Friday, February 27, 2009

Film Fest Friday: Shriekfest, Fantasia Fest and Dead by Dawn

No, I didn't forget to post something yesterday, I just didn't have the time... sorry. Spare time is a luxury these days and a lot of mine has been going into working on our "Dead Harvey TV" project... which is moving along, by the way. Since I'm on the topic, the pilot is done and it was screened to good reviews. Granted, those reviews were from other people in the indie horror scene, but they were good. Now, we're polishing up a bit of a press kit, making some copies and are about to send it off to a few places. Don't worry, we'll be sure to keep you posted. (early draft of poster idea to the right, there - needs a bit of work, I know)

So, this post is going to be a mix of film fest updates and links... I happened to come across a few interesting things that I felt like sharing.

First off, for guys like us, it's a fairly embarrassing weekend at the box office, I gotta say. The biggest movie out is "Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience", followed by "Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li", which is, yes, based on the video game. Further, next week is fairly soft, as far as DVD releases are concerned... but I'll get to that on Monday. So, go check out "Friday the 13th" in the theaters, if you get a chance!

Now, for film festival announcements... it's time for Shriekfest Film Festival's call for entries. It's one of our favorites of the year and they're now going on to their 9th year, if you can believe it. The festival takes place October 1st - 4th, 2009 and they do networking events throughout the year in LA. So, go check them out at shriekfest.com.

Fantasia Fest, which takes place in Montreal, Canada, July 16th - August 3rd, now has their call for entries open, as well. Fantasia's one of the big ones and it's something that you should attend, if you can. For more information, go to their site at fantasiafest.com.

Lastly, on the festival front, tickets for Dead By Dawn, which takes place in Scotland, are finally going to be available on Tuesday... I think. All the emails they send are fucked up and cryptic. Like, here's a quote from their last email, "The utterly fantastic news is that Passes for this year's Dead by Dawn and Spawn of Dawn will go on sale from 11am on Tuesday March 3rd". Actually, after reading it out of context, I guess it's not that bad... but you should read the whole thing. Anyhow, the festival is April 30th - May 3rd and for more information on it, go to deadbydawn.co.uk.

Now, on to some interesting tidbits that I found on the internets...

Check out this awesome quote: “Success will return to Hollywood once again when the gutted creative process and talent is re-established at a bearable cost. And it will be on the shoulders of the creatives, not the accountants, that a return to greatness is achieved”. That's actually from Drake Pruitt's blog post on Peter Bart's article from Vanity Fair and there's links to both in this post from IndieFlix. It's not long, but it's a great read and great news for us indie guys. There ARE people shaking this industry up... so, just stick with it and it'll pay off.

There's an article, more like a blog post, in the LA Times on how Carl Icahn is looking to tighten his grip on Lions Gate Entertainment, here's a link. Now, we all know who Lions Gate is... horror and horror DVD's, primarily, are a cash cow for them. They had a week third quarter, but just recently won the week at the box office with "Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail". Did I mention they also do the Tyler Perry films? They also distribute kids films and work-out videos, but that's besides the point. You know who they are and indie horror distribution is a big, big thing for them. So, who's Carl Icahn? Well, he's a billionaire financier, corporate raider and private equity investor. He's worth about $14Billion. He's a director at Blockbuster, has had significant holdings in Time Warner, he tried to take over Marvel Comics at one point and he just upted his stake in Lions Gate to just over 14%. That is, of course, just his entertainment related ventures, he does lots of other shit, too. I just find it very interesting that he's so interested in them... must be something there.

So, that's all I got for this week... now go get your drink on this weekend and we'll see you next week!

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

2008 - The Year at the Box Office For Horror

So, when I was looking up those 'art films' yesterday, I realized that I never did my 'look back at how horror did in 2008'. So, that's what I decided to do this morning. Unfortunately, there's no surprises here. It was a shit year. I mean, just think back... NOTHING made me rush out to the theaters. I was far more excited by what was coming out on DVD.

Anyhow, I've listed all the horror films that came out last year and the number is how they did, box office-wise, against all the movies that came out.

#7 - Twilight
#24 - The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
#39 - Cloverfield
#40 - The Day the Earth Stood Still
#42 - Hellboy II: The Golden Army
#49 - The Happening
#54 - Saw V
#55 - The Strangers
#65 - Prom Night (2008)
#66 - Rambo
#70 - Max Payne
#88 - Quarantine
#91 - The Eye
#94 - Mirrors
#95 - Space Chimps
#101 - One Missed Call
#104 - Shutter
#114 - The X-Files: I Want to Believe
#117 - The Spirit
#121 - The Ruins
#142 - Doomsday

First off, lets just reiterate that it was not a banner year for horror. "Twilight" is not really a horror and neither is "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor". In fact, it was a bit embarrassing to actually write those in there. So, really, the first film that I would actually classify as sort of horror came in at #39 and that's "Cloverfield", which would definitely be considered a financial success. It's domestic total gross was $80Million and it also brought in over $90Million in foreign for a grand total of $170Million. For sure a film that had international appeal and it should garner a sequel. Also, it should be duly noted that it was rated PG-13.

The first R-Rated horror on the list is "The Happening" which, for all intents and purposes, as far as I'm concerned, was an unmitigated disaster, but still seemed to do okay at the box office. It pulled in $64Million domestically, $98Million foreign, for a worldwide total of $163Million. For me, the film continued the slippery slope of shittiness that's come out of M Night Shyamalan since "The 6th Sense", but what do I know? I just watch this shit.

The next R-Rated horror on the list is "Saw V", which was, basically, exactly what you'd expect to see from the fifth installment in the franchise. What's very interesting about the "Saw" franchise is to look at how each of them did at the box office. The one that grossed the most? "Saw II". From there, each sequel gets progressively less money... until you reach the least grossing film of the series, the original "Saw". It doesn't take an economist to know why, though. The original "Saw" came out on the least amount of theaters, then built up its audience on its DVD release, which pumped up the release of "Saw II". So, it's safe to say that the franchise is on a bit of gradual decline. Either way, "Saw V" was what "Saw V" was ...and I'll still go see "Saw VI", "VII", "VIII", "IX" and "X".

There's really nothing else of note in there, to be honest. The trend of more PG-13 films, trying to reach broader audiences, continued and the amount of quality horror being released theatrically suffered, due to that. It's simple math. It's tough to put out good horror films that are rated PG-13, but that's what the studios want. So, you have weaker horror films in the theater. Weaker horror films in the theater means a weaker year at the box office for horror and less people going to see them. That, in turn, could mean that horror attracted less fans this last year. However, I don't think that's true... as I always say, it just means that horror fans are looking elsewhere and that "elsewhere", over the last few years, has been the DVD market. I'm going to do some research into how horror did there, next.

The conclusion? 2008 theatrical horror sucked, but that's continuing to make horror fans turn to the DVD market. Some of them are going to 'bricks and mortar' retailers, such as Blockbuster, but more and more of them are turning to the web and getting their films off Amazon or Netflix. If that's the case, that should put you, the indie horror filmmaker, in a good place. Your film is already there and that looks to be where the audience is going. So, it could be a good year for indie horror. However, 2009 will be a more telling year... the slate of horror coming out this year looks to be better, what with "Friday the 13th" and "My Bloody Valentine 3-D" both currently in the top 10 films of the year already. However, this recession could push a lot of people towards home entertainment, as going to the theater isn't really that cheap. So, will quality horror bring audiences to the theaters... or will the recession kill theatrical horror for good?

Stay tuned...

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

The Recession is Eating Art Films

I've talked about how the 'art film', or what Hollywood refers to as 'indie' film is disappearing... and it's funny, as some of the most notable films of the year were art films. "Slumdog Millionaire", "The Reader" and "The Wrestler" were all what Hollywood would consider to be art films. "Slumdog" made a pile of money, but I don't think any of the other films really made anything notable. Quite frankly, I don't know. Check out this article on Forbes.com called "The Recession That Ate The Art Films", that's what prompted this post.

The first part of the article describes a legal battle between Lionsgate and The Weinstein Company over some shit movie called, "Push: Based On The Novel By Sapphire". Now, I don't say it's shit because I've seen it, I'm just reiterating what others have said... like, how it's "nightmarish" (and it's not a horror) or how it's "grim to a level that many film executives say they have rarely seen on film". So, what's it about? Oh, it's light-hearted... it's about an illiterate African-American high school girl who is pregnant with her second child by her father. Definitely the feel good movie of the year. So, why are Lionsgate and The Weinstein's in a fight over it? Because it won the jury prize and the audience prize for best drama at Sundance and only two other films in history have done that... so, it MUST be a guaranteed winner. I know I'll be rushing out to see it in the theaters. Don't kid yourself... I wouldn't waste the bandwidth to pirate it.

Herein lays the problem... I understand that festivals like Sundance, Cannes, and the like, mean a lot to the industry. They trust what comes out of there, they're a big deal for the industry and they can give films a great marketing push. Sort of like the 'Oscar bump' on a minor scale... but here's the thing, remember who's attending and judging these films. Is it Joe Filmgoer? No, it's generally movie snobs and film intellectuals. You know, like the prof you had in film school who felt he could tell you what was good or bad, but never actually made shit in his entire life? Yeah, those guys. Remember, those who can't do... teach. And those who can't teach, criticize. Those who can't criticize, write indie horror blogs that no one reads. Anyhow, the system currently works like this: art film does well at festivals, creates buzz with film snobs. Studios hear buzz from film snobs, get interested in said art film. Studio buys rights to said art film and dumps a huge marketing budget into it. Releases film and film grosses less than what they paid to market it. Industry says indie film is dying.

Meanwhile... Joe Filmgoer is playing more video games, getting more content online, is starting to think that theatrical released movies aren't relevant anymore and he has less disposable income, to boot.

Look, people ARE still going to the theaters, that's not really the problem. I don't think the theater experience will ever die completely... however, people are just going to the big movies or, God forbid, the good movies. Look at the biggest GROSSING movies of 2008, they're ALL franchise movies with an existing fanbase. However, "Gran Torino" came in at 17, "Slumdog Millionaire" at 29, then it's a HUGE step down for the next 'art film'... keeping in mind that some 300 'art films' came out. So, it's really all about "Iron Man", "The Dark Knight", "Indiana Jones" and Disney films... Now, it's time for Hollywood to adapt. Don't try to cram a round peg in a square hole, guys. Take a step back and look at what Joe Filmgoer is doing and rethink your strategy.

This is where I think a lot of TRUE indie filmmakers get it. It's just unfortunate that the money's not there... yet. You see, when times are good, bad business can seem okay. However, this recession is making bad business look REALLY bad. So, where Hollywood was skipping along a few years ago, losing money here, making money there, there were still able to fund films and pay salaries. However, things are about to change and I think you're going to see Hollywood start doing things like what the TRUE indie guys are doing now. The future is about niche festivals, run and attended by fans... not snobs. The future is about non-theatrical distribution. The future is about reeling in budgets and making sure that the film is GOOD and acceptable to its specific audience. Find out what the people want, then give it to them. It's not that hard. It's what a lot of the TRUE indie guys have been doing, but no one's noticed... and, hopefully, when the industry finally turns that big boat around, we should be in a good place and people WILL notice.

Monday, February 23, 2009

New Horror out on DVD this week and what you missed when Mickey Rourke didn't win Best Actor

I just want to say it's a shame that Sean Penn won best actor last night over Mickey Rourke... and I can't help but think that Mickey's acceptance speech at the Spirit Awards had something to do with it - check out the video at the bottom and you'll see what I mean. Anyhow, lots of movies out this week and I don't have much time, so lets get to them. As usual, you can click on the titles to go to their page on Amazon and you can go to our Youtube page to see all the trailers.

"Haunting of Molly Hartley" did get a theatrical release, although I don't really remember it coming out. It's written by John Travis and Rebecca Sonnenshine and was directed by Mickey Liddell... Lidell's served as a producer on various projects and this is his directorial debut. The film has striking similarities to the 1976 film, "To the Devil a Daughter", as it's about parents who make a pact with the devil to save their child after the mother had a miscarriage. The film focuses on the child, Molly, and her stresses of being a new student and recurring nightmares of when her Mom tried to kill her... but she later figures out that her mother was just trying to save her from her preordained life as a servant of the devil.

I wasn't exactly sure why Mickey Rourke had such a hard-on for Eric Roberts in his Spirit Awards speech (once again, scroll to the bottom to see the speech) and it's with much coincidence that an Eric Roberts film, "Cyclops", comes out this week. So, if you don't know who Eric Roberts is, he's Julia Roberts' brother... but, he also had a good career going, having been nominated for Academy Awards and Golden Globes in the late 70's and early 80's with movies like "Runaway Train" and "King of the Gypsies". Then, something happened... and he spend forever toiling in TV and B-Movies. Now, that's good for guys like us, especially if you liked movies like "Raptor", "Purgatory" or "Wolves of Wall Street". Not so good if you're Eric Roberts and your sister is Julia. Christmas must get awkward. "Hey, how was working with Clooney, Pitt and Hanks, Julia?" "Not too bad, Eric. How did the sci-fi original "Cyclops" work out for ya?" "You mean the film where play a Roman emperor and imprison a cyclops to fight people? Fuck you."

"Red Sands" stars Shane West and J.K. Simmons, best recognized as J Jonah Jameson from the "Spiderman" movies. It's directed by Alex Turner and written by Simon Barrett, who are the guys behind "Dead Birds", which came out a few years ago and has become a bit of a cult classic. This is about a group of US soldiers in present-day Afghanistan who unknowingly release a vengeful supernatural force that wages upon them a deadly war. If I remember, this was supposed to be a pretty good movie... and the trailer does look awesome. Not sure if it ever got a theatrical release.

"Scourge" is an award winning horror from Jonas Quastel, who's made a few low-budget horrors, including: "The Untold", "Ripper 2: Letter from Within" and "Premonition". "Scourge" is about an ancient pestilence called, what else?.. The Scourge. And it's set free in a small town after being entombed in a church's masonry for 150 years. Bodies pile up and the job of stopping it falls on Scott and Jessie, who rediscover their love for each other in the process.

"Epitaph" is an award winning Korean film from the Jung Brothers, Jeong Beom-sik and Jeong Sik. The film is set in a small Korean hospital, which has become a labyrinth of haunted corridors... where a medical student is inexplicably drawn to a beautiful dead girl; a troubled child is tortured by bloody visions of her dead parents; and a married couple find themselves investigating a series of gory murders.

"Succubus: The Demon" is the first US release from the Finnish film company, Blood Ceremony and it follows Henri, a widower so feverishly obsessed in searching for answers to his wife's death that he turns to the occult for clues, with diabolical consequences.

"Green Eyed Monster" comes from writer/director Gabriel Barboza and it's about a group of friends who travel to South Texas to uncover the truth about a local legend of buried money. Instead, they uncover something buried within us all... and one by one, they mysteriously disappear. This is the first film from Barboza and he served as writer, director, producer and editor on the film. Looks well done and definitely has some budget behind it.

"Night of the Jackals" is an indie horror from writer, director and actor DeWitt Jones. It's about an ex special ops assassin, Kera Moore, who's last target, a crazed former US chemical weapons engineer, survived and comes back for vengeance. Now, Kera is a sort of female "Blade". By that, she's a black girl, fully clothed in spandex, who kicks vampire ass... The engineer brings his final batch of US financed neuro toxin with him, which turns victims into ravenous vampire-like zombies known as Jackals, and then kidnaps Kera's husband. She then gets in her spandex suit and employs the services of a cop, a gangster and a chemist to unleash hell before the Jackals can take over the city. Check out the trailer... you know you want to.

"The Legend Trip" was directed by Jason Satterfield and written by Sara Bulle and Nick Firer. It's about a local legend that turns into a horrifying reality for a group of young grad students seeking to debunk a Wisconsin haunted house. Trailer looks good, definitely an indie-horror with a bit of budget behind it. Looks well done.

Oh yeah... and here's Mickey Rourke's acceptance speech. Awesome. Could you imagine this at The Oscars?



Friday, February 20, 2009

Film Fest Friday, but this is more about The Oscars...

Okay, so it's a lame weekend at the box office because it's the Oscars... and I'm not a big fan of the Oscars, I think it's a big joke... I mean, it was started BY the industry as a way to legitimize what they were doing and now it's just an excuse to give awards to people because they think they deserve them, but I digress...

We're all going to watch The Oscars, so we might as well have some people to root for. First and foremost, Mickey Rourke in "The Wrestler" - as much as a fucking weirdo as he's become (see pic), he's still Marv from "Sin City", Johnny Handsome from "Johnny Handome", Harley Davidson from "Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man" and Harry Angel from, one of my favorite horror films of all time, "Angel Heart". By the way, yes, I liked "Johnny Handsome" and "Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man", so what? I'd also like to see Marisa Tomei get Best Supporting Actress for playing the stripper in "The Wrestler" because, well, I saw a LOT of her in the film. Not only that, it really was a good movie. Go check it out, if you haven't seen it. I'd like to see Heath Ledger get Best Supporting Role for "The Dark Knight", as he kicked ass and so did the movie. I think a lot of people want to see him win it and, guess what, I don't think Robert Downey Jr. will be getting it for "Tropic Thunder". I also hope that "The Dark Knight" wraps up all the other nominal awards, like Sound Editing and all that shit. Otherwise, I only hope for two things... Danny Boyle, who WE all know as the guy behind "28 Days Later", "28 Weeks Later" and "Trainspotting", gets a shit-load of awards for "Slumdog Millionaire" AND for that douche, Sean Penn, to get fuck-all for "Milk".

Okay, what's going on in festival world?

The early bird deadline for the LA Shorts Fest is today and, although that seems like short notice, as long as you have your submission postmarked by today, you're cool. Well, that's still not a lot of time. So, at this point it looks like you're going to have to buck up and pay the extra $10, or whatever it is. Anyhow, the LA Shorts Fest is, obviously, all about short films and they do have a horror category. They're also accredited by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences and 33 filmmakers from the LA Shorts Fest have gone on to earn Academy Award nominations... none of which were horror. Actually, one of the very cool things about the festival is that they have a thing called LA Shorts TV and they'll show some of the shorts on the site... "Seat 29E" was awesome, if you head over there.

I was ABOUT to mention the all new Thrillspy International Thriller & Spy Festival until I read that they "promote all categories of thriller films with the exception of Horror or Shock films". Okay, well then... THAT'S a slap in the face.

And for those horror fans in Chicago, you've got the upcoming Fangoria's Weekend of Horror on March 6 - 8. You're going to get some good guests, too. You've got Tobe Hooper, George Romero, Herschell Gordon Lewis, Tom Savani and the list goes on and on... it'll take place at the Wyndham O'Hare. Weekend of Horror will also be in LA in April and New York in June.

That's it... that's all we got for this week. Go get your drink on and we'll see you next week!

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Interview with John Birmingham, writer/director of "Crazy Animal"

I'll admit that I grew up on Troma films. Well, I grew up on a lot of films, but Troma was definitely a huge influence. I remember rushing out to rent "The Toxic Avenger", "Class of Nuke 'Em High", "Surf Nazi's Must Die", "Troma's War" and on and on... I mean, Toxie and his buddy's were classics. What card carrying fan of indie horror doesn't know "The Toxic Avenger"? Do you remember "The Toxic Avenger" animated series? I do... I even own a copy of Lloyd's book, "Make Your Own Damn Movie" and the film that was spawned by it, "Terror Firmer". Yes, right here, right now. I'll say it. I'm proud to say I am a fan of Troma.

Troma was formed in 1974 by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz and, if you've ever watched a Troma film, you'd know that because I think they've used the same low-budget opening since then. Now, although they were formed in 1974, they really didn't become the Troma that you and I know until they came out with "The Toxic Avenger" in 1984. Prior to that, they were pumping out raunchy sex comedies like "The First Turn On" and "Squeeze Play". Troma had a few bombs and some troubled financial times, but in the last few years, they've redefined themselves and they're back in a good place. Recently, they've come out with "Poultryguiest: Night of the Chicken Dead", they do the Tromadance Festival every year, they're making "The Toxic Avenger" into a Broadway musical and Lloyd's in so many low-budget horror movies, it's impossible to count... in fact, he's also in the film that we're about to discuss, "Crazy Animal", which is actually being released by Troma.

"Crazy Animal" is written and directed by John Birmingham and he, too, was obviously raised on Troma. Like I said in the last paragraph, Lloyd Kaufman, himself, actually makes a cameo in the film, along with Ron Jeremy and Brinke Stevens. The film embodies everything that you'd expect from a quality Troma film; it has lots of boobs, it has some gore, some musical scenes, some scenes that will make you a little uncomfortable and it also has a great story, great acting and it's really well put together. If you're into classic Troma films (and if you're into indie horror, chances are you are), you'll thoroughly enjoy "Crazy Animal". We had the chance to discuss the film with John Birmingham, the writer and director...

First off, tell us a bit about yourself. What are your influences and what got you into indie filmmaking?

My influences were not necessarily film or movies. I was influenced by the great artists like Dali and philosophers like Aristotle and Plato and maybe very deep, articulate writers, when I was starting into college (community college, albeit, but...). And earlier I was always into music, rock stars and stuff, Jane's Addiction, Glenn Danzig and punk and stuff growing up, and even classical like Mozart or Tchaikovsky, really brilliant stuff. I played guitar, drums and more recently got into singing and acting, so that is what I want to do with my movies, make a true work of art, a timeless work of art that says something or has a message. Not necessarily a big movie fan, but some movies are brilliant, and I love the work of any good filmmaker, more especially Peter Medak, Stanley Kubrick, ones who still hang onto a real side of life, not a censored version, because life gets real, it gets out of hand and crazy, and I feel it should not be censored for the screen, if there is sex, it should show something (as long as it is not gratuitous, lol).

Film School: Yes or No?

Yeah, I made this as my graduate thesis film at Chapman University. I was privileged to go there. Schwarzeneggar, Spielberg, plenty of these types were on campus while I was attending back in about 2004/2005. The school is well connected, a dreamlike, amazing unparallelled experience going there, it was a real film school by every definition, and I got in while I was still relatively young, so I would suggest going if you can...

Where did you get the idea for "Crazy Animal"?

I wanted to play a glam rocker, really become one, so I put a lot of validation behind why I was a glam rocker, using that as a guise to reel in unsuspecting young white males who typically idolize rockers at some point in their lives... once they are fascinated by my character, I tie them up against their will to sing to them cheesy glam rock ballads to get them to confess to their crimes... haha... I tried to make it meaningful as possible but at the same time funny and an overall fun, entertaining experience.

What was the approx budget and how did you secure financing?

Wow, that is a tough one... I will just be truthful here... I was making this movie in L.A. and it was done legit with permits and everything, paid the actors, even shot some of it in Panavision 35mm (albeit I ran out of money and had to shoot some by myself with my own DV camera)... but every semester I was on partial scholarship and I would get I think $8000 or $4000 cash, can't remember, and all of it went to the budget of the movie. The rest I got my mom who was a real estate agent to give me chunks of a few thousand at a time... she really put herself out for me, and she will never do it again. She loves me a lot, but it sort of drained her a bit and I can never do that again (my next movie I funded through my own hard earned money....) but this one was like half me, half my mom... it was about $80,000.

What did you shoot on and how long was the shoot?

We shot using a Panasonic DVX-100 camera in 24p mode for most of it. And also some on some sort of Panavision 35mm motion picture camera, real movie film. The shoot was on and off for like a year, we'd shoot a few days at a time, and all the actors had to come back in their same clothes and hairstyles, haha.

The story was surprisingly in-depth, something you rarely see in an indie comedy/horror. Talk about the screenwriting process and how you put the story together.

I just took a long time and wrote the script out as best I could. At one point, since I was trying to get in acting mode, I tried to hire a writer to write it for me, but he was sort of out there and came up with a 400 page screenplay (equates to 400 minutes), so I had to fire him before he got paid, unfortunately, he didn't know what he was doing at all. It is sad, but somewhere out there is a long 400 page manuscript of jibber jabber called "Crazy Animal"

I was also surprised at how well defined and believable the characters were… there were some veteran actors in the film, including: Lloyd Kaufman, Ron Jeremy and Brinke Stevens. However, most were amateurs and you got great performances out of them. Talk about your directing style.

Well, yeah, I guess you could call them amateurs, but one of them was a former Miss Norway, placed 11th in the Miss Universe pageant, Lene Pedersen, and some of the others have landed sizable roles on tv shows recently, like beautiful model Maria Zyrianova and the african american girl Anise Fuller, and the kid in the movie who played Henry has done a lot of national commercials. They were all L.A. actors with different levels of experience.

My directing style was really just letting them read the lines and be emotional and if something seemed off then call them on it. Really, there is not much to directing, its a lot of fun, its a matter of getting to be able to direct something and hiring all those other crew members to allow you to be the director... on this tiny budget, I was doing Production Design and basically everything, physically producing it all, crazy by Hollywood standards, they would have shot this for 6 million at least. But really, Directing is a lot of fun, I have been studying it and doing it, filmmaking full time for over 11 years.

Talk about being both a major role in the film, plus directing. How did you juggle that?

That was really tricky on such a low budget. But I learned how to do it and did it on my second movie too, The Vampires of Zanzibar (ZanzibarMovie.com), just finished editing it all myself. The hardest part I would say is getting time to memorize lines and then keeping in shape while you are physically producing the thing running around wearing all these hats.... if it is just directing and starring in something together, no big deal, I have that down... but what made it crazy was that on such a low budget I had to like arrange everything else, I was the only producer of the whole thing and doing set design and stuff a little in between it all, it was a little too munch, which is why I can't do that crap again... our next movie is hirer budget, my third feature film, we are figuring out ways to get investors now, which is the proper way to make a feature film and to really make a valuable product, I believe. But you have to start somewhere, which is why I made movies without a few hundred thousand or a couple of million dollars at that point.

One of the things that I found very interesting was the very serious topic of rape being juxtaposed into comedy. Castration, murder and even cannibalism can work well in horror/comedy, but rape can get sensitive. I'm just wondering if you thought about that or if it was done on purpose. Then again, Troma is an obvious influence and for Troma, nothing is too sensitive!

Yeah, that was my view that maybe the juxtaposition was a little harsh, but that was an afterthought... I originally figured... hey, when they mix killing and blood and boobs all together and comedy in movies frequently in horror movies, it is almost standard, I figured tackling the issue of rape was the same sort of thing, but a couple of people have said it may be too harsh. just two people, you and one other person mentioned it in an imdb comment. But for Troma, you are right, if you see Poultrygeist you will see that nothing is too harsh for them it seems... I mean, it gets literally scatalogical in Poultrygeist, like, feces flying all over the walls, coating the walls like buckets of diarrhea... I thought it was too much myself... but they have a message in that as well, so I think Crazy Animal is the perfect DVD release with Troma cause it is like another Poultrygeist without the feces, chickens and extras.

Music was another big thing in the film and it worked well, especially with your character, Ricky. Talk about creating music for film and the process involved.

Ummm, I just wrote some songs and played all the music, recorded my voice and mixed it and produced the music all myself. I have played music since childhood, so it is something I have always wanted to do... so it was a pretty fun experience... it just gets difficult on a budget cause you have to do it all yourself. Like, I had to physically mix it all myself, every little detail of the sound and sound design and everything on that movie. Which is why I am taking a long time away from that to concentrate now on just acting and music, my real ambition now, moreover music...

Tell us about some of the hurdles you overcame to get the film done. Any advice you can pass on to other indie filmmakers who might be just setting out to make a film.

It was hard to do as being just a student, but a great learning experience and getting used to acting and filmmaking at the same time. I learned a lot. I learned to always have a monitor on set (even a simple TV), then you can be in front of camera, even operate camera if you want to or had to.

Did you enter "Crazy Animal" into any of the festivals? If so, how did it do and is the festival circuit something that every indie horror filmmaker should consider doing?

I just got into a couple of festivals, Tromadance 2006 in the Secret Screenings section and this one in Virginia right in my town. So, no, I didn't think it was a festival type of film, but my new one I am going the festival route for sure... I think if it is horror, you should for sure go to horror festivals if you have a decent product... try to win some awards, distributors will really, really take you more seriously with awards.

Tell us about the process of finding distribution. How did that go and what insight could you pass on to other filmmakers who are looking for distribution?

I wrote to every distributor in existence, some gave offers, but no money upfront, like Troma did. I went with them because I figured they were the best match for the movie. The best thing to do is to have a major screening in L.A. and invite distributors or sales reps to it, try to have something fun for them to go to, instead of watching it on a tiny screen, no fun in that and the movie usually looks worse small, or creates a smaller impression.

Where can people find out more about "Crazy Animal" or, better yet, buy a copy?

You can buy it at Amazon.com and maybe other stores soon... it is available to buy now at Amazon, but release date is officially March 31, 2009.

Talk about the indie horror genre and indie filmmaking. Where do you feel it is now and where do you see it going?

I think someone create something truly amazing if they take the time to first of all make a brilliant, brilliant script... I tried my best with Crazy Animal, but don't feel it was an Oscar worthy type of script or a really deep, deep, cool ultimate cool script that changed the world for the better a bit, which is what I want to write in the future. And I think if you have a taste of real greatness in your indie movie in the script first of all, then you have a chance at better things. If you consistently make great, genius product that not many others can provide, you will find a lot of money and work in Hollywood, the studios will hire you themselves to make your movies if you prove yourself like the guy did with Cabin Fever for example. Just get a decent budget together, and moreover the script.

What's next for you? Do you have any projects in the works?

Yeah, my third feature film, a secret subject matter... gay comedy... but funny for everybody, by no mean a "gay" movie... and my second movie I just finished all post production, its a vampire comedy, The Vampires of Zanzibar. Look it up, the trailer is up on Myspace and on the website, it is truly a great product. Thanks!!!!

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

What You Can Learn From Porn

So, when you're, uh, watching your porn... where do you get your, um... 'content' from? I'm going to take a stab in the dark, so to speak, and assume that you watch a lot online. Sure, you may have an old, sticky mag sitting around and there may be that scratched up, worn DVD that your "friend" gave you when he moved in with his girlfriend, but I'm going to make a bold statement here. I guarantee that if you've watched porn at some point over the last year, you've watched some porn online, in some form. Yeah, you know you have. Probably at work, too. So, who cares? Well, the porn industry cares... and, guess what? As much as Hollywood hates to admit it, the porn industry has pioneered almost every innovation in the film industry. They were the first to adopt video and the first to use the internet, but now they're in trouble and they're back to their pioneering ways. Piracy and free content, like user-generated shit, is cutting deep into their profits and they need to right the ship... so, it's time to watch porn. Well, what the industry is doing, anyhow.

Here's a link to an article I read called, "Internet Piracy Is Killing Porn's Profits", by Amy Kaufman on TheWrap.com. It doesn't say a whole lot more than exactly what the title implies, but there was a link to an interesting article on there called "Adult Industry Has Some New Ideas", also by Amy Kaufman, here's the link. (Dig porn much, Amy?) Now, there are a few, key differences between porn and the film industry and the main one is that porn is really only needed for a few minutes, at best. On the flip side, a few minutes of "Friday the 13th" won't really satisfy anyone. Therefore, pirated and free internet content is far more damaging to the porn industry than it is to the film industry. However, there is a key similarity between the two and it's that they're both 'non-essential' luxuries, in a way, and free, pirated alternatives are available. What's the answer? Well, porn seems to be banking on digital, interactive content and social networking. As for revenue, it looks like it'll be a mix of advertising and paid content. They're scrambling and eventually they'll come up with some innovation and they'll recover... then Hollywood will follow their example.

While we're on the fledgling porn industry, remember that other hurting industry called the music industry? Well, they're figuring shit out, too. I was just reading about how U2 is the first musical guest on "Late Show with David Letterman" to be on for an entire week. They're promoting they're new album, "No Line on the Horizon", but a whole week?! I was also reading how bigger music stars are trying to get on things like American Idol and be featured in Rock Star and Guitar Hero. That's all great and all, but the music industry does know where their bread is being buttered these days and it's from live performances. So, what do you think of Live Nation, the biggest concert promoter, and Ticketmaster, the biggest music ticket seller, merging? It's about vertical integration, which means more marketing power and ways to get you to buy those tickets. That also means that that new company could be the biggest entertainment company in the world. So, it looks like the answer for the music industry is in live performances and events, plus pushing the boundaries of where musicians and their music can go. The music, itself, actually becomes a bit of a loss-leader... talk about a major difference from just a few years ago.

Most importantly now, what does this mean for Hollywood... not even Hollywood, what does this mean for you, the indie horror filmmaker? Well, almost all of these forces are against you, plus a few more. Think about it, piracy and free, online entertainment will suck up a lot of your potential audience. Who wants to pay for something when there's free alternatives? Not only that, if you find an audience that IS willing to pay for your film, there's so many choices out there, how do you get them to find you? How do you even compete for shelf space against bigger budgeted films and all the other indie films? You really do have the cards stacked against you. Like they say, once your film is finished, the real work begins...

The key is, you can't push on a string. You need to pull the audience to you. If you just put your film out there with its fancy cover art and a press kit that you put together to sell it, it ain't going anywhere. You need to create awareness any way you can and get people to walk into the video story looking for your title... or going online, searching for your film. To do that, you're going to need a mix of everything that porn and the music industry is doing. You're going to need to create a website, a Facebook page, a Myspace page and start interacting with people and getting your name out there. Announce when and where it's available. Approach websites like ours and give out screeners, do interviews, get people talking about your film. Go to festivals and conventions and, better yet, get involved with them. Getting a screening at a festival is huge exposure. If you can't get a screening, get a booth at a convention. Utilize everything, sell something at every turn and leverage what you've got.... because, really, it's all you've got.

In the end, you need to watch what people are doing in these other industries and figure out a way to copy them, but that's if what they're doing is working... if what they're doing isn't working, avoid it. It sounds simple and, really, it is. Remember, in the indie film world, you can't just be an artist. You'll also need to be the agent... and the sales guy, marketing guy, janitor, shipping and receiving guy...

You get the picture.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Interview with Nick Oddo, writer/director of "New York Blood"

It's pretty easy to figure out why most indie horror films are about slashers and zombies... first off, slasher and zombie films have always been big influences on horror film fans. More importantly, though, they're a bit easier to put together and execute. Let's face it, if you're dealing with amateur actors and a low budget, zombies and slashers are fairly easy to direct and are usually believable, even if they're terrible actors. This is one of the reasons I was really looking forward to Nick Oddo's "New York Blood", which is an indie gangster film. To pull a gangster film off, a lot of things need to come together...

Sam Raimi, Peter Jackson, Wes Craven, Clive Barker and all the horror guys were big influences on me, but I was also very influenced by guys like Scorsese and Coppola. In fact, back in film school, a few of my short films were over-the-top, gory gangster films and that was a direct result of my love for films like "Goodfellas", "Scarface" and "State of Grace". The truth of the matter is, most of us know about the rise of the gritty horror scene in the 70's, but if you're into gangster films, Scorsese's "Mean Streets" (1973) and Coppola's "The Godfather" (1972) pretty much marked the beginning of gritty crime movies. Both genre's had a huge boom during the 80's, then matured through the 90's. However, it's funny to see that this new surge of indie filmmaking in the early 2000's has really embraced horror, but has yet to truly embrace gangster films. Could it be that Oddo is just a bit ahead of his time???

Nick Oddo's "New York Blood" is a gangster film, no question. Not only that, it's a great gangster film. It's brutally authentic and, at times, you may find yourself wondering if he recruited actual mobsters to play roles. The lead role of Vinny is actually played by Vinnie Stigma, who, if you're into punk and/or metal, you may know as the guitarist for Agnostic Front. There's also cameo's from Vinny Vella and Frank Aquilino, who, between the two of them, have been in "The Sopranos", "Casino", "Goodfellas" and "King of New York". The film revolves around Vinny, who owns a neighborhood whorehouse and wants to take care of his father, who just got out of jail. Then, "the sins of the father and violence of the son overwhelm good intentions and lead to a blood soaked finale". Really, it's a fantastic indie gangster film and it's really well put together. My hope is that it paves the way for more indie gangster films, because if this is just the beginning, I'm anxious to see what's next.

We had the opportunity to discuss "New York Blood" with writer/director, Nick Oddo...

Tell us a bit about yourself. What are your influences and what got you into indie filmmaking?

I grew up in Pittsburgh, PA and was into sports and Punk Rock music as a kid. I also did some acting and when digital video came along I got into filmmaking. My influences were always off the wall type of films, mostly horror. I also loved Taxi Driver and some of those great 70's drama's and 80's horror movies.

Film School: Yes or No?

No. I never went to film school but as an actor I got to work with Sidney Lumet and Ron Howard. I also worked in the theatre as an actor, director, writer, stage manager, light guy, etc... It was where I learned about story and structure and how to work with actors and get things done.

Where did you get the idea for “New York Blood”?

When I was a kid growing up in Pittsburgh I got a job working in a whorehouse and always thought it was a great setup for a movie.

What was the approx budget and how did you secure financing?

The total budget for the movie was about 4 thousand dollars. I financed it myself and just made it gorilla style.

What did you shoot on and how long was the shoot?

I shot on a Sony PD150 and we filmed off and on for about 10 months.

The story and style of film were fantastic, but the cast and acting was the high point for me – very authentic, something that you rarely see in a low-budget film. Talk about the process of casting the film… the lead was played by Vinnie Stigma, of Agnostic Front fame, and he played the role perfect. How’d you get him?

Vinnie and I have been friends since the 80's. His band Agnostic Front would always come to Pittsburgh and play at a club called the Electric Banana. My friends and I would always go to the shows and there was a cool little Punk Rock scene in Pittsburgh back then. In 1986 that my friend Will Shepler who is also in New York Blood joined Agnostic Front and became their drummer. A few years later I moved to New York. Yes, casting is very important and I wish I could put everyone I know in my movies, but it's just not realistic. I like characters and don't like pretty perfect looking people. Whenever I see someone with a fucked up face I always think they would be great in a movie. Life experience is also very important and I can read people fairly well. I usually just go with my gut and if I say no in my head even once it's a no.

Talk about your directing style. Although you had a few veteran actors involved, most were amateurs. How do you create that authentic feel from the actors?

My style is fairly simple since I never have a budget, but the most important thing to me is the story and casting. Like you said I had some veteran actors but most never acted before, when you work with people who never acted before the first thing they are going to have a problem with is remembering the lines and delivering them with some sort of authenticity. My way of working around this is to just make sure they understand what needs to be accomplished in the scene. Once they understand that we are home free and I have them say what they feel comfortable saying in the context of the scene and as long as we accomplish what needs to be accomplished in the scene it works and they come off credible. There are some scenes in the movie where Vinnie said his lines exactly as they were written and those scenes are great. In others he says it his way and it also works great. I did the same thing with many of the other actors and it worked well because they felt comfortable. As long as you accomplish what needs to be accomplished in the scene and the actors come off as believable it works because they feel comfortable.

Shooting in and around the streets of New York, in the market, around Little Italy and all that just added to the look, feel and authenticity. How did you go about finding locations and how did you deal with the public when you’re shooting?

We just gorilla it. I never had a permit in my life. If I want to shoot somewhere I just do it. New York is a great place to shoot and you never run out of great locations. If we need a bar we have friends that own bars, the same goes for the restaurants and most of the locations. The only time I had a problem was when we shot a quick scene at Sing Sing prison. They don't allow any photography and I almost got arrested.

There was also some great gore, very Scorsese-esque for me. Talk about using gore in a gangster movie.

The make up FX were done by Brian Spears who is a great up and coming Make up FX guy here in New York. I met him at a Chiller Convention a few years ago, he worked on Midnight Mass with Marvin and I got in touch with him a few years later and asked him to do the movie, I think he did a great job and I look forward to working with him again. My favorite movies have always been horror movies and gangster movies so the mix just came natural. Believe me if I had the bread I would do a flow blown horror film. The horror genre is without a doubt my genre of choice.

Tell us about some of the hurdles you overcame to get the film done. Any advice you can pass on to other indie filmmakers who might be just setting out to make a film.

The most important thing for me is to just do it. I can't tell you how many people talk about making movies and never get in done. Write a script, cast it, get some actors and locations and just go. I always say there are two kinds of people in the world, those who talk about it and those who do it. I'm both.

Talk about the festival circuit, how did “New York Blood” do? Is the festival circuit something that every indie horror filmmaker should consider doing?

We won best horror at The New York Independent Film and Video Festival. Festivals are great but it's important to submit to the ones who appreciate the type of film you've made. New York Blood would never get accepted to a festival like Sundance or Tribeca. It's just not realistic. Submission fee's are heavy so don't waste your money on the big festivals if your making a no budget movie.

Tell us about the process of finding distribution. How did that go and what insight could you pass on to other filmmakers who are looking for distribution?

Brain Damage released my last movie "I Hate You" on a compilation called "Serial Psychos" I liked how they marketed the movie so they were the ones I thought of immediately. To me the coolest scene right now is the independent horror scene. There are plenty of distributors out there who will release a low budget horror movie and the fan base is strong. It kind of reminds me of the Punk Rock and Hardcore scene. It's not high tech expensive stuff but the people in these genres have something interesting to say. I'm constantly surprised at how much people can do on a limited budget. It's very inspiring.

Where can people find out more about “New York Blood” or, better yet, buy a copy?

It's in most mom and pop stores and few of the bigger chains but the easiest way to purchase New York Blood is online. It's on Amazon.com, buy.com and most of the horror sites. People can also check out my myspace page for updates on what's happening, myspace.com/nicktheknife666

Talk about the indie horror genre and indie filmmaking. Where do you feel it is now and where do you see it going?

I feel like this is a very unique time for filmmakers, it's the first generation of the DYI movie and I know some great filmmakers are going to come out of this scene just like the filmmakers who came out of the independent scene in the 60's and 70's. If you don't make movies how can you expect to learn and find a producer who can help you raise money so you can move on to the next level?

What’s next for you? Do you have any projects in the works?

Right now I'm working on a documentary about an Underground Fight Club here in New York City. It's called Welcome to the Underground and it should be available on DVD this fall. Then in the summer I plan on doing a horror movie.

Monday, February 16, 2009

New Horror Out on DVD Today: The Midnight Meat Train pulls into the station...

Well, "Friday the 13th" did own the box office weekend and, not only that, it far exceeded expectations. I think they originally thought it would bring in around $25 - $30Million, but it ended up bringing in around $42.2Million to lead the record setting weekend. I think this is both good and bad, I'll tell you why. The good thing is, it's always a positive when an R-rated horror movie leads the weekend, it just reaffirms that there's a market for these films. The bad thing is, it's a remake. As long as it's remakes that win weekends, they'll stick to remakes and not give new, edgier films a chance. Take "Midnight Meat Train" for example, which comes out on DVD this week. The guys behind the film fought SO hard to get it a major theatrical release, but couldn't. The title changed, the release dates changed and an online petition was formed... and, in the end, it got a minor theatrical release and now comes out on DVD. Even though it's from Clive Barker's "Books of Blood", it's got a good cast, good director AND it's pretty f'ing good film... it gets no big release, no big weekend. "Friday the 13th" will just reaffirm to the studios that they should be releasing remakes, with their built in audiences, theatrically, and the edgier shit goes straight to DVD. Anyhow, let's look at what comes out this week and, as usual, you can see the trailers on our Youtube page or you can check them out on Amazon by clicking on the title.

To continue what I was saying above, "The Midnight Meat Train" was one of the more talked about horror films of the year and with good reason. It's the first film out of Clive Barker's "Books of Blood", it was helmed by the acclaimed, award winning Japanese director Ryuhei Kitamura, it has a great cast, including Vinnie Jones, Brooke Shields and Bradley Cooper and, it's an f'ing violent and gory ride. I saw it not too long ago and, personally, I don't think you'll be disappointed. Although it is a bit slow to get going, there's some great gore, Vinnie Jones is fantastic and there's a classic Clive Barker ending. You're a horror fan, you probably already know about this film and you know you're going to check it out, so... what are waiting for?

"Feast III: The Happy Finish" is the third entry into the "Feast" trilogy, which all started with writers Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton, plus director John Gulager, winning the third season of Project Greenlight in 2006. All three of them have kept their careers alive by pumping these out and, even though I haven't seen THIS installment, I thought "Feast II: Sloppy Seconds" was great and this film picks up right where II left off... where Honey Pie is killed by one of the creatures and the other survivors are saved by the mysterious prophet, Short Bus Gus, who can control the monsters. He leads them into the sewers as they travel to the big city and, along the way, they get help from karate expert, Jean-Claude Seagal. Oh, did I mention that there's a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor involved in these? And lots of gore... lots and lots of gore. Great series.

"Quarantine", from director John Erick Dowdle, starring Jennifer Carpenter, of "Dexter" fame, is a remake of the Spanish horror film "REC". "REC", as in 'record', is an awesome film that needs to be seen and I haven't seen this version yet, so I can't really comment. However, it DID get a decent marketing push from Sony Pictures and did alright in the theaters, grossing around $40Million off of a $12Million budget. It's about a doomsday-type virus that breaks loose in a building and the people that end up isolated in it. There were certain religious aspects to the first film (the virus was formed by an agent of the Vatican who was trying to isolate a virus that he believed to be the biological cause of demonic possession), but I'm not sure if they got rid of that aspect for this film... anyhow, should be worth checking out.

"Alien Raiders" tore up the festival circuit and was quite talked about... I saw it last week and it is pretty good. It's from Ben Rock, who was a production designer on "Blair Witch". He then followed that up by writing a directing some television specials, including: "Curse of the Blair Witch", "The Burkittsville 7" and "Shadow of the Blair Witch". He also directs TV and viral internet projects, some of which were projects for "Hellboy" and Audi. This film is the first feature film that he's directed and, like I said, it's won him various awards from the horror festival circuit.

Lastly, I'm not sure if "Screamers: The Hunting" has much to do with the 1995 classic, "Screamers". Actually, I'm not sure if the 1995 film "Screamers" is even a classic, but I liked it a lot. The original was from Christian Duguay and was written by Philip Dick and Dan O'Bannon... this one gives Dick credit for the original story, but it's written by Tom Berry and directed by Sheldon Wilson. It seems a little weird to make a sequel 15 years later, especially when the original would have mere 'cult' status, at best... but, hey. Whatever... that's cool. I liked the first one enough to give this a chance.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Film Fest Friday the 13th: Women of Horror, Paranoia and ACEFEST

It's Friday the 13th and the new "Friday the 13th" comes out today. It's a big day. What sucks is, I'm heading out of town for the weekend and won't have time to check it out until Monday the 16th or Tuesday the 17th. Both dates don't have the same ring... Anyhow, I think it's going to do alright, box office-wise - it'll lead the weekend, for sure. I also think that it'll be controversial for fans of the series. There's a lot of questions, like... I was just discussing how, as far as we can tell, it's sort of like an amalgamation of the first three, right? How's it going to work? I mean, part 1 - it was the Mom. Part 2 - He wore a bag on his head. Part 3 - He got the mask. So, if this is the beginning, plus he's wearing a mask and it's not his Mom doing the killing... what are they going to throw out of the story and what are they going to try to explain? Too much speculation, gotta go see it and I'm filled with nervous anticipation... I mean I was raised on Jason and Freddy.

Anyhow, here's some stuff going on in the festival world...

Alright, it's lady's night tonight... at the Horror Society Film Festival. Nope, no free drinks or piles of horny dudes. They just want your films. They're looking to showcase your work, whether you're a director, producer, writer or lead actor. It's a program they're doing called "Women of Horror" and it'll take place in Chicago at the Portage Theater. Basically, the Horror Society has different themes and, as they're saying on their event page, it's Lady's Night. Here's a link to the submission form and here's a link the event page on Myspace.

The Paranoia Horror and Sci-Fi Convention & Film Festival is closing their submissions this week... if not today, by the end of the weekend. Soon, anyhow. We did an interview with the festival director, Shane Russeck, not too long ago, and he gave a lot of insight into what's going on and why you should head down there. Feel free to re-read that interview by clicking on this link, it's a good read. It should be a good time and I'm thinking of heading down to it, myself.

The last thing that I'll bring to your attention is ACEFEST. Unfortunately, I can't tell you much more than that because all their website says right now is "Please bare with us as we give our website a fresh new look for the 2009 season". It also says that they'll begin taking submissions on Feb 17, 2009, so check back soon, I'm sure they'll have something new up. As far as what they're about, it looks like they're about focusing solely on American-made works and providing an exclusive forum for domestic film and video. ACE stands for American Cinematic Experience, if you're interested.

So, there you go. Have a great weekend and we'll see you next week...

Thursday, February 12, 2009

So, you want to be a Hollywood director?

I remember when I was in film school, there was a certain Hollywood director who came in to talk with us and he opened up his speech by asking the crowd something to the effect of, "raise your hand if you want to be a Hollywood director". Sure enough, almost everyone raised their hand... He replied to that with, "Have a back-up plan, chances are it's not going to happen". At the time I thought, "What a prick", but the truth is... he was right. To the best of my knowledge, no one that I went to film school with is now a "Hollywood director". Sure, there's a lot of success stories, but no one who would be mentioned in the trade papers or anything. I think the most successful guys were the guys who did technical stuff; camera operators, sound guys... you can make a good career doing that. In fact, one of my film school buddy's started as a camera guy on reality shows, moved up to being DP and he's now directing the odd show. On the flip side, most of the guys who just wanted to be directors, still just want to be directors, but I digress...

That was then, this is now... check out this article that I just read in Forbes on Alan Horn, the guy who runs Warner Bros. They're basically saying that, to make money these days, they have to make half the movies at twice the cost. They require almost all movies to be 'tent-pole' movies, like "Dark Knight" or "Harry Potter". They require the ability to have a sequel, video game tie-ins, merchandise, etc... Now, juxtapose that with what we're seeing out of the indie world... especially considering the fact that most studios have stopped making what THEY call indie films - those $5 - $20Million dollar "indie" films are done, the market is WAY over saturated with that shit and they're not going to be able to compete for screen time against the studios, especially knowing that the studios collude with the theater owners, but whatever... The point is, once again, the gap between Hollywood and TRUE indie film widens, yet again. So, how are you supposed to be seen in this industry? How are you going to 'make it'? How are you supposed to compete?

The easy answer is, don't. There's a long list of companies, big and small, who gained success by doing the complete opposite of what the guy who dominated the market was doing. The fact is, embrace the fact that you can do whatever the fuck you want and give up the dream that you're going to be the next Scorsese, Del Toro or John Waters. In all honesty, do you want to be filthy rich and famous or do you want to make films? If it's just about making enough dough to get by and make films, great. You're past the first step. Now that you've come to terms with that, remember that Hollywood HAS to be PG-13, they have to cater to everyone... YOU don't. You should be doing what they can't do. You need to find a particular, little niche and be the BEST shit in that genre. I don't give a shit if it's MMA related gore films. If it is, go make a film about a group of MMA fighters in a gang war, who happen to all be cannibalistic werewolves, I don't know. The point is, it's WAY better to be the BEST in a small, little niche, than it is to make another film that tries to cater to everyone. Go crazy, be fucked up, do something that's WAY out there. It's better to be noticed for something that's insane and ridiculous, than to not get noticed at all. Remember, Scorsese made it because he OWNED that gritty, New York gangster scene, Del Toro OWNED the Mexican horror scene and John Waters OWNED fucked up, retarded films that made no sense to anyone.

So, go find YOUR niche and OWN it... maybe you'll get noticed. Maybe it'll lead to a job directing a "Hollywood" film, who knows? But, I promise you that just doing what everyone else is doing will lead you nowhere.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Interview with Doug Hutchison, the guy behind "Vampire Killers"

A few weeks ago, we introduced you to a new web-series called "Vampire Killers" and if you want to re-live that post, here's a link. So, I'm not going to get into what the show's about and all that, as it's all covered in that last post, but I am going to continue from where that last post left off. I told you I was going to get in touch with the guy behind it and we did... and we had a chance to discuss the project with him.

First off, the guy behind the series is Doug Hutchison and he's an established actor in Hollywood, with a reoccuring role in "Lost" and a part in the recent "Punisher: War Zone", to mention just a couple of things that he's doing. He's also a forward thinking filmmaker, delving into a territory that a lot of people are afraid of, digital distribution. Now, if you're a regular reader, you'll know that I talk about new forms of distribution all the time... in fact, I usually talk about how people need to stop thinking of the movie theater as the pinnacle of this pyramid and they need to start thinking of their films as content, not 'movies'. Well, that's just what Doug's doing and I, for one, will be keeping a close eye on where this goes, as I think the whole concept and idea is fairly groundbreaking. If you're interested in the future of what entertainment could look like and you want some insight into how it might get there, this is a post that you need to read...


First off, tell us a bit about yourself. You’ve clocked a lot of hours in front of the camera, but what are your ‘behind the camera’ influences and what brought you into the world of indie horror filmmaking?

I'VE BEEN ACTING [PROFESSIONALLY] FOR 22 YEARS. SO, YEAH, I GUESS YOU COULD SAY I'VE CLOCKED A FEW HOURS IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA! MY DREAM, HOWEVER, WAS NEVER TO BE AN ACTOR, EXCLUSIVELY. I'VE ALWAYS BEEN CREATIVE; PLAYING GUITAR, IN AND OUT OF ROCK BANDS, WRITING POETRY, SCREENPLAYS, TEACHING, DIRECTING, ETC. I THINK THE CLINCHER FOR ME [RE: BEHIND THE CAMERA ASPIRATIONS] WAS SEEING "SLING BLADE" 13 YEARS AGO. BILLY BOB THORNTON HIT A GRAND SLAM. I WAS FLOORED. HERE WAS A B-LIST ACTOR WHO COULDN'T GET ARRESTED IN HOLLYWOOD AND SUDDENLY HE WAS A QUADRUPLE THREAT: ACTOR, DIRECTOR, WRITER, AND PRODUCER. HE FUCKING DID IT, MAN ... AND I RESPECT THAT. I GUESS, IN RETROSPECT, THORNTON WAS MY ULTIMATE INSPIRATION [EVEN THOUGH HE'S NOT ONE OF MY FAVORITE ACTORS]. HE DID IT HIMSELF. IT MADE AN IMPRESSION ON ME. NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER OF INVENTION. THORNTON GOT DOWN TO IT, CREATED A PASSION PROJECT, FIGURED OUT HOW TO DO IT ON HIS OWN TERMS, AND KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE FUCKIN' BALLPARK.

Film School: Yes or No?

NO. I DID A BRIEF STINT AT THE JUILLIARD SCHOOL [FOR ACTING] BEFORE BAILING AFTER 5 MONTHS. BUT NO FILM SCHOOL.

Where did you get the idea to do “Vampire Killers”?

FROM COLLECTING "THE TOMB OF DRACULA" COMICS AS A KID, READING ANNE RICE'S NOVELS, AND DIGGING MOVIES LIKE "NOSFERATU", "THE ADDICTION", AND "THE HUNGER", I'VE ALWAYS HAD AN AFFINITY FOR THE VAMPIRE GENRE. "VAMPIRE KILLERS" WAS INITIALLY CONCEIVED AS A TV SERIES AND THEN MY GOOD FRIEND, MARCO MANNONE [CO-WRITER AND PLAYING THE ROLE OF TRAVIS IN "VK"], SUGGESTED TURNING IT INTO A WEB-SERIES. I THOUGHT IT WAS AN ENTICING IDEA AND THE PERFECT VENUE FOR SOMETHING LIKE "VAMPIRE KILLERS". I WANTED TO SHOOT IT DARK, GRITTY, SEXY, AND WITH NO HOLDS BARRED.

How did you go about securing financing and what’s the approx budget?

I WAS THE FINANCING! WE SHOT ALL 6 EPS, CREATED THE WEBSITE, AND ALL THE TRIMMINGS [PHOTOGRAPHY, GRAPHICS, INITIAL MARKETING, ETC.] FOR APPROX $30K. MY "VK" PARTNER, TIM BALDINI, AND I ARE GOING TO TAKE MEETINGS WITH POTENTIAL SPONSORS IN THE HOPES OF RAISING MORE $$$ TO KEEP THE SERIES GOING IN '09. WE'RE ALSO HOPING TO GET INTO THE ROOM WITH MICHAEL EISNER, THE PURVEYOR OF WEB-SERIES. I THINK, IF EISNER CATCHES WIND OF "VK", IT'LL TOTALLY TURN HIS CRANK. HE'S, APPARENTLY, LOOKING FOR NEW INTERNET-SERIES TO PRODUCE.

What do you shoot on… and how do you go about filming a web series? Have you shot the whole thing or are you shooting it in chunks? Is it more like shooting a feature or episodic tv?

WE SHOT THE FIRST 6 EPS ON HDV OVER THE COURSE OF TWO WEEKENDS [4 DAYS]. MY DIRECTOR, TIM [GOD BLESS HIM!], CUT IT ALL TOGETHER, ADDED SOUNDTRACK, AND DID EVERYTHING POST. I CALLED IN A LOT OF FAVORS [CAST, CREW, DESIGNERS, MARKETERS, ETC.]. THAT'S WHY MY DREAM IS TO SNAG A SPONSOR. SO WE CAN GENERATE ENOUGH $$$ SO THAT I CAN PAY MY PEEPS WHEN WE CONTINUE THE SERIES. IT WAS TOTAL GUERRILLA-STYLE NON-INSURED FILM-MAKING. WE FOUND LOCATIONS AND JUST DOVE IN [PRAYING THE COPS WOULDN'T SHUT US DOWN!]. WE WERE LUCKY. VERY LUCKY.

Talk about the decision to distribute online. When and why did you decide to take this route?

MICHAEL EISNER PREDICTED -- ABOUT 10 YEARS AGO -- THAT THE INTERNET WOULD CHANGE THE FACE OF THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY. HE WAS RIGHT. THE INTERNET IS THE WILD WILD WEST OF THE 21ST CENTURY. ANYTHING GOES. WE'RE BUILDING A GLOBAL AUDIENCE WITH "VAMPIRE KILLERS". VIRALLY. IT'S EXCITING. IT'S THE NEW FRONTIER. AND BEST OF ALL: I DON'T HAVE TO DEAL W/NETWORK STUDIO EXECS BREATHING DOWN MY NECK. I CAN MAINTAIN ABSOLUTE CREATIVE CONTROL.

Tell us a bit about the series, what’s the plot? Where is it now and where is the series going?

VAMPIRE KILLERS IS ABOUT A GANG OF FOUR 20-SOMETHINGS SOLICITED BY A FACELESS ENTITY TO HUNT A CABAL OF 13 FEMALE VAMPIRES IN AND AROUND THE L.A. AREA. IN THE FIRST 6 EPS [SEASON 1], WE FOLLOW THE VAMP KILLERS AS THEY TRACK CHARLOTTE ROSS, THE QUEEN VAMPIRE, WHO HAS MURDERED ONE OF THEIR OWN IN COLD BLOOD. SEASON 2 WILL OPEN WITH AMY MADISON [THE GIRL IN THE HOTEL BATHROOM IN EPS 1 AND 2 WHO WAS RAVAGED BY CHARLOTTE] AS SHE FINDS HERSELF LOST IN THE UNDERWORLD OF VAMPIRES.

You have a lot of good looking women in the show, most of whom are wearing next to nothing. As someone who’s been in the industry for a while, plus is a professional actor, how did you go about casting? What insight could you give to up and coming filmmakers on the casting process?

I WAS THE CASTING DIRECTOR FOR "VAMPIRE KILLERS". TOUGH JOB AUDITIONING HUNDREDS OF GORGEOUS WOMEN [BUT SOMEBODY'S GOTTA DO IT!]. FRANK DARABONT [DIRECTOR OF "THE GREEN MILE"] TOLD ME THAT 80% SUCCESS OF ANY FILM IS IN THE CASTING. I TOOK THAT TO HEART WHEN CASTING "VK". MY BEST ADVICE IS TO: KEEP AN OPEN MIND. FOR EXAMPLE, I INITIALLY CONCEIVED THE ROLE OF CHARLOTTE FOR A DARK-HAIRED, VOLUPTUOUS, CURVACEOUS ACTRESS [MONICA BELUSHI-ESQUE]. ANIA [MORE WAIF-LIKE THAN BODACIOUS] WALKED INTO THE ROOM AND BLEW ALL OF THE OTHER ACTRESSES AND MY PRE-CONCEIVED NOTIONS AWAY. SHE WAS/IS PERFECT.

Episode 2 was banned from Youtube … talk about why that happened and your thoughts on it.

HONESTLY, I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHY YOU-TUBE BANNED US BECAUSE I'VE SEEN A GAJILLION YOU-TUBE VIDS THAT APPEAR FAR MORE GRAPHIC, VIOLENT, BLOODY, AND SEXUAL IN CONTENT THAN OURS. IT WAS A TOTAL HEAD-SCRATCHER, BUT SOMETHING I DECIDED TO USE TO OUR BENEFIT. NOW, IF YOU VISIT YOU-TUBE TO WATCH EP #2 [CENSORED], YOU CAN WATCH UP TO THE POINT OF WHERE WE THINK U-TUBE BECAME UNCOMFORTABLE [AMY BOUND AND GAGGED IN THE MOTEL BATHROOM] AND THEN IT STOPS DEPICTING A DISCLAIMER AND NAVIGATING VIEWERS TO OUR WEBSITE TO ENJOY THE UNCENSORED VERSION. YOU-TUBE'S BAN ACTUALLY SPIKED OUR HITS.

A lot of Hollywood is very interested in this method of distribution and the question on everyone’s mind is … how do you make money by distributing your project online. So, how do you make money through online distribution?

SPONSORSHIP. IT ALL COMES DOWN TO ADVERTISING. ON TELEVISION, IT'S COMMERCIALS. FOR EXAMPLE, ADVERTISERS PAY NBC TO ADVERTISE DURING "LOST". THE MORE PEOPLE WHO WATCH "LOST", THE MORE ADVERTISERS WANT TO ADVERTISE TO THOSE PEOPLE. SO THE MORE POPULAR "LOST" BECOMES, THE MORE ADVERTISERS WANT TO PAY NBC BIG BUCKS TO ADVERTISE THEIR PRODUCTS. IT'S THE SAME ON THE INTERNET. IF "VAMPIRE KILLERS" ATTRACTS AN AUDIENCE, WE CAN THEN SEDUCE SPONSORSHIP/ADVERTISERS AND, ULTIMATELY, GET PAID TO SHOOT MORE "VAMPIRE KILLERS". EVERYBODY WINS. THE SPONSORS ADVERTISE [AND MAKE $$$], "VAMPIRE KILLERS" CONTINUES [AND MAKES $$$], AND THE AUDIENCE GETS ENTERTAINMENT [FOR FREE!].

If I’m a filmmaker and I’m considering creating a webbased project, such as this… what advice could you pass on? What sorts of stories work, how long should each episode be, how do you market it?

EVERYTHING COMES DOWN TO STORY AND CONTENT. IF YOU HAVE AN INTRIGUING, ALLURING, AND COMPELLING STORY TO TELL, WELL, YOU'RE GOLDEN. EVERYTHING ELSE WILL FALL INTO PLACE. AS FOR WEBISODES, THE GENERAL RULE OF THUMB IS APPROX 2 - 3 MINS PER EP [BUT RULES ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN]. MARKETING ON THE INTERNET IS A NO-BRAINER: U-TUBE, ETC. IT'S ABSOLUTELY FREE GLOBAL MARKETING. OTHERWISE, IF YOU HAVE THE MEANS TO CREATE YOUR OWN WEBSITE, DO IT. YOUR WEBSITE IS YOURS. ANYTHING GOES.

Where can people find out more about “Vampire Killers” and what can people do to help support the project?

YOU CAN VISIT OUR WEBSITE @ VAMPIREKILLERS.TV. IF IT TURNS YOUR CRANK, THE BEST WAY YOU CAN SUPPORT "VK" IS TO SPREAD THE WORD ... VIRALLY. THE MORE PEEPS WHO HIT OUR SITE, THE MORE NUMBERS WE CAN PRESENT TO POTENTIAL SPONSORS, AND THE MORE LIKELY WE CAN CONTINUE SHOOTING THE SERIES.

Talk about the indie horror scene... Where do you feel it is now and where do you see it going?

THE INDIE HORROR SCENE IS IN THE BEST POSITION EVER BECAUSE THERE'S AN ETERNAL UNQUENCHABLE DESIRE FOR HORROR AND THE ABILITY TO MAKE HORROR [GOOD HORROR] @ SUBTERRANEAN BUDGETS IS ABSOLUTELY FEASIBLE/POSSIBLE. YOU CAN LITERALLY TAKE A VIDEO CAMERA AND MAKE A MEMORABLE SUCCESSFUL HORROR FLICK ON A VERY MODEST BUDGET. IF YOU HAVE ANY DOUBTS/RESERVATIONS, REVISIT "NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD". AND THEN REMEMBER "BLAIR WITCH PROJECT" 10 YEARS AGO? BOTH WERE SHOT ON SHOESTRING BUDGETS. HORROR COMPELS ... AND IT'S A GENRE THAT CAN SUCCEED ON SUBTERRANEAN BUDGETS.

What’s next for you? Do you have any projects in the works?

I'M PLAYING A RECURRING ROLE ON "LOST" THIS SEASON. STARRING IN A MOVIE CALLED "GIVE 'EM HELL, MALONE" [WITH THOMAS JANE AND VING RHAMES] PREMIERING SOMETIME IN '09. "PUNISHER: WAR ZONE" WILL BE OUT ON DVD ON 3/17/09. HOPING TO PRODUCE/DIRECT MY ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY, "DREAMBIRDS", CONTINUE TEACHING MY ACTING WORKSHOPS/CLASSES ["THE ART OF STILLNESS"] ... AND, OF COURSE, TAKE "VAMPIRE KILLERS" TO THE NEXT LEVEL!

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Interview with Mark Colegrove, director of "Isle of the Damned"

A little horror history for you... and, if I'm wrong on anything here, I'm sure someone will let me know. Giallo horror is a particular style of horror that came out of Italy in the 60's and 70's. The most famous Giallo director would be Dario Argento or maybe Mario Bava, as he's credited with making the first of the Giallo films... in any case, the first Giallo films were based on Italian pulp novels, but what made them interesting was the fact that they were really the first horror films to have a contemporary setting, meaning they took place in present day and the killer was of that time. Some classic Giallo films would be Argento's "The Cat o' Nine Tails", Bava's "Twitch of the Death Nerve" and Fulci's "The New York Ripper". The success of these films is what launched Italian horror and gave us a lot of the crazy shit that people DO remember, stuff like Fulci's "Zombi", Argento's "Suspiria" and Umberto Lenzi's "The Man from the Deep River". Actually, you may not remember "The Man from the Deep River", but it was the film that sparked the Italian cannibal genre. In 1980, the Italian cannibal genre peaked when Ruggero Deodato came out with "Cannibal Holocaust", which was easily the most well known film of the sub-genre... but it was definitely not the last Italian cannibal film to be made. In fact, I know it's not the last because I just saw "Isle of the Damned", from Mark Colegrove and Mark Leake, about a week ago.

There's a couple of things about "Isle of the Damned" that make it semi-genius. First off, plain and simple, it's a great homage to the Italian cannibal films. Not once does it turn and give a nod to the screen, as if to say... this is a farce. It opens like an authentic cannibal film and it ends like an authentic cannibal film. In fact, after a few minutes, you'll feel like you've managed to get your hands on some lost gem from the 70's. The other ingenious aspect was that they put it together as if it WAS a lost gem from the 70's... they made up a fictional director, Antonello Giallo, and set the whole thing up as if it was a lost film of his that just happened to resurface. Is this something that mainstream film fans are going to watch or enjoy? Probably not. However, if you're into your horror history or if you're into the Italian horror films of the 60's and 70's, it's something you have to see to believe... a great piece of independent filmmaking that's remarkably original and entertaining.

We had the chance to discuss the film with Mark Colegrove, the director, and find out just what the hell he was thinking.

Tell us a bit about yourself. What are your influences (aside from Italian Cannibal Films) and what brought you into the world of indie horror filmmaking?

I love the early Peter Jackson films... Bad Taste, Braindead, etc., and of course the Evil Dead movies, and Troma films. Horror-comedy has always been one of my favorite genres... there's something inherently sick and wrong when you turn a disembowelment into a slapstick gag, and that's what I always loved about those films. But besides horror films, I was a child of the 80s, so I've always been a fan of Star Wars, Indiana Jones... some of the classic big budget 80's adventure movies. With Isle of the Damned, I wanted to do a cannibal movie that had some of the quicker pacing of an Indiana Jones film... so I often refer to it as a poor man's Indiana Jones with sleaze and gore.

Film School: Yes or No?

Yes, I did go to film school... I think a good knowledge of some of the basic rules of filmmaking is crucial to making a good movie. Whether you get that knowledge from film school, from books, or just practical experience is entirely up to the individual, but I can say, like a musical instrument, it's something that you have to continually practice at to do well. Also, it's important to stay on top of the technology... things seem to be continuously changing these days.

Where did you get the idea for "Isle of the Damned"?

Leake based the script off of the genre conventions of several of the old Italian cannibal films. Isle is also a sequel to our first film, Pleasures of the Damned, so it has some basis in the storyline of that film, but it's not completely required viewing to enjoy Isle. The opening scene brings the audience up to speed.

What was the approx budget and how did you secure financing?

I think it was around 10K... I'm scared to tally up the receipts. We put up all the money ourselves... which I will never do again unless I hit the lotto.

It appeared to be shot on 16mm or even super 8, but I'm more wrong than I am right. What did you shoot on and how long was the shoot?

We actually shot on MiniDV. We used the Panasonic DVX100b with an SG Pro focal adaptor. The newer technology finally gave us the look of film without the expense. It was about a 2 year shoot, off and on, since we could only film during the summers.

Talk about shooting an homage to Italian cannibal films... after five minutes, I actually forgot it was a parody. What kinds of things did you do to ensure the look and feel was authentic.

We studied the films for awhile. Leake's script was peppered with some of the traditional "rules" for cannibal films. The films always start in the city before moving to the Jungle, they always juxtapose the civil man with the savage, and of course there's always a castration scene. Before we began shooting I watched all the cannibal films again, and looked specific notes on certain "stylistic" camera movements, and other elements that were sort of "unintentionally funny." Of course, the music was also a big part of it, and Paul Joyce did an amazing job with Isle's score, which was modeled after a typical Goblin or Fabio Frizzi soundtrack.

There was some great gore, too... you had the Romero-esque stomach rips, a decapitation or two, but my favorite was the dead guy with a spike through his mouth at the cannibal ceremony. Talk about creating the special effects and what was your favorite?

My favorite effect was probably the face rip off towards the end of the film. We had a great crew of guys working on the FX: Shane Vannest, Ian Potter, and Leake and myself to a lesser extent. We would stay up until 2 or 3 in the morning on the weeknights and roll into work the next day like zombies. I really learned a lot from Shane and Ian about making casts, but I think I also wasn't prepared for how much work goes into what sometimes is only a 2 second shot in the finished film.

Talk about the location, it worked perfect. How did you secure it?

Most of the wooded area was public property, so we never needed a permit for that, although we did get hassled a bit by some of the folks that lived nearby, but it was never that big of a deal. The mansion is a famous one in the area, that were nice enough to let us film for a relatively small fee... we ran through and shot everything inside very quickly because we were paying by the hour. The only other location that we needed permission was the cannibal village, which we actually shot in a cow pasture.

Tell us about some of the hurdles you overcame to get the film done. Any advice you can pass on to other indie filmmakers who might be just setting out to make a film.

The biggest obstacles were time and money. It took 3 summers to complete the shooting, and it was hard to work around everyone's busy schedules. If one person couldn't make it it would screw up a week of shooting. Also, if we were to forget one of the fake moustaches, that would also screw things up. It just took a lot of patience... we wanted to get it right, so in the 2nd summer we actually reshot some stuff that didn't come out quite right the first time around. In the 3rd summer, the film had mostly been edited already, and we realized there were a few embellishments that it needed, so we filled in some gaps with a couple more shoot days. I wanted to take our time and make the best possible film. Obviously we called in a lot of favors, and we're tremendously in debt to our great cast and crew! So my advice to any aspiring filmmakers is to start by doing some shorts... it's not as big of an investment (money or time) but can definitely give you the practical skills that you need.

Also, keep your locations simple, and don't schedule too many scenes that need a a lot of actors.

Did you enter festivals? If so, how did it do? Talk about the festival circuit, is it something that every indie horror filmmaker should consider doing?

We have entered a couple big fests... one we've already been rejected from, and Fantasia I'm waiting to hear back from... I'm not holding my breath though. We also entered a lot of smaller fests, mostly ones with no entry fee. I'm a little bit jaded on the festival experience, and I didn't want to go crazy submitting to a bunch of 'em. The average submission fee for a feature is $50, so by the time we've submitted to 10 fests, we're out about $500, with no guarantee that the film will play at any of them. Also, a lot of bigger fests will only screen it if it's an area premiere, which is total bullshit. It's not like EVERYONE that wanted to see it saw it on that ONE day that it ran.

Most mainstream movies run for weeks... most of these "independent" fests should do a better job of giving the little guy a chance at some exposure instead of being concerned with their own egos and being the first fest to screen a film. It's kind of similar to the whole pretentious music snob attitude "Oh I loved the Beatles before they were famous." These fests only like you if they're the ones that can claim to have discovered you.

So we went at it with a different approach. We've been four-walling the film a lot at various venues that already have a built in audience for this kind of sleaze. We've played at both the Washington and Savannah Psychotronic Film Society screenings for example. We've also been hitting horror conventions, bars, and rock clubs. The big difference is, instead of paying a fee to play the film, we get paid (although most times we spend more than we make on our bar tab.) We also sell the DVDs at a screening... most fests won't touch a film that's already out on DVD.

Tell us about the process of finding distribution. How did that go and what insight could you pass on to other filmmakers who are looking for distribution?

We decided to self-distribute it. These days, it's easy enough to press up some copies, list them on Amazon, sell them at the conventions, book the screenings (as mentioned above), and sell the foreign rights yourselves. I've seen some friends get screwed by some of these scumbag distributors of low-budget films... I know someone who is actually IN DEBT after having their movie distributed by one of the biggest companies out there.

Where can people find out more about "Isle of the Damned" or, better yet, buy a copy?

It will be available at the screenings, but March 31st is the official North American release... so check out Amazon, Diabolik DVD, Netflix, etc. Join our mailing list on direwitfilms.com to stay updated.

Talk about the indie horror genre, where do you feel it is now and where do you see it going?

Well, I think the fact that it's getting easier and easier for anybody to make a movie is both a blessing and a curse. The market gets saturated with a lot of crap that's for sure. I am really excited that we are able to self-distribute the film, and I'm looking forward to seeing how digital distribution (we've already streamed Isle online once) will become a new standard... I think more people are watching films on their computer than ever before (although the quality of the picture and sound isn't quite there yet). Also, the big push to put digital projectors in theatres, takes away the cost of a film print, and will hopefully help level the playing field a bit down the road, as it also opens up the possibilities for more programming in the theaters.

What's next for you? Do you have any projects in the works?

We're still heavily promoting Isle, but there are a couple things potentially coming down the pipeline. There's Soldiers of Sodom, Antonello Giallo's 1970 Nazi/Dinosaur film, and the direct sequel to Isle, City of the Damned. Right now we're just sort of talking, so we'll see how things go!