Conversations with Luke Ostermiller

Today we’d like to introduce you to Luke Ostermiller. 

Hi Luke, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I started Loste Films back in 2015 when I was fresh out of high school and haven’t looked back since. Our primary goal from day 1 has been to create a sustainable movie industry in Denver. We believe our beautiful and diverse state of Colorado deserves just as much screen time in major motion pictures as places like LA, New York, and Vancouver. It’s been quite a journey thus far, and we’ve made significant progress, but there’s still a long ways to go. 

Our first big milestone was in 2016 when I directed the horror short film “Turn Around”. It featured breath-taking mountain scenery and some of the most talented cast and crew around. This was also the first time I was ever fortunate enough to find a financier for a project, which seemed impossible at the time. “Turn Around” went on to screen in festivals nationwide and even took home a handful of awards. We quickly followed up with a cannabis-themed comedy short “Where Are We?” which introduced our work to entirely new audiences. While drastically different in tone, the film was still uniquely Coloradan. From there, I began my journey into the feature-film world. 

Even before the spike in popularity of music biopics, I had always wanted to make a movie about a band. That’s exactly what I tried to do after teaming up with frequent collaborator Sam Thompson in 2018 to write the screenplay. We knew we wanted heavy involvement from the Denver music scene, so I began building connections in that world primarily through music videos. This ended up becoming an entirely new side to our studio’s business, which I have and still do enjoy every second of. After 2 years of dedication to pre-production on that movie, the pandemic hit. The number of crowd scenes in tightly packed concert venues the script called for forced us to postpone production. Instead, we made a 30-minute short called “Sick” using only the actors I was sharing a house with. “Sick” premiered in the Summer of 2021 to a sold-out crowd at The Mayan Theatre in Denver, CO and is now headed for the festival circuit. 

New doors opened after the premiere of “Sick”, including my first feature film “Shooting Guard”, written by Agapi Petra and Kingg Double. The story follows Jamaal Bishop, an up-and-coming college basketball star as he risks it all by entering the drug game to save his mom from being evicted from her home. Principal photography on “Shooting Guard” wrapped in September 2021 and I just finished the first rough cut. I’m incredibly honored to have directed the amazing cast of this movie and can’t wait to show the world what we created. We are currently putting together the soundtrack for “Shooting Guard”, which will feature Denver artists such as DNA Picasso, Ralphy Sway, and more! We will be making announcements in the next couple months regarding the release of “Shooting Guard” and production of our next movie. 

With so many exciting endeavors I will be embarking on in 2022, I reflect on how lucky I’ve been to be supported by so many other wonderful artists of all mediums. Film truly is a collaborative art form and I wouldn’t be where I am today without the help of others in our film community. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
One of the biggest challenges we as filmmakers all face in Colorado is the lack of opportunity to work in narrative film specifically. The sad reality is that the only local productions that have appropriate budgets to work with are commercials. Most talent and crew that regularly work in our state get sucked into the commercial world just to make a living. While this work may be what some are looking for, selling another person’s product isn’t why I got into the business. I’m sure many other artists share the same sentiment. 

While movies are undeniably a big financial risk, I refuse to believe commercially successful features can’t be made in Colorado. We already proved with “Sick” that we can turn a profit just by selling tickets for an indie short film, let alone a full-length movie. Doing the same with “Shooting Guard” will be much more complex, but our track record gives me hope that we will pull it off. If we do, I think we’re really going to start seeing things change in Colorado. There’s a lot of money here in Denver, but just not in our industry. Getting investors outside of the film world really seems to be the only way to pull off something on the level of a Hollywood production in Denver. But nobody with the means to finance a film of that scale would take such a risk without a proven track record of profitability. This is exactly the issue we are in the process of solving. 

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
More information about our work can be found on our website www.lostefilms.com. For those wanting to check out our music videos, we have a playlist on our YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLirP9b0okCRzCasTTIyAQVjQaXAQkvykQ 

I would highly recommend checking out one of our most recent music videos, “Fire”, that we made with local metal band Fist Fight. The link that that can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I3BhIjPllw 

For updates on our movies, the best way to stay up to date is by following us on Facebook or Instagram. I’m also on TikTok @lostermiller. 

What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
The most essential quality of our work is telling good stories. It doesn’t matter what camera you shoot on or what gear you have access to. Telling stories with film is the most powerful way to impact an audience. We apply this way of thinking not only in our movies but in our music videos as well. I see many local acts failing to engage emotionally with their fans in their music videos by not treating these projects as a form of artistic expression. To combat the “quantity-over-quality” trend in modern music videos, I always try to take the time and develop rich and unique concepts with the artists I work with. Film and music are both such powerful mediums of art and when combined, the end result can be beautiful thing. If the video has no voice or meaning behind it, it will not stand out above the noise. 

Pricing:

• Music video packages range from $750 – $3000+
• Pricing for other services varies depending on scope of the project

Contact Info:

• Email: luke@lostefilms.com
• Website: www.lostefilms.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lukeostermiller
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lostefilms
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaDVm56zG7XlGla-d7tWafQ
• Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6857620/

Image Credits
Alex Wagner
Maddie Steele
Joe Mondragon