 Stephanie
Beaton inspires me. This flame
haired beauty has grown from a
minor character, in the late
Nineties, in the Scream Queen
Wars to a powerful full-fledged
horror movie institution.
Starting out as an actress in no
budget films such as Headcrusher,
she, quickly, worked her way into
starring roles in a trio of the
popular Witchcraft films. She
gave excellent performances as
the no nonsense Detective Lutz
– and underground fame, soon
followed. Now, after years of
giving her all for others, she is
also directing, writing and
producing strong efforts like The
Bagman and Evil in the Bayou with
her own successful production
company, Silver Moon Productions.
She is beautiful, talented,
determined and possesses a plucky
confidence that I can only wish
for on my best days. So, from now
on, I have decided, when
confronted with my worst fears, I
plan to “Beaton-ize” it
– and, I know, that my life
will surely turn out for the
better! Doubt me? Then, read on
and discover the “Stephanie
Beaton Truth”!
BRIAN:
1. You, recently, worked a out a
major distribution deal for
Silver Moon Productions,
your company, with Blockbuster,
Best Buy and other major chains.
How long did that deal take to
make? And- congratulations!
STEPHANIE:
A.) Actually, I didn't just
recently work out a deal. "The
Bagman" and "Evil
In The Bayou" has
been picked up for distribution
since 2003. The STREET date
was September 21st, 2004.
That’s when it was available
to rent or to buy at Blockbuster
Video, Best Buy, Fry's, Borders,
Sam Goody, Musicland, etc
etc. "Tales From
The Grave" was also
picked up in August of
2004. So that will be out
early 2005 for people to
rent. The way you
make deals isn't or may not be
with one company. Certainly if
you find a GOOD distributor who
doesn't screw you over, you build
a rapport with them and you
continue to work with them for
all your films you produce.
OR you can work with other
distributors. Silver Moon
Productions isn't exclusive
with my distributor. But
they a re one of the best people
out there to be honest with you
and I went thru 3 distributors
with "The Bagman"
prior to finding these people.
BRIAN:
2. In "Headcrusher" you
made a powerful presence with
scant screen time. You,
definitely have an amazing
persona. Do you have any special
memories about the filming
experience in Chicago? Also, you
appear as a truly powerful demon
at the end of
"Headcrusher". How long
did your make-up for that scene
take?
STEPHANIE:
A.) Working on "HeadCrusher"
was a fun shoot. Given it
was only a cameo appearance, the
work with Ricardo Islas was one
of the best as he is very
talented and I hope one day to
work with him again on something
else. One of the best
memories was the blooper that
happened on set while filming my
love scene. Ricardo
wanted to show the love scene
starting from another room.
Meaning the camera began rolling
and action was called and the
camera's POV was shot thru a
window. I was placed on a
table, on top of the other actor,
topless, wearing my underpants of
course and my slip and the other
actor wore his boxers but rolled
them up so it appeared he was
nude. When Ricardo called
action, we began our "love
making movements". Well the
little fold out table left go and
I and the other actor fell
crashing to the ground. It was
hysterical. That was my best
memory.
The make-up took about 4 hours to
do. Getting it off was a
nightmare. Getting the
rotted teeth look off my teeth
was murder. I
remember I didn't sleep while
filming. I was only there like 2
days and I had to leave on a 6am
flight because I had another film
to shoot here in Los Angeles, so
I remember I went to the airport
covered in oil that was put on my
face for tears and make-up. I
looked REALLY bad. But it
was all worth it.
BRIAN:
3.You excel at playing powerful
women in a business -show
business- that is known for its
toughness and, often, impossible
rejection. Do you find that you
draw upon your inner strength -
all the fortitude you have to
survive in the real life- to
bring these women, so honestly,
to reel life?
STEPHANIE:
A.) I really enjoy
playing a powerful role. I
don't like to play the victim too
often. Yes I think I do
draw on my own strengths,
probably more so being a woman in
Hollywood and trying to make it
as a director and a producer and
trying to do what was meant to be
a "man's world" or so
they think.
It’s tough. And I
fight all the way 100% everyday
to battle it all. So
when I am given a chance to
portray a woman who is tough and
strong, it’s wonderful.
BRIAN:
4.I remember catching you playing
a bartender, one Sunday morning,
on a local station repeating a
Heather Locklear
made-for-TV-movie. I was thrilled
to see you - and you got a lot of
airtime. Can you tell me what it
was like to see yourself -and so
much of yourself - on network TV
for the first time? It must have
been so exciting!
STEPHANIE:
A.) To tell you the
truth, I never saw that on TV so
I can't tell you what it was like
for that film. I know it
played or aired but I was filming
something else when it
aired. I know remember what
was the most memorable moment was
when I was in New York in 1997
and I was on the Empire State
Building and an older lady asked
me for my autograph because she
had seen me on Pay Per View for "Witchcraft
9, Bitter Flesh".
That was the most exciting moment
for my acting career.
BRIAN:
5. I recently bought a
used copy of "Blood
Gnomes" at Blockbuster -and
almost jumped out of my seat when
I saw you appear on screen- I was
so glad to see you in the movie!
You did a great job! It was great
to see you deliver such a
knockout performance! Was there
any place you had to go to, to
get to the level of aggression
needed for that scene?
STEPHANIE:
A.) Yeah...I was
originally cast as the lead role
in that film and John Lachago had
given me the script and
everything then I learned they
cast someone else. It
was crazy. That’s
John's style though. He has
a habit of changing his mind
without reason but it was a dirty
trick. I have yet to see the
movie as well getting copies of
your films from producers is a
pain. I personally
made it a point as a producer to
never do that to people, but its
true.....Try to get a copy of a
film you were in is like pulling
teeth. I actually ONLY did
that role because Vincent
Bilancio was my DP and editor for
"Evil In The
Bayou" and as a part
of an exchange.......They said
come be a cameo appearance in the
film and I will make 50 copies of
your film for free. So
that’s why I was even
there.
So being on set where I built my
anger I guess. I
don't know. It was just
acting. I had no inner
anger.
BRIAN:
6. If I had to pick, I would say
your performances in the
"Witchcraft" movies,
"The Bagman" and
"Evil in the Bayou" are
my favorites. Do you have a
personal favorite role - or
roles- out of all the characters
that you have played?
STEPHANIE:
A.) I liked "The
Evilmaker" cause I
was a strong woman in that
role. I liked
"Witchcraft 11" as
well. I also enjoyed
doing comedy in "Bikini
Planet". I played
Princess Nibbi. I had
a blast filming that.
BRIAN:
7. Where do you get your
inspiration for your screenplays
and how long, usually, does it
take for you to write them?
STEPHANIE:
A.) Thoughts or
stories will pop into my
head. I wrote my latest
film, "It Crawls"
in 4 days. I have a habit
of finishing something and not
stopping until it’s done
which means I will not sleep, eat
or anything until its
finished. I just get a
thought and everything just
flows. I wrote one of
the shorts for "Tales
From The Grave, Volume 2, Happy
Holidays" in 1
day. So things just
come into my head rather fast
when I write.
BRIAN:
8.You do everything! (And, very
well, I might add!) You act,
direct, produce and write! What
do you enjoy doing the most - or
are they all, equally, enjoyable?
STEPHANIE:
A.) I really enjoy
directing. Especially
directing something I have
written because you see what you
created unfold right before your
eyes. I really found
that filmmaking is truly for me,
more enjoyable then acting.
I love being in charge of things
and business and having
control. I want to put my
company on the map and continue a
long successful life for Silver
Moon Productions.
That’s my goal now.
It's like when I first started
acting.....I was so excited to
see myself IN a film. I rushed my
first film home and popped it in
the VCR to watch it. Then
when I saw myself on TV in
various films or TV shows, that
was exciting. I had a
recent moment about a year or so
ago when I thought about when you
walk into any given video store
and look up my name, you will
find a few titles listed.
That was exciting. And to
grace the pages of Fangoria
Magazine was a BIG thrill because
I never dreamed when I was a kid
that I would be appearing IN that
magazine when I grew up and I
LOVED that magazine and bought
every issue when it came
out. NOW it’s exciting
to walk in the video stores and
see the films that I PRODUCED!
The films that I MADE! That
is the most thrilling moment for
me now.
BRIAN:
9. You have a great website with
some neat collectibles! Is there
anything that you have available
for purchase, currently, that you
are particularly excited about?
STEPHANIE:
A.) Well, nothing that is
really any different. I mean, I
do have available copies of my
films, "The
Bagman", "Evil
In the Bayou" and "Tales
From The Grave".
But I don't have anything new
that I made available. I have
been so busy with my company that
I really haven't focused on my
website lately.
BRIAN:
10. Finally - Are there any
upcoming productions or events
going on that you would like
people to know about?
STEPHANIE:
A.) Well as you know,
"The Bagman"
and "Evil In The
Bayou" are out on
video or DVD now. "Tales
From The Grave" ,
which stars Joe Estevez
and music by Bill Moseley
( "House of 1,000
Corpses", "Texas
Chainsaw Massacre 2", etc)
will be out early 2005. I am in
pre-production of "Tales
From The Grave, Volume 2, Happy
Holidays". I am
planning on filming December
2004. After that, I am
shooting, "It
Crawls".
Then who knows. I do have lots on
my plate. On November 21st,
I will be signing autographs at The
Shrine in Los Angeles.
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