Meet Marcos Justo | Film Maker / Scare Actor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Marcos Justo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Marcos, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
Hi. I’m Marcos and I’m from Burbank, California. Being born a horror movie fan and living in Burbank has had a huge affect on where I am in my life today. I’m a young horror film maker and scare actor. Burbank is the epicenter of the Horror Film Industry and has given me so many opportunities to pursue my passions. Opportunities that are literally not available anywhere else in the world.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
A lot people thought my interest in scary things was odd when I was very young. My school didn’t understand when I wasn’t interested in the usual things that other boys were. People can be cruel when they don’t understand something, even adults. My self-confidence suffered and that grew into very big problems for me early on. But my parents always encouraged me explore my interests no matter what other people said. This has led to a great opportunities here in the Southern California horror community.

Things really took off with my first cosplay at a major horror convention at 8 years old. I won Best Costume at Son of Monsterpalooza 2019, right here in Burbank. That lead me to Motion Picture FX Company’s Monster Kids Club. MPFX is the leading supplier of special effects make-up to the film industry. Monster Club Kids matches kids like me with industry leaders as mentors in all aspects of Horror Film Special Effects and Movie Making.

When the pandemic hit, the Club couldn’t continue in person as planned. Living down the street from Universal Studios I am, of course, a huge fan of Halloween Horror Nights. That gave me an idea of how continue the Club. I got a few friends together and we built a home haunt so our neighbors could still celebrate Halloween in a safe way. We created the “Circus of Nightmares”, complete with a big top, light and sound show, life size animatronics and us Monster Kids as scare actors on the weekends leading up to the finale on Halloween Night.

The Circus was a HUGE success! Thousands came from all over Los Angeles for the two weeks that we ran the show. We had a lot of press coverage that year. The news and magazines featured the Circus and what the Monster Club Kids were doing to “Save Halloween”. This season is our third year putting on the Circus of Nightmares and it will be our biggest show yet. Everyone is invited come visit the clowns! All the information is on Instagram @circus_of_nightmares.

With my many cosplay creations and the success of the Circus, I began booking special guest appearances and photoshoots at events all over Southern California. Most recently taking the Circus on the road to another major So. Cal. horror convention, Midsummer Scream 2022.

My future focus is filmmaking. I’m inspired by directors like Stanley Kubrik, Tim Burton (also from Burbank) and Michael Dougherty. Living here also puts me just down the street from New York Film Academy where I study regularly with their youth programs and plan to attend full time after I graduate from High School.

Right now, I’m creating my own horror short films. My micro-short, The Forgotten One, is doing great in national and international film festivals. I also appear in the original horror fan film, You Can’t Kill the Boogeyman from Dark Crown Films. We’ve just announced a feature length project scheduled to start production in 2023 which I’ve been invited to codirect! You can see all of these for free on YouTube @TCCKfilms and @darkcrownfilms.

Being younger than most in this industry forces me to come up with new and original ways to bring my ideas to reality for others to experience. It might be a little hard to get recognized now, at my age, but I really I think that will turn into a benefit in the future.

I encourage everyone to come out and experience the fun our Halloween Community has all year long. Don’t be afraid to say “Hi” if you see me at an event. I won’t bite too hard.

If you would like to know more about any of the programs I’m involved in or collaborate, contact MarcosJ@thatcreepycoolkid.com or reach out on Instagram @thatcreepycoolkid

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
The first place I would take a friend from out of town would be Magnolia Park here in Burbank. We could explore all the spooky shops and exhibits in the area. We have two Halloween Town Costume and collectible stores that are open year round. Mystic Museum has four locations for shopping and immersive horror movie experiences. Blast from the Past is right across the street where you can always find unexpected treasures of movie memorabilia. Around the corner is the famous horror book store, Dark Delicacies. They regularly host celebrity autograph signings and you never know who you’ll run into there! Del’s also has a great kids section of books for young horror fans like me. There’s plenty of specialty cafe’s and coffee shops to hang out along the way.

While in Burbank, you can visit Universal Studios for a full day of fun and the Backlot Tour. Don’t miss out on Warner Brothers Studio Tour though. It’s a lot different than Universal’s and you won’t be disappointed.

Hollywood is only a few minutes drive and right on the corner at Hollywood Blvd and Highland Ave. is Icons of Darkness, the World’s largest privately owned collection of screen-used props, costumes & special effects! PRO TIP – watch out for the clown!

If you head over to Pasadena, stop by the original Michael Myers house from the Halloween movies. Directly behind that is a most unique art museum, SugarMynt Gallery. They feature different horror movie related art exhibits all year long. You can even stay the night in SugarMynt’s Air B&B! Pasadena is great for exploring famous movie locations all around the city. It’s is also where we filmed You Can’t Kill the Boogeyman. See if you can spot some of those locations while you are there too.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Motion Picture FX Company in Burbank sponsors the Monster Club Kids program which has inspired and encouraged me in so many ways.

Website: imdb.me/MarcosJusto

Instagram: https://instagram.com/thatcreepycoolkid

Facebook: https://facebook.com/thatcreepycoolkid

Youtube: youtube.com/TCCKFilms

Other: https://instagram.com/circus_of_nightmares

Image Credits
You Can’t Kill the Boogeyman photos by Dillion Kroe, Dark Crown Films