Your new movie Dreadtime
Stories - in a few words, what is it about?
A party turns bizarre when a malevolent book
makes its way into the hands of the attendees who reveal its tales of
monsters, madmen and the supernatural. How
did the project fall together in the first place? SAL:
Jacob
and I were just hanging out, reminiscing about our recent success with our
short called The Roommate, which somehow teetered off into a
discussion on how we both love horror anthology films and how there should
be more of them. When we began to entertain the idea of doing our own, and
what the vignettes might be, we realized we each already had written
several scripts and treatments that could be utilized. We also realized
that this would be a great opportunity to work with some of the best
talent in the coastal bend, so as far as we were concerned that night, we
decided to do our first feature film. What
were your sources of inspiration when writing Dreadtime
Stories - and what was your collaboration like during the writing
process? JACOB: Along with our
love of classic horror, we were inspired by things that really scare us,
like situations and concepts that get under our skin. Were
all episodes written and shot specifically for Dreadtime
Stories, actually, or were some shorts from an earlier date? JACOB:
The vignette Home Cooking was a film previously written and
shot by Sal Hernandez and we rebooted it for Dreadtime
Stories. Stained
Affection was a remake of a short we wrote and filmed for a 72
hour film competition and the short Useless was written and
shot almost 6 months before just for fun, but became the first installment
for the anthology.
When
it comes to their approach to horror, the vignettes of Dreadtime
Stories are literally all over the place - so which kind(s) of
horror do you personally prefer, actually, and which episodes were the
most fun/exciting to write and shoot?
JACOB: I prefer suspense horror, the slow
burn before the scare type of films. I
would have to say my favorite production would have to be when we filmed
the vignette called Punishment. The entire short was completed in
one 18 hour day which included extensive make-up and a full body suit.
SAL: I like the hard gore, what the fuck type of horror, the kind that damage
the human psyche. For
me the most fun was when we were on our 16th hour of filming
the installment Distention. It was like 40 degrees and it was
technically Monday morning. By this time it didn’t matter what anybody
said, we just could not stop laughing. It’s hard to remember what
exactly set it off, but I vaguely recall something about Chiclets and
chicken tenders. Jacob, what can
you tell us about your directorial approach to your stories at hand?
JACOB:
My approach was different from story to story. I let the scripts dictate
the style of each installment. As the cinematographer, I made efforts to
make each vignette visually unique. Sal,
what were the main challenges producing Dreadtime
Stories, and how much of an hands-on or hands-off producer are
you, actually? SAL:
I would have to say it was definitely difficult doing this film with no
money. We paid for everything out of our own pockets. But it was for sure
our discipline, innovation, business sense and the passion of all involved
that made this film look like we had budget. I supposed I’m a hands-on
kind of producer, however I make sure I stay in my lane, but I don’t
have problem injecting myself when I have to. What can you tell us about your key cast,
and why exactly these people? JACOB:
We had worked with most of our actors to some extent before and wanted to
showcase some of our local talent as well. I guess we are partial to South
Texans. Do talk about the shoot(s)
as such for a bit!
JACOB:
With a full time job and family, it was a challenge to juggle and balance
responsibility, especially with the hours we kept, but we did it. Shooting
exclusively on weekends also took its toll, but the advantage there was
that most times, we didn’t have to go to work the next morning. It’s
hard to label any part of the production as “difficult,” we welcomed
every challenge; we overcame them and are better filmmakers for it. A few words about audience and
critical reception of Dreadtime
Stories so far? SAL:
The response has been for the most part very positive and encouraging.
It’s very interesting to see the different reactions to each story or
the film as whole. For sure, every type of horror fan will find their
favorite vignette. Any future projects you'd like
to share? SAL: Well at the moment, we have been doing music
videos for the occult band Sabbath Assembly, but we are also in
pre-production for our next feature film Deviant Behavior. It’s a
straight up suspense, slasher movie with a disturbing theme. How did the two of you first meet even, and
what can you tell us about your collaborations prior to Dreadtime
Stories?
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JACOB:
We had worked off and on together since about 2010. After filming our
award winning short The Roommate, we decided to officially form STX
Media in 2013. Your/your movie's website, Facebook,
whatever else?
www.stxmedia.net
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/STXMedia
Subcribe to our YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/STXMediaTV
Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/stx_media
Anything else you are dying to mention
and I have merely forgotten to ask?
Yes! Be sure to check out
the official Dreadtime
Stories music video. The song is “Don’t Go
Blame it on Me,” the end credits song, performed by the band Koruptore.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtv6YGiBUf4
Thanks for the
interview!
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