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Your new movie Witness
Infection - in a few words, what is it about?
A mob boss’ son is trying desperately to get out of an arranged
marriage bewteen two families in witness protection. Suddenly the whole
town is taken ill by bad sausage, and a zomcom with a third wheel
ensues…
How
did the project come into being in the first place? I had read a few of Jill-Michele
Melean’s scripts [Jill-Michele
Melean interview - click here] and noticed how great she was with
story and structure. We already had a trusting relationship with
our stand-up touring dates. I came to her with this lump of clay which was
a zombie/mob story movie. We gelled pretty quickly and the script was done
in about 3 months from start to first table read. What
were your sources of inspiration when writing Witness
Infection? Tremors,
Shaun Of The Dead,
Tucker And Dale vs Evil, Dead Snow, Sopranos,
Godfather and Goodfellas. What can you tell us about your
co-writer Jill-Michele Melean [Jill-Michele
Melean interview - click here], and what was your collaboration like? Jill is ALL focus and hard work and super-accepting of my continued
rambling. I would pace and blabber and she would type and say, “wait,
stop.” She lent so much strength to all the roles, particularly the
female characters. She was solid on story!
Do
talk about Witness
Infection's brand of humour! We are definitely a mixed bag with quotable lines, Blazing Saddles fart
humor, gore humor and great character comedy!
What were the
challenges of bringing Witness
Infection from a producer's point of view? As always with a low budget we had to make sure we had the right crew
and that all of us wanted to succeed and chip in outside our primary roles,
and we got that from top to bottom. Everybody liked the script and we
really supported each other on set! You
also appear in front of the camera in Witness
Infection - so what can you tell us about your character, what did
you draw upon to bring him to life, and have you written him with yourself
in mind from the get-go? I wanted Carlo to be Chaz Palmenterri
light. We wrote Carlo for me but
Robert Belushi played him so differently and really made him the anchor of the story Do talk about the rest of Witness
Infection's cast, and as a producer, how deeply involved were you
with the casting process? Jilly and I cast it from our cell phones with texts and emails. We wrote
the characters based on the cast we wanted, and by and large got them all!
They were all so skilled and gifted that they added to what we had already
written. What can you tell us about Witness
Infection's director Andy Palmer, and what was your collaboration
like? I met Andy Palmer through Ben Begley on a series he and his wife Renee
Dorian wrote called Cluedless. I liked his style right away. Then
Ben and Andy cast me in Funhouse Massacre in Ohio. I saw how Andy was
the calm captain on that set and how he handled the comedy and the horror.
He is amazing! A few words about the shoot as such?
The shoot was challenging with a few days getting rained out - a beast
on a 15 day shoot. We scrambled a couple of times, almost got kicked out
of a location for our hunter scene, and found last minute locations thanks
to Andy and Jill - but it was a blast! I was shaking the hood of cars at
3AM in the morning after I was done shooting. We all scrambled and went
above and beyond and we never got too intense - we REALLY liked each other!
Carlos with Robert Belushi, Jill-Michele Melean |
The
$64-question of course, where can Witness
Infection be seen? You can go to our website witnessinfection.com
and check out all the
formats and reviews - iTunes, Amazon, Walmart etc. Anything you can tell us
about audience and critical reception of Witness
Infection yet? We won the Audience Choice Award
(Envy) at the Sin Horror Film Festival - I
would say 90 percent of the reviews have been very positive. It’s a fun
ride. We wanted this movie to be like a jaunt through a haunted house.
Pure fun! Any future projects you'd like to
share? Jilly and I finished our first draft of a family style comedy, and we are
looking forward to writing the outline for a Witness
Infection prequel or
sequel. I continue to work as a voice actor in animation as well. What got you into acting in the first place, and
did you recieve and formal training on the subject?
Rocko’s Modern Life pulled me into the acting arena. and then I began
scene study classes in SF and LA with Cliff Osmond as I was doing stand-up. I cam late to the acting game as I was a total sports junky, jock
growing up! It all started with stand-up comedy in college in 85’. Having
a career in both live action acting and voice acting, how do the two
compare, and which do you prefer, actually? My preference is relative to the project.
Rocko’s Modern Life was a blast to record,
and being on the set of Reno 911
and our movie was too. I would say If I
ever became super busy in the on-camera world as an actor, writer or
producer that I would never give up my voice-over!!
Even
before Witness
Infection, you've taken on extra behind-the-camera duties every
now and again - so in a nutshell, why is that? I am at a point in my life where I just love making things, and I do not
have to be the star. I am a lot like Carlo in the film. Whatever makes the
project the best it can be is what I am all about! What can
you tell us about your filmwork prior to Witness
Infection, in whatever position? Most notably Reno 911!
Miami. This Is Meg with Jilly - Take The 10 with
Anthony Revolori, Dirt Merchant a while back…The Book Of Life,
Inside Out. How would you
describe yourself as an actor, and some of your techniques to bring your
characters to life? I would definitely say I am a character actor but I always try to NOT
play on top of the comedy. I have had a few dramatic roles as well, CSI,
Bone - that type of stuff. Actors, writers, filmmakers, whoever
else who inspire you? Simon Pegg, Jill-Michele Melean [Jill-Michele
Melean interview - click here], Sacha Baron Cohen,
the Reno 911
cast! Your favourite movies? The
Exorcist, Raising Arizona, Alien,
It’s a Wonderful Life, Love Actually, Shaun Of The
Dead. ...
and of course, films you really deplore? I thought the performances in
Bohemian Rhapsody were excellent but the
movie as a whole was an 11 in every scene!!
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Your/your
movie's website, social media, whatever else? www.witnessinfection.com,
@carlosalazraqui on Twitter and Instagram. Anything
else you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? Just wanted to say I am blessed to know and work with such dedicated and
talented friends. I love my family and I can’t wait to make the next
movie! Thanks
for the interview!
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