Fantastic sci-fi short trilogy BACKSPACE and interview with directors Nick Trivundza and Lexie Trivundza

I’ve got a trilogy of sci-fi shorts here for you to watch today and I think you’ll love it! The films in the trilogy are titled BackSpace, BackSpace ReturnsAND BackSpace forever.

In BackSpace, “Black hole hunting is a dangerous business. Adventurers, explorers, and anyone looking to find their fortune will kill and face danger in BackSpace to find one.

In BackSpace Returns, “Hunting black holes is a dangerous activity and is becoming increasingly deadly.”

BackSpace Forever is the thrilling conclusion and in it: “We discover that Hunter and Rival must team up to survive the outer reaches of BackSpace. After breaking their contracts with the BackSpace Corporation, they will be sent on a suicide mission as the only way to survive.”

The film comes from directors Nick Trivundza and Lexie Trivundza and below you’ll find an interview with them talking about the project. This is shared in collaboration with FilmQuest Film Festival.

The films can be seen below the interview. I hope you like it!

Without spoilers, tell us what your film is about, its characters and its themes. Is this a proof of concept or a standalone story?

The BackSpace trilogy are three short films that tell the story of Hunter and Mono as they head to the far reaches of BackSpace in search of a black hole. The story is about adventure, friendship and not always doing what you’re told.

What was the inspiration for your film? How did the idea come to you?

We were inspired by the films we grew up with, films like Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Blade Runner and Stargate. They all felt like they were having a grand, overwhelming adventure, taking you to a place you’d never been before.

Tell us about yourself. What is your background? How long have you been a director? Please be short enough –

We are Nick Trivundza and Lexie Trivundza (often just Nick + Lexie). We have been directing feature films, short films and commercials for some time now. We started with commercials and since we wanted to learn more about film production or new hardware or software, we will create something to see how it works. For the BackSpace trilogy we really wanted to expand into 3D and Unreal Engine.

What inspires you to work in genre cinema and tell these types of stories?

Gender is like walking through a portal to a new or different world, which you can’t experience in everyday life.

What was your favorite part of the filmmaking process for this project?

Our favorite part was when you record the actors’ voices and put them in the picture. We’ll often work with voiceovers to define the timing and story, but the film comes to life when you bring in real performances. Suddenly the characters are alive.

What are you most proud of about this film?

We’re really proud of the fact that even though this is a CG movie, made by people who had no idea what they were doing when they started, the audience never mentioned that it was a CG movie. Instead they mention the characters, especially the friendship between Hunter and Mono.

What is a favorite story or moment from the making of the film that you would like to share?

My favorite moment was the BackSpace premiere at FilmQuest. Making a film isn’t completely complete until you can share it with an audience. FilmQuest audiences are always amazing and seeing it on the big screen was equally amazing.

What was the most challenging moment or experience you had while making your film?

The learning curve of the new software was quite challenging when we started, going from Cinema 4D to Unreal Engine 5, but the real-time rendering was definitely worth it. EU5 represents a huge turning point for us.

If so, how did your film change or differ from the original concept during pre-production, production, and/or post-production? How has it changed the way you approach future projects?

When we started the first version of BackSpace it was just a quick two minute experiment in Cinema 4D. The experiment did not go well. In fact, we would never even publish it. It was more like “let’s hit Delete all this and pretend it never happened.” When we discovered how amazing Unreal Engine 5 was, we quickly moved on to a 7-minute movie and then an entire series. UE5’s rendering capabilities are incredible.

Who were some of your collaborators and actors in the film? How did you start working together?

We were so lucky to work with some of our talented frequent collaborators on the BackSpace trilogy! Paul Haapaniemi plays Hunter. We had worked with Paul on our two feature films (The West and the Ruthless and Danger! Danger!).

It’s great to work with talented actors who immediately fit into the character and Paul understands exactly what we’re doing every time we work together. We also worked with James Brinkley, who we had worked with on our award-winning short films The Umbrella Factory, Jack the Ripper and Around the World in 80 Days.

He also voices Death in our online series, Tales From Black Manor. She can do a million voices and every one is perfect. Holly Standbrook, who voices Jet, was also a contributor to Tales From Black Manor. We had already worked with her on the episode “How to Live Forever”.

We love working with her so much that we just brought her back for another episode. When we got to BackSpace Returns and BackSpace Forever we brought in Benedict Mazurek, who we had already worked with on our feature films and on a pilot we had shot about a year earlier.

Benedict is always so willing to step in and do the craziest things we ask of him – so this was a nice (hopefully) easy role for him since he wasn’t covered in tattoos or blood this time. Finally, for the fan-favorite B-Team, we auditioned for this role and Chris Harris-Beechey brought it to life, hilariously.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received as a filmmaker and what would you like to say to new filmmakers?

A HUGE inspiration for us – and so many other filmmakers – was Robert Rodriguez in not waiting for “Hollywood” and just going out and making a movie. His book “Rebel Without A Crew” was a great read.

A few years into our film career, we were asked to appear on his El Rey Network series to discuss cinema and it was a really great experience! To new filmmakers we say: don’t wait, go out and make something, even if it’s not perfect. The fun, adventure, and skills you gain will be worth it!

What are your plans for your career and what do you hope this film does for that? What kinds of stories would you like to tell moving forward?

The BackSpace trilogy was a great way to learn tons of new things, especially 3D workflows. As filmmakers, adding this tool to our arsenal means we can tell stories that can go anywhere and do anything. We have always loved inventing new worlds and this allows us to do it without needing huge budgets.

What’s your next project and when can we expect to see it?

After wrapping up the BackSpace trilogy, we just started releasing the final Tales from Black Manor series. The first episode just aired! We’re also working on our next feature film and can’t wait to share that soon too!

Where can we find more of your work and where can interested people contact you?

You can check out tons of work and contact us at: https://adventurecompany.org

Bonus question no. 1: What is your favorite movie of all time?

We argue a lot about this. Nick says Raiders of the Lost Ark and Lexie says it’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Bonus question no. 2: What is the film that most inspired you to become a director and/or had the greatest influence on your work?

When I was very young (Nick) I saw the making of Raiders of the Lost Ark. There were interviews with Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Harrison Ford from the set and it looked like they were in the middle of the most incredible adventure you could imagine. he could have.

I was probably about six years old at the time, and although I was already very in awe of the films, I still hadn’t understood how they were made, but seeing them was like being struck by lightning.