Q: This short movie is part of the GOREGOYLES series. How did you get involved with that?
I first met Alexanre Michaud (www.helltimate.com) through the internet because of Kevin Lindenmuth, a film making friend, who sent me there because Alex wanted otehr film makers to get involved with the GoreGoyles project. I wrote a story that was adapted and used in one of the earlier GoreGoyles movies, The Walkers. Alex has been after me to make a film for him ever since, but I was never motivated enough until I met Michael O'Hara here in Spokane, who had written a horror anthology script that was really pretty good. The middle story THE ROAD really struck me, and immediately I wanted to make a movie of it. I bought the rights and the rest is history.
Q: What is THE ROAD about?
It's a different kind of zombie story, about a cursed section of back road that lures cars into accidents. Then the dead accident victims wander the road for eternity. A business woman on a greedy quest becomes trapped there and tries to escape.
Q: How does filmmaking in Washington differ from your California lensed productions?
Scheduling is tougher because the weather is inconsistent and you don't have cast and crew people dedicated to that craft. They all have to work regular jobs for a living. There just isn't enough production work for people to do it full time here. This was lensed on two consecutive weekends.
Q: How did you cast your actors and get your crew?
Actors are easy because of my involvement in local theater. I know them all as friends and have worked together many times on stage. Also, say he word "zombie" and everyone and their brother begs to be one in your movie. Of course getting them to show up was another matter, and I wound up with much less than I wanted. Crew was easy, too, having worked with Phil Sondericker, the director of photography, on TIKI for Fred Olen Ray. He runs a local production company, makes lots of TV commercials. He was willing to donate his time on this because he liked the project.
Q: The was the most challenging aspect of the production?
Scheduling I suppose. And fighting rain. It started to rain during our first day of the shoot, so I changed quickly and moved indoors into the garage. There we shot a long dialogue scene that takes place inside a parked car. It was supposed to be on a wooded road, so we used several aluminum Christmas trees outside the car windows for the background. It worked great. You have to think fast and be willing to adapt in this game.
Q: Are you going to do more GOREGOYLES segments?
I don't know if there will be future GoreGoyles movies. I would be willing to entertain the thought if asked, but no definite plans.