Hello everyone!  I have been writing movie reviews for several years now, but I have never done an interview.  A couple of weeks ago I got the chance to conduct my first interview with Scott and David Hillenbrand, the directors of TRANSLYMANIA, which opens this Friday, December 4th.

I have not yet seen the film, but I had a nice chat with the filmmakers.  You have to forgive me since this was my first time.  I was extremely nervous, but I think it came off really well.  Both David and Scott were extremely nice, and I even think I got a couple of juicy inside scoops from them as well.

It was a phone interview though, and since they sounded almost exactly alike (I think Scott’s voice was slightly lower) I had to play back the interview several times tell them apart.  Hopefully I got most of it straight.  As I was transcribing it, I also wanted to keep it as raw as possible.  So besides me editing out alot of “ums”, this is a mostly exact transcribe of the interview, which lasted just over 19 minutes.  Enjoy!

(When I picked up the phone, David was the first to greet me.  After asking them to say their names so I knew who was who, I began the interview).

FILM GEEK: So who’s older?

SCOTT:  I am.   Older by two years

DAVID: But most people kind of think of us as a two-headed monster.

FILM GEEK: (laughs)

DAVID: It’s almost as if we’re twins.  Twins is kind of a theme in this movie.  You got the Garza girl twins who were actually just featured on IGN.com, and this week they’re featuring Musetta Vander who plays the vampire huntress.  Some of the roles in the movie, Oren Skoog plays one of the College kids Rusty, and he also plays one of the vampires, the vampire king.  So the two-headed monster vampire twins is kind of a running theme throughout TRANSYLMANIA.

FG:  What films would you say are your biggest influences, cause it looks like you did the DORM DAZE movies, so obviously you must be influenced by raunchy sex comedies from the 80’s?

DAVID: Yeah, well we like all different kinds of movies and one of the big influences for Transylmania is probably the movie YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, because we wanted to make a movie that wasn’t spoofing one movie after another.  We wanted to take the whole genre of the monster hunting, vampire , Van Helsing-type movies, even spoofing, and I shouldn’t even use the word spoofing, but making fun of the gore movies like HOSTEL and SAW.  And we take the whole genre, and tell our own story from beginning middle and end, that’s just it’s own thrill ride, and kinda makes you laugh at the whole genre.

FG: That’s cool!

DAVID: So if you’re familiar with YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN…

FG: Of Course!

DAVID: It’s like a modern day revisioning of that mixed with VAN HELSING.  Imagine if you will, College kids Vs. Vampires.

FG: (Laughs) So, is this the third installment of the Dorm Daze series?

DAVID: No, it’s not a Dorm Daze movie.  But that’s interesting that you picked up on..  That there are some characters…We had gotten alot of e-mails and calls and letters about some of the characters in the Dorm Daze movies that people really related to.  So we had the idea to just spin off a few of the characters into a large scale adventure and take all these… We took about 12 or 15 American actors and then cast about 30-40  more in Romania, and bring them into the heart of Translyvania to an 800 year old castle 8 hours north of Bucharest.  And it was an amazing experience.

FG:  Wow, it sounds like it’d be really fun to film there.

DAVID:  Oh yeah, the amount of stories we could tell you, and even the language…

SCOTT: Imagine taking 12 actors and about 12 key personnel and then working with 150 Romanians with basically 10% of them speaking English.  It was really a fish out of water story and we filmed in this castle that was 8 hours north of Bucharest that was really, an 800 year old castle.  When David and I got there to do our prep work, it was surreal.  It was like we were walking into Harry Potter’s castle, except it was real.  It wasn’t CGI.  We did things kind of differently.  We took all of the actors and put them in their own little hotel, almost making em like they were College dorms.  So no Chaperones.  So they all kind of bonded, and all the crazy hijinks, and the different things that could happen that felt like a local flavor working into the movie.  So we’re very proud of that.

FG: So you seemed to get along with all the Romanians then?

SCOTT: Yeah. Yeah we did.  It was a great, great, great group of people that made this film.

FG: It sounds like it was alot different than working on the Dorm Daze movies.

DAVID: Yeah, very different I mean the Dorm Daze movies are smaller in scale and what we really wanted to accomplish with this movie was… It’s closer to a YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN. The UNDERWORLD, the VAN HELSING movies, the old Dracula movies and even influences of some of the old the Danny Kaye movies like THE COURT JESTER, having multiple characters being played by one actor and one actress.  It has Mulaire and Shakespearian farce elements to it.  You know, I think that the audiences out there have gotten tired of the traditional, in the last 10 or 15 years, spoof movies like EPIC MOVIE, DATE MOVIE.  We wanted to give the audiences something fresh.  Something that they felt was familiar to them and that’s why we took… imagine AMERICAN PIE meets TWILIGHT.

FG: (laughs)  That’s interesting you mentioned that, cause everyone seems to have caught vampire fever with all the recent TWILIGHT movies, and CIRQUE DU FREAK.  Did you feel all the more eager to kind of lampoon the teenage vampire movies?

DAVID: Yeah, you know… it’s like… when we were making the movie, all these things hadn’t happened yet.  It was just kind of in our head.  And then we got very lucky with timing, and the vampire craze with TWILIGHT and VAMPIRE DIARIES and TRUE BLOOD kind of just came into the Zeitgeist, and we really feel that it’s perfect timing for us because everyone’s enjoyed all those TV show and all those movies and now you get to laugh, and in some ways even though we weren’t necessarily pointing at any one of those references, you draw the references from them now.   Throughout the film there are things you can go, “Oh my gosh, that’s from VAN HELSING” or this one’s making fun of this.  But it’s not specifically pointing to it, it’s more on a general sense of a genre spoof.

FG: That way it doesn’t seem like it’s going over anyone’s head that haven’t seen those movies.

DAVID: Exactly.  It’s sort of like how ZOMBIELAND, which we thought was a real good film that the audiences really embraced and enjoyed, because it was making fun of the whole zombie movie genre.  And yes, certainly there were references to Bill Murray and GHOSTBUSTERS and all kinds of different things, which goes back to your earlier comments about 80’s movies… Sort of what they did with that is what we’ve done with this in a way that’s similar in terms of tone.

FG:  Alot of people who come on the Minnesota Film Board site are inspiring filmmakers.  How did you guys get started in the business?

SCOTT: Well, David and I have worked together since we were kids, always doing plays, making our own little movies.  I went to High School performing arts in New York City and then North Western University for film and television directing and movie directing .  David went to Indiana and then USC Graduate school for film composition.  We always knew we were going to build a company, then we came out to L.A..  We didn’t really have any family in the business.  Worked at a bunch of different companies learning what they did, what we thought right, what they did wrong. And then we went out and took 45 credit cards and charged out a quarter of a million dollars, made our first movie.  And it’s led to meeting investors along the way and basically we developed a mutual fund of capitol, and we’ve just been making money for our people.  It’s taken us seven movies to get to the one that everything came together in a way that…  You know.. The reason… We’ve made some horror movies, we’ve made a corporate thriller, we’ve made an action adventure/Sci-Fi kind of a movie, and what we like about Comedy is either it works or it doesn’t.  There’s no hiding behind a set or anything.  Either people are laughing or they’re not laughing.  One thing that we’re really proud of with this movie is that IT IS LAUGH-OUT-LOUD FUNNY.  College kids Vs. Vampires!  College kids, the other white meat.  These are the kind of tone elements that we feel that we’re bringing something to the audience that when they come out they’re gonna go: “You know what, I laughed my ass off and I feel like, Wow, that was worth my ten bucks!”.

FG:  So what’s next for you guys?  Are you gonna try to do another comedy, or a different genre you haven’t done before?

SCOTT: That’s a great question!  And yes, the answer is we know exactly what we’d like to make next.  And we ARE going to switch genres.  What we’ve done is that we’ve adapted Robert Louis Stevenson’s, the guy who wrote DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE and TREASURE ISLAND, we’ve adapted one of his books called THE BLACK ARROW.  What that book was, was Robert Louis Stevenson’s take on the Robin Hood legend.  What we’ve done is sort of… and it takes place during the War of the Roses in England in the 1400’s.  And what we’ve done is created BATMAN BEGINS meets ROBIN HOOD.  Basically a birthing of a medieval superhero that takes place during the War of the Roses. So, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, like the first one in essence, a big budget action adventure.

FG: Oh Wow!  Are you still in Pre-Production?  Is it still in the very early stages?

SCOTT:  Well the script is ready to go.  It was written by a colleague of ours, his name is John Coven, who just did all the storyboards are pre-visualization and worked very closely on THE GREEN HORNET.  Yeah, he did all the boards, you know, the storyboards on that with Michel Gondry.  It took us 18 months to develop the script.  The script is ready to go.  We started looking at some casting and looking at locations in Romania, Portugal and it’s very exciting.  That one’s ready to go, so hopefully we’ll be into principal photography on that shortly.

FG:  And that’s going to be played totally straight?

SCOTT: Yeah.

FG:  Cool!  That sounds like it’s going to be very exciting for you guys.

DAVID:  Yeah, it’ll be nice to change to that genre, Action/Adventure, you know GLADIATOR, that type of feel with a fun popcorn, we’re calling it “dark popcorn”.  Kind of like PG-13 on the edge and it’s a thrill ride.  Yeah.

FG:  David, I saw that you’ve done some film scoring.  Any plans to pursue that any further?

DAVID: Yeah, that is also another area that I do.  I did score TRANSYLMANIA.  We actually recorded the score with the players from the Utah Symphony Orchestra.  It’s got a big orchestral score and a really cool eclectic soundtrack. We got about 30 different song cuts in the film that Scott worked very closely with the Music Supervisor, Jen Ross.

FG: Cool.  So you got to choose the music?

SCOTT: Yeah.  We spent over a million dollars just on the licensing of the songs in the movie in addition to having the Utah Symphony Orchestra record the score for us.  It’s a real big sound and from a music side… One more thing, I just want to mention Austin… on the music side… The music Supervisor… Here’s an inside story that we haven’t told anyone, so you get the inside scoop on this…

FG:  All right!

SCOTT: Just cause you asked the question.  We have in the movie the first ever urban version of Monster Mash ever recorded.

FG: (laughs) That sounds funny!

DAVID: Yeah, it’s so cool because that song is so perfect for the movie, but to hear it done by an urban artist, and you can hear some of it in some of the TV commercials, there’s like four different 30 second TV commercials that are running right now and some of them feature that music as well.  So it’s a really cool eclectic soundtrack.  I’ve also… From the music side, way back before we launched our own company, I had supervised maybe shows that you grew up on, like all the music in the POWER RANGERS and VR TROOPERS and SWEET VALLEY HIGH.  I worked at a company that became the Fox Family Channel.  But I stopped doing music for other people.  Now I only score our films and our productions.  But we actually recorded two of our past scores with the National Radio Symphony Orchestra Bucharest, Romania.  So we’ve been all over with some of the best Orchestra’s around, and it’s a great part of the process.

FG: Are you going to score the next film as well?

DAVID:  Probably.  Usually we don’t start thinking about music at all until we get to the post-production process.  We kind of leave our minds as a blank slate.  Sometimes, we very much believe in music and work with music,  sometimes on the set even we’ll play music to put the characters into a certain mind set or a frame of reference.  But then when it comes to figuring out the exact sound of the score of a movie, we really won’t do that until we’ve even locked… We try not to even work with too much music when we’re cutting.  We like the music to work even before… cause some people could use that as a crutch in a way and cut scenes to music and you put a great piece of music in there and it seems like the scene is working better than it maybe really is.  So we try to hold off to the very end till we really start playing around with music.

FG: Sounds like it’s going to be a huge movie and that you’re going to have your hands full.

DAVID: Yeah.  Well you know, we have a great team around us and a great group of people involved from the Romanian side as well as some people we brought with us.  We think it really translates to the screen.  Cause there’s nothing like literally traveling thousands of miles away to a place that you’d never been.  The cursed land of Translyvania to make a movie.

FG: Is this also your biggest release so far?

DAVID: Yeah.  This is a nice big wide release.

SCOTT: You know it’s taken us seven movies to get a movie… You know when you’re spending 15 million dollars to release a movie, and you’re going head to head with Sony and other movies, you gotta know that you have a movie that works.  Here’s another little inside piece of information.  Every studio, when they are releasing a movie, they already know whether it works or it doesn’t work.  We’ve gone through the whole testing process just like we were Warner Brothers, and we know based on all the testing that people… Kids… It’s R-Rated so we have to say 17 to 24.

FG: (laughs)

SCOTT: But really, 15 year olds get into these kinds of movies, so this is a hardcore 15-24 demo movie where that audience both male and female… We’ve seen it across the entire country… We wouldn’t be spending that kind of money marketing the film if we didn’t know that the film already worked or not.  Audiences liked it.

FG: Right.

DAVID: And we’ve had all these serious brooding vampires, obviously the TWILIGHT, NEW MOON and TRUE BLOOD and VAMPIRE DIARIES and now it’s a good time to kick back and just to have a light, make fun of and laugh… especially with all the hardships out there right now, with the economy and stuff, so it’s good to be able to blow off some steam, you know, have a good time and relate to some stoners and all kinds of eccentric characters that are going over there and having a good time.

FG:  Sounds fun.  Definitely after seeing these brooding TWILIGHT films it’s gonna be nice to just kick back and laugh at these characters.

DAVID: Exactly.

SCOTT: Yahs.  College kids Vs. Vampires.

FG: (laughs)

DAVID: If you haven’t seen it yet there’s an exclusive… it was running on Rotten Tomatoes, now it’s exclusively running on Apple right now there’s a stoner trailer…

FG: Yeah, I just watched it this morning, it’s pretty funny with Pete and Wang from the Dorm Daze movies.

SCOTT:  Like we talked about before, those were some of the characters that we wanted to spin off because everyone… Oh my God… Totally… I mean even in the testing on Translymania, Pete and Wang are consistently the highest rated characters.  People just love em!

DAVID: It’s almost like Harold and Kumar go to Vampire Land.

FG:  Yeah, that’s what it kind of looks like.  Looks fun.  Well, that’s about all I got.  I can’t wait to see the movie.  I haven’t seen it yet, but I think I”m going to a press screening the week it opens.

SCOTT:  Cool.  Also, we’re very proud of the website that was created by the people that did the Dark Knight campaign and the people that created the poster and everything.  And we made the website as if it was like a real school you had to go apply to.  We’re very very proud of it.

DAVID:  It’s not just your straight movie website, we had a little fun with it too.  So check it out if you haven’t already.

FG:  I’ll definitely check it out and I’ll post the link on the site. transylmania site

DAVID: That’d be great.  We have a great Facebook page too that has lots of cool stuff.

FG:  Well thanks David.  Thanks Scott for your time.

DAVID:  Thanks Austin, we really appreciate it.

SCOTT:  And one more final thing.  The writers are from Minnesota.  Worm Miller and Patrick Casey.  They’re local.

FG:  Oh cool!  Well take care guys and good luck with the film!

DAVID:  Thanks Austin!  You too!  Take care.

So that’s my first interview.  Hope you liked it!  They were really energetic and enthusiastic about their movie as you can tell from the interview.  Lots of fun talking to them.

I’ll be back this weekend with a review of the film and all of the other latest releases!

Take Care!

Be Geeky!

And Watch movies!

Laura Selle Virtucio

An ongoing blog about the final days of post production for the Dance Documentary “SOLO: 1X2”, following six dancers as they create unique solos for themselves. The film screens at the Southern Theater on September 25 & 26, 2009. See Trailer. Get Tickets.

I don’t know what day it is anymore: 45 -44? I know I made it to the Film Board Party at Old Arizona – I got the last two mushroom thingies — mmmm good. I kinda miss the old days of print: going to the party, picking up your production guide, smelling the freshly printed pages. But time marches on, and now we can update information daily.

The last time I talked about “SOLO: 1×2” I had three dancers, and was following them around and interfering with their lives. In May of 2007 the McKnight panel met to chose the Fellows for 2007.

I must say that McKnight does make every effort to pick the most deserving fellows. The panel was serious, informed, and qualified. I can’t say much about the process because we signed a confidentially agreement, but I found it interesting.

When it comes to recognition, especially recognition with money attached to it, it’s always a hard thing to guarantee that the right people get picked. For that matter, who are the right people? I’ve sat on State Arts Board panels, and film festival panels, and I have always tried to pick what I thought to be the best artist or film. The problem is, I was doing the picking, and I know many people who disagree with my opinions. So to some people my choices will always be wrong. It all boils down to who does the picking. Luckily all panels are not composed of multiple mes. In the particular case of the six dance fellows that appear in my film, they all were great choices. There is so much great work being produced, its amazing any choices can be made whatsoever.

The three new fellows were Laura Selle Virtucio, Karla Grotting and Abdo Sayegh. We immediately talked to them and got them on board for the project. Then Mary Ellen threw a brunch for all six fellows and we happily filmed away. I was to see them all together only once more before tech week.

A blog about the final days of post production for the Dance Documentary “SOLO: 1X2”, following six dancers as they create unique solos for themselves. The film screens at the Southern Theater on September 25 & 26, 2009. See Trailer. Get Tickets.

Day # 50 and counting: Great progress this week. The structure is working. We’ve given up on seeing anything at the Fringe

Festival except for our show (See Review of “The Three Bonnies” Here, which has two more shows: Aug 7 & 8 at 8:30, @ the Ritz -Tickets Here)

Karla Grotting: In Performance

I have watched with interest as Michele, the writer, has put together the essential structure. We use transcripts, when a client is involved, for approval purpouses, but since we can all use FCP we just make the selects and start moving them around.

I find that the first or second choice is usually the right one. It’s all about making choices.

We are reviewing a rough cut with Mary Ellen on Monday – to check our choices, and have a big pow wow about marketing. I was watching a show at the Southern recently, and I started sweating. The space where we will project the film is huge, the audience is close, and we have to find 250 people a night to see this. We have postcards now, and the Southern Borchure has come out, and I’ve been interviewed by Lightsy Darst for Mpls. St. Paul, but there is still so much to do.

So do the job Bob and stop sweating!

It is late-June.  I abruptly push from my desk April insurance bills, bank statements, and a heaping pile of “Loan Payment Past Due” notices and pick up the phone.  In this, my own grotesque personal moment of “career” self-doubt and knot-twisting anxiety, I reach out to learn something through the recognition of one man’s long-standing commitment to his art.

Filmmaker Rolf Belgum is no big fish in a little pond or little fish in a big pond.  He’s the guy crawling alongside the pond, carrying a camera, a sound recorder and a perhaps a reflector.  Every once in awhile maybe a few friends (Jeff Ferguson-second camera on dramatic footage, Jason Almendinger-sound) by his side.  His fascination with nature: people, animals, landscapes, bugs, birds, dogs goes beyond the realm of simple observation.  As he puts it, “Environments and people and space are entwined.  There is no real separation.  Half the air you just breathed has come from some other living organism…”  And so he goes about exploring the environments that we create and are at the same time a part of through his chosen medium of film.

His last film, “She Unfolds by Day“, a poetic look at one family dealing with Alzeheimer’s disease, received much praise at both the Vancouver International Film Festival as well as CineVegas.  Variety had this to say about his piece: “American narrative films about illness and family pressures rarely use poetic expression and stream-of-consciousness, but Belgum’s is that rarity”.  He spent FIVE years editing the piece (solo), shot most of it himself with a cast and crew primarily made up of family members, in his own backyard.  Yes, please, accolades, to him!

But he is not so simply a “grab a camera and go guy”.  Mr. Belgum himself pays tribute to two of his film school professors, Mr. Jean-Pierre Gorin and Tom Conley for emphasizing the wonders that can occur when one pays attention to both the visuals and the sound–separately and then together.  It seems to me, that his study of the storytelling process with actual film and separately recorded audio must have developed in him an acute sense of the poetry involved in this everlasting, romantic celluloid relationship.

For Rolf Belgum there is a fluidity between nature and filmmaking.  Finding the visual story that exists in a snake moving or water rushing pushes our creative minds in a direction that both includes us in a big picture but also allows us the luxury of observation.  In the room with him during our phone conversation was the next element of nature he hopes to explore: his seven month old daughter.  I can now look forward, with newly heightened enthusiasm (thank you, Mr. Belgum), to the continued mysteries unfolding in front of us.

EM: What was your state of mind when you found out you won the fellowship?

MW: I was thrilled! The grant phone call is a big rush. I was working on cleaning my cameras on my basement workbench so I kind of had bad cell reception. So there was a lot of who? I won what ? Cool ..Great! questions asked on my part. I have been applying to this grant since they started giving it in 2004, and I gave up any expectation that I would win it, so I used the grant deadline to help motivate my team to get the movie finished.

EM: How does the fellowship work exactly?

MW: They give you a lump sum check and there is a McKnight award ceremony in the fall with all the award winners. IFP wants to do some kind of screening too but I haven’t heard of specifics on that yet.

EM: What will you do with the time and money provided by McKnight? Are you taking the time to write and direct a film?

MW: My deal is to market my new film Trampoline. It’s going out to the A-List festivals this summer and fall. Hopefully someone will want to premiere it. So the money will go to market & promote the new film.

EM: What did you have to do to get this? Any tips you can give for aspiring artists looking for similar grants or help?

MW: Kick Ass. Grants have always been, to me, pay back for working your butt off. Apply to the grants because that is part of the job we have as artists. Grants help me think about language and how my art sounds like on the written page.

EM: Do you feel added pressure now to make something great with this opportunity?

MW: Hell yeah, I hope my new film knocks your socks off and you’ll understand why they gave Wojahn all this money. So we are working hard polishing the film right now. I have great people that are on my team; Ace Allgood, James Stanger, Richard Werbowenko, Michael Irei, Jon Jon Scott, Amy Patrick, Kemper Harris to name a few. They all have believed in this project and it wouldn’t have happened as well as I believe it has if it wasn’t for the team I have been lucky enough to assemble.

EM: How long have you been making films?

MW: I have been in film since the 1980’s but have been doing serious doc work since the 2002. In 2003, my first feature came out and I have been working for over five years on this latest doc.

EM: Where do you live?

MW: I live in NE Mpls and have a studio in the Casket Arts Building.

EM: Does this opportunity give you a chance to make a dream project?

MW: I have been living the dream as an artist /photographer/ filmmaker since 1992. So this grant is going to help sustain that. It gives me a ton of validation that this amazing panel from around the country noticed what I am doing and thought I deserved the McKnight. That is the really cool thing, because there are some really good filmmakers in this town that could have won this award this year instead of me.

EM: What kind of film work do you do?

MW: I am all about documentary. If I am not making and producing documentary, I am shooting stills as a street photographer, showing docs at my studio as part of my Casket Cinema film series or at Patrick’s Cabaret for his summer movies series called “Movies in the Park-ing Lot.” I think life is stranger than fiction and I love talking to people.

EM: Talk about how you make a living as a filmmaker? Or do you have a day job?

MW: My day job is working freelance in the art department for local films and TV. I have been doing that since I got out of college in the 1990’s. Some day I would love to teach and give back that way but for right now I work as a prop guy, decorator and was even the greens foreman on the Coen Brothers film last year. When I am not on set, I hang at my studio, do rough cuts, process photos and spin yarns.

EM: What are your thoughts on the film scene here?

MW: The independent film scene here is awesome. It rocks the 24/48 deal, we have a lot of talent and great people. IFP is a big reason for that, it supports and churns out folks. I got my start in a teen workshop there in the 1980’s and it changed my life, man. They really are great. Jane Minton is key. If you have a cool project, you are friendly, you help other people out, most of the time you will find others that will help you too. One of my mantras is “be friendly.” Do what you love, show what you love…like at my Patrick’s and Casket film nights, I show movies I think are cool, I get special guests to come talk afterward and we all have a good time. A lot of it is about building community and audience. I feel if I show movies I love and people like those flicks, well maybe they will like my films too. Its a circle. We still have a long way to go, but I like what we have going so far.

Christopher R. Mihm’s filmmaking career began in 2005 with his first film “The Monster of Phantom Lake.” Fellow producer and actor Josh Craig and Mihm have been friends for many years. Seeing old movies again and enjoying their often poorly written dialogue, barely passable camera work and marginal special effects, Mihm started to wonder: “What would happen if Josh and I stopped talking about it and actually made a movie? And not just ANY movie but THIS kind of movie, one that a ten year old version of my dad would approve of?”

That thought soon took over and his obsession began. He parked himself in front of his laptop and “The Monster of Phantom Lake” was born. Soon they were holding auditions and then amazingly, shooting! The film was finally released in March 2006 to highly receptive crowds and has since played at numerous film festivals. An award-winning sequel, “It Came From Another World!,” followed in May 2007 and a third, “Cave Women on Mars” in April 2008. A fourth film, “Terror from Beneath the Earth” was released on May 20th, 2009. For 2010, Mr. Mihm again teamed up with “co-conspirator” Josh Craig to produce “Destination: Outer Space,” a rip-roaring space adventure featuring Captain Mike Jackson (again played by Mr. Craig) from “Cave Women on Mars.” Exact release date is to-be-announced.

I spoke with Christopher recently about his films, being an Minnesotan independent filmmaker, the importance of his father to his work and his fundraising efforts for his new film.

EM: What kind of films do you make?

CM: I exclusively specialize in black and white, as-authentic-as-possible 1950s-drive-in-style horror and sci-fi features. To date I have finished and released four including the multi-award winning “The Monster of Phantom Lake,” “It Came From Another World!,” and “Cave Women on Mars.” The fourth film, “Terror from Beneath the Earth,” was just released this past May. I am currently working on a new one (still in the same style) entitled “Destination: Outer Space.”

EM: Why are you a filmmaker?

CM: I tend to think of myself as a creative person who really NEEDS some sort of outlet to stay sane. From my early teens I thought of myself as some sort of musician, first teaching myself how to play the drums and eventually picking up bass, guitar, piano and attempting to sing. This led to different stints in a handful of failed rock bands and the occasional solo project but, no matter how hard I tried, I just didn’t feel like I had it in me to be a GREAT musician. In high school I dabbled a little in theater but never really had the drive to do much beyond write a few bad plays. Secretly through it all, I always wanted to make movies. I have so many great childhood memories that revolve around going to or experiencing the movies that I think I just fell in love with the simple joys of visual storytelling. In college I volunteered at a public access station and got to play around with some nice outdated video equipment but that was as far as I got for a while. Finally, when the technology became cheap enough to allow me to make a film at home, one that actually LOOKED like a REAL movie, I jumped right in head-first.

When I was a kid, I was always very close to my dad and he LOVED the movies. We used to go out to the drive-ins and theaters or just hit the local video store. I was always more of a sedentary kid so being able to sit and watch movies with my dad, no matter what they were, was often preferable to playing sports. My dad was a huge sci-fi and horror fan and I know a lot of my love of those genres comes directly from my father’s love of them.

EM: Do you have to balance a day job with your filmmaking?

CM: I own and operate my own one-man web/database design and programming business that allows for a good amount of flexibility when it comes to making the movies. As a result, I keep rather odd hours, which makes it far easier to get stuff done without distraction. I tend to do the majority of the behind-the-scenes work on my films as I tend to be the only one with enough spare time to get things done! Since I (and most of the friends that help out) are in our early to mid thirties, we all have young children and wives and jobs so it can sometimes be hard to get away… which is why I enlist the help of my wife and kids! I try to make it so the act of making these films is also family time. On each film, they’ve helped with sets, costumes, even acted in the films. As long as they’re having fun, I am too.

EM: What do you love about movies?

CM: I love the way movies can tell so many different kinds of stories and engage you on so many different levels. I also enjoy the fact that movies, by and large, are a group event, which is one of the reasons I always strive to recreate the classic movie-going experiences of the 1950s when I hold premieres and screenings of my films. Heck, I love the sheer act of GOING to the movies whether it be at a midnight show of a new movie when the atmosphere is charged and excited or going to one of the endangered drive-ins and just soaking up that beautiful little slice of Americana. When we were dating, my wife and I really bonded over our love of the movies to the point that almost every date we had involved going to the movies in some way. We even got to the point where we had no more movies left to see because we had seen them all!

EM: What kind of movies do you love/hate?

CM: Aside from those old 50s B-movies, I’m a very big sci-fi fan. If there’s a movie involving space or spaceships or aliens, chances are, I’ll make a point to see it. Other than that, I tend to not be very picky — although, to be honest, I am not much for art house films. I’m a big blockbuster/big Hollywood type, which is strange being a small-time independent filmmaker. I just tend to be bored by a lot of art house style cinema, from the fake quirkiness or the constant need to push buttons or envelopes. Not that some of it isn’t great, it just doesn’t appeal to ME. Which is part of the reason I do what I do. My films seek to emulate those old classics partially because I just don’t have the budget or technical know-how to make something like “Star Trek” or “The Terminator.” So I do what I can with what I can!

EM: How do you find funding for your films? You seem to be great at the whole DIY thing.

CM: Generally, I end up paying for most things out of pocket. I occasionally will get co-producers to help out in whatever way they can, from helping with premiere costs or paying for set materials, etc. No film I have ever made has ever cost more than $4000 in actual cash to complete. Many actors will work for very little (often no) money and most things are created using dollar or thrift store finds. I edit using my own computer and software and film using my own camera. Usually the price of DVD replication eats up the biggest chunk but I tend to make that back rather quickly, sometimes at the premiere itself!

EM: Talk about your fans – you seem to have a devoted following.

CM: The Mihmiverse fans (”Mihmiverse” being a term that has recently come to describe the series of my films) are the coolest fans in the world. Not only have they opened themselves (and surprisingly, their wallets) to me and my films but I’ve gotten to know quite a few of them enough to consider them friends. It seems that this style of films has really resonated with a lot of people and to be honest, it’s surprised me a little. Not that I thought my love of the classic ’50s genre was unique but it’s been really cool learning more about others who enjoy this style of film. I made a decision early on to make these kinds of films exclusively, partly because I love the genre but also because I wanted to do something few other indie filmmakers do and that’s build a “universe.” Every one of my films exists in the same little “universe” and are all connected in some way. I almost think of each film as a sequel of the previous, even if it seems totally unrelated. I use a lot of reoccurring characters (and children of characters) and locations to add to that sense of connectedness. Basically I want to reward people who stick through each one with little nods and “easter eggs.”

I’m a huge Star Trek fan and have been a part of Trek fandom for years. One of the things I always liked about the universe of Trek is that it’s so huge and so expansive that it becomes more “real.” That’s something I strive for in my films and I think the fans have picked up on that.

Also, since spending A LOT of money trying to get into film festivals with my first film (“The Monster of Phantom Lake”), I decided to try something different and “make my own reality,” by hosting as many screenings of the films as possible. It seems most festivals are more than happy to take your “entry fees” but don’t actually care about the films themselves. So, by hosting and attending screenings of my films, I’ve been able to make a more personal connection to the fans and I think that shows in their dedication. (And to any fans out there reading this: “YOU ARE AWESOME!”)

Now I’m just waiting for some fan fiction — then I’ll know I’ve “made it!”

EM: What do you love about genre cinema?

CM: I love the fantastic element of it. One of the greatest things about sci-fi or horror or fantasy cinema is that it can show extraordinary situations that will never happen in the real world. It can give form to your wildest imaginations or take you on journeys to places you will never go. You can get that visceral thrill of exploring the unknown or seeing the impossible become possible. When you’re a kid, you imagine all these crazy things that you’re too young and naïve not to realize can’t happen. And it’s during those times when your mind is the most free — like anything’s possible. That’s what genre cinema is like to me. It’s that vivid childhood imagination made “real.”

EM: I read in your bio in the year 2000 your father died of stomach cancer and how you’ve revisited old movies because of that. Did you and your father connect over movies? Is your filmmaking an attempt to reconnect somehow with your dad?

CM: When my dad was growing up in southwestern Minnesota, he’d frequently sneak away from the family farm and go into town to catch double features of schlock cinema (for a nickel, he’d always say). He was born in 1948 so he was probably a bit young to be seeing some of the things he would see but he loved them, even (or probably especially) when they scared the pants off him! When I was growing up in the late ‘70s/early ‘80s, my dad would rent these old movies and tell me the stories of going to see them. I’d sit and watch them with him, never quite understanding what he saw in them. But it was always fun and a great bonding experience. They were scary enough for me to get a small thrill but not so scary that I didn’t enjoy them. Giant ants, flying saucers, blobs of goo, giant leeches… didn’t matter, they were always fun to watch.

After my father died, I re-watched a bunch of those old films and for the first time, saw them as something else. Not only as a window into my dad’s life and experiences, but a window into my own. I was flooded with these wonderful, long forgotten memories of those lazy Saturdays watching “This Island Earth” or “Village of the Damned.” Seeing them again, some for the first time in decades, I really fell in love with the genre as a whole. There was something almost tangible about them (as compared to today’s CGI-heavy fare) from their cheesy monsters and poorly constructed sets and bad science. I felt close to my dad again and strangely, they helped me come to terms with his death. So when I decided that the time was right to finally make a film of my own, there was no question: I was going to make a movie that a 10 year old version of my dad would have loved — and “The Monster of Phantom Lake” was born. I named my production company after my dad (All for George Productions) and the rest is history.

Since the release of that first film, I haven’t wanted to make anything else. I’ve had offers to make other, more modern films but I’m just not interested. This is all I ever want to do. When I lose my taste for it, I’m just going to stop making movies.

Lastly, I want to say that I’ve never truly gotten over my dad’s death. In fact, I don’t think I ever will. Which, honestly, is perfectly ok with me. I still miss him everyday but I frequently see that mischievous glint he had in my son’s eyes so I know that he’ll never truly be gone!

EM: Talk about this fundraiser you’re doing at the moment. How are you promoting this amongst your fans? Did you lose funding for the movie you’re working on?

CM: Because it’s my fifth, this next film is a bit more ambitious than previous efforts. Unfortunately, one of my co-producers had to pull out due to personal circumstances so I’ve been selling an “associate producer’s” package on my Web site. Anyone who donates $50 gets an “associate producer” credit in the end credits of the film, a framed certificate, free tickets to the premiere and five copies of the finished DVD. To date, it’s been far more popular than I could have expected and has really helped the production immensely! We’re even ahead of schedule!

At first I was nervous to open this up to the fans. I’ve always prided myself on not really needing much outside money. Also, I didn’t want to seem greedy in some way figuring no one out there would really WANT to. It wasn’t until I did that I realized how dedicated some of the fans really are and for that I am truly touched. I never really saw what these films meant to people until now and I can’t honestly believe it sometimes. I just hope I don’t disappoint anyone!

EM: What’s it like being an independent filmmaker in Minnesota?

CM: Well, it’s interesting. It seems the Minnesota film community is very disorganized. There are so many people coming and going that it never seems to have enough time to establish something concrete. A lot of good (and bad) film actors get crazy and move to L.A. where they languish in obscurity. A lot of directors or writers will make a few shorts, maybe a feature and then disappear (or graduate from film school). There don’t seem to be that many people that can really claim to be “established” here.

On the flipside, it does seem there is a general sense of wanting to make the scene more “coherent.” Many have made the effort, Minnewood being the best example, but few have truly succeeded. The problem is, like any scene in any town, people tend to break off into cliques. A lot of people have very distinct “what-can-you-do-for-me” or “I-would-love-to-help-but-it-doesn’t-benefit-me” attitudes that don’t really lend themselves to organization. I even admit to occasionally being part of the same problem!

As a result, I feel a bit isolated being an indie filmmaker here. I seem to be one of the few that never wants to leave and thinks I can do everything I want here. Perhaps I simply define success differently but I feel like what I’ve accomplished and what I’m doing has made me successful. Sure, I’m not a millionaire or featured on the cover of Entertainment Weekly but I actually don’t care. Being able to entertain people and affect people the way my movies have has been all I’ve ever wanted (or continue to want). I just hope I have the drive and energy to keep going!

Cinema and Civics kicks off today, and will run for six consecutive Wednesdays thereafter. Each will consist of a musical performance, a short film created by a local filmmaker, and discussion with a local politician or representative of the community, followed by a feature length film. Most nights will also include activities provided by SSCO or local organizations.

Make sure to look for MnDialog favorites Jon Springer, writer/director of the fun, low-budget horror pic The Hagstone Demon and the creepy short Dollface. Jon’s film, The Wood Witch, will be shown on Juy 1st. The film was voted “Best Film” in the 2006 City Pages “Best of the Twin Cities” Readers Poll, and was selected to play in the 2008 MNTV short film series on TPT.

I also can’t forget another MnDialog favorite – Sam Thompson’s Slamdance nominated film There’s a Werewolf in My Attic will also be screening at C & C.

SCHEDULE

*June 10th – Star Trek IV w/musical guest Kill to Kill
-The evening’s short film will be “Exit Glacier,” by Jesse Roesler.

-There will be a community clothing swap this night! Bring five items of clothing or accessories to add to the pile and take home five new-to-you items to add to your wardrobe! All items not taken will be donated to the Stevens Square Community Organization’s next annual rummage sale, their most successful fund raising event.

-Special guest speakers include Tracy Nordstrom (Minneapolis Park Commissioner) and Katy Dailey (of the Stevens Square Community Organization’s Greening Committee).

*June 17th – A Mighty Wind w/musical guest The Absent Arch
*June 24th – Harold and Maude w/musical guest F Knights
*July 1st – Labyrinth w/musical guest STNNNG
*July 8th – Mystery Science Theater 3000 w/musical guest Tentacle Boy
*July 15th – an entire evening of shorts by local film makers (titles to be determined) w/musical guest Economy Team

I spoke with the program director Sarah Jordet. This is her first year with Cinema and Civics.

EM: How did you come to be with Cinema & Civics? What do you do for it?

SJ: It kind of fell into my lap, actually. I was working with Caitlin Hargarten last year on the Red Hot Art festival, which is also sponsored by the Stevens Square Community Organization (SSCO). During that time the position of Project Coordinator for Cinema and Civics opened up and I thought I’d give it a shot. As of now, I do pretty much everything for it, from choosing and booking the films and bands to handling the budget.

EM: What goes into these events? How do you make them happen?

SJ: I’ve been planning the event since January, and have spent many hours deliberating my options and figuring out how to make them a reality. I’ve had a few great people helping out along the way with tasks like PR and building the website, and I couldn’t make any of it happen without volunteers of SSCO helping with everything from running the sound system to grilling hot dogs.

EM: Tell me what C & C means to you and the community.

SJ: I feel very lucky to be involved in a project such as this, that offers the Stevens neighborhood a chance to see great live entertainment and movies for free. Stevens Square Park is an amazing little space, and it’s great to have any excuse to bring everyone out to it at the same time. This year I’m hoping the work we put into getting local filmmakers, businesses and organizations involved will help people in the community create social and professional connections.

EM: How did you come to choose the titles and bands for the schedule this year?

SJ: I have a lot of talented friends in the local music scene who jumped at the chance to play outside, so the band choices came fairly easily. I tried my best to present a strong, eclectic music lineup, and I’m pretty satisfied. The movies were a bit more difficult to choose. It was a challenge to decide on titles geared toward our ideal audience (the 20’s and 30’s age group) that would get people excited as well as maintain a basic level of political correctness for any younger audience members. In the end, I chose the movies I did mostly for their nostalgia factor, and I think the result will be quite entertaining.

EM: Are these bands and films favorites of yours?

SJ: Yes. I have to admit I did use my decision-making credentials to create (in my eyes) an ideal lineup – I just hope others agree with my decisions.

EM: How are the films shown? What do you screen them with?

SJ: We’ll be using a large screen and projector system, which we set up next to the stage in the lower corner of the park. With the incorporation of local films this year, we’ll probably be updating the DVD projector by hooking up a computer to play them more efficiently.

EM: What do the bands perform on?

SJ: There is an area of concrete surrounded by pillars in a lower corner of the park where we generally have all performers play. There’s a slight hill that leads up to the stage and makes it a perfect area to grab a spot in the grass and still have a great view.

EM: Has the community been responsive in the past to C & C?

SJ: Very. We’ve had up to 300 people attend on specific nights in the past, and as early as February I had members of the neighborhood asking about updates on this year’s lineup and dates.

EM: What do you hope to accomplish this year?

SJ: This year the major addition to the event has been the incorporation of local film. There aren’t many opportunities in the area for filmmakers to conveniently screen their work, and I’m hoping this will prove to be a useful outlet for them. Ideally this will not only provide a chance to network with others involved with the film community, but to expand their audience to people unaware of what’s happening in local film. I’m just hoping everyone enjoys their experience.

EM: What shorts and local filmmakers will be showing at C & C?

SJ: We’re going to be showing around 20 local films over the entire summer, and are encouraging the filmmakers to be present at their screenings to introduce themselves and possibly hold an open discussion about their careers. Some of the films we’ll be showing include Jon Springer’s award winning film The Wood Witch, Sam Thompson’s Slamdance nominated film There’s a Werewolf in My Attic, and Church Bizarre, a film by local up-and-comer Tyler Jensen. There will be a complete list of films and their creators at the Web site.

EM: What other activities can we expect at the event?

SJ: The biggest activity we’ll be conducting is a community-wide clothing swap on our first night, June 10th. Anyone can bring up to five items of clothing or accessories to trade in, and any left over items will be donated to SSCO to be sold at their next rummage sale, one of their biggest fundraising events. We’ve also partnered with places such as Twin Town Guitars and Sunrise Cyclery to give out prizes at the end of each evening in an effort to help spread the word about them as staples in the local business community.

EM: What community reps and politicians are coming? What will they talk about? Will it be an open forum to discuss issues?

SJ: We’ll be having representatives of SSCO’s many committees throughout the event, as well Park Commissioner Tracy Nordstrom, Twin Citites Zinefest coordinator Sarah Morean, and others. Robert Lilligren will be making an appearance on June 17th, and Mayor R.T. Rybak will be stopping by for a surprise visit one evening. There is a loose theme for each night (the environment, the visual arts community, do-it-yourself projects, etc.) and the representatives chosen will be speaking on behalf of organizations involved in those specific areas. I’m hoping the audience will be engaged enough to ask questions and promote a discussion among their peers as well as the night’s speakers.

EM: Do you find that people from certain political ideologies only come to C & C? This seems like something mostly liberal people would be in to. Am I wrong in this assumption? Do you hope to bring in any and all people from the entire political spectrum?

SJ: I can say this… we are encouraging “everyone” to attend. There are many young liberals in the Stevens neighborhood, but SSCO is represented by people with a wide variety of political ideals. When searching for politicians to come speak at the event, we made sure to extend the invitation to members of all political parties… as of yet, we have only had Democrats interested in participating.

EM: What are you most excited about for C & C?

SJ: I’ve never seen Labyrinth on the big screen! But really… I’m looking forward to hearing from people working with organizations that have really made a difference in Minneapolis communities, and I’m excited to meet some of the local film makers involved.

Love this poster (created by Aesthetic Apparatus – copies will be available for sale at the show for $20) for the upcoming The Talkies screening Thursday June 18th beginning with the regular screening at 7 p.m. then followed at 9 p.m. with live commentary by Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin for his brilliant and hilarious 2003 film The Saddest Music in the World. I just watched the film the other day and loved it. It’s perfect for the Talkies event, and totally appropriate for our economic times in this country. Both screenings will be at the Heights Theatre. This is the 5th installment in the series. Tickets can be ordered right now at the Talkies Web site.

Watch this hilarious trailer (sort-of) for the event done by Talkies creator Tim Massett

And check out my full-length interview with Guy Maddin here.

If the film community had a town crier (and why don’t we have one, anyway?) he or she would be wandering the cobblestone streets with a hand bell delivering this message:

“Here ye, here ye, local feature Phasma Ex Machina to go to IFP Narrative Labs in New York City! Here ye, here ye!”

And why would the Film Community Crier be walking the streets with that message? Because Phasma is one of only ten films in the country to be accepted to the program. The Lab, as it’s referred to, provides filmmakers with five days of mentorship, technical advice and support from industry experts. In other words, it’s totally rad.

The film’s writer and director, Matt Osterman, producer, Jennifer Kramer and co-producer/title designer, Jon Thomas will be in New York from June 8th through the 12th to work with their editing mentor, Lee Percy (Boys Don’t Cry, Maria Full of Grace, Single White Female). Originally, the team planned to have finished the final cut of the movie by June 4th. They had already completed color correction and a sound mix. But then they found out they were going to the Lab. “Our post partners (Darin Heinis at Aaron/Stokes and everybody over at Crash+Sues) have been incredibly supportive and totally open to the process of attending the IFP Lab with an open mind,” Matt Osterman said. “We all decided that if we get great feedback from the Lab that we’ll get back and re-open the edit if necessary.  Of course, this could mean a slight re-do of the color correction, sound design, score, and sound mix.  But we all want to see the best movie possible and no one has wavered from this position.”

While in New York, they will also consult with Alan T. Chan (Half-Life) about “festival world” and marketing the film.

Acceptance into the program is just one achievement out of several that point to the fact that the film is headed for great things. Osterman was one of seven nominees for the McKnight Fellowship for Screenwriters last year for the Phasma script. And when they put the trailer online back in March, they had websites all over the world talking about it and sharing the video within two days. They experienced a tremendous rush of interest; festivals and sales agents swamped them with requests for the film. But Osterman, speaking like a true Minnesotan, warns that no one has seen the finished product yet so it may all be a moot point. “I think everyone got excited because they saw a spooky flick that didn’t fall back on cheap gags and or talk down to them,” he said. “I’ve found there’s a big subset of movie fans who abhor things like the Saw franchise and are desperate for smart supernatural fare.  It seems most people pinned the trailer as a Primer-meets-The Six Sense.  I’d say that’s pretty close to accurate in the most obvious way.”

So when can we see the film in Minnesota? It’s too soon to tell. They had hoped to have a festival premiere in late summer or early fall of 09  and then a local premiere in October. Now they will wait to see what wisdom Chan can offer them at the Lab. “They bring in numerous people who’ve been through this many times before and can really help cut through all the BS advice that’s floating out there,” Osterman said. “Our producing mentor premiered a movie called “Half-Life” at Sundance last year.  From the looks of it, he’ll serve as our general counsel and act as a sounding board for our many questions.  I’m excited to meet him.”

Osterman is largely a self-taught screenwriter and director. He graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in Rhetoric and Scientific and Technical Communication. After  graduating college, he eventually taught himself how to write screenplays and, once he felt competent in that, started to direct his own shorts. “Once I got decent at that, I decided to make the leap to a feature. In the meantime, I helped work on a National Geographic magazine cover story and that gave me the confidence that I could accomplish big audacious goals,” he said. He went on to  produce a documentary that Jon Stewart executive produced and it aired nationally on SpikeTV.  “It was after that gig that I wrote the script for Phasma Ex Machina and began the long laborious process to bring it to the screen (with TONS of help of course),” he said.

Two things on the Trash Film Debauchery MySpace page beautifully sum up what is so awesome (to me, anyways) about the screening series of B movies and gore-fests. They are as follows:

Who I’d like to meet: C.H.U.D.

and

CLICK and add me on TWITTER! I swear it will only be about upcoming movies. I won’t text you every time I take a shit, or anything.

Brilliant. Theresa Purcell is the woman behind the series. I met her last week so I could pick up a copy of the DVD The Room, considered by many to be the worst movie ever made (though it is hard-pressed to beat out Troll 2 in my opinion, but I will find out soon). I really love the work Theresa is doing, proving that moviegoers can have as much fun at a bad movie as a good one, if not more fun sometimes. Below is an interview I conducted with Theresa via email.

EM: When and how did TFD start? Why do you do it?

TP: I started TFD in 2003. Back then it only took $15 and three people to form an “official” student club so I thought it would be awesome to register so my friends and I could use the University’s facilities to watch movies on their huge screens. I got my friend Aaron on board and we came up with the name Trash Film Debauchery in his dorm room. Our first screening was a double feathers of “The Best Head Explosions in Cinematic History”. I showed Scanners and Maniac. We decided to make up some fliers and post them around just in case other students felt like coming, and they did! It ended up being surprisingly popular and after a while, what was supposed to be just for me and a handful of friends originally, started attracting hundreds of students and nonstudents from all over the Twin Cities.
I do this just out of love for bad movies. Since the beginning its been really important for me to keep the screenings free because I want everyone to be able to attend and for cost to never be a factor. Fortunately through grants, donations, and enthusiastic filmmakers I’ve been able to cover the costs of licensing fees without charging admission.

EM: Is it only you doing this? What was the inspiration for Trash Film?

TP: Yep, TFD is pretty much just me. It was originally my idea although I have had help throughout the years. I’ve had some really talented graphic designers make fliers for our screenings. People have helped me hang up fliers around town and around campus and other promotions in print and on the radio. I also always take recommendations for films from people so the audience certainly can help with film selection. It’s a lot less work now that I’m at the Turf Club that it was when it was at the U of M because I’m only doing screenings once a month and they help with promotion. Trashy movies really aren’t fun to watch by yourself. The more people you can share them with and laugh and scream and freak out together the better. I get a ton of joy out of planning a movie that not a lot of people have seen, showing it on a big screen, and knowing that everyone is having a great time.

EM: Is it devoted solely to screening fun, bad movies?

TP: Yeah, for the most part I try to stick to B movies. I look for extremes when I’m planning films. Is it extremely bad? Is it extremely violent? Is it extremely funny? Is it extremely weird? If yes, it’s probably a good fit. I have gone with “extremely good” a few times but they don’t go over as well. I tried Harold and Maude years ago and while the turnout was decent, I can’t even count how many times people said “This isn’t a trash film…” to me. And they’re right, it’s just too good for TFD. I’ve never screened most of my favorite movies just because they wouldn’t work. And “good” movies aren’t nearly as fun to watch with a group of people.

EM: Do you love watching bad movies?

TP: Absolutely! I love film in general and have been watching and collecting them since I was a little kid. My favorite films change so often.

EM: What are some of your favorites?

TP: Some staples for me are Harold and Maude, Dead Alive, A Boy and His Dog, Freaks, Leon: The Professional, Happy Together, Even Dwarfs Started Small, The Deer Hunger, BioZombie, Ichi the Killer, The Graduate, Dolemite, Gummo, Blue Velvet, Brazil, The Happiness of the Katakuris, In the Mood for Love, Waiting for Guffman, Let the Right One In, Man Bites Dog, Oldboy, The Proposition, Ong Bak, The Doom Generation, True Romance, and of course Predator. That list is way longer than it needs to be, sorry.

EM: Your least favorite?

TP: As far as least favorites go, I get the most angry about films I’m excited about and have high expectations for that disappoint me. Like I could say I really hated Big Momma’s House or something but I was expecting it to suck so no harm done, it wasn’t made to appeal to me anyway. On the other hand, as a big Batman fan I was pretty horrified when the Catwoman movie came out and it was so terrible. I also thought they butchered the Hannibal Lector franchise. The Alien vs Predator movies were so disappointingly bad. The other Matrix movies. Anyway, you get the point.

EM: Why do you think there is such a following for shit movies? This is certainly not a new niche of cinephilia.

TP: Sometimes it is simply astonishing the type of rubbish that is available for public consumption. But truly, these movies live on ONLY as long as people get pleasure from watching them. Harold P Warren might not have been out to make the worst movie ever when he made Manos: The Hands of Fate back in the 60’s. This is the only film the guy ever made! He wrote it, directed it, produced it, and started in it, and because it was so gut-wrenchingly awful he really achieved something great! While some may bring up Citizen Kane as perhaps “the best movie ever made”, this guy’s sad attempt at film making has put him on the polar opposite with almost as much notoriety. I genuinely believe that the draw to bad movies comes straight out of masochism. It’s so bad it HURTS, and we LOVE IT. We’re drawing pleasure out of the absurd. And, more simply, who doesn’t love sitting in a room with a bunch of friends and strangers, drinking a beer, and laughing hysterically? Some may see it as mindless fun but I probably spend just as much time discussing and quoting the bad movies as the good.

EM: What is the worst movie you’ve ever seen?

TP: I’ll probably make some enemies for this one, but the worst movie I’ve ever seen is Waking Life. And not in a good way.

EM: What qualifies as a Trash film to you?

TP: I’m not sure I have a quantifiable definition of the “Trash Film”. Basically I ask myself “is this entertaining?”. As long as something isn’t boring or tedious it’s got a good shot. Then, “is it too ‘good?’” Like with the Harold and Maude ordeal, people don’t come to Trash Film Debauchery to see a “good” movie. Then “has anyone ever heard of this!?”. While I love showing obscure and hard to find films, it’s harder to draw interest for something no one knows a thing about. The perfect trash film is one with a reputation, preferably something someone has heard of but hasn’t had the chance to see. When my schedule comes out the best response is “OH! I’ve been wanting to see ________!”.

EM: Is the word cult movie a dirty word to you? Or is it simply an overused media term at this point? I feel like it gets thrown around a lot these days. 

TP: Nah, I don’t see it as a dirty word, but it is overused. Is such and such a cult movie? A trash film? Or should we call it exploitation? Or a B-Movie? Or a C- or Z-Movie? If we get too picky about categories and labels I think it sucks the enjoyment right out of watching them all together. I remember when 28 Days Later first came out I had quite a few horror hounds talking to me about “How could they be calling this a Zombie movie!?” since the notion of fast or super-charged “zombies” who were infected instead of dead was blasphemy to them. And I totally understand their point and agree with it for the most part, however, I don’t think that should have any significant affect on whether or not you LIKE the film, regardless of what you want to call the monsters.

EM: Do we all try too hard these days to predict the next cult or good bad movie?

TP: Pretty much any time one of those Fast and the Furious or Bangkok Dangerous or XXX movies come out I think “This movie is going to be so fucking AMAZING…in 20 years”. People can predict what movies will gain cult status. Only time will tell.

EM: How have the screenings been going?

TP: Our new screenings at the Turf Club have been going great! We’re getting really good turn outs and a decent number of our loyal audience members from campus have followed us over to the new venue. We’re getting a ton of new interest as well. I think the Turf Club has been the perfect venue to continue on outside of campus.

EM: What kinds of people go? 

TP: We have so many different “types” of people showing up to the movies. That’s the main reason I want to keep it free, so anybody is able to come if they’re interested. On campus we had a ton of  U of M students and students from other colleges, professors, homeless people, the elderly, just random folks from the community. Really it could be anybody. It just depended on what we were showing and who was interested. We’re a little less diverse at the Turf Club just because it is a bar so the screenings are now 21+. It’s created a different environment, but it’s still a great one. Like for our next movie we’re finally showing Wild Zero with the official drinking game. I could never do that on campus!

EM: What was the most fun you’ve had doing Trash Film?

TP: The most fun I’ve ever had at a Trash Film…that’s a hard one. I always like it when a movie is so awesome people have already seen it multiple times already and are shouting out lines along with the movie. A couple years ago I showed the entirety of R. Kelly’s ‘Trapped in the Closet.’ That might be the most fun I’ve ever had at one of these. It was so silly. There have also been about 3 times when the movie I showed was so incredibly bad or upsetting and people seemed to have such a strong reaction to it one way or the other that i felt the need to stand up and apologize after it was over…haha. One instance I can remember was when i showed Cannibal Holocaust on the West Bank. It was probably one of the biggest crowds we’ve had most likely due to the film’s reputation and some creative promoting. We lost a good chunk of our audience for that movie just because of how absolutely disgusting and offensive it is. I expected people to walk out, but there were A LOT, particularly women, who had to leave, which is understandable. I don’t even like the film, it was more so just that I could get away with something like that on campus. I’d definitely consider that to be one of TFD’s shining moments…if you wanna call it that.

EM: What is about watching a good bad movie with an audience that makes it such a fun experience?

TP: Its great to watch a movie with a bunch of people and not have to be quiet. You’re expected to talk and shout and crack jokes. Being Minnesotans we have a special affinity for Mystery Science Theater 3000 and by watching a bad movie with a bunch of other people you get to LIVE IT. You’re also meeting a bunch of other people who are entertained by the same sort of cinema. I’ve meet quite a few of my close friends at TFD screenings.