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Your new movie The Beast Inside
- in a few words, what's it about?
A mother is forced to perform a self-exorcism to rid herself of a family
demon before it destroys her and passes on to her young son. What
were your sources of inspiration when dreaming up The Beast Inside?
This story is so personal to me because when my older son was going
through his teenage years, I had a lot of fear if he inherited any
family diseases or addictions from my side of the family. All things
ended up fine with my son but I spent a lot of time thinking about the
latter... there's something helpless and terrifying. Mental
illness, addiction in particular are both things that run in families -
this to me seemed like a perfect parable to a "family demon". You've written the story for
The Beast Inside with the film's director Jim Towns [Jim
Towns interview - click here] - so what can you tell us about that
writing process? Over the years I've read a lot of Town's scripts. I absolutely
love the way he writes female characters. We were both fans of Joss
Whedon's Buffy
the Vampire Slayer, and I think Towns has that same approach to writing
women. We were friends for many years since working with him on my first
horror film House of Bad, directed by Towns, and I always
trusted him to write characters that are in my wheelhouse. There's a
special gift in working with someone who you have a friendship with, and
they sorta know how you tick in a scene... writing to your strengths. I
had a full story sorta beat by beat and I shared the story with Jim - and
he'd send me pages, and I'd give feedback and notes, and he'd make the
changes. Most of the time we agreed. Sometimes he went a different
direction which ended up working. We were on a quick deadline so
maybe that helped in just getting the script ready. Towns knows
the genre better than I do - or most people honestly, so I think that
naturally comes through in his writing. I only took a co-story
because it was his fingers on the keys figuring out how to get to point
A to B.
Do talk about The Beast Inside's approach to horror!
We definitely wanted to give some easter eggs to fans of The
Exorcist -
and if you look even from the opening credits they're there. We
never wanted the film to be a "gotcha" like Anne isn't
actually experiencing the possession, so it was important in the
opening scene to show that it's actually happening. Chad Courtney,
our DP, had lots of the greens and reds we are seeing in horror these
days which honestly I never get tired of. We spoke a lot about it
being a slow burn but spooky with some moments of levity that happen
when you're trying to survive something that's bigger than you. What were the
challenges of bringing The Beast Inside
to the screen from a producer's point of view?
There's so many aspects especially in indie films that the producer has
to take the responsibility for, and I wouldn't recommend it unless you
are insanely passionate about your project (key word, insane!). We had
distribution set up within a year of shooting ,which I was especially
proud of! But, like most of the entertainment world, it can be a
humbling experience. Our first distributor sat on our film for two
years, they asked us not to do the film circuit, to change the name and
claim it was based on a true story - and I wince as I say this - I acquieced. My executive producers were
excited about the company, as
was I, and the opportunity to go out on multiple platforms. After tens of
dozens of phone calls, meetings - I realized I had to take the film
back. Which, thankfully they gave back to us. We lost
thousands having to remove their logo and the company's name in the
opening credit. I'm not a regrets person, but I wish I had
listened to the multiple people who told me the company would most
likely hold the film for years and to stay away from them. There's
a lot in The Beast Inside
as a producer I'm really proud of, I loved
working with the guys at Lux Angeles for post, as well as Armana Empire
for our sound mix. When it comes to getting the film out there -
let's just say as a producer, I've learned some hard lessons. But it's
out now! Ha. Finally.
Do talk about The Beast Inside's
cast, and as the film's co-creator and producer, how much say did
you have or demand in the casting process?
We worked with casting director Kim Swanson who was absolutely
wonderful. She gave us a lot of brilliant actors and gave us
completely different types which was fun to watch everyone come together
like puzzle pieces! Anthony Preston who plays Anne's husband was such a
great choice. He brought layers to the character as well as played
Danny as a soft husband but not a pushover. He's such a talented,
believable, generous actor. If we didn't have Kim as our CD we
would have never found him! I'll add he also went above and beyond
in promoting the film and being along for all of the film's journey,
which a lot of times actors don't realize that's part of the whole
experience. The
$64-question, where can The Beast Inside
be seen? So far we are up on Fandango, Apple and Amazon Prime. More
platforms to follow! Anything you can tell us
about audience and critical reception of The Beast Inside?
All I ask is if you get a chance to watch it - I'd love to hear your
feedback as well as please take a minute to give it a review! Any future projects you'd like to
share? I have a couple of projects coming up but one I'm really stoked about:
Texas Nightmare directed by Michael Merino co-starring James Pratt, Eva
Hamilton, Lew Temple and the fabulous Felissa Rose [Felissa
Rose interview - click here].
How would you describe yourself as an actress, and some of your techniques to
bring your characters to life?
Not to get too artsy fartsy but I'd say my first approach is
Meisner based, sprinkled with some Adler in there. I like to bring
myself into the character but I've found I don't need to use my actual
life to bring emotion and realness to a character. I like to write
a backstory for each character and bring a lot of imagination into how
my character is feeling before the scene - I like to blend my real
life experiences with the character and then when shooting let it be as
organic, in the moment as possible. Sometimes when I wrap
production I'm sad to not visit that character in me again. I feel like
I created them and abandoned them! It may sound cheesy but sometimes I
have a strange guilty feeling towards them! I'm on the dramatic side,
obviously! Of late, you've also
branched out into writing, producing and directing - so what prompted that
move, and which side of the camera do you actually prefer?
I love, love, love being in front of the camera. There's nothing
like it. There's such an aspect of play to that - something most people
never get to do as an adult. Producing, writing, directing are so vastly different
because there's not the same escapism involved. Also, everyone keeps
coming to you with questions! So many questions! There's no hiding in a
trailer - you've got to come up with answers fast. Part of me
really enjoys having more control on set. Sometimes as an actor I have
to force myself to "stay in my lane" and just stay in the
moment, waiting for everyone around me to answer all the questions.
It can be a relief to not have so much responsibility, but I do
think it's in my nature to enjoy having a bigger say on the final
product, which you can only get from being behind the camera. I
realize this isn't a clear answer - I'm still figuring it out!
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Even though it has come out quite a few years ago, many people still associate
you with Wrong Turn VI - so what can you tell us about your work on
that movie?
I wanted to work on Wrong Turn VI with every ounce of my soul. I knew
it was a special opportunity to have a lead in a major studio picture.
Shooting overseas and playing such a crazy character were huge bonuses.
I'll always be so grateful. Finding your place as an actor is
very, very difficult. I never thought I had the disposition to do TV and
do guest stars - I just thought I'd be eaten up with envy. I
couldn't imagine my level of nerves to be cast as hot nurse, have a few lines and leave when the other cast stayed shooting the whole
season. I felt like I wanted to be able to play characters with
arcs and play leads - I knew if I were cast in Wrong Turn VI I'd find a home
in horror and could pursue a name in that lane. Actresses, writers,
filmmakers, whoever else who inspire you?
Felissa Rose [Felissa Rose
interview - click here] is a good friend of mine, and as almost everyone who knows
her is always grateful, happy and dedicated to her work. You think after
doing it for so long she might occasionally roll her eyes about
something but she's always passionate and ready to go. I love
watching her work. Catch her in Jason Horton's A Hard Place [Jason
Horton interview - click here] - I
think she's quite brilliant in it. Your favourite
movies? I just watched The
Substance - loved it. It's kinda crazy when
a movie like that surprises you. There was something
thrilling in the risks it took and how over the top the film was allowed
to become. It's good sign that there's still a love and
respect for doing something arty and outrageous. ... and of course, films you really deplore? I'm not a fan of
superhero movies. I guess they're not really made for me - I always feel
like in the middle of the movie there's too many characters and I have
no idea what's going on. Thanks
for the interview! Thank you so much for all you do for indie films! Also, anyone who wants to say hi - I'm at
www.instagram.com/sadiekatz
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