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The film made its world premiere at SXSW ’06. What were some of the biggest challenges you faced in either developing the project or making and securing distribution for the movie? Apparently, Robert read the script right away and we were negotiating to get him up to Portland within days! We also got Kane Hodder to do a cameo appearance. I brought on an executive producer who had the street cred/cache to get the script to Robert agent at a tangible/high level so that it would be taken seriously. She was extremely gracious to read the script and when she agreed to cameo as the librarian, we went back and beefed up her part. I also thought it would be fun to give horror fans a treat by including some of the most celebrated actors from the genre. As soon as I saw Nathan Baesel‘s audition, I knew he was the one to play the role of Leslie. He and I optioned David’s screenplay, and I worked closely with David on developing the script.įrom there it all came together.
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All-in-all, Andrew and I were thrilled that we’d finally found something out of the ordinary that we could make together. If done intelligently, rather than haphazardly, I thought the screenplay had the potential to be something more than just a good concept with a punch line. Though I loved the script, I thought it lacked a “true horror sophistication.” I saw his script as a wonderful foundation on which to infuse true conventions and archetypes, images and homages of the horror–specifically, psycho-slasher, genre. I loved, more than anything, the premise–that Leslie was a guy’s guy who just happened to be in an extremely unusual profession, in a world where Chucky and Freddy Krueger actually existed! I really got a kick out of reading David’s script. It was a unique, laugh-out-loud mockumentary about a guy named Leslie Vernicai, who was going to be the next ‘Michael Jordan’ of the psycho-slashers. The screenplay had been a finalist in Slamdance’s Best Screenplay Competition. Stieve‘s “Behind the Mask: The Rise Of Leslie Vernon” script first came to me from Andrew Lewis, a good buddy from my CAA days. How did the initial idea for “Behind the Mask” come from? When I reached my saturation point, I walked the plank off the epicenter of Hollywood (read: quit) and ventured off on my writing/producing/directing career (read: lots of rearranging books on my shelves, keeping the sink void of dishes in my house, etc…) Seriously, it was tantamount to getting paid for grad school. I observed and absorbed as much as I could about the business –read as many scripts and contracts as I could.
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So, I worked at a large talent/literary agency ( Creative Artists Agency) as a glorified secretary. Moving out to Los Angeles, I thought the best way to firmly plant my feet on the ground was to confer upon myself a business degree in entertainment.
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I’d say that storm, though, inspired me to first pick up a camera. We later graduated to Beastie Boys and Bon Jovi music videos. I had the video camera and we started making mini G.I.Joe movies. Joes with flash floods (buckets of water) and “earth”. I loved it! Then I got home and my brother simulated the storm by ruining all my G.I. I went out with my dad’s new home video camera and I “reported” from the scene, interviewing neighbors and the PEPCO guy. The storm left trees down, power outages, stunned birds, no school lots of structural damage. We had a terrible thunderstorm come through when I was in Jr. What were the circumstances that lead you to become a filmmaker?