Your upcoming movie Garden Party Massacre - in a few words,
what's it going to be about?
Garden Party Massacre
tells the hilarious tale of a friendly backyard
gathering that goes awry when an uninvited guest shows up... with a
pickaxe... and an attitude! What were your inspirations
for writing Garden Party Massacre
- and is any of this based on
personal experiences with garden parties (except for the psycho killer I
hope)? No inspiration from real life (thank goodness!)...
except maybe Addy’s cell phone rant. That’s all me.
But as far as the rest, I’ve always been a fan of horror/comedy.
I’d definitely have to say Evil Dead II and
Shaun of the
Dead have been inspiring targets as they both manage to be campy,
fun comedies, providing plenty of belly laughs, while still standing as
horror films that provide a few good scares as well. There’s also
a little Woody Allen, though, in the sense that the characters are all
either a little off-center, neurotic or wry. Of your very eclectic cast of main characters,
who can you identify with the most, actually? Well, I
suppose there may be a little of all of them in me, some more than others.
But I most associate with the hosts: I have Addy’s obsessive need
for order and control, tempered with Caleb’s “Don’t worry” and
“Can’t we all just get along” attitudes. That probably makes
me sound a little schizophrenic, but I’d be the first to admit that! What can
you tell us about your movie's brand of comedy, and to what extent does it
correspond with your personal sense of humour?
The film
reflects all my various tastes in humor, from sly sarcasm to broad
slapstick. I love understated, witty banter à la Downtown Abbey
as much as over-the-top sight gags the Farrelly brothers excel at, so I
threw everything into Garden Party Massacre
wherever inspiration struck.
Hopefully, the result will mean there’s something for everyone.
How would
you describe Garden Party Massacre's approach to horror? As
far as horror goes, I think it’s pretty standard in the sense that you
have (for the most part) a group of people terrorized by a psycho killer
with appropriate scares and whatnot. But I’m also playing with the
inherent silliness of that trope as well—both the scenario and the kinds
of stock characters and their reactions and behaviors. Then, I go
and poke fun at a few other horror staples I’d rather leave as surprises
for now. Do
talk about the film's intended look and feel for a bit? My
psychological thriller Deadly Revisions is very moody with dark colors,
shadowy lighting and creeping camera work. Since Garden Party Massacre
is more of a spoof, with the comedy element above the horror
element, we’re aiming for a light, bright atmosphere; almost echoing the
style of a sitcom. As things get crazier, story wise, the camerawork
will get more frenetic and crazier as well. I’m a big believer in
form and content reflecting each other and, in this case, I think it will
add to the fun. Anything
you can tell us about your projected cast and crew yet, and why exactly
these people? I’m very excited about the cast and crew we
have lined up thus far. I’ve got Andy Gates (Grimm, The Young and the Restless, etc.) set to play Caleb. He’s
the perfect, down-to-earth, guy-next-door type. Vida Gahfarri (Jimmy
Kimmel, The Mindy Project) [Vida
Ghaffari interview - click here] can rock a perfect mix of glamorous
and goofy... which is kooky Reena in a nutshell. And from day one,
the voluptuous, baby-doll voiced Dawna Lee Heising [Dawna
Lee Heising interview - click here] was my choice
for Melanie, the Cougar from Hell. I’m stepping in front of the
camera as well to play dopey, dumbbell Lincoln. (Hey... Who said
“type casting”?!) Crew-wise, I've teamed up again with my Deadly Revisions
co-producer Roxy Shih and have snagged the wickedly talented DP,
Nate Cornett, the man behind the camera of the twisted black comedy series
Kill The Baby. So we’re batting a thousand, as the saying
goes.
Dawna Lee Heising |
As far as I know, Garden Party Massacre
is still in its fundraising stages - so what can you tell us about your
fundraising efforts?
We actually have our base financing in
place. The crowd-funding campaign is partly to help raise awareness
of the film, partly to let people get a piece of the action (merchandise
and other fun stuff) and partly to augment our funding in whatever way we
can. After all, the more money you have for a project, the more
options you have—from choices regarding equipment, talent and even food
on set. Someone giving even only $5 helps feed an actor... and actors
love to eat! (Trust me!) We are also continuing to pursue (and
interested in) corporate sponsorships and product placement opportunities.
Basically, if someone wants to help us make the movie, we welcome them and
their ideas. Film is a collaborative art and business. So no one
need be shy about approaching us. Once your funds are raised, what's
the schedule - and any idea when and where the film might be released onto
the general public, however tentatively? At the moment, the
film is slated to begin production this October. (The perfect season
to film a horror film, we think.) In fact, we are scheduled to
go into production the week after Deadly Revisions comes out on DVD and
BluRay! We expect post production to take several months, but our aim is
to get the film ready to shop and hit festivals in the second half of next
year. Any future
projects beyond Garden Party Massacre?
I have
several scripts in various hands and varying stages of development.
EnMar Productions is working on Heretiks, based on a horror
screenplay of mine and SOS Productions is crewing up for Dead
Hamptons, a crime drama I wrote. What I’ll tackle as a director
next is unknown. I have so many scripts of my own... but maybe I’ll
try my hand at someone else’s. Or, if I get a lot of acting
opportunities, I may ride that out. I’m wide open to what the
future may bring; since I like writing, acting and directing, it will be
interesting to see what takes the lead in 2016. Your/your
movie's website, Facebook, whatever else?
Garden Party Massacre:
Official site: http://www.GardenPartyMassacreFilm.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GardenPartyMassacre
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GardnPrtyMasacr
IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4237028/
Gregory Blair:
Official site: http://www.2writers.com/GregoryLinks.htm
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gregory-Blair/121092744586543
Twitter: https://twitter.com/thegregoryblair
IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2489045/
Anything else
you are dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? I
should probably let people know they can preorder Deadly Revisions at
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00YAZNBM0
Thanks
for the interview! Thank YOU!
|