Your upcoming film Normal - in a few words what is it about?
Normal
is an extremely dark and troubling look into the mind of a
serial killer. But it's not a film like Psycho or Silence of
the Lambs, or even something along the lines of Maniac. The
film follows a young man, who has already murdered nine people, during a
six day "cooling off period" between kills, and explores his
relationships between his victims, past and present.
It really is unlike any screenplay I've ever read. It's profoundly
disturbing and tragic, but not in any way I've seen a movie of this
nature done before.
To
stick with the movie's title for a moment: What does the word "normal"
mean to you? Normal is completely subjective. What's
normal to you might be completely bizarre or obscene to someone else. In
the cast of the movie the question is, if you're born with being a
murderer in your DNA, meaning that you weren't turned into one by
something along the lines of child abuse or whatnot, then are you still
"normal"? How did the project come into being to begin with?
The idea hit me one night to make a film about a serial killer unlike
any I had seen before. I was having a chat with my friend playwright
Lenny Schwartz and told him a few of my rough ideas... and became quite
excited by the project.
Michael Reed |
On top of that, it's the perfect starring vehicle for Michael Reed -- a
very talented actor who's appeared in five of my previous features.
Michael has a real gift for humanizing even the most repulsive
characters, so I thought nobody can really play this role the way it
demands to be played more than him.
Normal
is written by playwright Lenny Schwartz - what can you tell us about him,
his writing, how did you first meet, and what is your collaboration like?
I met Lenny on Facebook by chance. He's another Rhode Islander like
myself, and a very successful playwright in the area. I asked him to
write the screenplay for my last film, Murder University, and we
had a great time with that. It was one of the most pleasant, exciting
collaborations I've ever had so I really wanted to have the chance to
work with him again.
One thing I will say about Lenny is he's a workaholic. I've never seen
a writer produce so much quality material in such a short span of time.
He's so passionate you get the feeling he never sleeps ... ever!
But here's that question of what "normal" is again... because
under that sweet, unassuming family man image he writes extremely dark,
savage and profane material. So, is Lenny normal? The verdict is still
out.
Normal
is still pretty much in the fundraising stages. What can you tell us about
your fundraising efforts? We started an IndieGoGo page,
which is currently doing OK. We're going to have multiple screenings of
our last film Murder University
to help raise the cash, along with
many other events and whatnot. I'm hellbent to get the budget for this
film, because - especially in this time of endless sequels, remakes,
found-footage films - people are craving something original. How do you plan to approach Normal
from a director's point of view?
Sarah Nicklin |
Being a visual medium,
that's always a hard thing to express in words but for Normal I plan on
using a very restrained, almost Hitchcockian visual style.
The director of photography on this project is Ken Willinger, who
photographed our movie Exhumed, and he did a brilliant job on it.
I'm sure he'll bring something exciting and unique to the visual style of
the film. Anything you can tell
us about your cast yet?
Right now, three of our leads are Michael Reed, Sarah Nicklin [Sarah
Nicklin interview - click here] and Nat Sylva.
Michael and Sarah have appeared in countless of my films up until Murder University, when
they moved to Los Angeles, but I'm overjoyed that
they will be returning for Normal.
Nat Sylva |
Nat Sylva is a new actor I've just started working with, and he's a joy.
He gives a showstopping performance in Murder University
and I'm
really looking forward to working with him again on this project.
I will be announcing the rest of the cast after we finishing our
auditions on September 11th.
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Once you have succeeded raising
your funds, how do you plan to proceed - and any idea when it will be
released onto the general public (though I realize this is probably waaay
too early to ask)? Shooting is to begin on Normal on
December 1st, 2012, and we'll be shooting for 15 days straight. After that,
we'll be in post-production all winter, and hopefully premiere the film in
early spring of 2013. Any future projects beyond Normal? A
few, but they're all in the early stages of development... so I'd rather
keep them a mystery for now! Your/your
film's website, Facebook, indiegogo, whatever else?
IndieGoGo: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/199097?a=282949
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NORMALTHEMOVIE
Anything
else you are dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? Well,
just that I hope everyone who reads this article could find it in their
hearts to kick in a buck or two to our IndieGoGo fundraiser. This
movie means so much to all involved, and we're dying to see it get off the
ground! And thank you in advance! Thanks
for the interview!
Thank you!
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