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You have only recently written, produced and starred in the short Candy..
In a few words, what is the film about?
First off, I was the creator and I wrote the original story,
Jenny Beres was the writer of the short film.
The film is about a simple Mother and son bond and how his attempt
to break away from her does not go so well. It's an age old story
with a twist.
What were your
main inspirations for writing Candy.?
My idea for the film came straight from my love of 50's & 60's TV
series like Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie and above all the feel of
The Twilight
Zone and films from Alfred Hitchcock.
I love the 1950's style. Giving the character of Candy.
a very
Marilyn Monroe feel was always majorly important to me and I'm happy that
Sage Hall was willing to go there with her. I know a way I
would explain this short to people was, What if Marilyn Monroe worked with
Hitchcock? or What if Monroe was in a Twilight
Zone episode? I
felt like we could create that and Sage could play the role in a way that
worked and was never over the top. Since Candy. is basically
about a hopeless momma's boy you probably wouldn't admit this even if it
was ;), but is the story in any way autobiographical? Absolutely
not. I do not have a good relationship with my mother. In
structure, Candy. reminds
me of these old-fashioned yet effective short stories with twist endings.
Are these anything you harbour a love for? Yes, of course.
I know those type of stories ring true to Jenny as well and it would be
interesting for you to get her opinion on this. The twist to me is
what gives a good story a way of staying with the audience. I
believe there wasn't anything predictable about Candy.
and I
feel that every audience that has seen would agree. What can you
tell us about audience reaction to Candy.? It's
been amazing. The first screening in Sacramento at the SAC
Sci-Fi/Horror Convention blew us away. Director Sage Hall, Composer
Grady Reingle, Writer Jenny Beres and I were all there and spoke about the
different jobs on this film. After the screening the audience was
quite responsive and had so many wonderful things to say. We
screened at the Hallowscreen Film Festival in Sarasota and again, the
audience was very happy with the film. In the coming weeks we
have been asked to have Candy.
screen at the Screen Actor's
Guild offices in NYC. It's for the SAG FOUNDATIONS Short film
Showcase. We are honored they have accepted our film. It
remains to be seen if Candy.
has a life in the Film Festival
circuit outside the horror festivals. You can watch and
learn more about Candy.
here: http://www.Candy.StarFruitProductions.com
You
have currently another short film in post-production, The Couch. A
few words about that one?
The Couch is Sage Hall's labor of love. I'm honored
to have been a producer and actor on the project because it has so much
heart. This is not, in any way, a horror film, it's a urban drama
and it is a very artistic piece. Sage brought this idea up to
me over 5 years ago and I'm truly happy to be a part of it. Amazing
Writers, Amazing Actors, Amazing Crew, this is a very heart felt piece and
I have no doubt it will do wonderful in the coming year on the festival
circuit. You can learn more about it on the official website http://www.TheCouch.StarFruitProductions.com
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with Jenny Beres in Candy. |
Besides yourself, Candy.
and The Couch also share Sage Hall (star, director) and Jenny Beres
(star, screenwriter). What can you tell us about these two women?
They're both amazing. I've already gushed about them above, but
truly they have been artist saviors in my life. Sage
introduced me to Jenny when she asked me to work in a performance of two
one act plays Jenny had written. It was a wonderful experience
because I had not done theatre in such a long time and it really
reinvigorated my love for live performance. Having them both partake
in the world of Candy.
was a wonderful experience and then
re-uniting to work on The Couch just reinforces a combination
of talents I believe could wake this industry up a bit. Sage
Hall is not only a talented actress and director but she is also a very
talented Editor and producer, and Jenny Beres is a very talented writer of
both theatre and film, but she has also become a good actress and
it's wonderful that she stepped into Candy.
and discovered
that new talent.
I can't say enough good things about the two them and I value their
friendship. I hope to continue working with both of them on many
projects in the future.
You
are also currently pre-producing the feature film Hellstorm, which
you will also star in. A few words about this project of yours, and how
far advanced is it at present?
We are in the Pre-Production stages and being a producer on this
project means I'm extremely busy. We're searching for investors at
the moment, which is taking up a lot of time, as well as doing some script
revisions. I will be in Huston and Galveston, TX for meetings
regarding the film for most of February and hopefully quite soon we should
have an announcement regarding the Hellstorm.
As I understand, you
already have a quite stellar cast rounded up for Hellstorm. Could
you please elaborate?
We have an incredible cast of actors signed on to the film at this time
including Kane Hodder, Debbie Rochon, Regan Deal, Natacha Itzel, Devanny
Pinn [Devanny Pinn interview -
click here], Sage Hall, Tara Cardinal [Tara
Cardinal interview - click here], Erik Preston and many more.
Another upcoming film you not only
star in but had your hands in production is For Christ's Sake. What
can you tell us about that one?
For Christ's Sake was filmed in 2007. I do hope that
the film eventually sees the light of day, but I can not tell you anything
regarding the film at this point. It's out of my hands and left to
the director/writer Dustin Hubbard [Dustin
Hubbard interview - click here]. In For Christ's Sake,
your character is labelled The Clone of Jesus Christ. How do you
approach/prepare for such a role? I remember getting to set
and telling Dustin Hubbard that I wanted to really talk about the
character. I knew that if I dare to approach it as Jesus
then I would automatically fall into a stereotype caricature and be
attacked by religious fanatics over that portrayal in a horror film.
Mind you, I still ended up with a lot of hate mail, even though the
trailers on Youtube you only see my silhouette and my eyes.
But over all, I wanted to give him a Robotic quality rather then make him
the nurturing Jesus
everyone knows, it wouldn't work in a horror film
setting. I basically looked to movies like American
Psycho and oddly enough A.I. for inspiration.
I think it worked, but until it's seen by people, I really won't know.
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Cut |
You are also in Joe
Hollow's [Joe Hollow interview - click
here] upcoming Cut. Anything you can reveal about that film
yet?
I have no authority to speak about Cut other then
to say it's an amazing cast and crew. I enjoyed playing Jeff and I can't wait to see the final version.
Let's talk about Ripped Memories for a bit,
another film you didn't only star in but you also produced?
Ripped Memories stars Debbie Rochon and I as stepmother and
son who have a very odd relationship. Again, it's not finished and I
have not seen any final footage on the film so I can't say too much about
it. But I can tell you there are some great appearances by Elina
Madison, Tara Cardinal [Tara
Cardinal interview - click here], Jose Rosete and Bill Oberst, Jr. who plays my
father. It's basically a suspenseful drama with a few twists.
A very ambitions project by Writer/Director Marc Fortin who is out of
Holland and came over to Los Angeles just to shoot this film.
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on the set of Alien Vengeance with
Christine Daoust |
What
can you tell us about Alien Vengeance?
I can tell you it's available for purchase on Amazon and on
the website http://www.AlienVengeance.com.
This is an homage to the Sci-Fi late night B-Movies of the 70's and
80's. Director/Writer Jason Liquori brought together a great team
for this film and I had an absolute blast filming it. You've got to
go into the film knowing that this a b-movie and just have fun with it. Any other
films you want to talk about, any future projects you want to
reveal? I will be going over to Phoenix, AZ and
directing segments for the webseries A Six Gun for Lobo, which
is a spin off of the successful Western X.
Writer/Director Michael Flores asked me to join their team for this
project and I'm extremely happy to take part in this world You can
watch Western X exclusively on KoldCast.TV: http://www.koldcast.tv/video/western_x_introduction_eps_1_3 Going through your filmography, one can't
help but notice that quite a few of your films also star Debbie Rochon. A
few words about her? Debbie is amazing. I have so
much respect for her and I'm so glad that a working relationship has grown
into a friendship with her. I value her opinion and her knowledge of
this business. She is a delight to be around and I honestly don't
know where I'd be without her support over the last few years.
Everyone should aspire to be as thoughtful, honest and straight forward as
she is. Concerning filmmaking, you have
pretty much done it all, acting, writing, producing. Why, which do you
prefer, what could you do without, and were you never tempted to put
yourself into the director's chair? Well, I'm tempted all
the time to want to be the director, but it has to be the right project.
Again, I'm honored to work with Michael Flores on A Six Gun for
Lobo but as far as my own project, I don't know when that will be.
I don't know if I prefer anything over another. I love the freedom
you have as an actor to develop a character and really find a new approach
to the situations in a script. As a Producer I love building a
project from the ground up and having my hands in everything. Hellstorm has been a great learning experience with such a
large cast and with Keith Smith directing, I feel confident the film will
turn out to be a truly memorable horror film for the fans out there.
I really think that you can focus your energy on one aspect of
filmmaking and really hone the skills needed for that job, but I've always
believed it's better to know how Everything works and that makes you
stronger in every area on the film set. I've run coffee, sat in the
background for days on end, been the lead, been a supporting character,
written a bit, produced and yet I know there are a ton of jobs I have no
idea how to do. I think I still have a lot of learning to go
through before I will ever feel comfortable in any one role on a film set. Before you started
making films, you already had quite a stage career, which I understand is
still ongoing. A few words about your theatre work, and how does acting on
stage differ from acting in front of a camera?
I talked about the two one act plays I was in with Sage Hall that were
written by Jenny Beres last year, that was my return to theatre. I
missed it but didn't really know how much until I was acting in front of
people again. There really is nothing like an immediate laugh from a
joke you've just told or a gasp when something dramatic has happened.
Though I miss it, Theatre does not offer the flexibility filmmaking does
or the intricacy that I absolutely love about acting on camera. I've
always thought that subtlety goes such a long way when you're on camera
and I love that.
But I expect, that if the right role came up and my schedule
allowed, I would jump at the chance to to stage work again. We'll
see what happens.
Before
making a name of yourself in indie movies, you did quite a bit of extra
and uncredited supporting work on studio films from Ocean's 11 to Beethoven's
Big Break and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective jr. What can you tell
us about that aspect of your career and how does work on a studio flick
differ from work on an indie film?
This was a tremendous help in my growth as a film actor. I love
being on set, it doesn't matter what I'm doing so being a background actor
for those huge moves, was all training and I'm very thankful to the
company Background Entertainment in Orlando for giving me work in Beethoven's
Big Break, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective jr, Never Back
Down and Bait Shop. My time on those sets
was amazing and it was some of the best time I've had as an actor to date,
no kidding.
As far as the difference between Studio and Indie projects, the
obvious is true, money. On a studio film the sets are larger,
the trailers are bigger and the food is abundant. Some studio films
can give you that element of family, but for the most part it's all about
the bottom line and I can respect that to a point. It's a business
and you've got to get the work done in order to reap the benefits.
With Indie films, you're all working together to make shots happen.
You might be the star of the film, but that doesn't mean you won't be
holding the boom in the next shot if you have to. You do an indie
film because you Love it, you don't do for the money. There are
experiences and friendships that I've made through doing indie films that
I could have never made or had on a larger set.
Most of the films you
have done so far are in some way or another horror movies. Do you have a
special love for the genre? I do love horror films from the
campy to the creepy. I love to be frightened and love practical,
onset FX. There's nothing better then a real artist making you
bleed! I can't stand watching horror films that utilize CGI in such
a way that it takes you out of the story.
I want to do other genres, but there is nothing like the love of
horror to bring people together. People unite at conventions, travel
across the globe to be scared at an event like Universal's Halloween
Horror Nights (which I've worked at many years) and for that alone it's
worth doing these films. The fans are great and being one myself I
know what it's like to meet a fellow actor that you've admired or been
terrified by, it's thrilling.
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Actors who inspire you?
My list is long but I'll condense a bit and I'll only mention actors working
today. Gary Oldman, Kevin Spacey, Betty White, Beth Grant, Jamie Lee
Curtis, Cate Blanchett and Leonardo DiCaprio. Honestly, these are a few of
the actors gracing the mainstream big screens that I absolutely admire and am
inspired by. Your
favourite movies? The Color Purple, Requiem for a
Dream,
Halloween (1978), Moulin Rouge, A Nightmare on Elm
Street, Star Wars,
Boogie Nights, Gremlins and Jaws. ... and of course, movies you have
really deplored? I don't know, there are tons of
films I dislike, but others find them entertaining, that's why there are
so many movies made every year. Your website, Facebook, whatever else? Official
website: http://www.JesseKozel.com
Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/JesseKozel
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/JesseKozel
IMDb.com: http://www.IMDb.me/JesseKozel Anything
else you are dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? Not
that I can think of, but thank you for doing this interview and thanks to
Tara Cardinal [Tara Cardinal
interview - click here] for mentioning me to you! I appreciate it. Thanks
for the interview!
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find Jesse Kozel at adultvideouniverse.com
