Your new movie The Voices
- in a few words, what is it about?
The Voices
is a movie about Grace, who catches her fiancé cheating on
her, on her birthday, and spiraling out of control she goes to stay
with her sister at their father's old hunting cabin. When she arrives
she finds that her sister, Catherine, is less than warm and hospitable, and
dealing with her own issues. When weird things begin happening she
discovers that her sister is suffering from a mental disorder, just
like their mother who took her own life while Grace was just a child.
While Grace struggles to come to terms with her issues, her past, and
her sister's state of mind, she uncovers a little secret that leaves her
questionioning her own sanity. As the lines between reality and dreams
blur, her sister's actions become increasingly erratic.
Grace's own sanity becomes more of a question, and she must desperately
fight to save her family before its too late.
Now how did the
project come into being in the first place? Bradley
Fowler, the writer and co-director of the film, and I have been friends
for a few years. Bradley is an amazing actor besides a fantastic writer,
and I had directed him in several small projects before this. Three Tales
had already found funding for the film and Bradley had approached me to
see if I was interested in directing. At first I was hesitant to accept
the project. It would be my first feature length movie as a director, so I
wanted to make sure that the script I chose to make as my directorial
debut was the right story to tell to make my entrance as a movie director.
I have had success with several short films in the past but I knew that my
first full length movie was very important and I wanted to make sure that
the story would help to send my career off in the direction I wanted it to
go in. Brad sent me home with the script and I immediately fell in
love with it. The story sucked me in. I had an interview the
production company was so inviting and supportive to my ideas and
vision. They welcomed me into the project and it felt like a perfect
fit. After that it happened so fast, the next thing you know we were
shooting. It was honestly such an amazing start to this project. What can you
tell us about The Voices'
writer and co-director Bradley Fowler, and what was your collaboration
like? Like
I just said, Bradley and I were friends before starting this project, and
he was actually the one who introduced me to the producers and had asked
me to come on board. Bradley is a great actor who I really enjoy working
with as a director, and he wrote a great story. We had a great
collaboration. We decided right away that we needed to show a solid united
front with everything, and then when we started diving into the script and
prepping and developing, we really were on the same page. It was like we
finished each others... Well if he were here he would have said
"sentences". He was very supportive of my vision as a filmmaker
and I was of his. Before we started prepping and before I took the
job, we had long long long meetings and phone calls about the story, what
it meant, and how we wanted to tell it. Brad supported my ideas with the
story just as I did his. We complimented each other well. He leaned
on my directing, producing, and general filmmaking experience,
and his experience as an actor, as well as his understanding of the finer
qualities and skills of acting, helped me learn and grow as a director as
well. Amanda Markowitz and Victoria Matlock, who were the stars of the
film as well as producers with Bradley and I, were both very
creative and collaborative. Three
Tales Productions is the name of their
production company, which includes Bradley, Amanda, and executive producer
Andy Wizenberg (get it, there is 3 of them). It is the most collaborative
production company I have ever worked with, and we worked so well
together, that we worked on several other projects after we finished The Voices
as well.
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Now The
Voices isn't your first time working with Bradley Fowler - so what
can you tell us about previous collaborations, and how did you first meet
even? I
had brought in an intern on a movie once, who was fresh and in college
earning his degree in film and I was helping him learn the ways of
filmmaking. He an Bradley were friends before this, and Bradley and I both
happened to be at his birthday party. We both also happened to be the
only old married guys who didn't know anyone and felt weird
surrounded by younger kids and just wanted to go home, so naturally
we gravitated towards each other. We discussed his passion for acting and
story-telling, my passion for directing and story-telling, and just hit it
off. We then became friends. I cast him in a few small projects, and
one thing led to another before The Voices
came up. Since wrapping The Voices
we've continued to work on several other projects. Let's get back to The
Voices - what can you tell us about your movie's approach to
horror? The
approach to horror was sort of a point of contention in our film The Voices. I don't mean that it was constantly an argument, but it was
something we had to discuss and figure out in prep so that we could
proceed on a united front. Brad wrote the movie to be a horror movie. I am
no stranger to horror, and at that time most of what I had directed had
been horror-related. The consensus of the production company was
that they wanted to make sure this film was a "thriller" and not
really a horror. I don't love when people treat horror like a four letter
word, or think that the only horror that is worth watching is when you
have to call it elevated horror, or when you say "it's not
really horror, it's a thriller." I mean, some of the most critically
acclaimed movies of all time were horror films, and if you were to walk
into a video store (I know, what's that?) you would find most of the
"thrillers" in the horror section with the rest of the horror.
So with some long conversations and some good collaboration we decided as
a group of storytellers to embrace the horror and use it in our movie.
The story really lends itself to horror so well, and Bradley really
crafted this script to include some amazing horror elements. Without
giving too much of the film away, here are a few examples of horror
elements we embraced that were very masterfully written. **There will
probably be some spoilers here** In my summary of the movie I explained
that Grace finds that her sister Catherine is dealing with her own
psychological disorder. It turns out that Catherine is suffering from a
form of paranoid schizophrenia. Brad was able to masterfully weave historical
horror elements associated with that disease into the script. For example,
in history, the disease has been associated heavily with religion.
Misdiagnosed hauntings and possessions are things that were so heavily
assocated with this disease through out history. While staying respectful
to the disease, we weaved these horror elements into our
"thriller" so at some point you're not sure if the house is
haunted, if Catherine is possessed, or if it's something else. There are
lots of small elements like that that we planted throughout the film,
really embracing the genre and leaning into it.
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You just have to talk about your location in The
Voices, and what was it like filming there? The
location was amazing! When I was first brought on board, the film was
actually being prepped to be shot up north from LA somewhere near
Sacramento. The production company had some friends that had this great
property in the red wood forest. The idea of the red wood forest for the
backdrop of our movie was a pretty beautiful dream, but ultimately we
decided to shoot local to LA. Myself as well as the other filmmakers
have all worked in the industry for years and have some wonderful
connections locally. The cost of doing this movie as a "distant
location shoot" we felt would greatly inflate the budget. I also have
many friends who are crew on movies who I want to involve. I wanted
to include so many people that have helped me in the past, and have them
by my side in my biggest project yet. It also made it possible to get Lin
Shaye to come be in the film, and Brendan Sexton III to sign on as well.
So many people here were willing to help, and I am still returning favors
to this day, and I know that Bradley, Amanda, Victoria, and Andy are as
well! It wouldn't be the redwood forest, but we weighed out the pros
and cons and decided to look for a location where we could shoot locally.
Once we made that decision we decided that we needed a place that could be
an equally amazing back drop as the red woods would have been. Amanda Markowitz, the lead actress and producer actually found us this
amazing property, a huge ranch in Fillmore, CA, with an amazing house on
the property. It had been a record breaking year for rain for like a month
or two prior to shooting, and there was an access road to the house
that was washed out. In order for us to shoot at this house we had to
walk/carry every piece of gear/prop over this 100' rope suspension bridge
that hung over a river. So we literarily spent an entire day carrying
sandbags and lights, camera gear, furniture, etc. EVEN A CHAPMAN DOLLY
over this suspension bridge which was prob 50' in the air over this river.
When we scouted the location, we loved the bridge so much that Brad did a
small rewrite and figured out a way to write it into the film. It really
was amazing. I love the idea of shooting in the red woods, something
about that just looks beautiful in my mind and would add a gloomy element
to the film, but I was so happy with the property we found, that I think
it helped us make a much better film. The house itself acts almost like a
character in the film. It's such a strange old house that it it really fits
our film as if it was built on a sound stage just for this movie. We have
a ton of great and funny crew stories about this house and property.
Looking back at making this film I honestly couldn't imagine doing it
somewhere else. A
few words about your overall directorial approach to your story at hand?
Making
a movie is hard. Directing anything is hard. Directing this movie was
particularly challenging. Besides being a small indie film with a tight
budget, it's also a movie that is shot all in one location,with very few
actors, and little dialog. Right from the start, keeping this film
entertaining was going to be a challenge for us as filmmakers. Lucky for
me the actors in this film are so so talented, and were able to complete
the task perfectly.
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Bradley
and I again worked very hard to always come at everything with a solid,
united front. We both felt that in order to properly tell this story it
needed to come from a single voice and not feel all over the place. It was
very important to us. I personally am a very technical filmmaker. I've
worked in the film industry for quite a while, and worked on some very large
very technical films. I have a lot of knowledge in filmmaking and the
different aspects of making a film. I try hard to bring that experience
with me to the table as a director so I can help design the way the story
is told to better help the crew. I worked very closely with the
cinematographer Ryan McCoy to design the look of the film. We even spent
the weekend before we started shooting going shot through shot of my shot
list, and shooting an animatic with our actresses at the location so we
could have a plan and retool when needed. I wanted the look of the film to
be very cinematic. We were a small indie film, but it was very important
to me that the movie appears to be a cinematic movie. I wanted slow wide
dolly shots, but also knew that we needed to use cinematography to help
keep the story interesting. We had a very tight schedule and we needed to
make sure that we used that time to get all the coverage we needed in
order to edit a complete movie. I also thought it was very important
to find a way to add one visually interesting shot into every scene, so
Ryan and I worked very hard to accomplish that. The hard part was we
didn't want to just add a cool shot for the sake of having cool shots but
we wanted to design shots that did something to help move the story
forward or that helped us tell the story more effectively. So designing
shots that were cool but also making sure that they had valid reasons to
be in the film was a big deal for us.
I
tackled most of the technical aspects of the directing, and with Bradley's
extensive knowledge of acting and storytelling, we worked together with
the actors to accomplish what we all wanted.
Do
talk about The Voices'
cast, and why exactly these people? Part
of the cast was actually attached to the film before I was. The script
was actually written and designed for Amanda Markowitz and Victoria
Matlock. Three
Tales Productions had already made a film together
called Love Meet Hope, which is quite good. It's a very fun
love story starring Amanda, Victoria, and Bradley, that I really recommend
checking out. After that film, Bradley wrote a few more scripts and
eventually designed and wrote The Voices as a vehicle for Amanda and
Victoria to star in. It was a little unnerving when Bradley first asked me
to direct the film with him, cause I didn't know Amanda or Victoria yet,
but I watched their previous work, and all worries quickly faded. I have
cast Amanda and Victoria in several projects since The Voices, because I
think both are such amazing actors. I couldn't imagine anyone else
playing those parts and truly count myself lucky the parts were written
for such amazing talented actresses. As far as Lin Shaye, Brendan Sexton
III, Jessica Sonneborn [Jessica
Sonneborn interview - click here] etc... we tried really hard to sit down as a
production team and discuss who we had the ability of reaching out to and
who is talented enough, and who could bring some more star power to the
table etc. We made pretty big lists for each character and then spent days
discussing. Ultimately we worked together as a team to assemble a
cast that Brad an I are very fortunate to have had.
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What can you tell us
about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere? The
shoot was an amazing experience. I mentioned previously that I used every
favor I ever had to make this film, so there were so many people on set
that were my friends, or Brad's friend, or Amanda's friends, etc. It was
honestly amazing to do a small independent movie with such a great caliber of crew. I am also very fortunate to find crewmembers I like
working with and bring them back on other projects. I have had the same
makeup artist Melissa Thornton on probably 10 projects, the same script
supervisor, the same gaffer and key grip, etc. Amanda, Victoria, and Brad
are the same kind of filmmakers so they brought in their core crew people,
and it was just a very positive experience. Working with amazing, talented people that we have all worked toghether before, and developed
friendships was nice. Because of those relationships too, it opened up
some very interesting doors where anyone was invited to collaborate and
include ideas. It didn't necessarily mean that every idea was chosen, but
we wanted to nurture the concept that every idea could be a good idea,
even if it didn't fit into this story. Also because so much of the crew
had worked on previous films with us, there was a relaxed sense of feeling
like you could contribute, while keeping respect for the actors and
filmmakers who were making the final decisions. Now that isn't to say that
we didn't have our set of challenges. As a small indie film with a very
tight schedule, we had a our issues and our challenges, but everyone
genuinely wanted to be there and wanted to help, so it was mostly working
through challenges with a smile. I do remember that we had several days
where the normal dolly grip wasn't able to be there, and then the only
other person with dolly grip experience was myself, so there were several
days where we had to do very complex dolly moves where the only person who
could do it was me. So I would spend the day directing and pushing dolly
at the same time. It was very interesting and challenging but also allowed
me to directly use the dolly as a tool to get the shots I wanted to tell
the story I wanted. So ultimately a lot of the little challenges like that
helped us make our movie in the long run. It was such a positive rewarding
experience, I truly miss being on this set all the time. The
$64 question of course, where can your movie be seen? Right
now you can see it on every premium VOD platform; AppleTV, Amazon, YouTube
Movies, Fandango Now, Xbox, Playstation, Google Play, Hoopla, Vudu, etc...
You can also pre-order physical media (DVD) as well as we are constantly
adding more platforms. You can follow me on social media, the film on
social media, and of course the production company, producers, and actors
for updates, we will constantly be adding new platforms as they arrive.
Catch it on AppleTV -
https://apple.co/3em3h8o
Anything
you can tell us about audience and critical reception of The
Voices? I
know I am the director so I may be biased, but it really is getting a very
good response. We premiered the film to a sold out theatre at the
Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival, and the whole theatre was
watching the film half covering their eyes (in a good way). The sighs,
and jumps, and screams all happened at the right places. I don't want to
say too much but the film really has had a great reception so far. Any future projects you'd like to share? I
am working on several projects. I have 2 more horror scripts in
development, as well as a new horror script I am writing and I am
particularly excited about. I also have a really great short film/proof of
concept that I am pitching right now. We shot a 14 min action short film
full of car chases, fight scenes, car wrecks, gun fights, knife fights,
more car wrecks etc. It's currently called Four Hour Layover in Juarez. I wrote the script based on a true story, and Amanda Markowitz
helped me produce it. I shot this amazing 14 min short film as a proof of
concept to show producers and investors, in order to get the funds to make
it a summer blockbuster action film. The short film turned out amazing and
packed with action. I'm very excited to see where it goes and for the full
length movie to be made. I also have a couple other cool projects that I
probably shouldn't talk about just yet. You can for sure expect to
see a few more horror movies in addition to this action movie, if not
another studio movie coming from me very soon, fingers crossed! I am very
excited about some of the upcoming opportunities. What
got you into filmmaking in the first place, and did you receive any formal
training on the subject? I
have loved movies my entire life. I grew up in a small ranch town in Idaho
where we didn't have cable or get any TV channels, so my dad rented movies
all the time. I have so many memories of watching movies with my dad. I
grew up wanting to be an actor, and it was just after my parents had
gotten divorced that I remember sitting on my dad's lap watching The
Goonies. I was going through a lot at the time and couldn't understand why
my parents were splitting up and why my dad couldn't live with us anymore.
Sitting there watching that movie about these young kids taking their
future into their own hands was just what I needed. All the problems in
the world just disappeared and for that hour and a half nothing else
mattered but that adventure. I decided that day that I wanted to make
movies like that when I grew up. My mom and my dad were both so supportive
and encouraging about me chasing my dreams, and after that It was just my
plan. I acted in all my school plays and went off to college in Idaho. I
went to Boise State University but they didn't offer a film major so I was
a theatre major with an emphasis in performance and direction. While I was
attending Boise State I was cast in a small indie movie and I worked very
closely with the director who let me hang out and work behind the scenes
when I wasn't acting. That's when I got my first real taste of moviemaking. After Boise State I went to film school at Full Sail University,
where I got my bachelors degree in Film and Television Production. While
in Florida I got my Masters degree in Business and then moved to LA to
chase my dreams as a director.
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What can you tell us about your
filmwork prior to The Voices? When
I attended Full Sail University the school really pushed learning all
aspects of filmmaking. Even though I directed every project I could get
my hands on I was really good with cinematography and lighting and started
working for a few of my professors gaffing music videos outside of school.
After I graduated I was offered a job gaffing a small horror movie in FL
for one of my professors who was the cinematographer. The producer quickly
said "no!" They wanted a gaffer with more experience and brought
in a really good local union gaffer. He was a great guy and when he found
out I was offered the gig before him, he offered me a spot on his
lighting crew. I accepted and worked really hard for him on the movie and
he liked me, so he continued to hire me. I learned a lot from him and kept
working with him, working on bigger and bigger projects. Once I moved to
LA, in order to pay the bills and keep my directing dream alive, I worked
very hard to join IATSE local 728 and work as a lighting technician. I've
worked very hard and had a really great career working on some of the
biggest movies and TV shows in Hollywood. I've made so many friends and
learned a lot from some of the best minds in the industry. I've worked
with Michael Bay, Steven Spielberg, David Lynch, and many more. As a
writer, director, producer I've been able to soak up information I've
learned over the years on these huge movie sets and translate
them into my own productions. I've had some really good success with
several short films playing hundreds of film festivals and winning several
awards. I've also been fortunate enough to direct some fun music videos
for some great artists as well as some really fun advertising commercials. Going
through your filmography, it seems you rarely stray too far from the
horror genre - pure coincidence, or is horror a genre especially dear to
you, and why (not)? It
is not a coincidence. I work in horror a lot, because it is near and dear
to me. I am a fan, I watch a lot of horror, and read a lot of horror etc.
I am a pretty big horror nerd, and I know that there are lots of super
fans that put my love of the genre to shame, but I am still a big fan!!! I
am, however, working on some more mainstream projects currently. I have a
comedy and an action project that I am currently developing. I've aways
sort of played in those genres as well though. A lot of what I do is
horror/comedy and-or action/horror so its not a huge stretch for me. How would you describe yourself as a
director?
Handsome, smart, funny... I dunno, haha, I am a mix between an actors' director and a
technical filmmaker director. I started my journey as an actor, and really
understand the process and what actors need, so I can put myself in the
place of an actor and feel for them and emphasize with them. But also I
have a lot of experience working behind the camera as crew, watching and
learning from crew, watching other directors, etc. I really love the
technical side, the nuts and bolts technical filmmaking. I like to think I
am a healthy mixture of the two skillsets. Filmmakers who inspire you? Oh
man, that's always the tough question. I am inspired by so many filmmakers
for so many different reasons, and every time I work with a new director I watch them closely and learn about them and their methods. My list
of who inspires me and why is always growing. Sam Raimi was always one of
my favorite directors and really inspired me as a young filmmaker. I also
love Tim Burton, and of course Steven Spielberg. Working with
Michael Bay on several movies has really made me respect him for his
knowledge and passion. It's hard to find a more passionate person and his
career path as well as his track record for profitable big budget movies
is hard to ignore. David Lynch was amazing to work with and it is amazing
to see his methods. James Wan is one of my favorite directors currently. I
haven't worked with him at this point but his career trajectory and his
films make me a big fan. Your
favourite movies? My
favorite movie is The Goonies, but I am also just a fan of movies in general.
I went through a stage when I was a young filmmaker where I would pick
movies apart and analyze them. I would make judgements against the
filmmakers and the film as if I had some sort of understanding of what
they were going through and making. Now I am just such a huge movie
fan I can watch movies objectively and just find reasons to enjoy them. I
of course have favorite films, but I really do enjoy most movies. ... and of course, films you really
deplore? I'm
not sure I have a list of this, haha, I try not to focus on the negative
that much to have a list of films I really deplore.
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Feeling lucky? Want to search any of my partnershops yourself for more, better results? (commissions earned) |
The links below will take you just there!!!
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Your/your movie's website, Facebook, whatever
else?
Personal:
http://www.wesleyalley.com (although
I desperately need to do an update)
https://www.facebook.com/wessalley
https://www.instagram.com/wessalley/
https://twitter.com/search?q=wesleyalley
The Voices:
http://www.threetalesproductions.com/thevoices.html
https://www.facebook.com/thevoicesfilm/
https://www.instagram.com/thevoicesfilm/
Anything else you're dying to mention and I have
merely forgotten to ask? I
can't think of anything. It feels like you covered
all the bases. I really appreciate the interview and I am
grateful for you!!!! Thanks for the interview!
THANK
YOU!!!!!!!
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