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Your new movie
Love Me Not - in a few words, what is it about?
Love Me Not
is, as weird as it sounds, a love story... but with a twist. It's about the
lengths one girl, Jenny, will take to steal the heart of another...
literally. I guess that's my morbid take on it, hehehe.
Now how
did the project come into being in the first place? The
script for Love Me Not was born out of my general dislike of the
current state of dating in our culture. Everything has been reduced to
finding love on a computer or phone screen, and I think that human
interaction has diminished. In its own way, that is a horror story in and
of itself. Is Love
Me Not in any whichever abstract way based on relationships you've
had gown awry, and some of your worst St. Valentine's Day dates?
To
say that I drew from personal experience when I wrote Love Me Not
would be an understatment! Everything that Jenny says to Brad, in the
film, is something that I have thought more than once.
The
only truly bad Valentine's date that I've ever had, was that I was given
strep throat by someone after a simple kiss at the end of the night. That
was pretty terrible, but it didn't adversely inspire this film.
(Other)
sources of inspiration when writing Love
Me Not? One
of my biggest inspirations for writing the dinner scene actually came from
Rebecca Gayheart's perfomance in the climax of Urban Legend. Remember
that one? She was pretty freaking deranged, and I wanted to emulate that
kind of pyshosic with Jenny. I'm sure you'll agree when I say that
Jenny isn't exactly the nicest of persons - but to what degree could you
identify with her and her actions anyhow?
Honestly,
I've always said that I don't think of Jenny as a villain. No, I wouldn't
go to the lengths that she did, but I sympathize with what she's been
through. I've been through much of the same. At least for
me, Love Me Not has a
darkly humourous note to it - would you at all agree, and if so, could you
talk about the film's brand of comedy for a bit? I
definitely think that the film has a humorous tone lying just underneath
the surface, clawing up through the dirt. It's present in the scipt,
but it really comes through in the film. Venessa Esperanza, who plays
Jenny, completely jumped into that character and she was so enthusiastic
in her portarayal that it was heartbreaking and comical at the same time
to watch her performance. To me, the funny part about it is that Jenny
acts as if everything she's done is completely normal, yet is seemingly
unaware that what she's doing is wrong. What
can you tell us about Love Me
Not's approach to horror? With
our last Horror House Media
film, Stalk, I went for a very by-the-numbers slasher style in the script. It was very reminiscent of
Halloween.
With Love Me Not, I wanted the horror to come out of something much
more relatable and real. Sometimes, it's the way we treat other people
every day that is most horrifying.
Do talk about Love
Me Not's director Michael Coulombe [Michael
Coulombe interview - click here], and what was your collaboration
like? And since this isn't the first time you've worked together, what can
you tell us about your previous films, and how did you first meet even? Working
with Michael was and is always an amazing experience. As a director, he
works very closeley with me to try and honor my original vision. When he
feels like something's not working, he's upfront and honest about it, and
we work very well together to try and sort the issue out. I think that's
great. A lot of times, writers don't have much input once filming begins.
As a writer, I feel very fortunate. To
what extent were you involved in the actual production of Love
Me Not, and what can you tell us about the shoot as such? With
Love Me Not, I took on a lot of responsibilites past the writing of
the script. I did costume design, makeup fx, and was even one of the dead
bodies, as was my fiancé. I was the one that Jenny dropped on the floor.
Every drop was real, by the way. No padding on the floor. I decided that
if I was dead, I needed to be commited! After what seemed like 20 times of
doing that, I was pretty sore. LOL. The shoot happened in one night at a
house in Bakersfield, CA. It was so much fun. There was a sort of energy
that permeated the entire shoot. This filming definitely had a great feel
to it. The
$64 question of course, where can Love
Me Not be seen?
Currently,
you can watch Love Me Not on the
Horror House Media
YouTube
channel. https://youtu.be/KQ8zyvQnLwc
Hopefully,
it will be also be available on BitMovio soon, as well as Soundbite
and Stalk. We're still working out the details on that front.
Anything you can tell us about
audience and critical reception of Love
Me Not?
The
audience reaction that we've gotten has been overwhelming, to say the
least. Many people have personally told me that this is their favorite Horror House Media
film, so far. Writer/director Jeffrey Reddick, creator
of Final Destination, loved the film and had great things to say
about it. He found it relatable. We also received a great quote from
Oscar-nominated actress Sally Kirkland. She found the film to be very
scary and humorous. We've had so many great reviews come out since the
film was released. It's been amazing. Any future projects you'd like to share?
There
are plans for many more short films to oome from Horror House Media. I've
already gotten several other short scripts written. We're currently
deciding what our next production will be.
In
addition to that, I've just found out this week that four feature length
screenplays of mine (Chuckles, Meet The Hatchets, The
Station, and
Autumn Falls) have been greenlit. I'm still processing the news, but
I'm so excited!
What
got you into screenwriting to begin with, and did you receive any formal
training on the subject?
I
started writing screenplays, to be specific, when I was very young. I was
about 12. I remember watching Halloween : The Curse of Michael Myers, written
by Daniel Farrands, when it was first released in 1995, and for some
reason that film really struck a chord with me. I watched that film over
and over again when it came out on home video and I decided to write a
sequel to it. I read as many screenplays that had managed to pop up online
(not many back in those days) and I started to teach myself the proper
way to write a script.
Funny
enough, my idea for the next Halloween involved Laurie Strode reappearing
after being in hiding. Mind you, this was three years before Halloween
H20 came out. Once I saw it, I thought that I must really have a knack
for writing, because I damn near had already written the film. LOL. I've
been writing ever since.
What can you tell us about your
filmwork prior to Love Me Not?
Prior
to Love Me Not, I wrote the script for the short film,
Stalk.
I also cowrote, with Michael Coulombe, the script for the short film Soundbite.
I also wrote, with Michael, a feature length script called Del Obispo
Road: A Ghost Story, which was slated for a summer 2019
release, but a business deal fell through, as happens sometimes.
Funny
enough, while I officially call myself a horror writer, I have cowritten
three Christmas films. LOL. I find that very funny. Definitley not my
genre of choice, but I'm very thankful to have had the chance to work on
them.
How
would you describe yourself as a writer?
Well,
Michael Coulombe calls me a beast! LOL. I suppose he's not wrong, though I
don't really think I'm anything special. I'm just lucky to get a chance to
do something I love.
When
I'm writing, I get so many ideas and I can't rest until I get them out of
my head. It's like exorcising demons. I am totally consumed by my stories
until they are fully realized.
As
a writer, everything that I write comes directly from what I experience
and the people I know. I like to create complex, believable characters.
The situations might be heightened, as is often the case in horror films,
but I want the characters to be believable.
Writers,
filmmakers, whoever else who inspire you?
I
have so many inspirations! Daniel Farrands, Jeffrey Reddick, John
Carpenter, Tobe Hooper, Wes Craven, Stephen King, Don Mancini, Michael
Coulombe [Michael
Coulombe interview - click here] ... so so many great filmmakers. In one way or another, they all
have at one point and continue to inspire the work that I do.
Your
favourite movies?
I
absoulutey LOVE John Carpenter's Halloween! It's probably my
favorite horror film. Right up there would be the original Nightmare on
Elm Street, Friday the 13th,
Texas Chainsaw
Massacre, and
Child's Play. The classics of horror!
Just
to throw a curveball in there, I am also a huge fan of The Wizard of Oz.
...
and of course, films you really deplore?
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While
I do find the original to be ingenious, I don't care much for the Saw
films. I'm not big on torture porn. I can't say that I really love the Hostel
films, either, though I do respect their place in the horror
community.
Your/your
movie's website, Facebook, whatever else?
facebook.com/brantley.brown.5
Instagram: BrantleyJBrown
Twiter: @brown_brantley
Horror House Media:
horrorhousemedia.wordpress.com
Anything
else you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask?
I
think you covered all the bases!
Thanks
for the interview!
Thank
you!
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