words by Patrick, photos by Dakota
…
In the year 2015, D.C. has eroded away into a post-nuclear territory ruled by warring moped gangs. Chase Cruz, a loner and brutal vigilante, is new in town and has chosen to stay on the outside as each gang lord struggles for power, sex, and drugs…
What began as a series of G-Chat conversations quickly mutated into a vision of a bombed out Washington, DC. Mopedlords is a multi-part web film produced by Pablo Maurer, Nick Schwellenbach and Lucas Anderson. It is the story of moped gangs duking it out for the control of territory and weapons in post-apocalyptic DC. Schwellenbach, who plays Conrad Lockerbie, a member of the Mt. Pleasant Marauders, provided us with some insight into production of this film.
How did you guys all meet and what made you decide to make Mopedlords together?
I met Pablo a few months after he moved to DC a couple years ago through our common friend Tyler and by hanging out at some Modernist Society Thursdays and drinking at Black Cat during the week. We really became friends after a bunch of common friends rented a place called ‘Retro Lake Landing’ – a weird octagon-shaped, 1970s-esque lake house in Deep Creek, Maryland – in November 2007. Though Lucas and I both went to UT-Austin, we didn’t know each other, but had common friends. At one point last year, I was house sitting three houses at once, so when Lucas moved to DC last year, I set him up in a place until he found a spot.
Last fall, Pablo started buying a fleet of mopeds, which are, as you know, inherently tight. One night Lucas started “filming” us with the video setting on his point and shoot digital camera. It looked pretty sick so we thought we should come up with some sort of plot involving mopeds. The next day, instead of doing schoolwork for my grad program at AU, Pablo and I g-chatted up the setting of a post-apocalyptic DC dominated by decadent moped gangs and a plot idea John Carpenter would be proud of.
Could you give us a bit of back-story about each of your characters?
Pablo plays Antonio Velour, a moped thug and second-in-command of the Mount Pleasant Marauders, DC’s most powerful moped gang. He’s the closest thing you could call a bad guy in the episodes, but I think he’s the most entertaining. I play Conrad Lockerbie, formerly one of the top riders in the Marauders, but now trying to start his own renegade moped gang. Lockerbie is slightly crazy and you’re not supposed to know if this guy is a good guy. Lucas plays Chase Cruz. Cruz is a loner who really doesn’t like to be bossed around or part of anyone’s larger plans. Cruz is new to D.C. in the series because he got into one too many fights in Chicago and had to flee.
A lot of planning must’ve gone into this. Who wrote the screenplay – was it one of you or do all three of you have input? And is there a director?
Originally I wrote the first cuts of the scripts for the first two episodes, but we all had input and significantly reshaped them. Lately, the scripts have been the result of collaboration. We’ll go over to someone’s house, have some drinks and spend a few hours writing together at a computer. Pablo’s been responsible for all the editing on Final Cut Pro and bought all the equipment and pretty much produced the series. Directing and filming has been split among us.
I had the opportunity to watch some of the early footage and I must say, the acting isn’t bad. Just out of curiosity, do any of y’all have any previous experience in acting or theater?
Not really, though Lucas did some acting back in Austin.
A quick glance at the trailers you posted online reveals a smattering of “local celebrities.” Do you mind identifying these people?
DJ Chris Burns and Jesse Bishop from Exactly makes an appearance in episodes one and two. Pat, you’ve got a key part in one of the last episodes. Jacob Michael from U.S. Royalty has a brief appearance as a bartender in episode two, in a scene we shot at Jimmy Valentine’s. Though he looked familiar, we didn’t know who he was at the time.
Given the fickle nature of your fellow artists, how easy (or difficult) was it to get these DJs, musicians, photographers involved in the project?
Everyone wanted to party, so that made filming take longer than it should have. The hardest part for everyone was fitting filming into our already busy schedules.
So in order to film what’s supposed to be a post-apocalyptic DC, you probably had to go to some really sketchy, rundown areas. What’s the most dubious thing you’ve done to get footage?
We were going to set a moped on fire way out in what we thought was a remote part of Maryland, but literally a minute before dousing a trashed out moped with gasoline and setting it ablaze, a Maryland State Park police car pulled up. We were on private property, but luckily the property owner didn’t press charges. Also we were lucky the cop didn’t see the gasoline we were going to pour on the moped.
Where do you want to go with Moped Lords? Is this a hobby or would you like to do something like this for a living?
Lucas and I have some script ideas and Pablo is filming music videos for some bands and DJs in the area, so sure, if someone wants to pay us to do this, sign us up.
OK, so the premiere is tonight (Monday June 8). Gavin Holland, of Nouveau Riche fame, will be DJing. There will be drink specials. People will be smokin’ and drinkin’ and kickin’ it (real talk). Is this really an appropriate way to debut your work?
We think so, partly because this was such a collaborative effort involving lots of our friends in DC.
What about future episodes, what can audiences expect?
Lots and lots of footage shot in front of a green screen. Weird plot twists. Mutants.
Final question: Hawaiian punch where you at?
STACK SCRILLA ALL DAY
SO THE BILLS STAY PAID.
MOPED LORDS premieres tonight at DC9. Episodes 1 and 2 of Mopedlords will be screened at 10pm. DJ Gavin Holland, of Nouveau Riche fame, will be spinning before and after the film. If you arrive before 10, rail vodka drinks are $4.
$5 cover.
MOPEDLORDS OFFICIAL TRAILER from Pablo Maurer on Vimeo.
You mean someone actually spent money to make this? And now people will spend money to see it?
June 8, 2009 at 1:18 pmGarbage. Complete, utter garbage. This is what happens when someone has too much of someone else’s money.
June 8, 2009 at 1:37 pmThank God we know the intimate details about how Mr. Schwellenbach met Mr. Maurer. Every club, friend, and the six lines of space it consumed. Thank God, we all know that they met at the right clubs and what the lake house looked like. Hopefully this epic film won’t spend so much time on incredibly tedious exposition and will spend more time documenting all the machismo posturing.
June 8, 2009 at 1:37 pmUgh. This is a campy low-budget project by a few local guys. Garbage = coming onto this site and throwing words like garbage around. Tedious = long-winded criticism where it doesn’t belong.
June 8, 2009 at 1:54 pmits always fun to HATE HATE HATE then actually get up from the computer, take initiative, learn a new skill, goof off with friends and make something fun.
No one is claiming to be a serious filmmaker with this. It was a fun project that got a little buzz. Christ.
June 8, 2009 at 1:57 pmUm… I’ve seen the acting, too, and I’ve gotta say that it actually *is* bad. But it’s not as bad as the directing or writing, so I guess that’s a plus?
June 8, 2009 at 2:02 pm@Chris Burns: I criticize because I actually do create. You see, I have this magic computer that not only allows me to express my opinion about crappy films that appeal only hipster “elite” (if you want to call it that), but it also let’s me edit, write, and finish my films.
The fact is people are pissed because there are real filmmakers out there making real projects that need and deserve the attention. This is f***** filler.
June 8, 2009 at 2:30 pmif you deserved attention you would get it. end of story.
June 8, 2009 at 2:50 pmI have always been of the opinion that people think that if they are “good” which is a relative opinion to begin with, they think that they will just get discovered and get attention. Hustle a little people, email around, leak some videos for previews, stuff like that. No one can know through sheer telepathy what you’re creating.
Points for effort to Mopedlord kids for shopping this around and building buzz.
what is this faggoty talk about anybody, let alone filmmakers, who deserve shit? you want something? sweat for it, and don’t whine. or move to a country where soggy ass crybabies get hugs and puppy neck rubs along with arts funding because, you know, they deserve it.
I’d love to see some of your work tho, even if it’s just a clip bc seriously, you sound talentless and bitter that the game done left you behind. seriously: link(s) please.
@lucas: I think the whole point is that no one thinks the attention here is deserved.
Even those of us who aren’t filmmakers are put off by the interviewee’s self-congratulatory attitude. Maybe if he had showed some humility, called this what it was and not described things as “inherently tight,” then maybe no one would care.
And I don’t think The Closer was lamenting his own lack of attention.
June 8, 2009 at 3:07 pmi don’t think this interview sounded particularly self-congratulatory
June 8, 2009 at 3:13 pmMan, I was so busy stackin $crilla that I missed all the hatin’ on BYT !!!
1. If you don’t think that mopeds are “inherently tight,” you are lame.
2. @ The Closer you say “The fact is people are pissed because there are real filmmakers out there making real projects that need and deserve the attention. This is f***** filler.”
If you and this lot were were working as hard as you say, then you wouldn’t have time to hate via BYT. You’d be busy getting money for tapes, or editing or something like that.
3. I’m sorry that some of you readers don’t feel that the friendship of the 3 men involved in this film is important. If you want that snark bullshit, you best go elsewheres.
4. There’s nothing self-congratulatory about this interview.
CONCLUSION: The Mopedlords will be tighter than your last birthday party, Christmas and 4th of July rolled into one. You haters can hate all day, all nite. I’m gonna sip vodka sodas and have fun. It’s 2009, if you’re not hustlin, what are you doing?
June 8, 2009 at 3:32 pmI called mopeds, not the film, “inherently tight.” But I suppose that’s subject to debate. The film was just supposed to be a fun project, not a brilliant piece of cinematography. Hopefully people will laugh with it and at it.
June 8, 2009 at 3:32 pmwhy are there two Pat Kikongos in this film? evolutionary mutation?
June 8, 2009 at 3:47 pmKikongo is a Bantu language spoken in D.R. Congo, Republic of Congo and Angola. Kigongo is a last name given to a child who is born before a set of twins in Buganda (in what is now Uganda).
Get it right or pay the price…
June 8, 2009 at 3:58 pmdid you really name yourself after a TNT show? cool.
June 8, 2009 at 4:08 pmI can’t believe that people chose to have such a violent reaction to a fun project put together by friends. If you feel that intensely about it, make and market your own and don’t see this one. If you’re too much of an “artist” to hustle, good luck getting discovered.
Moreover, comedy, kitsch, or whatever genre you want to call Mopedlords is no less valid than something “serious” that you did about orphans or how your dad beat you or the limits of democracy or anything else. There is no such thing as “deserve,” you earn what you have, and occasionally nepotism helps out. This is how it works for everyone, with varying degrees of nepotism. Welcome to being an artist, you resentful douchers.
Also, wtf is everyone so upset by “inherently tight?” That’s fucking funny.
June 8, 2009 at 4:56 pmYeeeeeeeeeah. I don’t think Mopedlords falls under the kitsch or comedy genre, or if it does, I don’t think it quite makes it. I also don’t think anyone here is debating the merits of kitsch vs. “serious film.” I love funny/bad films, they are my jam. But this is just bad/bad.
And no one’s debating whether artists have to hustle. It actually sounds like these guys didn’t really have to hustle all that much. They cast some people who are popular around DC—some who even write for this website, and behold they get promoted on this website by that cast member! Which is usually just irresponsible journalism.
Also, these guys have willingly put themselves and their movie out there. They even took promotional pictures for it (including white suits and firey cans of gasoline). So, if they are “artists” like you say, they should be prepared for criticism, and not just expect a pat on the back because they made something. Michael Bay makes movies all the time—though they keep allowing him to make more movies, so maybe that’s not a great example.
But, who knows, none of us have seen the movie yet.
June 8, 2009 at 8:00 pmFitsum keeps it too real…..Pat too……lol at the hateration…
June 8, 2009 at 8:48 pmfire’s pretty awesome though right?
June 8, 2009 at 11:02 pm“… this is just bad/bad.”
Have you even seen it? Judging from your comment’s timestamp probably not, so what on earth you’re talking about is a mystery.
“… sounds like these guys didn’t really have to hustle all that much …”
Because, again, you know what’s up.
“… these guys … willingly put themselves out there … they should be prepared for criticism …”
you mean cynicsim.
“… irresponsible journalism …” well, now you’re just a fucking maroon.
look at this clip, wait for the big girl, the poli sci major who “knows her shit” and thinks Obama is a terrorist, a muslim and a foreign national. Then look at all the BYT posts that’ve gone shitshow: the one w/ the BYT Bikini Girls at 930, the weird Naked/Titty chick at the Black Cat. Same kind of intoxicated intelligence-starved groupthink that makes you wonder where the hell these people come from.
I still want to see The Closer’s work. Nothing says please kill me, I’m feeble and useless must see art like the kind of art that’s described as “need” and “deserved”.
*”needy” not “need”
June 9, 2009 at 10:32 amAh, haters… don’t be jealous!
June 9, 2009 at 10:48 amMy complaint is with the lack of thoroughness that the trailer portrayed. Post-apocalyptia = no gridded electricity! A lot of those shots imply that our characters are living in palaces relative to a lot of their contemporaries. Why? Is there a supporting story for this world? Generators, solar panels on the rooftops of this fair city? What about weaponry? Where is the military? How come everyone is so well fed and clean?
That’s all from my end. Also, mopeds lose massively in the post-apocalyptic tightness to anything from Ural.
Those are the bee’s knees when it comes to gasoline battles.
June 9, 2009 at 11:58 amI sure wasn’t talking lack about my lack of attention. I actually enjoy it. My lament was actually for friends in the Chicago filmmaking community.
@Sexy Fitsum (Fist ‘em?): It’s moron, not maroon. Stop taking yourself so seriously. It looks bad on you. Oh and I won’t volunteer my links to a bashing by your hipster brigade, besides if you watch tv (is it cool again to not own a tv?), you’ve already seen some of my work.
June 9, 2009 at 12:30 pm…Chicago?
June 9, 2009 at 12:44 pmYeah. Chicago. It’s what’s up.
June 9, 2009 at 1:25 pmso you’re mad that some kids in DC made a (terrible iyo) movie and got promoted on a DC website because of Chicago?
June 9, 2009 at 1:27 pmIt’s maroon. And it’s Fitsum, moron.
Oh and I won’t volunteer my links to a bashing …
pussy. liar, probably too. no, definitely a liar. you do commercial broadcast work that you’re scared to show? Even worse, you’re all up in the industry and you can’t get your networking game together enough to get your work some play?
My lament was actually for friends in the Chicago filmmaking community.
???????????
how does lamenting on BYT instead of Chicagoist even make any sense?
Stop taking yourself so seriously. It looks bad on you.
… while you wear it so well.
Yeah. Lamenting. It’s what’s up.
June 9, 2009 at 1:31 pmit’s like we’re speaking a different language.
June 9, 2009 at 1:47 pmi am just amazed how angry people get. IT IS NOT LIKE MOPEDLORDS WOKE UP ONE DAY AND OUT OF NOWHERE SCORED a front page interview with TIME magazine. I would understand these reactions THEN. Until THEN though, I am just amazed.
June 9, 2009 at 1:49 pmsorry to be late, but i was saying that they did deserve coverage.
movie fucking rocked.
what happened to The (C)loser’s maniacal fatty/ex-gf comment? it was the cherry on top of the curled poop.
June 9, 2009 at 2:28 pmhe sent a polite email saying he did not mean to say that so we gave him a second chance. killing with kindness.
June 9, 2009 at 2:29 pmGood Lord. I don’t know where to even begin.
I guess all I’ll say is, as one of the creators of this “film” or whatever the hell you want to call it – web series, garbage pile, whatever…. We did it out of boredom, not because any of us ever claimed to have any film making expertise. I, for one, wanted to see what the process of writing, shooting & acting in a film was like – not so I could claim I’d done it, or use it as some sort of social leverage… Just basically out of curiosity. Along the way we got a little bit of buzz, basically just because the plot was so absurd…. I am not a “hipster elitist” and don’t feel like I did anything incredibly artistic – I just feel that I had an interesting life experience. As for promoting the film, having the party at DC9, and all that other stuff… I mean, people wanted to see it. We did a little press, and I thought it’d be great to have some photos for that. I’ve always liked Dakota’s shit and jumped at the opportunity to have him photograph us. Besides, I thought it’d be cool to do that shoot, for posterity’s sake.
To those of you who came last night, thank you for showing us love. To those of you who didn’t, or don’t want to watch our film – really, who cares. Calm down!
In the words of Chase Cruz “I’m just tryin to live my life.”
June 9, 2009 at 4:14 pmGODDAMN HIPSTER ELITE ARE TAKING OVER– THEY ARE WORSE THAN THE WALL STREET ELITE OR EVEN THE LIBERAL MEDIA ELITE — IF I SO MUCH AS HEAR A MOPED MOTOR COMING DOWN THE STREET I’M JUST GOING TO START SHOOTING— BUCK SHOT JUST FLYING EVERYWHERE…EVERYWHERE!!!
June 9, 2009 at 6:56 pmamen, brother
June 9, 2009 at 7:13 pmto pablo, not lagan
June 9, 2009 at 7:14 pm
And I just found what I’m doing tonight.
June 8, 2009 at 12:47 pm