Robert Z’Dar is known best for playing the role of Matt Cordell in the cult series “Maniac Cop”. Robert took out some time to chat with Media Mikes about his films and also what he is currently working on.

Mike Gencarelli: Can you reflect on the cult status of the “Maniac Cop” series?
Robert Z’Dar: It’s been amazing. When the first 2 films were released here in the states theatrically it was great. Going to places like the airport people would know who I was but they didn’t know my name. It was kind of funny. They would say “there’s that guy”. I still sign a lot of autographs these days. We got introduced to a whole generation recently that loves the films. Over the last 3 years this whole new cult following has been established.

MG: Can you tell us any stories from the production of the films?
RZ: While we were working on “Maniac Cop 2” I was on set the first day of shooting and we were in thiswarehouse. I was reading while the other cast was eating because I couldn’t really talk or anything as a slit hadn’t been cut into the mouth of my makeup. Robert Davi goes over and says that he doesn’t think there’s a hole in mouth and that they should probably feed the maniac because he looked like he was going to kill somebody. I go over mumbling asking if they are going to cut a hole in my mouth or was I going to have to kill them. Everyone started laughing and the makeup crew came over and gave me a slit so I could eat and talk.

MG: Were you approached to do a 4th film?
RZ: Yes, they wanted me to do a 4th one however I can’t do all the same stunts I used to be able to do. I did all my own stuff except for the burn scenes in the first films. I had been with the American Stunt Association for about 15 years. That’s probably why I am so banged up now. I have two metal hips and now they want to give me a metal shoulder. As I was about to do the film I was diagnosed with neck cancer. I was given about a 35% chance to live. I did a lot of praying prior to my treatments and everything went really well. The doctor couldn’t believe how well I have healed. As of right now I am cancer free. I am getting back in to shape and I have a bunch of movies that I am ready to start work on.

MG: What are your thoughts on the proposed “Maniac Cop” remake?
RZ: Everybody wants so much money for the rights. Greed has gotten the best of a lot of people and that’s the reason why there haven’t been more films in the series.

MG: What do you like most about working in the horror genre?
RZ: I have done 4 or 5 horror films. I seem to play a lot of bad guys. Over the past 5 years or so I have gotten some really great roles in some independent films. There is one called “Precious Mettle” which is in the process of securing financing. The film is a great dramatic, who done it? type film. I play a firefighter whose buddy is killed. It has a number of twists and turns. The cast is made up of quite a few well known old school actors.

MG: What do you think has been your most challenging role to
date?
RZ: Every movie I do I try to pull something that will showcase my craft while at the same time entertaining people. However my biggest challenge was beating cancer.

MG: What other things do you have going on?
RZ: I did a film called “Drummer for the Mob” which was produced by Bruce Koehler. The film has some great locations that are old mob type places. William Forsythe is in the film and he is just such a great actor. That film should be coming out sometime in the fall of this year. I also have one called “Ring of Fire” that is in the works as well. There is just a bunch of stuff going on right now. I really love my work.

Brad Loree is known best for playing Michael Myers in “Halloween: Resurrection”.  He is also has performed stunt work on numerous TV and film projects including  “TRON: Legacy” and “Watchmen”.  He is the star of the recently released “Mr. Hush” directed by Dave Madison.  Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Brad about his film and stunt work.

Mike Gencarelli: How did you get involved playing the role of Holland Price in “Mr. Hush”?
Brad Loree: Well Mike, I meet writer/directors at the con’s all the time who claim they want to work with me, but Dave Madison actually sent me a script and then kept his word by using me as Holland!

MG: Can you reflect on playing such an iconic character such as Michael Myers in “Halloween: Resurrection”?
BL: When i got offered the part of Michael Myers, I was already on another show. But when they explained that I wasn’t going to be just the stunt-double, but actually play The Shape, I quickly left my previous gig and jumped into the role! It was a great honor!

MG: What do you like most about working in the horror genre?
BL: My favorite thing about the horror genre is doing conventions and meeting the fans. Great people!

MG: You’ve worked stunts in two of my favorite films, “TRON: Legacy” and “Watchmen”, can you tell us about those experiences?
BL: Well, on “Tron” I got to meet ‘The Dude’, Jeff Bridges. Awesome guy! Did a little gag where he gets kicked by his younger self and slides several feet backwards on this platform. “Watchmen” was fun because I got to be a motorcycle cop, an arresting officer and also the lead character’s fist punching thru a wall! And Zach (Synder), the director, is my fav of any I’ve worked with!

MG: What has been your most challenging role stunt performing?
BL: My most challenging stunt was on a TV show called “Mantis”. I had to jump thru an 8ft by 8ft window from the 3rd story and, across a 14ft abutment below! If i’d fallen short, well….

MG: Tell us about your upcoming projects?
BL: My next project is to be determined. I’ve been laid up for a few years now due to a motorcycle wreck. But i am hoping to do more acting in the future and may try my hand at writing/producing. Wish me luck!

Eduardo Sánchez is the co-director of “The Blair Witch Project”. He also directed genre films like “Altered” and “Seventh Moon”. His latest film “Lovely Molly” is a unique approach to the genre and leaves you chatting about the film days after it is over. Media Mikes had a chance to chat about the new film and what else he is currently working on.

Mike Gencarelli: How would you say that “Lovely Molly” differs from your past work?
Eduardo Sánchez: It’s more of a drama than my other films. I wanted it to be that kind of film, the kind of horror films that I love, that have strong characters and isn’t just about the creature.

MG: The film is very intense, how did you get Gretchen Lodge to sign on as her first film?
ES: I asked her nicely! We both knew how difficult it was going to be so we discussed the intense nature of the material and it just seemed that we trusted each other. She trusted that I wasn’t going to exploit her and I truster her in going to the places that I needed her to go. It worked out very well.

MG: Besides the film itself, tell us about the “Is it Real?” aspects posted online?
ES: They are story extensions that we like to have on most of our projects. When making a film, you end up with a lot of great material that never makes it into the movie, so this is our way of exploiting some of that stuff and adding more to the story. It was a lot of fun for me because I had very little to do with this on LOVELY MOLLY, so I experienced most of this material like an audience member would, which was pretty exciting.

MG: On “Lovely Molly”, you not only directed but also wrote and edited, what was your most challenging aspect?
ES: The editing really through me for a loop. I hadn’t edited a feature by myself since film school, so I completely underestimated how emotionally taxing it was going to be. It was tough and I felt very isolated in my basement for all those months. Couldn’t have done it with my co-editor Andrew Vona, who was a great help to me, not only as an editor but as a motivator. He always believed in the film.

MG: I enjoyed the film “Midnight Son”, how did you get involved as an Executive Producer
ES: One of the sound mixers on SEVENTH MOON hooked me up with Scott Leberecht, the writer/director. He had shot it but had no money for post, so I got a few people involved and we went to work on it. It took a long time but we finally got it out in 2012. Really proud of Scott and Matt Compton, who produced the shit out of this film.

MG: What do you have planned next?
ES: I am posting a Bigfoot movie called EXISTS that should be out next year. I’ve been wanting to make a Bigfoot movie since I was a kid so it as a dream come true. And it’s looking pretty damn good so I can’t wait to set this sucker loose on the world! Check it out at http://www.facebook.com/existsmovie

Phillip Friedman is best for his wonderful transformation as the Old Woman in the terrifying horror film “Insidious”.  Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Phillip about his role in the film and how he feels about spreading fear into 30 year old men!

Mike Gencarelli: How did you get the role of Old Woman in “Insidious”?
Phillip Friedman: I had never thought I would be playing an old woman. (Laughs) having said that it was one of the most fun roles I have ever done. I generally like playing characters that are far away from my own personality and it makes things more interesting. I auditioned for the role and also met with James Wan. He wanted to know how comfortable I would be dressed as a woman. He really wanted to know how comfortable I would be on the set and if I could do the job.

MG: Can you tell us about the transformation process of the character?
PF: Make-up took somewhere between 2-3 hours to put it all on. It wasn’t to challenging as the make-up people were great. It wasn’t the most fun part of the shoot but it really wasn’t too bad. Taking it off was a little bit more challenging than putting it on. It took a little over an hour to get the makeup off. It was a process.

MG: Are there any moments from shooting that stick out for you?
PF: Just working with Patrick Wilson and Lin Shaye for the last scene was great. I enjoy playing and for me working is playing. It is very enjoyable and satisfying. Even more so when you are working with people who you respect and you are making something that people want to see.

MG: How does it feel to promote fearish nightmare into a 30 year old man? Umm, I mean a friend of mine of course!
PF: [laughs] I have been attending some fan conventions lately and have had so many people come over to me and tell me they are glad to meet me and that they don’t have to have nightmares anymore. That has been a fun part of things. It’s great to see that regular folks like to get scared. I am glad that I can help them.

MG: With “Insidious 2” on the way, any word if the Old Woman will be returning?
PF: I probably only know as much as everyone else. I believe there was an interview with Lee and James where they stated that a screen play was in fact done. I have heard that it may start shooting this year and be released next year but you never know. There is never a way of knowing until it actually happens.

MG: What other plans do you have for this year?
PF: My representation is currently working on getting me some roles while I myself am also always looking for roles. You never know what is just around the corner. Sometimes things that you would never expect come right out of the blue. It’s definitely not like having a regular day job where you know what’s coming.

Michael Paul Stephenson is known best for his role in the cult classic horror film “Troll 2”. Since then, Michael has written and directed the documentary about the film called “Best Worst Movie”, which takes a look at the fandom and his experiences with the film. His newest documentary is called “The American Scream”, which premieres on the Chiller Network on October 28th. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Michael about his passion behind his films and comparing “Best Worst Movie” to “The American Scream”.

Mike Gencarelli: I am a big fan of your documentary “Best Worst Movie”. Tell us about how “The American Scream” was born?
Michael Paul Stephenson: The short answer is that we got really lucky. The long answer is long so bare with me but it is meaningful in terms of how this happened. Not this summer but the summer before we were working on a narrative feature called “Destroy”, which we are planning to shoot next year. So we were in the middle of that, when Chiller Network contacted one of my producers and told him that they were big fans of “Best Worst Movie” and asked “What is Michael doing next?”. My producer kind of scratched his head and said “Let me get back to you!” He called me and told me about this idea for a documentary on people that create home haunts for Halloween aka homemade haunted houses. Right off the bat connected with the idea. When I had originally planned to do “Best Worst Movie”, there was never a question of if it would be good or bad. It was something of a feeling that I had to do it. That is the way I felt about this project. It felt as a director that it would be a very playful place to work. I wasn’t interested in the commercial haunts or the haunting industry but the home haunter is an artist of sorts. True, these people decorate for Halloween but all of that is rooted in creativity and passion for the holiday. I also connected emotional to this, since I grew up in a small town and my neighborhood was very into Halloween. So I had some great memories as a kid.  And so this project just grew from that.

MG: So this project was more of a labor of love for you. Do you find that aspect makes it easier when doing a documentary?
MPS: I think you have to have that aspect, especially with a documentary. I think you have to really love the subject matter and connect with it emotionally. That is one of the fears I had coming off “Best Worst Movie”, there is no way that I am going to find another documentary project that feels as personal or meaningful in the same way. In my opinion, you can’t set out to make an effective documentary if you are not personally invested into it. I feel very lucky that this subject spoke to me in such a personal way. It just seemed like this project was meant for me. The Halloween before this was project was born, my wife and kids live in Los Angeles and we were complaining about our neighborhood. We didn’t know our neighbors and complained that our kids are not going to have the same Halloween that we had growing up. We figured that was the price for living in the city. We ended up though finding three streets in Los Angeles that celebrate Halloween and trick or treating in a very big way. Everyone goes to these streets during the holiday. We actually then moved into that neighborhood! So the timing is just weird but seemed to really work out.

MG: What do you think is it about horror fans that they are so devoted?
MPS: It is passion man. And heart. With horror fans, these are people that love movies. They love the experience that the movie gives them. It is the same thing with hauntings. And it is same thing with anyone that is doing something with heart and passion. You can really get behind these people. It can be boring subject matter but if you find someone that is passionate about it, it is infectious and that is something that everyone thrives for. For “The American Scream”, it just so happens to be about things like home made Halloween decorations and with “Best Worst Movie” it was about a bad movie. At the heart of it all, it is that passion ultimately.

MG: How do you feel that “Best Worst Movie” compares to “The American Scream”?
MPS: That is a good question. There are obviously parallels between both worlds. Ultimately with “Best Worst Movie” it is about passion and also artistry. The same thing for “The American Scream”, there is an artist, there is creativity and also passion. My editor and I joke and say that we have to make one more film in order to complete, the trilogy of artistry in unexpected places. It is true, they are very similar in many respects. The challenging aspect in comparison to “Best Worst Movie” was that it was filmed over the course of four years. It was a hard push, then a break. It was challenging but it was just me and there was not rush. With “The American Scream” I had one month, a ticking clock, from the time we started until Halloween finished. There was no luxury like “Let’s come back next Halloween”. It was a shrinking window every day. My favorite documentaries always have strong arcs. Sometimes with characters a good arc takes time. I wanted to see certain character’s arcs but we had this ticking clock. Also with “Best Worst Movie”, there was no expectations or very low expectations. With “The American Scream” I had to follow up something that really worked. So there were heightened expectations and a lot of pressure with that.

MPS: Yeah! We have two projects in the works right now. There is the narrative that is a mix of dark comedy and horror, though more dark comedy. It is called “Destroy”. We announced it now about a year and a half ago. The script actually came to me from Zack Carlson, who is one of the programmers for the Alamo Drafthouse. I got the privilege to know Zack when I was filming “Best Worst Movie”. He was the first person to show “Troll 2” on a big screen. We read the script and just fell in love with it. We start filming looks like around May next year. It is terrifying and definitely a big step. But it is material that I have connected with. It doesn’t hurt that it comes from a writer that I also connected with as well. Then we also recently helped executive produce a low-budget comedy called “Zero Charisma”. It was filmed in Austin and was directed and written by our dear friends and collaborators Katie Graham and Andrew Matthews. Andrew was the editor of “Best Worst Movie” and “The American Scream”, so he is like family. Katie has been a DP on both movies as well. After “Best Worst Movie” premiered, they wrote this film and brought it to us. It is their baby but we have helped them make it. And it should start being submitted to festivals shortly.

Christopher Chacon is a world-renowned Anomalist and regarded as one of the world’s foremost authorities on the scientific exploration of paranormal, supernatural and anomalous phenomena, as well as the occult/metaphysics and mysticism. For nearly thirty years, Christopher has traveled the world extensively investigating and researching thousands of cases dealing with every type of phenomena imaginable, including; possessions/exorcisms, all manner of psychic phenomena, haunts/poltergeists, UFO/alien close encounters and encounters with unknown life-forms, just to name a few. He has additionally participated on countless international expeditions involving ancient mysticism, the occult and archaeological discoveries relating to the supernatural.

Christophers past experience includes decades of Parapsychological research, as well as a background of being a professional illusionist/magician. Christopher is also a former veteran investigator/researcher with the Anomalistics Division of The Office of Scientific Investigation and Research, a private scientific think-tank that was in operation until 2000.

He continues to internationally consult for private organizations, religious and academic institutions, government agencies and corporations in dealing with phenomena and situations that often defy the known laws of nature and physics. Because of Christopher’s vast knowledge and extraordinary first-hand experiences, he is frequently sought after by those in the entertainment industry who are in need of a credible expert in these subjects to lend authenticity and a one-of-a-kind creative perspective to Movies and TV series. His incomparable reputation in this field has resulted in being featured on countless international TV and radio shows, popular documentaries and numerous publications. With “Paranormal Activity 4” now in theatres, and a fifth chapter recently announced, Media Mikes sought out Mr. Chacon to talk about the things we can’t easily explain.

Mike Smith: What sparked your interest in investigating the world of the paranormal?
Christopher Chacon: Wow! That’s going way back. I would have to say, initially, it was originally in college. My background is in magic and illusion. I’m a performer. People would approach me and tell me they were having a haunting or some other type of unusual circumstance. From an illusionist standpoint you can easily see how people can often misunderstand certain circumstances and how they can be tricked. So in a lot of these situations I would observe and then tell them “this is what’s really happening.” They were just misperceived. It wasn’t a ghost…it wasn’t a close encounter. And then at some point I began working with a para-psychologist and we started doing research on a larger bulk of cases. It was at about that time that I was exposed to a poltergeist case where the phenomenon could not be dismissed. It kind of defied the laws of nature and physics. It was the case that told me that I had to embrace the fact that there’s more out there then you could learn at any college, university or in academia. That continued for a good 12 years and then I began working for a scientific organization…a think tank…that basically adopted the method of approaching phenomena as anomalies, using a very unbiased and objective point of view. We investigated thousands of cases all over the world. After I left I still kept being contacted by people who had unexplained phenomena…whether it was a priest who was doing an exorcism and phenomena was happening in the atmosphere that he couldn’t explain or someone who’s experiencing extreme poltergeist activity in their building when there is no environmental explanation for it. I would go and consult and assess these situations.

MS: Does the fact that you have a theatrical background…performing…help you when you’re investigating? Do you look at something and think, “well, if I was going to do THIS I would start by doing THAT?”
CC: Not in respect to trying to reach a conclusion skepticism wise. When I was with the scientific group they actually tried to re-train us…they wanted us to approach each phenomena objectively. There is something called the “Observer Effect,” which means that when you walk into an environment you actually bring your pre-dispositions with you. So your observations may be tainted. Somebody who believes in ghosts and goes to investigate a phenomena may not be objective while the person who is extremely skeptical is on the other side of the spectrum. So when I go to investigate I try not to walk in with any preconceived bias. I’m open to the possibility of what the phenomenon is…how things can be misinterpreted. People have had what they thought was a poltergeist case only to have it turn out to be an alien abduction case or something like that effect. It’s not always a good thing to try to come to a conclusion too quickly. My background in magic and illusion, of course, assists the fact that when I get a phone call from somebody who says they’re experiencing something and they want me to come out there I insist before I head out there that they have to rule out rationale explanations first. They do so and in 70 – 80% of the cases they find another explanation. I explain to them that, in a psychological arena, things can be misperceived. Whether it be due to their own psychosis over what’s going on or just circumstantial events. So 70 – 80% have rational explanations in that category. But keep in mind there’s another 20 – 30% that, even after you’ve gone through all of the categories, you’re still left with something that truly defies the laws of nature and physics. It’s an anomaly.

MS: Have you ever truly feared for your safety while observing a phenomenon?
CC: I’ve never feared for my life, so to speak, but I’ve definitely been startled. When things pop out at you when you don’t expect them, especially when you’re focused on a phenomenon or an environment. When something jumps out at you or moves, especially when it’s volatile…it does startle you. There’s no question about that. In the thousands of cases I’ve been on…and I’m talking the most volatile ones…I’ve had my nose broken twice. I’ve had my hair burned off three times. I’ve been asphyxiated several times and had my ribs broken. I’m not saying this was done by a creature or a poltergeist or a possession. There are just some kinds of severe phenomenon that are unexplainable.

MS: There are quite a few “reality” shows on television now dealing with the paranormal. Do you watch any of them? And have you ever questioned their findings?
CC: Well, I do understand how the process works for entertainment, especially for television. And the need to ramp something up to something more sensational than came before…with so many television stations they have to keep trying to outdo each other. 20-30 years ago you had a handful of shows. Things like “Unexplained Mysteries.” Things then were more scientific. The integrity level was very high. To answer the first part of the question, no. I really don’t watch. Mostly it’s becase I don’t have the time.

MS: Finally, do you have a favorite experience from all of your years of working?
CC: A favorite experience? (laughs) Wow. There have beem literally thousands of cases of unexplained phenomenon. The most disturbing, obviously, is one where someone is traumatized. I’ve worked hundreds of cases where the victims suffer from PTSD, usually as a result of the experience. Post traumatic stress disorder takes over. This usually happens with possession-type cases. Those are the worse one to get involved with. As for poltergeists, again the cases that come to me are the most volatile in nature so it’s difficult to say which is the most fascinating. I will say that there are cases where you actually observe the phenomenon. You understand the basic laws, like gravity, and when they’re being defied they’re pretty fascinating. It’s extraordinary to see it happening. In the case I’m currently working on…in the center of the house…there’s a phenomenon where all light seems to be absorbed. When you’re in the area you can hear whispers in it…dogs stay away from it. If you put light into it spectrophotometers show that the light is being abnormally observed in this one area then in any other part of the house. To encounter those kind of things is really quite extraordinary!

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Oliver Robins is known best for his work in the classic horror film “Poltergeist”.  He has also worked on films like “Airplane II: The Sequel”. Currently Oliver is focusing on writing and directing with his latest film, “29,000 Wishes, 1 Regret”.  Oliver took out some time to chat about his experience on “Poltergeist” and working with Steven Spielberg.

Mike Gencarelli: Were you aware of how physical the role in “Poltergeist” was going to be?
Oliver Robins: For the most part I did because in the script it really explained what was going to happen. In terms of how they were going to execute those scenes I had no idea. It was presented to me like I was going to camp. And that’s exactly how it was. I had a great time. Every time I went to the set I had a new adventure. Because when you’re a kid you pretty much accept everything. They’d say, “OK, Oliver, today you’re going to be bolted to this wall and hung up by wires. We’re going to turn the room around and you’re going to scream into the camera because at the angle you’re hanging at it’s going to look like you’re flying.” And as a kid you’re thinking, “OK, that sounds fun.” Then the next day they tell you you’re going to be back in the room and giant tree arms are going to come at you. They want you to jump on the tree arms while screaming at it. Then they throw sugar glass at your face but they do remind you to cover your face when they’re doing it. And as a kid you’re having a great time. It’s like “what’s next?” As an adult you might step back and think it’s kind of crazy. But I used to love climbing trees so it was a blast to me.

MG: So it was really more like fun then work?
OR: Oh yeah, I had a great time. And it was a great bunch of people. Steven Spielberg. Kathleen Kennedy. Frank Marshall…they were a great group of people to work with. I didn’t want to leave the set when we were done every day. I had to because of the labor laws. “Sorry Oliver, you have to go home.”

MG: There has always been a lot of speculation as to whether Spielberg or Tobe Hooper was the director in charge. Can you lend any insight into this?
OR: I’ve learned that people seem to like controversy in pretty much everything in life. And this is one that will never go away no matter what people say. You can say that Steven Spielberg did NOT direct the film, bottom line, but people don’t want to believe it. They want to be conspiracy theorists because the falsehood is more exciting in many ways then the truth. As for Spielberg, he wrote the script (NOTE: the Original story for “Poltergeist” came from Steven Spielberg, who shared screenplay credit with Michael Grais and Mark Victor)…he was the producer. And he had a vision that he shared with Tobe. But Tobe directed me. I mean, it was investigated by the DGA (Director’s Guild of America) at the time. But when it comes to the nitty gritty, Tobe told me where to stand. He told the camera operator where to put the camera. All of the rules that I learned in film school about what a director does Tobe did. As far as what happened behind the scenes, I’m sure Steven explained what he was going for. I mean, when you’re the writer and the producer, you do what any writer would want to do. Explain your vision and your intent. Hope that they are executed as a team. And I think they worked as a great team. So in terms of what I saw on set, Tobe was the director. At least that’s my perspective on it. (NOTE: When “Poltergeist” opened in June 1982 these rumors were already circulating. Tobe Hooper has maintained that these rumors cost him an Oscar nomination for Best Director. Ironically, a week later “E.T.” opened. That film earned Spielberg a Best Director nod).

MG: How was the change going from scary “Poltergiest” to the zany “Airplane 2?”
OR: I had seen the original “Airplane,” so I knew the tone of the piece. I loved “Airplane” so I knew what kind of performance they were going for. It was a dream job for me when they gave it to me. Ken Finkleman, the director, was very patient. He told me what he wanted…the very broad and over the top reactions. I had a lot of fun doing it. And the adult actors were basically doing the exact same thing so I just followed their lead.

MG: What is it like for you now to watch films you made back when you were a kid?
OR: I just recently looked at “Poltergeist” again. Obviously I’m a bit prejudiced but I think it’s a fantastic movie. As good as the films being made today without any of the great technology that exists now. I think that with the advent of all of the new CGI technology we’re almost losing some of our filmmaking capabilities and techniques. It’s as if CGI is now almost a crutch. I mean in “Alien” you hardly see the “Alien” whereas now they show everything when maybe you don’t need to show everything. Not to mention that with a lot of CGI effects today it’s almost hard to suspend disbelief. Getting back to “Poltergeist,” that film is so scary because of the stuff you never even saw. It’s in your head because you really don’t know what you’re looking at. It’s all in your mind. And I think that’s brilliant filmmaking. And it’s not just a horror film. A professor told me that compassion will always win over camera. Which means you make a film with story and character and relationships and the special effects are secondary. And that’s true about “Poltergeist.” Sure it’s scary but it’s the family and their relationships that you care about during the movie.

MG: Now you’re focusing on writing and directing. Talk about taking that path in your career.
OR: It was on “Poltergeist” that I decided I wanted to be a filmmaker. Steven Spielberg loaned me a Super 8 camera and at 10 years old I started making films. And it became a passion that I fell in love with. I fell in love with telling stories. I made a 15 minute film called “The Crystal” that won first prize at a French Film Festival. I realized I wanted to do this as a career. So on the advice of Mr. Spielberg I went to the USC Film School (NOTE: Besides Steven Spielberg, note USC Film School Alumni include George Lucas, Robert Zemeckis and Ron Howard), graduated and I’ve been pursuing filmmaking pretty much ever since. I love all genre’s of film. From comedies to romantic comedies to dramas and family dramas. Hopefully I’ll be able to tell many stories.

MG: You wear pretty much every hat possible on your new film “29,000 Wishes, 1 Regret.” What was the inspiration behind the film?
OR: My inspiration was that I wanted to do a film about our times right now. And I learned it was going to be difficult to raise funding for a film about a young couple who loses everything because of the recession and realize they’re never going to live the life they hoped for. So they decide to charge what’s left on their credit cards and then kill themselves. That story line proved next to impossible to raise money through the traditional means. And I didn’t want to wait ten years to make this movie. I thought it was timely and that it had to be done right now. We had the technology to do it. We had the cameras. So we went out and did it. I’ve been to film school and I said to myself, “Let’s go out and let me see if I can fill every behind the scene role on the movie.” I brought in a couple of friends to assist, one to be DP and one to run sound. But sometimes they weren’t available so I’d have to do everything myself. But what I loved about it is that it allowed me to work very close with the actors and allowed me to really just focus on their performances. I didn’t have to worry about funding or paying back money. It was really just our time that we were spending. And we could really just tell the story that we wanted to tell. Of course the downside is that we didn’t have an infrastructure. We were kind of scattered trying to assemble everything while shooting this film basically by the seat of our pants. So there was an upside and also a darker side to this level of filmmaking. But I think it really tested my ability. To be able to make a film with pretty much nothing…just me and my camera. For all intensive purposes the only thing I really had going was my knowledge of cinema from film school. It’s the same equipment. Now a high school kid can get the equipment as a holiday gift and go out and do the same thing without a lot of money.

MG: Where can people see the film?
OR: They can buy it right now on Amazon, (https://www.createspace.com/334235) or they can download it as well on Amazon. Just type “29000 Wishes, 1 Regret” on Amazon and they can watch it at a moment’s notice. The film has a distributor and it should be available on network television later this year.

MG: Tell us why you started your own clothing line, Cursed Clothes?
OR: I had been going to different horror conventions and thought that it would be great to give fans a little bit more of the movie I was in. So I got with a designer to create “Poltergeist” – inspired T-shirts to hand out. And we had so much fun creating these T-shirts that I thought it would be fantastic to do with other films…all of my favorite films from the 70s, 80s and 90s. Even movies from now. So we created an entire line of horror inspired clothing. And that’s how we came up with Cursed Clothes, (www.cursedclothes.com). We’re creating designs for all of the films that I love. “

Dustin Mills is the director of the wild and crazy film “The Puppet Monster Massacre”. Dustin took out some time with Media Mikes to chat about that film as well as his new film “Zombie A-Hole”.

Mike Gencarelli: Tell us about what the inspiration was behind “The Puppet Monster Massacre”?
Dustin Mills: It’s the same with every film idea I come up with. I am just trying to make films that I would want to watch. I look for holes in the B-Movie universe and try to fill them.

MG: Are you surprised with the response this film has gotten?
DM: The response has been rather mixed, and honestly the only places it sells well are Horror Conventions. I think my surprise came from seeing it featured in magazines and websites that I had read for years. We were in HorrorHound, Fangoria, and there was a review on AintItCoolNews. That was wild. That’s the stuff that makes my heart race.

MG: When can we expect the sequel to this film?
DM: I really want to make one, but so for we haven’t had a ton of luck with raising the funds. I have the outline, I have started the screenplay, but now it just boils down to hard numbers. I’m not going to make the film until I can give it everything it needs. My plan right now is to produce some low budget exploitative short films to sell with the sole purpose of raising money for PMM2. It will happen… its just a matter of time.

MG: Tell us how it was going to puppets to “Zombie A-Hole”?
DM: It was much much easier. Production was smoother because I wasn’t playing every single part (we had no puppeteers for PMM) and post was easier because we had real locations instead of a greenscreen that required keying and or matte paintings and 3d backgrounds. The only thing that is more difficult about a live action film vs something like PMM is that you have to be willing to relinquish control and improvise and let your actors help build your world. Making a virtual backlot puppet film allows you to have a much narrower mind, but working with people and weird conditions forces you to be a resourceful soldier.

MG: What was your biggest challenge besides the budget of $1K?
DM: The budget was never actually a hindrance. I like working with nothing. A low budget like that forces you to be a renegade and I like that. there is something really exhilarating about shaking your camera while your actor’s wife blows fog over your car with a $20 fog machine and a fan that barely works and a couple of your buddies bounce the trunk up and down so it will kinda sorta look like the zombie hunting cowboy is driving at night. I live for that shit. The biggest challenge I guess was just time. Its hard to line up schedules, and we had a medical emergency with one of our actors that set us back for a month or so (not an onset injury mind you). That’s really it. Once we got folks together there was never really anything that held us back too much.

MG: Sticking with the horror genre, who are your idols?
DM: Thats a hard question because I have two sets of idols. I got my mainstreamers like Robert Rodriguez, Guillermo Del Toro, Sam Raimi, Dario Argento, and Fred Dekker. But then I also have my indie heroes. People like Eric Stanze, Bill Zebub, Fred Vogel, Jason Eisener, Kevin Strange, The Kuchar Brothers, and a few others. These are guys with true vision who know how to make their budgets and indie status work for them. I may not even like every movie they put out, but I respect the shit out of them. My grandaddy idol at least for right now is Jim Wynorski. I’m not sure the world will ever truly appreciate his genius.

MG: Favorite horror film?
DM: My favorite horror film and probably favorite film of all time is “The Monster Squad”. It embodies just about everything I love about horror and the magic of the movies.

MG: Tell us about your upcoming “Theatre of the Deranged II”?
DM: Well James Bressack is spearheading this wacky anthology and on it I have an animated short that is sort of inspired by anime and the sushi typhoon films called Girl Girl: Mutant Lesbo Vengeance. Its going to be quite strange and extremely bloody. I am pretty excited about it, and I am in good company on that collection. James really gathered a good group of filmmakers and I am pretty honored to be rubbing shoulders with them.

MG: What else do you have set on the horizon?
DM: I am putting the finishing touches on Night of the Tentacles. It will be out early next year probably. I am shooting a film called Kill That Bitch which will be out early next year as well. I am shooting a puppet porno music video for a Las Vegas band called The Fat Dukes of Fuck that is perhaps the strangest thing I have ever done. I recently did a video for one of their member’s other band called Demon Lung, check it out here. I have two other projects; one of which is already filmed and the other I am filming currently. I’m honestly not sure how much I can say about them so that might be a tale for another time.

Traci Lords is an actor/singer/producer/director.  She has appeared in films like “Cry-Baby” and “Blade”, as well as the recent “Excision”.  She also released a new compilation album called “Traci Lords Presents: M2F2”. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Traci about her new film “Excision” and also her new album.

Mike Gencarelli: How did you get involved with a film like “Excision”?
Traci Lords: It happened like “I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell Happened, “Blade” and “Cry-Baby” all happened, through my agent, Stephen LaManna. I saw the short that Ricky Bates Jr. had done years before for his final school project. I thought it was very interesting. We had several meeting and I ended up doing some screen testing for the role. I thought that I had played the role of Pauline, played by AnnaLynne McCord, before in my career. I have also played the role that Ariel Winter plays in the film as well. But I have never played a woman like Phyllis, that was as controlling and uptight. When I read it one of my concerns what how do you make somebody that is this tough in ways – how do you make her likable  – how do you give her humor? That was one of the challenges with this role. I had to figure out how to not make her one note and make her a real person.

MG: Phyllis is one great character, how did you prepare for the role?
TL: I just kept trying to put myself in the frame of mind of a parent that has one of their children dying. The closest experience I had to that, and thank God, is having two cats. The cat didn’t like ended up dying and the one I like survived. It is a terrible analogy but it is the only one I had going into the movie. What does that feel like? Trying to figure out what the other way would feel like? To be a parent and not like one of your children, probably has to be the worst feeling in the world. The torment about that is something that I just chewed on and focused on. There were wonderful actors all around me and that made it easier to come about. AnnaLynne McCord created a very unlikable strange, wonderful, bizarre character in this movie. She would come to the set as that character and it was not hard to be annoyed by her in that sense. So it helps my portrayal of Phyllis, since I just had to look in front of me.

MG:What was it in the script that jumped out of you that made you want to be apart of this project?
TL: I think the aspect that compelled me most had to be the director, Ricky Bates Jr. I think he is a really interesting person. He wrote something, whether you like it or not, it is bizarre enough to make you think. The fact that he as confident as he is as such a young filmmaker, I thought that was very intriguing. I am curious to see what he will do with more experience.

MG: John Waters is this film, you worked with him on “Cry-Baby” & “Serial Mom”, did you get a chance to reunite?
TL: That was really my doing. Ricky was a fan of John Waters and John is very dear friend of mine. I put the two of them together and John said he would do the movie, much to Ricky’s delight. John flew in for a day and we had a fun time on the set. Seeing the film for the first time at Sundance this past January, when John comes on the screen, the whole audience just lost it. You don’t expect him in that role of a priest. Ricky really cast against type in this film. It was just delightful.

MG: What do you enjoy most about working in the horror genre?
TL: I have done a lot of work in the horror genre. It is nice to return here. I liked to bounce around much with different genres like “Blade” and “Cry-Baby”. I haven’t done a real juicy dark drama in quite a while. I think I do something funny next.

MG: Last year your single “Last Drag” was hot on the charts, any plans for new music?
TL: As a matter of fact, I released “M2F2” last week on iTunes. There are ten tracks on the album, eight of which are already charting here and there. That is really great. I have three tracks on it, since it is “Traci Lords Presents”, So it is a compilation of tracks from Sea to Sun Records. It is definitely a love record, meaning that you can put it on in the beginning of a date and play it straight through no matter what happens. That was the idea behind “M2F2” aka “Music 2 Funk 2” [laughs]. I see myself doing more and more compilations like that. Really I want to continue to act and sing but also focus more on writing, producing and directing of my own stuff. I think there are so few wonderful roles for women, especially of my age. So I guess I going to have to write my own now.

MG: What else do you have plans in the cards?
TL: I am also currently adapting my book “Underneath it All”, my life story that came out in 2003 from Harper Collins into a bio pic.

Bruce Davison is one of Hollywood’s best character actors in the business. He earned an Academy Award nomination for his work on “Longtime Companion”. He is also known for his his role as Senator Robert Kelly in the “X-Men”. movie franchise. He recently directed Barry Williams & Danny Bonaduce in the Syfy creature feature “Bigfoot” and also recently worked with Rob Zombie’s on “The Lords of Salem”. Bruce can also be seen weekly on ABC’s new hit series “Last Resort”. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Bruce about his busy year and also what else he has planned.

Mike Gencarelli: How did you get involved directing the creature feature “Bigfoot”?
Bruce Davison: Well, I had done some directing before for Showtime and few others. But I had done a few projects with David Latt at Asylum, like “Mega Fault”. I told him if he had any directing gigs come up to throw me a bone and that I would love to direct. I missed my chance with (Roger) Corman, back in the days. He calls me up one day and says “I am not giving you a gift, I am giving you a nightmare”. I went to Washington to shoot and I think we had a 14 day shoot that ended up being only 9 days. It was sort of like being the General at Dunkirk, I was trying to run two armies at the same time, shooting whatever footage we could and trying to juggle jello, basically.

MG: Tell us working with the duo of Barry Williams & Danny Bonaduce?
BD: I had the best time working with the two of them. I would just let them riff lots of time. I tried to get Florence Henderson and Shirley Jones to make an appearance at the end but it didn’t work out. They were wonderful and the best. The hours were impossible. The shooting schedule was insane. Danny was doing a radio show every day, getting up at 4am and then coming to shoot. But he was still so professional every moment. I feel that they pulled a lot of stuff together [laughs] out of their butts. We really had to. There was a lot of improvisation. And also at the same time, we were trying to create a Bigfoot. We had one difficulty after another; we had to shoot a raft scene in an afternoon, when we weren’t allowed to shoot in the water [laughs]. It was one thing after another. It was so difficult, it was laughable. If we didn’t have a scene of humor about it we would have probably killed each other. But we ended up having fun.

MG: It is funny how you directed “Bigfoot” and your first job directing was on the “Harry and the Hendersons” TV series.
BD: [laughs] I didn’t think twice. I figured that “Bigfoot” would be like “Mighty Joe Young” and “King Kong”, just another big behemoth monster that goes around biting the heads off pretty girls. We had all that going for us and it was completely different from “Harry”. People have said to be over the years “Wasn’t doing “Long Time Companion” difficult and emotional draining?” I have said “No, “Harry and the Hendersons” was”. Trying to get the Bigfoot on the van was much more difficult than playing something that was so close to the heart.

MG: You are co-starring in the new TV series “Last Resort”; tell us about your role?
BD: Pretty much, what you can expect you will have to wait and see. Admiral Arthur Shepard is the character I play. He is the father to Lieutenant Grace Shepard, the third-in-command on main submarine. He is a character that you don’t quite figure out where he is coming from for a while but things will evolve. He is an intriguing and interesting character and he has been a pleasure to play so far.

MG: How was it working with Rob Zombie on his film, “The Lords of Salem”?
BD: I am so looking forward to that film. I had the best time of my life working with Rob. I just adore him. I think the three girls playing the witches just go through the roof. I think he has a new franchise with them, since they are just outrageous. Dee Wallace, Patricia Quinn and Judy Geeson are great. I have a scene with them and I just chuckle every time I think about it. His wife Sheri Moon Zombie is just a dear. I am hearing that it is quite controversial and going to stir up the pot. I look forward to it. He is just brilliantly talented.

MG: Can you tell us about your role in film?
BD: I play an author named, Francis Matthias. I work at historical tourist traps in Salem, MA. I am like the investigator and trying to solve the mystery of what is going on. It is sort of like Martin Balsam in “Psycho”. It is a wonderful character. Maria Conchita Alonso plays my wife. I try and track down what is going on and well…get more than I bargain for [laughs].

MG: Lastly, tell us about your work the unofficial sequel To Martin Scorsese’s Film “Raging Bull”, “The Bronx Bull”?
BD: It is a whole other cup of tea and is told from a completely different angle. William Forsythe is going to really surprise a lot of people with this. He is a wonderful actor and is so close to Jake LaMotta in character in his later years. It is not so much connected to Martin Scorsese but it is a chapter two in the life of Jack LaMotta.

Vincent D’Onofrio  is known best for his roles in projects like “Men in Black”, “Full Metal Jacket” and TV’s “Law and Order: Criminal Intent”. Vincent recently directed an amazing horror film called “Don’t Go in the Woods”, starred in Jennifer Lynch’s “Chained”. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Vincent about that role in “Chained” and if we can expect him to direct again soon.

Mike Gencarelli: How did you get involved with Jennifer Lynch’s disturbing “Chained”?
Vincent D’Onofrio: We had a mutual friend and she wanted me to read the script. I have known Jennifer for a longtime, even before she did “Boxing Helena”. So she sent it to me and I thought it would be a really good idea to do. I got in touch with her immediately and then we were off.

MG: How did you transform yourself into Bob for “Chained”?
VDO: It is all about telling the story correctly. You have to figure out a way to get away with the character that you are not going to overshadow the story but at the same time do it right. I brought this speech impediment into it to give notice that something is wrong with this guy and he has a past. His posture and that sort of stuff is in the story and is scripted well and a lot of that helps the character along. Mainly my job was to bring in this guy that can get away doing these horrific things.

MG:You have taken on so many unique character roles from “Men in Black” to “The Cell” to “Full Metal Jacket”; do you always aim for the most challenging roles or does it just end up working out for you?
VDO: I think it is a little bit of both. I worked on TV for almost ten years and it is nice to get back into playing different types of characters. I think that when you are a character actor you some great opportunities like the antagonist. I really enjoy it. If you pick the right ones, you can get lucky. I always look for a challenge and always try to pick different roles. I think sometimes I get asked and then sometimes I go after parts like that because I find them interesting.

MG:What do you enjoy most about working in the horror genre?
VDO: I love it. I just really do. It is a really fun genre to work in. I directed the horror film “Don’t Go in the Woods” and that was fun in one way and “Chained” was fun in another way. “Chained” is a very character driven piece and “Don’t Go in the Woods” is basically a horror/slasher musical. The idea of living in that world of horror, there is a lot that can be done creatively to make it different than something you have seen before. That is best thing about good horror films and why I watch them. The bad ones – the ones that are not as entertaining are the ones you’ve seen over and over. The ones that are the coolest are brand new and finds a way to re-tell the horror. Those are fun to watch.

MG:You are also working again with Jennifer Lynch on “A Fall From Grace” & “The Monster Next Door”; how those come about?
VDO: “A Fall From Grace” is definitely happening. I am will be working on that with her soon, once she gets the financing ready. So yeah, once she is ready…I am good to go.

MG:Tell us about your role in “Sinister”?
VDO: That is basically Ethan Hawke’s film. He is a good friend of mine. They asked me to cover over a help out with a character. I only worked on it for a couple of hours. I am only in the film a little bit as a favor but it is suppose to be really intense. The testing is amazing. I am looking forward to seeing it.

MG:I am a big fan of “Don’t Go in the Woods”, you plan on directing again soon?
VDO: Yeah I am doing to do it again. It is going to be completely different from that film. It is going to have to be something that I am committed to give a couple of years to. The next one will hopefully be a little bit bigger of a budget. We did “Woods” for only 100K and shot it in 12 days. So not too much bigger but I am working on this other thing currently. So keep an eye out.

Sean Stone is the son of well-known director Oliver Stone. Sean is not only directing but also writing and starring in his film “Greystone Park”, read our review here. Media Mikes had a chance to find out what it was like working on the film, with his father and what we can expect next?

Mike Gencarelli: How did the concept for “Greystone Park” come about?
Sean Stone: Well, it was about the same way that you see in the movie. I met Alex Wraith in October 2009 with my father, since he worked on “Wall Street 2”. We all had dinner one night and found that that Alex had been breaking into Greystone for like three years prior to meeting me. He would bring a camera to record his experiences; otherwise he said no one would believe him. He had an idea for a movie based on these experiences. The whole idea was based around that location itself, which was just so perfect. When he told me about it, I thought it sounded cool and had always wanted to have a ghost hunting experience, so I checked it out. When we went the first time, wee did get end up getting lost for real like in the movie but luckily we got out after an hour or so, once we found a door that wasn’t locked. But we said what would happen if we got lost inside and couldn’t get out. Then we kept writing the rest of the story based on that. That became the basis for about 80% of the film.

MG: How was it not only directing but also writing and starring?
SS: Challenging [laughs]. It is a big challenge to really immerse yourself into that world. In one sense it is easier if you are doing a documentary. But if you are operating the camera, giving lines and acting at the same time, it starts getting complicated. The hardest part was that there were certain things that we had to have staged. We had to make sure the camera was in certain places to hit right at a specific moment. That was really the tricky part from the directing point-of-view. Luckily, I was able to trust my actors to use the camera as their eye, for example. Then I would be able to be in a scene acting and still be able to cue, let’s say, a footstep or a door closing. I would have to be able to be conscious in and out of the scene. It is like a magician, having a  hand out and trying to setup a distraction for the reveal.

MG:What do you feel that the film brings new to the found footage genre?
SS: Well, ours is based on a true story. We actually broke in, went to these places and had these experiences. I have never been a big fan of the found footage genre. It is one thing to tell a story based on real events. It is another thing to just concoct a story and pretend it is real. I feel that “The Blair Witch Project” was the worst offender is that regard. Even the “Blair Witch” itself, I thought there was a real witch myself [laughs]. That was the age before internet, you didn’t know that stuff. But with “Greystone”, I don’t think we belong bunched in with films like those. We broke in, actually had these experiences and this is our story.

MG: How did you get your father, Oliver Stone, involved in this project as well?
SS: That grew organically out of the fact that I was going to play myself. Originally when we wrote it, I was going to have my friend play my character and just focusing on directing. But then the producers, Alex and a few other people I trust pushed me to play myself in the film. They said it would be more interesting. What happened next was that I called my father, their already was a character written for the father, and just asked him. At first he was hesitant, since he was thinking that people would say its nepotism or be extra critical about it due to that. But we decided just to do it anyway and he went with it. I think that there is a reality TV quality to that and I find it very interesting.

MG: Having worked with your father directing on numerous projects, tell us about your director style?
SS: What is interesting that before we even started shooting and just had the script, one of the investors said he told this project felt like “Natural Born Killers” meets “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”. At first I didn’t understand that until we shot it and cut it. It does look like “Natural Born Killers”.  It is uses a lot of cuts, a lot of edits and even some stock footage. We used a couple different cameras on the shoot also to get a different feel. The overall effect has this hallucinogenic quality. It was not intended that way. The one thing that I learned from my father would be to shift styles depending on what kind of movie you are trying to tell. He has always been able to do that by telling one story in a classical shooting fashion and then tell another with a different avant-garde post-modern way.

MG: What do you have planned next?
SS: I am working on a martial arts comedy. It will be an homage to 70/80’s action hero cinema. It is called “Enter The Fist”. We have a website (http://www.fistthemovie.com/) up currently, you can check it out.

Veronika London is a model and an actress. She has been called “The Megan Fox of Canada”. She recently co-stared in the film “Searching for Angels” with Vivica A. Fox. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Veronika about her work and what we can expect next.

Mike Gencarelli: You have been called “The Megan Fox of Canada”, what do you enjoy most being known as a sex symbol?
Veronika London: I have to admit the attention is fun and I find it rather interesting how marketing and sex can rule the world if played right. If anything I’m just happy that I’m comfortable and confident enough to play by my rules and exploit my desires. If the bi product is being a sex symbol- then so be it- lol

MG: Going from modeling in magazines like FHM and Maxim to TV/film, how do you compare?
VL: Longer hours and more of a mental, physical and emotional challenge. The best scenes are those when you open a personal can of worms that was locked in the vault and leak the raw emotion of the specific moment on camera for the first few times through a script (someone else words but ur truth) . Now that’s magic-

MG: Tell us about your role in film “Searching for Angels” with Vivica A. Fox?
VL: I played Angel who was an amnesiac heroin addict. My performance was tabbed as being similar to Angelina Jolie’s in Gia which was a great compliment. I am a fan of her. SFA became a form of therapy- I love dark intense roles.

MG: How did you prepare for this very intense role?
VL: I watched alot of intervention and associated with people with addiction, memory loss and those that worked the red light district before production to really pick up the mannerisms.

MG: What do you have planned next?
VL: I have recently finished working on the feature film called “No One Will Notice.” I’m starring in it with Joseph Cannata and Erik Fellows from Days of Our Lives. It’s very Dexter but with a bigger twist. My character lives in a dark world. She’s very detached, empty and damaged. (The usual heavy dramatic role). Also a clothing like called VKN is in the early pipeline stages for which the tagline is “Desire Inspired Elegance.” In addition a collaboration with Visalus has come about. I was first introduced to the product when I broke my ankle as a way to stay in shape and did it ever work. I did simple movements, did the 69/31 eating lifestyle and was able to keep shooting during the months that I was in a cast.

Colin Minihan and Stuart Ortiz make up the Vicious Brothers.  They are the Writers/Directors of “Grave Encounters” and Writers of “Grave Encounters 2”. The first film has already become a cult classic after a very short time.  “Grave Encounters” is an awesome found-footage horror film and the sequel is twice as good as he first one. Keep an eye out for these guys because they are going to be huge. The guys took out some time to chat with Media Mikes about their sequel and what we can expect next.

Mike Gencarelli: Where you guys get the name the Vicious Brothers from?
Stuart Ortiz: When we were close to being done with “Grave Encounters”, we figured we should come up with a directing handle. Since if you have just two dudes names it is too much information for the audience to take in.
Colin Minihan: Dude, just tell him the honest answer. He was coming out of a huge bender…
SO: [laughs]
CM: …and he woke up one morning had the name in his mind and just wouldn’t shut up about it. I just went along with it. [laughs]

MG: Are you surprised with the quick cult status the the first film has achieved?
CM: Yeah it has been really cool to see all the different countries take to it. We are very excited for them to see the sequel?

MG: Why did you step aside on this film and let John Poliquin take over directing?
SO: The main reason was that right when “Grave Encounters 2” became a reality and we were going to move forward. We are also at the same time finishing up another project that is a sort of proof-of-concept trailer that we made for a film we are trying to get off the ground right now. It would have been too much having to go into production on “Grave Encounters 2” and then finishing up the other project. We just didn’t want to be able to commit 100% to it. We have known JP along time. He is a great director and we were friends with him anyway. After one conversation with us, he totally got the material. It really seemed to make sense.

MG: Tell us about the production on “Grave Encounters 2” and how it compares to the first film?
CM: The production definitely differed a fair bit [laughs]. On the first one, Stu and I just were just constantly writing and make “Grave Encounters” almost out of necessity almost with no money. It was literally Stu and I running around a mental institution with the actors. It became a success and allowed us to do the things we wanted to do on the first film but didn’t have the manpower or visual effects budget. I think as a result we really crammed this movie with as much stuff as we could. We stretched this budget way further than we thought we could, while still staying sane and pulling it off. I am definitely glad we didn’t pussy out and make something safe. We really pushed the limit and made JP’s life challenging for sure.

MG: Shooting at the mental institution, any things creepy happen during production?
CM: I definitely below in ghosts and have had a few weird occurrences in my life for sure. I am one of these people that can walk into a house and if I am not paying attention I can pick up a vibe.
SO: Colin has a radar for that shit. Down to the point if we go something I would ask “Yo, you getting a haunted vibe?” He will look around, squint his eyes and say yes or no”. We were just in London a few weeks ago and he was just freaking out the whole time saying “This whole city is haunted man!” [laughs].
CM: As far as the building goes, when there is so much energy and people on set, in order to experience something you really need to be alone and in a quiet place. Otherwise, there is too much distraction.

MG: Tell us about the decision to bring back Lance Preston?
SO: We kept a tight relationship with the actor, Sean Rogerson. We would hang out all the time. Even from the very beginning, after we finished “Grave Encounters”, we knew from the get-go that no matter what we did, Sean was going to be in it.

MG: The ghosts in the film are super creepy, tell us about how they were conceived?
CM: I think when you are writing it you just try and do to a dark place and find out what is going to scare ourselves. We tried to visualize it with some sketches and then just put on the makeup and hoped that when you turn the lights off and hit the night vision that it is as effective as it is in your head.

MG: “Grave Encounters 2” takes a real clever approach to found-footage genre, what were you concerned about most that you wanted to accomplish when writing the sequel?
SO: There was a couple of different things. We didn’t want to retrace our foot steps and it was important for us to do something different. There was so many possibilities especially if you are talking about a found-footage or mockumentary approach. You can go even farther than a convention film. It seemed like a waste just to do the same thing again. First and foremost was just to do something fresh. They Colin came up with this idea to be set in the “real world”, where people know about the movie and there is this conspiracy. That was the #1 priority. The #2 was that one we were in the building was to actually how that the building is a character and has an agenda and purpose of its own.

MG:What do you two have planned next?
SO: We are keeping very tight lipped on it now. But we are waiting on financing to close by the end of the year. We have a sci-fi horror movie called “The Visitors” that Colin and I wrote and will co-direct again. It is a lot different than “Grave Encounters”, it is not found footage in full but does have a little bit of found footage for the most part it is a classically cinematic film. We are hoping to get that started next year.

Ron Perlman is known for his many unique roles like Hellboy or Vincent in “Beauty and the Beast”. He also plays bad-ass biker, Clay Morrow, in “Sons of Anarchy”, which just started it’s fifth season on FX. Ron tackles a completely different role in the new comedy “3,2,1…Frankie Goes Boom”.  He is playing the role of the transsexual ex-con, Phyllis. This film is a absolute riot and Perlman really steals the show. Media Mikes had the honor to chat with Ron about this new role, his recently “reset” character on “Sons of Anarchy” and his continuously growing resume working with  Guillermo del Toro.

Mike Gencarelli: What drew you to the role of Phyllis, the transsexual ex-con in “3,2,1…Frankie Goes Boom”?
Ron Perlman: It was not a childhood aspiration let me tell you [laughs]. However life its strange way of taking twists and turns that you never see coming. It turns out that Charlie Hunnam, my co-star on “Sons of Anarchy”, was going to to this film as his summer school pet-project. I get a call from him that the filmmaker would consider reading this script and play the role of Jack (this ended up being played by Chris Noth). I started reading it and I got to page 2 or 3 and I just said “Holy shit, this is really funny and I need to be in this movie. I started reading Jack’s part and I really loved Jack…but then I got to Phyllis. I get this mental image

of Jax Teller from “SOA” coming in and seeing Clay Morrow in a house dress, red nail polish, lipstick and being asked to kiss his hand. I said “Well, if that doesn’t get these fuckers nothing will” [laughs]. The more I read of Phyllis, the most I realized that this will be a really fun character to explore and unlike anything I have ever done before. I really admired the comedy in the writing. I called up and told them what I wanted to do and they said “It just so happens that you are the only person with the balls enough to ask to play Phyllis and by default you got the part”.

MG: Where did you get inspiration for the character?
RP: There was really no real inspiration from her that came from my life personally. Everything I used as a jumping off point as with what Jordon (Roberts) wrote. I just love the notion that Phyllis starts off as Phil, a guy who is an outlaw and is this computer hacker. He has this amazing ability to rip off Bank of America for $2 million bucks and that is how he ends up being Bruce’s (Chris O’Dowd) cellmate. He always had this notion of being a woman born in a man’s body and feels compelled to fix that. I said to myself “Jesus, if I can’t figure some interesting idiosyncrasies for the planning of this guy, then I should really turn in my Screen Actor’s Guild card.” [laughs]

MG: How was it going from working with Charlie Hunnam on “Sons of Anarchy” to this film?
RP: Some of the scenes that could have been very uncomfortable, and if fact where very uncomfortable, it helps that I had a bro on the set. I could say “Dude, it behooves us both to never get into the press as to how the filming of this actually looked and smelled like”. That fact that it was my bro that I was doing this with really helped a lot.

MG: Do you find that comedy comes natural for you?
Comedy was what started me off as an actor. I did some stand-up when I was really young, growing up in New York. Then I joined a troupe with a group of friends doing sketch comedy. So that was my first love. Hollywood does afford me to do a lot of comedy. So in order to find these opportunities, I have to go underground and find projects like “Frankie Goes Boom”. But when I am able to do it, it is a real pleasure.

MG: After five seasons, do you feel that that Clay Morrow has changed within your portrayal?
RP: In the first four years, he has this station in life and this stability and marriage with Gemme (played by Katey Sagal). Now in season five he has lost everything. He is on a reset now. No one knows where he ends up at the end of season five, including yours truly. But he is definitely on a journey where the sand is shifting under his feet and he is re-adapting himself. What an amazing opportunity that is

for me as an actor. You sign on to do a TV show, the conditions of which are highly well articulated and then all of the sudden five seasons in you are almost playing a new character. It is the same character but under completely new circumstances. Yeah, it is awesome and you don’t get to do that often on television. We all feel very blessed that this show is such an un-obvious exercise in storytelling. It sets a completely unpredictable set of circumstances and also while continuing to be very dynamic and violital. It is flood with very explosive violence and it is like a bad car accident…you can’t take your eyes off it.

MG: Are you and Charlie planning to work together on every project, after this you have “Pacific Rim” coming out?
RP: Yeah, for life man. This is it. Charlie Hunnam and I. We are the new Laurel and Hardy or Martin and Lewis or Abbott and Costello or probably Charlie McCarthy and Edgar Bergen. But I am not sure which one is the dummy.

MG: How was it working with Guillermo del Toro yet again on this film?
RP: Oh my God, this is number five for me and GDT! We felt like family members from the very first project, “Cronos” and on. We became really good friends. So to get to go through life together celebrating this friendship and doing it in such a way that we add-in these wonderful creative opportunities into the mix is great. I am watching him evolve as a filmmaker and he is watching me grow old as an actor. We are getting to do it in each other’s presence. That is in a category that I can only label as “Undescribable”. There are no words to describe how phenomenal that reality is. Now that we hit the number five [laughs], it is pretty clear to me that it is not a fluke. It is probably something we will continue to do until one of us drops, and I got a really good feeling I am going first.

MG: You got to get him to do another “Hellboy” film man!
RP: I am working on it. Trust me I am working on it.

MG: You’ve been successful in both film and television, do you have a preference?
RP: I really love working for the camera. I really love working on interesting material. I would have to say the opportunity I have on this particular television show is probably 500 percent better than any other television exercise that one could hope to be on. There are some really great TV shows out there now like “Newsroom”, “Breaking Bad” and “Boardwalk Empire”. There is a lot of great stuff now being done on television. But for the most part those are the exceptions to the rule. And I am on one of the most exciting shows to be a part of. It is almost like doing a movie since it is such a charged and intelligent setting. So yeah, I don’t have a preference as long as it answers to those edicts.