In Conversation: Jack Serra on Luxor, Addiction, Ambition and the Art of Just Making Films

For Jack Serra, filmmaking began with a childhood fascination with storytelling and a desire to create worlds of his own. Surrounded by his parents’ vast movie collection, he discovered that cinema could offer the same creative control he once imagined having as an author.

That early fascination has since developed into a distinctive interest in flawed characters, human behaviour, and the distractions that keep us from confronting what truly matters. His latest short, Luxor, brings those interests together through a darkly comic story about addiction, obsession, and the pursuit of something that might finally make life better.

In this conversation, Jack Serra reflects on his journey into filmmaking, the personal connections he found in Luxor’s characters, his work with the cast, the creative choices he would revisit, and why he believes aspiring filmmakers should stop waiting for the perfect opportunity and simply start making films.

1. Can you tell us what inspired you to become a filmmaker?

Jack: As a kid, I always wanted to be an author. I think I just liked the idea of having some sort of control over these fictional worlds. It wasn’t until I was about 10 or 11 that I realized I could do that through a visual medium. Both my parents were obsessed with showing me their personal movie collections. We had a little theater room with nearly a thousand DVDs piled to the ceiling. Watching movies together is really what I remember spending most of my time doing with them. By the time I was in middle school, I couldn’t see myself doing anything else.

2. Your latest film LUXOR is an interesting one. What inspired it?

Jack: I really wanted to explore the many forms of addiction made available by the modern world. Ones that aren’t necessarily harmful in themselves, but are distracting in nature from the real issues in our world. I didn’t want to approach those ideas from too serious of a position, so I took an idea from a short film I had made in high school and kind of reinterpreted it to fit these themes.

3. I believe every filmmaker leaves a piece of themselves in their work. What part of LUXOR feels the most personal to you?

Jack: feel like I can relate to just about every character in the film. Anne’s gambling addiction, the boy’s obsession with EJ’s livestream, EJ’s misguided rage, and even Victor’s indifference about everything. I think the most personal thing I relate to in Luxor is being trapped in that chase. Always moving toward the next thing and never stopping to enjoy where you’re at.

4. What was the casting process like and how did you come to settle on Jack Michael Ryan for the role of Victor?

Jack: I had actually been watching Jack’s work for quite a while and decided to reach out to him during early pre-production. Jack is great at handling different types of characters, and I think Victor was one that I hadn’t seen him explore yet.

5. How did you work with your cast to ensure their performances remained grounded despite the increasingly absurd situations?

Jack: It definitely can feel very absurd at times, and casting was a huge part of balancing that absurdity with more low-key performances. Jenny O’Hara is the most professional actress I’ve ever worked with, and Jack Michael Ryan, although he’s newer to acting in narrative projects, is phenomenal. Both of them had a really good understanding of the script, and I think that’s what led to a good balance of playing to the tone while still keeping the characters grounded in real life.

6. If you could do anything different or change anything about this film, what would it be?

Jack: I really wanted to spend more time with Anne’s character.

7. Has making LUXOR changed the way you think about your own relationship with ambition, success, or distraction?

Jack: Doing something more comedic like this has definitely made me see the ridiculousness in caring so much about certain things and becoming entranced by them. I wouldn’t say my relationship with those ideas has changed much, though. It’s pretty hard to sway my initial views on something, but Victor has definitely taught me that it’s never that serious.

8. If audiences leave the cinema debating one central idea, what would you hope that conversation is about?

Jack: I would hope the audience discusses Victor’s final decision and whether or not they would make the same choice given his circumstances.

9. Finally, what advice can you share with up-and-coming filmmakers who are looking to make a film like yours?

Jack: Luxor definitely has some of the best production value I’ve ever had the privilege of working with, but I made the original version of this short film ten years ago when I was in high school. I shot it on an iPhone at a friend’s house and put it online. Our budget was zero dollars. I guess people say it all the time, but it’s true. If you want to make something, just make it.

At its heart, ‘Luxor’ seems to be asking a deceptively simple question: what would we do if given the chance to change our lives? For Serra, the answer is less important than the choice itself, particularly when desperation and circumstance begin to blur the line between right and wrong.

His hope that audiences will debate Victor’s final decision speaks to a filmmaker who is less interested in providing easy answers than creating space for viewers to confront their own impulses. And perhaps fittingly, Serra’s advice to emerging filmmakers mirrors one of Luxor’s central ideas: stop obsessing over what comes next and make the most of what is in front of you.

Having begun with a zero-budget film shot on an iPhone as a teenager, he is a reminder that sometimes the first step toward making something meaningful is simply deciding to make it.