Where Are They Now? Will Wernick

As a teenager, Will Wernick didn't have one particular interest, wasn't a great student, and was late applying to college. Initially, he didn't get into CU Boulder, so after graduating from Niwot High School in 2001, he commuted to CU Denver for classes. But, he confesses, he wasn't in the right mindset. He said he did "horribly" and probably shouldn't have gone to college right away.

He continued with his education though, taking evening classes in political science at CU Boulder, which he thoroughly enjoyed. Eventually he earned full admittance to the university. Still not certain what field he might land on, Wernick threw a wide net over topics that interested him. He took engineering classes, was in the business school, dipped his big toe into philosophy, and ultimately graduated with a sociology degree.

Around 2005, Wernick invested in some camera equipment to explore the idea of filmmaking. Shortly after, he crossed paths with a friend of his parents, legendary bluegrass artists Pete and Joan Wernick. Their friend was the film producer Gill Holland and he asked young Wernick to work on a film he was making in North Carolina. Wernick said those three weeks of being the lowest ranked person on the set were the hardest he'd ever worked, and that was how he completely fell in love with the process of making movies.

"When you're making a film," Wernick said, "I've never been in the military, but I'd imagine it's a little bit similar because you only have one focus and the rest of your life completely goes away, because you just don't have time to deal with things. So there's a focus and purpose that happens that I've never felt anywhere else."

From the beginning of his desire to be involved in filmmaking, Wernick said he knew he wanted to be in charge. He started by making short films that he concedes weren't great. His next step was a "no budget, credit-card-funded" feature film that he and a friend created together.

After a year of editing, the film was released. His dad deemed it "not so good" and Wernick himself said "it was terrible." It took him years to pay off the debt he'd incurred, but Wernick looks back on it all as an incredible learning experience.

In 2010, Wernick moved to Los Angeles to pursue his filmmaking career in the heart of the industry. He didn't know anyone, had no connections, but arrived with his own business filming dance instruction DVDs. Gradually he took on more commercial productions and eventually recommitted himself to create the kind of films he really wanted to make.

While having dinner at the home of a couple of entrepreneurial friends, he heard one of them ask in passing, "Why hasn't someone made an escape room movie?" Wernick said it piqued his interest so intently that he stayed up all that night outlining the movie, went back to the friends' house and proposed that if they would raise the money, he would make that film.

Three months later, thanks to the classic combination of naiveté and confidence, the film "Escape Room" (2017) was finished. It became a big hit playing around the world, including in German theaters for many months, was sold to Lionsgate Films, and ultimately, it launched the beginning of Wernick and his friends becoming long term business partners.

Since then, Wernick has made the mystery adventure "Follow Me" (2020) and the drama "Safer at Home" (2021), the first union movie to be made during COVID.

His newest film titled "Break," a drama about a young man who learns his absent father is an illustrious pool player in Detroit, is due to be released on April 26, 2024.

Casting is underway for his next production, an 80's thriller set in a prison in the South. With a budget twenty times larger than his initial film, Wernick is able to take this film to a level he could only imagine when he first stepped into the industry years ago.

"I love the intersection between technology and storytelling," Wernick said of filmmaking. "It's the most complicated medium of storytelling ever devised, and it has the ability to be the most expressive. I also like the thought that I could do this my entire life and still be learning....There's so much to learn I don't think anyone ever completely masters it."

Wernick said his mother and father were "amazing parents" and that their musical talent and lifestyle allowed him to travel and be creative. He returned to Niwot three years ago, to the home where his parents have lived since 1978, and he frequently flies to L.A. for business.

"Niwot has always felt like an escape," Wernick said. "It changes really slowly and I like how safe it feels, especially after getting used to a place like L.A."