Writer / Director / Actor / Producer Interview:

Sean Abley: Lightening Strikes with Socket's Scintillating Auteur

Brian: What first drew you to horror films - the sensitive triumph of 'Halloween's' Laurie, the gruesome forbidden - ness of the genre's bloody disembowelments and amputations, the hunky antics of the 'Friday the 13th' victims - all of the above, something else?

Sean: Good question. I blame my parents! Even when I was a really little kid, they took me to horror movies at the drive-in all the time. I distinctly remember seeing 'Deathrace 2000' , 'Food of the Gods' and 'Empire of the Ants' among others. The parental units had no qualms about me seeing violence. Strangely, they made me cover my eyes during the sexual moments. Maybe that's why I'm the big gay that I am now.... Over time I found that for a horror flick to really keep my interest, I had to identify with the characters on some level other than "Man, I'd hate to have an axe in my face, too!" So Laurie Strode, the 'Dawn of the Dead', Mike from 'Phantasm' - movies with these kinds of characters are the films I like the most, and aspire to make. That being said, I have a very guilty soft spot for films like the 'Guinea Pig' series, or zero budget, direct to video stuff. I like to watch pretty much everything, but the character driven stuff stays with me.

Brian: With your stage adaptation of the cult classic 'The Corpse Grinders' you got some attention from Fangoria magazine. What was that moment like for you? Did you think that you had finally arrived?

Sean: When Fango did the 'Monster Invasion' article on the play (and the original movie), I was so incredibly excited, I could barely stand it! Having my name in Fangoria in an article, not just in the letters column (that had already happened) was pretty much the biggest thrill in my life. Sadly, the play really REALLY sucked, and didn't vault me to the heights of stardom to which I aspired. Ah well. Now, years later, I've been in Fangoria a couple more times, and it's just as thrilling as it ever was.

Brian: Did your theater work provide you the entrance into writing for the animated series that you've written for?

Sean: In a way, yes. Almost all the plays that I wrote were basically TV and film styles translated to stage - 'Attack of the Killer B's' was B-movies, for instance. 'Santa Claus Conquers the Martians the Musical', 'Reefer Madness', 'Corpse Grinders' - all movie adaptations. That kind of theater was really big in Chicago at the time. So my writing was always somewhat focused on the screen even though it was being produced on stage. From my theater work I got a gig on the 'You Don't Know Jack' cd-rom series, which in turn lead me to my agent who convinced me to move to LA. A 'Buffy, the Vampire Slayer' spec got me work on 'So Weird' , which then lead to the animated stuff like 'Sabrina' and 'Digimon' . So, a long way to say - my pop culture sensibility for my theater work definitely informed my animation writing.

Brian: When writing for shows like 'Sabrina' or 'Men in Black' did you find you were able to use a lot of your own imagination or were they more corporate gigs and you had certain outlines that you had to rigidly follow?

Sean: 'Sabrina, the Animated Series' (yes, the official, way-too-on-the-nose title) was a little bit of both. For shows like that there is a combination of pitching ideas for episodes, and being assigned ideas that are already percolating. So I pitched two different episodes that they eventually went with - "Hex-Change Students" and "Boogie Shoes" - and they assigned me one - "Witchmas Carol". 'Men in Black: Alien Attack' is actually not the animated series. It's the ride based on the movie down in Universal Studios Florida. I co wrote all the video segments that you see while you're in line for the ride, the audio announcements you hear, as well as the stuff with Rip Torn during the "training video" before you get on. That was a trip. My co writer and I (Tracy Berna, a big time animation writer) were given quite a bit of freedom to brainstorm ideas for the segments, then that material was put thru the corporate mill and came out relatively unscathed.

Brian: Can you tell us a little about 'Butcher House' and your roles as production manager and actor?

Sean: That was a really tough production. I was actually the line producer and production manager. I was hired to help a production company bring a movie in at 50k with 6 shooting days. Super low budget. We shot in this giant warehouse in downtown LA that's owned by a guy named Crazy Gideon - a local legend in the cheap electronics business. We had to compete with various porn shoots shooting at the same time, and a boxing gym downstairs that didn't give a rat's ass about film production. Thank God for our amazing cast and crew who worked their asses off under really stressful conditions.

I actually have a pretty small part in the film, but I get killed with a butcher knife quite horribly, so that's awesome! Ever since I was a kid I wanted to die in a horror film, and finally I got the chance! One thing I didn't realize - to make the blood come out of the costumes on low low budget sets, they frequently add dish detergent to the mix. Getting that in my mouth and eyes - yuck!

Brian: 'The Gay Bed and Breakfast of Terror' sounds like an absolute hoot and a half. Can you give us any background on that project?

Sean: I produced that film, which was written and directed by Jaymes Thompson. It's a really funny movie, political in a great way. The basic plot revolves around a group of gay and lesbian couples staying in this lodge in the middle of nowhere. The proprietor is actually a rabid conservative who lures gays to their death in the lodge. It's a lot more twisted than that - there is also cannibalism, larvae creatures, folk singing. Tons of gore and sex. We shot for two weeks in this completely isolated lodge in the middle of Arizona in February. Boiling during the day, freezing at night. There have been several murders there over the years, including one by the current owner who is in prison. We lived and shot in the place, and let me tell you, it was 100 percent haunted.

Brian: What was your initial inspiration for 'Socket'?

Sean: I'm a gigantic Cronenberg fan. I love his biological horror movies. So about ten years ago I was trying to come up with an idea along those lines, something that incorporated your body rebelling against you with the added extra bonus of sexualizing something that wasn't normally sexual. I also wanted to do a gay film that was uncompromising in the sexuality of the characters, but didn't rely on their sexual identity for the plot. And from there I found my way to 'Socket' . The outline sat around for a few years, then I hit a rough patch with my writing career - I got a few really not-so-nice rejections of my work. So I said, "Fuck it" and sat down and wrote the script. I gave it to my agent who wouldn't send it out because of the gay characters. (He's no longer my agent). Finally, after years of doing stuff for other companies, I decided, once again, "Fuck it" and went into production.

Brian: You have an extensive background directing in theater and as a producer and obviously knew exactly what you wanted to achieve with 'Socket' - still, was it nerve racking as a first time film director or did it feel like old home week?

Sean: Both! It was nerve wracking because now, after everything else I'd done in film and TV, I was in charge. I was terrified up until we rolled for the first time. On the other hand, it was old home week for a couple reasons. First, 'Gay Bed and Breakfast of Terror's' writer/director was also one of the leads in the movie. Suddenly onset I found myself directing the scenes that Jaymes appeared in. So when it came to direct 'Socket' I actually had some time behind the camera and felt comfortable dealing with actors and the crew. Secondly, almost all the cast members of 'Socket' are actors I've worked with before, either in theater I directed in Chicago, or from the casts of 'Butcher House' and 'Gay Bed and Breakfast of Terror.' The crew was all people I'd worked with on those movies and 'Rope Burn' , a short I wrote a couple years ago. And my producing partners were a couple I met as extras on the first feature I produced, 'Nine Lives'. So lots of supportive, familiar faces. I love the idea of a rep company for film. Hopefully I'll be able to use all these people over and over again.

Brian: 'Socket' is now entering the festival going stage. Just to give folks an idea - from initial idea to investors to filming to editing to showings - how long has the whole process taken? And - what has been the best and worst part of the whole deal?

Sean: Not counting the time that 'Socket' sat around as a script in a drawer, the whole process has taken about 18 months. Preproduction started in January 2006, we shot in June, edited thru September, did sound for another couple months, and now are looking for distribution which will probably take another couple months to sort out. In the meantime, we're entering the film in festivals and will have our simultaneous world premiere in July at both the Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Fest and Outfest here in LA. - The worst part was probably once again learning that you get what you pay for. 'Socket' is a low budget film, which meant we didn't have the money to pay people what they were worth. Ninety-nine percent of the folks didn't let that deter them and did a spectacular job. However there was one department that just didn't come thru and now we have someone else doing their job over again. - The best part was, and continues to be, working with such a great group of people, and making something we're all proud of.

Brian: Lastly, any future plans or words of wisdom (IE: Don't jog naked with cellophane rods in electrical storms) that you'd like to leave us with - and, thanks! It's been a blast!

Sean: Well, words of wisdom would probably start with - Just make your film! The only reason I have a finished feature film is because I just decided to do it, set a date, and crossed my fingers and hoped that it would all work out. And it did! Second, probably - Don't cast yourself in your first film as a director! At the end of the day I'm happy I'm in my film, but it was nerve wracking during filming. - Future plans include a bunch of stuff I can't mention by name yet! Mainly developing a horror project for my company, Dark Blue Films, and my producing partners, Velvet Candy Entertainment. We want to continue to do horror films that have gay characters whose sexuality have nothing to do with the plot. I have a few horror scripts that are in development at other companies as well. And I'm always looking for other fun horror flicks to produce. I'm just as happy producing as I am writing and directing, so if you need your horror movie done on a budget, give me a call! -You can check out www.darkbluefilms.com , www.myspace.com/darkbluefilms , and www.myspace.com/socketthemovie for more info. - Thanks! It was fun!