The groundbreaking heist thriller, LifeHack, is now in theaters. It’s an unconventional thriller in that it’s a screenlife film, meaning it’s made to look like a screen recording. The movie follows four gamers and one trust fund brat as they scam a cryptocurrency billionaire.
We had the honor of talking with the debuting duo behind the LifeHack: director Ronan Corrigan and rising star James Scholz. They were kind enough to share their approaches to making this film, their storytelling inspirations, and more.
Ocean’s 11 on a Discord Server?
“The main idea for the movie has always been Ocean’s 11 on a Discord server,” explained Corrigan. “The kind of idea we were exploring was, ‘What does a modern heist look like?’”
Streamer and university student James Scholz is no stranger to this online subculture and essentially plays himself in his debut.
“I just listened to everything Ronan told me because I just completely trusted him,” Scholz told us from his dorm room.
“It’s really funny,” reminisced Corrigan. “We found James online. We were researching inspirations for the characters, and we found James’s study channel. He encapsulated the culture we wanted to make a film about, so I just cold emailed him.”
Thanks to that cold email, the two made an innovative film that examines the corruption and ego of billionaires. Not unexpectedly, the conversation turned to politics.
Stealing From Billionaires
“I think the film grew,” Corrigan said. “We wrote this film three or four years ago, and the billionaires we were basing it off of became very different people and got into politics, and it all got way messier. I think [the inspiration for the movie] just came from that frustration where you’re at the end of your Monopoly board, and you’re not able to buy a house or start a company because it’s all been done. This film was about trying to take out our angst on these people.”
Then he chuckled. “It’s a fantasy fulfillment of making money, and it’s a fantasy fulfillment of stealing from these people as well.”
In the end, both talents assured us that they wanted to keep making more movies. You can rest assured that Geeks of Color will be here to cover.