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A Very Scary Moment With Jeff Kirkendall

Monday, 14 April 2008 Lance Barton

I sat down with Jeff Kirkendall, the genius behind Very Scary Productions to get his take on life inside the indie world of upstate New York...

LB Start with your credits - What films have you made?

JK To date I've made six movies, two of them being features and the other four short films.  These are all movies I've written, produced, directed and edited.  My first movie was a vampire feature called TERROR OF THE MASTER, which I produced right after graduation from college in the mid 1990's.  It was an ambitious story about a woman who is kidnapped by a criminal gang working for a vampire.  Her sister comes to rescue her before she is sacrificed to him.  This movie really served as a crash course in independent filmmaking
and helped me learn the various aspects of the overall process.  I premiered it locally at a community college in my area.
Following this I made three short movies in the late 1990's.  NIGHT THERAPY (approximately 24 minutes) tells the story of three patients who talk to a therapist about their experiences with a disembodied head.  THE GREEN-EYED MONSTER (approximately 26 minutes) is about a young woman alone at home one Halloween night who is contacted by a spirit from Beyond The Grave over a dead channel on the radio.  And 3 TO MURDER (approximately 40 minutes) is about a trio of suburban women who are set upon by a criminal gang.  It's a crime drama with a horror twist at the end.  Then I decided to produce another feature, so I took the three women from 3 TO MURDER and put them into a bigger story called THE TEMPTRESS.  In this movie they battle an evil vampire cult led by a vampire named Angelique.  THE TEMPTRESS was my first movie shot in the (then new) digital video format, and was an ambitious undertaking for my production partner James Carolus and I.  We shot it over the course of a couple years on weekends.  It was premiered in Upstate New York and was screened around the area several times since then.  Right now I'm putting the finishing touches on a Special Edition DVD which will include a remastered version of 3 TO MURDER, a commentary track and some other extras in addition to THE TEMPTRESS feature.  The most recent movie I produced and directed was a 39-minute comedy called OF THEATRE & BIKINIS, which tells the story of a young woman named Claire who wants desperately to become an actress.  She reads in a tabloid that a famous Hollywood director is coming to her small town looking for new talent, and she and her best friend go on a quest to meet him.  Like my other movies, we premiered this one in Upstate New York, and I'm now working on the DVD version.  I hope to have it available for purchase later in the year.

Also, in addition to my own directorial movies, I've been quite active as an editor for other filmmakers.  I've edited several movies, including the features THE EDGE OF REALITY, LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT, and THE DROWNED. THE EDGE OF REALITY is a horror anthology film that was produced and directed by Upstate New York-based filmmaker Joe Bagnardi.  I'm currently helping him promote and distribute the film over the internet.  LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT and THE DROWNED were produced and directed by independent filmmaker Bruce G. Hallenbeck.  He's also from the Upstate New York area, and he's currently looking at distribution options for both movies.  LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT is about paranormal investigators battling the forces of evil, and THE DROWNED is a psychological ghost story.

LB Why do you make movies?

JK I really like all aspects of the creative process.  I like telling stories and I like having a major hand in seeing those stories come to life on video.  It's also very satisfying seeing other people enjoy my work. One of the best parts for me is sitting with an audience watching something I've produced, directed, acted in, etc.  It's a great reward.

LB What movies influence you?  What movies do you love?

JK As you can probably guess from looking at the list of movies I've been involved with, the horror film genre is my favorite. While I like all types of movies, I often find horror films to be the most exciting because of the adrenaline rush and escapism they provide.  Interestingly enough I didn't really get into horror movies until my teenage years.  One of the first films I remember really scaring me was JAWS.  I saw that when I was around 9 years old, and I think it kept me away from watching anything scary for a lot of years.  Then when I was around 18 years old I saw A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET on video and that movie really fascinated me.  It was great drama in addition to being scary, and the story was incredibly compelling.  I went out and rented the sequel and was incredibly excited when part 3 came out in theaters soon after that.  I gradually became more and more interested in the genre as a whole and soon came to love it.  I like all types of horror movies including slasher films, zombies and vampire pictures.  Some of my favorite directors include Wes Craven, John Carpenter, George Romero, Peter Jackson and Dario Argento.  I especially admire the determination and persistence of people like Romero and Argento who continue to work on smaller budgets and produce great films, while at the same time being happy for directors like Wes Craven who have risen to the top in Hollywood.  The list of movies I love is too long to name, but a few (besides A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET) would be: NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, DEMONS, FRIDAY THE 13th, DEAD ALIVE, HORROR OF DRACULA, THE LAST MAN ON EARTH, PROM NIGHT, TERROR TRAIN, FROM DUSK TIL DAWN and DARK CITY.  I think many of the movies I've seen have influenced me in different ways.  Perhaps it's a style of filmmaking I might get an idea from, or shot composition, or ways of telling stories.  One thing I can say for certain is that some of the best horror films I've seen have had strong or memorable characters (like Nancy Thompson from A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET for example).

LB What's right and what's wrong with Hollywood?

JK It's good to see that Hollywood has been embracing the horror genre more in recent years.  Just the overall number of horror films produced is a good thing for the fans.  It seems as though the horror genre is finally starting to be seen as a legitimate film genre, which is how it should be. Conversely, I'm a bit put off by all these remakes being done.  They're remaking films that in many cases aren't that old, many from the 1980's, and it's disheartening because it would be better to produce original content. Of course I understand that many in Hollywood are more inclined to lean towards something proven, hence the remakes; however even though some of the remakes have been good they are often mediocre, or at the least, unnecessary.  Also, from the feedback I've seen on the internet, in most cases people aren't asking for their favorite films to be remade.  On the contrary there have been online petitions against some of them.  So I think often it's a case of producers looking to make some quick cash on a big opening weekend and blatantly ignoring the wishes of horror fans. Additionally, for new fans it can be confusing and misleading because many will mistakenly believe the remake represents a brand new idea.  At the very least I believe remakes should be required to have the year added to the title to let viewers know it's a remake. That way perhaps if they like the film they might be inclined to seek out the original on DVD.

LB If you had unlimited resources, what project would you do?

JK I think I would go all out with a huge zombie film in the tradition of DAWN OF THE DEAD.  It would have lots of locations, lots of action and lots of zombies!

LB What's right and what's wrong with the festival system for indie filmmakers?

JK I think the sheer number of film festivals is a good thing because it provides multiple chances for new works to be seen.  However the entry fees for many festivals can be rather steep for no/low-budget filmmakers.  So I tend to like the smaller festivals geared towards independent artists because the fees are usually lower.  Also some of these smaller fests are only open to movies below a certain budget, and this can give filmmakers working without much money a better chance.  This I think is still fair because there are plenty of bigger film festivals aimed at big budget movies.

LB What has your experience been with finding talent in front of and behind the camera for low budget filmmaking?

JK I've been fortunate to find many talented actors to be in my films.  My area of Upstate New York has a lot of enthusiastic people when it comes to acting.  Many of my actors have been college theater majors looking to get some on-camera experience, as well as others just wanting to try something new.  In terms of behind the camera talent I've also been fortunate to work with some very dedicated and talented people, including the independent filmmakers I mentioned in the first question.

LB What is it like generally making films in Upstate NY?

JK In addition to the talent I mentioned, it has been good to see the interest in independent films increasing over the years.  I think back when I first started a lot of people didn't know what to make of a movie not produced in Hollywood or playing in theaters.  This is understandable because when most people think of movies they think Hollywood.  However with the availability of digital video equipment, opportunities have opened up for those who otherwise wouldn't be able to produce a movie.  And as more of these types of no/low-budget Indies have been produced, the interest and, to some extent, acceptance has increased as well.  Digital Filmmaking is a creative endeavor more and more people want to be involved with once they know it's actually possible.

LB What has been the most/least fun in your indie filmmaking experience?

JK I've enjoyed the creative experience on all my productions.  As I said I think one of the most rewarding experiences is seeing a finished film with an audience and getting people's reactions and feedback.  In terms of least favorite experience I don't think I can name one in particular, but I will say there have been times when things have been challenging to say the least.  There were times when the equipment wouldn't cooperate, or we had a scheduling conflict with the actors, or the weather put a damper on outdoor filming.  At these times I just kept thinking how great the movie would be when it was finished!  I'm sure most filmmakers go through those trials and tribulations though.

LB Give us your take on the whole, "Technology is now so inexpensive that anyone can make a movie and the Internet allows anyone to be seen" theory.

JK I'm very happy that affordable technology has given many more people the opportunity to make a movie than otherwise would be able to.  I've written extensively about this topic on my website, and refer to it as "the democratization of filmmaking".   I see it as an incredibly positive development which helps further artistic expression and empower people.  I've heard some people talk about it in a negative and condescending way by saying that now a lot of untalented or undeserving people can make movies. This is an attitude that I completely reject because I believe movie making should be as democratic as everything else in our society.  Everybody should be able to express themselves and not be limited by cost.  I think just like with big-budget filmmaking there will be the good and the not-so-good, and that talent will be recognized.  Technology really has opened up great opportunities for creative people today.

LB So what's next for you?

JK I'm very busy right now.  I'm currently working on getting some of my past movies on the market for sale over the internet.  As I mentioned, several films I've been involved with have played locally at screenings and film festivals, and now I want them available on DVD and download for the world audience.  The first two movies available this year should be Joe Bagnardi's anthology film THE EDGE OF REALITY, and my vampire movie THE TEMPTRESS (on the aforementioned Special Edition DVD including 3 TO MURDER).  After that will be OF THEATRE & BIKINIS, and an anthology with remastered versions of my two past short films THE GREEN-EYED MONSTER and NIGHT THERAPY, along with a third short I hope to produce this summer or fall.  The other big project I'll be working on is a feature to be directed by Joe Bagnardi called SHADOW TRACKER VAMPIRE HUNTER: RESURRECTION.  It's a follow-up to his feature from about ten years ago called SHADOW TRACKER: VAMPIRE HUNTER, and we hope to shoot the sequel in high-definition video.  After that I plan to produce another feature of my own, although I haven't at this point decided what it will be. The remainder of my free time goes to keeping my Very Scary Productions website (www.veryscaryproductions.com) up to date and doing acting gigs when they come up. I actually started out as an actor before I began producing my own films, and I still enjoy indulging the acting bug whenever I can!

LB Thanks for taking the time, and good luck!

JK Thank you.

Visit veryscaryproductions.com to keep up with Jeff and his upstate crew.

Last Updated ( Sunday, 11 May 2008 )

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