Zachery Bryan is known best for his role in the TV series “Home Improvement”. He is currently spending his time working on his production company, Vision Entertainment Group. Their latest film is titled “Rogue River” and is a excellent entry to the horror genre. Media Mikes had a chance to discuss the film with Zachery and find out what Vision has planned next.
Mike Gencarelli: How did you become involved with producing “Rogue River”?
Zachery Bryan: I was a child actor for quite a few years and then made the transition into adult acting. My producing partner, Adam Targum, and I were at a Dodgers game talking back and forth about what we wanted to be doing and we were a little frustrated with the creative side of our business. We decided to start Vision Entertainment Group. Right off the bat, we found a script that we attached a director to and sold that project to Lionsgate. We were not very involved on the physical side of that project. For the next project, we raised the money and produced it ourselves. We found a phenomenal investor and we started looking for scripts. “Rogue River” was one that came very quickly to us. We liked this script for a few different reasons. The price point of the film was pretty reasonable as we didn’t want to start with a large budgeted film. We actually filmed it in the Rogue River area of Oregon. We also liked it because it was a script that wasn’t reinventing the wheel from a plot stand point. 
There were some original set pieces however. This had all the “it’s” that we needed. We are really excited for the film to be coming out.
MG: How would you categorize the film?
ZB: It is definitely horror genre. Our log line would be that the lead character has lost her father and takes his ashes to spread at the Rogue River. Things ultimately go wrong and she ends up being held captive. The film has quite a few twists and turns.
MG: What do you like most about working in the horror genre?
ZB: It’s good from a business sense as there is a great demographic out there. Horror has an extremely strong and dedicated fan base. The film will make its way out there and people will hopefully see it.
MG: What was the biggest challenge of working on the film?
ZB: From a production stand point, I would have to say the weather. We filmed from November in to December in Southern Oregon…and it was freezing. We had things breaking all the time due to 
the weather. Other than that things went really smooth.
MG: Having grown up in the TV business with “Home Improvement”, how do you compare from producing?
ZB: They are both so different. Acting is much more emotional. Producing is long hours and you are with the project from start to finish and sometimes even longer. I like producing because I like making decisions. I look at it as you are the painter not just the paintbrush. You get to work on every aspect of the project not just one specific part.
MG: What do you have planned next to produce?
ZB: Our next film titled “The Grief Tourist” is not horror at all. This film is a very art house type film about a guy obsessed with following serial killers. The film stars Michael Cudlitz and Melanie Griffith.