Leslie Alejandro – Adult Night (Starry Mag)

Q) How did you come to the decision to work on Adult Night?

 A) Kevin [Alejandro] was working on “Lucifer” and shooting in Vancouver and was itching to direct something, but knew he was up against a time constraint and wanted to make it as easy as possible. He called up our friend Derek Ray and asked him to write a story consisting of a couple in a bathroom. We weren’t able to do it until the following year when he came back from Vancouver and by that time I was already getting into filmmaking. Kevin and I wanted to direct something together so we decided to shoot it.

Q) You co-directed the film with your husband Kevin Alejandro, who was also one of the main characters. What was it like getting to work with him on the project and how did your collaborative effort help to steer the direction of the film?

 A) It was amazing getting to work with him and actually seeing what our strengths were creatively. One of my biggest insecurities in filmmaking is directing actors because I haven’t worked on film sets as often as I have on photo sets. Although my forte in photography is celebrity portraits, I direct them in front of a still camera and that’s different than trying to get them to emote the emotions on need on set so watching Kevin do this was an incredible learning experience for me. His strengths in being able to direct actors from his own experience in directing and acting combined with my expertise in visuals and colors really contributed to making it a successful piece.

Q) What was one of your favorite moments during the filming of Adult Night?

 A) Seeing everyone pull together through all the hard work. Because this is independent filmmaking, all of us had to wear a lot of hats. We put a lot of work into prepping the set – everything from the props, to the catering, to the clothes, to the makeup. We had to put a toilet on the set because we didn’t have a real working bathroom. We got to build and create this story and see it come to life and it was so rewarding.

Q) Putting the humor of the film aside, we see Kevin & Lesley-Ann [Brandt] both coming to terms with parenthood vs. trying to maintain some semblance of adulthood prior to having their son. How did you help guide the characters in achieving the balance of those emotions?

 A) I don’t feel we had to dig too deep into those emotions for either actor because both of them are married with a child. They knew what life was like prior to having a child and what it’s like afterwards and making your new life work. I think it was a lot of trying to remind ourselves of those emotions and feelings for Kevin because our child is a little older, but for Lesley-Ann at the time her son was only 2 years old. I don’t think it took much out of her to figure out what that felt like.

Q) In the film I can relate to Lesley-Ann’s character as she struggles with being a new mom and putting the spice back in her marriage to Kevin. As a mother yourself, in what ways could you relate to Lesley-Ann and how did you differ?

 A) I could relate to all of it. Kevin and I were the party couple before we had a child. We were always looking for a good time. We didn’t have curfews with each other because we were always together. We had created such a fun life before having a kid. I could 100% relate because trying to find yourself in general after having a child and being married is one thing, but also trying to find the connection and love that you have with your partner post child is another thing because you get so wrapped up into being parents.

 Q) What do you hope viewers take away from the film?

 A) I hope that our audience will remember that regardless of a romantic relationship or even a relationship with your friends and family, no matter what situation you can get yourself into, communication and love can get you through anything.

Q) Some of your more recent works Smile, The Talk and She’s Having My Baby (which you also write) focus on family issues. Are you more drawn to taking on projects geared towards your personal mission of Alejandro Films or is it purely coincidental?

 A) I don’t want to categorize our films in one genre because we would like to explore different genres, but the one thing I feel that all our projects will have in common is having story lines that act as a mirror to our viewers. I hope that they can see themselves in our characters and our stories whether it’s focused on social issues, personal issues about humanity or even mental health issues. These are the kind of stories that we want to explore and talk about. We really want for our audience to see more inside of our specific cultures and letting them know that although we all come from different backgrounds, humanity is part of who we are l think that’s what everybody can connect with.

Q) Do you have any upcoming projects that you can share with us?

 A) We have a couple features, a docu-series, a limited series and even an animated series that we have been developing for quite some time now and I really have high hopes to get them out there.  Also, I just directed two music videos so that’s out there now under the Alejandro Films umbrella. One was with the talented musician and a good friend of mine The Sweet Kill for his new single “Undead.” We drove hours up north to shoot this music video in the woods. It was so great, but also challenging due to new constraints on productions due to the pandemic. The other video “Crack” is from India de Beaufort, a music video and production by 100% women just in time for election.

Q) When you were growing up, what types of movies did you love watching that inspired that drive to pursue a career in film?

 A) As a hopeless romantic, love stories always attracted me growing up but as I got older it was the deeper stories about mental health, love, coping and trauma that resonated with me. I tend to now love more psychological thrillers and horror because you can use these types of genres to go deeper into our psyche without having to explain what is really going on.

Q)  Your photography is superb! What do you shoot with and how would you best describe your body of work?

 A) I shoot with a DSLR. I usually shoot celebrity editorial and portraits.

Q) For many photographers they have a brand of camera that they prefer to shoot with. What is your go-to camera?

 A) Canon 5D Mark III

Q) Aside from filmmaking and photography you have also been a professional musician since the age of fifteen years old. Have you done any musical scoring for your films or considered it for a future project?

 A) I was a career musician up until I had my son, Kaden, but I don’t think that I would ever be able to score my own films. Not that I don’t think it’s possible, but I would rather let somebody who is way better at it than I am. Right now, I do have a composer that I love working with and she actually composed the film Smile. Her name is Denise Santos and she’s an incredible composer and musician. But what I can say is that because of my background in music I do have a unique perspective in knowing exactly what I want and what I hear when it comes to my filmmaking.

Q) What advice would you give to those looking to break into directing and producing? 

 A) Just do it. Just go out and if you have an idea shoot it, if you have an idea write it. All the other things you can figure out along the way. If there’s something you want to do, just go out and do it. For me, I ended up taking a bunch of directing classes at UCLA when I realized this is what I wanted to do because I wanted to make sure that I knew what I was talking about. There’s so many platforms and information and help out there if you want to learn.

(Source: Starry Mag)

Written by Jennifer Vintzileos