Interview:
David Lawson Jr.,
producer,
"Descendent"
An attendee of Fantastic Fest and the SXSW Film & TV Festival for more than a decade, producer David Lawson Jr. relocated late last year to Austin, bringing with him genre production company Rustic Films that he founded in Los Angeles in 2017 with directing duo Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead. Lawson has produced every Benson and Moorhead cosmic mind-trip, from their 2012 co-directing feature debut Resolution to 2014’s Spring and the V/H/S Viral segment Bonestorm, 2017’s The Endless, 2019’s Synchronic, and 2022’s Something in the Dirt. Since 2017, Rustic Films has produced or co-produced Jeremy Gardner and Christian Stella’s After Midnight, Amy Seimetz’s She Dies Tomorrow, and Michael Felker’s Things Will Be Different. Rustic Films’ latest endeavor, writer/director Peter Cilella’s Descendent, premiered locally during this year’s SXSW Film & TV Festival and is now available for digital and on-demand. In this childhood trauma-informed allegory about impending parenthood, Ross Marquand’s security guard Sean sustains a serious head injury after falling from the roof of a school building. Following his accident, Sean not just suffers from terrible nightmares but quickly develops the ability to draw like an artist. The nightmares, coupled with his equally disturbing drawings, leads Sean to believe he is the victim of an alien abduction. Sean’s strange behavior and paranoia quickly places undue stress on his wife Andrea (My All-American’s Sarah Bolger), who is already experiencing a complicated pregnancy. Upcoming Rustic Films productions include the SXSW 2025 selection Touch Me and Austin-based directors Peter S. Hall and Paul Gandersman’s Man Finds Tape. In addition to producing films, David Lawson Jr. also participated in this past April’s inaugural CAMP Film Festival at the Paramount Theatre. Aired: Aug. 20, 2025. Web site: https://www.hbo.com/the-yogurt-shop-murders |
|