David Chackler has worked on so many great films over the years. Some of his most notable are “Child’s Play” and “Fright Night”. Due to working on those films David had become longtime friend with writer/director Tom Holland. They recently created a production company, Dead Rabbit Films together. Movie Mikes had a chance to chat with David about the films he has worked on and his process for working on the music.
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Mike Gencarelli: You’ve worked on so many great films i.e. “Child’s Play” and “Fright Night”, Tell us about your process for working on the music?
David Chackler: Whenever I was brought in to do the music, I first thing I start with is the script. My inspiration starts with the content. We work with the director and go through the music cues. We work with them and Where they would like it to be and where I feel that they should be. This helps tones the overall tone. It also helps us pick a composer and helps us pick the source music as well. Everything starts with a piece of content from a scene.
MG: How much freedom did you have to work on the music on each project?
DC: Every project is totally different. Most of the young directors working on their first or second picture, they have been dream
ing of this picture their whole life. They have a very specific idea of what music they would like and where they would like it. The first question and main issue for me is, what is the studio’s budget? There is always the little dance that goes on between what they want and what they can afford. At point I have to bridge the gap by giving them something that they would like and that also fits in the budget. If it is veteran director, they would usually let us come in with two or three cues for each area. They will sit with the composer and give you much more freedom.
MG: How did you get involved with the “Nightmare on Elm Street” series?
DC: In the early days, I was a musical consultant for New Line Cinema. I did a lot of their earlier pictures. I was lucky enough to work on on the “Nightmare” films. It definitely introduce me into the horror world. When we did these films we tried to do everything fresh, come up a new sound and not look back at the other music from the series.
MG: What is your favorite type of music in general?
DC: I came out of the music business. I can be listening to Bob Dylan anytime of the day or night. I love rock, Queen is one of my favorite band. Now I listen more to classic rock.
MG: Of all the films you’ve worked on, what has been your favorite to date?
DC: I gotta go with “Fright Night”. It was a classic film and the music is as well. The soundtrack really stands out. It just one of those things, it is timeless. People still to today always ask me about the music.
MG: Tell us about reuniting with Tom Holland to create Dead Rabbit Films?
DC: We have been friends for many years. We decided about a year ago to start this. It was a great opporunity in the independent industry. Tom is one of the best writers I have ever known and due to that we have no shortage of content. We decided to create a series called “Twisted Tales” which will be kind of like “Twilight Zone” meets “Amazing Stories”. It will appeal to a more older demog not the usual 12-24 years old. It is a little more like “MST3k”. We thought it would be a great thing for us to do and so far it has been fantastic. We have finished three tales already and are planning on closing our distribution deal any day now.
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