Interview with Indie B-Movie Creator Zachary Snygg

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[00:01:00] Welcome all, welcome all. Again, we have no shortage of indie filmmaker reviews on here as well as deep discussions and validation of pop culture. And lo and behold, filmmaker one who has worn many hats is Zachary Snygg. He's here for this October themed monster madness. Welcome.

[00:01:24] Welcome. How are you? I'm delightful. How about you? I'm all right. It's a bit hot out here. It's got up to 100 this weekend. So do you often when you're on set, like outdoor shoots versus private studio shoots? Most stuff I do these days, it's it's indoors studios. I think tomorrow we'll be outside for a lot.

[00:01:51] But most time, yeah, we're indoors, you know, I love it. I love it. I love it. So, man, but guys, we're not just talking to just anyone does it for a lot. We're also talking about a commercial director, music video promo producer, even someone who used to work sales at Troma. That's right. So, yeah. But hey, man, like this is really awesome that you're pursuing the dream. And now there's so many different options.

[00:02:20] You don't have to wait on approval for a video store or beg to get a TV distribution deal. It's like, no, I and if Walmart were to stop tomorrow, you would still have a way of people seeing your material. Yeah. I mean, but the money is not what it used to be. I mean, like for many years, I just paid full films full time from like a certain point in the 90s all the way up into I think in 2008, the business model started changing.

[00:02:49] So you can make a lot of money with the DVDs. And when that changed, you're like, all right. You can still make money and you can still make a profit, but not there's nowhere near the type of money back in the blockbuster DVD days, you know? True. True. And I think the biggest thing I think independents have is just how do you make your film aware, you know, for the public? You know, how do you? Because it's like before you walk into a shelf and you see it on the, you know, you see that the blockbuster shelf and you just grab it.

[00:03:19] But now there's just so many choices out there and so many. So I think that's the real problem. Just how people to look at your film or know that exists really. I mean, I had seen Peter Cottenhill pop up on streaming and I was like, oh, OK. You know, with the craziness of Cocaine Bear and Winnie the Pooh, Blood and Honey is like, yeah, I'm already stoked. I'm like, let's do it. Let's go. Yeah. So I think it's like that, too.

[00:03:47] If people like, oh, you like this, it'll turn you on to that. And I guess that's true for like foreign films and everything else, you know? Oh, and see, I had seen your name, but it was underneath the John Bacchus name. Yeah. I never missed my name coming. So I was like, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's cinema. We did that for many years. Yes. Skidamax. Anyway, but I was already a fan. I had seen Bloods vs. Wolves. I had seen. Oh, OK.

[00:04:16] I had seen somebody. I had seen Circle of Iron, which was trying to get that impact. Perfect MMA money. It was like, hey, you know, this dude knew how to frame stuff. I had to kind of budget. Yeah, that was funny. It was like, there's a bunch of films we did for Maverick Entertainment. They're still around. My agent at the time, Amy Stewart, her brother, Phil Stewart, who he produced The Chronicles of Narnia. So she made a lot of my studio deals. That's wild.

[00:04:46] Right, but she'd make all these studio deals and she'd go, well, Zach will just shoot whatever you guys want. So like, why don't you do a martial arts film? I'm going to go, OK, but Bloods vs. Wolves, same deal. Well, we want these two gangs and then half of them are werewolves. The other half are vampires. It's like, OK. So, you know, then I wrote a script, submitted it and they go, OK, go ahead and shoot it. What were your favorite places to shoot?

[00:05:16] Oh, I don't know. It's like I like generally I mean, I'm from the New York City area. So a lot of times we just shoot around here. Then it was filmed all over. We were in Albany, Philadelphia. Nice. Yeah. And then we had horrible weather. It's like snow. It was just crazy. So like steers were. Did you? Well, yeah. I mean, but you got to do what you got to do. I mean. Right, right, right, right, right. Did you have any fun guerrilla filmmaking stories?

[00:05:45] Oh, I mean. Sure. I mean, I think you're young and stupid. But I know for Ghost City. It's possible to do. And then there's dangerous. Yeah. But for Ghost City, we had a scene where these two guys are chasing each other in the subway. We just did it. We just went to the subway. We were running through cars during rush hour on a subway car. I mean. And I think a lot of those things you can't do now. It's like this was back in the early 2000s. But there's cameras everywhere in New York.

[00:06:15] And they'll stop you immediately. Yeah. So. That's so possible now. But hey. Right. I mean, when we were at EI Cinema, I had guys around with plastic guns in a public street. Those stupid things, which I never, ever do now. Well, at least you were learning, though. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, well, you know, if you never got in trouble, you don't learn. True. And we got in trouble to this day. I never had.

[00:06:45] Oh, one time we shot them pies. We shot outside a prison and they all showed up from all sides. So it was like, oh, we're not allowed to film outside prisons. They're like, oop. At least they gave you a warning instead of I'm going to punish you to the full sextet. Right. Right. They didn't ask the rest, but just like that. You want to take them? I don't know if they're lying. Did you.

[00:07:08] Why do you think you, your brother and just other pals just were all drawn to doing film together, especially in those days? An interesting thing. And particularly in the old days, it used to be really offensive because we had to shoot on home, which is not the case now. We, everything's out on digitally. Mine was like, you have a little film as a kid. And you're like, Hey, I want to see this as a crew. Like both of us, we got excited to engineering school and then we're like, I don't go.

[00:07:37] So I ended up going in and we filmed and seeing them. And that was a cut. And he works on big budget movies. He was a crew guy. We worked on all these Hollywood stuff. So that's kind of what I'm looking for. Let's go shoot a little independent film like Beastie or whatever. So for Monsters in the Closet. All right. That's pretty cool, though. I mean, to get. Because again, that's just it. It's like you got to do your side projects while you do your main day job on a big,

[00:08:07] bigger budget thing. And for me, I shoot commercial. So that's my full gig now. It used to be all I did was make these floppy movies about four years. And then when the kind of the DVD shops closed, okay, I got to make a list. I just have to have all this gear. I answered some ads on Craigslist. They needed somebody to shoot a politician commercial. And then you get a bunch of production company to keep on ironing. I've been that since 2008. Sweet.

[00:08:38] So, yeah. So it's a long time. And what gets you up in the morning when you're just ready to just, you know, aside from, you know, time, money and other essentials, what really makes you say, oh, I am ready to do this. Let's let's absolutely go. Let's. Oh, I know. You know, it's like you've been doing it for as long. It's just kind of extension of who you are. And you're OK. Like tomorrow, I wake up pretty early to take it on my shoot.

[00:09:07] And I'm just you don't think about it. Just like you get up and you go ahead. You know, the day is a good day. So, you know. Oh, I love that. It's just already positivity is already there. And so it's like I'm not going to get too comfy, but I am going to be. This is comfortable, at least, you know. Right. Exactly. I'm not sitting back, but I am still active, you know, got my coffee, got everything. Yeah, absolutely.

[00:09:36] You mentioned some of your influences, you know, Walter Hill, John Carpenter. But I had to look up Rob Nilsson, who was an indie filmmaker who even got sponsored by Coppola at one point. And so when you're looking at some of the different big and small movies growing up and using those for any kind of inspiration, well, what did you really take away from them on aside from their do it yourself attitude?

[00:10:07] So everyone had a different thing. You talk about Nilsson. He was I guess he was in the spirit of John Cassavetes, but all stuff was kind of structured improvisation, which is how we similar how I write. We're how Larry David show. He's like the modern, I guess, of that. That's nice. Yeah. So kind of shoot with like multiple cameras to do our dialogue. Me and the last couple of us being Yasmin, we both kind of quote them. These structure improvisations.

[00:10:36] And it's fun because like film's a collaborative effort. So when people come up with ideas and you just incorporate it in the script, it's like it makes also the dialogue flow nicely. And then there's other filmmakers, you mentioned Walter Hill in particular. You just noticed certain guys like him and Roman Polanski is very efficient. Yes. You know, so it's like you kind of get that from it's like, oh, if you're filming 14 days or 70s or whatever, it's like you have to learn to be very, very efficient.

[00:11:04] And those filmmakers are very, very efficient, you know, like you even get inspiration in television. Like, oh, how do you how do you save time doing a master shot? You know, where can the camera go and how can you save time? So you learn a lot. You want to continue to learn, you know? Totally. And even this this new film, Karen, the beauty queen butcher, we had all this AI stuff. And I love that name. That's that's fucking awesome. That's really awesome.

[00:11:33] Well, how does the name? How does the name? Oh, so I think what was the reason I forgot the name of it, but it was like he and Yasmin spit falling and it was like, all right, I do that because Karen, you like just like today, we need something. The whole priest did called the cigarette. Didn't really take off. So we're like, we have up with a great title that maybe people will stop. You know, so. Hey, it did numbers. It was on streaming.

[00:12:03] So that's cool. Yeah. And it's kind of cool that you've been taking some of your actors and actresses who were on all the different kinds of productions, the MAA films, the erotica and then the other horror stuff. And now you're putting them on bigger modern day stuff. And I'm sure they like the change of pace and different scenario. Sure. It's like, you know, like Anju is with us. She was did a lot of the erotica way back when I put her in the voodoo wars and some other things. Unfortunately, she was.

[00:12:32] Peter Krause, Daria Kane. Peter Krause. Yeah. Yeah. Of course. It's like, and they're great, great people and easy people work with, you know? Well, and this is it. Like they, it's kind of also, you got to kind of have a shameless attitude about this because it's like, you're going to encounter all these snobs, all these people who make vague remarks. I, when I was in film school at UT Arlington, I just would, anyone who did the whole, I don't want to work on anything. If it doesn't look like a Christopher Nolan film, I was like, I already don't want to

[00:13:02] talk to you. You got to be all kinds of different cinema. You got to. And whatever you're on, guess what? Talking smack. You're not going to last the day. This is like, you are here to do a job, make that thing, be what it merits, be what it's supposed to be. You know, if it's a soap opera. We got to do the best. If it's a direct-to-video action film, we got to do our best, you know? So me and the cinema guys, we got together over dinner and we were talking about that recently.

[00:13:31] It's like, what made us want to work with each other? It was at NYU and there were a lot of hobby kind of art-fartsy filmmakers. The guys were more blue-collar, which is how I am. And their abilities are the same. It's very easy. We were very young in the book and then the whole thing kind of got off. So like, oh, we're full of figures. We do that. And that's that whole thing. I love that.

[00:14:00] That's still pretty cool, though, that you got to sit down, though, and kind of reflect on that. Because a lot of the times everyone just goes from one shoot to the next and we're not thinking about, oh, what do we want to do? Why are we doing what we do? You know? Right. And I think it's anything. If you're stopping me for a lift, doing a thing, I think it's kind of, it's the thing about. You don't, you're not retrospelling. Totally. Dude, I did.

[00:14:28] I worked for a company that ended up ripping me off, but they're no longer around. But I filmed high school football games and baseball games. You know, I'm not a sports guy, but I had the mind of, I want to make it look as good as it can look. I want to get that zoom in. Absolutely. You know, I worked years ago. There was a guy he did. We were on some side. It was commercial. I was complaining that he has graduation photos. Graduation photos? Yeah. Why are you complaining about this?

[00:14:57] You know, you have to treat your job like it's the best you can kind of do and make it absolute. Whether it's the video or anything. It's like, this is crap. Don't look at it. It's nothing. There's nothing here. You know, everyone's embraced digital film now. We've gone over all the snobs saying, oh, no one will ever use it. And then when big wigs like Soderbergh start using it. Oh, okay. I guess it's cool now.

[00:15:21] So it's, it's funny how we're having to get past all these naysayers just to do what we want to make. And it's like, everybody's got to embrace it for movies for what they're trying to be. As long as there's no false advertising, there's really no reason to just start talking smack about people. And how did you, what was your favorite part about finding new video equipment and finding different ways to tell stories?

[00:15:49] Oh, you know, I mean, there's the fun thing. It's like we, way back when we were, yeah, I said, we were kind of one of the first people to shoot digitally because they had a 24p had just come out in 2000 and let's say two or one. And we did a film called Carlitos Angels where we shot it on a very cam, very cam. And right away, you knew that things were going to change. It was like film was going to be more of a democracy.

[00:16:17] It wasn't just going to be crap for just like the wealthy, you know? So, and it did change everything. Like a year later, I bought a little one and I shot all those, all those movies like for, if you're talking about Lionsgate, Vampires, I think the budget was $3,500. That's so funny. I vaguely have seen that film. I think, I think it was just at a video store one time and I'm like, you know, I got to admire again, a parody film.

[00:16:44] That's just that honest, you know, I was like, no one can possibly go to that and not know what they're seeing. So, I mean, it's gotta be fun, but yeah. So yeah, but it changed everything. And even now sound, it's like the lavaliers, the tech, the lavaliers are great. Just unbelievable the quality of these, these things. So, you know, and drones, everything else. So it's changed the industry a lot. That's neat.

[00:17:13] And when you pitch these ideas, how do you and your collaborators finally agree on what you're going to do? Oh, I think in the newer days, it's just like, like they pitch me, like Yasmin will pitch me or whoever, another person, like creative person will pitch me something. Now they go, wow, okay, I want to do it or I don't. And that's really it. And then of course, what type of market is there for it?

[00:17:38] So it's like, we're mostly doing like the horror stuff because that still sells, but I like to do other things. I want to do a documentary next, you know, one of the actors who played Barbie in the movie. I want to do a doc on her life and stuff. So sweet. Yeah. Yeah. So that'll be fun. What do you think also just makes you guys vibe and pay attention to how you're going

[00:18:08] to stage this, frame this, scout locations? So to me, it's like these movies are so low budget. I barely, a lot of times in the old days, I don't even know what it would look like. Like they're like, okay, we have an apartment. Okay. We just show up like now everything's more online. So you could take a look, you know, and then I won't go scout. It's like, cause it's like, I got to work during the day. So we'd just show up on a weekend or Wednesday or whatever, whether it's Philly or whatever.

[00:18:38] And you look around and you're like, okay, the camera goes here and you will learn to block it out. And once you work with an actor, how are they going to walk through the scene? You go, okay, camera goes here. And this is the other thing. That's kind of how we work it. That's neat. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, this film in particular, it had, you know, we just started getting more ambitious with all the special effects. It was kind of like, well, how do we do that? It was like a trial, trial, error and success, basically. That's good.

[00:19:07] I've been on no budget films where it's like some people would bring a lot to the table and others would complain. Oh, that's great. But you can't, you got to do this and that. It's like, well, you've never done it. We only know if we try it out. And when you're getting crew and everything, it's even more interesting how you want to kind of keep some, if it's very micro budget, you really want to keep the budget very secretive just because people like to judge on, oh my God, you can't film it for that. It can't possibly be any kind of quality.

[00:19:36] It's like, you know, you'd be surprised. You really would. Yeah. And I think particularly when you do low budget films, it's like you have to learn how to work by the seat of your pants because things are constantly changing. Yeah. Like, okay, let's try this, try that, you know, particularly with weather and everything else. If they're only paying me, but I clearly need five people, guess what? I'm paying you out of my pocket and I'll make it up when we get it. And then I'll charge, double charge the distributor, like, you know, five times the budget.

[00:20:06] So everyone can actually get a budget that they paid for, you know? Yeah, sure. Sure. Why do you think everyone likes to dispute over shot lists versus storyboards when, as long as you just show any idea of what you're looking for, that'll get the point across. Sure. But, you know, you're always looking for, like, to me, I just, I don't even board or shot list.

[00:20:34] I'll just go to pay and I'll go tripod or I'll go, you know, what do you call it? Gimbal or dolly shots or whatever, you know, because I'm like, okay, whatever it is. But the scene has a visual to, then when you're there, you kind of figure out, okay, we're going to ride right. No, that's great. And I like how you're just fearlessly just chugging along, though.

[00:21:01] So that's, from filmmaker to filmmaker, that really is enthusiastic to hear because I've been on so many sets where I would get there and everyone's like, I don't know how to shoot it. How should you shoot it? It's like, you don't have any idea, anything? This is what the magic would come together. I'm like, give me something so I can give you something, please. And, you know, those are the kind of guys who are so insecure.

[00:21:30] They do the whole, well, let's know what I asked for. I'm like, well, here's the thing. You didn't ask for anything. So I gave you what I had to predict what you wanted in. Then you gave me nothing in return. So I'm, I'm trying to give you the best of what you could possibly have here. So you've done, you've done all kinds of New York city locations. Are there any decent film festivals still out there for any kind of micro or low budget?

[00:22:00] You know, the funny thing is I almost, I probably almost, I think I attended something with Tina Krause in New York and that was the one and only one I ever went to. It's like, I'm not a film festival guy. And that was, that stemmed from the trauma days from the EI cinema days. Because we kind of found out that it didn't really help. It was like, it didn't help promote our films. And also we got nothing out of it. Some other people like the terrifier guys, I'm friends with those guys. And that's how they got discovered. They're nice people.

[00:22:30] Yeah. They were up in Canada. They had some film festival. And that's how their movie got picked up. So I've seen some people just say, Hey, you know, like do certain kinds of festivals that will kind of like us have a mini version of South by Southwest where you don't have to attend all this stuff, but there's kind of a fair game for everything. And then just find some of the other DVD, Blu-ray, indie distributor companies that are looking for new content

[00:22:59] and are already in suite with all the streamers. So, you know. I mean, for attending, for short movies, it's great because it's one after the other. I mean, sitting through a whole feature, I don't know. But it's like shorts, it's great when you're attending them. So, you know, you found your own company in 2003, you know, Purgatory Blues. And you'd already done a movie of the same name in 2001. Yeah.

[00:23:29] Debbie Rokan. But where does the name come from? Oh, I think it was just the title of the film, Purgatory Blues. The idea was this guy dies and hell or Purgatory is high school again and again and again and again and again and again. And then he makes a deal with the devil to get out. So that's how the old title came out. And I just formed the LLC and I owned the LLC.

[00:23:55] So I was like, okay, since I own the LLC, I'll just continue doing it. So that's kind of how that whole thing happened. The name stuck. That's cool. The name stuck. I used to always answer the phone Purgatory and people would laugh. Totally. Yeah. You just pick up the phone and go Purgatory. Purgatory.

[00:24:17] Have you ever had any fun kind of Halloween parties where you just kind of everyone dresses up and does kind of just casual just wacky outfits and everything? No. No. Okay, no. That's awesome. It's like some of my friends, like Darian and Darian, they're real to it. It's like their favorite holiday. But I mean, I've done the parade in New York a couple times. Okay, no. That's great. I like it. This isn't personal.

[00:24:45] It's like, dude, just I'm an entertainer and I'll leave it at that. I'll let that do the talking. Right. Have you ever thought of doing any conventions or? I used to do them a lot, but I don't do them anymore. No, we used to do the Chiller Theater Expo. That's more friendly than everybody. Yeah. Yeah. We used to do that a lot, but I haven't been to those shows in forever. Oh, forever. Did you have some? I mean, you know. Go ahead.

[00:25:14] Did you have any good, reasonable professors at New York University from your time there? I think some of the writer ones were good. There were some jobs. I think in retrospect, I should have had some more tech courses. But everyone, when they say, should I go to film school? I say, don't. That's kind of how I am, too. Yeah. If you're going to spend all that money, you spend it on something else.

[00:25:42] Or it better be an independent contractor who's selling equipment and then teaching people how to use it for an extra $400. Yeah. And to be honest with you, because I work as a cinematographer, I had to let go and relearn all this stuff. Because it's like I had other people doing it during the iCinema days. So I just went out and I got all the books that I had at NYU. And then I was like, OK, so that's all I needed. I didn't need a professor, really.

[00:26:12] That was kind of the second wave. It's like digital film was embraced. And then when people started acquiring the phones by the 2010s and everything, then everyone was realizing, hey, here's the different ways that we can remaster stuff that was shot on video or digital or film versus how we used to do it. And yeah, I mean, EI Cinema, it was interesting how.

[00:26:38] Did you ever kind of notice how like with certain different marketing teams and distributors, most of the time, if they did deal with any kind of company, they aired. Any kind of material, you know, free of judgment, they they didn't know how it was made. They didn't really care either. It's like, hey, you know, we just need. No, it's like the stuff, the stuff I did for Lionsgate and I did stuff for HBO and Showtime. Nobody ever once said, what did you film this on? Yeah. Which is something actors always talk about, like what camera that they don't care. They don't care.

[00:27:08] They don't even know. They don't even know why it works versus why it doesn't. I'm like, you know, you can film something on digital. All you need to make sure is you got good sound and play around with the lighting, you know? Sure. Absolutely. You know, and I think, I mean, back in the old days, like just getting a good image shooting on film, let's shoot a 35. It was kind of tough. But, you know, now it's so different, you know? Totally. Trust me.

[00:27:38] Some people are unintentional snobs without meaning to be snobs. I had a family member, won't name them. I love them too much. But we're watching an old sketch comedy show. I think it was like, was I written Living Color or Whose Line? It was on one of the streaming platforms. It probably wasn't in Living Color. That's not where it's streaming. But it was one of those comedy shows. And they were complaining about how it looked. I'm like, oh, you've got to be kidding me. That looks so much better than when we had to, you know, rip it to videotape.

[00:28:05] Like, they're enhancing it as much as they can from the original elements, guys. Yeah. It's funny. It's like most layman people, the thing that they notice, the first thing is sound. Yeah. It's like a standard thing. It's like, because if it sounds bad, they can't watch the project. But if the image is, eh, obviously. I mean, now we have all these found footage, movies and all that. So it's really about... It's like, what are we talking about here? What are we doing? Right. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:28:34] It's like they're unintentionally complaining without realizing they're complaining. And it's like, I wish you wouldn't. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. What is your favorite part of the planning process? Or is it all kind of consecutive altogether? I don't know. I don't know. I mean, to me, people always ask what's the favorite part of filmmaking. And I go, when is it all put together and edited? Okay. No. Awesome. I love that attitude. Yeah.

[00:29:02] I think that the more I do this, getting locations rougher and rougher. Because it used to be easy. Like you place, you go to a Craigslist ad and say, hey, I need a location. But now with all these, you know, whatever, people are renting out their locations on, you know, these apps and everything else. And, but it's like the last film, you know, we shot a fake prison cell and all this other stuff. But it's... Those are always the best, aren't they? You know, it's like you can decide to make it comedic.

[00:29:31] You can decide to make it airy and gritty and literally just get an abandoned factory or rough up your bathroom, you know? And just like... Right. Right. Well, we had an actual set. But it was like... Oh, that's awesome. It's like everything's just more expensive now. That's all I'm saying. It's like... Oh, that's awesome. You used to be able to get a location for like 100 bucks or whatever. Now it's like, oh, you gotta pay. Pay to pay, baby. Pay to pay. Yeah. That's what it is.

[00:30:02] So, what advice do you really have for that? Like when it comes to asking permission or finding just other just like workarounds that you otherwise probably don't get? I think the key, the first, the biggest key is you have to have insurance, which you can get temporary insurance. That's a big thing. Yes. It's like for a lot of locations, like cigarette was shot at a school and that was the big thing we needed to get that insurance or else they wouldn't let us in.

[00:30:28] You know, also, I'm sure Texas has the same thing and New York and Pennsylvania. They're not the best, but they... They have a website like you could now... Because I used to have to show up in person to the film commission. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. But now you can just do that online and you just go through and say, okay, I like this one. I like... You can do it online. They can still deny you permission to film, but you can at least...

[00:30:54] Generally, if you just even have like just a private business owner and say, hey, you know, we'll pay you this X amount of money for this amount of days to shoot. We'll, you know, you leave us the keys to the car. We'll leave it like no one was ever here. You can generally work out a deal. But one thing that's so funny is generally if you're in a place where you're not supposed to be versus you're in a place where you are supposed to be, but don't want to be overcharged, you could always say I'm a student film, of course.

[00:31:25] I think for me, it's a little difficult to get away with that. Yeah. You could say I'm a professor. The crew is getting their feet wet. Have you ever had any film students help out on your set just so they have a credit to start off? I think in the old days we had, but now generally they're people I work with on other projects like the commercial. I say, hey, I'm doing a low budget movie. You want to be a second cameraman? See?

[00:31:51] But that's a beautiful, authentic friendship instead of going through the back pages and saying, I don't know what I'm going to get if this person on the other end of the line, you know. Oh, yeah. But sometimes I did because if I have to go someplace, one of the Tanya Romero who worked on the film, I put an ad. This was the previous film, but then I worked with her again and again and again and did it with other people. Like sometimes I have to go up to Boston to film a commercial. So I'll put an ad and they'll send me the reel.

[00:32:18] And generally you get a lot of competent people, you know. See? So we're going back to locations. Yeah. One of the craziest locations I got news through the film commission was I did a film called Mad Maxine. Yes. I saw that parody. And it's like, well, how do you get to shoot at a desert? And there were rock quarries. So that during their down season, there was nobody there. So they said, I don't just go in and shoot your crazy movies. So I was like, wow, that's pretty crazy. Shoot your crazy movie, man.

[00:32:46] But you could always get away with, like I said, if you go to the film commission, you'd be surprised the things you can get. Oh, and every city is different too. Like Dallas is strict. Well, Fort Worth is pretty cool. Did you ever have any fun road trips that you went on for other films? Well, I've been around a lot for commercials. I don't know how fun they were, but it's like my, like I was talking to some people, my neighbors,

[00:33:14] and they were saying, talking about air travel. So I did a gig in Cleveland and they sent all my equipment to the Dominican Republic. So, and then, then when I got home, they sent all the, to New York City, they sent all the, the film equipment to Cleveland. And I have a lot of stories like that as far as travel, but. So, yeah.

[00:33:42] We'll return after these messages. Folks, how's back here? We got a 90-minute weekly Shack Stop. It's growing all over the world. Find it at 2 p.m. and 10 p.m. Eastern Time on Mondays. Then 3 p.m. on Wednesdays. Then 7 p.m. on Thursdays. You can catch it on many more radio stations. 99.9 KERB. 1 p.m. Central Time, 2 p.m. Eastern on Mondays.

[00:34:12] Then catch the Encore on Thursdays at 5 p.m. Central Time, 6 p.m. Eastern. Then catch it Wednesday mornings at 11 a.m. Eastern Time, 10 a.m. Central, 1077 K-Twins. Then hang out with us Wednesday afternoons on MXTR and House Shack Radio, 3 p.m. Eastern Time. Then Thursday, get up bright and early with us on 95. 11 web radio at 6 a.m.

[00:34:39] Pacific Time, 9 a.m. Eastern. Of course, we've got your Friday covered as well. 12 p.m. Eastern Time on MXTR FM and 10 p.m. Eastern Time, 9 p.m. Central, 1077 K-Twins. Find everything on HouseShack.com. HouseShack. Do you ever find yourself thinking about who would win in a fight between Goku and Superman?

[00:35:07] Hi, I'm James Gavsey, and on the Who Would Win Show, me and my co-host Ray ignore anything important happening in the outside world and debate fictional battles between characters from comics, movies, and video games. We got a new show every week, and almost always am I the winner. Yeah, not true, Ray. In the past, we've discussed such matches as Captain America vs. Darth Vader, Solid Snake vs. the Iron Giant, classic matchups like Robocop vs. Terminator, and even the Muppets vs. Sesame Street. That one was crazy.

[00:35:36] So if you're a fan of geek culture and love a spirited debate, check out the Who Would Win Show wherever you get your podcasts, or check us out at whowouldwinshow.com. Live and learn. Yeah. Live and learn. Yeah. Yeah. It's like, try to bring the camera with you on board and all the other stuff, because you could always quickly get lights from a local lab or whatever. But yeah, it's pretty crazy.

[00:36:08] Oh, we've been going and teasing digital. Do you have a favorite kind of camera to film on? I saw that. No, not particularly. I mean, I film on everything from, I mean, for other clients, I film everything from, you know, a red or a black magic. But these low-budget films, I generally shoot on VSLRs. I like the micro four-thirds, because you can use all sorts of different lenses. So I generally shoot on Panathonics, because I just like messing around with different lenses and having more choices.

[00:36:37] Well, and you're clearly really good at adapting, as well as just, again, you're in that same kind of mindset of whatever this merits, that's the attention it deserves, this and that. How do you recommend others just get, like, what are some best ways to just kind of try out different video equipment and find out what you do or don't want to continue with? I think the thing is that is, like, and this was true back when cameras were really expensive.

[00:37:07] You know, they were, whatever, they still are expensive. But it's like, go rent it and then see what you like and what you don't like. And, you know, pluses and minuses. But, you know, but yeah, I mean, I had a film on, it was on Showtime. It was one of the Skinamax movies. But I just shot it on a Canon 7D, which is like, what, it's an $800 camera, whatever it is. That's cool. They don't care. Yeah.

[00:37:37] Well, that's cool that you're also finding out other ways to just get comfy, because I would see others go in and be like, oh, you know, I'm only doing this because this is what my professor wants. It's like, well, but that's not what you want. Ultimately, you answer to you. You should, you know, it so it's like there's so many different ways to have a non-judgmental space. You know, it's like, well, what do you want to do?

[00:38:06] And then justify why you want to do it that way. And it's like everyone's kind of wants to cater. And it's like, you know, you can cater when you're at that point and you're doing mercenary work, but you should do what you want to do. You know? Sure. Sure. But, you know, I mean, film is a collaborative effort. So it's like you're always. Yeah. So it's like you're always working with people in whatever regards. So it's not just your project. It's like it's a culmination of people.

[00:38:37] How do you think that's another good way to learn if this contract's going to be worth its merit? Like, are there other ways where aside from just looking at the paperwork finally and saying, hmm, yeah, there's holes in this discussion? Um, I don't know. It's like, it depends. If you're going to have a deal like there was. God, what was the gentleman's name? I shouldn't probably tell.

[00:39:03] But anyway, he had a problem with a foreign agent who wasn't paying him. And then he called me up and asking me for advice. And, you know, I had the same problem with the same company. I mean, it was this type of thing where I was like, it was like, yeah, it is what it is. But I think when you deal any type of contract or any type of business, find referrals. Have you worked with these people before? Have they sent you a check? You know, you know, time. Yeah, right. Exactly.

[00:39:32] Have they done all those type of things? So now particularly, particularly in, um, in, uh, you know, the movie business, it's like, cause there's a lot of people get screwed, you know, and you sign that contract. That's 40 years. Yes. You'll never, and then they'll give you all sorts of creative accounting. What would cost us this? And, you know, once you're going to audit them, which is, it's not worth it. Yeah.

[00:39:58] You know, this person, like he was talking to me, he wanted to, he did audit them. And, you know, it was a bunch of crazy stuff. Like the guy charged him, the guy had a lobster dinner, the guy that, and he charged that against his phone. Cause it got sued. He was having a business meeting. He says marketing, but I mean, he's probably spent a fortune. On all this, uh, having it, uh, all the accounting, but I'm like, you know, that's rough. Yeah. Yeah. Live and learn.

[00:40:28] Um, and, uh, what do you think are some of the better, uh, kinds of studios to kind of rent and film at, especially in New York city? Oh, to film at the studios? Like, like, uh, that's for like film and video or photos. I mean, for, for rental stuff, I like Adorama in the city and, uh, uh, there's a bunch of places, uh, but as far as, uh, location.

[00:40:58] So I don't know. I mean, we did the cars for kids commercial. Where was that? It was like somewhere in Jersey on route 10. Wow. It was just like a little place. And it was like, Oh, okay. Same deal. It's like, it's a national commercial, but as well, shot a little cannon cameras. It's nothing special way back when the original. That's right. Yeah.

[00:41:21] Uh, uh, I've already talked about your rapport and how everybody gets along answers to each other. Uh, why do you, uh, do you go for like six hour days? Those are always fun. Or do you go for like as long as it takes? And then, no, I don't do the long for my own work. I don't do the longest. They're like problems. Most, I think this, uh, Aaron, I think the most we had close to eight, eight or nine hours. That was it.

[00:41:49] A lot of times it's like you're probably as you've done that quickly, which you were like, maybe you shouldn't be done that. But, uh, no, sometimes you're just there for four or five hours depending. But, you know, I think it's more of about when you do these movies that are so low budget, it's just scheduling everybody, getting actors to show up at, at the certain times, certain locations and all the props that we have to bring. And that's probably the biggest thing about doing these low, low budget movies.

[00:42:18] And you don't have that much time because, you know, you're working or doing other stuff during the week. So then, uh, I mean, it was nice. Um, Yasmin who produced the movie, she helped out a lot with the props and things like that. But as far as getting cast and location, you just have to, as when you, this movie's at this low budget, you got to do everything yourself. Yes. You know, there were so many times I lost the location, like literally we were just about the film. We lost the location or I lose an actor. Uh, one of the big roles Chico Mendez did, he plays a judge in the film.

[00:42:47] Him I've known for years, worked with a bunch of films, but literally a week before we're going to shoot the guy who's supposed to play that role, he changed his mind. I'm like, well, what am I going to get? And Chico just happened to be in town in New York. He doesn't live here now. And then it was like, all right, let's go shoot me. I get, he had so many pages of dialogue that he had to do, but he, he aced it. So he trusted you, he respected you and you, you trusted and respected him. That's, that's, that's really all you need. You know?

[00:43:17] Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. I was friends with a few people who I then had to unfriend just because they would not get anything done or they wanted to just go off script. And then I just got to where it's like, you know, buddy, I'm doing everything. I don't appreciate you. You know, I'm cool with an improv, but don't just flat out refuse to say everything I wrote. It's there for a reason. And then be like, Oh, when's it coming out? It's like, it'll come out when I say it comes out.

[00:43:47] Right. Right. So what was, what was your experience with that? What, how did, was it a feature? Was it a short? We were doing some sizzle reels and trying to make it a web series back when web series were a thing. And then it just got to where it's like everybody was playing around to where it's like, you know, I'll give you guys something because you guys are cool and SWAT armor and what have you, but I'm not messing around with any of this anymore. And scenes don't make any sense. And these people are impossible to work with. I'm not refilming.

[00:44:16] I'm not reshooting. So we're going to just, let's just retool this later on when we all get a chance, but we're going to have to do it with different people because this is a bust. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'll be honest with you. Like as a, as a person that does commercials, it's not about, I think the projects, it's about the people you work with. So it's like, yeah. So it's, it's, so you want to keep on working good people that are easy to work with.

[00:44:43] And, and, uh, as opposed to, cause sometimes the project could be, you might think it's interesting, but if you work with horrific people, it's like, why are you here? And just people also who know what they're doing. They know, like working with other producers, they know how, how long things actually take. You know, when you work with some amateur hire guy from a Craigslist, he has no idea how things take, you know, there was a big thing about out here and I'm sure wherever everybody wanted to do a reality show or reality sizzle stuff.

[00:45:12] And generally that's some rich guy who just wants to shoot something. And those were always just a nightmare because he has no idea how long it takes to shoot stuff. That's the other thing too. Concept of time is like, you need people who already had that in their day-to-day existence. It's like, you got to know whether it's been 20 minutes versus two hours. Come on guys. Yeah. Right. Right. They just stick some out on them. But those days are over.

[00:45:39] I don't think anyone's really doing sizzle reels for, I used to be big out here. Big, big, big, big, like music videos when I was young. And then it was that reality show sizzle reels. People just constantly do pilots. I mean, yeah, absolutely. They make great demo reel footage after a while, but then it's annoying when people are like, where can I find that? It's like, well, it never got completed. It never got. It was just to show what we could do.

[00:46:08] And I would see that even with people who were doing fan films. It's like, I would have to tell them just different ways to get them in the mood. It's like, think this is a parody or whatever. And they just were not getting it. It's like, this is not official. Right. We're doing it. But if you're also not coming to set, I can't film anything. So. Right. Right. I'm seeing audio dramas get adapt, embraced again. So it's like everyone's thirsty for old school kind of radio again. So that's kind of cool.

[00:46:38] Oh, really? That's interesting. Post COVID. They were just. Yeah. I used to be a big fan of all that stuff. The shadow when I was a kid. And there you go. Yeah. Yeah. People have adapted classic Doctor Who and Twilight Zone, Outer Limits episodes into recreating them officially. So, I mean, and then expanding upon that. So, I mean. That's interesting. It's also just easier to do.

[00:47:05] People can sneak it in at their day job and be listening. Sure. Outside of just listening to a talk show or a podcast. And it's interesting having to tell people. It's like, it doesn't have to be just a documentary or history or true crime show. It can also just be a work of fiction that. So I think it helped that a lot of the stars got into it with Amazon's Audible. And it's like, yeah, we're bringing some high concept quality here, guys. This is. These people love this script and they're bringing it to life.

[00:47:33] And, you know, some whoever directed them in the voiceover booth did their job. So. Yeah. Yes. And. How many movies do you. Prefer to make a year because like you've done some like three a few years and then two. Right. So when I had to like, I think when I own Purgatory Blues, we probably do about four year. At EI Cinema, we were doing like one a month. So.

[00:48:04] But now I just do it for fun. It's more about. Oh, so maybe every couple of years I'll do one if I'm bored. So. No, that's cool. Yeah. So it's not like I think when you had to, you're constantly shooting now that you don't have to. It's like you just got to do it when you want to do it. Yeah. Well, and I can relate to your experience. You know, you have a regular day job and then you do the other film stuff when everyone agrees on the time and what have you.

[00:48:31] And, you know, that can include everything from switching off nights with coworkers to just using up vacation time and trying to have family understand, hey, I'll make it up somewhere along the way. What do you what do you personally recommend for when it comes to balancing it out with day to day existence and day job? Yeah. Well, I think when you're in the throes of it, you're not going to have much time for anything. Yeah.

[00:48:59] And that's the thing, because you got to work and if you're going to dedicate it, that's true for any project. You know, it's like recently I bought a house that I had to fix up to rent out. It's like my whole life was just dedicated. I could wake up. This went on for months. I'd wake up in the morning, make my cup of coffee. You got to do all the work and then you go to sleep and you have no life. Fair enough. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:49:25] And why do you think you mastered the most on all your stuff? Is it camera, editing, lighting? I think in general, it's if you said what I mastered the most or what I do best is like to do something for a very low budget to come from concept to delivering it to be. You know, that's basically what I think I do best.

[00:49:46] You know, I mean, for me, lighting was like it's just something I do every day, but it's like I don't know if I mastered it at any point. But I think what I can do better, you know, I sold a $365 film to Showtime. You know, I paid off my mortgage. That's good. It's still a win. Right. It's kind of what you do best. It's like I could come up with a concept, something shoot a very low budget and get it out there.

[00:50:16] That's very cool. And yeah, for when you're dealing with crowds, how do you recommend utilizing social media? Because like we're in a whole different scenario where we're no longer doing just sign up for a newsletter, sign up for mailing list, get movie samplers or what have you for video stores or consumers. And people love to just kind of have their friends just go in and make phony reviews.

[00:50:45] And it's like that's not helping either. So what do you personally recommend aside from just sending screeners? Are you talking about Kickstarter or? Oh, just marketing your movies as well as just giving screeners out to reviewers. Yeah, I mean, the best way is try to contact whoever that might be interested in hearing your story or sending out screeners. I mean, now the great thing about screeners, you just send a link. Yeah. So it's like in the old days, yeah, we had to spend a fortune on screeners. They didn't steal it and sell it to anyone.

[00:51:14] They're like, no. Right. And yeah, I mean, and then as far as selling your stuff, now get an agent or someone that's and even then, I don't know, I did be sturdy. I didn't have an agent. Basically, I just knocked on the door and I said, well, I did, you know, these past things like vampires and all that. And then he was like, oh, yeah, I used to work for Troma. It's all small world. So that's how I did it with Gravitas Ventures. Yeah, they've been really helpful. Them on court.

[00:51:44] I see their logo. Yeah, I just sent them, you know, a screener and they were like, OK, let's do business. That was it. That's cool. Yeah. What do you recommend for also just like, do you do it? Is it still kind of changed to where people will can just talk over like Zoom or what just to be Skype or do they still want in person meets? For which aspect? Oh, yeah.

[00:52:13] Just meeting with studios on. Oh, no, just emails. Emails is fine. And then a phone call eventually. That's cool. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It used to be I got to meet with the big cheese and then if I don't get it. No, like when I was a kid, you know, I'd meet the guy in New York at his office and all that stuff. But you don't do that anymore. It's like sometimes they want to talk on the phone and depend. And also like something like Gravitas Ventures or whatever, there's whole different departments. So then every department, they want something else.

[00:52:42] You got to whatever it's the department or whatever. So it's easy just to talk on the phone or series of emails. True. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, I'm glad it all panned out and you're getting the results and everything you actually want. You know. Yes. And thanks for having me on the show. Yes. It's a delight.

[00:53:06] And Karen, the beauty queen butcher, which is the new film can be seen on Amazon Prime. Right now, Fandango and soon Tubi TV. That's good. It's really good. Yeah. And that's also lovely that you were able to just organize it, communicate with the distributor. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It was just like, it's the same.

[00:53:36] That company that put it out, they're called All Channel Films. And they've been around for a long time. And I have an account with them. There's also, there's a company called MVD. If people ever want to get their work. Yes. Those two companies, they pay very, they always, they're honest. So if anyone wants to do business with them, I always recommend those two. So, you know, what I was like.

[00:54:25] At least you're getting something. You get so many studios, you know. There's a lot of shady people out there, unfortunately. Yep. Got to. Unfortunately. Yeah. And that's why you got to keep asking friends of friends. Hey, what'd you hear on this? Yeah. What did I hear about this coming? But hey, the more honesty, the better. Yeah, exactly. It's been a delight. It's been very thought provoking, but it's also been just very laid back.

[00:54:55] Which is all we can ask for any kind of film shoot. Because I've seen so many others who is like, they like creating content, but didn't have many stories. It's like, oh, surely there's something funny that happened, you know, or something awesome that stays with you. Working with your other storyteller friends. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Follow us on the web on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

[00:55:21] The podcast is available on Podbean, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Anchor, Apple, and anywhere else podcasts are available. Feel free to review our show and leave comments on any of those sites. Thanks a million for listening. It's a jacked up review show. I'll be right back.