Director Luis Cross on getting big stories out of small moments
As Luis Cross builds up a portfolio of character-driven projects, he is also establishing his own character as a director. He reflects on his career so far as part of our New Talent showcase for 2024
It seems obvious to say that characters should be the beating heart of stories, but it’s no easy task. For Luis Cross, this seems to come naturally. In 2024, he has revealed two back-to-back projects that are tonally quite different, but both show his affinity for strong personalities with layered backgrounds, whether he’s writing them or teasing them out of real people.
“Maybe there’s a throughline where you have an insight to a character that you probably haven’t seen before,” he says of his work. “I think that’s what I’m picking up on – these stories that are almost fringe topics or something that people maybe haven’t seen.”
Look no further than his debut short documentary, If I Can Dream, which follows Andreas Waldem, a regular attendee of the annual Porthcawl Elvis Festival in South Wales. When he was mulling over his angle for the project, the festival organiser suggested Cross reach out to this particular Elvis Presley impersonator.
