Carnivorous, Inhuman and Derelict are just some of the horror titles produced by Milwaukee’s Lightning Rod Studios. While you’ve probably never seen these movies, or even heard of them, that’s about to change.
On July 15, Warner Brothers began distributing Lightning Rod’s Guardians, an action movie about a team of exterminators that battle evil “of our creation and from beyond.”
“This is a very big deal for us,” says Lightning Rod’s Drew Maxwell, director and writer of Guardians. “Our film will be distributed on DVD in all the major chains – Amazon, Target, Best Buy, all of them, everywhere. We really got lucky with this one.”
With more luck – perhaps – to come. “We have a film in postproduction, Dust a kind of apocalyptic story and we’re talking with Sci Fi Channel about developing the story into a series,” Maxwell says.
The studio is located in the Blatz building, the converted brewery with condos and offices on East Highland Avenue. With a staff of 10 employees, the studio produces two films a year and also offers preproduction, production and postproduction services. Lightning Rod is one of the Midwest’s most advanced special effects studios, according to Maxwell, specializing in “green screen” productions. Ninety percent of Guardians was shot in front of a green screen – a blank screen on which the virtual scenic world of the film is then added.
Not all of their work is computer-generated, though. A recent location shoot was done in the darkened Outpost Natural Foods store in Bay View. “Outpost shut down the whole place,” Maxwell says. “People there were all jazzed up about the production, helpful and happy. Believe me, it was nothing like working in L.A.”
And all that work is reaping dividends. “We eat, breathe and sleep film,” Maxwell says. “Well, actually not that much sleep. But if you’re doing what you love, you can do without some sleep.”
