MUSE TV recently talked with the Writer, Director and Producer of the new film that was released May 7 Locked In, Carlos Gutierrez.
In Locked In, Mena Suvari (American Beauty) and Jeff Fahey (Lost) star in this heart-stopping, action- thriller that keeps you guessing until the very end. After a diamond heist takes a fatal turn, a pair of thieves must entrust their fortune with an accomplice at a high-tech storage facility while they lay low. Hiding the goods within the labyrinth of storage units, the thieves’ inside man pays the ultimate price when he turns against them. Now, hellbent on recovering the missing stones, they seize the facility and kidnap surviving employee Maggie (Suvari), threatening her family unless she helps them. Locked in with nowhere to run, Maggie’s only chance to escape alive is to fight back and stay one step ahead of her captors in a deadly game of cat and mouse.
Born and raised in Miami, Carlos Gutierrez did his undergraduate studies at Tufts University, where his honors thesis project, a documentary entitled JOURNEY INTO EXILE, garnered numerous awards in the festival circuits, including the NY Independent Film Festival and the World Fest Houston.
After Tufts, Gutierrez was awarded a Graduate Fellowship to New York University’s prestigious Master’s Film Program. During his time at NYU, he won the DGA Student Film Awards as Best Latino Filmmaker for his short film SLEIGHT OF HAND, which was an official selection at the Palm Springs Film Festival and won several awards at the First Run Film Festival in New York City. He was also awarded the Grand Prize in the HBO Latino Film Festival Short Film Contest that resulted in his HBO short, LECHON, which was an official selection at the Slamdance Film Festival. Both LECHON and SLEIGHT OF HAND were purchased and aired by the Sí TV network. SLEIGHT OF HAND was also sold nationally in the U.S. with the Sony Playstation (PSP) in a short film compilation titled: ShortsPlay. While still a student at NYU, Carlos’ commercial, TYPECASTING was awarded an Emmy for Best PSA.
Gutierrez NYU thesis film, WET FOOT/DRY FOOT, was nominated for the Student Academy Awards by the AMPTP, and was also selected as winner of the Showtime Network’s Latino Filmmakers Showcase. Carlos’ follow-up film ESCONDIDO was produced by Showtime, premiered on the Showtime Networks. His feature screenplay BLACK & BLUE, was named one of three finalists in the FADE IN Awards for Best Feature Screenplay. Gutierrez screenplay SELF STORAGE was runner-up in the BREAKING WALLS Screenplay Contest. His recent short films include VINO TINTO, which won the In Focus Award at the Miami International Film Festival, and MIAMI BEACH, a promotional film for Bacardi & SLS Hotels.
You can watch Locked In now by visiting https://paramnt.us/LockedInMovie