Notes from the Production team

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Director Jake Lockett, also an actor who can currently be seen in NBC’s Chicago Fire as recurring character Sam Carver, makes his directorial debut with A Rush of Peace. Lockett uses his years of experience in film and television to bring to life this difficult parable of drug addiction, with a deft, empathetic touch. Lockett also co-produced and co-wrote the script with M Hayward Scott.

“I took this project for a few reasons,” said Lockett. “Firstly, I was honored to have Hayward ask me. I’d always wanted to direct and from the first time he told me about the project and what it stood for, I couldn’t wait to dig in and iron out the film we wanted to share with the world. Secondly, I felt like I could say something…

“From a literal point of view, I believed we could bring this story to life and that the internal conflict would resonate with people from all sorts of backgrounds, that they could empathize with that, understand if they were put in Anthony’s (the lead character) position, even if they didn’t like how it all went down.

“On a metaphorical level, I wanted people to connect with the depths of addiction not only when it comes to drugs and alcohol but the universals of addiction and how it is a poison no matter what you are consuming or holding onto. This country is currently in struggle of ideals and the divides are getting made wider by peoples addiction to their ideals and unwillingness to step away from those ideals for a moment and seek to understand one another. I also feel that this country's addiction to food is causing more deaths than almost any other single cause and until we start creating a healthy relationship with food, that addiction will continue. 

“Nothing about addiction is good and by seeing someone take their addiction to revenge all the way to it’s rockbottom and then and only then see the opportunity for new life… a new start... I’m hoping that people will see the dangers of addiction… to anything.”

Actor/writer M Hayward Scott approached Lockett to direct the film after having written the original screenplay A Banquet of Consequences.

“I’ve known Jake for years,” said Scott. “I went to him with the script because he understands actors and has an innate sense of story.”

“As a writer, I knew what I wanted to say about addiction, but I felt violence and its aftereffects would be a more interesting drug in which to explore it. It was a great partnership. I’ve had to other films I’ve written go to festivals, but I’ve never had the rapport with a director like I’ve had with Jake. We pushed each other, questioned and argued, and ended up with a script of which we are very proud.”

Both realized that the script was too long to shoot as a short, so they edited it down to its essence and retitled the work A Rush of Peace.

Shot in the desert outside of Los Angeles, A Rush of Peace is the story of vengeance out of control, looking into the soul of man who has lost everything and who seeks to fill the emptiness, the black hole inside himself.

The cast includes Alina Phelan, Jack Maxwell, Melissa Marty, and David De La Barcena, all well-respected TV and film actors.

Shot by noted indie cinematographer Ray Wongchinda, whose recent credits as Director of Photography include The Shades (2021), Joseph (2020), Where We Go From Here (2019), among others, A Rush of Peace is the result of a fruitful collaboration with DP and first-time director.

"I have never worked with a first-time director that put as much work and thought into pre-production as Jake did,” said Wongchinda, “I found him quite impressive.

“Jake and I met on multiple days in pre-production, reading through the script line by line together, designing each shot in the movie for the edit. Each shot was discussed in detail, especially motivations for composition and camera movement. We would often reference movies to see how similar shots affected tone in different contexts. Jake is a natural, and had a wonderful intuition for shot design to further narrative.

“With only two days to shoot the script, we had to have everything planned well to make our days. Making the difficult decisions, doing our best to cut shots in pre-production instead of the editing suite. Because of this, there was only one shot that was not used in the final edit, and I am quite proud of this. At the end of the day, it’s the writing and talent on screen that is the vast majority of what makes a compelling movie. I was honored to work on a project that brought both to the table, motivating our inspired efforts for cinematography."

“He was patient with me,” laughs Lockett, “He was inventive and adding his own creativity to the project but in a collaborative way that was empowering to me and allowed me to bring my vision as director of the film to life. He made the film happen.”