Movies & TV / Columns
Occupation: Rainfall Director Luke Sparke On Working With Ken Jeong, Sequel Plans
Image Credit: Saban Films
The 411 Interview: Luke Sparke
Luke Sparke is a writer, director, and producer from Australia who has been involved in the entertainment business, according to imdb, since at least 2005. Sparke has directed the TV documentary series Yesterday is History as well as the feature film Red Billabong. Sparke’s latest movie as a director is the sci-fi action flick Occupation: Rainfall, the sequel to his 2018 movie Occupation. In this interview, Sparke talks with this writer about making Occupation: Rainfall, making a big sequel, working with Ken Jeong and Temuera Morrison, and more.
**
Bryan Kristopowitz: Just how big of a hit was Occupation in Australia? How big of a hit was it internationally?
Luke Sparke: It opened in the top 10 of the box office out here in Australia upon release, opened in the number 7 spot on the USA VOD charts, then went on to be in the top 10 releases around the world as it rolled out. We are happy with the movie’s success.
BK: How long after the completion of Occupation did you start working on the sequel Occupation: Rainfall?
LS: I wrote the script for Rainfall between the time we delivered Occupation and it was released. We started work on Rainfall the week after Occupation was released. It was a crazy time!
BK: Was your intention to make Occupation: Rainfall a bigger movie in terms of its scope or did you intend to simply make it “the next story?”
LS: It was my intention to make it bigger. I wanted to right some wrongs in Occupation that were limited by the budget. I told the team that this time I was going to write what was in my head and then we’ll figure out how to do it, rather than on Occupation where I was writing it with limited time and money in mind.
BK: How was making Occupation: Rainfall different from Occupation? How was it the same? What was the hardest part of making Occupation: Rainfall for you as a director?
LS: It wasn’t the same at all. On Occupation, I was making a lot up as I went; expanding on characters as they were cast, designing the world, coming up with the alien tech and backstories, etc. On Rainfall, it was the size of the film and how to get it all done. As a director, I ended up also jumping into editing and VFX along with scheduling the filming and a bunch else to get it done. All the way to delivery, I had to be involved in every facet of the show.
BK: Describe your working relationship with Dale Dye and Felix Williamson.
LS: Felix, I cast in my first film and then Occupation and offered to do a pass of the Rainfall script. Dale is a legend in the film industry, and I worked with him on the HBO show The Pacific. I reached out to him to look over some military aspects of the script early on for some extra ideas. I love working with Dale.
BK: Where was Occupation: Rainfall made?
LS: It was made on the Gold Coast, Australia.
BK: How did you cast Occupation: Rainfall? Was it difficult to get everyone from Occupation back for the sequel?
LS: From memory, most of the Occupation cast jumped back into the sequel no questions asked. We were doing the press tour for Occupation as I was writing, so I was pitching them ideas as we were doing that and they dug it. There were a few cast I couldn’t get back for scheduling reasons, so that was a shame.
For the new Wing Commander, Daniel Gillies was perfect and “got” the character right away. Lawrence Makore, who plays Gary the Alien, worked really hard with me to get that right.
BK: How did Ken Jeong get involved with Occupation: Rainfall?
LS: It was through connections I had. We spoke on the phone briefly after he watched the first film on Netflix and pitched to me how he would want to do it. Those characters like Steve the Alien and Jeong’s Bud Miller were there to mix up the characters and story a bit, so he got that. He was a great presence to have around set.
BK: How long did it take to make Occupation: Rainfall, from finishing the script to completing post-production?
LS: I finished the script in early 2018 and it came out in 2021. I was constantly working on it everyday in between with my small team of Carly, Carmel and Alex who were the other producers. Just a grind to get it done.
BK: How did you decide on the overall look of the various aliens in Occupation: Rainfall?
LS: I had different looking aliens in Occupation, but I wanted to update them and bring in new ones. I had a picture of going with something that was the still the ‘grey alien’ of lore, but with our own twist. That was for Gary’s species. Then we introduced other races that are a part of the various alien worlds. So that was really fun to come up with different looks. My favorite is this little four-armed alien you see in a few blink-and-you-miss-them-shots.
BK: Occupation: Rainfall is chock full of spectacular special effects. What was the balance between using practical effects and digital effects?
LS: I always go into shoots seeing how much I can get done practically, but eventually it comes down to shooting schedules, budgets and just the practicality of doing everything. Early in the shoot we were doing a lot in camera, then switched to the green screen stages. It moves quicker and you can get through more, but then it blows out in the end in post-production. So it’s a lot of conversations and planning to get these sorts of films done.
BK: What was the hardest action sequence to pull off in Occupation: Rainfall?
LS: The sword fight with the aliens at Pine Gap was pretty extensive. Originally planned as “a few shots” it turned into nearly a week of mayhem with stunt guys and cast in that set from morning to night. The scene with the spider monster turned out to be a lot harder than we thought as well.
BK: Any moviemaking heroes?
LS: Lucas. Spielberg. Cameron. It’s hard not to give those three as answers as they basically shaped my childhood and my filmmaking career. I watch all their films religiously.
BK: Any upcoming projects you can tell us about?
LS: What’s been announced is a dinosaur film based on a book called Primitive War, set in the jungles of the Vietnam War. There’s also a WW2 time travel film based on another book called Weapons of Choice. Both are really great projects and we’ve spent a lot of time already developing them.
BK: What do you hope audiences get out of Occupation: Rainfall?
LS: First, I just hope they have fun watching this world and roller-coaster ride across Australia. Second would be messages about war, morality, colonization, and the importance of standing together.
BK: When will we see the next Occupation movie? And how many do you hope to make in the end?
LS: We will start filming later this year, so hopefully next year you may see one? They are coming. We’re in early pre-production right now. How many will there be? In this Rainfall story, I have the whole story written and have known how it all ends and where and why for a while. I want to finish that story. If people want to see more after that, then I have a few ideas, but we’ll wait and see on that.
BK: Just how big of a badass is Temuera Morrison?
LS: He’s a big freaking badass. Never backs down from a challenge and is always extremely professional and a lovely guy.
BK: Are you a fan of the 3 Stooges?
LS: Of course, they are classic. The classic trio, I guess. I thought it would be fun for an alien to learn about humanity through TV shows and films so it was there in the background in that one scene.
**
A very special thanks to Luke Sparke for agreeing to participate in this interview and to Justin Cook for setting it up.
Occupation: Rainfall is available now on various streaming, digital, and cable platforms including iTunes, Amazon Video, Netflix, Vudu, Comcast, Spectrum, and Cox!
Check out the official Occupation: Rainfall website here, and the official Facebook page here!
Check out my review of Occupation: Rainfall here!
Check out Luke Sparke’s official Facebook page here and imdb page here!
All images courtesy of Saban Films.
