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Your new movie The Truck
- in a few words, what is it about?
The Truck is about a
young couple who accidentally encounter an old beat up 4-wheel drive that
starts chasing them around. With The
Truck being a loving throwback to car horror films of old - what
do you find so fascinating about that genre, and some of your genre
favourites? Plus, what can you tell us about your relationship to actual
cars - and related to that, how much of yourself have you put in
your lead character Roger?
I find this genre a
favorite of mine due to the fact that I've always had a huge fascination
for fast cars and old vehicles. My relationship to
actual cars is solid. I've owned many including a 1968 Dodge Charger, a
1972 Rallye Charger, a 1973 Charger SE, a 1967 custom Chevrolet stepside
and a 1986 Chevrolet S-10 truck with a 350 Corvette motor.
There isn't a whole lot
of me in Roger, he is a derby contestant and drag race type. I never did
that stuff, I just ran the roads on my own. "Roger" is more his
own character.
What got the project off the
ground in the first place? I
bought the "Truck" off of Craigslist from an individual. I saw the ad and
read about it and wanted to buy it, so I did. I took one look at this
thing and thought it would be awesome to make a film like this with it. So
it became. How would you describe your
directorial approach to your subject at hand? Intense.
Directing a movie is demanding, but if you enjoy it, it's second nature
once you do it enough. The movie
being set in the 80's - what kind of a challenge was it to recreate the
vintage look of The
Truck?
It
wasn't as difficult as it may seem. The locations were "stuck in
time" so we didn't need any set dressing. It was very convenient. I
ordered authentic 1987 license plates from eBay and used them on the
vehicles to be historically correct. The
Truck features a busload of mechanical stunts and effects - so why
did you go the mechanical rather than the digital route, and what can you
tell us about the effects work as such? I
love practical effect and real stunt work. To me it makes a real movie.
Digital effect were only used in the machine gun sequence with actor Andy
Grace. I've never been one for CGI at all. The effects work was minimal
here. We used fake blood of course for the scenes where people get killed
by the Truck. That was about the only effects we had.
How
easy or hard was it to find the right locations for The
Truck,
including a ghost town, an abandoned warehouse and the like?
The
locations were a breeze. I've known about the warehouse for a while now.
Copper Canyon Ranch is where we shot the campground scene with owner Tim
Emery (who also plays the sheriff), did the set dressing to make it look
abandoned by driving old boards with numbers on them into the ground along
with old wires that have been stripped on the end. The abandoned town
scene was shot in Lafayette. It has a population of less than 200 and
really is like that sometimes. It was perfect for the empty town scenes.
It helped that I knew the mayor to get permission also! Do talk about
your cast for a bit, and why exactly these people?
The cast was excellent. My lead actors,
John Morris and Rachelle Christine had the perfect 80's look for the film.
Rachelle is a bit taller than John which I thought was funny since it's
usually the other way around. Rachelle is just the most beautiful young
lady (she'll slap me when she reads this) and has the perfect look. They
were both great to work with and I'd work with them again any time.
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Rachelle Christine |
Tim Emery and Andy Grace are just
naturals. They have acted together in live old western theater style gigs
for years. Andy really enjoys acting and has real talent. I enjoy working
with him. Tim is always a blast to work with. He has a great look and
voice.
Danny Lee Ramsey (who also scored the
film) and Jenna Nicole Ruiz were equally as great to work with. Danny has
a great look/voice to play certain types of characters and he really
enjoys it. Jenna was brought on set by recommendation of Jim Dougherty and
was a smash hit. She was great to work with and is such a doll. I love
working with people like this because it makes things work smoothly on
set.
What
can you tell us about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere?
Andy Grace |
The
shoot was great all the way around. Everyone worked well together. We had
a few days of bad weather but got through it. The atmosphere was
incredible. A lot of the scenes were shot on the back roads of western
Kentucky where there isn't much traffic. It felt serene. The
$64-question of course: When and where will the film be released onto the
general public? It is
available now! Viewers can go to Amazon.com and purchase a DVD for 10.00
plus S&H and 18X24 posters for 5.99 plus S&H. I plan to have a
Limited Edition VHS run of 100 copies for the nostalgic approach since
it's 80's film. The VHS copies will include a 11X17 poster as well. I also
want to take this film on the road and show it wherever I can. Independent
theaters, or any venue that will allow me to show it. We want people to
enjoy our work. Any future projects beyond The
Truck?
Yes.
I have 2 scripts that are ready to shoot. One is a sequel to my first film
Gun Town. Another is a thriller titled Evade, and I definitely
want to do a sequel to The
Truck. I have the story in my head, I just need
to write the script. As far as I know, you have entered the
filmworld as a stuntman - so do tell us about that aspect of your career,
and how do you train to be a stuntman even?
I
love doing stunts. It's dangerous, but fun. I started doing my own stunts
in low budget films and in my own projects. I never went to any type of
training school for that, acting, or anything else. I am basically self
taught. I would however like to go to a stunt school to learn more. There
is so much to learn. With Gun
Town you have changed into the director's chair - now what prompted
that switch, what can you tell us about that movie as such, and what are
lessons learned from it?
Once I got into the film industry, the
"want" of making a movie developed. I always remember my
favorite movies growing up and thought, why not return the favor? I wrote
Gun Town in about 4 months and gathered some funding, then we started
shooting.
Gun Town was a tough shoot. First of
all, it was very hot, 95 degrees plus. There was a lot of tension on set
because it was my first time making a movie so I was very grouchy. I have
since learned to be more patient with people and work with them more.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed making the film and would do it all over again in
a minute.
How would you describe yourself
as a director? A
pain in the ass. No really, I am kind of tough to work for. I expect
people to do their job. I'm old school like that. However, as a director,
I'm as thorough as possible with every scene and try my best to pay
attention to detail. It's important to me to get the right shots and make
everything as good as I can. It does take time. Filmmakers, stuntmen, whatever else who
inspire you? I grew up
watching the old action and horror films with Chuck Norris, Sylvester
Stallone, Halloween, Friday
the 13th, etc.etc. Not knowing much else about movies
other than who was in them back then didn't educate me much, but over the
years I now see what films are and how they're made. It takes an
incredible team of people to create the visual arts. So, I'd say everyone
from the directors of these films down to the production assistants
inspired me. You can't make a movie by yourself. Your favourite movies?
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That's
a long list! Most every horror film, a ton of action films. ...
and of course, films you really deplore? I'd
say any film with just complete crappy production quality. Your/your
movie's website, Facebook, whatever else?
We're working on a
website right now. Here's the rest:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Truck/540022886029032
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2820954/
Anything else
you are dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? I
love heavy metal, hot women and cold beer. Thanks
for the interview! No charge.
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