P.J. Starks and Rodney Newton - two friends who decided to combine their talents into producing their very own horror feature, and from that very decision, they managed to take Hallows Eve: Slaughter on Second Street from concept to completion.  The film came out quite good, and after reviewing it, I have to be honest and say it was a lot better than I had expected it to be going in.  There's a lot of talent floating around between these two guys, and recently, I not only had a chance to review their film, but I got to interview them both about it as well, and they had some really interesting tales about how it all came about and how they mad their way through the whole production process.


*   *   *


Ok, let's start off by having you guys each introduce yourselves and tell us all a little about your backgrounds.

P.J.:  It wasn’t until my twelfth birthday that I got an RCA VHS camcorder, that began my obsession of recording everything going on in my life.  Eventually that obsession turned into a need to tell stories.  Throughout my high school career I became involved with the video production department where I, along with a couple good friends of mine, wrote and directed nearly 50 commercials for school functions and non-profit organizations.  After graduating I began taking media classes at the local community college which lead me to write and direct my first student feature called Third Shift about a hotel employee that worked night audit.  During post production on this project I was approached by the now former director of OCTV and asked if I wanted a position.  That was back in 2002 and I have been at OCTV ever since as an editor and videographer, I am also in charge of special projects.

Rodney: I have been involved in video production for about 9 years. In the beginning I mostly produced live Mixed Martial Arts events followed by the DVD of the event and now I work in a Non-Profit Television Station producing both television and video productions, most notably our work on DVD's for ESPN, NCAA, NASCAR, as well as various other collegiate sports.


Hallows Eve was your first feature film.  Have you guys done other short films or other projects in the past that sort of prepared you for what you'd face in doing a feature, and if so, in what ways did they help you to prepare for this film?

Rodney:  I had very limited experience in making movies, a friend and I had made a short film a few years back but that was about it. I gained what I thought was helpful knowledge producing videos for the TV stations production arm.

P.J.:  As I mentioned I had made my first student feature back in 2002.  Previous to this I had only done short sketch comedy videos, so Third Shift was my first attempt at a feature.  I look back on it now and will admit that it is not very good, it’s a lot of filler with very little story.  Even Rodney will tell you that if it were cut down to about 20 minutes it would be a funny & interesting short, but it just doesn’t have enough substance to work as a feature.  I had a stint where I moved to Florida to attend film school in 2004.  I got a part time job working at Universal Studios in VIP Tours, luckily we shared the production trailer and I had contact with PA’s on a regular basis.  In my talks with them they gave me ideas on how to make a successful film, their main point being that if you do something make sure that its marketable.  Florida ultimately didn’t work out as it turned out to be the first of many terrible hurricane seasons.  By the 4th hurricane, where we actually spent hours inside the eye, it had destroyed the home we were staying in and forced us back to Owensboro where I resumed my position at OCTV.  As soon as I returned home I wanted to do another project which is what lead me to write and directed Second Shift, a sequel of sorts that had no real ties with the original, but followed a new day in the life of the same character.   You could see my progression visually as well as through the story telling aspects, but it still didn’t have that theatrical feel to it.  I consider Hallows Eve to be the first real movie I’ve worked on, but with every new project I learned what not to do the next time .  So when we made Hallows Eve we knew that to step it up it couldn’t be actors of convenience or look like your typical shot on video indie feature.  To be successful we had to do it right.


What led up to you guys deciding to do this film together and what were your goals going into it?

Rodney:  Once I met PJ and watched his movie Second Shift I knew that he had a talent for cinematography and a work ethic to get his movies made without the comfort of a big budget or large crew and around here most of all you get is people talking about making movie, but few actually do it. In my mind we made a good partnership in the things I felt like he lacked I felt I could provide and that drove us to want to collaborate on projects outside of work.

Our goal I think was to show that it is not location but attitude that entertains you. So many people say," If I lived in a bigger town I could do this or that" when in fact if you want to make a movie, do it! We had no money, but we had resources and that is available almost anywhere. Make your circumstances happen for you and stop waiting for a magic ball of money or well connected people to hand you what you want to do, show some initiative and create and that will make everywhere Hollywood.


How was the film funded?  Did you guys pay for everything or did you get investors or what?  Also, what did the final cost of the film end up being roughly, and do you have any advice for people trying to figure out where to get the money to make their own films?

Rodney:  The film was funded from our own pockets and we never once sought investors. We knew this was not going to be a movie anyone would be able to recoup expenses on and we were out to prove a point, talent to whatever degree you see it is here in Owensboro and we believe that so much we are willing to pay for it!

The movie cost ran just over a thousand dollars and that figure rises as we enter festivals but the actual movie was primarily donated talent, time, and equipment. We utilized and army of like minded individuals willing to help see this dream come to fruition by donating the talents they posses to further this cause. From the lady that sewed the costume to the people who donated the use of the Haunted House to the recording engineer who donated studio time to record the soundtrack, we found the people that were willing to help just to see something happen that was against the odds.

My advice for people wanting to make a movie and raise money is, be realistic, no one wants to lose money and most indy films are going to do that. I believe you have to have a greater cause to get the investor; people who believe in your vision but most importantly people who you can prove that you can pull off what you are talking about would be more apt to get involved in a small scale project. Be honest with yourself, most people cannot do everything themselves and you need as many people surrounding you who can fill in the talent gaps where you lack. I think honesty is the best way to approach a business deal and expect to be successful, but I say all that to say that it is vey doable it just takes perseverance.


The building you shot the film in was a great location, as it gave the whole thing sort of a claustrophobic feel.  What is the building exactly, and did you have any particular problems shooting there, or in getting them to let you shoot there?

P.J.:  The original setting for Hallows Eve took place in a local community theater, but the first day of shooting the rug got pulled out from under us and we lost the location.  At that point Hallows Eve was dead in the water and the first phone call I made was to our special fx team.  Ralph Mitchell laid the offer on the table to shoot at Slaughter for nothing more than bragging rights, so it was because of this that the project was given a new lease on life.  Essentially the building is a wide open warehouse that has been transformed into a fully functional haunted attraction here in Owensboro.  Things could not have worked out any better and after touring Slaughter our excitement level went through the roof.  The building obviously lends itself to horror, but it was constructed in the same way you would make a set.  We were in heaven after the initial tour because the shooting possibilities were endless.  We had 14 rooms, a second floor and what were called "actor alleys"; which were narrow corridors inside the walls that connected all rooms through secret panels.  With the old location we had barriers, both human and environmental that kept us from making the movie we truly wanted to make.  It was an amazing turn of events that gave us the opportunity to make the gore soaked horror romp we envisioned from the start.


What made you guys decide on horror as the genre for your first film.  I know you have other interests as well, so what was it about this story or horror in general that won out over the other ideas?

Rodney:  I had read and was told that the horror genre translates easiest to most cultures thereby providing a greater chance of exposure and ultimately success. Even though we never approached this as the project that would be a serious contender against other larger budgeted movies we still had a glimmer of hope that if it was good enough it may get distribution.

P.J.:  We planned to make a horror film from the get go, so there was no question as to what sort of film we would make.  It was an easy decision as we’re both huge fans of the genre.  I myself grew up on horror films from Monster Squad to Return of the Living Dead, so to become apart of the very genre that had such a lasting effect on me as a kid was a no brainer. At first we were going to make a zombie film.  We came up with a story line and I wrote the script, but at the end of the day we felt that we wouldn't be able to it justice with such little financial resources at our fingertips.  Deciding to put that film on the back burner we turned our attention to local legends and used that basis as the springboard for what would eventually become Hallows Eve.


When it came to doing the blood and effects for the film, did you guys have any previous experience in doing that sort of thing and did any of the scenes present any particular problems for you in making them look just how you wanted them to?  Also, how much of a pain was it to clean all that up after?

P.J.:  I had made a short slasher film back in college called Into Darkness and did basic blood work along with a few over-the-top gore effects, nothing to the caliber of what was accomplished on Hallows Eve.  When I wrote the second version of the script one of the things we wanted to do was up the ante when it came to the death scenes.  Hallows Eve has a lot of facets and one of those is the fact that it is a body count film, so we knew one thing that can make or break a horror film is the gore.  Rodney and I are not special effects artists so we knew that if we were going to do this right then we needed professionals to pull off the blood soaked deaths.  With our Casting Directors guidance we were put in contact with Ralph Mitchell and Melissa Carter who would come into the fold as an effective pair with some great gags up their sleeves.  As you can imagine the most pain staking scenes to shoot were the ones with the special effects, typically because in the event that a gag doesn’t trigger correctly you have to clean up and reset the scene to do it again.  Early on we knew we wanted to do as many practical effects as possible and use very little CG, so this was often the case.  Each death came with its own series of challenges; the crotch death in particular comes to mind.  To put things in perspective the scene only plays for about a minute and half, but it took over five hours to shoot.  Getting the timing right between the axe blow and the blood spray was nerve racking and we only had two pairs of pants to work with.  The sledge hammer death and the chainsaw disembowelment are next in line for the most time consuming headaches.  Overall we weathered through them with minor cuts and bruises and for what we were trying to achieve they are effective.


How hard was it to cast this film?  Did you have a hard time finding just the right people for the roles, or did it come pretty easy?

P.J.:  Yes and no.  We had a 4 day audition process to find the right people for the right roles.  Thankfully we had a lot more people than anticipated come out to audition, which was nice because it gave us options to move certain people into roles or have back ups if we needed them.  Some of the actors came in and fit certain roles visually such as Megan Fuller or Daniel Benedict which helped us very quickly to know what characters they would portray.  Kevin Mundy walked in to audition and we had heard great things about him.  When he walked into the room Rodney and I looked at one another and were immediately like, ”there’s our Doobie.”  Others we asked specifically to come audition, John Page was one of those actors.  He and I go way back, but I hadn’t seen him for over ten years.  One night I walk into TWO (a local community theatre, which was also the original location for the film) and John is on stage rehearsing for A Christmas Carol.  I grab Rodney and pulled him out to take a look at John and told him,”that’s Frank!”  We were lucky in so many ways to get a lot of the actors we did and most of that credit goes to our Casting Director Todd Reynolds, who also doubled as an actor playing Buck Masters.  Todd was the first crew position filled and we chose him for a lot of different reasons.  He has years of experience having worked with countless actors and directed a plethora of plays himself.  Todd was also a wealth of knowledge and because I am truly an aspiring filmmaker, he was able to act in a mentoring capacity as well, giving me pointers about the directing process whenever I was in a tight spot.  Todd was in intricate piece of the puzzle.


Being that this was your first feature film, what sorts of things did you learn from making this one that will help you guys to make your next film even better?

P.J.:  While on set I doubled as both director and cinematographer, which is nearly impossible to do.  Unfortunately I didn’t always get to interact with my actors as much as I would’ve liked because I would be trying to set up the next shot.  Fortunately my wife was on set quite a bit filling in as my assistant, so I would pass my notes for the actors on to her as I prepped the next set up.  So I plan to have a DP on the next project so I can be right there with the actors every step of the way and give them the attention they need and deserve.  Most importantly we both know that our next project will be funded.  Because Hallows Eve was self funded we would hit financial snags where compromises had to be made due to lack of funds.

Rodney:  I think I came away with knowledge of what seemingly off the wall ideas worked and what didn’t. We had cast a known commodity in Sonny Landham, someone with vast experience in the movie business and that fell through, but we also co-opted some friends from the police department that pulled strings to get us ambulances so for every bad we had two goods and that is invaluable knowledge for next time.

 
Did Hallows Eve, the completed film, meet the expectations you had for it when you started, or are there things that you're looking back on now thinking, "Man, we could have totally done that better or different."?

Rodney:  I wish we would have had the ability to do more setups in larger spaces to get different camera angles, but overall I think this film more than lived up to my expectations, I mean, it is what it is.

P.J.:  No matter what you do you will always look back at it and think about what could or should have been done differently.  Both of us will be the first to admit that Hallows Eve is in no way a flawless film.  In some ways it exceeded my expectations and in other ways I feel like it could have been better.  So many things fell through during pre-production, so the fact the film was even made still blows my mind.  We all suffered through a lot, emotionally and physically, to get Hallows Eve to where it is today and it’s because of that success that I feel proud to say I’m apart of it.  Our original goal of using all local resources as well as passionate individuals from different back grounds and talents to come together and create something that has never been done in our area was met successfully.  I don’t think you can ask much more than that.


We had been talking in e-mails previously about reviews and the fact that you had gotten a bad review right out of the gate.  Tell us how you handled that and what the other reviews have been like.

Rodney:  We were pretty bummed, but we always kept in mind that you cannot please everyone and some people will not ever take in consideration that you don’t think you are a big time director or producer that in fact you are trying to fulfill a dream, so they will inevitably be brutally honest about things that are completely irrelevant. Overall the reviews have been glowing and that alone is something to be proud of, we set out to do something that was monumental in scope and saw it through to the end with the help of more than 40 cast and crew, all volunteer! With every review in a way you feel validated for the time you spent working on it even if the reviewer doesn’t quite seem to like the movie.


Have you sent the film out to any film festivals, or do you have plans to do so?  If so, which ones, and are there any upcoming screenings, festival or otherwise, that you'd like to let people know about?

Rodney:  We have submitted so far to a couple of big festivals and have already been denied for CineVegas without any real intentions that it was possible to get in. We are concentrating now on submitting to some smaller fests around our state and nearby with Fright Night Film Fest in Louisville, KY. being the next on the list.


You mentioned you guys had an idea for your next film.  Do you want to tell us a little about what it's going to be?  Just a little teaser maybe so we have something to look forward to?

P.J.:  It might come as a shock to read what I’m about to say, but as filmmakers we don’t feel we can challenge ourselves by going back to the well.  So for our next project we are going to be hitting up a whole other genre all together.  The best way to describe our next project is Clerks meets Empire Records.  It’s about a day in the life of a group of sales associates working at a failing music retail outlet, it follows their interweaving story lines that culminate in a life changing conclusion.  It’s based off an idea I came up about two years ago while I was working at a failing music retail outlet.  I had some things going on in my personal life that were difficult to deal with and found they were easier to stomach by turning them into an outline for a film saturated with dick and fart jokes.  The synopsis might sound serious, but it’s actually going to be a very fun and funny film.  Currently I’m working on securing the location and as soon as it gets the green light we will begin on the script.  We’ve got a lot of really cool ideas for this on and even discussed creating our own universe.  I won’t say much more, because I want to leave a little to the imagination.


Let's say someone hooked you up with a huge budget.  What would be the dream film each of you would make with it?

Rodney:  Captain Planet the live action film! Think about it, everybody is going green and he IS green...sorta'. I am dreaming of that money now!

P.J.:  It’s funny that you asked this question because it was only a month ago that Rodney and I had this very conversation.  It's hard to choose just one because I've got A LOT of ideas floating around that under the right circumstances I would love to do.  I would really like to do the remake of Let Sleeping Corpses Lie, it gets the worst wrap out of all the Italian zombie fare from the 70's and 80's.  But if you actually take the time to watch it, you'll see that it has both an interesting story and mildly likable characters.  The zombies actually look cool and are completely set apart from all the others.  I've watched a lot of Italian zombie films and I have to say that the stock price for raw meat and bologna must have been skyrocketing.  The makers of LSCL realized that the best way to remove a persons humanity was by tampering with the eyes, so they used contact lenses to make them look more dead.  That was a ground breaking decision because for once the zombies were actually menacing as opposed to laughable.  So I think the film itself is ripe for the taking and the story line could easily be rewritten for a modern day audience, especially now that everyone is going green.  That would be the perfect angle to resurrect the undead and prove to everyone that there are some things more dangerous than melting icecaps.


You guys just up and decided that you had been working in production for a long time and that it was finally time you made your own film.  What advice would each of you give someone who's sitting on the fence right now about whether or not they should just finally go for it and make their own film?  What pitfalls should they watch out for if they do decide to do it, and what sorts of things can they do that will really help them get things moving forward in a positive way?

P.J.:  The most important step you can make is getting yourself off the couch and actually do something.  I have ran into so many people the past several years that claim to be doing something in film, but at the end of the day they had nothing to show for it.  The only thing that separates Rodney and I from the majority is that we went out and actually did it and we’re two of the laziest guys that you can find.  I say all that to say this, if we can do it anyone can!  All it takes is an idea and then the drive to make it a happen.  The next step is finding the talent to help you make your idea come to life.  If I learned anything during the making of Hallows Eve it was that no matter how talented you think you might be, you cannot and will not be successful without a group of like minded and passionate individuals to make your idea into a reality.  Once you set the process in motion stick with it no matter what happens.  I quickly realized throughout the production of Hallows Eve that when one door closed another opened and it tended to be far more promising.  Lastly make sure that you have a clear vision of what you plan to accomplish as well give yourself enough time to plan things through.  This gives you and your talent plenty of time to square things away so the end result won’t feel rushed or thrown together.  Some of the best advice I ever got was from John Landis who told me that complete coverage of a scene is the most important process you can undertake.  That way you don’t screw yourself in the editing room and he was 100% right.  I did multiple takes on set from multiple angles and only using one camera.  It was time consuming, but paid off in the end.

Rodney:  Do it! Stop talking about it to everyone around town and for the love of God stop rewriting the first ten pages at Starbucks so everyone can see that you are working on a film! You need actors, look for a community theater in your area, use social networking tools like Facebook to connect to other like minded people who may have equipment or know how to do make-up. I would almost guarantee that you can find an army of people who all have the same passion and are in the same boat if you look hard enough and are flexible enough. I shot my first short downtown on the street because it was a free location, we shot a feature in a building where the people who ran it just wanted to be a part of the project and were gracious enough to donate it up for free, so that tells me, anyone can do it even if they are broke.


Is there anything else you'd like to mention before we wrap this up?

P.J.:  We would both like to thank everyone involved for making Hallows Eve a reality.  From the actors to the crew, our families and the local entities who contributed we appreciate you and will never forget your support an generosity.  And for those of you who actually stuck to the end of this visit http://www.hallowsevemovie.com.