An Interview with Scott C. Sanford, Writer and Producer of The Last Revenants

by Mike Haberfelner

April 2015

Scott C. Sanford on (re)Search my Trash

Baylee Curran

Your upcoming movie The Last Revenants - in a few words, what is it about?

Four females are the last vampires on Earth - the species is dying out - they've survived by hunting together and integrating into society. They are presented with an opportunity to have their full powers restored if they submit to experiments by a mysterious scientist. As a group they must decide whether to live out their remaining days as mostly mortal creatures, or trust the scientist who claims to be able to restore them to their previous prowess.

With The Last Revenants being a vampire movie - is that a genre at all dear to you, and what do you think will make your film stick out of the crowd?

I grew up on the Hammer Christopher Lee/Peter Cushing Dracula-series, was a big fan of the Count Yorga films, so yes, it is a genre very dear to me. What will set this project apart from most vampire themed movies will be these things: Our protagonists will be female, they will be vulnerable like humans in that they don't possess the full arsenal of powers the traditional cinematic creature would typical have - and there's a certain pathos to their back stories as none of them chose this lifestyle. I've also taken great pains in trying to go more in depth into the process of how one is "turned" into a vampire versus simply being a victim. There will also be a slight twist on ways to destroy a vampire, without straying too far from the accepted movie/literature lore.

(Other) sources of inspiration when writing The Last Revenants?

I simply wanted to make a relationship drama about lifelong female friends, with one major element that's different than most relationship movies; they happen to be vampires - they'll face some of the same life challenges in my story that four characters who all happened to be teachers, cops or social workers might deal with (love, whether to have kids, friendship, sexual orientation, trust, companionship, etc etc).

The Last Revenants will be directed by legendary genre director Jim Wynorski [Jim Wynorski interview - click here] - so what made him perfect for the job?

Jim will make sure all of the elements will be present that fans of the genre (and our distributor) will demand - action, eroticism, black humor. Jim has such a storied history working effectively on low budgets and with predominantly female casts, AND delivering entertaining finished projects, that I feel he's the perfect director for this project. I got to know Jim during development of Axe to Grind, as he took the time to read my completeled script, offer insights and tips about production and distribution, and supported me after the film was released. Jim and I have similar sensibilities and I think our senses of humor are in the same vicinity as well. I really want to work with him and I hope it all comes together.

You are currently running a fun fundraiser that's also a worldwide campaign to find the last of the four lead actresses of your movie - so do talk about the campaign for a bit? And what qualities are you looking for in your star-to-be?

I'm hoping that people will see with this campaign-movies can be personally effected by fans of the low budget horror scene. It's not every day a fan can litetally be this integral in the casting of a movie.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/last-revenants-star-search

Paula Labaredas

What can you tell us about your other three revenants, and why exactly these girls?

Paula Labaredas [Paula Labaredas interview - click here] was so pitch perfect in Axe to Grind that I immediately wanted to work with her again. She was actually in Jim Wynorski's Camel Spiders several years ago and what some in the industry aren't aware of is that this amazingly beautiful woman (I think she's on par with a young Ann Margret) has studied very hard to improve her acting skills with many hours of formal training since she worked with Jim last.

Dani Thompson [Dani Thompson interview - click here] has no fear as a performer. Her role in The Last Revenants will push the limits of eroticism and blood~letting, and I can confidently say she'll tackle this challenge head on.

Baylee Curran caught Jim and my attention with a recent series of vampire related modeling shoots. She has the ability of being that shy, depressed introverted teen, and the next time you see her she's a sexy siren. We needed an actress that can convey both qualities to capture the character arc of her part.

You've also already a pretty great location in mind for the movie, right? So you have to talk about it for a bit, and what do you reckon will be the advantages but maybe also challenges of filming there?

Ideally we'd like to book at Sable Ranch north of LA, as it is the one area we can shoot interiors and exteriors on the same day without much movement of crew and equipment required. 

So what's the schedule, when are you going to shoot ... and any idea when and where the movie will be released onto the general public yet (even if it's probably waaay too early to ask that)?

Until all the money is in the LLC I can't give a firm schedule, but we have carved out the first two weeks in November to shoot. We made the mistake of shooting in May on Axe to Grind and suffered through one of LA's most historic heatwaves.

Any future projects beyond The Last Revenants?

I've optioned several non horror scripts and am in hopes of seeing those get produced by other companies; Circle Content optioned my comedy drama Periphery which has Rebecca DeMornay, Stacy Keach, Robyn Lively and Shirley Knight all signed and ready to go. Joseph Ferrante and Choice Skinner are developing The Last Saint of Market Street, a script I describe as a west coast Taxi Driver I optioned to Joe who is an extremely talented young actor/producer. My company Seraph Productions is considering developing a sequel to Axe to Grind if I can think of a fresh way to continue that story. Several of the reviews I've read have mentioned this story should be expanded into a franchise. I think Debbie Rochon [Debbie Rochon interview - click here] delivers a tour de force performance and I'd love to work with her again, but I've always been an outspoken opponent of sequels/remakes and that's another reason why Seraph wanted to bring as many people from Axe to Grind onto The Last Revenants and do something fresh, not just churn out a sequel.

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!!!

Find Scott C. Sanford at the amazons ...   amazon.com   amazon.co.uk   amazon.de Looking for imports? Find Scott C. Sanford here ...   eThaiCD.com Your shop for all things Thai Something naughty? (Must be over 18 to go there!)   find Scott C. Sanford at adultvideouniverse.com

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/last-revenants-star-search

We are developing the movie website for The Last Revenants. The project can be found on IMDb.

Anything else you are dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask?

Thanks for the opportunity to discuss Seraph Productions' next project. I have a very hard working development team of Matthew Gulbranson [Matthew James Gulbranson interview - click here], Sheri Davis, Tisha Palmer and myself trying our best to put another fun project into the horror movie marketplace.

Thanks for the interview!

© by Mike Haberfelner

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