In today’s bite-sized interview we spoke with director Kristian Mercado, whose directorial debut If You Were The Last, a science fiction romantic comedy starring Anthony Mackie and Zoe Chao, is streaming now on Peacock. Kristian speaks with us about the year-long process of finding the perfect script to serve as his directorial debut, how one line in the film’s script served as inspiration for the entire retro minimalist aesthetic of the film, and advice for actors who are looking to dabble in filmmaking.
Mercado began his career directing music videos for artists like My Chemical Romance, Awkwafina, and Black Pumas, as well as comedy specials for comedians Sam Jay, Aida Rodriguez, Michael Che and Taylor Tomlinson. After reading the script for If You Were The Last, he quickly made it his mission to get the film made with him attached as director, though the process getting there wasn’t the easiest.
“When you’re a Latine director, there’s an expectation of some of the material you may want to direct. Some of the scripts I was receiving weren’t about the Latine experience per say, but sometimes it was too on-the-nose or there wasn’t a unique perspective, so i spent a year reading scripts. It wasn’t until I read this script [for If You Were The Last] that I was moved. I thought ‘this is exciting and challenges a lot of romantic comedy tropes’. It was the kind of film I wanted to make.”
As far as advice for budding filmmakers, Mercado “Make things with your friends sooner. Don’t be too precious about your early work. Have a loose way of making things so you don’t get caught up in this feeling or not finishing a project. Completion of a project is the best feeling, just getting to the finish line.”
“What’s fascinating is that with smart phones and accessibility to cameras and social media, there’s an aspect of being a performer that can be projected outward,” he continued. “Through content creation as an actor, you can showcase your skill set in a way that’s parallel to pursuing your career. It’s like a playpen of trying things, you can do little character sketches and some people do actually get cast that way, from something that went viral or something that just clicked and people remember it. The performer now has more platforms and venues than they’ve ever had before.”
If You Were The Last is streaming now on Peacock.
Watch our full interview above, or tune in on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts!
