Chris Shares Details About Growing Up In SoCal’s Rave Scene and How He Shot & Got Funding for XOXO
Christopher Louie grew up attending raves as a teenager in San Bernardino. Inspired by his lifelong passion of dance music, Christopher started DJing and eventually got into music video directing. In 2012 when the dance music scene got big again, Christopher had the idea to make a film about the culture; he envisioned the film to be “Dazed and Confused set at a rave”.
After his animated show on Adult Swim was cancelled and his commercial directing began to wane, Christopher had to decide between “pursuing his dreams or giving up”. He decided to fully devote himself to making XOXO a reality. He used to the last of his savings to pull it off, inspired by the unwavering faith from his girlfriend.
XOXO took 3 years to make and the crew snuck into 3 festivals to shoot scenes for the movie. Ethan Shaw, the main character, had 10 minutes to film the final set scene in front of 40,000 people. In what was undoubtedly the most tense moment of filming throughout the production, Christopher came to the realization that the film was a culmination of his entire life: “every rave, every DJ set, every video I directed, every word I promised my girlfriend”.
XOXO is an ensemble, coming-of-age movie about a group of early 20-somethings on a crazy adventure to the biggest EDM festival in America, XOXO. The film follows six strangers whose lives collide in one frenetic, dream-chasing, hopelessly romantic night. At the center is Ethan, a young DJ who gets a last minute slot to perform after his tracks go viral online days before the festival. This is a huge opportunity… if he can just make it there in one piece.
The film stars Sarah Hyland (Modern Family), Graham Phillips (The Good Wife), Brett DelBuono, Chris D’Elia (Undateable), Haley Kiyoko (Jem & The Holograms), Colin Woodell (Masters of Sex), Ryan Hansen (Party Down, 2 Broke Girls), Ian Anthony Dale (Hawaii Five-0), Scotty Dickert and Ione Skye (Say Anything). XOXO is directed by Christopher Louie and written by Dylan Meyer. Max Leitman, Joe Russell p.g.a., Christopher Louie p.g.a., Pete Tong, and Dan Shafer serve as producers. Pete Tong also serves as Music Supervisor.
XOXO is a Netflix Original Film was released August 26th and available now for streaming.
Stream the XOXO soundtrack:
iTunes: http://smarturl.it/MakeMeFeeliTunes
Spotify: http://smarturl.it/MakeMeFeelSpotify
Apple Music | Google Play | Amazon | Beatport