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Domenico Salvaggio, screenwriter, answers 11 Questions With Lisa

Eleven Questions With Lisa

I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing Domenico Salvaggio, screenwriter of the film DIE. After reading the novel that inspired the story and then watching the movie, I simply had to know more about how this film came to be. I have chosen not to edit Mr. Salvaggio’s responses because I really enjoyed reading every word. His generous nature and natural ability to tell a story really comes through and I think it’s lovely. A word of caution: there are some tiny spoilers in this interview. DIE is currently available on Netflix (hint hint). Enjoy.

 

1.Were you already familiar with the novel, The Dice Man, by Luke Rhineheart when the story idea for the film was brought to you?

I was familiar with THE DICE MAN novel but only on a superficial level in that a college professor had once mentioned it to me. I was told it was an anti-psychology book (it surely is) and as I was studying psychology at the time I didn’t bother to read it (chalk it up to too much homework).

How the project DIE came to me: There was an original script written by Nick Mead titled DICE. Dominic James, the director was hired in 2008 but wanted some work done on the screenplay. Dominic James and I have been collaborating on projects since 2004. He suggested me to the producers Andre Rouleau and Andrea Marotti. What was a rewrite turned into a re-conceptualization and we were shooting almost exactly a year later in Montreal (which is my hometown). Which is the fastest a project ever came together in my professional life.

Of course, before coming on board the project I read the book and I really wanted to hew closely to it but the producers wanted something closer to a horror film in the vein of SAW. What ended up being DIE was a compromise. I think there are some great ideas, notions in the film but it only scratched the surface of what I wanted to do.

 
2.It feels nearly impossible to talk about The Dice Man without bringing up A Clockwork Orange. Do you feel this is a fair comparison or do you find that it takes away from the originality of The Dice Man?

It’s funny you would bring up CLOCKWORK ORANGE because it’s one of the films that influenced me the most in wanting to be a filmmaker. I actually wrote a paper in college for a literature class that explained how Classical Conditioning was used in Clockwork Orange and how Alex Delarge was essentially a Pavlovian dog in human clothing. Themes of choice and chance are present in a lot of my work. It’s something I love exploring and will continue to explore in some capacity. Kubrick made a masterwork that looks like it was shot yesterday and is still relevant to this day.

Incidentally, I had the pleasure of meeting Malcolm Mcdowell at the premiere of Rob Zombie’s HALLOWEEN reboot. I told Mr. Mcdowell that he was one of the main reasons I went into the film business. He looked at me and said: “Did you make the right decision?” We both laughed. He was very gracious. A class act all the way. I actually would’ve loved to have him play Jacob’s dad in the film but alas that was not to be. The role went to the great Stephen McHattie.

As for comparing CLOCKWORK with DICE MAN both are different beasts that share the same DNA. But Dice Man probably wouldn’t exist without the brilliance of Anthony Burgess’ seminal novel. That was my favorite book in high school. I was the crazy kid who actually wrote a sequel to CO called CLOCKWORK ORANGE 2 or CO2. In which, Alex, now an older man and reformed, is a high school teacher. A punk rock badass student re-awakens his killer instinct and together they bring about a new generation of chaos and destruction that brings London to its knees. It was like Stephen King’s APT PUPIL but set in the future and with nadsat-speak. Only a kid would be crazy enough to sequelize a classic novel by Burgess and a classic film by Kubrick.

 
3.Did you set out to be a screenwriter or is it something that found you?

I was always a born storyteller. From when I was 7 year old kid, I would often draw in comic book form sequels to films I loved right after seeing them. I made a Raiders of The lost ark sequel minutes after seeing the movie with my dad. I remember drawing on thick legal notebooks in comic book form. I would also team-up Sean Connery and Roger Moore as master and apprentice in new James Bond adventures. While kids were mashing up their action figures in the backyard, I was creating film mashups on paper. I’m sure my parents have that stuff buried deep in a closet in Montreal.

Screenwriting and Hollywood were never EVER part of the plan. I come from a very conservative Sicilian family. My dad worked at the same factory for 40 years. Being a screenwriter was akin to being an astronaut. I may as well have told my parents that I was blasting of to Mars. They wanted me to become an accountant. I did one semester in accounting and I thought I was going to die. I was in class and I literally saw my soul leaving my body. I was watching myself from a distance, life seeping out of my eyes. I got up, left the class and enrolled in the softest of sciences, Psychology. Got my degree. Was accepted to Graduate program, interned for a year with conduct disorder children. Basically, 11 to 15 year old Alex Delarge’s. I liked psychology. It has informed all my screenwriting work. But I LOVED the movies. Dreamt about it constantly.

I wrote two short films and managed to convince people to fund them and make them. One of them (Lotto 666) got the attention of David Fincher and it got into a few festivals. Lotto 666 along with my sample writing for another project got me an agent in Canada, who is still my main agent. This gave me courage. So in 2006 I decided to give it a shot. I came to Los Angeles for two weeks of meetings with producers and never went back. I got married to a California girl, had a kid and worked on a lot of really cool projects. I was helped a lot by people who were virtually strangers. The one person who helped me the most was a fellow Montreal named George Zakk. He was at the time Vin Diesel’s producing partner. He let me stay at his Beverly Hills home, he guided me, introduced me to great people and showed me that the impossible was possible. I met my wife because of him. He is without a doubt one of the most influential people in my life and I’m forever indebted to him.

I always say I fluked my way into this profession but I was telling stories early on. It’s part of my DNA. It warms my heart that my 4 year old girl does exactly the same thing now. In fact we were at a friends house last night and my girl shut the lights grabbed a flashlight and began telling a scary bedtime story that she was making up all by herself. I was never prouder and unlike my parents who would discourage such flights of fancy, we cheered her on. I was so proud.

 
4.As a screenwriter, do you find it easier to sell a pre existing piece of intellectual property over an original idea?

There is nothing harder in the current climate than selling an original piece of work. It’s murder. Just to give you an idea, I am currently developing a TV series based on a graphic novel. Another TV series based on a classic book we all read in high school and a feature film and tv series based on the classic RPG game MUTANT CHRONICLES.

Mutant Chronicles is being produced by legendary producer Ed Pressman and I’m having a great time working on it.

I mean I get it. Hollywood is hedging its bets. It makes sense to build from an established fanbase. Don’t get me wrong I would kill to make a BATMAN film or bring WONDER WOMAN to the big screen. But we do need new ideas to replenish the source. After all what are we going to remake in 20 years if we don’t come up with anything new?

But it’s my firm belief that a good story/idea/concept will find its way. The Director of DIE (Dominic James) and I are very close to getting an original thriller off the ground. Something we’ve been working on even before DIE. We are very excited and hope to announce it soon.

 
5.You have worked with the director, Dominic James before. How did the two of you meet? Is it easier or more difficult to work with someone whom you consider a friend?

Dominic James and I met through a mutual friend when I was doing extra work on a tv movie in Montreal. We went to lunch and basically became fast friends. I wrote the short Lotto 666 and he quickly put it together. Until this day, that’s the only project I ever worked on that was completely my vision. Not a comma was changed on that script and DJ (that’s what I call him) absolutely nailed it. It’s such a well-directed little film. He made it way better than I ever imagined. We do argue but it’s always constructive.

I consider him a friend. My piece of advice in this business: Only work with people you would invite to your house on Sunday for BBQ. You need to create a small team that has your back at all times because everyone else is always trying to stab you or take you down. Good friends don’t let that happen. I trust DJ implicitly. He’s got talent to burn and we will see great things from him in the near future.

 
6.Did the two of you have an overall, positive experience bringing this story to life?

Any film that gets made is a miracle. Writing the film was challenging. There were a lot of differing opinions on what the film should be. I worked closely with DJ (the director) as I always do. Ultimately we came to a compromise with everyone. Is it the film I wanted it to be? I don’t think any film ever is the exact film you want it to be. Unless you are the one paying for it, writing it, directing it and producing it you will never get the film that you saw in your head. As for the actual filming, it was exhilarating. I LOVE being on a movie set. It’s when I’m happiest. Seeing it come to life. Being able to have lunch with the ever gracious Elias Koteas. It was a great experience. I was there everyday with my then fiance by my side. The producers, and crew were first rate. I’m very grateful to producer Andre Rouleau who treated my Wife and I like royalty during the shoot.

 

 

7.I enjoyed the lack of gratuitous gore in the film. Was there ever any pressure put upon you to make the death scenes more gruesome?

I’m glad you enjoyed that aspect of the film. By the time we got to principal photography the decision not to include gore was already made. We were not sinking into a gore-fest. The initial script we got was extremely gory. I’m talking CANNIBAL FEROX gore. The first thing DJ and I did was take it down and focus more on the psychological tension we could ring out of this locked room mystery. I feel the film benefits from the lack of gore. Everyone who likes the film always tell us that the lack of gore is one of the main aspects they enjoy the most. It was a conscious decision by us not to go full throttle gore and it was a decision spearheaded by DJ. It was without a doubt the right decision for DIE.

 

 

8.The novel focuses primarily on the founder of The Dice Life and how it affects his life,
whereas, DIE deals with the how the founder would gain more disciples. Where did this idea come from?

I alluded earlier that my instinct when I was approached to write the script was to follow the book closely. I wanted to present a Man who was a psychotherapist, he had everything, nice house, nice kids, good career. But he was stagnating. His choices in life led him to a stalemate. He needed to be re-invigorated. Hence the “dicing.” The fun would be to see his life collapse all around him the deeper he got into the “dice life.” There would be murder, mayhem and slowly we would see him become a cult leader with an enormous following. It was like the origin story of a supervillain. The analogy I used was we would see how a normal, upstanding citizen became someone like the JOKER.

Ultimately, we ended up with Jacob Odd already existing and already having his followers. He got a brief but interesting opening sequence with his father who basically set him on the path to destruction or as Jacob sees it, awakening.

The disciples was something DJ and I came up with. We wanted Jacob to be the ultimate cult leader. He was David Koresh mixed with Jim Jones. A charismatic leader who’s convinced he’s a hero setting people on the right path. Jacob is the type of character who fascinates me and I wish we had more time to explore him in the film.

 
9.Is there a specific reason that Tchaikovsky music was playing in the casino bar?

As a writer I have absolutely no say in the musical choices. So I reached out to the director Dominic James and he said he chose this particular piece of music—

“Because it has a hypnotic beauty to it which contrasts the darkness of the emotions experienced by the characters and enhances the pattern they are locked into. I felt it had an operatic feel to it. I was probably influenced by Kubrick who tends to use such contrast. I wanted to showcase the Beauty in darkness.”

I agree. It was a great choice and my favorite scene in the film.

 
10.Why did you decide to make a casino the location that Jacob chooses?

This is something I stumbled upon while writing. I knew Jacob Odd came from money. That was established early on. He inherited his father’s fortune. So while writing the underground glass dungeons scenes I began to wonder where would Jacob keep his pupils/victims and it dawned on me… where is the only place where blind chance can destroy a life on a daily basis? A casino became the most obvious choice. Jacob was a casino owner. It was such a perfect location for this character to basically continue what’s happening in the upper floors and bring it to the underground lair but with life and death consequences.

I love casinos but ironically I’m not a gambler. I love observing casino behavior. Watching people roll in with hope and exuberance and then a few hours later those same people are devastated. All because they made the choice to let chance determine their fate. It’s a glorious setting for a bad guy’s secret lair.

 


11.What was your main takeaway from the screenwriting experience on this movie?

Every time I write something new I learn something about myself and the craft of screenwriting. On DIE I learned the art of compromise. We worked on a tight schedule, with a tight budget, so the script had to be adjusted to meet those expectations. It was a challenging but ultimately satisfying experience.

I was also quite sick at the time while I was writing DIE. I was back in Montreal and there were a few moments when I didn’t feel I could go on. But Dominic James showed up at my place in Montreal and pushed me to the finish line. My mom would cook a feast for us while we were upstairs bouncing ideas off each other. My biggest take-way: No film is made alone. Dominic James was instrumental in the conceptualization of DIE… and the best idea ALWAYS wins.

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“(Un)Death is just the beginning” – Renfield’s Interview with UnDeath’s Nick Morris

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    I met Nick Morris about half a year ago when we started discussing screenwriting and the  perfect horror film. After a few conversations, he asked if I would read through his recent work “UnDeath” and give him my opinion of it. I was happy to oblige. After all, Nick and I have similar tastes in film and music so I was interested in seeing the styling of horror movies other like-minded individuals in my age group could envision. Being a raised on a healthy diet of slasher flicks in the 80’s, slasher films start congealing together after awhile, but Nick guaranteed me that his was different.  So I locked myself up for a couple of hours one afternoon and did what I haven’t done in years…read the entirety of the script in one sitting!

    Like Nick had promised, UnDeath was different than any other slasher film around! Bringing back old school slasher horror, one could tell from the start that Morris had done his homework. As a horror story that was written by a fan, for the fans, he proved his knowledge of what it takes to build a better horror story. No fillers, no pop up scares, or violence for the sake of being violent; just good old fashioned carnage that one would expect from a supernatural killing machine on a rampage!

On top of that, his formatting was correct, his character dialogue was believable and spot on, and the story’s momentum flowed like the Mighty Mississippi river. Not taking this project lightly, Morris poured a lot of thought into the story and he was out to prove it. His efforts were noticied as UnDeath qualified as a Finalist at 2013’s ShriekFest and R.I.P. Horror Film Fest, Second Round Finalist at the Austin Film Fest 2013, and a Feature Screenplay Quarter-Finalist in Screamcraft 2013.

Always a pleasure to speak with Nick, I was fortunate enough to be able to catch up him again and discuss UnDeath, country clubs, the state of horror, and what the future has to hold for the Harvester.

 

Renfield Rasputin: What inspired you to write a screenplay?

Nick Morris: I’d love to tell you that I’ve got 15 years of screenwriting experience and a pile of scripts in various stages of production, but I don’t. UnDeath is my first screenplay. I am, however, a lifelong fan of horror movies and I really started thinking about writing my own in college where I studied television production. My favorites have always been slashers like Halloween and Friday the 13th. Something about those movies always felt like comfort food to me. A guilty pleasure that I felt no guilt over. I could watch any of ‘em (yes, even Halloween 5) over and over and never tire of them. Eventually I realized that I wanted to write my own movie like that. One that I’d want to revisit again and again.

RR: So it was only a given that you would write a horror movie! How did you come up with the concept for UnDeath?

NM: UnDeath grew out of my love for those 80’s slashers and evolved considerably from there. For me, Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees always personified Death as an idea. And their victims, usually hapless, self-obsessed characters bouncing blissfully ignorant through life until something totally unexpected blindsides them and threatens their very existence. That’s life, man! That’s kind of how it goes down for all of us, you know? Whatever our own personal Jason or Michael may turn out to be, it’s coming. Whether it kills us or not, it stalks us always. So that’s the main idea that I really wanted to explore and to try and take to another level altogether.

RR: How long did UnDeath take to write?

NM: For a time, I wanted to produce my own film and I spent years discussing cool kills and ideas for scenes with like-minded buddies in smoky basements over beers. Only I never stopped thinking about it. In the years that followed, I’d spend hours at a time writing this thing in my head while I painted apartments or drove trucks. I finally started outlining the story on paper before realizing that I should probably learn how to write a screenplay. So I read any script I could get my hands on and studied screenwriting books, articles and blogs until I finally felt ready to take a crack at it for real.

There are parts of this story that are more than a decade old now. But it wasn’t until this past February that I finally downloaded CeltX and started actually writing it. As soon as I did though, it flowed freely. By April, I had banged out a rough draft and by July, I had it fine-tuned to the point that I felt confident enough to submit it to the ShriekFest feature screenplay competition. And lo and behold, it made it to the finals! So I flew to LA in October to attend the festival and that’s probably when I realized that this was happening for real and I loved every minute of it! UnDeath has since advanced to the 2nd round of the Austin Film Festival and it’s currently a finalist in the first ever R.I.P. Horror Film Festival in LA. So I guess that’s not bad for a first script. But even now, as I continue to learn more and more about the craft of screenwriting, I find myself returning to tweak this or that.

RR: What other inspirations did you look to while writing UnDeath outside of other horror movies? Did any of your other hobbies play an influence?

NM: Oh, yeah! UnDeath could easily be a comic or graphic novel. I read lots of that stuff and I often envision it broken into panels instead of shots. And I’d say this is definitely a heavy metal sort of horror movie. You know, if Black Sabbath and Slayer were a movie, it would probably look something like UnDeath. Hopefully that makes some kind of sense. There are some strong sci-fi influences at work here too, I’d say.

RR: Yeah I could see some sci-fi connections there, because to me, the Harvester differs largely from all other slasher villains. Explain in your words how the Harvester’s character stands apart from a Jason or Michael Myers.  

NM: Unlike Jason or Michael, the Harvester (or David) is really thrust into the role of relentless killing-machine against his will and he has to come to terms with that through several encounters with Death himself. He’s quite naturally reluctant at first, but as the stakes and implications become clearer, his will and ability to resist start to die off. By the end, he may have wracked-up the highest body count ever for a single movie! Seriously.

RR: UnDeath does have one of the higher body counts that I can remember in a horror movie! But it also contains some very interesting and unique kills for a movie that has such a high kill rate. How did you conceive some of those ideas?

NM: Some of those kills have been rolling around in my head for years. Some came from those late-night discussions with friends and fellow horror fans. But for me, the bloodier and crazier the better! I really enjoy wild and over-the-top kills and tried to come up with some great ones for UnDeath.

RR: I thought the setting of the country club and the golf course differed greatly from the typical haunted house, cemetery, hospital and the like. What made you decide to use a country club?

NM: I grew up out in the woods with real, down-to-earth people that worked hard and found happiness in relative simplicity. Then, one year, this super-exclusive, private golf resort popped up not far from my house. Only really rich people could even go in there and it had its own airstrip for mega-stars to fly in on their private jets for extended stays. And I mean, it was deep in the woods and you’d never even have known it existed if it weren’t for local chatter. Totally isolated. It seemed so crazy to me that this place was suddenly out there, literally in my neck of the woods, like weird new neighbors I’d never be allowed to meet or even see. So naturally, I thought that would be a great setting for a horror movie!

And apart from that, country clubs have lots of young staff members that often live on-site in a quasi-summer camp type of environment. Add some super-rich assholes to the mix and you’ve got a perfect setting for a blood-soaked slasher flick. It’s beautiful!

RR: And yet another reason I don’t play golf.

NM: (Laughs)

RR: What I appreciate the most is that this is not your full time job…yet! But you still managed to crank this tale out and find time to promote it in between your work and family. What kind of approach did you take to finding time to write ?

NM: By the time I actually started writing UnDeath, it was probably about 85% mapped out in my mind. So I did write it start-to-finish and fleshed out the rest as I went. That regurgitation happened pretty fast. But having worked on it for so long, I’m pretty obsessive about this story and still change little things here and there if I feel it makes the script stronger. And now as I start to outline new ideas, I’m finding that I still want to have the key beats and set pieces largely worked out in my head before typing a thing.

RR: As a fan how do you perceive the current state of horror movies today compared to the ones that you watched growing up? If you could change something about the horror genre today, what would you do?

NM: There’s lots of great, really effective stuff being produced today, but the biggest thing that stands out for me, particularly from Hollywood, is how small and contained horror movies need to be now. Everything starts to feel kind of claustrophobic and similar. I don’t necessarily need big budgets but, generally speaking, I do prefer a more cinematic approach to the current trend of single-locations, found footage and shaky cameras. They don’t feel more “real” to me. They feel blatantly cheap. I also really miss the sense of fun that used to be found in horror. Many movies today seem to be trying very hard to shock and repulse their audiences in an effort to be taken “seriously”, but they forget to be entertaining. It’s like they’re challenging you just to get through ‘em ONCE. They don’t care if you never wanna see ‘em again. I don’t know. It’s weird.

RR: Now that you have the first script under your belt, what advice can you give to anyone that wants to write a screenplay?

NM: Read scripts. As many as you can. Focus on stuff that’s similar to what you wanna do. Try not to get too caught up in the whole screenwriting cottage industry of notes and “script gurus”.

And speaking not as a writer but purely as a lover of the genre, for the love of God, write what you love! Don’t chase the trends or try to do whatever’s currently hot or selling. That’ll just result in a soulless, fake and uninspired script lacking heart and passion that real horror fans will smell coming a mile away. Try to write something that YOU personally would need to own and watch more than once.

RR: Best advice ever! So what now can we expect from Nick Morris in the future?

NM: Hopefully a whole whack of UnDeath movies! Or maybe even a TV series. But even if I can’t get this script produced, I’m working on some other stuff that I’m really excited about too. I can promise that I’ll never write anything that’s overly dour or out to shake your faith in humanity or anything like that. I don’t feel like that’s not my job as a writer. Humanity is doing just fine with that and should have already shattered your faith on its own by now. I believe my job is to write something FUN that will take you away from all of that for a while and entertain you. And I think UnDeath does that. Please check it out at UnDeathScript.com and stay tuned for more…

Check out Nick Morris on Twitter @NickBMorris

UnDeath on Twitter @UnDeathScript

UnDeath at UnDeathScript.com

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Interview with Jim O’Rear

Jim O’Rear, start off by telling me about yourself. What made you want to get into the cinema industry as well specifically into horror? 

 

I was never interested in getting involved in the film industry in any way, actually… especially not horror.  I, kinda, fell into it by accident.  I had always been interested in the art of magic, as a child, and started studying how to be a magician while I was in kindergarten.  Before long I found myself traveling around the United States as “The Youngest Professional Magician” and working with people like Harry Blackstone Jr, David Copperfield, and The Great Tomsoni.  Magic and music were my loves.  But, one night after a magic show I was approached by a television producer who was interested in casting me in a television commercial.  I turned him down because I was not interested in acting and really didn’t think I could do it.  He was persistent, though, and after a week or two of begging me, my agent, and my parents, I finally caved in and did his television commercial. From there I started getting hired for other acting jobs in television, film, and live theater.  So, like I said, I accidentally fell into the film/telelvision industry.

As far as the horror genre… I was never a horror fan.  One of my favorite television shows was THE MUNSTERS, but I didn’t consider that to be horror of any kind.  The theme music of THE TWILIGHT ZONE would send me running out of a room.  I just didn’t like it.  Again, by accident, my agent called and asked if I’d be interested in being a zombie in a low-budget, independent horror film that was being shot in Florida.  I was not interested… there was no pay being offered, I had to be covered in latex all day in the hot Florida sun, and it was a genre of film that I wasn’t interested in being involved with.  But, at the last minute, I decided to go ahead and report to set because they were desperate for zombies and I could add another credit to the resume. The film was George Romero’s DAY OF THE DEAD.  From that point forward I started getting offers to do horror films.

 

 

Can you tell me about some of your early work?

Especially your small role in “Day of The Dead” and the recent controversy behind it.

 

DAY OF THE DEAD was not a big deal. Like I mentioned before, it was a small, independent, low-budget film that everyone thought would be forgotten pretty quickly.  Plus, I was just an extra in it… and we all know that all it takes to be an extra in a film or television show is just some free time in your schedule.

Regarding the controversy… some people just take themselves and the movies they love waaaaay too seriously.  I was emailed by a guy who claimed to be writing a book about the making of DAY OF THE DEAD.  He sent me a very aggressive email asking me to tell him exactly what I did in DAY.  I told him I was a zombie.  He told me that I was lying because I was too young to have been on that set as a zombie. When I asked him where he was getting the information about my age he said, “Wikipedia.”  I told him, “There’s your problem.  You’re using a site full of user-generated content to gather your ‘facts,’ which makes you a hack as a writer who doesn’t know how to do proper research.”  My birthdate on Wiki was incorrect… as are many “facts” posted to that site.  He again told me I was lying about my birthdate… as if I didn’t know when I was really born.  That’s when I told him to go fuck himself and that I had no interest in helping him with his book. In turn, he threatened to do everything in his power to ruin my name and “expose” me as a fraud.  Even when Tom Savini publically posted that he met me on the set of DAY… that still wasn’t good enough for this guy and his 6 or 7 buddies.  They then turned on Tom and berated him and called his memory into question… which is when Tom basically said “whatever” and backed off.  They are just a bunch of jealous and bitter keyboard idiots who have nothing better to do with their time… who eventually, in the end, turned on each other over the whole matter.

Really… anyone who wants to make that big of a deal out of a background extra role in a 30 year old movie has some mental issues going on.  DAY is not what made me as an actor… it’s the leading roles in much larger productions that I did after that.

 

 

You’ve worked with several actors, among them who has been your favourite to work with and of these who has been your least?

 

My favorites have been Marin Sheen, Henry Winkler, Connie Britton, and Debbie Rochon.  All extremely talented, kind, and down to earth individuals.  My least favorites… Jonathan Frakes and Linda Lavin.  These are very brash and egotistical individuals (or they were at the time I worked with them).

 

 

Is there any grand advice that you were given when you started out that you would like to share with the readers or any words of Wisdom in general for them?

 

I, unfortunately, was not given any advice, training, or guidance when I started.  I was “thrown to the wolves,” so to speak, and had to figure out how the industry worked on my own.  However, after working in all aspects of the industry I’ve come to realize that there’s no real, single piece of advice that sums things up… and the industry is always changing.  I recently released a book titled MAGIC, MONSTERS, AND ME, though, that is a “how-to” guide, of sorts, for people wanting to get started in the industry and tells you what I’ve learned from my personal experiences.  Yes, that was a shameless plug to buy my book… there’s a lot of information in there.  Ha ha ha

 

 

Just recently, I believe, you wrapped up filming on you and Daniel Emery Taylors new film “Fat Chance”. Can you tell the readers about it and when it will be released?

 

FAT CHANCE can best be described as THE BIGGEST LOSER meets FRIDAY THE 13TH.  It’s a horror/comedy about 10 fat guys who go on a reality weight loss television program being filmed at a “fat camp” in the woods.  One by one they are picked off in humorous ways by a mysterious killer.  It’s a lot of fun with some brilliant comedic performances by the entire cast and features Dick “Michael Myers” Warlock (HALLOWEEN 2, JAWS, SPIDERMAN), Bree Olson (THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE 3, KEEPING UP WITH THE KARDASHIANS), WWE/WWF superstar Al Snow, Scott Tepperman (GHOST HUNTERS INTERNATIONAL), as well as Daniel and myself.  It will have its international premiere in March, 2014.

 

 

How would you describe the experience on set working on it?

 

It was a tough shoot.  We filmed it in the heat of the summer in Alabama, so we were covered up in sweat, bugs, snakes, and various woodland critters for 20 hours a day.  The conditions were not grand, but fortunately we had a cast full of easy-going actors with fantastic senses of humor who kept everything light and fun regardless of the conditions.

 

 

You and Daniel also have a film circulating called “The Hospital” where can people snag a copy of your film at? 

 

Yes, THE HOSPITAL is very different than FAT CHANCE.  It’s a dark, violent, ugly horror film filled with rape, torture, blood, and more, featuring John Dugan (TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE), April Burril (CHAINSAW SALLY), Scott Tepperman (GHOST HUNTERS INTERNATIONAL), and Daniel and myself.  Luckily, it’s been getting rave reviews and even won the “Scariest Movie” prize at a big show in Germany called MOVIE DAYS/THE DARK ZONE.  It will be released worldwide on DVD and various movie outlets on January 21st, 2014.

 

 

The book that you have recently released, called “Magic, Monsters, And Me”… where can the readers purchase of copy?…You’ve been quite the busy bee.

 

The easiest place to pick it up is on Amazon.  There’s an electronic copy available for Kindle, as well, for people who like e-readers.

 

 

As far as the genre goes, do you feel positive in the direction that it’s going?

 

Not at all.  I’ve said many times that Hollywood doesn’t make horror films any longer.  Every now and then a true horror film will slip out, but most of it is crap.  It’s either poor original crap or a crappy remake of something.

 

 

Do you find that Hollywood is essentially feeding people consistent remakes as of late because it is out of ideas or do you feel as if it’s because it sells real easy?

 

There’s plenty of ideas out there.  I’ve read a ton of great original horror scripts.  But, Hollywood is all about the dollar.  They know that it’s easier to capitalize on a proven title, easier to market and advertise something that people are already familiar with, and know they are taking less of a risk with something that’s already been proven as opposed to experimenting with something new.  Hollywood would much rather make a crappy film that earns money than risk making a great original film that people will remember for decades to come.  The days of the RE-ANIMATORs and PHANTASMs are over.

 

 

How hard is it working in the Indy film industry? Does this extensively effect your films budget and availability as far as what you can do?

 

Of course.  There’s far less money to work with, so an indy filmmaker must rely on story and creativity to carry their film. There’s a lot of hard work and sacrifice that goes into making an indy production.  In Hollywood you throw money at things to make them work or make things better… but, a good indy film requires talent because there’s no money to throw around.

 

 

Do you have any tips for homemade blood or prosthetics that are quick and easy for those young filmmakers rocking a budget at home?

 

The best blood is still corn syrup and food coloring.  You can’t go wrong with it and it’s cheap to make gallons of it.  As far as prosthetics… you’d be surprised what you can do with some liquid latex, pros-aide, cotton balls, and tissue paper.  It’s all about how creative you are with your supplies.

 

 

Out of all of the horror films that you have seen or films in general, which would you consider to be your favourite?

 

I have 3 horror favorites…. the original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, from 1968, the original HALLOWEEN, and the original PHANTASM.  Those 3 films influenced my horror tastes the most… however, I love tons of them… RE-ANIMATOR, DEAD AND BURIED, CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, THE THING, I could go on and on.  As far as non-horror films, some of my favorites are STAND BY ME, PIECES OF APRIL, NAPOLEON DYNAMITE, STAR WARS, RADIERS OF THE LOST ARK, and… are you ready for it?… PURPLE RAIN.

 

 

Do you feel that these films have highly influenced you as a filmmaker?

 

All of these films have influenced me in some way…. whether it be storytelling, lighting, camera angles, acting, editing, etc.  I think all filmmakers borrow from their favorites.

 

 

Have you pulled any hilarious pranks on other cast members?

 

I tend not to pull any pranks for a few different reasons.  While they can be fun, they can also be distracting and make an actor or crew member lose focus.  When focus is lost on a set you lose valuable time getting the groove back… and time is what you really don’t have much of on an indy set.  Time is money… and there’s very little money in an indy.

 

 

What are your tips in getting into acting? Do you have a hotline number to call for roles? 1-800-Jim O’Rear?

 

I give many tips in my new book, but of those some of the most important are to get a decent agent, audition for every legitimate project that they send you, don’t let the rejections from many of those auditions frustrate you, and be yourself during the audition process.  The more you audition the more of an opportunity you have to get a “yes” from a casting director.

 

 

You seem to have several projects wrapping up as of late, can you fill us in on any upcoming projects?

 

Daniel Taylor and I are beginning to work on a new thriller called PRANK CALL, which we hope to film mid-2014 as well as a super-secret established property from the 1980’s that we are trying to obtain the rights to… not to remake it, but to further the story in a sequel.  I’ll also be acting in and doing the stunt coordinating for the remake of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, working on TALES FROM BEYOND PART 2, and have several projects about to be released, such as POST MORTEM AMERICA 2021 and the campy superhero comedy THONG GIRL VS. XOLTA FROM OUTER SPACE.

 

 

For a final question, where do you see yourself in a few years from now? Will you have won academy awards? Will you have created the greatest film ever? Or will you have called it quits and settled down with your wife and family in a log cabin somewhere?

 

I’ve never wanted to be a superstar or a household name… I’ve just wanted to work.  So, I don’t see Academy Awards in my future (I’m not drawn to those types of projects) and I will never create what the general public would consider “the greatest film ever,” because the general public and I have two very different views on what’s entertaining.  I do see myself slipping away from the front of the camera and spending much more time behind the camera writing, directing, and producing.  I’d also like to do more studio voice work and write a few more books.  I am getting old, though, so eventually… in the not too distant future… I will just call it quits and go into hiding with my family.  For now, though, I’m just happy to keep working in a variety of different aspects of the entertainment industry.

Keep tabs on what I’m doing at www.JimORear.com and on my Facebook page and Twitter accounts

 

 

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Archives Interviews The Republic of Shawntario

Interview with Jack And Laura of What’s Next

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Recently, I was able to interview Jack and Laura, two young Paranormal Investigators from the U.K.

They’re both very kind and you can follow them on twitter here

 

 

You’re both pretty young,  what made you decide that this is something you’d like to do?
We started the series when we were in high school, and you can imagine we were the ‘weird kids’, for that and some other things we thought were fun and cool. We’re both interested in and dare we say it influenced by shows such as Most Haunted and Ghost Adventures and so we thought it would be good to see if we could go out and experience what they did. Our first episodes were awful – we had no idea what we were doing! We’ve improved as it’s gone on and we’ve aged and got to grips with how things work.

Do you find that people are less inclined to take you seriously because of your age?
Definitely. We find it difficult to get any type of features to promote the series at all, especially now when we’re trying our best to get features to promote our relaunch. We’ve had so many ideas over the time we’ve been doing this, and hardly any of them have been seen through to the finish because no one really wants to help us. However, we have been given some opportunities in the form of a magazine which sold in the UK in stores, and we were encouraged to do what we do, but since that stopped we’ve been troubled with finding new locations and getting new features and a small following going. There’s been support, but we would like a little more. We hope, however, that people will be pleasantly surprised to see us doing what we do, as you usually don’t see people our age doing this type of thing. We’d like to hope it inspires people our age to do the same thing.

What equipment do you use?
Obviously we have the necessary equipment such as camera’s to film the action, but we have used other equipment, such as walkie talkies, dowsing rods, crystals and ouijia boards.

How long have you been doing this for?
We started in 2010, and our first episode saw us walking around hoping a ghost would just step out in front of us. We thought we were great! We took a break at the end of 2012, and I think that might come down to the fact people just stopped being interested in us, and we found it difficult to find new places to film. We’re now starting the new series, with the help of new production company Flump Productions – (run by Jack and Sarah, a new investigator in the series) – and we hope we can get some brilliant locations, more night investigations and a better quality series. 2014 is the year we hope it all comes together and we are taken more seriously.

Have you caught anything on camera yet?
We’ve caught quite a lot on camera! Most of the things we got were on the first series. We’ve heard audible noises, such as groans, footsteps, taps, etc. Then we’ve got stuff we haven’t been able to explain. At Newbridge Memorial Hall, we caught an image of what looked like a boy stood in the corner, bouncing a ball. It looked like you could see his hands. Then we took a picture at The Skirrid Inn, and there’s a clear shape of a man coming out of what would have once been the prisons.

What’s the creepiest place you’ve been to so far?
Newbridge Memorial Hall, or possibly The Skirrid Inn. Newbridge Memorial Hall was run down when we went, and was the perfect atmosphere for a haunted setting. It was our second investigation ever, and again we had no idea what we were doing and were way out of our depths. The Skirrid Inn we had to ourselves over night, and it has a reputation of being the most haunted pub in Wales. We’d say it certainly is!

Any advice for people who would also like to investigate paranormal phenomena?
What ever your age, just do it! It’s scary, yes, but not as scary as you would think. It’s very thrilling, exciting, fun and enjoyable. It’s all tongue in cheek a lot of the time, and you need to take everything with a pinch of salt. Always go with a group, never travel alone. After all, its not the dead you must fear, but the living.

Do you think you’ll ever write a book about your experiences as an investigator?
It’s funny you should ask that. Jack likes to write, and he has been writing a series of novels, the first of which he’d like to get published next year. Writing is very important to him. We have toyed with the idea of putting a book together – mainly when we were younger and were told it would happen – but we would definitely like to compose a book of ghost stories, or a book of tales on the things we have experienced.

// These are some getting to know you questions

Favorite book?
Jack: I would say my favourite books are Harry Potter. I’m a huge Potter fan! I think my favourite in the series is The Order of the Phoenix.

Laura: I would say Harry Potter, too.

Favorite movie?
Jack: Again, I think it would be Harry Potter!

Laura: Lord of the Rings!

Favorite video game?
Jack: Lara Croft, Tomb Raider. The new game in the series was brilliant. I’ve also just begun playing old Sega games again, which is cool.

Do you have a favorite album?
Jack: I love music. I think my favourite album right now would be Paramore, by Paramore. It changes all the time.

Laura: I think my favourite album would be Femme Fatale by Britney Spears, or possibly Ke$ha’s Animal.

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Here’s a sneak peak at what they’v got coming soon.

 

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Archives Interviews

Interview- Kevin Johns author of The Page Turners

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How long have you been writing for?

I started my first rock band when I was 13 years old. We never performed cover songs; we were doing originals right from the start, so I was composing lyrics on a regular basis starting at age 13. I was in bands all through high school, and probably wrote sixty or seventy songs over that time, so my interest in language got started by way of song lyrics.

How many rejections did you receive before you first became published and how did you stay motivated?

I recently found some rejection letters from when I pitched a few stories to Marvel Comics. The cool thing about the rejection letters is that they have the Marvel letterhead at the top, and even came in envelopes with Spider-man printed on them. Rejection doesn’t get more pleasing than that!

Other than the Marvel stuff, I’ve never submitted a query letter or synopsis to an agent or a publisher. All the bands I played in were punk rock bands. In the punk scene, if you want something done, you do it yourself. You don’t spend time and energy trying to get some corporate gatekeeper to give you their nod of approval. You just do it yourself.

The corporate giants of the record industry spent the last decade dying a well-deserved death, and the corporate publishing industry will be the next to go. Thanks to ebooks, print-on-demand, and the internet, writers don’t have to jump through hoops in hopes some mega-conglomerate will recognize their talent and publish their book. Now the challenge is just finding your audience and developing an honest relationship with them.

After University, I wanted to work as a journalist for an arts and culture magazine, so I started one. I worked for the magazine for several years, and I got to do interviews with artists I respected, I was able to attend cool events for free, and it afforded me the opportunity to polish my writing while simultaneously getting to know other amazing artists, writers, and editors. In the same vein, now that I’m ready to publish my novel, I’ve created my own publishing house to do it. That’s the future of writing and publishing, not query letters and slush piles.

There were more books published independently in 2013 than there were released by the traditional publishers. The challenge isn’t dealing with rejection anymore. The challenge is finding your audience and getting your art into their hands.

 Favorite Author and book when you were a child?

You know, I don’t think I read a lot as a child. I mostly just played road hockey and messed around Star Wars figures. I didn’t really start reading intensely until my early teens.

I certainly remember being blown away by some of the classics, like George Orwell’s 1984.Every kid needs to read that book.

Stephen King was definitely huge for me – I remember the four novels that made up The Bachman Books having a big impact; especially Rage, which was about a high school shooting. King has let Rage go out of print, which I think is really unfortunate. The opportunity to see into the mind of a kid who takes his classmates hostage at gunpoint could help a lot of people understand why these shootings happen in the first place. Many years ago, I wrote and directed a theatrical production about a high school shooting for that very reason. People see these horrible shootings and they think, “How can this happen?”, whereas I’m just surprised it doesn’t happen more often. Adult life is horrible in this grinding, soul crushing kind of way that leads to a sort of quiet surrender to the entropy, but teenage life is horrible in this absolutely immediate, totally intense way that can easily lead to explosive violence.

Anyway, getting back to literature, as a teen, I was also a huge fan of comic books. Garth Ennis and Steve Dillion’s Preacher storyline, “Until the End of the World” was absolutely incredible, and I always thought Frank Millar’s Sin City book “That Yellow Bastard” was breathtaking. Those are some my favourites that I remember from my youth.

What music do you listen to when you write?

I spent about four solid years obsessed with Bob Dylan. He was literally the only music I listened to from about 2008 to 2012. The guy has over 50 albums, and transitioned through various different styles over the course of his career, so you can listen to him for years on end, still discover new things, and never get bored. I also felt like working my way through his catalogue was a cultural education regarding the second half of the 20th century.

 Then, about a year ago, I caught pneumonia and thought I might die. I was seriously out-of-my mind sick, and this illness also corresponded with some hugely stressful things going on at my day job, where I had come to the realization that the career path I’d ended up on was never going to be fulfilling or rewarding, no matter how much energy and passion I put into it.

So I was lying on my couch, in front of the TV, going in and out of consciousness, thinking I might die, and thinking that dying there on the couch might not be such a bad thing, and I flipped to the Ellen DeGeneres Show, right as this band Tegan and Sara started performing.

It was one of those magical moments where a piece of art just utterly connects with you in that beautiful transcendent kind of way. In that moment, Tegan and Sara appeared to me as a vision of Holy Angels hovering before the television screen. I saw them as messengers, sent from God, in order to give me to the strength to get well and go on living.

Needless to say, I’ve been pretty heavily into Tegan and Sara for about the last year, since I feel like they kind of saved my life.

That’s what great art does: saves lives.

Any superstitious rituals that you go through when beginning a new story?

 I have a full time job, and two young children. I spend two hours a day commuting to and from work on public transit. I also try to exercise on a regular basis. My free time is, therefore, extremely limited, so I don’t have the luxury of waiting for inspiration to strike or relying on superstitious rituals. My ritual is just doing the work, when I can.

Writing a novel isn’t like writing is song or a poem. It’s a long, lonely process that eats up hours and hours and hours of your life. When your hours are already limited, like mine, you just have to make do with the time available, and just pour your soul into the work.

I wish I had an awesome ritual I could tell you about, like putting on a grubby pink bathrobe and smoking a joint Grady Tripp-style, but, like I said, I just write when and where I can. 

Favorite book released in the last year?

Trust Me I’m Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator by Ryan Holiday. It’s one of those books that makes you realize that how you thought the world works isn’t really how it works at all. Read that book, and you will never look at the internet the same way again.

In terms of horror books, I’ve been enjoying a lot of Hack/Slash lately, which is a great comic book series that I only recently discovered.

Favorite book released in the last 10 years?

I wrote my English Literature master’s thesis on David Mack’s Daredevil storyline “Echo: Vision Quest”. It is an absolute work of genius and my favourite piece of fiction from the last decade.

In terms of non-fiction, The 4-Hour Body by Tim Ferris had, by far, the biggest impact on my life. It changed my body, my mind, how I approach work, and how I approach problem solving in a number of huge ways. My novel, The Page Turners, would never have been completed were it not for the lessons I learned in The 4-Hour Body.

In terms of a favourite horror novel, I think Scott Smith’s The Ruins is absolutely top notch, and Chuck Palahniuk’s short story “Guts” from the book Haunted is an unforgettable piece of horror writing (though you may WANT to forget it!).

Favorite quote from a book that is not your own?

 English prose does not get any better than this section of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway:

Did it matter then, she asked herself, walking towards Bond Street, did it matter that she must inevitably cease completely; all this must go on without her; did she resent it; or did it not become consoling to believe that death ended absolutely? but that somehow in the streets of London, on the ebb and flow of things, here, there, she survived, Peter survived, lived in each other, she being part, she was positive, of the trees at home; of the house there, ugly, rambling all to bits and pieces as it was; part of people she had never met; being laid out like a mist between the people she knew best, who lifted her on their branches as she had seen the trees lift the mist, but it spread ever so far, her life, herself.

If I ever write a paragraph with one tenth of the majesty of that one, I’ll die a happy man.

Favorite quote from one of your own works?

Forget it. No way am I following up that quote from Virginia Woolf with one of my own. Just go back, re-read Virginia’s paragraph again, and then pretend I wrote it!

Advice for new writers who are struggling with character creation? 

I approach the crafting of narrative from a plot perspective, not one of character, so I might be the wrong man to ask for advice on character creation.

When I write, I just figure out what story I want to tell and what message I want to communicate to the reader, and the characters grow organically out of that. The characters need to serve the story.

I’m not one of those writers who comes up with these wacky characters, sticks them in a room together, and then just lets them bounce off of one another. When I picture my characters in a room together, my next thought, is: When do the aliens show up? Do you know what I mean? Like, When do the zombies attack? I’m not as interested in character quirks as much as I am in plot, story, and message.

E-Reader or Physical copy?

I read novels on Kindle and comics books on iPad. I think reading a physical copy is still preferable — that tactile experience of a real book and pages just can’t be recreated electronically. But e-copies are just so much more affordable, and my family’s budget is pretty tight, so that’s what I can afford to read.

What first inspired you to become a writer?

Probably my parents getting divorced. I think when a fundamental institutional structure like the family fails you at such a young age, it really installs a deep suspicion that society is flawed on a lot of levels and that most of what you are told as a kid is a complete lie. Those feelings of injustice and social isolation serve as great inspiration for the creation art.

Of course, then you become an adult, and it is no longer just a suspicion; instead you know for a fact the world is majorly screwed up and that most of what the masses are told by authority figures is a lie, so you never really run out of inspiration to write!

I mean, there’s a reason people like Hunter S. Thompson, Kurt Cobain, Earnest Hemingway, and Virginia Wolf all killed themselves. You can only see through the bullshit for so long, then, eventually, just want to put a bullet in your head or go for a swim with a pocket full of rocks. It’s unfortunate that the things that make you a great writer are the same things that ultimately crush you as a human being.

But that’s just the way it works. Those artists killed themselves, but the work they leave behind enriches the rest of our lives in such a profound way that we are able to go on living.

Tell us your favorite joke.

Like I said earlier, the real challenge these days is finding the audience for your work, so I’ve been reading a lot about marketing lately. And the whole time I’m studying marketing, I can feel the late comedian Bill Hicks looking over my shoulder. He has this hilarious bit that goes something like this:

“Anyone here tonight involved marketing? Yes? A few of you. Okay: go kill yourself.”

Pretty funny stuff.

So when I approach marketing of The Page Turners, on one shoulder I have this capitalist devil whispering: “Kevin, you need to do whatever it takes to sell this book and get the money to support your family. Nothing else matters in the world other than the ability to take care of your children.” And on my other shoulder is Bill Hicks, another one of my artistic angels, sitting there watching over me, and keeping me honest.