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Hello David, can you start the
readers at Racks and Razors off with a visual and
describe the room where you are answering the
questions?
Sure, sitting at home, it's
a small apartment, which is on the second floor,
there is big window behind me, a couple movie
props are thrown messily into one corner of the
room, one prop is a silver disco ball used in my
last movie, must put that somewhere safe, there
is a slight chilly draft coming in from the
window now, it's a cold December day outside, ok
now I'm going to grab my scarf to keep warm!
Something I am
very curious about is the independent film scene
in Denmark. Is it thriving? A rarity? Can you
give me any thoughts or insights as to the film
pulse there?
When I
came to Denmark in 1999, there was this big dogme
movement thing going on, that was interesting but
most of those dogme movies were made by directors
who had the already made many big movies, and
they used major actors and they still cost around
5 to 10 million to produce, which of course is a
lot of money if you are trying to self finance a
movie... so looking around there didn't seem to
be any real grass roots indie or underground
filmmaking scene as such - back then. Around this
time, made my own indie movie, just to see if it
could be done, and learned so much from making
that movie ("Last Exit"), which
wouldn't have happened if I just sat there and
sulked about finding it difficult to get finance
etc... To my pleasant surprise, it has been a
little underground success and generated a lot of
interest and even has been officially released in
a couple countries where it sells very well - so
I thought there is hope for us indie filmmakers
in Denmark!
Over the
years, gradually noticed there are more and more
upcoming filmmakers who are now making their own
small movies, that's fantastic to see and more of
that is needed. The indie scene continues now to
grow and grow, but its far from easy as regards
funding - unfortunately there seems to be a kind
of monopoly with the DFI (danish film institute),
as regards who gets what funds, they have so much
money tied up and don't want to release it,
unless you agree to make something very safe and
risk free - which kind of kills the purpose of
film as an artform. That's why it's so great that
indie and underground films are now been
produced, some good, some bad - but there is
experimentation going on and some of these movies
are getting wide distribution because there is a
niche audience for these types of movies and some
distributors are smart enough to tap into that.
I want to hear
about your latest feature, No
Right Turn. Can you give us a
synopsis or teaser that is going to make it
irresistible to our readers?
"No
Right Turn" , is in a way my first well
produced independent movie (funded by private
investors), to differentiate it from my first
movie "Last Exit" , which was kind of
an no-budget-underground piece. "No Right
Turn" is an edge of your seat thriller, set
in a surreal universe, think of "Fargo"
meets "Napoleon Dynamite" (laughing),
it's suspenseful, exciting, funny, dark, strange
and unpredictable all at the same time and offers
hopefully something fresh to viewers who enjoy
well-produced quirky thrillers. Read more
details, including some exclusive stills here: http://www.lastexitproductions.dk/NoRightTurn.html
As with your
first film, the dark thriller "Last
Exit" , you wrote the screenplay for
"No Right Turn" as well. Is the
motivation for your directing wanting to maintain
the integrity of your words?
Not at
all, it's just the ways things naturally
progressed. It comes from writing scripts for
many years, so have build up a database of
stories and ideas, so with each movie I try to
throw out as many ideas as possible, suppose
being closest to those ideas, it makes sense to
direct.
How did you
move from writing to directing?
As
mentioned, it just seemed like a natural step,
especially when working from your own material,
you know the script better than anyone else, the
look, the tone, the mood, so it kinda makes
sense.
With titles
like that I've gotta ask...do you think we are
indeed trapped in a directionless existential
hell?
(Laughing)
No, they are not really that heavy! Ok, my first
movie, has some heavy stuff going on, the main
character trapped in his own self created hell,
but the movie is laced with black humour, you are
not supposed to feel pity for him, you can just
sit back and grin to yourself, and say jeese...
glad I'm not up shits creek like this sorry
loser! And even moreso in "No Right
Turn" , the characters are larger than life,
it was much more fun to play around with - the
movie is not set in any specific time or place,
the universe is a weird place from 1970s - 80s,
so many opportunities for fun stuff.
In 'Last Exit'
there are some immensely gruesome scenes -- eye
gouging, nail torture, broken bottles, chainsaws,
etc. Was there any specific gore effect that was
harder to pull off than the others given your
minimal budget?
Well it's
not really an out and out gore fest, and it's not
meant to be, although those scenes do occur. Was
very lucky to work with Kristina Seefeld, who was
our special effects guru, she done a wonderful
job. All those scenes the gore looks very very
real, that was important, not to look fake or
campy. Making the false eyeball was probably the
hardest, even I was surprised how real it looked,
even though the movie doesn't hog the gore, when
we do see something horrifying, it's exactly that
- horrifying!
If a novice
filmmaker came to you for advice before shooting
their first feature what would be a couple things
you would tell them to be sure and keep in mind?
General
things I suppose, expect problems, expect some
negativity but deal with things professionally.
Always believe in yourself and your project and
always surround yourself with great people. It
won't be easy, but persevere, be positive and try
to enjoy it. Remember to take the bullets as well
as the compliments and like in any artform
everyone will have an opinion on your movies, and
it\rquote s only their opinion... that's what
makes the world interesting.
What are you
working on currently?
Currently
on post production duties, working closely with a
composer for 'No Right Turn's' score. This movie
will have more score than songs. It's very
exciting, the score is sounding amazing so far.
On top of that, almost finished writing my next
project, it's a combination of a couple ideas and
stories I have written before, the script is less
pulpy than my other stuff and more psychological
of nature, it's gonna be real cool.
Do you recall
the first movie to scare the shit out of you?
Vividly
remember when the original 'Salem's Lot' (not the
remake) was on TV, my parents allowed me to watch
it, I was 6 years old, man, that left me in cold
sweats especially when I went to bed, lucky I had
the protection of my blankets - which was my
shield against all those vampires scratching on
my window!
What are some
films that have heavily influenced your work?
So many
films really, love mainstream films as well indie
and underground movies. Basically love an
interesting story especially something with a
verve or edge. Movies from Lynch (Eraserhead,
Wild at Heart), Scorsese (Mean Streets), Stone
(Natural Born Killers) all to ways to even
Spielberg (Jaws). Huge fondness for Asian cinema,
Miike etc. Peckinpah (Straw dogs), Leone (The
good, the bad, and the ugly), Coens (Blood
simple), Raimi (Evil Dead), so many really, when
you become a filmmaker you are in love with
movies!
Okay, we're
pulling the car into the David Noel Bourke Drive
In. What three horror flicks are on the triple
bill tonight and what goodies are they going to
be serving up at the concession stand?
Well ok,
to please splatter fans, would present Braindead,
to please old school cult horror fans, it would
be Dementia/Daughter of horror (1955), and to add
European flavour I would show Andrzej Zulawski's
Possession . Lots of beer and crisps for
everyone! (laughing)
What scares
you in real life?
Narrow
minded people.
What makes you
go psycho in real life?
Ha! I
don't go psycho, live a quite normal life, spend
most of my free time with my two kids and wife,
so leave all the psychos and craziness for my
scripts and movies - so they can't harm anyone
(laughing). |
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