Your new movie Erebus - in a few words, what is it about?
Kathleen Green - It's
an anthology film that covers several stories throughout the history of
the Gorham House - a haunted hotel on Block Island.
David Langill - Erebus
is a horror / thriller anthology film. It's focus
is around the Gorham House and tells tales of its occupants over
different decades.
How
did the project come into being, and how did you two get involved?
KG
- I came onto the project over a year after it had been shot.
It had been a labor of love for people who had to put it on the back
burner to go make a living. People had gone their separate ways, the
original editor had gone on to another project, and the footage was just
sitting on a drive, largely untouched. Director Rick Laprade's girlfriend Adri had
contacted me through a mutual friend to see if I would have the time and
inclination to help them pull something together from it.
DL
- Erebus
was the second feature film Rick Laprade and I worked together
on, our first being Villanelle. With our first feature under our
belt, we wanted to up the ante. Like most projects, it started with
us talking about stories we wanted to tell. Rick already had a story and
we, among some others, put other stories together that worked best with
Rick's screenplay.
David,
you also contributed to the story, right? So what parts of the story are
yours, and what were your inspirations? DL
- A few of us contributed with some additional material, whether it be a
line of dialogue or idea. I helped with the outline of the film and mainly
the last vignette, Haxan. Haxan tells the story of "ghost
hunters" in the early 2000s (when all those shows seemed to pop up)
who've heard of the past claims of the Gorham House and went looking for
new "footage" for their show. What can you
tell us about the look and feel of the movie, also from an editor's point
of view?
KG - I
think the film has a really old-school creeping feel, like The
Shining or
Don't Look Now. Both the look, and the story itself.
DL
- With different decades throughout the film, we wanted the stories to
look as if they belong in time frame. We also wanted the viewers to
feel uneasy and terrified as if they were there. Kat knocked the edit out
of the park! I know the story and know what's going to happen, but
watching Erebus I get freaked out and goosebumps. I can't wait to see
people's reactions who watch it without knowing what's next.
Do talk about your director Rick Laprade, and
what was your collaboration like?
KG
- Rick is seriously one of the nicest people I've ever worked with.
He's excitable and full of ideas, but doesn't take himself too seriously.
I could come at him with a major left turn out of nowhere and he'd say,
yeah, ok, that totally works. He really just wants to have fun
telling stories.
DL
- As mentioned before, I had previously worked on a film with Rick and at
the time we were co-owners of the production company. Rick is an
incredibly talented writer and full of great and original ideas. We spent
countless hours collaborating on Erebus. I think I stayed at his place
every weekend for a year.
As far as I know, you
were also the casting director of Erebus, David - so what can you
tell us about your cast and why exactly these people?
DL
- A casting director has the pleasure of handling all the emails that come
in regarding auditions. I like to be the casting director so I can
be sure each email is received and responded to. I can't stand hearing
stories of actors being left in the dark and not hearing anything back. It
adds time, but I make sure each person is contacted and advised either way
the casting goes. We received a tremendous amount of submissions for our
casting call. During the auditions someone read for a particular
role but right away we knew he'd be perfect for a different character.
After auditions, Rick and I along with Nick Beaubien discussed the perfect
fits for each role. Now comes the worst and best part of being a
casting director. I first contact those whom were selected, offer the role
and discuss contracts (producer side of me). Everyone who was selected
immediately accepted their role. Then the worst part is informing all
those who were not selected. At times it breaks my heart cause I
know of an actor or actress who really wanted a part.
As
far as getting Michael Berryman, I had worked with Michael in the past and
contacted his manager. Michael fit his role perfectly and is always a
pleasure to have on set.
What
can you tell us about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere?
DL
- The majority of the film was shot on Block Island, RI. It takes a
55-minute ferry ride to get to the island and the ferry only runs at
certain times. The crew stayed the entire time and cast members were
coming and going depending on the shooting schedule. Rich Tretheway and
Andre Boudreau who are both in the movie (Rich is also a producer) and
also live on the island helped out greatly with island assistance. The
on-set atmosphere was wonderful. We had some top notch crew members that
kept things moving and kept us on track. The only major issues we
had was that our filming locations were in fact haunted.
Kathleen,
you handled editing and post production of Erebus - so what were
the main challenges there? KG
- Part of it was going in totally blind. Rick and I were in
different cities, and never even met face to face until two months in.
Beyond the script, I didn't have any context for what they were going for
with the shoot - which ultimately gave me a little more flexibility to try
to make the most of what we had. Because of the time gap, there was
never the option to go back and re-shoot if something didn't work, or was
missing. The $64-question of course,
when and where will the film be released onto the general public?
KG
- We're working with a sales agent right now to try and secure
distribution for the project. In the meantime, we'll be doing
festival screenings, but we're really hoping to get it out to the public
in the next few months.
DL
- Erebus' world premiere is on November 09, 2014 at
RIP Horror Film Festival in Santa Ana, California. We have some feelers
out there and hope to get it out to the public in the near future.
Any
future projects beyond Erebus?
KG
- I'm in production with Belfast's Causeway Pictures right now on a
documentary about the pope's exorcist, Malachi Martin, titled Hostage
to the Devil. I'm also in development with Causeway on a slate
of horror projects, here and in the UK. Here, our first priority is
a script called Creedmore by Johnathan Peace, about a
reluctant mom-to-be fighting off a zombie outbreak in a hospital.
It's really twisted and funny.
DL
- I recently became involved with a comedy, At the Legion, that's being
directed by Paul Flebotte. I'm currently in development on my, untitled,
directorial film debut.
Your/your movie's
website, Facebook, whatever else?
www.erebusmovie.com
www.spygirlpix.com
www.causewayny.com
DL - Twitter @NewEnglandIndie
Anything else you are
dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask?
|
Feeling lucky? Want to search any of my partnershops yourself for more, better results? (commissions earned) |
The links below will take you just there!!!
|
|
|
KG
- Oh! Ask David to tell you some of the stories about the
actual hauntings in some of the locations they shot Erebus
in! We
even have a shot of a ghost they saw on the deck while shooting one night.
DL
- As I briefly mentioned above, Block Island is haunted, bottom line. We
filmed in two main locations, both were haunted but one was a pleasant
feeling while the other, The Spring House, had the feeling of not wanting
us there. After the first night of filming in The Spring House, I went
into the lobby alone to make sure everything was cleaned up. I was picking
up some containers when I clearly heard humming in my right ear and the
presence of something right next to me (I'm actually getting goosebumps
while writing this). I left the building and the first person I saw was
Rick. Rick saw my face and immediately knew something happened. I was
usually a skeptic on things and being a former police officer normally
only believe what I can see or prove. Along with that first hand
experience other cast and crew members would feel their hair being
touched, cold breezes and the feeling of being watched. There was a hard
wired phone, on location, that kept ringing with nobody on the other end.
This phone was unplugged, taken apart and still continued to ring at
random times. Block Island has a lengthy history of paranormal
activity.
Thanks
for the interview!
KG
- Thanks so much!
DL
- Thank you!
|