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Your new movie The
Devil and I - in a few words, what is it about?
The
Devil and I
is a cautionary tale about heartbreak, and the
evil that jealousy can drive you toward. It's set in Western Canada circa
1845, and centers around 23 year old Hannah who is confronted by an evil
entity with a dark deal after a fight with her brother. The
Devil and I does have a folk tale ring to it - so is it based on
actual folklore, and/or how much research went into the writing? And to
what extent did you let "modern" ideas slip into the script? There
is actually a piece of history that the story is loosely based on. In
Britain, 1612, a young girl named Allison Device went to the courts and
confessed to an act of witchcraft. It's recorded that a peddler refused to
sell to her, and a large black dog appeared, offering to lame him, she
agreed and the peddler fell down dead. When I heard this story I was
inspired to adapt it into a historic Canadian setting. I wrote the first
draft mostly just to hammer out the characters but returned to it after a
tonne of research that included visiting the living history museum in my
hometown of Edmonton and rigorously interviewing the experts there. It's
not perfect but a lot of effort went in to be true to the era, while still
playing modern themes that will connect with a contemporary audience. (Other)
sources of inspiration when writing The
Devil and I? Despite the setting, I really wanted a
story that would feel relate-able and not dated. Masculinity, and the
complexities of unconventional relationships were ideas that I needed to
explore in my life at that point in time and I'm absolutely inspired by
duality, and confronting your own emotions which can take several sides
simultaneously. A lot of my writing comes from a personal place and I
think that's the best way to put the most into your characters. With The
Devil and I being a period drama, what were the challenges
regarding that aspect of your movie? And why did you decide to make a
period drama in the first place? With being a period drama,
it's really important to control your setting, and know what's going to take
your audience out of the illusion. In low budget film making the
restrictions of a period can really force you to be creative. I decided to
take on this challenge because I feel Canada's rich history is wildly
underrepresented in Cinema. I am determined to do something new and unique
with each one of my films. In approaching a period piece, I knew I had to
bring my own love of the supernatural, folklore, and horror to make
something that no one has ever seen before. I feel like I've accomplished
this with the The
Devil and I.
What can you tell us
about your directorial approach to your story at hand? What
really drives the story of The
Devil and I are the characters and their
relationships to each other. We see Mark's imposing brotherly obligations
and his obliviousness to Hannah's needs. We see the push and pull from
the dog and Hannah's own struggle with morality. By the end we know why
the conclusion is the most devastating scenario for all those involved,
not on a physical level but emotionally. Do
talk about your cast, and why exactly these people? The
cast of The
Devil and I are all people I work with regularly and hold in
high regard. Ariel Hansen [Ariel
Hansen interview - click here] of course is my long time producing partner at
Bad Cookie
and really pushed me to write and direct, and really the whole
script kind of grew around her. We work so closely together I knew exactly
the role she needed to flesh out her skills and really shine. James
Kingstone, who plays Mark, has worked with us on a producer level and I
didn't think of him as an actor at all until he asked to audition when we
were casting and absolutely nailed the role. Jesse Inocalla of course is a
stone cold professional who I've worked with over and over again and knows
exactly what I want every time with little direction. The three of them
together at the table read were so perfect I nearly cried! A
few words about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere? In
low budget filmmaking, you're working with your friends. I'm very lucky to
know incredibly talented people who love making films and are brilliantly
creative in their own fields. A Bad Cookie
filmset is like a wonderful
field trip where you and your friends are playing and laughing and having
fun and at the end of it all you have this great piece of art that you can
watch, share, and celebrate over and over again. Its the greatest feeling
in the world.
The
$64 question of course, where can your movie be seen? The
Devil and I is currently making its way through the festival circuit, you
can follow its acceptances and screenings at
www.badcookiepictures.com
or on our Facebook page. After its run we will be releasing it on our Blu-ray of
The Bad Cookie Combo along with Ariel Hansen's piece Nepenthes, which will be available from our website store. Anything
you can tell us about audience and critical reception of The
Devil and I yet? I was very fortunate to be able to
premiere The
Devil and I in my hometown of Edmonton at the Edmonton
International Film Festival. I was surrounded by friends, family, and a
great film loving crowd. The first reviews have been overwhelmingly
positive, including yours, and my heart has been absolutely warmed. It's
hard to put out something so personal and ambitious but I'm happy to know
that it's really connected with people. Any future projects you'd like
to share? Bad Cookie Pictures has been working nonstop to
create content for genre lovers and currently have a lot to offer. We have
a weekly creepy history/folklore podcast BC is Creepy on Spotify, iTunes,
YouTube, and Google Play. I have a 360 virtual reality
murder mystery experience called Tune in for Murder that is
just finishing its festival run and should be releasing to the public
soon. In terms of short films, we have several making rounds including Nepenthes,
Parlour Tricks, Time Heals No Wounds, Paint the Town
Red, The
Man in the Rabbit Mask, and Ready to Burst. But keep an eye on our
YouTube
channel because we've been developing a lot of great non-fiction content
as well like female filmmaker interviews, short film reviews, and travel
tours of spooky places.
Your/your movie's website, Facebook, whatever
else?
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Feeling lucky?
Want to
search
any of my partnershops yourself
for more, better results?
(commissions earned) |
The links below
will take you
just there!!!
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https://www.badcookiepictures.com/
is a good homebase for all things Bad Cookie.
You
can find Bad Cookie
on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and
Pinterest, and we update consistently.
Anything else you're dying to mention and I have
merely forgotten to ask?
To
be able to grow and keep making consistent content, we've started a
Patreon page here:
https://www.patreon.com/BadCookiePictures
If
you like what we've been doing please have a look, even pledges of $1 are
a great help and go towards creating content that will help build the
genre community.
Thanks for the interview!
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