MIDNIGHT SON is premiering at Cinequest in just a few days. We caught up with the director Scott Leberecht and producer Matt Compton to talk about making their film, online distribution and some of their favorite classic horror movies.
Cinequesting: It's you and a Cinequest pass holder on the escalator at the Camera 12. Quickly tell them what MIDNIGHT SON is about and why they should see it.
Scott: The film is about a guy forced to live underground and work the graveyard shift due to an intense allergy to sunlight. When food stops satisfying his hunger, he desperately looks for an alternative, and discovers the one thing that works: blood. You should see this movie because it is not typical horror. It is a dark character study that relies on realism and subtlety rather than overblown visual effects or melodrama.
Matt: The only other thing I would tell them is that you don’t have to be a horror fan to enjoy the film. As Scott mentioned, it’s first and foremost a character study, plus it also has a love story component. So, I think it’s got something for just about everybody. I think anyone who has an appreciation for smart, original
cinema will enjoy it.
Cinequesting: Tell us about the journey of this movie from the script to the world premiere at Cinequest.
Scott: I saw a house one day that was seemingly abandoned, with the windows covered from the inside by paintings. I imagined someone trapped in there, trying to communicate with the people passing by -- perhaps someone allergic to sunlight. That was when I realized I had never seen a story that depicted vampirism as a debilitating congenital illness.
Once I had the screenplay written, I created artwork as a way to impress potential investors and help them understand the look and feel. The first investor was Kevin McCorkle. He and his wife Lisa embraced the film instantly, and opened many doors for us. Without them, along with Max Curry and Maya Parish, I never would have shot the movie. We raised enough money for production, and I naively believed we would get the rest of the money for post-production once people saw the footage. This was our first big stall. Months went by, then David C. Hughes, our Sound Designer, told Eduardo Sanchez about my predicament. Eduardo emailed me to see some footage. After reading the screenplay, he called to say he wanted to help finish the film and brought on
two other producers that he'd worked with in the past: Matt Compton and Reed Frerichs. I was thrilled, but the 2008 economic downturn was our next big stall. We could no longer afford to pay an editor, and I realized the only way the film was ever going to be finished was if I learned Final Cut Pro and did it myself. For many months, I edited while Eduardo, Matt and Reed gave me notes. Ed became my mentor and guide, teaching me things that only come with the kind of experience he has. Now that the film is finished, we are navigating the complex
waters of distribution, and I feel incredibly lucky to be in a partnership with such wonderful, experienced producers.
Cinequesting: Did the success of a popular movie franchise named after the time of day immediately following sunset make it easier or harder to make MIDNIGHT SON?
Matt: I think it helped, once we got into post-production, because vampire films were suddenly “hot”. So, I think it probably helped us to be able to raise a bit of money to get post going. I don’t think it’s really had much effect other than that, to be totally honest.
Cinequesting: We caught a glimpse of FRIGHT NIGHT playing on a TV in a scene in the movie. Kudos for that, it's one our all time favs. Did you guys grow up as fans of horror movies? Any ones you want to name check here?
Scott: I am a huge fan of FRIGHT NIGHT because it so brilliantly rode the line of being humorous and scary. AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON is another great example of this. The two horror films that scared the pants off me as a kid were THE EXORCIST and SALEM’S LOT. My all-time favorite John Carpenter film is THE THING. ALIEN, AMITYVILLE HORROR, JAWS, THE HOWLING, THE HITCHER, THE SHINING and POLTERGEIST all had an impact on me.
Matt: My two favorite horror films are THE SHINING and THE EXORCIST. Both of those scared the heck out of me when I first saw them, and I wasn’t able to sleep well for days after! I’m totally with Scott on FRIGHT NIGHT – it was such a cool film, so I’m really stoked that we were able to pay homage to it in MIDNIGHT SON.
Cinequesting: Besides showing that chicks dig pale sensitive dudes, what were your goals with MIDNIGHT SON? Do you feel like the film accomplished them?
Scott: My biggest goal with MIDNIGHT SON was to reboot our image of the vampire. I wanted the audience to forget everything they’ve seen and think about what it would really be like as a normal person struggling to live a normal life while plagued with the symptoms of vampirism. I did not want my character to be an ultra-cool, seductive superman. I wanted him back down to earth, to a place where we could relate.
Cinequesting: How do you feel about digital distribution of films on the internet? Do you think it empowers filmmakers?
Matt: I do indeed. The internet is opening up distribution possibilities for independent filmmakers that never existed before. There are new services and websites popping up all the time where filmmakers can post their films online, and charge a small fee for someone to watch it. It’s definitely taking some of the power away from “the gatekeepers” (the distributors), and allowing for more films to be seen than ever before.
The big thing that can still be a bit of a roadblock to the micro-budget filmmaker is marketing. There are so many independent films being made now, thanks to the declining prices of shooting and editing. The downside is, there are that many more films out there now, fighting for the attention of the audience. So, marketing becomes very important, and can be costly. There is a lot filmmakers can do on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, but to do any real advertising, filmmakers need to allocate some of their budget to marketing costs.
Cinequesting: Where else can we see the cast and what's next for them and the crew?
Matt: Zak Kilberg (“Jacob”) is actually focusing more now on producing. He has a production company in New York City called Social Construct Films. He has two films in post-production, L TRAIN and ALYCE, and several in development.
Maya Parish (“Mary”) is a member of the Elephant Theater Company in Los Angeles, and can currently be seen in the production of LOVE BITES: AN EVENING OF NOT SO ROMANTIC SHORTS AND DYSFUNCTIONAL COMEDIES.
Jo D. Jonz (“Marcus”) is playing a sex and drug addicted poet from the sixties, who suffers from schizophrenia, in a project entitled THE HEIROGLYPH OF THE COCKATOO for both stage and film. He has also written & directed a film entitled 15 MINUTES OF FAME.
Thanks for the interview, guys, see you at Cinequest 21!
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