MONEY TALK$: An Interview with Tony Mucci

Dear Tony, could you please start by telling us a little about yourself? How did you get interested?

From the time I was six years old, I’ve wanted nothing more than to tell stories through moving images. I began with Lego stop-motion films, then progressed to Call of Duty sniper montages, lightsaber duels, anime edits, and comedy skits with friends. Every small experiment was a stepping stone. Eventually, I dropped out of college and moved to Los Angeles, directing both large-scale and guerrilla-style small budget music videos.

MONEY TALK$ marks my first narrative film—a leap of faith that crystallizes my lifelong goal of becoming a filmmaker. It’s also a love letter to the cinema of the 1970s and ’80s, the very films that lit the fuse of my imagination: Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Jaws, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Taxi Driver, The Godfather. I simply fell in love with visual storytelling. The moment I realized those films were made by real people, I knew this was the only thing I ever wanted to do.

In filmmaking, and did you receive formal training in this field, or are you self-taught?

I never went to film school—I learned by doing. I believe cinema is not something you master in theory; it reveals itself in practice. It's important to me to always be a student of films, watch them, study them and make them. I am a proud student of “youtube university”, and love watching interviews of great directors. My goal is to study the greats and become greater. I love doing my research but I am also a big believer that you don't need to know anything about movies or have any of the proper cinematic language, all you need is passion and enough courage to go for it. Almost like a delusional confidence. Rely on your passion it will compel you forward, and with enough of it, you can’t help but make something good. Look at First time filmmaker Orson Welles Citizen Kane, he made the impossible happen simply because he didn't know it was impossible. “Ignorance is bliss”

My first film experience was Lego stop-motion. It taught me all aspects of filmmaking. At eight years old, I was already a writer, director, cinematographer, gaffer, sound designer, editor and visual effects all at once. You learn lighting must be consistent, that every frame is a decision, and that persistence is essential. Like Stanley Kubrick says; The best education in film is to make one.

How many films have you made before MONEY TALK$? And how did the idea for this screenplay come to your mind and David Mazouz’s?

MONEY TALK$ is my narrative debut. Before this, I directed music videos for artists such as Lil Wayne, Travis Barker, Lil Uzi Vert, Juice WRLD, and Drake. Those experiences taught me to move fast, adapt, and make a small budget look large by doing a lot of the work yourself and with friends —skills that became invaluable when working on MONEY TALK$. The seed of MONEY TALK$ was planted when I turned eight. My grandmother gave me a $100 bill in a birthday card, beginning a tradition that continues to this day. I remember asking where that bill had been before it arrived in my hands. My grandmother offhandedly mentioned that most U.S. bills contain traces of cocaine. That fact alone fascinated me—the idea that money carries not only value, but memory.

I wrote the first draft of this story in high school, inspired by the short stories of O. Henry, and imagined a bill passing from one character to another, leaving behind a trail of human lives. Over a decade later, I revisited the script and, with my great friend David Mazouz, developed it into the shooting draft just months before production.

How do you generally approach screenwriting?

Once an idea strikes, I fill entire notebooks with notes, sketches, fragments of dialogue, and research. I often draw rough storyboards or create “pre-visualizations”—iPhone shots, sketches, and references cut them to music. I believe in writing for the edit and shooting for the edit; the rhythm of a film often reveals itself early, long before the camera rolls.

I’ve experimented with index cards, pen and paper, and Final Draft. But the method matters less than the discipline of refining. MONEY TALK$ went through multiple lives: a draft in high school, a rewrite in college, another in 2022, and finally, in January 2024, David Mazouz and I shaped it into the script we shot.

What was your biggest anticipated challenge when you first envisioned making MONEY TALK$? And once you were actually on set, did that challenge remain just as strong, or did other challenges emerge?

The challenge was always: how do we make something ambitious with very limited resources? From years of music videos, I’d learned that resourcefulness is an art form in itself. With favors, friendships, and relentless preparation, you can create something that looks far larger than its budget.

Re-creating 1981 New York City was the greatest test. My production designer and I obsessed over details, knowing authenticity is what immerses an audience. For instance, toys from that era now cost thousands, so we printed vintage box designs onto cardboard to re-create them cheaply but convincingly.

By the time we arrived on set, those preparations carried us through. The new challenge became vigilance: ensuring every frame remained true to the period and that no anachronism slipped through the cracks. One specific challenge we overcame on set was shooting the entire parking lot scene in an hour due to the sun setting and loss of light.

Given that your work is highly visually polished, please tell us about your cinematography strategies.

I like to watch my movie in prep. I love making detailed shot lists, story boards, and pre visuals. I like to see the edit when I am writing and shoot for it. This makes my process way more efficient when on set and cinematography specific to my visual own style. I like to put the camera in impossible places and come up with unique shots that help tell the story. I love studying the composition of directors like Kubrick, Scorsese, Kurosawa and the blocking of Spielberg and Wilder.

Which filmmakers have influenced your work the most?

Every filmmaker I watch leaves an impression, but some linger forever. Star Wars & Indiana Jones is what gave me my imagination as a kid. Later in life, Stanley Kubrick is the director who has impacted me the most. He was a silent teacher—I study his films obsessively, since his interviews are scarce. I view him as the mad scientist of movie making. I also love the silent comedians—Chaplin, Keaton, Harold Lloyd—taught me that creativity often flourishes under restriction. Their work endures because it transcends time, and that’s the ultimate test of cinema. They are tremendous athletes and blow me away with visual wit and funny slapstick style humor.

I draw inspiration from many corners: i get inspired by crazy spectacles with tons of visuak effects like Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man, Jon Favreau’s Iron Man, James Gunn’s movies & action films. I love animation and have spent so much time watching Japanese Anime. The visual daring of Satoshi Kon, Hideaki Anno, Hayao Miyazaki, Katsuhiro Ōtomo, and Masashi Kishimoto are just some of thr legendary animators and directors that have shaped me. I love when you can tell the creators had fun making the film. Like Billy Wilder’s style and Mel Brooks’ joy remind me that cinema should entertain as much as it enlightens. Above all, the “Movie Brats” of the 1970s and ’80s ignited my love for this medium. Their films proved that personal vision could exist inside popular cinema—and that revelation changed me forever.

Finally, if you’d like, please tell us about your next project.

I’m currently preparing another short film, working title “Sniper”,a sci-fi action film that takes place in the year 2055. Will have guns, explosions and stunts. A proof of concept that i can do an action film. We are scheduled to shoot this October. It’s an exercise in pure action and visual storytelling—a chance to learn and push myself formally in a new direction.

Beyond that, I’m writing several feature scripts, including a deeply personal project about my childhood, divorce, and boarding school. It blends comedy, drama, and memory. I intend for it to be my first feature film—a story that reflects my own life while continuing my exploration of cinema as both entertainment and art.