The Open Door

1. Where did you get the idea/inspiration for the movie The Open Door?

I have two partners on the film, Doc Duhame and Greg Hobson, and we had been working on various ideas for producing a first feature film together, the main project being centered on the concept of a women alone in a isolated place being tormented by supernatural forces. We had a first draft of that concept and were in re-writes when Doc mentioned he had been listening to a radio show that was all about the unexplained phenomena out there in the universe. We had been stuck in that first draft and it kept getting bigger and bigger budget wise, so when Doc pitched us on switching to a story still focused on a girl alone in a house, but with the radio element, Greg and I just thought, "great that's it, let's do it".

2. What was it like working with younger actors?

It was absolutely one of the best parts of the entire experience. Since I'm an actor myself I naturally jumped in and became the casting director, which I had experience with from my theater days. We really didn't do anything out of the ordinary regarding the process...we did the breakdown and had pretty large initial auditions that then went to a callback. But we did have second callbacks for almost ever character...there were so many good actors to choose from. We were up front with everybody about this film being a pretty physical project, not only the storyline and stunts, but being shot mostly at night it was going to be a very difficult shoot. Short answer is, our cast was amazing, a wonderful energy, humor and work ethic the entire time...many of the cast went on to become good friends. Just like life, films are about relationships, and the team of people we were blessed to work with on this project was the gold! I know we will all be working together on other projects throughout our careers.


3. Where did the idea for the radio show come from?

As I mentioned before we had been working on another concept that kept getting bigger budget wise, and when Doc mention the radio show and using that as the access to the supernatural world, Greg and I just thought it was a great idea. Now the woman alone in our earlier concept became a high school student home alone the night of the big party. It helped us to keep it small enough to execute with a limited budget as well as concentrate on character development. We love the fact that one of our actors (Danny Booko) won a Best Supporting Actor award at the 2009 Horror UK Film Festival.

4. Tell us about the special effects of the movie, especially the burn scene.

Everybody loves the burn, especially us. Well, since Doc is a stuntman we knew we would be able to ask some big favors regarding the action in the film. Doc is very experienced in all aspects of stunts and burns are just part of a stuntmans resume. But the burn is special for a couple reasons; first off it's one of the biggest types of burns you'll see in any film, head to toe flames with the stuntmans face exposed. This is accomplished with a special gel and all the other elements needed to safely pull off a burn. Second, Doc's son Zack was the stuntman who did the burn (his first) and has since just continued his raise up the ranks in the stunt community. We tried to do as much practical action as we could, stunt doubles in the fight scenes with actors doing as much as was safe. In the sequences where actors were suspended in mid-air it was rigging and harnesses. We went over budget in post because we liked what we had so much we decided to sweeten the action where we could with VFX. I think the combination worked out well...that and the sound design to really make you feel some of the scares.

5. Tell us about your shooting schedule? How many days?

It was a 21 day schedule that went over with special shoot days of just stunts, or effects. The van shots were just a minimum crew with maybe an actor once or twice. We had lots of pieces we just had to pick up as we went along to fill all our spots, but I don't think any actor worked more than 20 days on the show.



6. What were some of the challenges you faced making this film?

Shooting at night was the single biggest challenge...I would advise anyone to seriously try to avoid a schedule of extended night shoots if at all possible. If you have to you have to, but it takes a toll and at one point you would probably save money by rigging for night in your interiors. The other obvious challenge faced by all indie filmmakers is limited resources. I wish we had more of everything...money, time, equipment etc. But after eight film festivals and having won six awards I feel we gave a good accounting for ourselves.

7. What did you learn this time that you can apply to your next film?

A huge list of things learned, but I would start by saying you simply can't plan too much. Everything that can go wrong does...as well as stuff that shouldn't. You need to be flexible, creative and realistic. If you put the right group of people together you should be ok, but even at that you better plan every detail you can possibly think of...and have plan B,C,D...ready to go just in case. The biggest and one of the toughest things to do in filmmaking is simply to finish...really complete the film. Post production is fully a third of your film...be ready for something that is every bit as hard as shooting a show!

8. How did it feel to be part of the first annual Big Bear Horror Film Festival?

It was great fun and an honor to be a part of something new...especially in such a beautiful and historic place as Big Bear. Great film history in Big Bear, and a wonderful place to go for any reason. The people were terrific and the facility was beautiful. I hope to have more projects in future festivals there.

9. So you won the award for Outstanding Special Effects Make up….how did that make you feel?

It was wonderful. Especially since, in our case, we had a couple of very talented but new make-up artist's working our show. In fact it was their first pro gig. Genna Garner and Erika Godfrey were fresh out of the Westmore academy when we found them. They were so young that when we first met them for the interview we really didn't hold out much hope. They're both a couple of very cute young girls who just didn't look the part. So we'd ask them things we thought would throw them like, how do you make real looking brains? And they would look at each other for a moment and then ask us detailed brain questions like...freshly killed or decomposing? We knew we had the right girls then. Their work on Danny Booko in the burn aftermath sequence was just awesome.

10. What is your next project?

Since THE OPEN DOOR I produced an action comedy short film called THE ACTION HERO'S GUIDE TO SAVING LIVES which stars Patrick Warburton (Seinfeld, The Tick, Rules of Engagement) and we won BEST COMEDY at 2009 DRAGON CON FILM FESTIVAL. The response has been so positive to the short film that we want to make a feature film version. I have a number of other projects waiting in the wings, but it's just a matter of what would be the best project to do now. You have to look at a lot of factors before you pull the trigger on something...marketplace...resources...talent. The good news is I will certainly be shooting something later this year...and that's the trick, you have to keep making films. So onward and upward I go...hopefully I'll be seeing you guys soon at the next Big Bear Horror Film Festival...if only as a fan!