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Your upcoming movie The Morning Star Preserves Company - in a
few words, what is it about?
It's
about keeping the balance between good and evil. Via jam! What were your inspirations
for writing The Morning Star Preserves Company - and since the
movie has a strong mythological background, did any research go into that
aspect of the movie, and/or do you consider yourself a spiritual or
religious person at all?
I grew up and lived in the North of Ireland prior to moving over to England
and with everything that went on there in the recent past, religion and
faith are easy things not to
believe in. From a very young age I have always been as agnostic as
possible toward religion, but the idea of Heaven and Hell, from a purely
fantastical viewpoint, are always great topics to focus on in film,
literature etc.
As far as research is concerned, I read up on the Lords of Hell and the
history of demonology. That is where I came across artwork and writings on
Asmodeus. Being the demon of Wrath it felt quite apt that he be the demon
to focus on in the story. Since you describe your film as
a horror/fantasy movie, what can you tell us about your approach to either
genre?
I
always think the two live in the same world anyway. Horror is fantasy and
vice versa. The worlds created are what divides them slightly. My approach
toward horror has always been more informed by the old ideal of what you
don't see is scarier. That's not to say the horror, at times, shouldn't
be up there on screen, but more a more traditional approach is sometimes
the best way to approach things for me. Minimal to no CG, keep things
tight and practical.
Which
is just as well as most of my budgets to date have been in the hundreds,
which just about covers the ham in the sandwiches, ha.
What can you tell us about the overall intended
look and feel of your movie? There
will be two very distinct looks for the film. The Morning Star Preserves
Company will be, well, the intention is for it to appear like a really
normal very busy office/factory, but with a colour scheme of grandeur,
deep emeralds and reds. Also, with location being key, the exterior has
already been scouted, but interiors, will also have a kind of aged art
deco look. Think the hotel from Argento's Inferno and
you're there. Then the
complete opposite for the main character's world. Normality in suburbia.
Anything you can tell us
about your projected cast yet, and why exactly these people?
Right
from the start of the project, the person I had in mind was Emma Dark [Emma
Dark interview - click here] for
the lead. Outside of bringing that natural, classic beauty to the part, I
always thought Emma had the ability to deliver good dramatic work. There
is a fair exchange of dialogue in the fim, and it is delivered with a fair
bit of humour. I feel Emma is fully capable in that capacity and will
surprise a lot of her fans, who may only know her for modelling etc. I
actually first approached Emma, asking did she know of any actresses who
may suit the part. She said yeah, ME!! Ha, which was what I was after so
that worked out well. We have become pretty good friends also, and with
her being a director herself, it's always good to have someone creative to
just bounce ideas off. Liam Olsen is a guy I worked with in the past and
he is just blinding at
delivering his dialogue, he normally knows everyone else's also, ha ha. A
great character actor who always "gets" exactley what I am
trying to do with my characters. Then there is Mark Rathbone. First time I
will be working with Mark, and I am really looking forward to it. I had
seen Mark in a friend's film and loved his performance, very strong
presence. He also has great comic delivery. So I feel it's one of the
strongest casts I have worked with. Which reminds me, I have made a last
minute adjustment to Mark's character, still need to tell him, ha. As
far as I know, The Morning Star Preserves Company is still in its
fundraising stages as of yet - so what can you tell us about your
fundraising efforts? £3500
is the budget, which is absolute bottoms, but I think we can make it
stretch no problem. The campaign went live a few days ago, and we are
hitting good targets so far, but of cours , we need as much help as
possible. Hitting all the usual places, Facebook, Twitter, Stage 32 etc.
Obviously having people like your good selves give us the coverage always
helps too. I have many friends in the indie film world who have helped out
a lot with sharing and pledges, but like I said, we can always do with
more. I am hopeful we will hit the goal, and I know money is tight, but we
have got some great rewards, for as little as £10. We definitely couldn't
make the film for less. https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-morning-star-preserves-company#/story
Once the budget's in place, what's
the schedule - and even though it's probably waaay too early to ask, any
idea when and where the film might be released onto the general public
yet? We
have set a delivery date as October 2016, which is really a long time,
but I am trying to be realistic. All of us have regular jobs and still
have everyday life to contend with, bills and all the usual boring shit,
so we have to try and work around everyone. Having
said that, I think if we do hit our goal, that will make it easier to get
a schedule in place, because the cast and crew will know the funds are in
place to be able to pay them, and feed them, accommodation etc. I expect,
once all that is in place, we will deliver the film way before October.
Get pledging folks! Any future projects beyond The Morning Star
Preserves Company you'd like to share? I
have a few scripts in development at the moment, a horror/comedy I
actually began shooting but got screwed on called Necro-shift - long
story - and a giallo film I
am developing as a feature called The Angel Path. I think my next
flick will be a good old Halloween story though. I have almost completed
the script, it's called Sulphur and is a great throwback to good old scary
80's flicks. What got you
into filmmaking to begin with, and did you receive any formal training on
the subject? I
always loved horror. Carpenter's Halloween blew my mind when
I had seen it as
a kid - I know I shouldn't have lol, but ah well, and that set me off. Even
though I am a fan of film in general horror is my preference. I started
out toying around, making small things on a crappy little digital camera,
and a few yars ago I figured I should take it more serious. I went back
into education, and actually finished this year. BA honours degree in Film
and TV Production. Go me, lol.
What can you tell us about your filmwork
prior to The Morning Star Preserves Company?
I
made a few short film tests really just to see if I could do it, lol, then
started to get into it properly. I formed Abandonhope Films about 3 years
ago, and the first proper project was called Hollows End, kind of classic
set up, four friends at a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere, shit happens,
I wont give it away. A great experience that one. We hired a cottage up
in the hills in Northumberland, and it was baltic. Pissing rain, 100 mile
an hour winds, 3am holding lights so they didn't blow away. Glamourous
stuff, ha.
My
most recent short film, The Sceptic, has received some great reviews and a
cool response from the people who have seen it. It was nominated for best
cast at the Sanford International Film Festival in the United
States. Both
are available to watch online for free kids, check them out on my Vimeo
and YouTube channels How
would you describe yourself as a director? Hopefully
inspirational for the people I work with, loyal, creative and dedicated.
Oh and metal as fuck! HA! Filmmakers
who inspire you? Hands
down, John Carpenter and Dario Argento are my two main influences, but
there are a lot of great new directors. Ti West I am a big fan of, House
of the Devil and The Innkeepers I just loved for their parred down low-fi
practical approach. Adam Wingard is another great film maker. You're Next
and The Guest were great flicks too. All very inspiring directors Your favourite movies? Halloween
and Suspiria top two. I couldn't do a list, but those two are my
favourites.
...
and of course, films you really deplore?
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Modern
day stupid zombie movies. Every fuckin week, something "of the Dead" comes
up on Netflix, mostly with Z-grade actors and just really boring, badly
made films. Give me Lucio Fulci [Lucio Fulci bio - click
here] anyday. Enough with the zombies.
Your/your
movie's website, Facebook, IndieGoGo, whatever else?
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-morning-star-preserves-company#/story
https://twitter.com/KevHarte1
https://www.facebook.com/FEARSPREADS
https://www.facebook.com/abandonhopeproductions
Anything
else you are dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask?
It's
been a great set of questions to be fair. Just to add that everyone
reading this, if you could please try and donate to our film and share the
links everywhere you can, we will be eternally grateful and you get to be
a part of a pretty cool project involving passionate, talented people. Thanks
for the interview!
I
appreciate it man, thank you and all the best!
#FEARSPREADS
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eThaiCD.com
find Kev Harte at adultvideouniverse.com
