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Jesse Dayton is a name still relatively new to the film industry. Jesse’s first on screen performance was in Rob Zombie’s “Halloween II” as the lead singer of Captain Clegg and the Night Creatures. Jesse however has been a staple in the music industry for quite some time playing with countless acts and releasing his own albums. Jesse recently spoke with Movie Mikes about his music career and how it led him to doing movies.

Adam Lawton: Can you tell us how you first started working with Rob Zombie?
Jesse Dayton: I was going to a show one night and on my way there I received a call from Rob. Rob told me that he had heard one of my records and wanted to know if I would be interested in making a fake Banjo and Sullivan record for his film “Devils Rejects.” I didn’t fully understand what Rob was looking for until I got to Los Angeles. Lew Temple and I got together and wrote a bunch of songs. We played them for Rob one day in his production office and he fell out of his seat once he heard them. This was actually the first time I had met.

AL: Was this the first time you had met Lew Temple as well?
JD: I have actually known Lew for a long time. Lew used to come out to all of my shows when he was still a baseball scout for the Astros. We just got to be really good friends and we spent a lot of time together. Lew is the guy who passed my work onto Rob.

AL: How did your role as Captain Clegg in “Halloween II” come about?
JD: A little while after I finished the Banjo and Sullivan record I did some song for Rob’s “The Haunted World of El Super Beasto”. After that he contacted me about doing the album for Captain Clegg as well as being in the film. It really has just snowed balled from doing that Banjo and Sullivan record. After Halloween II was released I went out on the road with Captain Clegg opening forty shows for Rob and Alice Cooper which was just great!

AL: Were you a fan of the horror genre prior to working with Rob?
JD: Yeah I’m a fan. I am a huge film geek! I probably watch anywhere from six to ten movies a weeks. I have always been really into films. I was really proud of “Devils Rejects” when it came. I think Rob brought exploitation film back even before Tarantino or Rodriguez. The characters in that film are just great. Rob really puts a lot into not only the onscreen story of his characters but also the back stories as well.

AL: Has there been any talk about being in his new film “The Lords of Salem”?
JD: We have emailed back a fourth a few times but I don’t really presume that I have been officially asked to be a part of the film. We will have to wait and see. Rob likes to keep me in the loop.

AL: Can you tell us about “The Sinner” which you produced and have a roll in?
JD: We showed that film at the South by South West festival in Austin, Texas and were immediately contacted by some business people who asked us not to release the film. The idea is to make the film into a television show. We currently are in talks with some really big networks to put this out as a series. Aside from being a producer on the film I also play Reverend Roy who is a corrupt drug lord from New Orleans. The role really worked for me especially with my accent.

AL: What can you tell us about your upcoming film “Zombex”?
JD: We set up the production office last week and we are currently still getting all the cast nailed down. We plan to start shooting around May 3rd in New Orleans. I’m really excited about every aspect of this film. I wish I could tell you more about it however we are being very quiet till we have everything set to go.

AL: You just finished up a stage play correct?
JD: Yes I did. It was a play about Kinky Freidman. I had gotten a call from a play write in New York who had previously written a play about Patsy Klein. This play is actually the follow up to that entitled “Becoming Kinky”. I had heard about the casting for this play through some New York friends of mine and was able to get in touch with the right people. They actually came down to Texas so I could audition. After the audition they gave me the part on the spot. I had no idea how much work it was. The plan is to take the play to New York next which will be really great.

For more information on Jesse check out www.JesseDayton.com

Also be checking back for part 2 of our interview with Jesse when we check in with him from the set of “Zombex”

Alastair Fothergill is one of the co-directors of Disneynature’s latest film “African Cats”. Alastair also worked with Disneynature on their first film “Earth”. “Earth” was actually shot simultaneously with BBC’s “Planet Earth”, in which Alastair executive produced.  Movie Mikes had a chance to chat with Alastair about working on “African Cats” and what it was like shooting in the Maasai Mara Nature Reserve.

Mike Gencarelli: How much planning went into “African Cats” before shooting started?
Alastair Fothergill: A lot of planning. We chose to film in the Maasai Mara Nature Reserve because we know it very well and have worked there for over then years. We know the lions and cheetahs very well and as individuals actually. One of the key decisions was to find out who our stars were going to be. We really wanted to make a really emotionally gauging story. We didn’t want to make a documentary. Choosing the stars was very important and also a difficult decision. It was relatively easy with the cheetah because we found a cheetah we knew who was a good mother and just had five tiny cubs. We knew all of those cubs would not survive, so that was an immediately easy decision. Choosing the right lion was probably harder. There are twenty or thirty prides in the Maasai Mara. We finally choose the pride we ended with because we knew Fang was on the way out, he was a single old guy who didn’t have any supporters. We reckoned that within the two or three years we had for filming something dramatic was going to happen. In the same pride we find Layla, who was the oldest lioness and already in the beginning of our filming she was limping and she had a perfectly aged six month old cub. We knew that their would be something happening there. Those where the big decisions.  Then we also had to do other logistical things like setting up the camera, camps and vehicles, but we do that all that time. The main challenge was choosing the stars before filming.

MG: Since the film is referred to as a “true life adventure”, did you find it difficult to tell a story with the wild life animals?
AF: We have been very specific in suggesting to Disney what subjects we were going for. I think that there are only a few animals stories that are strong enough for the cinema. A lot of things in our film are very hard to film and do not happen that often. Lions do very little most of the time to be quite honest. We wrote a classic movie script, a forty to fifty page script, on what we hoped would happen. We were constantly rewriting the script to make sure we were coming up with a really strong story line.

MG: What was it like shooting in Kenya at the Maasai Mara National Reserve?
AF: It is a tough place if you do not know what to do. We are very experienced in it. We had specially adapted vehicles that had jacks so we were able keep them up in storms, they had doors that were able to be taken off for the cameras. We also had special rain covers. There are a lot of things to do when working in that place. The main thing is patience. These guys were out dawn to dusk, dawn to dusk, dawn to dusk for two years.  The moment when Carly and his sons attack Fang was a half an hour in two years of filming. If you missed that half an hour we would have missed one of the main dramas in our movie. A lot of patience I would say was critical.

MG: How long did it take to complete shooting?
AF: It was just over two years of filming, but it was spread over three crews. We had one crew with the lions the whole time, We had one crew with the cheetahs the whole time and a third crew coming in and doing other work. So overall it could have been more like five years of filming.

MG: What was the most exciting moment during the shoot?
AF: I think the two attacks of the lions were very dramatic. Lions very rarely actually fight. They usually roar at each other and decide by the power of the roar who is the boss. Those moments are very special. Equally for me though, some of the tender moments are amazing. I love the moment when Layla handed over Mara, that amazed me. I love the moment when the cheetah cubs where in the rain. All of the cheetah drama amazed us. We knew that the cheetahs would have problems with the hyenas but we did not expect them to be attacked by the lions. Even more, we did not know when the cheetah cubs grew up that they would try and beat up the lions themselves [laughs]. That was truly foolish and did not last very long. The two male lions crossing the river and being almost eaten by a crocodile…that has never been filmed before. Even us who have spent years and years working there were delighted. One of the good things about having a movie budget is you have the time to really spend and wait.

MG: Where you every nervous of getting too close during the filming?
AF: To be honest with you, if we get into danger that means we disturbed the animals. You get out of the vehicle you get eaten by a lion, you know? [laughs] We had tricky moments with the weather and the vehicles got stuck. We had one occasion when an elephant came into our camp and turned over one of the vehicles. Our job though is to keep out of danger, if you are in danger you are not doing your job.

MG: How does this film compare to working on “Earth”?
AF: “Earth” was a very different movie. Not sure if you are aware or not but “Earth” came out of the TV series “Planet Earth”. I made “Planet Earth” and in parallel I was shooting the movie “Earth”. “African Cats” is different since there was no TV series. We were shooting just for the movie. We were going for a stronger storyline. “Earth” is a fantastic spectacle movie but it doesn’t have anything like the strength of storyline like “African Cats”.

MG: What made you get Samuel L. Jackson to narrate?
AF: That was suggested to us by Disney. We were very pleased with the choice. We knew he had a powerful voice and we knew he would do the baddies well. What we were most delighted with was how well he did the soft parts. This film is really about mothers. I think he really captured the soft moments and the emotional moments with cheetahs very well. He just has such a great voice. You know also, he really loved doing it. He has been to Africa and has seen the lions before. You only have so much time with a guy like Jackson. He turned up and was really fired up for this. I think he did a really great job.

MG: Tell us about your next film with Disneynature “Chimpanzee”?
AF: Chimps are really fantastic animals. They share 99% of our genes. If you look into the eyes of a chimpanzee [laughs] you cannot help but get emotionally engaged. It is a great story. We have been filming a little guy named Oscar. We started when he was one year old and he is nearly four now. There has been some real dramas in his life. I think “African Cats” is an action movie and “Chimpanzee” is a domestic comedy. It is really intimate and very funny.  I know Disney wanted to release a film every Earth day, but I think it is important that every time people go to one of these that is a completely different experience. I think personally chimps are more engaging than big cats but they don’t do as much. It is filmed in a jungle and is much more different world than the Savannah.