I first became familiar with JONATHAN W. STOKES almost a decade ago thanks to the film, El Gringo. Directed by Eduardo Rodriguez, Jonathan was screenwriter on the film. Action-packed and showcasing a standout dramatic and action-filled performance by Scott Adkins as a man with no name a la Clint Eastwood’s character in his patented spaghetti westerns, El Gringo also introduced us to Yvette Yates Riddick, actress, and now a formidable producer. Based on the strength of Jonathan’s script for El Gringo, I searched out his earlier feature debut as writer and director, The Last Hurrah. As with all filmmakers, be they directors or writers or actors, it’s always exciting to see growth as the years and projects go by and Jonathan’s growth as a storyteller from The Last Hurrah to El Gringo was marked and refreshing. And now, Jonathan brings us the intensely riveting and heart-pounding WILDCAT.
Mesmerized by what was unfolding with this survival thriller and powerful performances by Georgina Campbell and Luke Benward, as writer and director, Jonathan dove into the director’s toolbox, immediately grabbing our attention with sound. Set in one room but for a third act shift to an alternate location, working with cinematographer Adam Lee, Jonathan chapterized the film, breaking it down into five segments as we watch the story of an undercover reporter Khadija Young who is embedded with a military unit when the unit is ambushed and Khadija is taken captive. Also prisoner is Luke, a severely wounded soldier.
Once Jonathan grabbed our attention with sound and story, he and Lee utilized limited single source light and two windows, varying the perspectives with camera dutching, camera placement, close-ups, and lighting texture and shadow play with the brown dirt and grime of this one-celled prison to immerse us in this story and Khadija’s will to survive. But for Khadija, it’s more than survival of this moment in time, it’s about facing and surviving the traumas of her past while helping save Luke,and bring down her captors. Every word of dialogue is purposeful as is every shot and every sound.
I spoke with writer/director JONATHAN W. STOKES about WILDCAT, as well as take a brief trip down memory lane with him, in this exclusive conversation.
TAKE A LISTEN as we go in-depth on the making of WILDCAT, from writing the first draft of the script in four days to cinematography to casting to editing to visual metaphor to scoring and more.
by debbie elias, exclusive interview 04/13/2021
