Your new movie Lection
- in a few words, what is it about?
Lection is a political thriller set in a post-apocalyptic society. Imagine a local
election, Mad
Max-style.
What was the key idea behind setting Lection
after the apocalypse? The
idea was to take the American electoral process and strip it down to its
barest essence. What better way to remove all the niceties from a story
than to set it after the end of the world? Other
sources of inspiration when writing Lection? It
wasn't inspiration that guided my writing on Lection, it was poverty. I'm
a DIY filmmaker with no money and no access to full-time, professional
cast and crew. So I wrote a movie I knew I could cast and crew in and
around South Carolina and direct and edit myself. It had to be simple,
small and quiet. Lection
is rather short on dialogue throughout - to ask bluntly, why? "We
used to use our words," one character says near the end of the film.
The idea is that politics can be about negotiation and compromise. But
when people forget how to talk to each other, when negotiation fails, then
politics becomes something much crueler. With
Lection being mostly an
outdoors film, where was it actually filmed, and what were the challenges
but maybe also advantages filming there? We
shot on private property in Ridgeway, South Carolina. One location for the
whole movie. Shooting outdoors is always hard, as weather can wreck your
schedule. And there are bugs. Lots of bugs. On Lection, the on-set
audio-recording was challenging owing to car noise and dogs and all the
airplanes flying overhead. But having just one location simplified the
logistics of our shoots, which was a huge bonus.
What can you
tell us about Lection's
key cast, and why exactly these people? I'd
worked with most of them before, so I knew I could count on them. Also,
many cast also pulled double-duty in crew positions. Mike Amason starred
as the mayor and also handled props. Cleve Langdale played a villager and
also ran sound. Kat Kiddo and Darien Cavanaugh were also in front of and
behind the camera in various capacities. Do talk about
the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere! Shooting
an indie movie with amateur cast and crew can be challenging. It can be
difficult to get everyone to take the process seriously and behave like
adults. On every movie I shot prior to Lection, we had to fire someone for
sexual harassment. But not Lection. It was truly a pleasure to shoot. I
chalk that up to our decision to cast and crew families and teenagers in
certain key roles. The family atmosphere helped keep the adults on their
best behavior. I never thought I'd enjoy working with kids, but I really
did. The
$64-question of course, where can your movie be seen?
I'll
send screeners to any critics or festival organizers who want them. Other
than that, follow us on Facebook and look for festival screenings and
other special events. We'll play the festival circuit through 2020, then
release the movie on Blu-ray and streaming. Anything
you can tell us about audience and critical reception of Lection? We
just launched the movie, so practically no one has seen it yet except for
my drunk friends. And you. But I'm feeling good about this one. It came
together. Any
future projects you'd like to share? In
2020 I'm shooting a horror comedy that I can best describe as "goofy
Beowulf". What got you into
filmmaking to begin with, and did you receive any formal training on the
subject? I
got into making movies because I like movies, a lot. No formal training, so
a few years ago I resolved to make a cheap little movie once a year every
year until I'm good at it. Learn by doing. What can you tell us about your filmwork prior
to Lection? I
wrote and produced The Theta Girl in 2017, then wrote and directed a
sequel to that called Azrael. In early 2019 I finished Shed, which is
streaming at HODTV and coming to Blu-ray soon from Wages of
Cine. In
between I shot a few horror shorts that mostly played at festivals. Lection
is feature number four, and the one I'm most proud of.
How
would you describe yourself as a director? Broke,
terrified and desperate. But seriously, my main interest is in making
surprising thrillers and horror stories with sympathetic monsters and
villains. Filmmakers
who inspire you? Anyone
who worked against all the odds and their own personal limitations to make
something, anything - Mark Borchardt, John S. Rad, John Waters, Rudy Ray
Moore, even Tommy Wiseau. Your favourite movies? That's
a long list ... Empire Strikes Back, American Movie, Step
Brothers, anything
by Nicolas
Winding Refn or Denis
Villeneuve or Jeremy
Saulnier. ...
and of course, films you really deplore? Torture
porn.
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Your/your
movie's website, Facebook, whatever else?
https://www.facebook.com/lectionmovie/
Anything else
you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? Nope!
Thanks for the support! Thanks
for the interview!
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