About
Luis M Ventura was born in Switzerland and grew up in various countries in southeast Asia and Europe. He completed his BA in Filmmaking in London in 2010 and went on to produce a series of commercials and short films until the Switzerland-based Redstone Productions AG financed his debut feature film A Confident Man in 2011.
2009 | After completing his BA with the short film Such is Life Luis co-created the micro budget web-series When Life Gives You Lemons in 2010 - a six episode comedy series following the trials and tribulations of a group of 20-somethings in London. Production was financed out of pocket and shot at various locations around London.
2010 | It was during the production of Lemons when Luis and his team started developing a short film with a group of Swiss investor. The short film concept grew into a feature-length treatment and financing was secured for his debut feature film A Confident Man: An action comedy about a ne’er-do-well who gets caught up in a bank robbery and ends up with the loot.
2011 | Production of A Confident Man took place in Switzerland from August 1st to September 12th of 2011 and was supported by numerous businesses and individuals from the area. With the film in the can Luis and his team set up a postproduction facility by the end of 2011 where A Confident Man was edited, finished and scored.
2012 | Post-production on A Confident Man was finished by the Summer of 2012 with a final cut clocking in at 88’ and a guerilla marketing strategy launched for the films October 18th theatrical release. The film was well received and went to celebrate a number of local box office milestones.
Between wrapping up postproduction and releasing the film the Redstone-team set their sights on creating a short film for the festival circuit. Midnight City, a 1950s noir, was produced over three days at the beginning of Summer 2012. The film went on to garner nominations for best short film at ECU in Paris and Bumbershoot in Seattle with Luis winning the Best Director award at the YF Film Festival in 2012.
2014 | The following years saw Luis Ventura writing and directing his second and third feature films. The first, Tetro Rouge, was a post-apocalyptic adventure film shot in Switzerland and France from July 16th to September 14th of 2014. With a script set mostly outdoors in remote locations the eight-week production was gruelling and slow, further complicated by adverse weather and a constantly evolving script.
2015 | Tetro Rouge went through a rushed post-production at Redstone Productions in order to meet an April 2015 release. The late request for a German dub further complicated the finishing of the film, which finally released theatrically on March 26th, 2015.
After the release of Tetro Rouge Luis and his team returned to the world of independent film while on a retreat in Italy in the Summer of 2015.
2015 | Luis’ third full-length feature The Espadrillo Fortune is an adventure comedy about a group of strangers who come together in search of a long-lost treasure on the southern Sardinian coastline. In stark contrast to Tetro Rouge, the film was independently financed and shot guerilla-style while the team was on a retreat in Italy. Although scheduled for only 15 days of principal photography the film was shot in 12 after production was halted when a storm hit the mediterranean.
2015 | After production wrapped on The Espadrillo Fortune in October 2015 the team relocated to Rome where a rough cut was edited and most of the ADR was done.
2016 | Further ADR and color grading was done in Switzerland with Pablo Croissier once again creating an original motion picture soundtrack with a collection of collaborators from around the world.
2017 | Luis Ventura took the finished film to the 2017 Marche du Film at the Cannes Film Festival where he met with a series of buyers and found an international distribution partner.
The Espadrillo Fortune was subsequently released on various streaming platform in a number of territories around the globe.
2018 | Since the release of The Espadrillo Fortune Luis Ventura spent a few years developing his newest feature Paradise Lost - an espionage thriller set in the south of France and northern Italy. The script was finalised in 2019 and the casting process is underway.
Initially scheduled to go into production in the Summer of 2020 the film has been postponed due to the 2019 pandemic.