1. When and why did you decide to be a filmmaker?

When I was 12, my friends and I started making (copying) movies based on whatever was popular at that time and that lasted through high school. After getting through college, I figured I would give it a halfway-serious go and tried a few shorts and then a no-budget feature. I’m not real fond of the word filmmaker, because I think the term is used too loosely. For me it’s more of a glorified hobby, really helps break the monotony of everyday 9-5 life.

2. What is the most helpful book you've read on filmmaking?

I’ve read several books on movie making and interestingly enough, the one I have found most helpful and actually gave the best real world advice is Lloyd Kaufman’s Make Your Own Damn Movie. He’s the guy from Troma. He’s been through any and all trials and tribulations you could imagine getting his near no-budget flicks made for years, and he all too freely shares his experiences. For anyone with any interest in making movies, it’s a must read.

3. What is the best thing you've learned from writing and directing?

That with the right people making movies is actually a reality. As long as you have a core group that you can count on to be there for ya, you can actually complete what you start. Coordination is the key. Sometimes, you have to be able to shift your vision dramatically in order to get your movie made. I’ve learned to always have a backup plan incase something goes wrong (i.e. an actor has to quit, key crew disappears, it rains every shooting day, you drop your camera on the ground one time too many), you can never be too prepared. Expect the best, but be prepared for disaster.

4. What are the most difficult challenges you've faced as a filmmaker?

On The Dead Shall Rise, there have been a few pretty difficult challenges. The most difficult challenges have been producing as well as directing. Having to schedule everyone at certain times, buy food for craft services the night before, securing locations, dealing with all kinds of releases, etc. is just too much to try to do while at the same time directing, even on a no-budget shoot (probably more so with a no-budget shoot). Scheduling actors and crew was very difficult, we ended up only having one day where we were able to have all the main actors together on the same day, when they are suppose to be together for most of the shooting days. One actor was involved with other productions for the first two months, one actress went to LA for 6 weeks in the middle of shooting, and one actor had to move back where he was from to go to school, I knew all of these things beforehand but still thought we could get it done with the given amounts of time, but the rain knocked us out a few weekends, and it didn’t work out that way. So the script had to be changed to accommodate, and I would guess a bit less than 30% is what was originally written. So much for vision, eh? But it’s a zombie flick, so you can get away with that a bit easier than about any other type of movie. One of our special effects guys, that was in charge of makeup was only able to help out on about a third of the shooting days, but luckily one of the actors was also a very accomplished special effects makeup artist and was able to pick up the slack.

5. Do you feel it's necessary to go to film school? Did you have any traditional education or training in this industry?

I think it really helps with the technical side of things. I know most of the MSU grads are light years ahead of me. But you learn a lot actually doing also and there are things you learn by messing up and figuring out a way to do it right. I went the route of business school for my degree, which is the furthest thing away from making movies. But it helps with the whole being able to buy equipment or whatever and is a pretty good fall-back plan. So going to film school isn’t necessary, but it helps with the learning curve an awful lot! I would love to take some classes at MSU and catch up on some of the technical things I’m not real swift with.

6. What are your favorite films and why?

I love surrealism and sarcasm, so obviously I love all of Bunuel stuff, particularly The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and The Exterminating Angel. Mulholland Drive is a favorite of mine for the same reasons. Other favorites are: Au Hasard Balthazar, Umberto D, Wild Strawberries, Stroszek, My Father’s Keeper, The Thin Blue Line, The Dollars Trilogy, Fitzcaraldo, 8 ½, Contempt, Suspiria, Joan of Arc, Psycho, Dawn of the Dead, I could go on forever, but that’s a good mix of what I like, a pretty wide range.

7. Who are your favorite directors and why?

Luis Bunuel – he’s the master of surrealism, Bunuel is one of the only directors that seemed to get better with age, he’s unmatched in both style and wit.

David Lynch – best living director, you either love him or you hate him. I challenge anyone to watch Eraserhead and not be affected by it.

Werner Herzog – he’s crazy and could very well be immortal. He worked with some of the craziest people you could ever imagine between Kinski and Bruno S. But his stuff is magic. Between having his crew move a huge ship over a mountain, make a movie after hypnotizing his entire cast and crew and holding a gun to an actor's head to have him finish the scene, I think that puts him on the map.

8. Who are your favorite actors and why?

I’m not sure I have any real favorites that I follow... certain movies come to mind as my favorite an actor has been in: Humphrey Bogart in Maltese Falcon, Naomi Watts in Mulholland Drive and Martin Landau in Ed Wood, Clint Eastwood in the Dollars Trilogy. I’m pretty big on old Karloff stuff, so I guess he’s up there.

9. Why did you choose The Dead Shall Rise as your first feature?

It’s something I felt like we could do and complete fairly effectively no matter what happened. It has a forgiving fan base already locked in and we could make it for cheap. I’m a big fan of low budget horror, and Night of the Living Dead was the first horror movie I remember seeing as a kid. It seemed like a good genre to cut my teeth on.

10. How did you finance it?

Do you take Visa, Mastercard or American Express?

11. Do you think it's important to make some short films before tackling a feature? Why or why not?

For sure, I think it definitely helps. You know what to expect a bit more and have learned a bit about the process before you take the leap. I wish I had completed another short or two, but making a feature is like 4 shorts. You have to keep learning and doing, even if it is just a weekend 5 minute short. I think the biggest problem a lot of directors have is they try to do too much and expect more than is reasonable. I’ve heard a lot of time that someone has an awesome script but they need to raise about a million dollars to get it done and won’t compromise. I get a kick out of these folks. They wait and they wait and before they know it they are in their 50s and still talking about making that dream project, when they could have been learning and doing during that time. Make all the shorts you can with whatever equipment you can get. Even if it’s a $300 MiniDV cam and a $20 Best Buy mic, the learning and experience is all the same, and you can always add equipment as you go.

12. What is your most vivid memory from your filmmaking endeavors?

Windshields breaking, cars getting smashed, people burning, getting knocked out, bridge dives, that’s not really one vivid memory, but a few images I have instilled.

13. What do you think is the key to working with actors?

I’m not sure. I was very hands off with the actors during the whole production for the most part. All actors are different, some want to be told every little move to make and some want to really get into the role and show what they’ve got. Actors are very strange animals. For the most part, we kept it real light on the set, maybe too light, as far as joking around. But we took it seriously for the most part, when we needed to, and we got it done.

14. What do you look for in an actor?

#1 reliability, how dedicated are they, are they going to give up their whole summer just to be a part of your movie? You have to find actors that will sacrifice their weekends and be willing to work for sandwiches, Pringles and a Jones Soda here and there. You kinda have to pry into their lives and see what they have going on that could be a problem later, boyfriend/girl friend, social butterflies, much of a life outside of acting. #2 Preparedness, how prepared were they for auditions, do they know their lines? We had to do a ton of extra takes because sometimes, actors couldn’t remember a page of their lines. It can really drag down a production. Talent would probably actually be like #5.

15. What do you value most about your experiences thus far?

Probably knowing that, with the right people, you can actually make movies here in southwest Missouri. It is a possibility. After seeing the shorts made at MSU’s showcase and getting to see some of the actor’s showcases, I was made a believer that there is no reason we can’t make movies here. If we could only keep people from moving to LA :-)

16. As far as filmmaking, what do you think Missouri offers that other places don't?

Awesome exterior and interior locations that can be used for free even from complete strangers. We shot all over the area for different scenes and never had a problem getting permission to use a location. Most people were excited we asked them to use their property or houses.

17. What is your highest priority as a filmmaker?

Right now, the highest priority is getting the project completed that you start. I’ve been burned in the past on starting with a few projects that people wanted me to work on that never got off the ground, and I’ve also had a short that never got completed. People see through talk real quick and won’t want to work with those that just talk. If you start it, you have to finish it, and then on your next project even more folks will want to work with you when they see you can do what you say.

18. What do you think makes a great director?

I don’t know, you would have to find a great director and ask them :-)

19. Do you have any tips for keeping actors happy and comfortable?

One way is to keep the production moving. You don’t want them sitting around for hours before they do anything, they get drained. On some days when the actors didn’t know where we were shooting at, they would have to get there with everyone else and wait a few hours before anything happened especially when you have 10-40 Zombie makeups. Almost all of the actors I used I knew or had worked with before, so we all knew kinda what to expect. Using your friends has both advantages and disadvantages. Keeping an actor completely happy? Impossible!

20. What are a few words of advice you'd give an aspiring filmmaker?