Adam Lopez
He is the Producer of Joshua Lozano‘s Rest Stop Dollar Baby film.
SKSM: May you introduce yourself to our readers?
Adam Lopez: Of course! Hello everyone, I am Adam Lopez, I am a student and a local filmmaker in my community in El Paso, Texas.
SKSM: When did you know you wanted to become a producer?
Adam Lopez: Wanting to become a producer was a sudden thing that happened right before Joshua Lozano introduced me to his idea for Rest Stop back in 2018. I knew a great idea when I saw one and I couldn’t allow him to struggle and waste this awesome project just because he couldn’t afford the things he needed. That wasn’t an option to me. It was during production when I realized that although being a producer can be very stressful, it was something that I wanted to become.
SKSM: How did you become involved in Rest Stop Dollar Baby film?
Adam Lopez: While Joshua Lozano and I were working on another project (in which I was his assistant director) he pulled me to the side and talked to me about Rest Stop. The idea of it and the potential it had was so great, we decided to leave the company we were working for and make it ourselves to allow us to have full reigns and no limits!
SKSM: Can you tell us about your work in the film?
Adam Lopez: Besides being the producer for Rest Stop, I was also Joshua’s Assistant Director and Foley Artist. Being on a low budget film crew, a lot of us, including myself, had to fill in positions like boom operator or gapher because we were so understaffed at some points in production. We all did a little of everything to make this project work, that’s why I’m so proud of the team I had, they really tried their hardest and it definitely showed in the end.
SKSM: What was it like to work with Joshua Lozano on this film?
Adam Lopez: Working with Joshua was such a pleasure and a great experience. Josh made it really easy to understand what he wanted in terms of image for the film, that’s what made it work so well. Josh never wanted to give up and I never allowed him to. It was all fun on set and Josh was a great friend to work with. I hope we work again in the future, Josh!
SKSM: Was there any funny things that happened while filming (Bloopers, etc)?
Adam Lopez: I do remember a time when we were filming what would be the book writing montage scene in John Dykstra’s small apartment. We needed to film Brad, who played the main role of John, writing a story for the scene. After a while of filming Brad got a little too carried away in writing that fake story and ended up writing an actual story, putting a lot of effort into it. In the end, his story was something of a trashy crime novel and his main character sounded like he was straight out of Sin City. Another funny thing that happened was filming the actual Rest Stop scene at the end of the movie. While on set there was a car that pulled up into the parking lot and started blasting music unbelievably loud. We all got annoyed by this and as he got closer to the vehicle to ask them to lower the volume it started rocking back and forth furiously. We all knew what was going on and couldn’t help but laugh at the situation we were in.
SKSM: Are you a fan of Stephen King’s work?
Adam Lopez: Absolutely! Growing up reading his stories and watching the movies adapted from his stories really shaped me into the person I am today. It also opened up my mind to all the possible worlds that I can create in my head and put into screenplays.
SKSM: What are you working on nowadays?
Adam Lopez: I’ve been writing a lot of story ideas since after Rest Stop. My most focused one is a western horror fantasy that I think will be a great short film to make after this pandemic is over. I don’t want to risk anyone’s health by creating a crew for this project so I’ll be perfecting it until then. Stay tuned!
SKSM: Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. Something you’d like to tell our readers?
Adam Lopez: However big your dreams are, there’s nothing that can truly stop you from making them come true. No matter what anyone says, you have the full power in your hands to make them happen, it just takes heart and courage and everyone has that. You just have to find it in yourself. That being said, please support your local artists, they have that heart and courage and are trying to make their dreams come true.