Interview with Ty Gordon, Director, Writer, and Star of ‘Never Forgotten’

I recently had the opportunity to talk with director, writer, and star of Never Forgotten, Ty Gordon. Learn about how the inspiration for this film, certain challenges, favorite scenes, and much more!

Official Synopsis 

The film follows three best friends struggling to cope with reality as the darkness from their past threatens to destroy them. As their ten-year high school reunion approaches, a long-buried secret from their past returns to haunt them, challenging their friendship and their sanity.

PopHorror – Hi Ty, What inspired you to get into filmmaking?

Ty Gordon – I’ve always been drawn to storytelling. When I was about twelve years old, I met my mother’s long-lost sister. She asked me what I liked to do, and I told her that I like to tell stories. Together we wrote a neo-noir dog sled murder mystery. As I spoke to her, and she transcribed my words on the computer, something in my twelve-year-old mind knew that I needed to continue to do this. So, I stayed with it. I had been conceptualizing movies since I was young and then I got my first film internship when I was twenty. I worked my way up the ranks to becoming president and CEO of my own company telling stories.

PopHorror – That’s so awesome. You wrote, directed, and star in your new film Never Forgotten. What inspired this film?

Ty Gordon – It was inspired by a dream that I had to make a film that was really gritty, had a lot of mystery, and that had a very climactic ending. When I first conceived of this, I thought of other actors to play the roles. That of course was before I formed my company with Robert Thomas Preston and Andrew John. Suddenly I saw the writing on the wall, that we could all star in this film and it all seemed to make more sense. Funny as it may sound, I had initially conceived about Robert Downey Jr. starring as Nick Graves but when it came down to it, I wanted to be the star of this film.

PopHorror – Haha well you were great, but I do love Robert Downey Jr as well! Is it challenging to direct a film and star in it?

Ty Gordon – It’s challenging to a certain degree. When you have the right team around you, then you can get everyone behind a unified vision for the film, it makes it a lot easier. It was a potpourri of creative ideas, but I was at the helm, which is where I wanted to be. As far as starring, it all came down to being very, very observant of the scene of my fellow cast members and the crew members. To get my vision exactly the way I wanted it, in scenes in which I was the lead actor and director concurrently.

PopHorror – Was this your first acting experience?

Ty Gordon – Yes, this was, and I couldn’t have dreamt to have a better first experience with acting. I worked very hard to get my acting chops where they needed to be, to be able to lead this film as the leading man. I’m very proud of what I accomplished as an individual and what we accomplished as a collective.

PopHorror – Your performance was fantastic. Beyond yourself, how did the casting process come about?

Ty Gordon – Throughout the casting process, I relied heavily on my team. My team sifted through the abundance of auditions to bring me who they thought was the best for each character. By the time I looked at the auditions I was only seeing a select few and I was wowed. My team had done an amazing job at scouting talent. I conceived of this story after I had everything in place. My company, myself, Robert and Andrew were the actors given for our respective roles and everyone else who we chose was a perfect fit, hand in glove.

PopHorror – Any favorite scenes?

Ty Gordon – My favorite scene to shoot was the climactic ending at the campfire. As an actor and filmmaker, I found myself completely in awe of this finale of an experience. Funny enough, this scene was the last scene we filmed for the principal photography of Never Forgotten. When I ran down the hill to get Jess, my acting coach, Treisa Gary, told me that was the best acting she has seen from me since we began training over a year prior. When we eventually wrapped filming on that cold night at that campground, I distinctly remember Robert saying “That’s a wrap on Never Forgotten“, reality had set in, I had finished filming my first feature film and up to that point it was the best night of my entire life.

PopHorror – That’s truly amazing. Thanks for sharing this experience! Any challenging moments?

Ty Gordon – I had a lot of anxiety going into my first feature film. Wearing so many hats and overcoming this anxiety was a distinct challenge. So, I leaned on others, trusted my instincts, and I knew that all my hard work would manifest on the screen. I went for it.

PopHorror – Understandable. What do you hope audiences take away from this film?

Ty Gordon – I would hope that audiences take away the moral lesson of doing the right thing even when it’s the hardest thing on earth to do because if you don’t it can completely destroy your life and everything you hoped and dreamed of.

PopHorror – What’s next for you?

Ty Gordon – My company and I have several films in the pipeline. The next one is a low-budget horror film set in only a few distinctive locations with only a few distinct actors. The film after that is a higher budget, coming-of-age dramedy, that will employ one to multiple big names in an effort to make the film very marketable and also get our names out there both as individuals and as a company. After that, we have a sci-fi epic of gigantic proportion that we have a completed script for that we will be segueing into upon completion of these aforementioned films. Then as the fourth film in the pipeline and certainly not the last, is an epic journey of self-realization that embodies the quest to get what you want no matter what the cost. This film will have a lot of mental health connotations attached to it as the lead, Rich Rogers who will be played by me, is both a schizophrenic and a genius. This film is very special to me because it is inspired by true events in my life. I couldn’t be more excited about our upcoming projects, and I look forward to sharing them with you and the world.

PopHorror – All of that sounds fantastic and I can’t wait to watch what you do next!