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An Interview with Nathan Shepka, Co-Director and Star of Dead Before They Wake

by Mike Haberfelner

January 2025

Nathan Shepka on (re)Search my Trash

 

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Your new movie Dead Before They Wake - in a few words, what's it about?

 

Dead Before They Wake is a dark crime thriller revolving around Alex, a loner nightclub bouncer who is approached by a retired lawyer on behalf of someone in central government. He’s asked to track down a missing teenage girl who is suspected of being snared by a sex trafficking ring. Alex is then drawn into the dark world of a grooming gang and his desperate search becomes more dangerous as he edges closer to finding the girl.

 

What were your sources of inspiration when writing Dead Before They Wake?

 

The main source really were the real life grooming gangs in the UK; particularly Rotherham and Rochdale. I wanted to base the film on true events as I thought that would add weight to the story, given the fact it was rooted in reality – with a few of our own genre embellishments of course. Other inspirations were the BBC mini-series Three Girls (also based on the grooming gangs) and the likes of You Were Never Really Here, Harry Brown and Van Damme’s The Bouncer.

 

Do talk about your directorial approach to your story at hand!

 

I think really the best thing to do when directing anything is to trust the actors you have chosen for the parts and try to get the best from them. Typically I’ll sit back and say nothing unless I feel the scene isn’t quite going in the right direction but I didn’t have that problem here. I felt everyone did a great job. In terms of directing something like this we just wanted it to feel as real as possible; the characters, the situation and the tension. I think that we did the script justice and it was great seeing it come to life, especially as it is a lot darker and more serious in tone than our usual fare.

 

You've directed Dead Before They Wake together with Andy Crane [Andy Crane interview - click here - so what can you tell us about him, and what was your collaboration like?

 

Don’t trust him with a takeaway latte in your car, that’s all I’ll say. It is always easy to work with Andy, he’s got a great eye for visuals, for shot composition and framing and a general sense of when something works and when something doesn’t. If I haven’t spotted something, he probably has and vice versa. And he’s good at making sure I don’t turn on auto-pilot when trying to act and direct at the same time.

 

You of course have to talk about the stuntwork in your movie for a bit!

 

This one was a little easier on me than usual! The knife fight in the kitchen was probably the most challenging. I fought David McCallum in an action film called Lock & Load, and we wanted to do something that was completely the opposite of that showy fight. So we went for a realistic, frantic, contained struggle in a home kitchen. Elsewhere we had some short, punchy fights and a brutal shootout to close. Again trying to keep it relatively realistic!

 

You also play the lead in Dead Before They Wake - 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?

 

Honestly, I usually like to act in my own films, I enjoy acting and it helps keep me invested throughout. Hopefully this is my best performance yet but we’ll see what the audience thinks! Alex is the opposite of me really, he’s lonely, an introvert and he’s sort of given up on life a little. He’s lost purpose and the one thing he wants in life (Gemma, the sex worker that visits him) he doesn’t have the bravery to go for. Really I wanted to play someone different, a character that could unfold and have an arc and also build from being relatively mild-mannered and reserved to unleashing the darkness within him when he’s pushed to his limit. I think it is a nice progression.

 

Do talk about the rest of Dead Before They Wake's cast, and why exactly these people?

 

Grace Cordell [Grace Cordell interview - click here], who plays Gemma I’d never worked with before but I’m glad she did, she really brought the character to life, gave the film some heart and depth and someone in it to like. I think that side of it was essential to contrast from the constant darkness and depravity of the story, by bringing a bit of humanity to the film. Manjot Sumal (Amar) and Kareem Nasif (Ghadir) however are two contrasting antagonists. Mani is great as Amar, bringing a real edge to him, always bubbling away ready to explode, you walk on eggshells around this guy and he’s strict, borderline entirely morally bankrupt and constantly frustrated. Kareem as Ghadir is fun-loving, carefree and charming, with a real dark side. But that’s what makes him so scary, because he’s so plausible. Sylvester McCoy did a great job of playing the lawyer, Evan. He brings a nice warmth and gravitas to the role, and it is outside of what he’s known for. Patrick Bergin as Holden was really good too, he’s got great facial expressions and delivery and his performance is really unnerving. I think they all brought so much to the film, I was honoured to be surrounded by their talent.

 

A few words about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere?

 

I’m sure people think that with a topic as serious as this that the set is very serious and it is at times when you immerse yourself in the scene and in that world as best you can. But once someone yells ‘cut’ it was relaxed, warm and friendly, I hope. People always say what a good time they’ve had on set, which is great to hear. Some days are long, some nights are cold but when you feel you’re making something good, those things matter a lot less!

 

Anything you can tell us about audience and critical reception of Dead Before They Wake yet?

 

Audience is too early to tell! But critically we’ve been getting pretty much the best reviews we’ve ever had. There have been a couple of more negative ones, which is always to be expected at this budget level, and the topic itself was going to be polarising despite the fact we tried not to deal with it in an insensitive way. But at the end of the day we were trying to portray the reality of what does go on and if it wasn’t distressing in places we weren’t doing our job. But overall the reviews have been really kind, some great feedback so we’re pleased with that.

 

Any future projects you'd like to share?

 

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We have our gothic horror movie The Baby in the Basket coming out on 17th February 2025 on DVD and digital. It is set in the 40s and is a real departure for us. It is a bit of a slowburn mystery that focuses on atmosphere over jump scares. I’m looking forward to the release of that!

 

Your/your movie's website, social media, whatever else?

 

You can find us on both Instagram and Facebook under Shepka Productions! Please give us a follow!

 

Anything else you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask?

 

l'm good! Thanks very much for another great interview and your continued support, and I’d love for everyone to go out and check out Dead Before They Wake.

 

Thanks for the interview!

 

© by Mike Haberfelner


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Thanks for watching !!!



 

 

In times of uncertainty of a possible zombie outbreak, a woman has to decide between two men - only one of them's one of the undead.

 

There's No Such Thing as Zombies
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special appearances by
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directed by
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written by
Michael Haberfelner

produced by
Michael Haberfelner, Luana Ribeira and Eddie Bammeke

 

now streaming at

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Vimeo

 

 

 

Robots and rats,
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Tales to Chill
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a collection of short stories and mini-plays
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from the post-apocalyptic
to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle, all thought up by
the twisted mind of
screenwriter and film reviewer
Michael Haberfelner.

 

Tales to Chill
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the new anthology by
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Out now from
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