The first thing I noticed during my Zoom interview with Hamilton House filmmaker Jordan Rowe wasn’t him.
It was the posters hanging on the walls.
The Beatles. Dazed and Confused. The Comedy Store.
Arranged like beacons against stark white walls, they looked less like decoration and more like clues. Before we talked about his debut feature film Hamilton House, before we discussed his filmmaking, his music, or independent cinema, I found myself asking a simple question:
“Is this your childhood bedroom?”
Rowe cracked a broad grin. “It is my childhood bedroom.”
In that moment, the interview unexpectedly began.
Because everything we would talk about over the next hour seemed to trace back to that room.
Raised in Los Angeles, Rowe grew up immersed in stories, music, and movies. His father worked in media, and his mother covered film as a journalist, creating an environment where artistic pursuits weren’t treated as impossible dreams but as real possibilities. By the time he was six years old, Jordan was already playing guitar. By elementary school, yearbook entries asking what he wanted to be when he grew up consistently featured the same answer: movies and music.
“That’s still what I’m doing,” he told me.
For Rowe, the spark came early. “Basically, since I was 5 or 6, I’ve been pretty obsessed.” He remembers being captivated by Universal Studios’ now-defunct King Kong attraction. The giant animatronic ape spewing fire and looming over a tram full of visitors left a deep impression that never faded.
“It was the kind of thing where you’re terrified but can’t look away,” he recalled.
More importantly, it made him curious. Not just about the spectacle itself, but about how it was created.
“How did they make this?” he remembers wondering.
That question eventually led him toward filmmaking, but it also revealed something fundamental about the way Rowe experienced art. Even as a child, he wasn’t content simply being entertained. He wanted to understand the process behind the magic.
Shortly after his fascination with King Kong came another influential moment: Steven Spielberg.
Like many kids of his generation, Rowe grew up watching films like E.T. and Jurassic Park. Discovering who Spielberg was and realizing that directors were the people making the creative decisions behind the stories he loved opened up an entirely new way of thinking.
“It was kind of my introduction into knowing who directors were and what they did,” he said.
At the same time, music was becoming just as important. Raised on The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Tom Petty, Rowe developed a deep appreciation for storytelling in all its forms. Today, he remains an active singer-songwriter, a passion that would eventually become integral to Hamilton House itself. In addition to writing and directing the film, he also composed its score.
That sense of fascination and commitment to making audiences “feel something” remains at the heart of Hamilton House, a film that feels refreshingly authentic in an era often dominated by spectacle.
The Halloween-set comedy follows a group of young actors living together in a cramped New York City basement apartment. When Zach (Elijah Lawrence) learns that a legendary horror director is moving into the neighborhood, he convinces his girlfriend and roommates to transform their home into a haunted house in hopes of getting the filmmaker’s attention. As Halloween approaches, however, his increasingly ambitious plans begin to unravel. Watch the trailer below:
The premise is whimsical, funny, and undeniably human. Despite its Halloween setting, Rowe is quick to point out that Hamilton House is not really a horror movie.
“It’s a cozy Halloween movie,” he said.
What struck me most while watching clips from the film was how quickly I became invested in the characters. There is a sincerity to Rowe’s writing that feels increasingly rare.
“I make relationship comedies about people my age,” he explained. “Ultimately, it’s about real people.”
That commitment to authenticity begins with character. For Rowe, understanding why people behave the way they do is the foundation of storytelling. The laughs, the romance, and even the Halloween atmosphere all grow naturally from who the characters are rather than from gimmicks or plot mechanics.
When I mentioned that Zach, the film’s central character, reminded me of a young Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate, Rowe immediately understood the comparison.
“The Graduate is one of my favorite movies,” he said. “To me, the best movies, The Graduate being one of them, are a guy figuring it out and making mistakes and just being a young person.”
The connection makes sense. Like the best character-driven films, Hamilton House is less interested in plot twists than in the emotional lives of the people navigating them.
“I think a lot of times where films don’t quite stick the landing is not having a clear sense of who we’re watching,” Rowe explained. “What their deal is. Why they are the way they are. Why they make the decisions they make.”
He continued: “None of this stuff happens in a vacuum. I think so much of where authenticity in films and stories comes from is just having a good sense of people in general. The haunted house may be the hook, but the people are the point. That authenticity carried over into the making of the film itself.”
Finding the right actor for the lead role proved to be one of the most important decisions Rowe faced during casting.
“We knew he was out there, but it was like a thorn in my side until we could find him,” he said.
Then Lawrence submitted his audition.
“It was truly the kind of thing where, within the first second, I could tell.”
What Lawrence brought to the role was a combination of warmth, optimism, and vulnerability that made Zach immediately relatable.
“Ultimately, you want to root for the guy,” Rowe said. “Elijah is such an empathetic actor. There’s just something in the eyes and something in the delivery of the lines.”
Alongside Lawrence is Julia Whitcher as Vivienne, Zach’s emotional counterpart and one-half of the film’s central relationship. Sara Padgett plays Bella, the energetic theater-kid roommate whose enthusiasm helps propel the group’s increasingly ambitious plans, while Jonny Morrison plays Terrence, a mysterious subletter who initially appears detached before revealing himself to be just as passionate about Halloween as everyone else.
The chemistry among the ensemble feels natural and lived-in, something Rowe recognized immediately during the audition process.
“It was like watching the movie in the room,” he said of the chemistry read between Lawrence and Whitcher.
The supporting cast includes comedian Dave Hill as Winston, the building’s landlord, and veteran actor Jack Dimich as Gunther Lazlo, the legendary filmmaker whose presence sets much of the story in motion.
“You put him in a leather jacket,” Rowe joked, “and he looks like somebody important I should know.”
What makes the ensemble even more impressive is that many of the performers were also helping make the movie behind the scenes. Padgett not only stars in the film but also handled hair, makeup, and costumes. Producer Greg Contaldi served as both producer and casting director. Like the characters in the film, everyone involved seemed committed to building something together.
“This is truly a DIY independent movie,” Rowe said. “Groups of friends from school rolling up their sleeves and wearing seven hats.”
That spirit is visible on screen. The film’s warmth comes not just from the story being told, but from the way it was created.
Production itself presented plenty of challenges. What was originally scheduled as a twelve-day shoot ultimately stretched into thirteen, thanks in part to the realities of filming on the streets of New York City.
One particular scene between Zach and Vivienne was originally supposed to be shot in the middle of the day. Instead, circumstances forced the crew to return later and film it at sunset along the Hudson River.
The unexpected delay became one of the production’s happiest accidents.
“The movie gods were definitely in our favor,” Rowe said.
The resulting scene, bathed in golden-hour light, brought an emotional resonance that likely wouldn’t have existed had everything gone according to plan.
As Hamilton House prepares for its world premiere at Dances With Films LA, one of the country’s most respected showcases for independent cinema, it stands as both a film and a testament to the people who made it.
As our conversation came to a close, Rowe reflected on the philosophy that guided both the film and his own creative journey.
“No one’s going to hand things to you,” he said. “No one’s going to do it for you. And even if the idea sounds insane and even if you fall on your face doing it, you only get better and are courageous just by putting yourself out there and trying again.”
It’s a sentiment that feels woven into every frame of Hamilton House. The characters build a haunted house because they believe in something that others might dismiss as unrealistic.
Jordan Rowe made a feature film for much the same reason.
As our conversation came to a close, I found myself thinking again about those posters hanging behind him. The Beatles. Dazed and Confused. The Comedy Store.
The room belonged to a kid who loved music, movies, and the magic of storytelling. Years later, that same young man is premiering his first feature film, carrying those influences with him as he creates something distinctly his own.
In many ways, Hamilton House feels like a full-circle moment.
Not because Jordan Rowe has arrived at some final destination, but because the passions that shaped him as a child are still guiding him today. And judging by the authenticity, heart, and creativity found in Hamilton House, he’s ended up in exactly the right place.
Amy Pais-Richer is a published author, screenwriter, and former advertising creative director.
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