Your upcoming movie The Sacrifice - in a few words, what's it
going to be about?
The Sacrifice is the story of an Indian-American family that
welcomes two little kids from India to their home. They are related, and
have come to visit for a few weeks. Soon, death starts following them
around. Clearly there is someone or something that wants to kill them,
putting the whole family at risk. So mom and dad will have to untangle the
mystery, before the mystery tangles them to death. With your movie featuring a demon
from India - is this part based on actual Indian mythology, and how much
research went into this? I did quite a bit of research,
and the most difficult part was to make up my mind on what demon to use.
India has a magnificent variety of myths, demons and ghouls. I ended up
going for what is known as a Churel. It's sort of a female
vampire/cannibal beast. Very rich in details as to what it does, how it
looks, and how to get rid of it. It's very refreshing when you feel you
are exploring new territories never touched before by Hollywood. What were your (other) sources
of inspiration when writing The Sacrifice? Beyond
demons, I also paid attention to the Indian culture in general. In
particular, I care for the Indian immigrant population, which happens to
be concentrated in Chicago. I am still finishing up the script. Once I'm
done with this first draft, I will submit it to Indian friends and
partners for feedback. I believe a good horror movie should be far more
than killing rampage and screaming women. I want these characters to be
believable. What
can you tell us about your movie's intended look and feel, and how will
you approach the horror aspects of The Sacrifice
(as in suspense vs
sudden shocks, atmosphere vs all-out gore etc)? It is a
horror movie, and it will have a good dose of shocks and scares. But, like
I said before, I'm also very interested in the characters. It's not just a
movie about "something that lurks in the dark", but also a story
of a family that lives in a house which happens to be threatened by
"something that lurks in the dark". In my idea of a horror
movie, I want to know the good guys, I want to care for them, so I feel
terrible when they die. Otherwise, it's a snooze-fest. So yes, there will
be suspense, there will be violence, and also gore. But before, and in
between splatter and splatter, you will get to know this family pretty
well. Anything
you can tell us about your intended cast and crew yet? It's
very early in the game, and I haven't yet started the casting process. Of
course, as I write, I do have a couple of faces in mind while I write
lines. But at this point, I'd rather not make these wishes public. Like
always, I tend to work with actors I have worked with before. It's a
matter of trust and reliability, which is equally important as talent. You
are currently running a fundraiser for The Sacrifice, right? So
what can you tell us about your fundraising efforts? Yes,
money... always needed... I have broken down my fund-raising efforts in
different stages, and multiple possible sources. For now, I have started
an IndieGoGo campaign specifically to get pre-production funds. Later in
the game, I'm planning on different ways to get money for production and
finally post-production. The link is:
http://igg.me/at/thesacrifice/x/13053 Once
your funds are raised, what's the schedule? Actually,
and I know this sounds crazy, the schedule is to start shooting in winter
2015, whether or not I succeed in getting the funds. Having funds or not
makes the difference for many things, especially for getting a better look,
better sound, good stunts, etc. But this movie starts shooting winter
2015. The question is who's on board or who isn't. What's the saying:
"If you build it, they will come"? As far as I
know, you plan to release The Sacrifice
outside of traditional
distribution channels - care to elaborate? My pleasure,
and thank you for asking that one. As my IndieGoGo pitch states, we low
budget indie filmmakers are robbed on a daily basis. Robbed by
distributors, sales agents, cable companies, you name it. Those of us who
grew up watching TV and were lucky enough to be around when the original
Night Stalker movie came up in the seventies and broke records of
audiences, were used to seeing great movies for free. Nobody questioned
the quality of these wonderful movies that we could see FOR FREE in the
comfort of our homes. Later, in the 80's, home-video arrived, and also
cable TV. Slowly, the industry and also the audiences, got used to charge
and pay for what used to be free. Things are changing again, and we can
run our own TV channels via YouTube, Vimeo, etc, etc. Let me give you a
few numbers that will illustrate my point: An low budget indie movie sells
an average of 20 to 30 thousand DVDs. That's it. That's actually
successful. Most of the money (often all the money) these DVDs make end up
in the hands of the distribution chain, and next to nothing (or nothing)
goes to the producers. Been there, done it. I have 2 movies with Warner
Bros, one with Lions
Gate, blah blah. All of that for little or no money
and 30,000 sales. My movie Lockout on YouTube has almost 7 millions views. That's
quite a gap; isn't it? So, if no serious money is involved, why would I
trade 30,000 copies for 7 millions views? I could go on and on about this,
but I guess you wouldn't have space. Any future
projects beyond The Sacrifice? Nope; not yet. One
sacrifice at a time... Your/your movie's
website, Facebook, IndieGoGo, whatever else?
|
Feeling lucky? Want to search any of my partnershops yourself for more, better results? (commissions earned) |
The links below will take you just there!!!
|
|
|
IndieGoGo: http://igg.me/at/thesacrifice/x/13053
Movie's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheSacrificeFilm?ref_type=bookmark
My own Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ricardo.islas.961
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/newalphastudios
Anything
else you are dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? I'm
very excited about this new project. It's different, original, and I can't
wait to start shooting! Thanks
for the interview!
|