Interview with Eoin O'Brien, Writer/Actor of Kiss of the Con Queen

One of the films being screened at the British & Irish Film Festival Luxembourg 2024 Autumn Edition is Kiss of the Con Queen, screening on Monday 23 September 2024 at 20:00 at the Kinoler cinema - see https://www.luxembourg-ticket.lu/en/8/eid,65934/kiss-of-the-con-queen-%28british-%26-irish-film-festival-luxembourg%29.html.

Described as "A true-crime thriller about the con that rocked Hollywood", the film stars Eoin O'Brien who plays Ryan Owens, a striving actor who is targeted by an ingenious and sadistic scammer, terrorising the industry, impersonating Hollywood elites.

An Irish-American co-production filmed in Indonesia and written by Eoin O'Brien upon whose real-life experience the film is based.

Chronicle.lu talked with Eoin O'Brien about the making of the film.

Chronicle.lu: Kiss of the Con Queen tells the true story of you being conned: how difficult was the decision to make this into a film?

Eoin O'Brien: Right after it happened, I felt a great amount of shame and embarrassment. My mind immediately flashed to the "audition" and how I was probably on video doing the most foolish things imaginable, so there was a desire to keep it all to myself. But within days, I realised that this would make a great thriller. It was a stranger-than-fiction experience and I needed to tell my story. I had a first draft completed within a month.

Chronicle.lu: To bring the story to the big screen, it had to be dramatised. What parts actually happened in real life?

Eoin O'Brien: A lot of it happened in real life, either to me or other victims. Some of whom we have in the film in other roles. Most of my interactions with the Con Queen are all based on exactly what happened. The initial calls that hooked me and four days of the scam tour are almost exactly what happened, up until my escape from Jakarta. But the last act I had to create myself. I had to imagine how I could win against such a powerful enemy. So, I wrote that part first and then it became real afterwards.

Chronicle.lu: How long did the process take, from deciding to turn your story into a film, to seeing it on the big screen? Obviously, there was the writing, the financing, the filming and the post-production, etc.,...

Eoin O'Brien: These events happened in early 2019. When he was arrested in 2020, I knew it was time to develop my screenplay. I got coverage from script services and did table reads and applied the feedback. I sent a fifth draft to Tom Waller in December 2021 and he immediately saw the potential. I signed a shopping agreement with him in April 2022. With Tom's passion and determination, he raised the money and we were shooting the first block of the film in Bangkok by December of that same year. We shot another block in Jakarta in February 2023, Nashville in March, and finally in Ireland in May. Then we needed to finish post-production. The film premiered at Sunscreen Film Festival in April 2023 where we won the Best International Picture award.

Chronicle.lu: What were the biggest challenges you faced along the way, regarding the making of this film?

Eoin O'Brien: There were plenty of challenges along the way. Making a film is like a hurdles race. You jump one and there's immediately another one to get over on your way to the finish line. The first hurdle [...] was finding the right partner. I had interest from other groups and took a few months to decide the best route for the film to try to get it made. Then it was getting the film financed, especially without "name" talent as the lead. Some films projects never get over this [hurdle]. The next hurdle was attaching the right cast. We needed an amazing Con Queen. This was critical. Luckily, Ravi Patel loved the script and decided to take the part. Then we had to shoot in various countries, fly there and get what we need within a tight schedule. Then there's the edit, the score, the colour grade. Then there's getting into festivals. And now we have to find a suitable partner for distribution. So there's always another hurdle to jump, but there's great satisfaction in clearing each one. If it was easy, everyone would do it. 

Chronicle.lu: For anyone who has not seen the film, what would you say to them about what then can expect to see?

Eoin O'Brien: It's a psychological thriller with elements of mystery, suspense, action, dark comedy and romance. They can expect to see the true story of the victims of one of the most sick and sadistic scammers of all time. It's a stranger-than-fiction account of the vulnerabilities we all face in this age of the internet.