WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.159 --> 00:00:05.080 You are now listening to the Someone's Favorite Productions podcast network. 2 00:00:17.760 --> 00:00:20.839 Hello there, and welcome back to the disc Connected here 3 00:00:20.879 --> 00:00:25.519 with Alan Maxon, who is an actor, director, editor creature 4 00:00:25.559 --> 00:00:29.719 affects everything extraordinary. Alan, thanks for coming on the show 5 00:00:29.719 --> 00:00:30.280 with me today. 6 00:00:30.600 --> 00:00:35.679 That is like the most gracious title I've ever heard. 7 00:00:38.079 --> 00:00:39.920 That makes me sound like I'm awesome. Thank you. 8 00:00:40.600 --> 00:00:42.359 I mean, if you look at IMDb, there's a lot 9 00:00:42.359 --> 00:00:43.920 of stuff that you've had your hands and it's hard 10 00:00:43.920 --> 00:00:45.920 to sum all that up properly because a lot of 11 00:00:45.960 --> 00:00:49.439 it takes years of mastering the craft. And so here 12 00:00:49.520 --> 00:00:51.240 we are to catch up on the disconnected. 13 00:00:51.560 --> 00:00:53.880 All right, here we go twenty years of chatting. Let's go. 14 00:00:55.479 --> 00:00:57.479 We'll get into physical media a little while, because that's 15 00:00:57.520 --> 00:01:00.159 what brought you and I together. But we've got had 16 00:01:00.159 --> 00:01:03.600 a handful of things to discuss that are important. One 17 00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:05.760 of the things that people will most know you for, 18 00:01:05.920 --> 00:01:07.719 which you've already mentioned to me, is the thing that 19 00:01:07.719 --> 00:01:09.200 you had a lot of questions about. So we're gonna 20 00:01:09.280 --> 00:01:12.079 knock it out early. Let's talk about Godzilla. What'd you 21 00:01:12.079 --> 00:01:12.920 do for Godzilla? 22 00:01:13.319 --> 00:01:14.760 I've never heard of this movie. 23 00:01:15.519 --> 00:01:17.640 I'll send you the link in the private chat one second. 24 00:01:20.040 --> 00:01:23.680 Yeah, So I played King Godora from Godzilla King of 25 00:01:23.680 --> 00:01:29.760 the Monsters in twenty nineteen via motion capture. Myself and 26 00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:35.640 Jason Lyles and Richard Dorton all played our respective heads. 27 00:01:37.040 --> 00:01:40.120 As if anyone is not familiar with the franchise, Kingadora 28 00:01:40.200 --> 00:01:43.400 is the three headed dragon, the big, the biggest arch 29 00:01:43.519 --> 00:01:47.480 nemesis of Godzilla. He's you know, the Godzilla fans are 30 00:01:47.480 --> 00:01:49.239 gonna hate me. I don't know the exact number, but 31 00:01:49.280 --> 00:01:52.840 he's a lot taller than Godzill. He is like the big, 32 00:01:52.920 --> 00:01:56.959 big bad and so yeah, basically in the movie when 33 00:01:57.000 --> 00:02:01.319 you see Godzilla fighting Kingadora, all of those stunts, all 34 00:02:01.319 --> 00:02:04.359 of those action scenes, we did them in real life 35 00:02:04.560 --> 00:02:06.840 usual most motion capture. There is an actor who played 36 00:02:06.879 --> 00:02:10.360 Godzilla and then the three actors of us that played Kingadora. 37 00:02:11.280 --> 00:02:14.560 We choreographed every fight and we just worked it out 38 00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:19.000 with the director and made some awesome monster scenes for everybody. 39 00:02:19.879 --> 00:02:21.840 And here you are now a part of the Monster 40 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:24.120 Verse history. That's that's got to feel pretty special. 41 00:02:24.360 --> 00:02:28.919 I'm honored. It's a huge franchise. Not only is it 42 00:02:29.039 --> 00:02:31.039 you know, I think it's like it's over sixty five 43 00:02:31.120 --> 00:02:34.800 years at this point. Yeah, but it's not just a 44 00:02:34.800 --> 00:02:40.080 domestic franchise. It's worldwide. Obviously Japanese, but like every country 45 00:02:40.520 --> 00:02:44.080 knows about Godzilla, and particularly right now, you know, it's 46 00:02:44.120 --> 00:02:47.039 a very hot time for Godzilla. You have Toho doing it, 47 00:02:47.080 --> 00:02:48.719 you have legendaryes doing it, you have Apple doing it. 48 00:02:48.759 --> 00:02:51.919 There's a lot going on. So I'm honored and grateful 49 00:02:52.039 --> 00:02:57.599 and it's cool. It's super fun. And Godzilla man. 50 00:02:59.360 --> 00:03:02.719 You you've you've acted in tons of things and then 51 00:03:02.840 --> 00:03:06.400 to step into a mo capsuit, do you feel yourself 52 00:03:06.439 --> 00:03:07.599 preparing differently for that? 53 00:03:08.719 --> 00:03:16.479 Yeah, so that's a great question. Good question, Ryan, So 54 00:03:16.639 --> 00:03:19.599 a lot. I'd say ninety percent of my roles are 55 00:03:20.199 --> 00:03:24.879 suits or prosthetics, Like I'm in a physical suit playing 56 00:03:25.039 --> 00:03:29.919 a non human character. But for Mo cap and then 57 00:03:30.039 --> 00:03:37.479 particularly for Kingadora, not only is it it's just a 58 00:03:37.479 --> 00:03:38.960 different beast where. 59 00:03:40.599 --> 00:03:40.879 The way. 60 00:03:41.199 --> 00:03:45.719 Yeah, exactly. So with motion capture in a physical suit, 61 00:03:45.719 --> 00:03:49.520 you have to lean into the restrictions of the suit. 62 00:03:51.479 --> 00:03:55.800 If the character is humanoid, you you can lean into 63 00:03:55.800 --> 00:03:58.759 it easier. If there's more things like a tail or, 64 00:03:59.240 --> 00:04:04.479 long extended claws, giant snouts, things that make you have 65 00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:08.719 to change your perspective and your your awareness of your surroundings. 66 00:04:08.840 --> 00:04:11.840 You really have to adapt your physicality to that to 67 00:04:11.919 --> 00:04:15.639 make it not only work, but make it believable. On camera, 68 00:04:17.120 --> 00:04:21.839 mocap is a little different because it's capturing your data 69 00:04:21.920 --> 00:04:26.839 of your skeleton. So some mo cap you'll see they 70 00:04:26.879 --> 00:04:30.120 do add things like tails or extensions. You know, Plant 71 00:04:30.160 --> 00:04:32.759 of the Ape still had the arm extensions, but something 72 00:04:32.800 --> 00:04:37.639 like Kingadora. There's three heads, so there's three actors, Jason, 73 00:04:37.720 --> 00:04:42.000 Richard and I. We basically they Originally we tried tying 74 00:04:42.079 --> 00:04:47.199 us together like potato sack style, like a sack race, 75 00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:49.879 but then they tied our ankles and then we were 76 00:04:49.920 --> 00:04:51.639 just like with because the stunts, as you saw in 77 00:04:51.680 --> 00:04:54.519 the movie, there's a lot of smashing and crushing into 78 00:04:54.560 --> 00:04:59.120 buildings and smacking and biting. It just got too clumsy 79 00:04:59.279 --> 00:05:03.240 being tied. So what we decided to do was we 80 00:05:03.360 --> 00:05:05.040 just trusted each other. You know, Jason was in the 81 00:05:05.079 --> 00:05:08.199 middle because he's the tallest. Richard and I on each side. 82 00:05:08.240 --> 00:05:10.240 We put our hands on Jason's back and that was 83 00:05:10.279 --> 00:05:13.199 kind of our support and he could feel our momentum 84 00:05:13.319 --> 00:05:16.279 like when we're moving, so we could all move as one. 85 00:05:16.759 --> 00:05:20.480 But then also the way the character is physicality wise. 86 00:05:21.959 --> 00:05:25.560 It doesn't have six legs and six hands, so we 87 00:05:25.720 --> 00:05:29.879 kind of have to, you know, imagine our hips are 88 00:05:30.319 --> 00:05:33.600 the shoulder of the character, so our whole torso is 89 00:05:33.639 --> 00:05:36.920 the neck in the face. Obviously, for facial capture, we 90 00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:40.120 did a lot of performance with with biting and snarls 91 00:05:40.120 --> 00:05:43.120 and emotion. That was a big thing was the emotion. 92 00:05:43.879 --> 00:05:47.680 Each head has a different personality and so he wanted 93 00:05:47.720 --> 00:05:50.839 us to lean into that. And if you watch the 94 00:05:50.879 --> 00:05:54.879 behind the scenes of what Mike's direction was for each personality, 95 00:05:55.279 --> 00:05:58.120 it comes off on screen. I thought it was very 96 00:05:58.160 --> 00:06:01.160 clever for him to do that because all of the 97 00:06:01.240 --> 00:06:05.639 practical versions of Kinkodora, you don't get emotion in the 98 00:06:05.639 --> 00:06:07.879 face like you did in the CG one. So I 99 00:06:07.879 --> 00:06:09.920 thought it was cool to see you know, the curious, 100 00:06:09.959 --> 00:06:12.560 the alpha and then the angry and you can tell 101 00:06:12.720 --> 00:06:15.639 and a lot of stuff. You'd be watching it like, 102 00:06:15.639 --> 00:06:19.120 oh my god, I definitely make those faces or you 103 00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:22.040 know Richard does and j like you can just see 104 00:06:22.240 --> 00:06:25.920 so that there's it's different. It's a different technology, different 105 00:06:26.199 --> 00:06:30.079 performance that you have to put forward. So long winded 106 00:06:30.120 --> 00:06:32.879 answer turn short. Yeah, you prepare. 107 00:06:32.639 --> 00:06:36.800 Different well, and one of the words that you brought up, 108 00:06:36.839 --> 00:06:38.879 which I'm so glad you did because I was going 109 00:06:38.920 --> 00:06:41.720 to use it in this next part. Is it when 110 00:06:41.959 --> 00:06:45.079 you're doing mocap, You know, you mentioned that you're capturing data, 111 00:06:45.120 --> 00:06:47.879 and it's all about that emoting and the way that 112 00:06:47.920 --> 00:06:50.920 you emote from OCAP, the way that you emote in 113 00:06:51.079 --> 00:06:54.079 a full blown creature suit or something, you know, with 114 00:06:54.120 --> 00:06:56.600 the tail or, long arms or snout or whatever is 115 00:06:56.639 --> 00:06:59.079 going to be very different than somebody just acting because 116 00:06:59.120 --> 00:07:01.759 you don't want to overact, of course. But now we 117 00:07:01.879 --> 00:07:04.360 throw in a fourth thing in your movie, which we'll 118 00:07:04.360 --> 00:07:06.360 talk about more in a little while. You also did 119 00:07:06.360 --> 00:07:09.279 a voice which brings on a whole other different version 120 00:07:09.279 --> 00:07:12.040 of emoting. So, as somebody that's going into all of 121 00:07:12.079 --> 00:07:15.000 these and trying to do your best to capture this 122 00:07:15.120 --> 00:07:18.600 realistic take on it, what's the most difficult one for 123 00:07:18.680 --> 00:07:22.439 you to emote properly? For what's the most difficult one 124 00:07:22.680 --> 00:07:23.839 for you to get into. 125 00:07:24.399 --> 00:07:29.959 Being a human? Because I play so many monsters and 126 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:34.639 creatures and it's rare when I get a humor ole. 127 00:07:34.639 --> 00:07:37.319 I played one in a film very recently. I think 128 00:07:37.319 --> 00:07:39.160 it comes out at the end of this year, if 129 00:07:39.199 --> 00:07:41.439 not the beginning of Next and I played a human 130 00:07:41.600 --> 00:07:46.839 and I had to really focus on toning down because 131 00:07:47.519 --> 00:07:50.600 when you're in prosthetic, you have an inch stick barrier 132 00:07:50.680 --> 00:07:53.480 between your face and the camera, and so you have 133 00:07:53.560 --> 00:07:55.240 to over accentuate, but you don't want it to be 134 00:07:55.319 --> 00:08:00.480 like I'm acting. You have to play big but realistic bit. 135 00:08:00.600 --> 00:08:02.680 So it's like this fine line that I've honed into 136 00:08:02.879 --> 00:08:06.000 over the last you know, decade of playing these type 137 00:08:06.040 --> 00:08:10.040 of characters that I just drop into naturally. Whereas when 138 00:08:10.079 --> 00:08:12.839 I don't have it and it's my face, I really 139 00:08:12.879 --> 00:08:15.600 have to make sure I'm not I'm a human because 140 00:08:15.639 --> 00:08:17.639 then it's not only is it not even what, it's 141 00:08:17.720 --> 00:08:21.360 dumb and you don't want to watch that. So that's 142 00:08:21.399 --> 00:08:26.680 the hardest for me. Luckily, when i've done it, either 143 00:08:26.720 --> 00:08:30.319 the directors are good liars or they're very gracious and 144 00:08:30.360 --> 00:08:33.879 tell me that I've done well. But but I think, 145 00:08:33.919 --> 00:08:36.639 you know, I'm so hyper focused to make sure that 146 00:08:36.720 --> 00:08:39.200 I do good because I don't play them so often, 147 00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:43.559 so I definitely I put an extra foot forward. When 148 00:08:43.600 --> 00:08:44.120 those happen. 149 00:08:44.679 --> 00:08:46.639 There's a little more reputation mistake because they can see 150 00:08:46.679 --> 00:08:47.279 your face too. 151 00:08:47.840 --> 00:08:48.919 Yeah, I can't blame. 152 00:08:53.080 --> 00:08:56.759 With with alien planet. That that is your baby, that 153 00:08:56.919 --> 00:08:59.159 that is something that was all you from the ground up, 154 00:08:59.320 --> 00:09:02.240 and it's out in the world. Now, how how have 155 00:09:02.320 --> 00:09:06.000 you felt releasing that to the world and allowing yourself 156 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:07.720 to get feedback on it? Because I know for a 157 00:09:07.720 --> 00:09:10.919 lot of directors that the first big one is kind 158 00:09:10.919 --> 00:09:12.159 of a difficult step to take. 159 00:09:12.240 --> 00:09:16.320 Like that, Yeah, you know, you go through waves because 160 00:09:16.639 --> 00:09:18.879 it means a lot to you when you put in 161 00:09:19.320 --> 00:09:22.759 you know, I put in three years making this. I 162 00:09:22.799 --> 00:09:25.480 had a huge amount of help from the cast and 163 00:09:25.559 --> 00:09:28.200 crew and the backers and everybody who helped make it happen. 164 00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:32.559 But at the same time, the amount of hats and 165 00:09:32.679 --> 00:09:36.960 hours and days that I personally wore, it's hard to 166 00:09:37.960 --> 00:09:42.200 sometimes see negative feedback because you just go, oh, I'd 167 00:09:42.279 --> 00:09:45.519 like to see you do it better. But you know, 168 00:09:45.600 --> 00:09:47.600 it's it's one of those things where you just you 169 00:09:47.679 --> 00:09:49.720 roll with the punches and everyone has their own opinion. 170 00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:55.039 And and while it's easy to say things like, you know, 171 00:09:55.080 --> 00:09:58.120 I had a budget of about eighty grand versus a 172 00:09:58.120 --> 00:10:02.600 lot of big buddon movies have millions. Yes, there's a 173 00:10:02.679 --> 00:10:04.879 huge difference, but at the same time, you have to 174 00:10:04.960 --> 00:10:06.919 learn to work with what you have and not use 175 00:10:06.960 --> 00:10:09.759 it as a crush to say, well, it sucks because 176 00:10:09.799 --> 00:10:13.159 of this. You have to lean into your strengths and 177 00:10:13.840 --> 00:10:16.279 hide things and get creative. And I think a lot 178 00:10:16.279 --> 00:10:18.679 of film buffs, you know, the stereotype, so you hear 179 00:10:18.759 --> 00:10:21.039 like Sam Raymi and stuff like that. It's a very 180 00:10:21.080 --> 00:10:24.440 common thing you put out and say, oh, Samuraimi didn't 181 00:10:24.440 --> 00:10:25.960 have a budget and he did great. You know, so 182 00:10:26.159 --> 00:10:29.720 it's true and you have to do that. But I 183 00:10:29.759 --> 00:10:35.120 think because Alien Planet is a very specific genre one 184 00:10:35.159 --> 00:10:39.480 there's no human characters, it's all aliens with prosthetics, makeup. 185 00:10:39.559 --> 00:10:44.559 There's puppets, there's monsters. It's very over the top blood 186 00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:49.240 but also very serious social commentary, like Star Trek style. 187 00:10:49.399 --> 00:10:53.320 So it's super genre. And I think if you are 188 00:10:53.399 --> 00:10:57.759 into that, the critics and the feedback has been spot 189 00:10:57.799 --> 00:11:00.159 on and they love it and they get it. I 190 00:11:00.159 --> 00:11:03.559 think the people that don't like it, we're expecting something 191 00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:06.720 different or it's not their their style. And I know 192 00:11:07.279 --> 00:11:10.639 even movie buffs tend to not always like that genre. 193 00:11:10.679 --> 00:11:16.039 You know, there's sometimes there's pretentiousness, yeah with movie buffs. 194 00:11:17.080 --> 00:11:19.399 But I think you know, if you like Star Trek, 195 00:11:19.679 --> 00:11:24.159 enemy mine Alien Nation, that style of movie. I mean, 196 00:11:24.679 --> 00:11:27.240 you're gonna like Alien Planet. And then the blood in 197 00:11:27.279 --> 00:11:32.399 it is so over the top. It's almost like Renfield 198 00:11:32.639 --> 00:11:36.200 level of blood where it's just one one smack to 199 00:11:36.240 --> 00:11:41.120 the head is just a gallon of blood. It's it's 200 00:11:41.240 --> 00:11:45.200 visual eye candy. And so yeah, the reception has been interesting. 201 00:11:45.200 --> 00:11:47.440 It's been highs and lows. I think it's very rare 202 00:11:47.480 --> 00:11:49.639 to hear a middle ground. I don't think I've ever 203 00:11:49.679 --> 00:11:52.720 heard anyone be like that was okay, Like it's always 204 00:11:52.759 --> 00:11:57.080 like I loved it, or that was garbage. 205 00:11:57.840 --> 00:12:00.960 Well, and thankfully, if you if you look through your 206 00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:04.039 IMDb credits, you've kind of been playing in the sandbox 207 00:12:04.039 --> 00:12:05.679 for quite some time. There's a lot of low budget 208 00:12:05.720 --> 00:12:08.039 films here. There's a lot of stuff that many of 209 00:12:08.080 --> 00:12:11.159 these pretentious people would scoff at. But there's also lots 210 00:12:11.159 --> 00:12:13.720 of fans of these things. I mean, when you're in 211 00:12:13.759 --> 00:12:16.960 the Evil Bong franchise, when you're playing around in the 212 00:12:16.960 --> 00:12:19.759 Puppet Master series and with The Asylum and Full Moon 213 00:12:19.799 --> 00:12:22.879 and all these other companies that are dealing with you know, 214 00:12:23.320 --> 00:12:26.399 four day shoots and less than one hundred thousand dollars, 215 00:12:26.759 --> 00:12:29.000 you kind of get used to that. So do you 216 00:12:29.120 --> 00:12:31.519 feel like, you know, say, in the next ten years 217 00:12:31.559 --> 00:12:35.840 of stuff magically takes off and you're suddenly doing incredible, 218 00:12:35.960 --> 00:12:39.200 you know, million dollar movies every single month. Do you 219 00:12:39.240 --> 00:12:41.360 think that that helped hone where you're going to be 220 00:12:41.440 --> 00:12:44.559 because of the abrasiveness of that low budget world. 221 00:12:45.320 --> 00:12:49.159 Absolutely. And it's interesting because I don't actually equate myself 222 00:12:49.200 --> 00:12:51.480 with the low budget world. While I have done a 223 00:12:51.519 --> 00:12:55.279 handful of them, I've also worked on the high budget 224 00:12:55.279 --> 00:12:59.360 world as well as an elder and also roles in performing, 225 00:12:59.559 --> 00:13:06.720 So I have this good, well rounded observation of how 226 00:13:06.720 --> 00:13:10.039 it's done correctly on a professional level, but also how 227 00:13:10.120 --> 00:13:14.000 you can correctly cut corners when you don't have the money, 228 00:13:14.000 --> 00:13:17.000 and I try to that's what I attempted. I guess 229 00:13:17.240 --> 00:13:19.000 you or the audience can tell me if I'm right 230 00:13:19.039 --> 00:13:21.440 or wrong. But what my goal was with Alien Planet 231 00:13:21.879 --> 00:13:24.399 was to do the professional level that I work in 232 00:13:24.440 --> 00:13:29.679 as an editor and performing while cutting the necessary corners 233 00:13:29.720 --> 00:13:32.360 to make it fit within you know, a seventy five 234 00:13:32.559 --> 00:13:38.000 eighty thousand dollars budget. And I think the biggest thing 235 00:13:38.120 --> 00:13:40.159 for that that I'm most proud of was the fact 236 00:13:40.159 --> 00:13:44.039 that there's no humans that many practical effects and prosthetics 237 00:13:44.039 --> 00:13:45.240 and everything on that budget. 238 00:13:45.480 --> 00:13:45.879 That's all. 239 00:13:47.080 --> 00:13:49.960 I have yet to see it done on that budget. 240 00:13:52.120 --> 00:13:54.960 So I try to walk the line and to answer 241 00:13:55.000 --> 00:13:59.159 your question of doing more things, that's also ultimately the goal. 242 00:14:00.679 --> 00:14:04.039 My first film that I wrote and directed was a 243 00:14:04.039 --> 00:14:08.120 budget of one thousand dollars and it was called Christmas 244 00:14:08.120 --> 00:14:13.039 with Cookie. And it's a bad movie, but it got 245 00:14:13.039 --> 00:14:17.720 a huge quote following for being bad, and every Christmas, 246 00:14:18.039 --> 00:14:23.279 the streaming on that movie just spikes. But we lean 247 00:14:23.320 --> 00:14:24.519 into it because I was like, if you're going to 248 00:14:24.559 --> 00:14:26.320 make a movie for a thousand bucks, you have to 249 00:14:26.399 --> 00:14:26.919 lean into it. 250 00:14:27.440 --> 00:14:27.639 Yep. 251 00:14:28.080 --> 00:14:31.000 And it even recently got, you know, a physical media 252 00:14:31.159 --> 00:14:35.559 release with lunch Meat vhs, so it has a scratch 253 00:14:36.320 --> 00:14:41.440 VHS colored green and red that you can order from them. 254 00:14:42.399 --> 00:14:46.440 And so after that, I wanted to make Alien Planet, 255 00:14:47.039 --> 00:14:52.279 but I knew because Christmas with Cookie was so low 256 00:14:52.320 --> 00:14:56.799 budget and campy, it's very trauma, it's very bad. It's 257 00:14:56.840 --> 00:14:59.320 meant to be bad. I didn't want that to be 258 00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:03.879 what people thought I could only make, so I had 259 00:15:03.919 --> 00:15:08.559 to make another show of work on a higher quality level. 260 00:15:09.000 --> 00:15:12.799 So I invested about five grand into a short film 261 00:15:13.000 --> 00:15:17.279 called Patina and this is It was a ten minute 262 00:15:17.320 --> 00:15:22.759 short about an AI robot that goes wrong. I don't 263 00:15:22.759 --> 00:15:25.480 want to spoil the ending, but you know it's basically 264 00:15:25.519 --> 00:15:30.480 it's like The Terminator meets the Twilight Zone. And I 265 00:15:30.559 --> 00:15:34.399 made it serious and I tried to make it actually 266 00:15:34.480 --> 00:15:37.399 a well made ten minute piece on that low of 267 00:15:37.399 --> 00:15:40.080 a budget. Once I did that, I was like, Okay, cool, 268 00:15:40.240 --> 00:15:42.480 Now I have a show of work that shows I'm 269 00:15:42.519 --> 00:15:46.799 not just Christmas with Cookie. So then I moved forward 270 00:15:46.840 --> 00:15:50.799 with Alien Planet. I shot a spec trailer we shot 271 00:15:50.799 --> 00:15:56.159 in one day. We made basically a concept of what 272 00:15:56.200 --> 00:15:58.000 it would be if we made it, and then I 273 00:15:58.080 --> 00:16:02.919 raised the money on Indiegogo and then we went from there. 274 00:16:03.080 --> 00:16:05.559 And so you know, I went from one thousand to 275 00:16:05.600 --> 00:16:09.919 five thousand to give or take eighty grand. So that's 276 00:16:09.919 --> 00:16:11.679 the goal of each movie. I want to up the 277 00:16:11.679 --> 00:16:15.200 budget production deal. Just keep going and yeah, maybe one 278 00:16:15.240 --> 00:16:17.759 day I will have a multimillion dollar budget and I'll 279 00:16:17.799 --> 00:16:20.879 look back and like you're Ryan, remember when you ask. 280 00:16:23.240 --> 00:16:27.399 I hope it pans out. The budget The budget ballooning 281 00:16:27.399 --> 00:16:30.320 comes with expectations, of course, when you're going to be 282 00:16:30.360 --> 00:16:34.360 making something like that, How how you know, trepidacious? Were 283 00:16:34.360 --> 00:16:36.879 you for the Indiegogo? I know that's been a big, 284 00:16:37.080 --> 00:16:38.759 you know, question mark for a lot of people that 285 00:16:38.840 --> 00:16:41.480 need the fundraise because the world's changed dramatically. 286 00:16:43.200 --> 00:16:47.000 It's a means to an end. So I will say 287 00:16:47.120 --> 00:16:50.840 it was one of the toughest things I've ever done. 288 00:16:50.960 --> 00:16:54.039 I did a thirty day campaign. I didn't have a team. 289 00:16:54.519 --> 00:16:58.200 I had cast and crew helping. I had a handful 290 00:16:58.200 --> 00:17:02.639 of people that were fantastic sharers and they shared and 291 00:17:02.639 --> 00:17:05.119 promoted and reach out to others. But a lot of 292 00:17:05.119 --> 00:17:08.599 Indigogo people like hire a full time team of five 293 00:17:08.640 --> 00:17:11.839 to ten people that they're ten hours a day, that's 294 00:17:11.880 --> 00:17:15.960 all they're doing. That job was basically up to me, 295 00:17:16.400 --> 00:17:18.160 so it was a lot of work. Honestly, those third 296 00:17:18.240 --> 00:17:21.319 days was harder than the three years of making the movie, right. 297 00:17:21.960 --> 00:17:25.960 But I'm not a person who comes from nepotism or privilege, 298 00:17:26.039 --> 00:17:29.599 so I don't have any connections to reach out to 299 00:17:29.640 --> 00:17:33.440 someone to say, hey, you won't be my investor. So 300 00:17:33.480 --> 00:17:35.960 it was my only means to get the movie made, 301 00:17:36.640 --> 00:17:38.920 and I support it. I say, if you're a filmmaker 302 00:17:38.960 --> 00:17:43.000 and you don't have a way to have money, do 303 00:17:43.160 --> 00:17:47.960 it because unfortunately, filmmaking is the most expensive art and 304 00:17:48.039 --> 00:17:51.480 you can't do it for free like you can. But 305 00:17:51.640 --> 00:17:57.279 it looks like Christmas with cookie when you do that well, 306 00:17:57.359 --> 00:17:59.440 and you know, one thing to take the heart on 307 00:17:59.519 --> 00:18:02.160 top of if you are. 308 00:18:01.960 --> 00:18:05.000 You know, supporting a filmmaker, actually support them and use 309 00:18:05.000 --> 00:18:07.200 your wallet to support them. But the other side of 310 00:18:07.240 --> 00:18:10.559 that is through all of this, this is a very 311 00:18:10.559 --> 00:18:14.559 inspiring story. I mean, you've been in la for almost 312 00:18:14.559 --> 00:18:18.000 two decades. You have worked your way up from smaller 313 00:18:18.039 --> 00:18:21.279 things to being in the Monster verse and directing your 314 00:18:21.279 --> 00:18:26.000 own film. That's not necessarily the normal story for a 315 00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:30.079 lot of people that go to LA. So in that like, 316 00:18:30.359 --> 00:18:32.599 what was there ever any point in the last two 317 00:18:32.599 --> 00:18:35.559 decades that was like, well, time to go back, time 318 00:18:35.599 --> 00:18:36.920 to head back to Michigan. 319 00:18:38.039 --> 00:18:43.200 That particular sentence. No, sorry Michiganders, but I don't ever 320 00:18:43.240 --> 00:18:46.720 want to live in that state. I'm not one for 321 00:18:46.799 --> 00:18:52.119 the snow. But no, I don't think there's ever a 322 00:18:52.160 --> 00:18:57.440 thought of that's it or this is the end. The 323 00:18:57.880 --> 00:19:02.200 entertainment industry is hard. I will not lie if if 324 00:19:02.200 --> 00:19:05.759 someone is fresh out of school or from a a 325 00:19:05.799 --> 00:19:08.240 state that's not California and you're looking at moving out. 326 00:19:09.119 --> 00:19:11.799 It's gonna be hard. It will not be easy by 327 00:19:11.880 --> 00:19:14.440 any means, and I don't think it ever gets easy. 328 00:19:14.519 --> 00:19:17.599 I think you'll hear a lot of even very successful 329 00:19:17.640 --> 00:19:21.839 people when you think, oh they're they're doing this, they 330 00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:24.440 acted in that or directed this, They're fine. 331 00:19:24.559 --> 00:19:26.119 I love the accident changed there by the way that 332 00:19:26.200 --> 00:19:31.119 was perfect. You see the people over there. 333 00:19:31.359 --> 00:19:39.119 Well, those god American Hollywood, they're all drinking their avocado juice, 334 00:19:39.839 --> 00:19:41.400 which I would if there is such a thing as 335 00:19:41.440 --> 00:19:43.200 avocado juice, I would totally try it. 336 00:19:43.279 --> 00:19:48.759 Yeah, but after those twenty years you've been in a 337 00:19:49.359 --> 00:19:52.400 you played the opposite Godzilla like not many people can 338 00:19:52.440 --> 00:19:55.559 say that. And to go from Michigan to Florida to 339 00:19:56.039 --> 00:19:58.720 la and be able to stay there for that long, 340 00:19:58.880 --> 00:20:01.279 that's that. It's a lot of perseverance. 341 00:20:02.400 --> 00:20:05.599 That's the key word is. I think you can't go 342 00:20:05.759 --> 00:20:09.279 into the entertainment industry. You know, you hear it as 343 00:20:09.279 --> 00:20:11.160 a stereotype. You can't go in it for the money 344 00:20:11.240 --> 00:20:14.200 or fame or whatnot. You really have to that's got 345 00:20:14.200 --> 00:20:19.920 to be your passion because it's going to continually test 346 00:20:20.079 --> 00:20:23.759 your patience and if you don't enjoy it, you will 347 00:20:24.039 --> 00:20:29.000 for sure not want to keep going. It's perseverance. And 348 00:20:29.079 --> 00:20:33.400 also I don't know, it's at a certain point it's 349 00:20:33.400 --> 00:20:35.519 almost like too far to go back, you know, like 350 00:20:35.559 --> 00:20:37.960 what am I going to What am I going to do? It? 351 00:20:38.000 --> 00:20:41.200 Am I start over at a minimum wage job somewhere else? 352 00:20:41.480 --> 00:20:45.200 It's just no one's my resume says you know, a decade, 353 00:20:45.279 --> 00:20:47.799 two decades long in the entertainment industry, no one's going 354 00:20:47.839 --> 00:20:55.599 to hire me. I'm uhiable. So I have to I 355 00:20:55.599 --> 00:20:58.279 have to stay in film and TV because it's you know, 356 00:20:58.920 --> 00:21:03.079 at a certain point, you're in too deep. 357 00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:07.759 Film TV and now streaming as you are premiering in 358 00:21:07.960 --> 00:21:12.960 Shutters VHS beyond this fall. Obviously it's not out yet, 359 00:21:13.000 --> 00:21:15.160 so there's not much that can be said. But I mean, 360 00:21:15.160 --> 00:21:17.200 this is pretty damn exciting. Like this is one of 361 00:21:17.200 --> 00:21:20.000 the biggest franchises and found footage over last five or 362 00:21:20.039 --> 00:21:21.440 eight years. How cool is this? 363 00:21:21.839 --> 00:21:24.559 Oh, I'm very excited to be part of it. Not 364 00:21:24.599 --> 00:21:27.559 only is it another cool franchise, but for me, he 365 00:21:27.559 --> 00:21:32.319 has a little personal connection with the directors, So Jordan 366 00:21:33.000 --> 00:21:38.119 Downey and Kevin Stewart, they were the creators of ThanksKilling, 367 00:21:39.160 --> 00:21:41.240 and I had the honor of working with them on 368 00:21:41.279 --> 00:21:45.400 ThanksKilling three. I went to South Dakota with them for 369 00:21:46.599 --> 00:21:49.359 it was either two or three or four weeks or 370 00:21:49.400 --> 00:21:52.680 something like that, and we film Thanks Killing three and 371 00:21:53.000 --> 00:21:56.799 I got to wear a suit on set, and I 372 00:21:56.839 --> 00:21:59.279 credit them as the first like monster suit that I wore. 373 00:21:59.839 --> 00:22:03.079 And I was their on set editor as well, and 374 00:22:03.160 --> 00:22:06.559 we just stayed in touch. And that was Jesus and 375 00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:10.559 ten twelve years ago. And then they called me one 376 00:22:10.640 --> 00:22:13.200 day and they're like, Hey, do you want to be 377 00:22:13.200 --> 00:22:16.839 in our movie for Shutter? And I was like, hell, yeah. 378 00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:19.039 So it just kind of worked out that, you know, 379 00:22:19.079 --> 00:22:21.759 we stayed in touch and we're buddies and they had 380 00:22:21.799 --> 00:22:24.960 this great opportunity, which is well deserved. They're so talented 381 00:22:25.880 --> 00:22:29.799 and I really enjoy working with them. And yeah, so 382 00:22:30.440 --> 00:22:31.920 it's a little for me. It's kind of like a 383 00:22:31.920 --> 00:22:35.039 full circle of like, oh, a decade ago, guys on 384 00:22:35.079 --> 00:22:38.599 this silly little movie, and now we're we're connecting again 385 00:22:38.680 --> 00:22:43.039 on a cool franchise that what is this number ten 386 00:22:43.160 --> 00:22:44.640 or something from that franchise. 387 00:22:46.079 --> 00:22:47.880 It's not quite that many. It's like five or six, 388 00:22:47.960 --> 00:22:49.880 I think, though it's gotta be. 389 00:22:50.279 --> 00:22:51.720 Yeah, there's enough of them. 390 00:22:52.440 --> 00:22:55.119 It might even be seven cheez. I meanin they since 391 00:22:55.119 --> 00:22:57.079 they made the Leap to Shutter like they've been knocking 392 00:22:57.119 --> 00:22:59.119 them out I think the last four years, So yeah, 393 00:22:59.119 --> 00:23:01.799 maybe it is number seven's that's a lot. And you know, 394 00:23:01.799 --> 00:23:04.599 when that first one came out, it got good feedback, 395 00:23:04.599 --> 00:23:06.759 but it wasn't like, let's be doing this for the 396 00:23:06.839 --> 00:23:08.519 next nine years as a franchise. 397 00:23:08.559 --> 00:23:11.599 Feedback and lobably will I bet you they'll keep going 398 00:23:11.839 --> 00:23:14.519 like it's very successful and a lot of people love it. 399 00:23:15.599 --> 00:23:18.359 And you know, found footage for a while kind of 400 00:23:18.400 --> 00:23:22.240 got like an oversaturated bad rap, but I think that 401 00:23:22.279 --> 00:23:24.880