Rogue Cinema - An Interview with Alan Rowe Kelly

An Interview with Alan Rowe Kelly - By Duane L. Martin
Posted on Saturday, December 01 @ Mountain Standard Time by Duane

A couple months ago I was sent a film to review called The Blood Shed, which was an amazing well done romp with the Boullion family. They're a family of inbred, incestuous cannibals who don't have any problem with killing people or even hurting each other. The movie was simply a blast, and very well done, so it's now my honor and privliege to interview that film's star, writer and director, Alan Rowe Kelly.

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Let's have you start out by introducing yourself to everyone and tell us all a little about yourself.

Well first off, thank you Duane! It’s a real pleasure to be interviewed by you for Rogue Cinema!

My name is Alan Rowe Kelly, an independent horror filmmaker and actor from Paterson, New Jersey. Horror has always been my life! But If you told me 7 years ago that I would now be producing, directing, writing and acting in almost 20 horror movies and featured in a spread for Fangoria Magazine I would have told you to get lost! LOL!

It’s amazing how a few unexpected turns in the path of life can lead you to the road where everything you ever imagined doing can actually happen.

I just released my second feature nationally – THE BLOOD SHED - which just received the Best Horror Feature Award at the DARK CARNIVAL FILM FEST and Best Prosthetics Award at the FEAR IN NEW ORLEANS Film Festival. I am finishing post on my third piece – A FAR CRY FROM HOME for the HUNG BY A THREAD Anthology, due out early 2008, and am prepping to start a 6-part online horror series in March called THE HOLLOWS. I also just finished acting in 5 movies this year as well – so life is pretty hectic and exciting - and I’m lovin’ every minute of it!

You've worn a lot of hats in the film making process (actor, writer, director, producer, etc...) What do you find the most appealing aspect of each of these aspects of the film making process, and what do you find the most difficult or irritating about them?

Acting – Acting has always been my primary goal. That’s why I became a writer and director in the first place. So I could cast myself in decent roles with an edge and show other film directors that I have something unique to offer. Since appearing in I’LL BURY YOU TOMORROW I’ve been cast in almost 20 films. That is very exciting to me and I feel quite an accomplishment since I’ve been acting professionally for only 6 years. What I find a little difficult now is that I’m now typecast – by my own doing, mind you – as either murder victims, hookers, women and freaks – But hey! Someone’s gotta do it! Some actors have made a career playing the same character over and over for 20 years – so you’ll hear no complaints from me. And since I am different looking than the norm of actors out there, why not use that diversity to create more distinct characters on the screen? What I do find irritating are actors who feel they’re too above genre films. They come to set and mumble and groan all day about how much better they are than their surroundings. But once the camera rolls and their time has come to really shine, they mail in a weak performance. Why bother at all? Be lucky you’re working. There are plenty of talented folks ready to trade spaces with you at a moments notice.

Writing – Writing is difficult, irritating and joyous all at the same time! When you finish a script and you’re happy with it, there is no better feeling of accomplishment. But when you’re blocked and the story or scene ends up a real stinker – that’s the worst! I’ve been known to lock myself away in my loft for weeks just typing, typing and typing with no result. When you’re on, you’re on! But when you can’t write 3 words in one day, Uggghh…its torture! I presently have 5 scripts pretty much ready to go – UNHALLOWED GROUND being my favorite - and that one has taken me 5 years to get right. While THE BLOOD SHED and I’LL BURY YOU TOMORROW took only 2 to 3 months each. You can never tell how long it takes to create a monster! LOL! My other three scripts are titled SPORE!, A MURDER OF CROWS and SUDDEN FEAR.

Directing – I’ve been so lucky as a director because I work with such great actors. To me they are the life and blood of my films and bring my characters to life. I find directing very easy because I love to man the helm and be in charge. The most difficult aspect in directing is gaining trust from your actors and giving them individual attention. You hire talent because of their talent. But you still have to talk to them, inspire them and give them direction and confidence. Don’t expect a good actor to walk on set and give you what you want because of their past screen experience. I’ve been on many a set where the director has told me NOTHING and when it’s my time to film they look at me and say, “you know what to do.” That’s very frustrating because I don’t know what to do and I’m not in the director’s head. Actors need attention, be it a full monologue or just one line. Each part is important.

Producing – This is one tough job that keeps your head spinning. Casting, crew, food, lodgings, scene breakdown, budget, travel, locations, props, wardrobe, make up, continuity, insurance, permits, and the list goes on. A producer for an independent feature has to have a lot more on the ball than those cushy Hollywood stereotypes. You have to have ALL the answers at a moment notice. Period! Some producers just want the title and try to delegate all their work onto other departments so they can walk around with a walkie-talkie and look smart. That’s not producing, that’s showboating. A producer, when doing their job, has the hardest job on set and the film relies totally on them. So be prepared to break your back and work…with a smile! LOL!

The main focus of this interview was to be The Blood Shed, which you wrote, directed and starred in, so we'll start with that film first. The film is bizarre to say the least. First tell everyone a little about the film and then tell us about the creative process that went into writing the film and what you were envisioning you wanted it to be when you started working on the script.

THE BLOOD SHED is the story of the Bullion Family – a crazed bunch of inbred, cannibalistic hayseeds living on the outer fringes of encroaching suburbia in northern New Jersey. The film was originally slated to be a 30-minute short for HUNG BY A THREAD, but we became so involved in the expansion of the characters and story that when we wrapped and began editing, we realized we had something truly special and ‘different’. So I opted to make it a feature and fortunately the cast and crew were totally behind me in that decision. When I look at the film now – It would have been a crime to cut it down to 30 minutes. The film is extremely close to my original script and looks even more psychedelic and trippier than I expected due to the talents of my cinematographer Bart Mastronardi. I wanted to do something totally out of left field like those nutty exploitation horrors from the late 70’s and early 80’s – i.e. MOTHER’S DAYS, DON’T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT & TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. When I was writing the script, I really went for vulgar, disgusting, and LOUD to give that awkward uncomfortable feeling. I didn’t want a standard script, but more of a series of nightmarish vignettes - sort of a ‘day in the life of…’ type of storyline. I wanted to defy convention and push the envelope so folks would go “What the F…?” Simply because it’s just fun and I love midnight movies! Once the script was finished, I offered parts to all the cast and sent them copies to read. A week had soon passed and I heard NOTHING from anyone! NADA! And then everyone replied almost at once, with the same response – “This is the SICKEST thing I ever read…when do we start?” (Delayed reactions most likely due to shell shock) You can imagine my relief! So we immediately began production meetings, table readings with cast, assembled the most awesome crew, gathered locations and shot it in 9 days over a one-month period. It was one of the best experiences I ever had on a film set. Everyone involved brought their expertise and raised the bar for such a low-budget production. It truly was a labor of love.

Who was involved in the casting for the film? The people who were cast to play the inbred, cannibalistic Bullion family were just incredible. Where'd you find these people?

I do all the casting for my films – since I write my own screenplays, I already have my ideas for the look and physicality of my characters. When my first film I’LL BURY YOU TOMORROW was so well received, it was mostly due to the acting abilities of my actors and their talent. It’s vitally important for me to be sure that every character is filled by actors who not only gives me what is written in the script, but also has the sense and drive to take that character into their own world and make them their own. I want to work with actors who contribute to their role – not just spout out dialogue and worry if they look good. I don’t write about ‘pretty people’. My actors have to be comfortable enough in their own skin and secure enough in their own abilities to trust my instincts once I take them into the editing room. That’s why I work with the same family of actors such as Jerry Murdock, Zoë Daelman Chlanda, Katherine O’Sullivan, Robert Norman, Joshua Nelson, Susan Adriensen, Mike Lane, Don Money and Terry West. They are actors - and damn good ones! So why not give them different hats to wear with each film that will expand and improve the storyline as well as their range?

Roger Corman – my idol - had the most incredible group of actors he always worked with in his genre films of the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s; Beverly Garland, Dick Miller, Barboura Morris, Dorothy Neumann, Susan Cabot, Bruno VeSota, Mel Welles, Pamela Duncan, Allison Hayes, and so many, many more - now all considered B-movie icons. Mr. Corman was also very influential in launching the careers of Jack Nicholson, Charles Bronson and Frances Ford Coppola. It think it would be thrilling 30 years from now to know I may have been instrumental in some little way to have initiated careers for the actors who appeared in my films.

Also, to not mention my unbelievable crew would be a crime; my cinematographer Bart Mastronardi, whom will hopefully shoot all my movies forever, is well on his way to his own film-directing career with his debut feature VINDICATION due out in 2008. My editor, Stolis Hadjicharalambous, is following in the same footsteps with his first film CROSSED. And all of my crew members, Dominick Sivilli, Henry Boriello and Billy Archiello, who bend over backward working as hard as they do, are now establishing their own careers as filmmakers, make up artists, actors and composers. Jeremiah Kipp, whom you have already interviewed on Rogue Cinema, is already a very accomplished filmmaker and volunteered his talents as my assistant director. What a joy he is, and so prepared and open to everything. Plus there is the incredible talent of music composer Tom Burns, who aside from his steady work as part of the indie rock duo THE KIMBALLS, is now scoring my third film A FAR CRY FROM HOME for the HUNG BY A THREAD Anthology. Without these amazing talents, I’d be nowhere as a filmmaker. I’m so proud to have them be a part of my productions. I’m a devout believer in loyalty and consistency. The one thing that made this film work so smoothly was a total lack of ego on everyone’s part. We all just want to make interesting and provocative movies.

Just watching the film it's easy to see you guys had a fun time making it. What are some of your best memories from the production? Any fun stories you can share with us?

Oh man, we laughed all the time! Day one was the first dinner scene and we were hysterical!

We all looked so bizarre once out of make up and wardrobe. When we we’re all seated and blocked, ready to shoot, it was extremely hard to keep a straight face. After every ‘CUT’, we burst into raucous laughter.

The funniest thing happened while on the Bullion House location site. We had this great dilapidated old house slightly removed from the neighborhood in Little Falls, NJ. Our permits and insurance papers were in order and all the neighbors were notified that we would be on the premises for a certain amount of days. But apparently some local passerby saw us all gathered there acting like a pack of freaks and called the local police. Now I’m skipping around the back yard like Petunia Pig with a bloody head on stick when this poor officer drove up and the crew simply stopped and pointed to me as the HEAD of production! If you could have only seen that poor man’s face when I strolled up to him with all my paperwork in a pretty red plaid pinafore dress and buck teeth – it was priceless!

The film looked great in large part because of the great props and set design. Where did you find all that great stuff? I'm sure many filmmakers out there could benefit from your advice on this, as set design is so important to the look and feel of a film.

My art director Sandra Schaller and I are constantly on road safari every chance we get, just to see what inspires us as we hit different parts of NY, NJ or Pa. We literally pick up stuff from the streets, the woods, junkyards, people’s throwaways on sides of the road, antique stores, dollar stores - you name it! If it has a bent or edgy appearance to it, we’re grabbing it. Ebay is also an incredible prop resource for extremely obscure items you would pay a fortune for from a prop house. And a little stage set design experience can’t hurt either once you experience the magic that is Home Depot! Its pure guerilla prop shopping; what we can’t buy, we make. What we can’t make, we steal! LOL!

Also, Sandra and I are both artists and graphic designers. We’ve spent our teenage and college years in art schools and have retained much of our knowledge, discipline and training to work in various mediums from make-up to sewing, sculpting, painting, building and constructing things from scratch. Also that flair for design is there from years of working behind a camera doing fashion and commercial work. Our main objective with set design and propping is to fill each frame with interest at all times. No throwaway shots. Even if a particular prop only gets 2 seconds of screen time in the background, it still adds that extra dimension to the film’s atmosphere, story and characters and subliminally registers in the viewers mind. You have to make your film exciting to look at so your audience has something to immerse themselves into and not become bored. I also believe that by adding more props and personality to your sets, your actors have so much more to work off of and be inspired by. There is nothing worse than looking at a film where two people are talking in a beige room with one picture on the wall and a single light on them – ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz……. You need to create a huge playground for your actors to move around in and create the scene. I truly believe my actors are better on camera because they can feel at home in their surroundings and forget that a camera is rolling on them.

The scenes where the family was eating were pretty disgusting. What was some of the more disgusting stuff in those scenes and was it making anyone sick during shooting?

Hee! The early dinner scene was also our first day of shooting! I thought it wise to shoot the supper scene first so the cast could become acquainted with one another’s characters and create a family bond that would carry us throughout the rest of the film. So since dinner was something that the Bullions did every night – as do most families – this was the perfect opportunity for the actors to work out their character’s habits and dynamics that would individualize them. And of course, with that dinner came THE FOOD!

First, you figure the Bullions do not work normal jobs, so they eat things that they grow, hunt, steal or pull from people’s garbage. Maybe Papa Elvis, being the sanest in the group, would make an occasional trip to the local market for some goodies. But it would be safe to say that the Bullion cuisine consists of trash, road kill or some poor unsuspecting person who trespasses onto their land.
Now some of the actors are vegetarians, so a lot of the awful looking food was simply vegan sausages or soy foods dressed up to look like slop. The green porridge was simply pistachio pudding and cornflakes (made by Susie Adriensen/Sno-Cakes), and the pork fat suet was lemon Jell-O cooked with milk to give it that fatty opaqueness. One mistake I did make though was forgetting to fill my carton of beef broth with ice tea. So when I’m sitting there slurping up broth through my crazy straw with childish delight, it was 100% beef broth! Ugggh!!! And we had to shoot that from so many angles – I was green to the gills when we finished that piece. LOL! I also bought creamed and pickled herring to dress up the table because it looks simply disgusting. But about 3 hours into shooting that scene, the lights started to bake them and the smell was horrific! Production hint; do NOT shoot with pickled herring…ever! LOL!

You gained over 50 pounds to play Beefteena Bullion in this film. What made you decide to gain the weight rather than just wear padded outfits and what not, and roughly how long did it take you to lose that weight again after the completion of the film?

What a dumb idea that was! LOL! My wardrobe came in about three months before shooting and there was something missing. The dresses were way too big. I tried padding and it looked like I was pregnant because my legs, arms and neck were not as thick. So I decided on the “Shelley Winters/Poseidon Adventure/Robert DeNiro/Raging Bull” technique and ate myself into oblivion for the next three months – and I loved every bite of it! The weight gain totally deformed my facial features and made me into a bloated fat mess – which was exactly what I wanted Beefteena to look like. But I’m no spring chicken and even though putting on 50-plus lbs. certainly looked perfect for the film – it has been a nightmare taking it off. There’s still 20 lbs that are hard to shake, even with running and weights and diet - and the worst part is that I have appeared in about 5 films since THE BLOOD SHED and every little pound shows up on camera. My biggest worry was with my upcoming film A FAR CRY FROM HOME where I had to play opposite Don Money – a gorgeous and talented actor with super model looks. We filmed it 3 months after THE BLOOD SHED wrapped and I was only able to work off about 17 lbs. But due to the kindness of cinematographer Bart Mastronardi – he shot me at various flattering angles that didn’t make me appear so heavy. Bless you Bart! I have to admit that the extra weight also worked to my advantage in my other film roles and I realized there was no need to turn down good parts just because my vanity was a little out of wack and I photographed chubby. “Out of sight- Out of mind!” I’ll be slim again – Damnit!

Now that's it's been out for a bit and the reviews are in, what's been the overall response to the film and are you surprised by any of it at all?

I am shocked, relieved and very happy by the positive response to THE BLOOD SHED.

85% of the reviews have been highly favorable while about 15% absolutely hate it - LOL!

But that’s totally cool. I was expecting that from the very beginning because most of that percent were expecting another I’LL BURY YOU TOMORROW, and I’ll never make the same film twice. But it’s been a pleasant surprise and we couldn’t be more happy that most of the audience is IN on the joke. They get it! THE BLOOD SHED is a movie that you’ll either love or hate – there’s no in between with it. We put a lot of love into this little film and I think it easily stands up to the much higher budgeted schlock because our acting and production values are so high. I defend this movie all the way and if I were ever asked what would I do now to change the film, I would simply make a sequel. I think there are still a lot more stories to tell with the Bullions!

Speaking of reviews, since you're so fully invested in your films creatively, how do you deal with bad reviews?

Wow – great question! THE BLOOD SHED is not a ‘normal’ film by any means. We all agreed to set out for pure ‘cinema anarchy’ when we filmed it and I think we achieved that, knowing we could be slaughtered in the press. I go on record ‘admitting’ that I am one director who reads EVERY piece of press that is put out about my films and me. Even if the review is a total BOMB, I can tell the difference between an honest critique – which I will always respect and take note of – and a venomous pen - which I also have been occasionally known to pull a writer out on the carpet about. It’s not bitter grapes by any means. But when you submit your film for review and the writer’s vocabulary consists only of the words ‘Shit, Fuck, Suck and Piss’ – well then THEY also need to be held accountable as a journalist for their knowledge of film and expertise in writing. It’s a two way street. That’s why I applaud the recent challenges made by filmmaker Uwe Boll towards all the writers and press that wish to crush him. He defends his craft, even if it’s not the favorite of some. As filmmakers, we are at the critic’s mercy - and yet we’re not. The struggle and climb of the independent filmmaker is tough enough without the backlash of press that set out to squelch and destroy you. And as indie moviemakers, we have no protection like the large budgeted studio films with press agents, PR firms and endless resources for advertising, etc., that can make a mediocre film look great and sell tons of DVDs. It’s totally up to us to deliver the goods from conception to completion with hopes that we can at least make back our investment and have fans enjoy it. Plus your name is plastered all over it!

There will always be those reviewers that hate everything you do and loathe your work and vision - no matter how good a film you make. And I am certainly gaining my own fan club of ‘haters’ – LOL! Which is funny, because I don’t know these people and they act as if they know me and can write about who I am and what my work ethic is like. A lot of times I know its because of how I look and certain people’s personal prejudices towards a lot of issues. So they call me names. But what they don’t realize is that it’s nothing I haven’t heard before and it’s their problem, not mine. I’m the one who wakes up with a smile on my face every day.

I’ve had a few reviewers kind enough to write and say – ‘Hey – this film wasn’t my cup of tea for such and such reason.’ That’s fine – they’re being honest and you have to respect that. Not everyone is going to like everything you do. Get used to that now. I think it’s also wise to at least listen to the reasons why someone dislikes your film and search within to see if it’s a production mistake that can be corrected the next time around.

I am actually having a blast reading some of the truly awful reviews – one film reviewer actually hated the movie so much because my character BEEFTEENA actually looked like his ex-wife…now what does that say?

You've got several films that have either been completed or are in production since The Blood Shed. Tell us about those films, when they'll be all be released and what we can look forward to in them.

As for acting, I have a slew of films all coming out in 2008. I appeared in Bart Mastronardi’s VINDICATION, Stolis Hadjicharalambous’ CROSSED, Tate SteInsiek’s HUNGRYMAN, Anthony Sumner’s W.O.R.M. and BY HER HAND, Michael Todd Schneider’s long awaited OPENING THE MIND, Cameron Romero’s THE SCREENING, and Joshua Nelson’s PINK EYE and EAT YOUR HEART OUT. I was recently approached by the talented Joe Castro to appear in TERROR TOONS 3. Mike DeSario wants me to do a cameo for his awesomely popular web series Z.E.R.O. -WAR OF THE DEAD, and I’ll be doing a film produced by Marv Blauvelt called SCULPTURE, as well as an upcoming film piece with auteur Armando Munoz.

As for my productions, A FAR CRY FROM HOME – my very best piece yet – will be released for festival consideration in early 2008 as part of the HUNG BY A THREAD horror anthology that I have been collaborating on with the talented Michael Todd Schneider and Tyler Tharpe.

I’m very proud of this film. FAR CRY is a very serious piece surrounding hate crimes and the horrors of the people who commit them. I’m presently immersed in writing THE HOLLOWS, an eerie 6-part web series that revolves around a haunted area of Indian burial grounds and ancient folklore. We plan to commence shooting in March 2008 and will spread the episodes out thorough 2008. I am fortunate to have Jerry Murdock, Zoë Daelman Chlanda, Katherine O’Sullivan, Raine Brown, Debbie Rochon, Keith Fraser, Jessie May Laumann, Randy Jones (Yes! The hot cowboy from The Village People!), Benzy, Terry West, Joshua Nelson, Mike Lane, Joe Davison and Brinke Stevens making appearances. I’m totally thrilled to have these great talents on board. I’ll also be working as a crewmember on Scott W. Perry’s horror short INSATIABLE this December/January with Jeremiah Kipp, Mike Lane, Raine Brown and Zoë Daelman Chlanda!

You run your own production company called SouthPaw Pictures, which is just another hat that you wear in your career. How do you manage to balance all the different things that you do and still have time for the other things you do in your day to day life? It's gotta be really stressful.

This IS my day to day life. And hopefully will be from now on. The only downside is finances and dodging the constant barrage of daily calls by creditors – LOL! – and any filmmaker out there knows what I’m talking about! I actually thrive on all the multi tasking and stress. I’m so obsessive and detail oriented that to have 8 different things going on in my head at once is just normal. But I also have a great back up of talented folks who share and believe in my vision and want to take part. You bring talented people into your crew because they are talented. As a producer you have to give them the freedom to do what they do. Sure you have the final word, but you must leave them be to do their job and not constrict their creativity. Most of the times, their ideas will be better than your initial idea anyway! So you’re in better shape than you thought.

I also have a plan B and C for everything, be it cast, locations, script change or props. So if something goes wrong - and at times, it will – you have an immediate back up plan that won’t disrupt your shooting schedule. I love propping, set decorating, location scouting and all ends of production design and art direction. I just produced a horror short called BY HER HAND for the brilliant award-winning filmmaker Anthony G. Sumner. I was in charge of casting, locations, wardrobe, scheduling, props, lodgings, travel, etc. It was a lot of work. But fun work and I thrived off it. Anthony put all his trust in me, which was a great thrill and honor coming from such a talented director. (And of course I managed a cameo bit in the film too – Hee!) Now I have another feather in my cap as a producer with a film that is going to be visually stunning. Aside from making my own films, I hope to build SouthPaw Pictures into a company that can help aspiring filmmakers, as well as established film directors, achieve their vision and produce original groundbreaking genre movies.

I'd like to ask you for one piece of advice that you'd give to each of the following based on your experiences:

Screen Writers: I think I’m the worst person to ask for advice on writing because I really have no discipline or system for doing it. I can write for days and come up with nothing, or type for an hour and finish 10 pages perfectly. There is no rhyme of reason for the way I write. My one piece of advice is to write what you know first. You’ll come up with the best storylines. Many times my characters are based on people I know or once knew. I write about places that I’m familiar with and understand. But that’s just my system. I could never write about ancient Egypt without studying it extensively or traveling there first. I have to see it in front of me or at least visualize a location, a room, a prop, etc. When I wrote I’LL BURY YOU TOMORROW I studied mortuary sciences extensively, watched videos, witnessed an embalming, autopsies, preservative chemicals and all the funerary procedures. I wanted to make sure that if a funeral director watched the film, they would say we did it right. So one thing I can say I’m known for as a writer is that I do my research. Research is very important, especially in horror.

Actors: It is not a glamorous job guys! It is work…work…work! I truly believe you have to accept the word ‘NO’ a few dozen times before someone finally says ‘YES’. It’s a hard life and you have to have the chutzpah and build a hard shell to hang in there. If it is your life’s ambition, then you have all the time in the world to get there. Learn your craft, promote yourself and don’t wait for scripts to come to you. Forget about your looks and forget about everything you read in PEOPLE Magazine. I act because I always knew, since childhood, that I would. I really can’t explain it, but it was always a nagging gut feeling I had. I just had to know myself first before I could let down that wall and show people what’s inside of me. That’s why it wasn’t until my early 40’s that I began to act– so there’s hope! Believe me! LOL! My one wish is that I’ll only improve and get better from film to film. And fortunately it looks like there will be more films ahead, so I’m very grateful for these opportunities.

Directors: LISTEN! Open your ears and listen to your cast and crew. A director’s job and duties can be so easy if you listen to all the talent you surround yourself with. I’m a firm believer that as a director, you direct your talent in the direction they need to go. In independent film, you have to remember that most of your people are working for free or for minimal pay – so treat them with mutual respect and feed them WELL! Forget about the director’s chair and letting your producer do all the talking – that’s bullshit! I’ve worked on many productions in the past 20 years where the directors were either egotistical dickheads or surrounded themselves with groupies with no access for you to communicate. Get over yourself if you feel that’s an achievement because no one will want to work with you again. Actors and crew are not cattle and you can’t verbally beat them into submission. And get to know your cinematographer very well so you both share similar visions. You want your team to respect you, admire you and stick by you from film to film. Build family, not enemies. This may sound very corny to a lot of aspiring filmmakers, but I wouldn’t be gaining my popularity and respect if I were a total bitch on set. That’s old formula and your film will suffer greatly from it. Now I’m not saying be a pushover either. You’re still the boss and you have to show authority and strength. You need your cast/crew to look up to you. At times you may have to drag someone on the carpet about an issue that’s bugging you. Do it privately off set and don’t show off. If something is going awry on set with production, a cast member or partner, it is not necessary to announce it to the entire staff that there is trouble. Handle it quietly and smartly so you don’t disrupt the good working vibe and concentration of your people. It’s a domino effect, if one person becomes wary and insecure, then the rest follow. At the end of the day, our main goal is to ALWAYS do what is best for the film and finish it. Be it a feature or short, high or low-budget, completing a film is a great accomplishment.

Do you have any screenings or personal appearances that you'd like to let us know about?

Joshua Nelson’s PINK EYE is premiering in NYC at the Two Boots Pioneer Theater on December 17th, and the cast and myself will be there to cheer it on! A lot of genre folks will be there too! Plus, I will be attending Chiller Theater Convention this May and a lot more conventions in 2008 to promote SouthPaw’s newest films. So hopefully I’ll see a lot of Rogue Cinema readers there and they’ll come by and say ‘Hello’!

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

Aside from a gracious thank you, please support independent cinema! Buy our films and get on major retailers to carry more indie films!