Horror Favourites – Emilio Mauro
Based on true events, Another Day in America is a dark, radical comedy-drama that revolves around an ensemble of distinct characters as they each make their way through a post-pandemic day in an American office. It’s not business as usual – it’s personal. We grabbed the movies director and writer Emilio Mauro to chat about scary movies and more.
It’s cultural guerrilla warfare, navigating the pains of disenfranchisement, Misogyny, racism, perversion, and mental illness. They are at a tipping point, making things even more painful, damaging, and dangerous. Another Day in America focuses on its polarized society, fueled by our dependence on online internet culture, a culture that is quickly changing yet is anchored by a profoundly violent and painful history.
For years, Emilio has worked with many of the tops names in the Film and Television Industry Including Golden Globe Winning and Oscar Winning talent. Noteworthy projects include working with Golden Globe Winning Producer, Celine Rattray (Plum Pictures, Mandalay Pictures + Maven Pictures) on THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT, BERNIE, & SALVATION BLVD. Emilio also created a TV crime drama called THE MIDDLE MAN that Ben Affleck was attached to direct and EP with the showrunner Glenn Caron. WME sold it to Fox.
Emilio’s feature script BY THE GUN starring Ben Barnes, Leighton Meester and Harvey Keitel, which he also produced, released in 2014. He then wrote and sold a half-hour edgy dramedy called MEN ON PAUSE, in which Lee Aronsohn came on board to showrun and Chris Donnelly to EP. Emilio was also Executive Producer on the sci-fi thriller, BEYOND SKYLINE.
Emilio Mauro is making his directorial debut with Another Day in America and below he tells us what horror film he loves the most:
“When I think of a horror film, I envision something that keeps you up at night—something that lingers for days and weeks, maybe even a lifetime. Sure, Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining is the best horror film of all time, but you admire it for its technical aspects. The storytelling is incredible but unrealistic. It’s horror, but it’s also fantasy. I’m not going to lose sleep over it.
I remember watching The Exorcist, Amityville Horror, and The Omen. All great films, all scary as shit. Maybe even true.
But there’s only one movie that truly scared the living fuck out of me. And it’s not about demons, monsters, clowns, or dolls, nor a dude with a hockey mask or someone named Michael Myers. It’s as real as it gets: an ABC made-for-TV special aired in 1983.
100 million Americans, myself included, tuned in to The Day After. It depicts the devastating consequences of a nuclear war and its aftermath on the residents of Lawrence, Kansas. It deals with the dark, harrowing horrors of nuclear warfare. Its realistic portrayal of the effects of nuclear war changed me. To this day, I can still see and feel the horror of the nuclear devastation.
The most chilling moment hit me at the end of the film, where a title card explained the events the movie depicted were drastically less severe than the destruction that would actually occur in the event of a full nuclear strike.
Directly after the credits rolled, a special program that featured a panel discussion about the film’s themes and the implications of nuclear war began to play. The portrayal of this possible reality is the most disturbing thing I can envision, given the unrest and warfare around the world, and the delicate political balance that holds everything in place as we know it. Real shit scares me! Maybe it’s time we all rewatch it.”
Another Day in America screens at Cinequest ’24. Find out more HERE
