Frank Cappello
Writer. Director. World-builder.
“I refuse to let limited resources keep me from making big movies.”
Writer of Constantine (Keanu Reeves). Director of American Yakuza (Viggo Mortensen), No Way Back (Russell Crowe) and award winning indies He Was A Quiet Man (William Macy, Christian Slater, Alicia Cuthbert) and The Womb (Cami Varela)
SOME OF MY STORIES
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HOW I WORK
Writing came naturally and directing followed suit, first in indie productions and then the vaulted studio system. But no matter how far up the food chain I climbed, my curiosity to learn the latest tools for telling visual stories never waned. It wasn’t just editing or sound design, but engineering, machining, electronics – special effects – full CGI and now A.I. – I’ve soaked them all up. I didn’t realize it then, but I wasn’t just building a skill stack, I was making myself future proof. Where most indie filmmakers scale down their vision to fit their budget, I scale up and take on the work of entire departments, knowing I could easily crash and burn. So I’m blown away when my no-crew feature Steele Wool wins 9 awards and when The Womb 2025 delivers the scope and psychological impact of a studio film at a fraction of the cost. “We did that?!” Sure I’d love to have a full crew and a real budget again, but I’m no longer waiting for that elusive greenlight. I give it to myself now.
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EARLY COMMERCIAL WORK
AMC MIDNIGHT MOVIE EXPRESS (1984)
This was the spot that put my Florida production company on the map. It was 1984 and we were awarded a paltry $15,000 to do something to freshen up the Midnight Movie Express animation AMC had been running for years in their theaters. When they saw what we had pulled off, they were truly blown away and decided to expand it out into every theater across the country. AMC management was flooded with praise from the audience and decided to commission us to do another. This was the original.
AMC MAKING OF
AMC MIDNIGHT MOVIE EXPRESS 2 (1986)
The original AMC spot got the company and myself a massive amount of press. Local and state interviews, me giving televised tours of our large studio crammed with 35mm cameras and miniatures on shelves from all our work. Like a big magic toy shop to them. AMC wanted more, hired us to do Midnight Movie Express 2 and this time paid us $60,000 to do “whatever i wanted.” I decided to do a direct sequel with a longer than expected running time, having an exec scold me and say – “You should be making movies!”