Your upcoming film Josie - in a few words, what will it be
about?
Young Josie loses her innocence to mental and physical abuse. She
gets swept away to a psych ward where the abuse gets worse than anyone
could imagine. Years later she breaks out of the psych ward and heads out
with nothing but revenge on her mind. Who lives and dies only Josie will
decide! How did the project come into being in the first
place, and what were the initial inspirations? Well, I sat
down and started to write the screenplay. I thought of Halloween and
I Spit
on Your Grave, and I also had a dream that was so real I wrote most of the
story down. While writing I became friends with Victor Miller who everyone
will know for writing and creating Friday the
13th. He looked it over and
gave me some advise. Then I became friends with the late great David Hess.
He read it and began to put in some ideas for the character he was supposed
to play. Then he started to tell me a few ideas for the story to help it.
From there I finished it off and started trying to gain some interest in
it. Your
scriptwriter Alex Vincent - why did you choose him, and what was your
collaboration like? I
chose Alex to come in and do a complete re-write because he let me read a
screenplay he had just finished and I loved it. Having been Andy in
Child's Play helped seal the deal. So he took my original story idea,
expanded it and gave me this brilliant screenplay. As far as the
collaboration, he is great to work with and makes sure to keep you up to
speed on things through the whole process. Any filmmaker needing a
re-write to help their script should use him for the work. Josie was originally to
involve late cult actor David Hess, who is still somehow involved in the
film, right? So what can you tell us about his (actual vs intended)
involvement? David was originally going to play the
psychiatrist - and play a character that isn't crazed and not the norm for
him. Now however, his son Jesse will be the psychiatrist and the character
is a bit different. David will still be a part of this because some of his
story ideas are still in it and the whole film is going to be dedicated to
him. I am also gonna ask David's fans to submit me videos telling of times
with David and why they loved him as an actor. Each of these videos I plan
to put in the special features of the DVD and will title the section
Remembering David Hess. What can you tell us about your projected
principal cast? Well, I have letters of intent from several
celebrities to play some of the key roles. They'll be playing characters people
aren't used to seeing them as. When it comes to all my indie actors, they
are stellar at what they do and I believe the mix of the two will be very
exhilarating to watch on screen. Josie is set to have quite a
stellar guest cast. So what can you tell us about your intended guest
stars, and MORE IMPORTANTLY, how will they contribute to your film's plot? If
I get the funding for the project these stars will be playing a major
role. My good friend Diamond Dallas Page I have set to play the Sheriff.
Then I have Felissa Rose ready to be Josie's mom. I have Marilyn Burns and
Camille Keaton ready to be a couple of the female roles as well but I
don't want to give way too much with them. Then I also have John Dugan
along with several other celebrities set with parts that help show the
small details of Josie's past and present. If you want to see all the
celebs names visit the site - it's a long list. How
do you plan to tackle your subject matter on a directorial level? I
am going to go in this to make a film that is so realistic it'll make you
believe you are just sitting watching your friend or friend's kid's life
unravel. I want all of it to leave a lasting impression. As
far as I know, Josie is still in its fundraising stages. So what
can you tell us about your fundraising efforts, and why, in your opinion,
should people invest in your movie? Right now I do have an
indieGoGo-project up - http://www.indiegogo.com/JosietheMovie. I also am looking for investors.
In regards to why someone should invest in the movie, there are several
reasons. First off, in memory of David this project needs to be made.
Secondly, I have a proven track record, every movie I have made has
distribution and even though it is small deals I made the films for almost
nothing and getting a deal at all is an accomplishment. The third reason
would be I have proven over my short career in this business I know how to
get myself and my movies out there. The fourth reason would be because I
already have interest from a couple distributors and I will work myself to
death to ensure the world sees it. Lastly, with the small budgets I have
had I have been able to not only get distribution but also get accepted to
big festivals like the Va film festival. With that in mind think what I
could do if I had enough money to do what I really want, and that is make
an epic cult film! Via fundraising, you
try to raise the (at least for an indie movie) rather high amount of
$250,000 ... so how do you plan to spend all that money? That
amount is what I am hoping to raise on
indieGoGo so I can go to investors
with half the budget covered. The budget is going to actually be 500,000
dollars. With that I am going to shoot the film on the best camera I can.
I am also going to hire a great cinematographer and editor. I am also
going to have a great FX crew. Some of the funds will go to pay for the
musical score. Also, funds will be used to pay for food lodging and travel
for all the actors and actresses. Then part of the funds will be used to
pay to make the project SAG-Aftra. And finally the rest will be used to pay
all of the talent that will require pay. If
you can raise enough funds to make your movie, how will you proceed - as
in, for when is the shoot scheduled, any idea yet when the film will be
premiered, when it will be released onto a wide audience, and so on and so
forth?
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If I get the funds in time I plan to shoot sometime
between May and September of 2013. As far as a premiere that will be set
once shooting is done. Next as far as when it'll be released I don't know
but like I said I do have a few major distributors interested in the
project. Any future projects beyond Josie?
Actually,
yes there is, I have a few projects that people have contacted me and asked
me to work on. The very next project however will be a film my good
friend Eric Morse (who wrote the Camp Crystal Lake-novels in the 90's)
wrote. It is titled Bloody Jane! I am also right now working on promoting
a couple projects I have acted in. These include Young Blood: Evil
Intentions, Deadlines, Slice, and Reunion 108. Finally I am a host on a
blogtalk radio show, and next year we change the Eric Morse Project to
The
Wolf Pack. Your/your
movie's website, indieGoGo, Facebook, whatever else?
The indieGoGo for Josie is http://www.indiegogo.com/JosietheMovie
The film's website is http://www.josiethemovie.net/
My personal website is http://youngproductions36.wix.com/derek-young
The films Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/JosieMovie?ref=tn_tnmn
My Facebook fan page is https://www.facebook.com/pages/Derek-Young/256232414437281?ref=hl
My personal FB page in case you want invest is https://www.facebook.com/horrornva
Anything
else you are dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? Deadlines which
I am in - I reprise my character from The Vampires of Zanzibar, Marcus.
Deadlines stars Camille Keaton (I Spit
on Your Grave), and Matthew Ewald
from Galidor. Also if you want to see any of my work just visit my
personal site. Thank you for interviewing me and I hope to see you all in
the movies! Thanks
for the interview!
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