YOUR LUCKY DAY: An Interview With Director Daniel Brown And Star Jessica Garza

Cinema Scholars interviews Your Lucky Day writer/director Daniel Brown and lead actress Jessica Garza. Well Go USA will release Your Lucky Day in Theaters on November 10th and on Digital on November 14th.

Introduction

At some point, everyone has asked themselves what they would do if they won the lottery. Most people have similar answers about indulging in luxuries. The more practical opt for securing financial stability for their families. But what if you receive a life-changing windfall as a result of nefarious activity? Are you honest and admit the money isn’t yours? Or do you take the money and run? Writer/director Dan Brown explores this moral dilemma and much more in his new drama, Your Lucky Day. Writer/director Dan Brown and star Jessica Garza were at Fantastic Fest 2023 for the world premiere of the film.

After a drug deal goes bad, a young thug heads into the local Sip ‘n Go to cool his heels. While perusing the display of nudie magazines, he overhears another customer’s jubilation. He won the Mega Millions jackpot worth $156 million. In a frenzied fit of desperation and greed, the drug dealer quickly disguises himself and demands the winning ticket at gunpoint. 

Unbeknownst to the assailant, an oblivious cop is in the bathroom. A young, very pregnant couple also cowers in terror nearby. Soon, the police officer clues in and enters the fray, upending the thief’s haphazard plan. With bodies on the floor and a fortune at stake, the remaining survivors must decide if they’ll take the high road or cash in on an unexpected fortune.

Based on his 2010 short film of the same name, writer/director Daniel Brown has crafted a smart and relatable story that will make even the most loyal boy scout question their integrity. As the crew figures out how to handle their unique predicament, various moving parts in the story are gradually revealed. Naturally, this further complicates their plight. With each new challenge presented, the intrigue ratchets up as well. Resulting in high tension and horrific violence that snowballs right until the gloomy but satisfying end. 

Set primarily within one location, Brown uses the isolation of the convenience store to further amplify the growing tension. Clever use of the security camera POV plus scenes in various rooms of the small business keeps the film from feeling overly claustrophobic. A few key cutaway scenes also help to segment the main cast’s confinement. 

In addition to the intrigue of the central narrative, gradual character development intertwined with the action gives Your Lucky Day an added level of suspense. As details about each character are revealed, unlikely heroes and masterminds emerge. By the time the final act kicks in, it feels like every last person is on the take. 

Amid all the action, Brown also nods to subtle social commentary. Themes of wealth disparity and entitlement are sprinkled throughout the story. More overt visual messaging like “You Deserve It” and “Your Fortune” appear all around the characters on magazine covers, neon signs, and advertising. Also, setting the story during the holidays helps to further crystallize the fact that the working-class characters of the story continually struggle to get ahead. So despite the moral implications of their greed, each character feels worthy of a chance at financial freedom. 

Carrying all this commotion and commentary is a terrific ensemble cast. In one of his final roles, Angus Cloud nails the thug with a heart of gold. In addition, Cloud’s combination of authenticity and charisma immediately draws you into the movie and propels the narrative for much of the first half. Such a tragic loss of life and potential.

Other notable performances include Elliot Knight as the desperate father-to-be and Mousa Kraish as the troubled shop owner. But, the performer who owns Your Lucky Day is Jessica Garza as the damsel-turned-pregnant-badass. She represents the moral compass of the story. However, when her character recognizes that push has come to shove, she understands the assignment better than anyone. Garza captures her character’s keen wit right along with the role’s high physical demands. All with a gigantic pregnant belly.

Your Lucky Day is a modern twist on a classic morality tale bolstered by thoughtful character development and terrific performances. In September at the Fantastic Fest, Cinema Scholars’ Rebecca Elliott sat down with writer/director Daniel Brown and Your Lucky Day Star Jessica Garza. They talk about making the film, working with the late Angus Cloud, and what they would do with a winning lottery ticket.

Interview

Rebecca Elliott:

It’s so nice to meet you guys. Welcome to Fantastic Fest. Is this your first time at this festival?

Jessica Garza:

Yes. 

Daniel Brown:

I wanted to, but I haven’t been.

Rebecca Elliott:

Well, welcome! Eventually, I hope you get to enjoy a little of the festival and not just, work work work.

Daniel Brown:

So far I’ve been unable to get tickets.

Rebecca Elliott:

I’m so sorry. That’s a new thing with their new ticketing system. As a matter of fact, I did not get all my screenings for tomorrow either.

Daniel Brown:

Yeah, they’re gone by the time I can get on there.

Rebecca Elliott:

Ugh, so sorry about that. Hopefully, they’ll figure it out as the fest goes on. Well, we should talk about your movie Your Lucky Day, which was amazing! To begin with I want to address the elephant in the room. One of your stars, Angus Cloud, tragically passed away not too long after you shot this film. Can you talk a little bit about working with him? What was the experience like, and what did he bring to the film that was unexpected or surprising that no one else could otherwise? 

Daniel Brown:

Well, for sure he brought something to Sterling that no one else could. Considering the low budget of this movie, I got a lot of offers for the film. There were a lot of great options on the table, and I talked to a lot of people. Season two [of Euphoria] hadn’t happened yet, so I had this really limited selection of clips to go off of. So it was a big question mark in my head. 

I’ve shot with actors who have street-casted before, and there’s a bit of a process. So I knew a little bit about how that works. But I remember I kept coming back to, is anyone else going to be on the same plane? This is going to be like them just meeting an expectation. They’re going to be doing a thing. And Angus isn’t really “doing” something. He’s going to be doing something much more real. It’ll change the way this is all working, and I thought that would be really wonderful for the film. And then he was exactly like that! 

In the script, his character was kind of a motor mouth. I think he still talks a lot, but it was way faster and he had a lot more. Also, I was just like, he’s not going to need to say all this. He’s just going to kind of carry some of these things with the look, I don’t need him to do these things. So some of that was just like kind of knowing. And then he brought just a richer sense to it. I think the character is kind of like a dumbass. He’s making stupid choices. Stupid, selfish choices.

Rebecca Elliott:

Nevertheless, he’s a thug with a heart of gold.

Daniel Brown:

And he definitely is that. He brought so much to that. And there was so much more, he has that kind of face. And you get shots of his eyes, and it’s not just that his eyes are gorgeous…

Rebecca Elliott:

It’s like some energy, in a word. Charisma.

Daniel Brown:

Yeah. I remember there was a shot where he looks over his shoulder and I was like, oh, shit.

Rebecca Elliott:

Undeniably, some people just have that energy. They just have that presence.

Daniel Brown

It radiates. Yeah. And you can see. It’s like that.

Rebecca Elliott:

I love hearing about this. Jessica, I also want to hear about your experience working with Angus, specifically.

Jessica Garza:

Well, he does radiate. He’s fantastic. It makes all the other actor’s jobs easier when there is an actor who is so present. And you don’t have to buy into the belief of Sterling here because it feels like Sterling is a real person. He’s here and we’re experiencing this moment with him. So it was so easy to share a room, share a screen with him because it’s really effortless at times. It was a great experience getting to work with him. 

And he’s so perfect for that role. Things that were on the page or weren’t on the page were elevated. It was not only a very satisfying and fulfilling experience for me as a fellow costar, as a fellow actor. But also his presence off-screen, and the energy that he brought. Not only willingness but excitement to go to work. Excitement to do that night shoot, excitement to be wet in the pouring rain.

Everything was a pleasure, a privilege, and an honor to him. He never took a single moment for granted. And that was really helpful to get you through those long night shoots. It’s always good to have somebody there to bring that light and the laughter.

Rebecca Elliott: 

Long nights, I bet! The whole story is pretty much set chiefly at night. Your Lucky Day is based on a short film that you did previously, right Dan?

Daniel Brown:

Yes. 

Rebecca Elliott:

And, moreover, this is your first feature. Was it always the plan to go back to this short film? Or did the opportunity just come up? Subsequently, did anything change in the story through the transition? Or were you pretty true to the short in this case? 

Daniel Brown:

No, the short was a short. It was intended to be a short and it ended as a short. You haven’t seen it?

Rebecca Elliott:

Indeed, I have not. Now obviously I need to.

Daniel Brown:

But in the short, there are definitive endings for everybody. They end in a sort of tragic kind of way.

Rebecca Elliott:

So it did evolve eventually.

Daniel Brown:

It was basically like a hard stop. And it did really well online. It did great. I couldn’t ask for more from it. And I have an advertising background and I put it online mostly because I didn’t like filling out forms. I put it online and it just kind of took off. So I went and took a bunch of meetings, and everyone wanted to make the movie.

And I was like, I don’t really want to do that. I’m not seeing a feature here. I don’t want to just write a feature to write a feature. And I didn’t want to. Like, I felt like there might be some compromises that I would have to make or change things about a different landscape thirteen years later. But I was just nervous anyway. And I got really busy doing commercials. Then time goes by. It feels like it’s still a really relevant story.

Rebecca Elliott

Yeah. Undoubtedly.

Daniel Brown:

And I had another movie I was trying to get off the ground, or I was attached to as a director. I wanted to just make a cheap movie like one, contained thriller. 

Rebecca Elliott:

Basically, a one-location thriller. Love it.

Daniel Brown:

So I just sort of wrote the new version with that in mind. I can do this if I keep it pretty straightforward and simple. There are a few big swings we take. He leaves the store just to kind of spice it up. Also, I just wanted to make sure that it still felt like a fun movie. And I wish I thought ahead of it. I was just like, all right, it’s a short. But the idea. Kind of like I said, it felt really relevant still. So what are the elements that I can take from it, and what have I learned better?

Rebecca Elliott:

Meanwhile, it percolates over thirteen years.

Daniel Brown:

I want to be clear, I wasn’t writing the thing for thirteen years. You know what I mean? And no one’s asking for it at that point. By the time I was interested in it, it had been so long. Hollywood has a short attention span. Because the short had a convenience store in it, I got a call. I lived in Seattle, so I would go to L.A. and take a bunch of meetings, right?

And I went to go take one at Marvel, and they’re like, oh, we’re doing short films. And we already selected the director for that anyway. So I was like, okay, that’s weird. There’s no real reason for us to be having this conversation. And then there was an Agent Coulson short film that took place in a convenience store. I was like, oh, that must have been because that’s how it works, right?

Rebecca Elliott:

Obviously, you’re the convenience store guy!

Jessica Garza:

That is funny.

Daniel Brown:

That was a really valuable lesson for me and just, like, how the business works. It didn’t matter by the time I was ready to go take the meeting.

Rebecca Elliott:

No pressure at all! That is pretty crazy at any rate. Jessica, your character kind of goes from damsel to badass without getting too spoilery here. Additionally, your character is very pregnant. Can you talk about the physicality of your role and how being a pregnant character informed that? 

Jessica Garza:

Physical role? That’s partly why I was so excited about it. I have not been pregnant up to this point in time, so all I can do is hope that I got that part right.

Rebecca Elliott:

You look very uncomfortable, so you nailed it. I have experience.

Jessica Garza:

You get it.

Rebecca Elliott:

Yeah.

Jessica Garza:

I think it’s tough wanting to definitely bring that reality to the screen so that you and anyone else who’s experienced this part of life is not taken out by anything off. You can buy into it and we can continue on in our movie. So part of it was balancing that aspect. But also balancing the fact that when things start getting real, all of the pains and the feelings and the uncomfortability, all these things are suddenly just in the back of her mind. And we’re in a different mode of survival, of going and going and going and going.

Just trying to balance those two things, of being very physical, but also being very much like well, I can’t deal with this right now. I cannot face the reality of being this much in pain or this uncomfortable. Like, I need to get through this. Which is a really interesting thing to balance.

Rebecca Elliott:

And then doing all that physical stuff, but then also with a huge belly. I’m like, oh, this girl.

Jessica Garza:

My belly was a lot of fun.

Rebecca Elliott:

So throughout the movie, there is a lot of messaging, I’ll say some were subliminal, and some were overt. Like, “You deserve this” on the covers of magazines and inspirational sayings in neon in the background.

Daniel Brown:

Messaging like, I have an agenda?

Rebecca Elliott:

Not an agenda, but maybe a nod to wealth disparity themes in the film. And also entitlement, too, to a certain degree. How intentional was all that? Was that more your production designer? Or was that on the page? Your Lucky Day is also set during the holidays, which I feel crystallizes those themes as well.

Daniel Brown:

I think so, too. That’s not accidental, I’ll say that much. There’s a fun Easter egg in there for anybody who looks at the magazine cover in the front of the store. But that was all very intentional. I do have an advertising background, so for me, messaging is a big part of it. And advertising is very like, “Go do it!” or “You have the power!”

That part was really interesting for me and I felt like it was important to the story. And then I saw this guy who had programmed people. Derren Brown. He basically gets a bunch of people to rob a bank truck, but he never tells anybody to rob anything. And it’s all about criminality. Amazing documentary.

And maybe it’s bullshit, who knows? But it was really fun. He had all these triggers everywhere, and he’d use advertising. He gave everybody these fake guns. And he does all this background. But he also had posters everywhere, too, that were kind of reinforcing the idea. He had a Michael Jackson song also. And I was like I was just sort of fascinated by the way subliminal messaging like that would work and how everything around you is telling you to go take for yourself. That’s what advertising is.

Rebecca Elliott:

You deserve it! You’re great!

Daniel Brown:

Everything you do is great! And I’ve done a lot of lottery commercials. It’s like a real pure form of advertising. The only one that might actually deliver on the promise. You’re not going to go get the hot girl or great guy because you had a Bud Light, and your Apple phone isn’t going to change your fucking life.

Rebecca Elliott:

Nope.

Daniel Brown:

But I do think if you won the lottery, that would really change your life. The next day would be different. So it is kind of truthful. So I thought, like, okay, you can have all those elements and be kind of just reinforcing those elements through the production design, which is sort of my favorite kind of thing about movies.

Rebecca Elliott:

All right, one last question before I get the boot. What would you do if you won $156,000,000?

Daniel Brown:

Great question.

Jessica Garza:

I had a poor answer earlier. An unlimited treasure trove of hot Cheetos snacks, salty sweet, all the things. I ideally would basically just have my own convenience store.

Rebecca Elliott:

Basically, go pick out your snacks every night. Nice.

Daniel Brown:

I watched a documentary about this, and I think this is actually what I would do. One guy won like, $5 million. Anyways, he bought all of his kid’s houses and he bought them businesses to run. And I was like, oh, that’s a smart way to do this. Just set them up. Whether they fail or not, that’s on them. But you’ve set up your kids. I think that makes a lot of sense. Give them a business they can run and then they can take care of themselves and give to the next generation.

Rebecca Elliott:

So, all things considered, you’re practical. And Jessica, your hot Cheetos.

Jessica Garza:

I’m going to get every flavor.

Daniel Brown:

That’s the right thing to do.

Rebecca Elliott:

I love it! Well, guys, it has been great. Thank you so much for chatting with me about Your Lucky Day. It’s an awesome movie. I hope you eventually get to enjoy the fest!

Daniel Brown:

Thank you.

Jessica Garza:

Thanks.

Well Go USA will release Your Lucky Day in Theaters on November 10th and on Digital on November 14th.

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