About Lumina
Lumina is a new American science fiction movie by Gino J.H. McKoy, who wrote and directed it. The movie will come out on July 12, 2024.
Gino J.H. McKoy, Lynda McKoy, David Seychell, and Hudson McKoy produced the movie. Thom Noble edited it.
Plot
“Lumina” is a movie about Alex, whose girlfriend Tatiana suddenly disappears in a flash of bright light. Alex is distraught and, with his friends and a conspiracy theorist, he journeys through the desert to find her. Along the way, they face many dangers and must fight to stay alive. They also try to uncover the truth about what happened to Tatiana, which changes their lives forever. The film shows how people feel when someone they love goes missing. “Lumina” mixes action and comedy, adding deep emotions to the science fiction story.
Cast
- Eric Roberts
- Ken Lawson
- Emily Hall
- Rupert Lazarus as Alex
- Eleanor Williams as Tatiana
- Andrea Tivada as Deliah
- Sidney Nicole Rogers
Production
Early development
Making the film “Lumina” was very difficult. Many agencies could not find a director, so the screenwriter, Gino J.H. McKoy, decided to direct it himself. In 2019, Gino and his mother, Lynda, got a deal to show the film in 2000-2500 theatres across the U.S. and Canada with Entertainment Studio Motion Pictures/Freestyle Releasing. They also had deals with Lionsgate, Netflix, and FilmNation. However, after 18 months of talks, the COVID-19 pandemic stopped the film industry, closing theatres and stopping film production. This made it impossible to release the film widely. Despite these problems, Gino and Lynda kept working on the film and planned to find a new way to release it after finishing it.
The money to make the film came from Lynda’s old friend, David Seychell. In July 2020, David was severely hurt in a private plane crash in the Colorado mountains. After weeks of treatment in Colorado and Toronto, he improved. His contract for “Lumina” was found undamaged at the crash site.
Preproduction in Morocco
In Ouarzazate, director Gino J.H. Mckoy hired British cinematographer Larry Smith, who had worked with Stanley Kubrick. While heading to Marrakesh, they got a call about threats against producer Lynda Mckoy from a local producer named “M,” so they returned to Ouarzazate. They found “M” organizing a strike at CLA Studio, claiming the producers hadn’t paid their bills. Lynda had been asking for invoices, which were ignored. They showed proof of communication and partial payments, and “M’s” assistant had hidden the financial documents for the Moroccan crew.
Everyone had to get tested for COVID-19 in one day because Lynda was worried about safety. Lynda and her husband Hudson, Gino’s parents, got false positive results. They took a private bus to Marrakesh for retesting and isolated at the Opera Plaza Hotel. Meanwhile, Gino travelled on the production bus as a decoy to distract authorities looking for the Mckoys. Once the police found out where the Mckoys were, “M” told them to go to their hotel.
The Mckoys informed the police that the UK, US, and Canadian embassies knew about their situation and didn’t tell the crew at the Rotana Hotel. The local authorities then closed CLA studios for cleaning and quarantine. This stopped the sci-fi set construction in Ouarzazate, and “M” demanded payment for the Moroccan team during the closure.
Pre-production work continued safely at the Rotana Hotel in Marrakesh. However, five actors from the US and UK quit early, even though they had contracts. Gino said this was a planned act to ruin the project, Lumina. The actors kept their pay, which was a unique case of possible sabotage beyond just financial issues.
In 2020, the union SAG-AFTRA told its members not to work on Lumina because it allegedly didn’t meet COVID-19 safety standards. This made it one of the few films to continue without union support.
Filming
Lumina was filmed in Morocco, including Marrakesh, Ouarzazate, Agafay, and the Atlas Mountains. The Sci-Fi sets were built at the CLA studios in Ouarzazate. Even though there were challenges because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the team overcame them and continued filming.
Release
This movie is scheduled to be released on July 12, 2024.
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