“There's No Nostalgia for Me in This Film”: Director Isaiah Saxon Discusses How He Made His $10 Million Debut, The Legend of Ochi, Feel Larger Than Life.

“There's No Nostalgia for Me in This Film”: Director Isaiah Saxon Discusses How He Made His $10 Million Debut, The Legend of Ochi, Feel Larger Than Life.

      Creating films is a challenging endeavor. This notion isn't particularly groundbreaking, but a film like The Legend of Ochi emphasizes how often we overlook the complexities of filmmaking. Crafting immersive worlds and unforgettable narratives demands a remarkable level of skill.

      As I noted in my review, “The Legend of Ochi, scripted and directed by Isaiah Saxon, is a beautiful adventure that showcases creativity and talent. It certainly has the feel of a film that will endure over time. While it features minimal dialogue, it is rich in style and tells the story of a small village on the island of Carpathia, where its inhabitants live in fear of the Ochi, a seemingly ferocious primate lurking in the nearby forest. Willem Dafoe portrays Maxim, a warrior elder entrusted with the village's children, whom he trains to combat these feared beasts. Among them are Petro (Finn Wolfhard) and his own daughter Yuri (Helena Zengel). When Yuri discovers an injured baby Ochi, she chooses to care for it and return it home, necessitating her escape from Maxim's militaristic mindset.”

      With the film set for a limited release, expanding widely this Friday, I spoke with Saxon about the careful process involved in his feature directorial debut, the location scouting in Romania's Carpathian Mountains, cinematic influences, crafting the role for Willem Dafoe, and more.

      The Film Stage: This is your first feature, and you've been working on it since 2018, correct?

      Isaiah Saxon: Yes, around 2018. That’s when I could commit myself fully. Before that, it was mostly conceptual.

      Are you feeling relieved now that it’s finally being released, or do you feel any sadness that the process has come to an end?

      Not sad at all. In fact, I could have wrapped this up a while ago. It’s such a relief. I really only felt that relief about five days ago when I screened it in Los Angeles for a full house of friends, family, and respected filmmakers. It was the first time I watched it without anxiety since I had seen it at Sundance while feeling extremely stressed. Before that, I was nitpicking and watching it daily, which can make you dislike your own work. So, watching it with everyone else for the first time was exhilarating. A similar experience happened just a few nights ago in New York. It’s truly fulfilling to connect with those who resonate with it; while it may not appeal to everyone, it does find its audience.

      Isiah Saxon on Set

      I'm curious about how scouting for a film like this works, especially in the Carpathian Mountains of Romania?

      Well, the initial funding I received for development went straight into creature prototyping and scouting the Carpathian Mountains. I spent about two months driving around—first with my wife, and then with my producers and Castel Films, the Romanian production company. Our goal was to explore various small villages in the Carpathians for the most enchanting, mystical backdrops. We often found ourselves trespassing on private lands, with locals inviting us for meals and sharing their home-cooked bread, cheese, and homemade blueberry wine. It’s a remarkable area where horse-drawn carriages are still common, and where fields are tended by hand. There are bears, lynx, and wolves there too. We called it “the adventure scout” because it truly felt like an adventure.

      How was the blueberry wine? Was it enjoyable?

      It was the best alcoholic drink I've ever had—not just for its incredible flavor or its thick texture, which is essentially a blend of solid blueberries in their own syrup, but also for its unique physical effects. It felt slightly psychedelic and remarkably euphoric, making you feel blissfully happy. If you stroll through the Carpathian Mountains, you'd notice a sparkle in everyone’s eyes that likely comes from their relationship with alcohol.

      It seems like a beautiful location! You've experienced various forms of animation. I'm interested in how transitioning from animation, where you have complete creative control, to live-action filmmaking—with all its variables—felt for you. Was it challenging?

      I actually started in live-action. My journey began with drawing as a child, then sculpting, and eventually realizing I could combine those experiences into filmmaking. My initial projects were music videos and shorts that incorporated puppets, creatures, and painted sets. It was certainly challenging, yet also exhilarating and enjoyable to work alongside friends in building things. After completing the Björk “Wanderlust” video, I was totally drained from the effort—it was tough work.

      Thus, I turned to animation as a way to take a break. It allowed me to work at a slower pace on a computer without the pressures of strict shooting schedules and physical limitations. Animation became a lifestyle choice for me, enabling me to develop my skills over years of working with small teams of visual effects artists and learning the necessary software. This meant that when it came time to

“There's No Nostalgia for Me in This Film”: Director Isaiah Saxon Discusses How He Made His $10 Million Debut, The Legend of Ochi, Feel Larger Than Life. “There's No Nostalgia for Me in This Film”: Director Isaiah Saxon Discusses How He Made His $10 Million Debut, The Legend of Ochi, Feel Larger Than Life.

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“There's No Nostalgia for Me in This Film”: Director Isaiah Saxon Discusses How He Made His $10 Million Debut, The Legend of Ochi, Feel Larger Than Life.

Producing films is a challenging endeavor. This may not be a groundbreaking statement, but a movie like The Legend of Ochi emphasizes how often we overlook the complexities of filmmaking. Crafting immersive worlds and unforgettable narratives entails a significant amount of incredible skill. As I mentioned in my review, “The