Owen: In 'The Resurrection Game'
you played Sister Mary Bliss, a counselor,
dominatrix, and zombie-killing
nun. Was she as much fun to portray as
it sounds?
Amy: It
was! I had so much fun with that character. She
was tough, sexy, good with weapons and whips. How
could she not be fun? She was the only character
in the movie that seemed to know what was going
on. I enjoy playing strong females that
dont rely on others to save them.
Owen: Another project that seemed like a hoot is 'Dr
Horror's Erotic House of Idiots'.
Do you think parody is tougher to pull of than
the real thing?
Amy: I definitely
think parodies are harder. You really have to
watch that you dont cross the line between
funny and stupid. And its very easy to beat
a joke to death in a parody. Ive seen so
many parodies that had great ideas and should
have been funnier than they were, but they
didnt know when to stop the joke.
Fortunately Paul Scrabo made a good one that I
was lucky enough to be a part of.
Owen:
You also have several directing credits
including 'Were-Grrrl', 'Severe
Injuries', and 'Spicy Sisters
Slumber Party'. What have been the
most important things you have learned about
filmmaking from those trips behind the camera?
Amy: Ive
learned that you really need to have a good crew
that you work well with and depend on. I see so
many filmmakers out there, who dont have
any crew, or they just have one other person to
work with, and I feel so bad for them. It usually
shows in the finished product. Were lucky
enough to have a great group of people that not
only work well together, but we also have fun
doing it. Not everyone is always available for
every shoot, but theres usually enough that
we have all of our bases covered.
Owen: As an actor what "actor sensitive"
lessons do you think you bring to directing?
Amy: Ive
learned to give the actors feedback. Its
not being a diva if you need time to
get into character, if you want to know your
motivation or if a take didnt feel right.
Those are legitimate concerns of actors and it
benefits a director to be sensitive to this. We
do joke on the set a lot about the actors being
walking props but if you have bad
acting, the most beautiful cinematography in the
world isnt going to matter. I was on a
shoot where the director was so concerned about
the camera and lighting that the other actor and
I went through about a dozen read throughs
without the director paying attention. When it
was time to shoot, of course we were delivering
the lines all wrong according to the
directors vision. It was very frustrating.
Owen:
You've described 'Were-Grrrl' as
an anti-exploitation commentary on the
hordes of over-sexed lesbian cheesecake
films. What was the message you wanted to
convey?
Amy: It started as
a joke. I was commenting on the scores of
exploitation movies that looked exactly like the
previous one. I wanted to do a movie that would
lead you into thinking that you were getting a
juicy lesbian scene and it cuts away while the
action is happening. I actually wanted people to
slam it on video counters because they
didnt get to see anything. I actually had a
few males yell at me because of it.
Owen: Since you often write, produce, and direct as
well as star I was wondering if that is more a
labor of love, a financial consideration, or a
means to maintain control of the artistic
vision?
Amy: It is
actually all three. When we fist started filming The
Resurrection Game my husband, Mike Watt,
was fresh out of film school and we just started
filming. We had enough people helping us from his
school that knew what they were doing that we
really didnt need too much outside help.
Mike wrote and directed. Bill Homan went to an
effects school so he took care of that, and I did
what I could and learned a lot along the way. We
worked well together and with some of the others
that we brought into the Happy Cloud Family that
we didnt think of ever doing it any other
way. We still dont. It seems to work for
us.
Owen: You are also a regular on the convention
circuit. Do you make a lot of industry
contacts in venues like that? Are a lot of
future film deals and offers born of those
weekends?
Amy: Weve
made most of our industry contacts on the
convention circuit. The few that weve met
in other ways we have then met face to face at
conventions. I think conventions are a good way
of making contacts and keeping your pulse on
whats going on in the industry. Ive
seen so many people on message boards and
websites talk about how popular they or their
project are and then you see them at a convention
and no one cares and its obvious that they
were stretching the truth, if not out right
lying. But we usually have a great time. Catching
up with good friends and people we only get to
see once a year. And weve met some really
great people at shows.
Owen:
Tell me a bit about your upcoming project 'Doomtown'?
Amy: Doomtown is a dream project of ours. Mike wrote the script
and its really good. Its a
Lovecraftian Comedy that should be a lot of fun
to shoot. Weve attached some great names to
it. Including Amber Benson, Reggie Bannister,
Mike Quinn, Brinke Stevens, Debbie Rochon, Jasi
Cotton Lanier, and a few others. Its a
bigger budget than our usual projects so
itll take a bit longer to organize, but
Im really looking forward to it.
Owen:
What other projects do you have lined up in the
future?
Amy: We have a couple straight horror movies coming
up. Well be shooting Banshee
this fall. Banshee is a slasher
film with some interesting subtexts in it, but
the gorehounds wont be disappointed. We
also have Razor Days in the
schedule. Razor Days is a really
intense psychological horror movie that is
completely different from anything weve
ever done before. And Ill be doing another Spicy Sisters documentary with a
new group of outstanding women in horror. Happy
Cloud Pictures is also hosting a Horror Con in
Pittsburgh called Genghis Con. www.genghisconpa.com Weve got some great
guests lined up including Herschell Gordon Lewis,
Joe Bob Briggs, Gunnar Hansen, Brinke Stevens,
Debbie Rochon, Jasmin St. Clare, Lilith Stabs,
April Monique Burill, Ryli Morgan and many
others.
Owen: I am also really intrigued by your
feminist take on women in horror and making
it a genre of empowerment. Do you
think Outsider Cinema allows for greater
freedom and impact than studio films?
Amy: I think
Outsider Cinema certainly gives a better
opportunity for women. Studio films have so many
constraints on them. Not just on the women, but
everything from the script to the DVD has
decisions made by people who dont know
movies at all. And dont even like them.
Outsider Cinema not only gives the filmmaker a
chance to bring their vision to the final product
uninterrupted, but also gives women more of a
voice in that process. Women arent just the
eye candy, though theres plenty of that on
their terms, they are integral to the project.
Owen:
Speaking of that tell me a bit about the
Pretty-Scary website.
Amy: Pretty-Scary was started to give women who love
horror a place to go where we could discuss
horror without being made to feel like we
didnt belong. Too many horror sites out
there have an abundance of men who think that
women are there only to meet them or arent
worthy of giving opinions. We wanted a site where
we wouldnt get hit on immediately or put
down and made to feel stupid. We have a great
community thats stuck with us through
hacking and other server problems and Im
really proud to be a part of it.
Owen:
I am always intrigued by the rich and
thriving Pittsburgh-based indie horror
scene. Do you think it just keeps
snowballing there thanks to the local influence
of George Romero and Tom Savini?
Amy: I hope so. I
think that having Tom and Romero here does help
the horror scene to thrive. A lot of young fans
are drawn to Pittsburgh because of them,
especially with the Effects School Tom has in Monessen,
and some stay. Savinis school is graduating
great effects artists each year. A lot do move
out to LA after graduation, but enough do
relocate to Pittsburgh to try to get work here.
Im seeing more and more filmmakers
making Pittsburgh movie, not just horror, and
its really nice to see.
Owen:
And finally, what scares you in real life?
Amy:
Paying Bills! |