Eight months ago, Angry Robot author Colin Harvey died of a stroke. We think of him often, and continue to mourn the loss of a great talent, and a greater man.

We were delighted, therefore, when we heard from Sam Lemberg. With the permission of Colin’s widow, he has created a short film based on Colin’s short story, Chameleon.

If you have five minutes free, we wholeheartedly recommend using them to watch this film. A short Q&A with the filmmaker, follows. We think Colin would have been delighted.

A Q&A with Sam Lemberg

AR) Why did you choose to make the film?
SL) Simply to make an entertaining sci-fi film.

What attracted you to this story, particularly?
The premise of the story was so easy to relate to – a husband and wife reuniting.  Everyone who reads it talks about the ending, but the best part really is that the characters feel authentic and, in turn, sell you on this sci-fi world.  The ending is just the cherry on top.

Also, the story lends itself well to a low-budget film adaptation.  It’s dialogue-driven (Colin’s dialogue is superb) and tells a big story with few sets and props.

Can you describe the production process?
We prepped for four weeks and shot for two hectic days.  We were going to shoot in this gritty abandoned space to go for a post-apocalyptic look (as in the short story), but we lost the set days before shooting.  We had to settle for a not-so-gritty warehouse in downtown L.A.  Luckily my crew was resourceful.  For example, the “metal walls” outside the interrogation room are simply two gym lockers we found and flipped around.

Also, due to scheduling conflicts, we were forced to shoot Herb and Emily’s angles on separate days, but we made it work with the help of body doubles.  Finally, we edited for five weeks and I personally did all the CGI and other visual effects work.

Short films often have tiny budgets, but yours looks very professional – how much did it end up costing?
Just under $4,000.  My good friend and cinematographer Andrew Wesman is a genius with a camera – he did an outstanding job lighting and photographing the film, which made it look more expensive than it was.

With the benefit of hindsight, is there anything you would want to change?
I’m satisfied with the film.

What’s next?
Definitely something longer – I’d love to make another movie in the “Chameleon” world.