“According to an ancient prophecy, a woman will give birth to identical twin boys; one the Messiah, the other the Antichrist. After a Russian nun claims to have immaculately conceived twins, the Vatican sends a priest to investigate. There he discovers a secret society, Vox Dei, that plans to kill the Nun and her children.”
This plot came from none other than a Lambda Chi Alpha’s brain…and his father’s.
Lee Roy Kunz, a Brother from the University of Southern California (USC), was visiting his father at a brewery when they noticed a baby crawling around the floor unattended. For most of their time there, the two kept an eye on the baby, making sure it was safe. By this point, Kunz’s father stopped sharing his movie ideas with him because he had so many, but this interaction inspired him.
“He’s like, ‘You know what? You just shut up and listen. I have an idea for this movie; it’s about a Nun pregnant with twins,’” said Kunz.
He took this idea and ran with it; turning it into his newest film, Deliver Us.
Kunz grew up in Denver, Colorado, and for most of his life, he thought his future was in sports. While bedridden for about six months from a knee injury, he started writing and learned the guitar, ultimately aiding his future career in the arts.
Kunz’s father also played a major role in his career. During the summer when he was younger, Kunz and his father would go movie hopping after visiting the football team his father coached. Sometimes they would watch three movies in one sitting. Kunz recalls watching Gladiator in theaters with his father about five or six times.
“This is when I kind of realized my father was really into movies,” Kunz recalled.
Their constant movie bingeing and his father’s appreciation for film propelled Kunz to think more about the making of a film, rather than just watching the movie for the content itself. This eventually led him to pursue an education in film making.
Coming to a new state on his own, Kunz needed somewhere at USC he felt he could be himself. When going through recruitment, he noticed how genuine and accepting the Brothers of Lambda Chi Alpha were. Kunz was able to work on his ability to make personal connections, eventually helping him as a director.
“People put a lot more into it if you can connect with them on a personal level and really see their side and what they are going through,” Kunz said.
Kunz left USC to film his first feature film with friends he met through film school.
“We were committed to it. We were on this path. We were already so deep into it; there was no turning back,” Kunz recanted about leaving film school.
Since then, Kunz has directed and produced three feature films, with more to come, and starred in many more. Just like his membership in Lambda Chi Alpha, Kunz knows that whatever his filmmaking career brings, he will always have the support from those around him.
With Deliver Us being released next week, Outside the Box [Office] and Magnet Releasing are hosting a special advance screening of Deliver Us followed by a Q&A session with Kunz and another USC alumnus who worked on the film on Monday, September 25 at 7 p.m. PDT in the Norris Cinema Theatre at the Frank Sinatra Hall on USC’s campus. More information about the event can be found on the USC Cinematic Arts website: https://cinema.usc.edu/events/event.cfm?id=67869
Deliver Us will be available everywhere September 29, 2023.
