By admin 
The filmmaking bug bit Justin Burquist right after high school. His brother brought a video camera to their El Centro home, from the audio/visual department of their high school. Burquist, his brother, and their three cousins decided to make a little movie.
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“We shot this totally ridiculous thing, and I didn’t want to be in front of a camera, so I held the camera, which meant I picked the shots and they acted,” he says. “My cousin had editing software and I just remember sitting with him, and there was a lens flare that went from one shot to the next shot, and I just remember thinking, ‘This is so cool.’ That was pretty much when I was like, ‘I can’t stop now.'”
He left El Centro more than 15 years ago and knew someone who was a student at San Diego State University’s film program. Sneaking on to the student film sets introduced him to other young filmmakers, and he went on to attend and participate in events with the Film Consortium San Diego. One of his latest projects is as a producer and gaffer for “A Corpse in Kensington,” a psychological horror/romantic comedy by writer and director, and San Diego native, Brian Patrick Butler. The 93-minute independent film follows a loner who’s reunited with his crush, and her boyfriend, a few years after high school, and they all get caught up in a number of mysterious killings. There are on-screen performances from the late Michael Madsen (“Kill Bill,” “Reservoir Dogs”), Ryan Bollman (“The NeverEnding Story III,” “Children of the Corn II”), and Derrick Acosta (Mega64). A release date for the film is forthcoming.
Butler, 43, works as an analyst by day, and runs his Broken Swing Productions company as a writer and director outside of that, with films including “Touch” and “Broken Knuckles.” He lives in Kensington and took some time to talk about working on this most recent project in his neighborhood, what it was like working with Madsen, and his love of horror stories. (This interview has been edited for length and clarity.)
Q: How did you become involved in this project with Brian? Why was this something you wanted to be part of?
A: When I moved to San Diego, to Kensington, I kind of got involved with the local film community, and he was an actor who I’d seen in some films and shorts. I always thought he was fantastic, so I put him in something a long time ago, and then we became friends. I ended up being a cinematographer on a previous production of his called “Hemet, or the Landlady Don’t Drink Tea,” so we got closer there, I think. I basically told him that, because I really enjoyed the script, that the next thing he did, I wanted to help him on it. That’s kind of how I got on the production, my buddy was a cinematographer on it and we used a lot of my equipment, as well. I just think Brian is really talented, and one of my friends was on it and I just love making movies. It’s an addiction.
When I first read it, I felt it was a very personal film for Brian. I was a little surprised, at first, because I felt like his other film was a bit more commercial, and this one felt very idiosyncratic for him. It felt like this was some past memories that he had, and me and my buddy would always try to figure out which character is Brian. I think he’s ended up at the point where he’s like, oh, everybody’s a piece of him, you know? So, I was surprised at how personal the film felt.
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Q: How did Michael Madsen become involved, and what was he like to work with?
A: Michael was great. He had done some voiceover for Brian, I think, before production, and he used it in the Indiegogo when we were raising funds. I think they kind of kept in contact, and basically an opportunity opened up where Brian convinced him to come down for a day and shoot one of the ending parts in the film. We didn’t have him for a long time, but I think we maximized that and shot a lot of footage with him.
It was pretty fun because, I don’t know why I said it, but I have a bunch of Blu-rays and a big TV in my living room, and I told him, “Mi casa es su casa.” That was a little surreal because I just did that to Michael Madsen, but he was very kind. He seemed genuinely appreciative, he was like, he didn’t know if he would let anybody come into his place to stay while making a movie. I remember one of the contributors to the Indiegogo campaign had given Brian a bottle of liquor for Michael, and I think (Michael) told Brian to give it to our cinematographer, which I thought was kind.
Q: What appeals to you about the production side of filmmaking?
A: One of the crew members was reading Michael Crichton’s “Jurassic Park,” and I was telling the story of how my parents wouldn’t allow me to see (the movie) “Jurassic Park” because they thought it was too violent. I remember when I was younger, in eighth or ninth grade, I decided I was going to read the Michael Crichton book, which is way more violent. Of course, my parents didn’t know, but I just ended up reading it and I think I developed a kind of rich, interior fantasy life. I think imagining worlds and images and scenes kind of comes naturally to me, and I feel like that aspect is something that really got me into filmmaking. It’s funny because I think I part company with most people I know in the film world where a story, to me, is not as important; I’m more visual, I prefer images that tell a story, more so than a “story.”
Q: Are you a horror fan?
A: I am, I love horror films. The thing I like about horror films is, you’re kind of more allowed to get fantastical and do things that I feel like in “normal, dramatic” movies, you’re not allowed to do wrong. You can do more interesting things with the camera, you can build a more stylized world, and people accept it. I feel like it’s more of a humble genre, in a way. Ironically, maybe. I feel like you don’t need big name actors, sometimes you just need an interesting idea. Even the acting, people will forgive if it’s not the best, and it’s an easier place to probably get your start, especially these days. It seems like there’s always a horror film that’s blowing up.
Q: Do you have any favorite movies you like to watch during the time of year Halloween is approaching?
A: My favorite horror film is “The Thing” by John Carpenter, so that usually gets at least a watch every year during Halloween. I’m a big Dario Argento fan, so “Suspiria” will get played at some point, probably during Halloween. It’s not only a horror film, but “Phantom of the Paradise” by Brian De Palma is a great watch. It’s so fun. I think the things I enjoy about horror is the atmosphere and, a lot of times, there’s a sense of isolation, which I feel like I’ve always enjoyed. Maybe there’s a bit of a growing up in Imperial Valley, out in the countryside a little bit. There were fields surrounding where my parents lived when I grew up.
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This story was originally published September 13, 2026 at 6:14 AM.