Filmmaker Statement

Whiz Palace was birthed out of a shared love for the Downtown LA mercados and shared trauma of being on the brink of not being able to find a bathroom. The mercados are truly magical and wild to explore. Every nook and cranny is full of life, so much so that it can quickly become overwhelming. We wanted to balance the beauty with the bizarre while we followed our two characters, Sam and Fox, on their search for a bathroom. The crescendoing anxiety and pain of holding one's bladder is a universal experience that pairs perfectly with the setting. The decision to shoot on 16mm was made for two reasons. Firstly, the incredible colors, textures, and imperfections captured in the film perfectly reflected those in the mercados. Secondly, the finite nature of the film and our budgetary restrictions made the stakes of the production mirror those of the characters within the short film. All together, Whiz Palace is a love letter and a therapy session.