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Your new movie
Velvicide - in a few words, what's it about?
It’s basically set up in a documentary tell-all style where the main
character (Velvet) is sharing her story with a film crew in hopes of
finding this masked geriatric deviant that kidnapped and tortured her
for months on end.
With Velvicide
revolving around suicide and suicide prevention, what can you tell us
about your research on the subject, and is any of this based on personal
experiences (and sorry if this question is too personal)?
I don’t feel this question is personal in any way. Suicide has always
fascinated me. In a lot of my feature screenplays I’ve written, there are
always elements of self harm or thoughts of suicide and I’m not certain
why. I love life (even in its lows) and I guess I’m fascinated at how
human beings are capable of such an action. I understand mental illness is
a thing and depression can be really dangerous, so I guess this is my way
of exploring those elements of human nature outside my real disposition.
(Other) sources of inspiration when writing
Velvicide?
It’s simple. I wanted to write an extremely contained film where I
could shoot it in my garage if need be. I had created 16 short films
to date and it was time to make a feature. Most of my inspiration came
from years of watching true crime documentaries. I told my wife and
fellow creators, “If we can be entertained watching a talking-head
setup where a person is retelling a story AND the only thing shown is
blurred reenactments of what happened for multiple episodes in a
multiseries – then why can’t I write something similar that equally
holds attention?” So, I wrote a movie with that in mind.
To what extent could you actually identify with
Velvicide's main
character Velvet - and any of the other lead characters in your movie?
I think they all say something about how I see certain people. Velvet is a
strong-willed woman and unstoppable when she’s determined, but also, we
see her human side. This is something most can identify with – we
understand her vulnerabilities. Callum is what happens when a weak-minded
individual allows curiosities and infatuations to boil over. Isaac is
Velvet’s equal in many ways with otherwise, devious intentions.
Do talk about
Velvicide's approach to horror!
Horror is my strong suit and my first love. I was watching everything from
Nightmare on Elm Street to the
Leprechaun franchise when I was just a boy
in the late 80s. I wrote this film initially expecting it to be a
straight up horror film, but it morphed into something else. While I would
agree there are very dark elements at play here that are definitely
classified as horror, I feel this film plays out more as a psychological
thriller as we try to figure out who the culprit is and how Velvet will
deal with it. A few
words about your overall directorial approach to your story at hand?
Since we had an almost non-existent budget (I financed this film
myself), most of the work I did prior to filming to make sure we had
the equipment and locations/actors/crew locked in place. My approach
was to make sure we simply got the material and coverage we needed to
make a film. I tried to keep everything as simple as possible so the
roadblocks and hurdles were at a minimum during production. I didn’t
try to be flashy or add any fluff or unnecessary additions to the
shoots.
What can you tell us about
Velvicide's cast,
and why exactly these people?
Most of the cast was a no-brainer for me and some was sheer luck. I
intentionally wrote the role of Callum for Jon Devlin. He always plays
these wild, explosive characters and I wanted to give him something
different and deeper. I knew he’d execute it perfectly and he nailed it.
Isaac’s character was a different story. I originally wrote it for another
actor. However, I always send my scripts to JD Starnes because he’s read
most of my feature screenplays — just in case he was interested in playing
some other character. He immediately wrote back after reading it and told
me he was playing Isaac. I told him I had another guy in mind, but he was
adamant. I’m glad I ultimately went this direction, because I couldn’t see
anyone pulling off the role as well as JD did. John Grove took on the role
of Kyle and served as one of our red herrings. He did an outstanding job
as well. Dorothy Hadley Joly played Roxanne in our opening scene. I don’t
need to say much there. She nailed it as I originally envisioned and
started the movie off with a literal bang. And then there’s Velvet’s
character, played by Gea Rose Henry. Originally, we had a different
actress cast for over a month. The night before our first shoot, she
backed out and we were left scrambling. I was certain the film was dead.
However, my wife suggested we ask Gea. I thought it was preposterous that
we ask an actor to learn 16 pages in one night, but we asked and the rest
is history! Gea learned 16 pages and never asked for one line during the
shoot. This was definitely a blessing. I believe this film would have
never been completed if our original actor didn’t back out and I also
believe the film is infinitely better with Gea leading it!
Do talk about the
shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere!
Shoots were relatively easy. Most of our crew was really close and we
worked well together. It was fun watching the film come to life take by
take and we made sure we fed everyone very well!
Anything
you can tell us about audience and critical reception of
Velvicide?
The film is still in its infancy as it doesn’t really have any marketing,
so we’re hoping as time progresses, more and more eyes will see it. At the
moment, we had a few theater screenings and it was received well. The five
indie critiques we’ve received have had a lot of positives as well. That’s
about as much as you can ask for for a 23k dollar film.
Any future projects you'd like to share?
If we can secure some funding, I’m sitting on a one-location script
that has won several screenwriting awards called The Voyeur’s Logbook. I
think I could make this film for around 75K and I think it would pique a
lot of interest in the indie world. Here’s the logline:
"Accused of murder after a local woman goes missing, a voyeuristic gas station
clerk is forced to relive his logbook entries to prove his innocence—only
to discover the true monsters might be the ones interrogating him."
What got you into filmmaking to begin with, and did you receive
any formal training on the subject?
Obsessed with movies, I wrote my first two screenplays at the age of 19
while serving in the Marine Corps. I was going to go to New York Film
Academy, but that fell through. I ended up giving up the dream for over a
decade. Then years later after marrying and becoming a teacher, I saw a
video on YouTube talking about making movies with your iPhone. I decided
that summer I was writing and shooting a short film. After that, I kept
accruing knowledge through YouTube and “on the job training” by making
several short films. We started winning awards in festivals and I knew we
were onto something. What can you
tell us about your filmwork prior to
Velvicide?
To date, I think I’ve shot 16 short films (some up to 30 minutes long).
Most are on YouTube. We’ve won over 133 selections and awards with these
films in festivals. We’ve got some cool trophies as well!
How would you describe yourself as a director?
I’m laid back and very attentive to my cast and crew. I believe in
getting the story, but as long as everyone is comfortable and safe. I
have a vision, and most of the time it’s limited by budget, but I do
my best to mold that vision and bring it to fruition with the tools I
have. Filmmakers who inspire you?
Most any filmmaker who is a successful writer/director. Those are the ones
I aspire to the most. Some of my favorites are Cameron Crowe, Tarantino,
Christopher Nolan, Spielberg and James Cameron.
Your favourite movies?
I’m weird. My favorite movie of all time (I watch it twice a year at minimum)
is Vanilla Sky. I love the deep existential undertone mixed with romance.
It’s not a movie for everyone, but I feel like it was written for me.
... and of course, films you really
deplore? I don’t have many films I hate. I understand how difficult it is to make
one, but since you’re twisting my arm… Zohan sucked (and I love Adam
Sandler movies). Your/your movie's website, social media,
whatever else?
Instagram: @failsafe_productions @kpfilmmaker3
Website: failsafestudios.net
Anything else you're dying to
mention and I have merely forgotten to ask?
I just want to give a shout out to my wife who supports me with these
crazy endeavors. She’s my number one fan! Also, I want to thank Denton
Adkinson for being my right-hand man through this entire process. He was
my amazing cinematographer who made the film look incredible, but he also
guided me in the process and made me get out of my comfort zone when
making production decisions. Yeah, I spent a little more money doing so,
but the movie was infinitely better in the long run! Thanks to our
wonderful crew as well.
Velvicide wouldn’t exist without you guys and gals.
And finally, thank YOU so much for watching our film and for what you do
for the indie community! We really appreciate you! And if anyone out there
hasn’t seen
Velvicide yet, please check it out on Amazon Prime. Your
support goes a long way to helping us make our next film!
Thanks for the interview! |
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