Influencer Editorial Team
How has the response to “Dragon” been so far?
It’s been amazing. Besides some weird family members and some haters, it’s been very good. People get it. And the response has been positive. Some people called the movie “AI Slop” but that term feels lazy. What were people expecting from me? I am Michael Bay. I am James Gunn. I also wanted to do something outside the typical structure with no clear three acts. I was aiming for the feeling of a drunken tale around a fire, structured in vignettes like folklore chapters.
How has your personal journey informed the filmmaking?
I am Russian American and Orthodox. My faith, my culture, is important to me. I am not interested in ‘conforming’ in that sense. I want to stay true to who I am. I grew up living in New York City. I am influenced by Michael Pomazansky and his writings, his spiritual essays and letters. I carry a lot of that with me. I also think commercial filmmaking is fun to watch. That’s what I’m into. Not some stupid “art” films. I got the wrong idea when I was in film school and I was younger and then I found my voice. I sincerely want to direct Transformers and go surfing with my wife in California.
How did you envision blending fantasy genre tropes with modern AI techniques?
I was interested in this genre. I was always drawn to the idea of myths. Heroic archetypes found in time. I loved reading The Lord of The Rings growing up. I also think that’s why I was initially drawn to filmmakers like Harmony Korine and Vincent Gallo. It was the early days of the internet. You would watch these incredibly poignant films and then read these wild stories. I also grew up on games like Skyrim and The Witcher 3, and knew I wanted to channel that emotional residue into something cinematic. AI provided the “visual hallucination” aspect, it was imperfect, glitchy, human feeling, like a fading memory. I did this myself. All of it. Do you know how many people I helped in my early days that treated me like I was beneath them? And where are they now? They mean nothing to me.
What themes were you hoping audiences would reflect on?
I wanted the film to feel like if you found an ancient VHS tape pulled from the ruins. If someone brought a Hi 8 camera to a medieval fantasy realm and documented the knights experiences. I wanted it to feel like memory. That’s why the footage glitches, the colors bleed, the sound warps, because this isn’t reality, it’s the memory of a dream.
What’s next for you after Dragon?
Spending more time with my girlfriend. Enjoying the summer. I’m currently working on the sequel called Dragon: Bloodline and then the final one in the trilogy.
You can watch ‘Dragon’ now on VOD and streaming on
https://fawesome.tv/movies/10649802/dragon
