Your new movie The Terrible Two - in a few words, what is it
about?
The
Terrible Two is about Rose and Albert Poe.
A married couple approaching the one-year anniversary of the death
of their 2 girls, Addi and Jade. The
day the girls died also happened to be their birthday.
As the day comes and goes Rose continues to struggle to come to
grips with the loss of her only 2 daughters.
She begins hearing the girls voices throughout the house, which
leads her to the attic where she discovers an old manuscript that belonged
to the previous owner of the house. After
reading the book and doing a little research on the house secrets are
revealed that something much more sinister is happening with the house and
the deaths of Addi and Jade. Soon
Albert and Rose become prisoners in their own house to the same little
girls they gave life to.
What were your inspirations for writing The
Terrible Two? My
wife and I bought a house about a year or so ago.
The house was big and long and the first thing I noticed was how
much room there was and as a filmmaker automatically I began to think it would be ideal to shoot a movie in the house because of the space.
My wife wasn’t as enthused as I was, haha.
She didn’t believe that I would actually do it until I kicked her
and our 3 girls out for 2 weeks and we filmed the entire movie in the
house the first 2 weeks of December 2015.
Well I didn’t kick them out, lol, but she’s been so supportive
and understanding to allow me and a crew to do what we did in the
house… especially 2 weeks before Christmas.
Now we cannot show our girls the trailer or the movie until we sell
the house, haha. With your movie dealing with the
paranormal - your personal thoughts on the subject, and to what extent are
they mirrored in The Terrible Two?
I’m
not a big believer in the paranormal.
To be honest I don’t even really give it much thought.
So I’m not saying that the paranormal or ghosts don’t exist,
it’s just not something I think about often.
I just want to be able to tell a good story and evoke some fearful
emotions in people if we execute the movie properly. A few words
about your movie's approach to horror (as in suspense vs sudden shocks,
atmosphere vs all-out gore and the like)? I’m
not a big blood and gore guy, there’s nothing wrong with it but it’s
just not the approach I want to take as a filmmaker.
I’m more about the story as I said earlier, and I think a good
story trumps blood and gore any day of the week.
The Terrible Two is not so much sudden shock scares as it is
going to be more uncomfortable scares and ‘did that just happen, or did
I just hear what I thought I heard?’ scares.
I want my films to be smart, hopefully, and again hope first and
foremost that I can tell a good story that keeps the audience engaged
throughout. What can you
tell us about your movie's look and feel? Creepy
and unsettling. The
subject matter, in the beginning of the film is heartbreaking touching on
the loss of a child and I hope that we can evoke some sorrowful emotions
in the audience. I want people
to feel sorry for the Poes… well until Rose goes a little nuts and
secrets are revealed about Albert that he didn’t even know happened.
Do talk about
your key cast, and why exactly these people? David
Reid plays Albert Poe and he did a good job of playing the dad who is
still mournful but is ready to move forward in life and stop looking back.
Cari Moskow played Rose and she did a phenomenal job with that
character. That role had such
a whirlwind of emotions and she was able to bring a great performance in
every scene of the film. David
had been on the project for months ahead of time, but Cari was a late add
and they both did a great job. What can
you tell us about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere? We
shot this movie in 9 and a half days - which is insane.
No one believed me when I said it could be done in 10 days but we
moved like a well-oiled machine. Of
course we had a few hiccups on set, every production does, but it was such
a pleasurable experience to be a part of.
Our lighting guys were amazing and had a scene lit most times
before we ever had the first shot set up and were done with rehearsals.
Despite long days we tried our hardest to keep the morale of the
cast and crew high on set, and I feel like we did a good job in
accomplishing that.
The
$64-question of course, when and where will The Terrible Two be
released onto the general public? That’s
a good question. As you know
about anyone with a camera and editing software can make a movie these
days so the market is over-saturated with films.
So what do you do to distinguish your movie?
I’m still trying to figure that out.
The film is about 90% edited and is looking really good.
I know we’ve made a good film and I’m weighing my options right
now. I’ve got some leads and
a plan. The last big movie I
did, The Jailhouse, played on the Chiller Network, had a limited
theatrical release and was sold around the world, but I’m hoping for
bigger and better things with this film because I feel we’ve made a
better movie. The distribution
for independent films is so tricky and there are a lot of shady
distribution companies out there that will take advantage of unknowing
filmmakers who pour their heart and soul into a film.
The Terrible Two will be out soon though, I don’t like
sitting on projects. I’ve
got a plan, just need to execute it, and don’t like talking about it until
all the pieces have come together. Any future projects
you'd like to share? I can’t talk about specifics but I’ve got a couple of things in the
works. I’m very blessed and
if the good Lord allows me to keep breathing and more importantly keep
finding financing for films then I’m gonna give 110% in every project
that I take on. What got you into filmmaking in the
first place, and did you receive any formal training on the subject?
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When
I was 20 I was really trying to figure out what I was going to do with my
life. Growing up it was all
about sports and trying to be cool, but I never grasped the concept of the
real world until I was thrown into it, haha.
Something just hit me around that time to pursue this profession.
I’ve never really known the path I was gonna take but I’ve put
a lot of trust in God to guide me and lead me and he’s put in my heart
to be a filmmaker. I’m not
the most talented filmmaker but I’ve developed a work ethic over the
years that is second to none. As
far as formal training I got my college degree in Broadcast Journalism and
then I worked in TV news for 5 years but the filmmaking side is something
I’ve learned on my own by reading books, watching tutorials, movies,
etc. I’m definitely self-taught and if I had to do it over again when I was younger I’d do things
differently but I’m very thankful for the path I’ve had and the path
I’m on. I’m a baby where I
want to be as a filmmaker and I have a long way to go. What
can you tell us about your filmwork prior to The Terrible Two? Like
I said earlier I did a big film called The Jailhouse that I wrote
and directed several years back. That
was a great learning experience for sure.
I did another smaller independent film before that, and a
documentary back in 2012 but since Jailhouse I’ve really been
focusing on building up my production company,
www.orangestfilms.com.
With that I’ve done hundreds of TV commercials, tons of music
videos, marketing videos, corporate videos, etc.
I’ve done more video work than I can even remember and have
acquired a lot of really great clients over the years that have allowed me
to pursue other avenues, namely The Terrible Two-movie. How
would you describe yourself as a director? How
do you describe a director? I
hope I’ve proven with my work over the years that I can tell a story so
with that I try and make actors, even non-actors on my commercial jobs, as
comfortable as possible before we ever roll camera.
When working with actors I give them a lot of freedom to bring more
to the character than was written on the page, to ad lib, to take chances,
etc. But I’m very protective
of the story and performance and if I don’t feel like what we are doing
is real or natural we don’t move on until we’ve done the best job I
feel we can possibly do. I’m
still learning but am very confident in my storytelling abilities.
Filmmakers
who inspire you? Ummmmm,
there’s not many directors that I dwell on a lot, I just enjoy a good
movie and story. I do like
Richard Linklater, Steven Soderbergh, M. Night Shyamalan, the Coen
Brothers, and of course Martin Scorcese. Your favourite movies? Love
Training Day. Just
watched the new Leo Dicaprio movie The Revenant.
Really liked that. It’s
hard to say I have any favorite movies.
Signs, The Sixth Sense, The Town, The Big
Short. Again I keep saying
it but I just like a good story. Also
forgot to mention that I was a big fan of the first Paranormal Activity. Didn’t see any
of the sequels but I thought the first movie was so simple yet brilliant. ...
and of course, films you really deplore?
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Films
I deplore are ones that get 20-30 million Dollar marketing budgets and you
know the movie is going to suck but because it’s backed by a big studio
it’s probably going to make money strictly because of the marketing
money put in it.
Your/your
movie's website, Facebook, whatever else?
www.theterribletwomovie.com
https://www.facebook.com/theterribletwomovie
https://twitter.com/TerribleTwoFilm
https://www.instagram.com/theterribletwomovie
www.orangestfilms.com
Anything else
you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? Thanks
for your time and I just ask for people to support independent film.
We have to find a better distribution path especially if these
independent films are well made. Keep
an eye out for The Terrible Two
because it’s gonna be an original,
unique film that I hope will make a splash in the film world and be an
entertaining movie for all to watch… well all except for my young
daughters, lol. Thanks
for the interview!
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