We have talked about this at quite some length before [click
here], but do bring us up to speed: Your new movie Poetic
- in a few words, what is it about?
Poetic is a character-driven psychological horror film. A couple is
kidnapped by "Cowboy", a mysterious and merciless renegade
killer who takes karma into his own hands. Now prisoners in their own
home, the couple is turned against one another and forced to relive their
dirty little secrets. To what extent do
you actually identify with the Cowboy, whose actions, however wrong, are
not entirely unfounded - and related to that, with which of the four main
characters (the Cowboy, his wife, her lover, the lover's wife) do you
identify the most?
I
can identify with Cowboy to a certain extent. I, like Cowboy, have been on
the receiving end of someone being unfaithful. And when it is someone who
you truly love, such as Cowboy’s wife, there is a pain that is
unexplainable. So I can see where Cowboy was coming from. Granted, I’m
not a psychopath so I would have just ended the relationship and not did
what he did, but to each their own. Cowboy has a very old school mentality
and that mindset played heavily into his actions. For relating to Cowboy,
you should talk to the actor who portrayed him, Ty Yaeger [Ty
Yaeger interview - click here]. There is a
unbelievable story there, but I’ll let him tell you about it as it’s
very personal.
As
for who I identified with, I’d have to say Riley. The reason I
identified with Riley was she made a mistake, she was unfaithful in her
relationship, but she has been bending over backwards to make things
right. I’m not perfect either and have made my fair share of mistakes,
but I always own up to what I have done wrong and tried to make it right.
That’s what Riley did and I appreciate that quality in her.
Much of the main action of Poetic
is confined to one single room - what are the advantages but also
challenges to pretty much reduce oneself to one location only, how do you
keep things interesting within the confines, and could you ever be
persuaded to do another one-location shoot?
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There
are definitely more challenges than advantages, that’s for sure. The
advantage we had was from a production stand point, we could pretty much
leave things as is while not shooting. We didn’t have a set to break
down at the end of the day. That is a strong plus when you’re shooting
twelve to fifteen hours a day. The disadvantage, like you mentioned, is
trying to find a way to keep it interesting. With Poetic, this really
wasn’t an issue because I felt that the story was so strong, and the
twists and turns we captured, strictly through dialogue and brief actions,
were enough to hold the audience’s attention. Judging by the response we
have received, I am lucky enough to be able to say I am right. But we
didn’t know for sure if the audience was going to respond the way we had
hoped. While Poetic
is far from being a gore movie, it does contain some scenes of graphic
violence. So what can you tell us about your gore effects, and how
important is gore for your movies in general? Honestly,
for me, gore is just an added tool. It’s something that you use when it
works for the story. Films that focus highly on gore are trying to over
compensate for the lack of script or story. With Poetic, I felt the story
was strong enough to carry itself on its own merits. I truly believed the
actors we had could and did bring the film to life the way I imagined it.
So the gore was used because it fit the scene. It was needed. We didn’t
need to add gore for the sake for adding it.
Ty Yaeger, Matthew Cichella |
Do talk
about the shoot a little, and any good on-set anecdotes? It’s
always interesting with a serious film like Poetic, because on screen
everything is so intense and dark and twisted, but behind the scenes the
cast and crew were always laughing and having a great time. I was blessed
to work with some truly amazing people. There are some great stories to be
told, but honestly, so many of them are inside jokes that I don’t think
they would hit the mark if I told them now. That and I really don’t want
to bust any actors out because I do love them all, but let’s just say
everyone loved to walk around set saying “hello darling” and leave it
at that. Poetic
has only very recently been released - so what can you tell us about
critical and audience reception of your film so far? We’ve
been very lucky so far. The reception has been great. The premiere, which
was last year in 2012, had a little over three hundred people there and we
had an amazing response from all of them. To date, I have only heard one
or two people who disliked the film, and that’s mainly because it is not
their taste in genre. Poetic
is a movie that makes you think and it’s in
a slow paced, character driven style. It’s not for everyone, and we knew
that going in to it, but for everyone who likes a good movie, with great
character development and the ability to make you think about what you
just watched several hours after the final credits have rolled, this is
the movie for you. Based
on the experiences you had on the movie, could you ever be persuaded to do
Poetic II - and any other future projects you'd like to share?
I
absolutely want to do a Poetic-sequel. I’ve actually got the story
already and it’s just a matter of writing out the script at this point.
I can’t say exactly what the story would be, as I don’t want to spoil
the original film for those who haven’t seen it, but some of the
characters from the original would be returning for the sequel. Some
probably not.
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The links below will take you just there!!!
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Currently
we, meaning Never Submit Entertainment (my company), are working on a
romantic comedy tentatively titled Begin Again. We’re still very
early in the casting stages with it, but please do LIKE us on Facebook for
more information as it becomes available.
http://www.Facebook.com/NeverSubmit
Your/your
movie's website, Facebook, whatever else?
The
big thing to mention here is that Poetic
is NOW
AVAILABLE! The DVD can be purchased on Amazon.com or directly through the
Poetic-store at
https://www.createspace.com/356656
Also, please LIKE the Facebook page
at http://www.Facebook.com/PoeticFilm
for more information. The film should be available On Demand soon as well
and we’ll be updating the Facebook page with that information when we
have it.
Anything else
you are dying to mention I've merely forgotten to ask? I
think we’ve pretty much covered everything here, but I do want to thank
you for the interview. And I also want to thank everyone who made Poetic
happen and who has purchased a DVD of the film. Without the support of our
families, friends and fans we could have never made this possible, so I am
very grateful to everyone involved. Thanks
for the interview!
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