Your new movie Tinsel
- in a few words, what is it about?
A young girl's nightmare becomes reality on Christmas Eve. With Tinsel
being a "Christmas movie" (however violent) - does it carry any
of your personal feelings towards the holidays (which might be a stupid
question)? Not at all, I love the holidays. But I would
have to say Halloween is my favorite Holiday. Besides being a "Christmas movie", Tinsel
is of course also a slasher - a genre at all dear to you? It
is. I love horror films. I wanna be able to do something new and different
with this genre. And I strongly believe I did that with Tinsel.
What
were your inspirations when writing Tinsel?
And with the movie's "urban legends"-undercurrents - is it based
on any actual urban legend? This is the first time I have
heard it be referred to a “Urban Legend”. Which is really cool, when I
started on Tinsel. I had just graduated and moved
out, and I wanted to
prove to my parents if you have a dream you can go for it. No matter what
life has thrown at you. So I sat down at the table and the lady I took
care of started to tell me about her nightmares she had when she was
younger, and I took it and ran with it. And now we have Tinsel. What can you tell us about
the writing process as such, and your collaboration with co-writer (and
star) Kensley Grant?
Meeting Kensley was definitely a
blessing. I actually didn’t meet him until late December, when the
original Matt dropped out of the film. And Hollee McMurray (Hayden) told
Kensley about the part and he contacted me. His interest in my film was
crazy. And I was really too busy to do a casting audition with
him. So I kept postponing it, until one day he texted me and I just went
ahead and cast him. Then he wrote me about helping out filling in some
gaps in the script. And we went back and forth until we felt it was
perfect. It was a really cool experience, with this being my first project
and film. I was blessed to have such a wonderful cast and crew. How would you describe your
directorial approach to your story at hand? I wanted to go
dark, and creepy. The script and the actual movie itself are quite
different. I also wanted to make sure I built up the suspense, and caught
all feelings we needed for the film. Because the movie had everything in
it, drama, horror, comedy, thrills, etc. So I had to make sure I could
capture all that.
Since I
happen to know there are quite a few gorehounds among my readers: What can
you tell us about Tinsel's
gore effects, and was there ever a line you refused to cross (for other
than budgetary reasons)? Not at all, I wanted to go big!
Even some of the deaths changed when we got closer to filming their kill
scenes. The bottle scene was the first kill scene I wanted to do. But I
just wanted to do the craziest kill scenes we could have done with the
budget we were working with. My F/X team sometimes questioned
some of the kills but they ended up giving in.
Please do talk about your cast
for a bit, and why exactly these people? I cast my own
film, again I had no clue what I was doing. But we had about 100 people
audition for the film. And everyone I cast just brought who they
auditioned for to life. For the majority of the cast this was all their
first horror film. And for some their first film in general. But majority
of them have been in the series Dallas as well as other projects
filmed in the DFW Area. Again I do not think I could have cast this film
better, everyone in my eyes did great. What can you
tell us about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere? The
shoot itself was fun, everyone on set bonded. By the time we wrapped we
were a family. When I called “That’s A Wrap” it was a bitter-sweet
feeling. What
can you tell us about critical and audience reception of your movie so
far, and when and where will the film be released onto the general public?
The
reception was crazy. Everyone seemed to love it. We got accepted into some
film fests, we got nominated for several awards, we won for Best Special
F/X. The film should be out in March. So be on the
lookout for it. Is
it true that you are presently working on a prequel to Tinsel
- if so, what can you tell us about that project yet? Yes, Tinsel
Part II: The Beginning is in the works. We are slated to shoot in
April and the film should be out sometime this Summer. It will be about
how it all started, where the nightmares came from and all that. The film
will have some twists and turns. But I think everyone is in for a treat. Any
other future projects you'd like to talk about?
I still have my two feature films I am trying to film, but budget
reasons are causing a delay.
Man on the Roof is a horror thriller.
Crazy&Beautiful is a
modernization of Romeo & Juliet meets
Step Up.
Let's go
back to the beginnings of your career: What got you into filmmaking in the
first place, and did you receive any formal training on the subject? Being
a director has always been a dream of mine. I received no training, I had
no idea what I was doing when I filmed Tinsel, it was all a learning
experience for me. But I think it turned out great. I just wanted to prove
if you have a dream you can go for it. Just believe in yourself and aim
for the stars. What
can you tell us about your filmwork prior to Tinsel?
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I had no film experience, I was in a short film Try To Survive -
I
played the role of Robert.
But other than that, I had no experience behind the scenes.
Filmmakers
who inspire you? Rob Zombie & Quentin Tarantino. Your favourite movies?
Horror
films - I love them all. Remakes to sequels to prequels, I love them. I
always tend to like the sequels more though. Lol. I also love the Step Up-series. ...
and of course, films you really deplore? I wouldn’t say I
hate films - there are some that I wish could have been better. But I enjoy
films for what they are, because they are a pain in the ass to make. So I
think when you start doing films yourself you have more respect for films.
So anyone making films I respect. Your/your
movie's website, Facebook, whatever else?
www.facebook.com/tinselshortfilm
www.facebook.com/tinselpartII
Anything else
you are dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? No.
Thank you for the opportunity. Thanks
for the interview!
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