Eamon O’Rourke Shares Why He Has Always Wanted To Make A Heist Movie

Eamon O’Rourke says he’s always had a penchant for heist flicks and is currently finishing a script for a movie that fits that genre. The film director, writer, and activist launched his career in theater in 2008 and segued to film in 2011. However, he says he still likes to treat each new project as if it’s his first one. 

“I’m really, really excited about [it], and [it] is what I’ve been working on for about the last eight or nine months,” O’Rourke says. “It’s structured like a heist movie but takes place in the sort of near, but not completely defined, future. I love heist movies. I love the sort of ‘let’s build a team and figure out how we do something’ kind of that structure of film. [It’s] something I’ve always wanted to make.” 

O’Rourke stresses he likes to address diversity in his films. His movie Asking for It was released in March. Starring Vanessa Hudgens and Luke Hemsworth, the movie is continuing to generate buzz for its fearless female vigilante characters and strong themes that address the patriarchy and other timely topics. 

Eamon O’Rourke on the Write Path 

O’Rourke describes his writing routine as a “very personal and solitary process.” He doesn’t usually start until the early evening and says he’ll often work through very late hours of the night. He reveals his mornings are reserved for running errands and his afternoons are spent preparing for a mental shift into work mode. He puts on music for inspiration and ditches his phone, which he says all too often leads to procrastination. 

“I begin by reading what I did the day before; fresh eyes are essential, as you sometimes think you did something brilliant, and then when you read it with less tired eyes, it makes you want to cringe,” he told ideamensch.com. 

He says that every 90 minutes he takes a break to decompress, and after dinner — that’s when O’Rourke says the real magic happens. “I will write as much as I possibly can from 10:30 p.m. until 4 a.m., without too much focus on editing the writing,” he explains. 

O’Rourke says he wants the creativity to flow as organically as possible. 

While he admits he isn’t able to reveal too much more about his latest project, he’s excited to be branching out artistically and writing a sci-fi-flavored heist film that will also touch upon how things will be if the government continues to infringe upon the public’s access to health care. In the past, he’s had extensive experience shooting music videos, and he worked for more than a decade in production as a key production assistant. and in the assistant director department on feature films and television. He’s also created documentary and promotional content for organizations such as RadicalMedia and Planned Parenthood, and for fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger. 

“I don’t want to say too much yet, but yes, I would say that it’s a movie that, like Asking For It, I’m hoping will find a balance between talking about things that are important and relevant in the world today while also finding a way to be very entertaining and be a movie that hopefully has a lot of rewatch-ability,” O’Rourke says. “Trying to balance those things is something that I think about a lot with all of the work that I have done and I’m trying to do.”

Eamon O’Rourke says the movies he likes most are the ones that truly have a purpose. “[I like films where] there’s a message and the themes being discussed really do matter, but they also have humor and have other elements in them that make it a movie that doesn’t take itself so seriously,” O’Rourke says. 

While O’Rourke says it’s important for films to be relevant, he doesn’t feel a feature should take itself so seriously that it’s the kind of movie that becomes one and done. “[I don’t want audiences to say,] ‘Wow, that was a great movie. I can only watch that movie once and I’m never going to watch it again because it was too intense and long or slow,’ which I think happens a lot,” he adds. 

Being able to go back and rewatch films is something Eamon O’Rourke says he finds comfort in. 

Why the Art of the Heist Is His Latest Writing Device

O’Rourke confesses he’s very excited about the writing process with his latest film. He says themes of “prohibitive legislature on resource access and personal agency to make choices” will also be found in the flick.  “I’m working with someone who has a lot of experience in working in the field and in these institutions who really helps people who are most closely affected by something like that,” O’Rourke adds.

 “Having someone who has really had close access to the authentic and genuine experiences that people navigate when they are put through that is something that I think is really going to elevate the work in a way that I would never have been able to achieve by myself. That’s something that I’m particularly excited about going into [with] this new project. I think there will be another shell of authenticity that my current writing partner brings into play.”

When he’s not writing or making movies, O’Rourke says he’s kicking back and viewing them.

“I love watching movies,” says O’Rourke, who adds he particularly enjoys the original Star Wars trilogy. “I would say that’s kind of my No. 1 favorite activity. I’m a big relaxer. When I’m not doing the work, I really try to chill as much as possible,” he reveals. “That often consists of watching movies. I love video games. I play a lot of video games. I think that there’s a very interesting merging of video games and film that I think we’ll experience. We’ll see some very cool combinations of those mediums in the next chunk of years. That’s something that I’m very interested in — and games in general.”