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Your new movie A Halloween Feast - in a few words, what's it about?
The movie is centered on a dysfunctional family. It's about relationships
and how there are grave consequences to their actions as they
disassociate from the fact that the mother is basically going crazy.
What were your sources of inspiration when writing A Halloween Feast?
Twenty years ago I wrote a six page short film about how several
characters interact, and every single action has a ripple effect that
changes deeply the course of each one's lives. The feature film screenplay
came from that. I can relate that to the movie Crash by Paul
Haggis, which had a deep impact on me. And of course I'm a big fan of
The Shining and
Death Becomes Her - I wanted to write a story like
Crash, with
The Shining blood and the brilliant comedy of the latter.
You've written the script forA Halloween Feast together with Arthur
McClen - so what can you tell us about him, and what was the writing
process like? Arthur McClen was my co-writer for a bit, after I had completely written
the full feature film version and he brought in many brilliant comedic
elements into the story. I'm a big believer in collaboration. This is a
screenplay I've been working on since 2008, Arthur was involved around
2010 - 2011. Then I spent the next decade plus rewriting it by myself
until the version we ultimately brought to the screen. Arthur is
brilliant! A Halloween Feast has more than its fair share of severed limbs and the
like - so do talk about the gruesome bits in your movie for a bit, and
how were they achieved? I am a big believer that to have a meaningful impact, the "gore" effects
need to be made practically. Practical effects always! We had an expert
special effects makeup artist (Allie Shehorn) and a practical effects
team (by Fonco Studios) designing all of the gory sequences. Lot's of
blood pumps, squibs, severed heads built, and the secret sauce for
splattered brains: Bread and bananas. What can you tell us about your movie's approach to horror? The approach is to have your screenplay ready. The horror and the comedy
are on the page. And film it as if it is a drama.
A few words about your overall directorial approach to your story at
hand? Collaboration is everything: Most importantly have a great team -
cast/crew. Follow the script tightly but with a little wiggle room for
improvisation. Have a "vision" and let your team help you create it. BUT
be flexible if in any specific moment that vision doesn't work the way
you wanted. Trust your team! Since I was also a lead actor in the film,
we had an amazing assistant director (Genevieve Kertesz) making sure what
I did as an actor worked for the film. She was my director when I was the
actor. You also appear in front of the camera in
A Halloween Feast - so what can
you tell us about your character, what did you draw upon to bring him to
life, and did you write him with yourself in mind from the get-go? The character of Mark was always me from the very beginning - and I was
able to bring in elements of my life into the character. One of them: He
is charming ha! Also an interesting trivia is that when I moved to Los
Angeles I was broke and one of the side gigs I did was to be in mascot
costumes entertaining children at parties. And that's in the film.
A Halloween Feast also stars horror icon Lynn Lowry - so what was working
with her like, and how did you get her to begin with? Lynn Lowry was an absolute joy to work with. Not only she came prepared,
she loved the screenplay, so she memorized everything perfectly, which is
the dream of every writer/director when it comes to their actors. But
she was the sweetest, most kind person to be on set with. When I was
casting the character of Angela I spoke to a good friend who works in the
film industry, and he said to me: "the script is bonkers, but unless you
get a recognizable actress you shouldn't do this" - then he goes: "hold
on I have a friend of a friend of a friend who worked with Lynn" ... the
rest is history.
What can you tell us about the rest of your cast, and why exactly these
people? We have a wonderful ensemble cast. Every single one of the main
characters have deep meaning within the story. This little Q&A would be
thirty pages long if I was to answer your question properly, so I'll let
the audience discover for themselves. But here's a brief description of
the principals: Julia Coulter as Karen: Angela's daughter. She left the family house, but
she's back as her mom's behavior becomes concerning. The story is told
through her eyes. Guile Branco as Mark: A stranger. And he's boney.
Lou D'Amato as Dr. Park: The psychiatrist supervising Angela's release
after the "finger incident" - you'll have to watch to see what that is.
James Griggs as Richard: Angela's husband. Let's just say he should be
more concerned. Jackson Leighton as Stuart: Angela's son - apparently the only one who's
really trying to make sense of the situation. Pancho Moler as Cudjoe:
Make sure you don't owe any money to him. Ever.
Asia Lynn Pitts as Goth Girl: Any magic, witchcraft, goth things, she's
your girl. And she sleeps in a coffin. Nika Khitrova as Rose:
The psychiatrist fiancee, she'll get big
surprises. And unfortunately her sister Violet (Della Maylan) may pay a
big price. Mary O. Bremier as Grandma: She eats flies. And burps a lot.
Do talk about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere! 19 days of hard work but joyful. 12 hours days with no overtime. Happy
crew, happy cast. No drama behind the cameras.
The $64-question of course, where can
A Halloween Feast be seen? Starting September 10th: Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, iTunes, Comcast on
Demand, Dish, Xbox, VUDU... then October ROKU, and more!
Anything you can tell us about audience and critical reception of
A Halloween Feast? The audience and critical reception has been absolutely incredible. It's
a crowd pleaser. We had incredible multiple screenings in theaters in
Brazil (Porto Alegre), Mexico City and Los Angeles. The difficulty of
independent cinema is to find its audience, for a film like ours we are
competing with bigger films - so spread the word everyone... and you can
see amazing critic/user reviews if you go on our IMDb page. Any future projects you'd like to share? It's all top secret for now.
What got you into acting in the first place, and did you receive any
formal training on the subject? Before moving to the United States I was a professional actor in Sao
Paulo, Brazil. I was very prolific in theater. I started acting when I
was 17 years old and I studied under the Stanislavski method. Acting has
been a part of my life as long as I remember being human.
Do talk about your early career in Brazil, and what prompted you to make
your move to the US? Although I was very actively involved in theater my dream was always to
be involved in film. Back then I didn't have any access to working
filmmakers and the only screen acting I did was landing some small parts
in soap operas. Also I spent a few years of my early childhood in
California when my father was studying biology at the University of Santa
Barbara, so I had had some rendezvous with the American culture. As I got
older, I just really wanted to be where the film industry is the most
developed, so ending up in Los Angeles became my ultimate goal.
What can you tell us about your filmwork prior to
A Halloween Feast? I started my film company over 10 years ago when I produced a fitness
documentary called Why We Train. After that, for a long time my
company only produced short films, so making
A Halloween Feast was a
huge step forward. The biggest change was when my friend Lou D'Amato (he
plays Dr. Park in the movie) became partners with me in the company, and
then I knew making our feature debut was certain. Without his help we
wouldn't have a movie. As an actor in the US I have worked in many
independent films, which gave me a lot of insight of the inner workings
of the industry - especially on the low budget side.
After years of acting, you've finally directed your first feature with
A Halloween Feast - so what prompted that move behind the camera? And which
side of the camera do you actually prefer? I'm primarily an actor and a writer. I didn't think I was going to be
directing this movie, and I went as far as offering the script to a few
different directors. But over the years I had grown too close to the
story, and that's when I made a decision to be the director. I wanted to
protect my vision. But I prefer to be the actor.
How would you describe yourself as an actor, and how as a director? Always professional, on time. A collaborator. I have a rule number one: I
don't work with ***holes. Actors, filmmakers, whoever else who inspire you? Stanley Kubrick, Steven Spielberg, Anthony Hopkins, Arnold
Schwarzenegger. The latter: The greatest immigrant story ever. Your favourite movies?
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The Shining,
Blade Runner, Kiss from the Spider Woman, Waiting for Guffman.
... and of course, films you really deplore? I'd rather not say.
Your/your movie's website, social media, whatever else? Simple,
go to @ahalloweenfeastmovie and @guilebranco ... and IMDb - it's all there.
Anything else you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? I don't like heat waves (it's 110 degrees today in Los Angeles).
Thanks for the interview! |
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