‘Mob Land’ director Nicholas Maggio talks difficulties of making first feature film, directing John Travolta

Director Nicholas Maggio sat down for an exclusive interview with the New York Daily News to discuss his feature film debut, “Mob Land,” starring John Travolta alongside a stellar cast.

Described as a “heart-pounding, action thriller,” the film follows Shelby (Shiloh Fernandez), a desperate family man who attempts to rob a pill mill with reckless brother-in-law, Trey (Kevin Dillon).

But the supposedly easy theft takes an inauspicious turn, attracting the attention of the local sheriff (John Travolta) and a New Orleans mafia enforcer (Stephen Dorff), the latter of whom takes justice into his own hands.

For Maggio, the film represents the confluence of his many passions, as well as the beginning of a new career.

“Whether it be a fashion, editorial, or a feature film, I love story,” Maggio told the News. “I’m an aesthetic person. I love music, I love people, I love cars. Being able to pull from all these different loves in my life was incredibly fun to do.”

But it was a long road Maggio traversed to get here. He discussed a difficult career change in 2008, leaving a design job to become a writer, a decision which he said resulted in him living off food stamps for a period of time.

But quickly, Maggio found a lucrative career in photography, directing ad campaigns and working up to photographing celebrities like Jamie Foxx and Paul Walter Hauser.

Then, during a pandemic pause, he said he went back to focusing on writing and “knocked out some scripts” — one of which, he sent to his friend, producer Corey Large, who “liked it.” Large then sent it to actor Steven Dorff, who similarly liked it and happened to send it to John Travolta, who also approved.

Before Maggio knew what hit him, they were in pre-production within a couple months, he said.

Describing it as his “love letter to neo-noir cinema,” Maggio added that he tried to capture the “independent, gritty noir spirit,” which he fell in love with when he was 13 years old, after seeing Quentin Tarantino’s “Reservoir Dogs.”

“I didn’t know movies could be like this,” he remembered feeling, after watching it for the first time.

But when it came to making his own film, he said, “everything was different” from what he knew in the photography world.

It’s “less about the visuals, more about the story. How does this affect the story and drive the story?” he explained.

He also highlighted the difficulty of directing big time actors for the first time in a feature film

“They all need different things. Giving them space in order to deliver, in the same room, was a challenge I wasn’t ready for,” he confessed.

But at the end of the day, “I had to rely on my gut,” Maggio reiterated. “My history of being in fashion, photography and design, gave me the ability to trust myself and make decisions with conviction.”

Maggio said he doesn’t want the audience to walk away with any particular thing after seeing his film.

“I made this for myself and my friends, and if my friends walk out like, ‘That was cool man,’ then I’ll be happy. I want people to be entertained for whatever reason,” he said. “I can’t wait to do this again. I’m absolutely hooked. I have four or five scripts ready to go and one that actors are already attached too.”

His next film is another “brutal, neo-noir,” which will take place in Los Angeles.

“Gritty, poetic and also heartbreaking and beautiful,” he added. “That’s where I want my films to exist.”

“Mob Land” hit theaters Friday.

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