ve shot with other cameras but this one is the best on the market right now.
HNMAG: You also made some music for the soundtrack. How long have you been making music?
Gino: Ever since I was a teenager. I’ve been classically trained by a Russian vocal trainer living in Toronto. I’ve been composing, songwriting and singing music most of my life. My dad’s a musician and my mom’s a singer. My dad is the main co composer with me on most of our songs. My music is published by BMG Publisher worldwide and I have Digital distribution with Sony.
HNMAG: Between music and filmmaking, which do you prefer?
Gino: Good question. I love both, I can’t really say I love music more than film. At first, I went out to Hollywood for music. But I’ve been watching Star Wars, and reading ” Stars Wars “ books since I was 2 years old so for me they go hand in hand. Without music in a feature, it’s not the same. The score for LUMINA is awesome as well. You will learn more about the music and score in my next interview
HNMAG: Now back to Lumina, will there be a potential sequel in mind?
Gino: We’ll see, some of the distributors are asking that question. But I have two other films coming up, I’m directing a WWII picture, based on a true story, and a lot of people think it’s going to be worthy for the academy. I’m also working as director and co-writer on the movie Spidersweb with Michael Sloan, who’s also the writer, producer and creator of the tv series Equalizer and the feature Equalizer 1 & 2 . I’m looking pretty busy in terms of films I gotta do. But with a sequel, I might want to do a sequel but it has to be REALLY good. I had something in mind, and I wrote out a 2-page treatment, but I haven’t fleshed it out completely. But it’s GOOD, and I need to do these other movies if I want to get into that. I have to give people time to get into the first movie.
HNMAG: Would you make any more films in Morocco?
Gino: Yeah, these next two movies I’m doing in Morocco, like a triple. Like Ridley Scott, three of his films were filmed there.
It sounded like it was a crazy ride but a lot of fun out in the desert, and Gino has managed to do a good job making his first ever film. It’s amazing what one can make even amidst a pandemic, and with all the accomplishments made on this film shoot, Gino is doing very well for himself. Here’s hoping he makes more films and continues to make them really really cool.