Lord of the Films: An Interview with Patrick Gibbs

They say those who can’t do, teach. They also say those who can’t teach, critique. Yet that’s far from the case with prolific SLUG Film Writer and Interviewer Patrick Gibbs as he steps foot into the director’s chair once again, with his upcoming short film, The Crimson Cloak, an action-packed take on the beloved Brothers Grimm classic. In honor of the short, SLUG saw fit to interview the man basically behind our very own film category. Enter dramatic title card and score here.

Gibbs’ love of film began at the age of seven, and like most film lovers his age, with the release of Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981, sparking a budding romance with film in young Gibbs’ heart. “I knew [after watching the film] that I wanted to be an archaeologist, but that’s not what they do,” he says. “It put me on to my obsession with film, though I should mention that all of my history with film is with my twin brother.” Together, Patrick and Paul would make short home movies together with “that stuff from the nineties, so like, camcorders and VHS,” he shares. “We went to school at Salt Lake Community College, studying under their film program together, made some films there, played them at festivals and got some awards. There were moments in between the home movies and studies at SLCC, like Gibbs’ theatre acting, which would lead to acting in local Utah films like Troll 2 and 127 Hours. 

College, though, is where Gibbs dipped his toes into the film critic role. “We [Gibbs and his brother] both ended up hosting a little movie review show for [the] college station. He was actually the one who got into that originally and I started doing it and started gradually taking over that role,” Gibbs says. Once his brother became seriously involved in politics surrounding Medicaid. It was a little while after that when Gibbs got involved in writing for our beloved SLUG Magazine. “During the pandemic, especially during the first few months when there was nothing to write about, I had just finally gotten an outlet for people to actually read my stuff and I was like, ‘I’m not giving that up,’ so I sought out anything I could find and started publishing an insane amount of reviews.” This led to the expansion of SLUG’s film category, especially after Gibbs scored an interview with Denzel Washington (yes, you read that right). 

This summer, on location in our state’s very own Bountiful, Gibbs returns behind the camera to write and direct The Crimson Cloak. On the development of this production, Gibbs informs me, “The idea was originally my brother Paul’s. He’s a huge Batman fan and he had this idea of turning Red Riding Hood into more of a Batman or Robin Hood type character. Something off the wall that would play well in a ten-minute short.” He follows with, “It’s really not very close to Red Riding Hood, but there’s enough to recognize there. It should make the story easy to follow, but it is a very different take.” Gibbs is far from lonely in this endeavor. What originally was going to be a pretty lowkey, bare-bones shoot ended up turning into a much bigger production when Gibbs reached out to friend and cinematographer Nic Edwards. “He’s got enough connections [that] he was able to bring to the film some incredible stuff,” Gibbs says. “Like, we’re shooting it on the Arri Alexa LF mini, which is top of the line,” Edwards also brought on Producer Isabella Palazzolo, who secured their Bountiful shooting location at North Canyon Park. 

Gibbs will be pulling from all his different experiences in film over the years for this one. Gibbs has interviewed many a cinematographer for SLUG over the years, who’ve given him advice, like Martin Ruhe, Sam Levy and even Alice Brooks of Wicked fame. Levy, who has shot films for Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach, Kelly Reichardt and Rebecca Miller, once told Gibbs, “If you did a podcast I would actually listen.” Though Gibbs informs me that anything he does, “for me and my brother, always goes back to Spielberg.”

The Crimson Cloak is anticipated to premiere in fall of 2025, and then tour the film festival circuit from there. For all things Patrick Gibbs, be sure to follow his instagram at @patricktg1 and make sure to keep an eye out for all of his future articles for SLUG! —Yonni Uribe

Read the latest SLUG pieces from Patrick Gibbs here:
Film Review: Jurassic World Rebirth
Film Review: F1