Indie Filmmakers, Check This Out...

I rarely look at the analytics for the site, but I just checked them and it's really interesting to see where our readers come from. Most readers come from North America, with the U.S. being the top and Canada being second... but we do have a fair amount of readers from the UK and abroad. We even have readers in Russia, Poland, Romania... kinda cool. What's really cool is that when you look at the U.S., specifically, there's only two states where not one person has checked out our site: Wyoming and Nebraska and that got me thinking... what the fuck is going on in Wyoming and Nebraska? Actually, that's not what I was thinking. What I was thinking was the fact that half of our U.S. readers come from New York and California, with about a third of the total US visitors coming from California alone. This makes sense, as New York City and Los Angeles both have huge indie film communities, but if you flip it, that means that HALF of our U.S. readers DON'T come from New York or L.A. Now, why does that matter?

Well, imagine you're an athlete from a small town. Imagine you're pretty good and you can beat everyone there at whatever sport it is that you play. What happens when you enter a state-wide tournament? What about a national tournament? An international tournament? Well, chances are, you're not going to be as good as you think you are. Now, if you're an indie filmmaker from a market that doesn't have a big indie film scene, the only real gauge of how good you are will come from entering festivals and watching stuff that gets distributed. There's really not a lot of support from the community, I'm guessing. When you're in a town like LA or New York, you can get into the scene and work with people, see other projects in production, watch other filmmakers films, discuss ideas and prop each other up, gaining success on the backs of each other. In a way, Dead Harvey tries to be just that, a community where we can learn from each other and make each other better... and I realized that we need to show more content. More clips, trailers to indie projects, behind the scenes stuff. I mean, you can read all you want, but film is a visual medium and you need to SEE what other people are doing. You can look at their production values, see how they make that look and learn from it.

Anyhow, that's why I went through my inbox and found a few clips and links that I wanted to pass on. Further, if you've got some clips of a project that you'd like to share, shoot me an email. I'd love to check it out, pass it on to our readers and get some discussion going.

First up, click HERE to be taken to The Vampire Film Festival's Youtube page. Not only do you get to vote on what goes into the festival, you can see the trailers for all the indie films that are entered. Pretty cool... "Thicker Than Water" is in there and it's an indie film that I highly recommend. I just watched it recently, great film. More importantly, though, you can see the quality of the films that are being submitted.

Next up, Gris Grimly, who we've featured a few times, has posted some behind the scenes stuff on his new short film called "Wounded Embark of the Lovesick Mind".

Here's the teaser for the film...



For the behind the scenes stuff, here's Webisode 1, Webisode 2, Webisode 3, Webisode 4 and, finally, Webisode 5. There's some pretty cool stuff in there, I definitely recommend checking them out.

Lastly, because I just got this, this morning... Go HERE to check out the latest on George Romero's new zombie flick. No clips or anything, it's just George Romero's Myspace page.

That's it for this week, have a good one and we'll see you next week!

Interview With Gris Grimly, producer and director of Ghoultown's "Mistress of the Dark" Video

I remember this particular day in film school… it was early in the program, probably first year. Maybe the first semester of the second year, I can’t recall. Whatever, not the point. The point is, we were all jammed in one of the smaller theaters and we had some guest speaker come in. I can’t even recall who he was. He started off by asking, “So, how many of you want to be feature film directors in Hollywood?” As you can imagine, almost everyone in the class raised their hands.

Now, what he was trying to demonstrate, and what was probably lost on everyone, is… chances are it’s not going to happen. By ‘not going to happen’, I don’t mean becoming a filmmaker. I mean joining that upper echelon of Hollywood. Think of the odds. How many other classrooms in how many other schools would the same percentage of hands go up? It doesn't take a boy genius to realize that the odds are stacked against us.

Now, film is an art, no question. However, it’s also a business... and if you want to get by, holding out for a studio to come around and ask you to make your opus ain't going to put food on the table. However, there’s lots of things that you can do that does pay the bills. And the more footage your shooting, the more stuff you’re making, the more doors you’re going to open. You can be shooting corporate videos, wedding videos, stuff for local TV, short films or even music videos. In fact, music videos are a great opportunity.

Just as there’s lots of up and coming filmmakers, there’s lots of up and coming bands. In today’s day and age, those bands need videos made and making music videos is a great way to get some practice, hone your skills and do something creative. I know that Brad recently went out and shot a music video, which you can find here. Anyhow, when I found out that Gris Grimly, the extremely talented writer/director of “Cannibal Flesh Riot!” (a film we covered some time ago - see here), had just done a music video for Texas Hellbilly rock band, Ghoultown, I wanted to know more.

Gris is one of those guys that oozes talent. He studied art, went on to do concept work for studios, while creating dark and twisted children’s books on the side. He then got into illustrating, as well as filmmaking. His first short film was the afore mentioned “Cannibal Flesh Riot!” and he went on to do some other shorts, plus make this video. The song is called “Mistress of the Dark”, after the legendary Elvira, who is actually in it. It was produced on next to no budget, but they managed to shoot at the Magic Castle in Hollywood and put together a great video. We had the pleasure of discussing the whole thing with Gris and if you’re interested in the music video scene, you should definitely give it a read. By the way, if you want to check out "Mistress of the Dark" by Ghoultown - here's a link to the video on Youtube.

So, last time we talked, we discussed your film “Cannibal Flesh Riot”, what have you been up to since then?

I have a problem with doing too much. I love working on fun inspirational art projects and I want to do it all. So I never turn anything down. I did some artwork for a few bands and finalized the Mistress of the Dark Music Video. But for the most part, I've been working on my new film Wounded Embark of the Lovesick Mind.

Tell us a bit about the “Mistress of the Dark” music video and how you got involved with the project.

Ghoultown did a song for my Cannibal Flesh Riot! compilation. Somewhere along the line, I thought it would be a good idea to do a music compilation to accompany the DVD of my film. They were one of the many bands that I sent the film to and one of the 16 bands that wrote and composed a song inspired by the film. A year or so down the line, they met up with Cassandra (Elvira) at a horror convention. She loved their music and they worked out a plan to write a theme song for Elvira. I'm not sure where the idea to do a music video came from, but they thought of me and CFR and asked if I would direct the video for them. I've already met with Cassandra and we've discussed briefly working together. So of course, how could I turn this opportunity down.

Talk about the process of creating a music video, how is different from film and how is it similar?

I learned alot from my first film. Even after that, my friends and I would get together, drink ourselves stupid and make little films. So between Cannibal Flesh Riot! and Mistress of the Dark, I learned quite a bit. I was much more prepared for the shoot. We shot quicker because we had to and made less mistakes. The difference between shooting a music video and a film is you have the rhythm of the song to contend to. This being my first music video, I didn't know the difficulty of directing narrative acting during the song. The scene where the band is performing on the variety show was easy. You just film the band performing the song. But to have them acting out a scene like crawling out of a television, knocking over Elvira, helping here up into your arms...AND THEN start singing on cue? It was challenging. That would be the part that really sets this music video apart from a film.

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

We shot on the HVX in 2 days. The band flew in on a Thursday night. They got in around 1 or 2 AM. We drank some beers and had a quick meeting. Slept for a couple hours. Got to the Magic Castle around 6am. I think Elvira showed up around 10:30. We shot at that location until around 5 or 6 pm. Then reconvened at my place, drank some beers and shot more footage. We woke up Saturday morning, cleaned out my garage and set dressed it like a country variety show stage. We shot the footage for the Har Har show until around 4 or 5. Then we had our wrap party.

The legendary Elvira, the subject of the song, is actually in the video. At what point did she get involved, what was it like working with her and… she looks pretty damn good for how old she must be. So, how old is she and does she look as good in person?

Like I mentioned, Elvira was involved from the start. She and i have had conversations about working on a project together. Then when she saw Ghoultown perform at a horror convention, she approached them about doing a song for her. She was amazing to work with. I can't say enough good things about her. You grow up mesmerized by someone on television, and then you meet them as an adult and find them to be a truly good person...that is a rare thing. She truly is amazing. How old is she? I don't know. There must be something wrong with the records because she can't be a day over 36.

A lot of up and coming bands approach up and coming filmmakers about getting involved in their music videos. Do you feel that doing them is something that is beneficial and could further a career?

I'm not sure if it would be beneficial or further my career. But if I like the band, if the project seems right, and if time allows, I would do it.

Talk a bit about what you feel makes a good music video.

I think there should be a good story told throughout the video. Making pretty pictures is one thing, but I like there to be something more than that to carry you through the song. Unless you're brilliant like Michel Gondry.

The process in distributing a film differs greatly from distributing a music video. How’s it going in that regard and what’s the goal, as far as getting the video out there?

We, as in Cassandra, Ghoultown and I, have decide to create a maxi-single CD/DVD. This will include a Ghoultown EP containing the Mistress of the Dark song, some remix versions and a couple other B-side tracks. The DVD will include the music video, a making of documentary, and many other great special features and easter eggs. There is a full episode of our very own Har Har show. This consists of three live performances from Ghoultown and a handful of cornfield jokes hosted by a hillbilly played by David Backhaus who played Stash in Cannibal Flesh Riot!. One of the easter egg clips comes from the Elvira archive. I think fans are really going to dig it.

Where can people check out the “Mistress of the Dark” music video?

Until the DVD comes out, you can see it on youtube. I'm not sure what else the band has planned to do with it.

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

Right now, I'm just working on finishing up Wounded Embark of the Lovesick Mind. It's another 30 minute short film I've wanted to do for a few years now. Although the idea started back when I was in college in 1996. Unlike CFR, this film is much more grounded in reality and has some extremely gory scenes sure not to disappoint. I'm also going to be illustrating Mary Shelley's Frankenstein which will be released in 2010.

Exclusive Interview with Gris Grimly, writer/director/artist of "Cannibal Flesh Riot"

This was a while ago now... but, I get home after, what was probably another long day, and I hit the mailbox. A few bills, junk mail and, thankfully, a screener. I open it up, like I usually do, on the elevator ride and as I walk down the hallway towards my condo, I hold in my hand the screener for Gris Grimly's "Cannibal Flesh Riot". Right off the bat, I'm stoked. First off, Grimly has put together an unreal package that, to my knowledge, hasn't really been done before. It's the size of a CD package, with a cover designed like a comic. However, when you open it up, the left hand side actually contains a comic book inspired by the film, and the case itself contains not only the DVD of the film, but also a CD with music inspired by the film. Quite frankly, it's genius. Why more people don't put together packages like this, I have no idea. Now, if you don't know who Gris Grimly is, he's a fairly well known artist and storyteller, probably best known for his "darkly whimsical children's books". Actually, I think he's a hell of an artist and his talent shines through on this film, which has a really cool, unique look and feel. (including a few kick-ass claymation sequences) All in all, this is a great package and definitely worth your time. We had the pleasure of discussing the project with Grimly and he has lots of advice and insight to offer...

Tell us a bit about yourself. You’re an artist, writer, filmmaker and more. Where did you get started and what brought you to filmmaking?

Overall, I’m a storyteller. I don’t think I’m a great artist. I don’t think I’m a great designer or a great writer. My spelling and grammar is atrocious. But I’m a creative and unique storyteller. I think that is why people are drawn to what I do. Because it’s something new and intriguing.

I didn’t really have intentions of getting into film. As a child, I wanted to do creature and monster designs and effects. There for a while I wanted to make puppets for Jim Hensen. My first professional creative job was illustrating Monster Museum for Hyperion Press. After that, I started to get 1-2 book gigs a year.

Since the first book came out, I kept creating and coming up with new ideas, started a line of apparel and pursued different types of licensing. The filmmaking just happened.

Film School: Yes or No?

No. My schooling came from two books. “How to shoot a feature film under $10,000 and not go to jail” and “Rebel without a crew”.

Where did the idea for “Cannibal Flesh Riot” come from and what made you actually get off your ass and go make it?

“Cannibal Flesh Riot!” was originally going to be a comic book project with my friend Peter Sandorff, who played guitar for the Nekromantics. He wanted to release a limited edition 7-inch vinyl with music composed to a horror comic written and illustrated by me. I started the comic being influenced by old horror pulp and EC horror comics. The story of Stash and Hub evolved from that.

In the meantime, me and some friends were talking about making a movie. At the time, it was going to be a full feature about a werewolf shot in a friend’s backyard. But the concept and story started to get carried away with wire tricks and car crashes. I realized “we can’t do this!” I decided to keep it simple: two guys in a graveyard having a conversation. That was “Cannibal Flesh Riot!”. We were just wanting to do it for the fun of it with no thoughts of releasing it to the public. But after seeing the footage from the first day I thought, “This isn’t that bad.”

How did you go about securing financing and what was the approx. budget?

The budget was somewhere between $4000-$6000 for a 30 minute short. At that range, there is no need for securing funds. You just whip out your credit card and rack up debt.

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

We shot the film on the DVX100. The primary footage was shot in 7 days about 8-12 hour a day. This doesn’t include the days shooting the stop motion segments. That is a little more difficult to calculate.

There was a very distinct look and feel to the film. For me, it played out just like a comic and really had a comic book feel to it. Tell us about achieving that look.

The two main influences in the look of the film were old 50’s B horror films and EC horror comics. I also think that being a cartoonist, translating my thoughts into a live action film is going to have a comic book like feel. We just did our best to make the sets and props as well as the characters look like my artwork.

I f’ing LOVED the brief scenes of claymation. Tell me about the decision to go that route, especially because I noticed that you used brief bits of CG

The CG effects were an afterthought. As we were editing the footage, the idea of bugs crawling around on Stash came about. But the film was already shot. So we turned to a friend for CG. The moth was also going to be stop motion, but we found complications with getting the shot properly and also turned to CG. The stop motion shots in the film are for two reasons. One, to remain consistent to the look of old horror films. I’m a fan of Willis O’Brien’s and Ray Harryhausen’s work. This was a tribute to them. I’m a fan of animation techniques in general and will incorporate them into future projects if it fits. The other reason was budgetary. When you only have a few hundred dollars for the monster, you’re not going to make a 50-foot animatronics Gut Tongue. I would rather see it in stop motion using real meat than CG any day.

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?

We had a very little budget, which is always going to cause problems on set. I think there will always be hurdles no matter what budget you are working with, but it is much more difficult to overcome these hurdles when you can’t buy your way out. We shot in the LA area without a permit or insurance. This means we needed to shoot on friends’ private properties. So you could only imagine how limited our options were. We shot the graveyard scene in a friend’s backyard, which was next to a rooster farm. I didn’t think this would cause a problem since we were shooting mostly at night. But this was a cock fighting rooster farm and those cocks were pissed off all the time. They would crow all the time. We found a way around it as best we could. Most of it had to be cleaned up in post. Other than that, we ended up scheduling the shoot during the worst monsoon Los Angeles has seen in 20 years. We lost many shooting days because of this. But again, the best we could do is shoot the interior shots when it rained and the catch the exterior shots when the weather shined fondly on us.

After it was all said and done, what would you have done differently?

There are many things I would change. It’s not that I’m not proud of it. We made a kick ass film. But I learned a lot during the process. There were many times I wanted to go back and shoot something differently or go back and fix this or that. But sometimes, you just have to cut the umbilical chord of the bastard child and squeeze out the next one.

Talk about the festival circuit, how did that go? What did you learn? And what can you pass on to other filmmakers who’ve finished an indie horror and want to enter it into festivals?

I found out that festivals are extremely political…even some of the smaller ones. You have a better chance if you like the taste of shit on your lips. But that’s not my style.

Another thing that I loved was your choice in packaging the film up with a short comic adaptation, as well as a CD of music inspired by and from the film. It makes the film worth purchasing, as opposed to just watching in a festival or ripping off the internet. What were you thinking when you put it together?

I don’t always know what I’m thinking. Sometimes I think I’m mad. Especially when I was getting into producing a compilation CD. I listen to some horror punk and psychobilly music. I love when bands sing about old horror movies, mainly because I love old horror movies and there is that connection to the song. As I was finishing up the editing on the film, I thought it would be cool to ask friends from bands that I knew or worked with to do a song inspired by CFR for the limited edition run of the DVD. While a few of them agreed, most of them had to pass for whatever their reasons. Some of the bands were on a crazy tour. Some of the bands broke up. It wasn’t what I expected. But instead of giving up, I decided to approach a bunch of bands I liked, but didn’t know. Out of those were Mister Monster, Blitzkid, Ghoultown, Creature Feature and a few others. I sent them all copies of the film with a letter stating what I was doing and asked if they liked the film would they contribute a song for the compilation. It was a lot of hard work, but in the end, we put together a killer collection of music.

What about distribution? How’s that going? Are there any lessons that you would pass on to other indie filmmakers who’ve just finished a film?

Currently, the movie is only available as the self-distributed DVD through Mad Creator Productions. I’ve been asked about distribution, but I’m not interested in it right now. I’ve thought about doing a few other short films that could be released and distributed on DVD in the future as a collection.

Where can people find out more about “Cannibal Flesh Riot” or, better yet, buy a copy?

There is a “Cannibal Flesh Riot!” myspace. That is good enough for getting info. You can find that at cannibalfleshriot.com. The DVD, Score and other merchandise can be purchased at madcreator.com.

I feel that I should mention that you’re also an accomplished artist, clothing designer, etc. Where can people buy your art and other products?

Same place. madcreator.com

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

I’ve just finished up shooting a music video for the band Ghoultown. The song is called “Mistress of the Dark” and stars none other than Elvira. If that wasn’t awesome enough, the video was shot at the Magic Castle in Hollywood. I’m finishing it up now and plan on releasing it in October. The band and I are collaborating on a special CD/DVD release for early next year which will include the single “Mistress of the Dark” and a few other B-sides, the music video, making of documentary and some other kick ass special features. We are all looking forward to that. Then I will focus on the next thing, which will hopefully be the next short.