An Interview with Morgan Muscat, Producer of Massacre at Femur Creek

by Mike Haberfelner

September 2014

Films produced by Morgan Muscat on (re)Search my Trash

Your upcoming movie Massacre at Femur Creek - how did the project come together in the first place, and what convinced you to produce it?

Well, I initially came aboard the project after I discovered Kyle’s IndieGoGo campaign to raise money for the production of the film. That was earlier this summer. I watched his effective (and very funny) pitch video and I contacted him directly with a desire to producing, while at the same time making my return to live-action. Over the past few years I’ve been producing animated feature films. Being an avid horror movie fan too, I saw the potential to make a really great, thoroughly enjoyable short film.

What can you tell us about your director Kyle Hytonen [Kyle Hytonen interview - click here], and what was your collaboration like? And how did you two hook up in the first place?

It’s funny you mention it. Kyle reminds me quite a bit of what I was like when I was younger. He is determined and passionate and knows exactly what he wants. He has a fond appreciation for horror, particularly 80s horror, which is the decade I was born and raised in. He also possesses a vigorous drive to make his film no matter what obstacles come up along the way. So what I see in Kyle is a lot of energy and enthusiasm. When you get to a stage in your life where I’m at now where you’ve got lots of responsibilities it becomes more and more difficult to be that same passionate and dedicated person you were despite your willingness to be. I’m a very laid back now and I give a lot more creative control to the directors and writers simply because I feel collaboration is more influential than tackling every area of the film. I did that with Severance (2010) and it was a little much. Kyle and I hooked up through his IndieGoGo campaign for Massacre at Femur Creek. We knew each other based on our previous works but we had never physically met until shooting began. Kyle’s a great filmmaker and a wonderful person overall, I look forward to working with him again one day.

With the film being set in 1984 - what kind of a challenge was that on the production side of things?

Well anytime you decide to make a period piece, it becomes increasingly hard to source out objects and/or items from that era in time for production. If you find it local then that’s awesome, but sometimes you have to trek out of your comfort zone to get what you need. For us, 1984 isn’t that far back in time, but finding vehicles and polaroid cameras comes with their own adventures. Luckily for us it wasn’t so bad. I very much enjoyed having the red Beetle on set for one of our last shoot days. The owner was a super nice guy and even trained one of our actors on how to drive stick since it was a standard vehicle. I think the props really add to the ambiance of the film and when you’re sitting there watching it it really does feel like it was made in 80s.

What can you tell us about your cast, and to which extent were you involved in the casting process?

I wasn’t involved at all. All casting was completed by Kyle early on. I had never worked with any of the cast members in this film, so this represented a great opportunity for me to approach something with a sense of freshness instead of collaborating with the same.

With Massacre at Femur Creek being an outdoors film - what can you tell us about your location, and what were the advantages but also challenges filming there?

Massacre at Femur Creek is a completely outdoors film. Whenever you’re making a film that requires a lot of exterior shots, you’re dealing with plenty more obstacles than one would contend with when shooting in a controlled environment. With our film, we’re dealing with every obstacle you can think of from torrential downpours and trains, to mosquitoes and lengthy forest hikes. We shot in completely uncontrolled locations and that made things more difficult than they needed to be. It’s not the first time I’ve dealt with this, but when production finally wraps you can sit and laugh about it because the footage you have is just amazing. The rain and fog, while annoying during the shoot, just looks beautiful on camera. That’s for sure an advantage. The locations were perfect for the atmosphere, which made it feel very Friday the 13^th.

What can you tell us about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere?

The atmosphere was terrific. As I stated, we were dealing with some uncooperative weather during the shoot, but being on set and enduring that with a great and dedicated team of cast and crew made it worth it. Despite our issues with weather, we had a completely professional crew and cast and those are the types of people you need when situations like that arise.

Morgan with Massacre at Femur Creek's psychopath John Migliore

Any idea when and where the film will be released onto the general public yet?

Currently we are planning on premiering the film at the 2014 Hamilton Film Festival in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. I’m very excited to be back in Hamilton to promote a new horror short. I had the opportunity to showcase my work there for the past few years now, so I’m thrilled to be back at that venue. Other than that there isn’t anything on the horizon at the moment, but I expect we’ll be sending the film off to festivals around the globe so we’ll see where we end up.

Any future projects beyond Massacre at Femur Creek you'd like to share?

Well, with Massacre at Femur Creek wrapped and making the festival rounds in the next year, I’ve also got my latest animated feature Cold Dark Mirror finishing up production in the next few weeks [Cold Dark Mirror interview - click here]. That should be released sometime next year. I’m also in the process of getting my second animated feature, Origin: A Call to Minds, a distribution deal, and I continue to work on developing other films along the way, which I unfortunately cannot disclose much about at the moment.

Your/your movie's website, Facebook, whatever else?

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Find Morgan Muscat at the amazons ...   amazon.com   amazon.co.uk   amazon.de Looking for imports? Find Morgan Muscat here ...   eThaiCD.com Your shop for all things Thai

At the moment, Massacre at Femur Creek doesn’t have a website, but we’re working on it. Feel free to visit my website (www.morganmuscat.com) for all the latest info on what I’m up to and what films my company, Moonlit Road Entertainment, is developing. There’ll be lots to check out about Massacre at Femur Creek over the next little while too. Check me out on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/morgan.muscat) and Moonlit Road Entertainment on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/141227922710869/) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/morganmuscat)

Anything else you are dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask?

If you have the opportunity to do so, please check out Massacre at Femur Creek if it plays at a festival near you. Help support indie films and independent filmmakers!

Thanks for the interview!

My pleasure, Michael! Thank you!

© by Mike Haberfelner

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