An Interview with Lee Vervoort, Director of The Truck

by Mike Haberfelner

November 2013

Films directed by Lee Vervoort on (re)Search my Trash

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.

Tim Emery, John Michael Morris

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. 

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?

Feeling lucky ? Want to search any of my partnershops yourself for more, better results ?

The links below will take you just there!!!

Find Lee Vervoort at the amazons ...   amazon.com   amazon.co.uk   amazon.de Looking for imports ? Find Lee Vervoort here ...   eThaiCD.com Your shop for all things Thai Something naughty ? (Must be over 18 to go there !)   find Lee Vervoort at adultvideouniverse.com

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.

© by Mike Haberfelner

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