Whats happening friends? Sorry I've been such a slacker on here, work has been crazy busy!! ANYWAYS....
Recently I did this Q&A session with film maker AD Lane, the man behind INVASION OF THE NOT QUITE DEAD. As you all know, I'm a big zombie movie fan. I came across AD doing some research, and was really intrigued by him and his project, that I've not only followed his progress with his movie, but I regularly donate to his film, which will be 100% fan funded! I hope you enjoy the interview and consider contributing to the film like I have. I can't wait to see the completed INVASION OF THE NOT QUITE DEAD!. He's a great guy and an inspiration to get off your ass and make shit happen!
Enjoy!
Q-Have you always been a fan of the zombie movie genre? Do you preferthe Fast or slow Romero-esque zombies?
AD- I remember my first horror film that I saw when I was a kid, was 'NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD', so you could say that the zombie genre was my first love & then I met 'DAWN OF THE DEAD' a few years later, so the zombie genre has always had a special place in my life, especially the early ROMERO movies... & to answer your question, SLOW ZOMBIES all the way, to me FAST ZOMBIES & very shaky camera work is an easy way to scare viewers, with slow moving zombies, you as a filmmaker, must build up the suspense more & the payoff to me is a lot more powerful...
Q- How long have you been working on this project?
AD- I came up with the first draft of the script in 2006 in my final year of film school at the INTERNATIONAL FILM SCHOOL OF WALES... the project to try & raise money and awareness began on Jan 1st 2007...
Q- This is going to be a 100% fan funded film. Was that the original plan? Did you try and shop it around to other producers?
AD- The truth is, being at film school I was very fortunate to have a couple of great mentors, Justin Kerrigan (Human Traffic) & Ken Russell (The Devils) they both did 2 hour seminars warning us about the industry & how you will have to sell your soul & your movie to get it made & seen, you loose all control the moment you sign any contract for the money to make it, and in some cases you don't even get to stay on the project, with Justin & his 'HUMAN TRAFFIC' he had just finished university & got totally screwed over by his mentor & producer, so much so that none of the cast & crew received a penny for their work, including Justin (the writer/director), the movie was a huge hit & made millions, the only person to see any money was the producer, who continues to make a lot of money off that film... With Ken Russell, his advise was different, he told me that he was just a director for hire, so he got his pay check & then he had nothing to do with the movies he made & in many cases the movies he made wasn't his, it was 10-20 suits that made the choices on what would bring the films the most money in... So it was their horror stories that made me want to go down the FAN FUNDING route, the only problem was, in 2006/2007, no one had successfully done it, but out of fear of losing my dream project, I made it a life's mission to do it my way & keep complete control of my vision... & you only need to look at the FUNDING BODIES guidelines for it to be very off putting, they state that they would have creative control, and have a big say in the cast & crew attached, the only way of making the film thats in your own head is by raising the funds yourself & being in control of the vision & hence my 6 year battle to do it my way...
Q- Was there ever a point where you didnt think it was going to happen because of funding?
AD- Well, yeah... when my FAN FUNDING ideas didn't work from 2007 to 2008, it was really quite upsetting, then in MAY 2009 when I launched the INDYWOOD MOVIE PROJECT on twitter, all of a sudden, there was hope, but even in the first couple of years of fundraising it was always on my mind, will we raise enough to make the movie thats in my head... & even to this day, with over £60k raised after 3 years its still a major concern, the film in my head is very very ambitious, so much so, I have had to tone it down to a more realistic level... but what I've found is, if you can't afford to do something it makes you be more creative, so what I'm finding out now with my new script revise is that its becoming a much more powerful character driven movie, due to being forced to tone it down...
Q- How can fans contribute to the film?
AD- To raise our films budget, we are offer PRODUCER PACKAGES, basically when people donate £10/$16 or more, they will become a producer, with perks & the more they donate at www.indywood.co.uk the more PERKS they can receive, like: being a ZOMBIE in the film, an END FILM CREDIT, tickets to the PREMIERE, a chance to record an AUDIO COMMENTARY, the list is huge...
Q- Since its fan funded, how do you bring them in on the movie making process?
AD- Its always been my dream to have something called a PRODUCERS LOUNGE, which is a place on the website, where we update WEEKLY about the progress of the movie, & its also a place where we can reach out to our BACKERS & say, we need help with finding this, or doing that, giving people a chance from anywhere in the world to be able to support our film during the production process, the idea of giving people a chance to help & interact during production is something that excites the hell out of me... with the final script re-write almost finished, we are on the verge of launching the PRODUCERS LOUNGE & then the fun really begins...
Q- when can we expect to see the film finished?
AD- all being well, the movie will be completed in 2013... We are currently doing a full production schedule right now, so there is a chance that we will be shooting over the Summer, then at the end of the year & potentially all of our special FX & MAKE UP scenes in the new year... thats what we are aiming for right now...
Q- What is your background in the film industry?
AD- My background is very limited, from leaving school I've made short films, music videos & documentaries, all on a HOBBY level, I've done college/university courses, but it wasn't until I was struck down with a year long illness that made me realise I was wasting my life on NOT going after my dreams, so when I recovered from a lodged kidney stone in the Summer of 2004, I immediately took control of my life & enrolled in a 3 year film degree & I had a brand new outlook on life, to NEVER GIVE UP on bringing my dreams to reality... So... this journey I'm on really began in the Summer of 2004...
Q-Who are/ were your inspirations as a film maker?
AD- My biggest inspirations are people who risk all to bring their dreams to life, I always get inspired when I watch movies like ED WOOD or THE AVIATOR, watching people do what ever it takes to do the things they love... In regards to INDUSTRY inspirations, I'd have to say, STANLEY KUBRICK, STEVEN SPIELBERG, JOHN CARPENTER, WES CRAVEN, GEORGE ROMERO, DAVID CRONENBERG, QUENTIN TARANTINO... the list is huge...
Q-What are your goals? What do you have to acheive to feel like you're a success in the industry?
AD-I just want to be in a position to produce films & not have to spend years raising my budgets, hence another reason why I'm desperate to SELF DISTRIBUTE & be in control of the profit made, the goal is for my films to bring in money to then go straight into the next project, so we will still offer PRODUCER PACKAGES, but there will be a huge amount of profit from the previous films we make, going into the next one, rather than giving the film to a distributor & never seeing a penny due to their clever book keeping...
Q-Are there any other projects on the horizon?
AD- HELL YEAH there are... We are in development on a few feature film projects, a time travel movie, two WW2 movies, a stalk & slash Christmas movie, a character driven movie about a musician loosing his mind & also an ONLINE TV SERIES, in the same tradition of 'THE TWILIGHT ZONE' & 'THE OUTER LIMITS'...
Q-Anything you would like to add or mention to fans?
AD-I always like to finish up these interviews with a message to anyone who is fighting to see their own dreams turn into a reality, trust me when I say its hard work & you will have to sacrifice a huge chunk of your life to see it happen, but PLEASE DON'T GIVE UP... just keep going... find something that inspires you & if you're having a bad day & trust me again, there will be a lot of them, go to that inspiration & turn your day around... Life isn't about dreaming, its about making those dreams a reality... GOOD LUCK to everyone & if anyone needs any help or advise you can follow me on twitter @indywoodFILMS
Hopefully you had as much fun reading as I did corresponding with AD. Please check out his donation page and share it as well as this blog.
Oh yeah, I'm obsessed with the Draw Something game, so bring it on! thestevestrout is my screen name as well as twitter handle.
Love ya all,
Steve!
Well...Emerald City Comicon 2012 had come and gone, and my feet still hurt! It was all worth it.
I was on a mission last weekend. Day one, get as many of my comics signed. Day two, media guest autographs. Day 3, panels and dealers. Things didn't go as planned though. I did manage to get most of my books signed on Friday by some of my favorite artists and writers including Greg Capullo (Spawn and Batman), Ed Brubaker (Captain America), Matt Fraction (X-Men), Tony Moore (co-creator of the Walking Dead), and Francis Manapul (the Flash) just to name a few. I actually got to watch Manapul work on a piece of art for someone. The man is a master of his craft! I wish I had the $$$ to comission a piece from him (I spent it all on media guests haha)...I finally got to meet Steve Niles, who is probably the bet horror writer right now. He is the man behind 30 Days of Night, and one of my favorite comic series, Remains. Check him out if you like zombies and such.
The highlite of the day and possibly weekend, was when I ran into Robert Kirkman after a panel. I can honestly say I was a little starstruck, I mean, this is the man behind the Walking Dead. After chatting with him for a good 10 or 15 minutes with him I was able to calm down and get a bunch of stuff signed by him. He also gave me the ok to email him and set up a short interview for this here blog, so stay tuned!
That was Friday...Saturday was pretty uneventful. Just lots of standing in long ass lines to meet celebrity guests. I did get to meet awesome people like Mr. Sulu himself, George Takei, Summer Glau and Adam Baldwin from Firefly, and Laurie Holden and Jon Bernthal from my favorite show, the Walking Dead. My W.D. autograph collection is getting pretty big. Still need Rick and Lori though, so if ya run into them, help a brother out! Haha
Sunday, the sad final day of ECCC....I figured I'd give the Wil Wheaton meet and greet line one last chance, since it was ridiculous the prior two days. I guess that's how it is being a rock star of nerd culture! I finally msec it through and got that elusive Wil Wheaton autograph I've wanted in my collection! My mission was complete! I got all my autographs, and met everyone I had wanted to meet! I won the battle against ECCC 2012! I Rounded out the day with Adam Baldwin's very entertaining panel which was highlited by the host getting absolutely shut down when asking Adam about his conservativer commentary on Twitter. I also checked out another panel, but don't remember much because I was so worn out by that point, I was falling asleep haha
That was Emerald City Comicon in a nutshell. Go through my Twitter timeline and check out some pics from the convention. I couldn't get them posted here because in posting via my phone. What a great weekend! Oh yeah, I also wanna give a shout out to my favorite radio DJ, BJ Shea from Kisw in Seattle. Got to chat with him for a few, which is always a pleasure. Do yourself a favor and check out the BJ Geek Nation podcast featuring him, the Rev, Vicki B, and awesome comic creator Brandon Jerwa (of Hack/Slash fame)....
Before I run, I just wanna thank you all for reading and bearing with my rambling and bad grammar. I just enjoy ageing things I love with people who care. Be on the look out for some great Q&A sessions I have lined up with comic artist Drew Pocza, film maker Ad Lane, and Guild cast member Teal Sherer!
Hello my dear friends. As I mentioned before in my last post, we're (mainly ME until I get some volunteers to work with me) going to do some Q&A sessions with some great people from the world of nerddom including comic creators, actors, artists, comedians, authors and the like. Well, we finally "popped our interview cherry" with a chat with actor, author, and Walking Dead Walker, Steve Warren...He is a really funny and interesting guy, so enjoy the interview and be sure to check out his body of work!!
Steve Warren
TheSteveStrout: First of all, so fans recognize you, What W.D. episode(s) do you appear in?
Steve Warren: The only one where you get a good look at me is Episode 201 (the first episode of Season Two). Rick and Shane go into a church and find three Walkers preying (pun intended). I'm the one Rick kills with a machete through the skull. They cut out the part where I had him by the throat when he cut me. They also didn't show me lying in a pool of blood on the floor afterward, but I spent a day that way on the set, in case they decided to use an angle that included me.
I worked on several episodes of Season One, from eating horse entrails at the end of the first and beginning of the second episode to lying outside the CDC in the last. They filmed me chasing Rick and Glenn up a fire escape but didn't use any of those takes. The way the scene aired I was in the group of Walkers below the fire escape but there was no one climbing behind them.
The famous scene where Rick kills "Walker" Steve Warren
SS:How did the Thinhead nickname come to be?
SW: The short answer is that when I needed an Internet screen name I resurrected my d.j. name from college radio. "Thinhead" hosted a Saturday night rock-and-roll show for losers (like me) who couldn't get dates.
The long answer involves crashing the cast party of a touring show that played on campus, and a once-famous actress (Sylvia Sidney) telling me, before one or both of us passed out drunk, "You have the thinnest head I've ever seen." I met her a decade or so later and told her the story. She denied it but, dog lover that she was, said I did resemble a Borzoi.
SS:How much time did you have to spend in character each day? Did ya get to drive home from the set in walker makeup?
SW: I'm not a method actor so I was only in character when the cameras were rolling. If you mean in wardrobe and makeup, that was the first thing we did in the morning and the last thing we did at night, often 12-hour days or longer. If we were wearing contacts we could sometimes take those out during lunch.
We often talked about wanting to go home or to the club or even the supermarket in Walker drag, but they wouldn't let us leave until they got every last bit off of us. I was jealous when I heard a rocker say on Talking Dead he had gotten to wear his gear home when he played a Walker. It depends on who you know. But seriously, I guess there were safety issues as well as the confidentiality factor.
SS:Besides having a chance to work on one of the most popular shows in history, and getting a ton of Facebook friends, and camaraderie with other walkers, what else have you gotten out of working on this show?
SW: I got to call Andrew Lincoln "Andy" and I got a few paychecks, but you probably hit the top three. Oh, meeting some of the other people too: Frank Darabont, Ernest Dickerson, Robert Kirkman, Greg Nicotero, Steven Yuen (names listed alphabetically)...
SS:Are you a fan of the show? Who is your favorite character?
SW: Of course I'm a fan! It's hard to pick a favorite because what's so interesting about the show is how your sympathies keep changing. I used to like Rick but, even though I've forgiven him for the machete, he sure showed his dark side toward the end of the season. There's justification for everything he did and zombie apocalypses do things to people, but the Rick we loved in 101 wouldn't have done the things he did in 213. I can't wait to see who I like next season, but it's best not to get too attached to anyone.
SS:Has the exposure of this show advanced your acting career?
SW: It may have helped me get featured parts in TV movies like Level Up (the pilot for the series) as a Ghoul and My Future Boyfriend as "Tinfoil Man," because I earned a reputation for being dependable and easy to work with, and for not minding how much they torture me with makeup and stuff. But last fall I moved from Atlanta to Sarasota, Florida, where there's a lot less going on, and it's taking a while to establish myself. I still get called back to work in Atlanta occasionally, but being 500 miles away doesn't move me to the top of anyone's list.
SS:The Walking Dead and cast is huge on the convention scene. Have you been a guest at any of the cons?
SW: No. Friends like Sonya Thompson and Larry Mainland seem to be doing them every weekend, but they were lucky enough to have been used in early publicity photos for the series. I wouldn't mind doing some cons but no one's asked me. I'm just not in the loop.
SS:Besides The Walking Dead, you have appeared in dozens of really well known films such as The Blind Side and the upcoming Three Stooges film. What are some of your favorite films you were involved in and who were some of your favorite actors/actresses to work with?
SW: At the end of the day, an actor's love for a project is directly proportional to the amount of screen time (or money, or maybe awards) he gets from it. Because I get better roles in independent films, those are some of my favorites. The one feature I'm top-billed in is Scarce, an independent horror flick. We shot it five years ago during a cold Canadian winter, with a great, mostly young cast and crew. There were two writer-directors, each of whom has a new project coming out this year. Check the trailer on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vNvsKcp738&feature=related (SteveS added it at end of interview too). I'm a cannibal in Scarce and some kind of zombie cannibal in Lynch Mob, in which I get killed four or five times. It's a horror comedy that no one saw because a new distributor botched the release. One of my favorite shorts is The Ecstatic Truth, in which I play a director based on Werner Herzog.
All my work in major films has been as a "background artist," as we pretentious extras call ourselves. I've worked on more than a hundred of them, starting with Oliver Stone's The Doors, but I've only been recognizable in a handful - shaking hands with Burt Reynolds in Striptease and Kenneth Branagh in Warm Springs, spilling a bedpan on Queen Latifah in Joyful Noise and a few more. Otherwise my scenes were cut out or you have to know where in the crowd to look for me. I describe my role in The Doors as "the 428th dot from the left" in the audience at a concert, but I got hooked working on that one.
Extras aren't supposed to talk to the "real" actors because they need to be able to focus, so usually the best experiences are the ones where I'm in a small enough scene that the stars introduce themselves and maybe we even chat a little. The first movie I worked on in Atlanta was HBO's Boycott, and that was a great experience for a lot of reasons. For one, the stars, Jeffrey Wright and Terrence Howard, came over and sat with some of us extras at lunch. I guess it was appropriate when we were making a movie about the Civil Rights struggle, not to be classist; but that was very unusual.
SS:In my research, I found that you appeared in one of my all time favorite comedy films, Run Ronnie Run. I as a comedy nerd, HAVE to ask how working on that set was? Was it all business? I'd imagine it was a blast with all of those brilliant comedy minds on that set (yourself included)?
SW: Wow, that takes me back a ways. I know Doug Peterson (who has since moved to Hollywood to be a producer) and I spent several hours in a car with M.C. Gainey, who was pretty cool. I don't remember whether Gainey played the governor or the head of the governor's security, but Doug and I were bodyguards working with him. I'm not sure if you can see us in the picture but at one point we jumped out of the car with our guns drawn.
I like comedy too, but I'm afraid I'm not as big a fan of this one as you are, although of course I like a lot of other things David Cross and Bob Odenkirk have done. I wasn't close enough to the funny people to share in whatever fun they were having. Comedy is serious business, so there's sometimes more fooling around - to break the tension - on a dramatic set than a comedy, except when the cameras are rolling.
SS:Any good stories you can share from Run Ronnie Run filming?
I remember standing in the crowd for take after take after take (add at least a dozen more "after take"s) of the scene where David Cross as Ronnie farts the alphabet. The sound effects were added later. Not one of my favorite experiences, but it could have been worse. I wasn't close enough to smell the farts.
SS:You are not only an actor, but a writer too. What don't you do (HaHa)?
SW: That depends on who I'm with. Are you from the National Enquirer?
SS:Any exciting new projects on the horizon?
SW: I wish! I was teased with a possibility a few weeks back but it doesn't look like it's going to happen. What makes actors so insecure is never knowing what's coming up. When we're "between engagements" we feel like we'll never work again. I might kill myself tomorrow morning, then get three job offers in the afternoon. Of course people with "real jobs" are just as insecure these days.
SS:What is your personal highlight of your career, to date?
Here's a creepy shot of Steve from the movie Scarce
SW: The Scarce premiere at the Bloor Cinema in Toronto. There were about 600 in the audience and they were very enthusiastic. After the movie the filmmakers got up and spoke to the crowd, and then they introduced me. The crowd cheered as I went up to the stage. I grabbed the mic and said, "In the States when a villain does a good job we don't cheer, we boo. You Canadians are too fucking polite!" Of course the cheers turned to boos, and I felt like a rockstar!
Another Scarce screenshot
I stayed at the home of one of the filmmakers that night, and his dog, Otis, curled up on my bed. My one dog night proved that a star doesn't sleep alone after a premiere.
SS:Is there anything you would like to add or plug?
SW: I wish I had something to plug besides my availability. Maybe someone could start a Facebook page to get me to host SNL?
I'd like to thank my friend Steve Warren for taking the time to answer some questions for us. Be sure to check out more of his work. Click Here for his his IMDB page to get more info. Horror fans, I know you will love the movie Scarce, if you haven't seen it yet. Here's the trailer:
Coming soon, we will have a quick interview with the creator of the Pokeweed comic strip, Drew Pocza! Drew will be appearing at Emerald City Comic Con next weekend, so be sure to stop by and say hi! Also, I still want to find a sweet header logo for this blog, so shoot me some ideas people!
Thats it for now. Thanks for reading. Please share me.
First of all, I'd like to congratulate Meghan Flaherty on winning the 2012 Olympic Peninsula Comedy Contest! Please check out some of her comedy and her website, and be sure to see her if she performs in your area! Meghan Flaherty's Website!! I Can't wait for next years competition. This event keeps getting bigger every year. It's like my growing child. I'm so proud of my baby! Haha
As for this blog, I have some fun ideas to make it interesting and keep myself inspired to keep up on it. I've managed to meet a lot of cool folks in the entertainment business, and I'd like to introduce some to my readers, so I'm thinking of doing Q&A sessions with them and sharing it on this blog. It's been done before, I know, but I will do my best to keep it interesting. I'd also like to get a couple people involved that would like to review nerdy media (comics..movies..books...etc.). If anyone wants to get involved, drop me a line.
Well, that's about it for now. Keep your eyes open for some interviews with some great comedians, actors, comic creators and other nerd related people!!
I hope all of your new year is off to a great start. I've been a bit of a slacker on here as of late, but I just haven't been feeling very inspired lately. It's time to get my ass in gear, and start making things happen NOW! I know this, because a fortune cookie told me so!
I have been working my ass off at the ol sammitch shop lately, but have some other projects I'm currently Working on. For example, next Saturday, February 4th, I arranged a special screening of the original Night Of The Living Dead, in honor of the one and only George Romero. The father of the zombie film genre, and one of my inspirations!
THEN....THE VERY NEXT DAY MY NEW YORK GIANTS WILL WIN THE SUPERBOWL! LOTS OF PARTYING FEB 4TH AND 5TH...JOIN ME?
Later on in February, the 17th to be exact, the 3rd annual Olympic Peninsula Comedy Competition will take place here in little ol Port Townsend, WA. Ive been booking and promoting stand up comedy in this region for just about 5 years now, and have been running this event going on 3. This competition features 10 top comedians from the Northwest and beyond competing for cash and bookings, with our audience voting on the winner. This is a really fun show. The first to winners have gone on to some success in the region and beyond. I love putting this event together and meeting and Workin.g with these great comedians. We've become somewhat of a family. I really dig the comraderie in this biz.
The Emerald City Comicon is also almost here! 2 short months away. I'm looking forward to meeting a lot of the great guests and comic book artists and writers. Steve Niles! Nat Jones! Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore! It's a zombie book lovers dream! I got my books already together and ready to go get signed! I can't wait for the weekend of ECCC! If you're gonna be there, leave me a message. I always love meeting new friends!
Anyways, I'm kinda beat. Gotta rest up for work tomorrow. I will try and post a flyer for our Romero celebration this week. Be sure to follow www.olypencomedy.com to keep up on my latest comedy events. I'm thinking about starting to post funny videos and stuff on there too, so if ya come across anything worthwhile and HILARIOUS, let me know!
