Exclusive Interview: Director SANDY COLLORA: The Road From Batman: Dead End to Hunter Prey

Batman Dead End is truly a cult fanboy/fangirl classic, which was directed by Sandy Collora back in 2003. Kevin Smith said it was, "possibly the truest, best Batman movie ever made," and comic book artist Alex Ross has said, "Batman the way I've always wanted to see him." The film was made to show off Collora's directing skills, but it wasn't until seven years later, that Collora completed his first, full length, Sci-Fi indie feature film, Hunter Prey.

What happened during those seven years? Why did it take so long for him to finally make a movie? What was it like filming Hunter Prey? These are just a few questions answered in this in-depth, personal interview with director Sandy Collora, and boy, the road it took to get where he is currently at, was long and bumpy.

This is a must read interview for any film geek. Collora unloads some experiences, and stories that are both, extremely interesting, and personal. He also shares some personal and behind the scenes photo's from what he has been through, including from the set of Hunter Prey. There is a ton of information packed in the interview, and it's a great read. Enjoy!

Here is where the interview begins:

I remember when I first saw your Batman Dead End short film. I was blown away by it. At the time I thought this is the guy that I want to see make a Batman or Superman movie. This became a cult fanboy favorite and to this day it looks great.

There is a whole story behind the aftermath of this movie, with opportunities found and lost. What is it that happened?

Man, where do I start? There’s so much that happened in the wake of that little movie… It was a very tumultuous time in my life. First off, my mother passed away on July 26th, 3 days after the film premiered at the San Diego Comic Con. Her and I were very, very close and this obviously made that period in my life very bittersweet. On one hand, BDE was really taking off and getting a huge amount of buzz, especially in Hollywood circles, and on the other hand, I was dealing with the death of the person I cared the most about in life. My mother was my best friend. There were a lot of mixed emotions happening at that time.

I remember days when I’d literally get a phone call in the morning, from someone like Alex Ross, or Guillermo Del Toro, telling me how much they loved the movie, then in the afternoon, just having moments of complete, utter sadness and despondence over what happened to my mom. Trying to balance all the truly wonderful things that were happening at that time, with literally the worst thing that has ever happened to me, was very hard. It was incredibly difficult to concentrate and stay focused.

To be brutally honest, there was a little guilt, too… Here I was, going on a bunch of meetings, promoting my film and having lunch with movie stars and studio executives, talking about work, and my mother had just died. That was kind of a hard thing mentally, to deal with. I knew in my heart, that it’s what my mom would have wanted me to do, but I still felt terrible about it, because some of my peers and even my friends, were a little shocked at how I was moving right along, handling things with my career, even after all this had just happened.

So basically, that went on for two years. Lot’s of pitching projects and talking about possibly doing this movie or that movie, with different studios and different producers. I was getting a bit frustrated at that point, just not being able to figure out why none of these projects were really moving forward. Admittedly, I was perhaps a little naïve at the time, about how long it actually takes sometimes to get a movie up and running in the studio system. It’s unbelievable how many big, mainstream, blockbuster movies have spent years and years in development or sitting on shelves. I still don’t get how all that exactly happens and why. To me, it seems that most of the people trying to develop projects, wind up going around in circles a lot, and making things too complicated, but I definitely have a much better understanding now, of how that process works anyway, even if I still can’t seem to get my head around why.

Then, the following summer, I got into a really bad, near fatal car accident. I was rear ended by a drunk driver, and my car flipped over four times. Had I not been wearing a seatbelt, I probably would not be sitting here, doing this interview. It took a while to fully recover from all the broken bones, bruises, lacerations, etc… My ribs hurt for the longest time, my shoulder and arm didn’t really get back to 100% for a while, and I was literally picking tiny shards of glass out of my entire body for months. I remember the first thing I did, after I got out of the hospital, was to go look at my truck. It was hard to believe, standing there looking at it, especially with all the dried blood all over the interior, that I wasn’t much more seriously injured, or even killed.

I remember the doctor telling me that though I was lucky to be alive, my left arm and shoulder would probably never have 100% mobility again, and that I was definitely going to have back problems for the rest of my life. Well, my arm and shoulder still look pretty gnarly, but they’ve never felt better, and I’ve never had any back problems of any kind. In my mind, to me, that accident was just a speed bump on the road of life. Another adventure. Without any question or doubt whatsoever, I saw myself making a full recovery and never let any negative thoughts enter my mind of being disabled or physically hindered in any way. I believed in my heart I’d get past it and continue chasing the dream, and that’s exactly what I did.

What did this short film do for your career?

I think it put me on a lot of people’s radar. Though I had a very extensive background in FX and design, before directing several short films, commercials and music videos previous to BDE, I was having a tough time getting a feature off the ground. There are so many talented commercial directors out there, with reels that were far more vast and had much more experience than I had, and it was even tough for them. So for a guy like me, who’s reel wasn’t really that extensive, I knew I had to do something that would make a splash and grab people’s attention. Batman fighting toe to toe with the Predator, certainly did the trick. I think after I made BDE and the studios saw the reaction to it on line, they looked at me a bit more seriously as a possible candidate to direct a genre feature.

I also made a lot of friends and business contacts as a result of it as well. I met and developed relationships with a lot of really cool and really talented writers, artists and filmmakers, whose work I’d admired. Guys like Simon Bisley, Neal Adams, Guillermo del Toro, Alex Ross, John Byrne… I was also meeting lots of people from all aspects of the industry, who were just really digging the whole grass roots, old school approach I was taking to making these short films and wanted to be involved with whatever it was I was going to do next.

What were the studios reactions to it? Why didn’t anyone bring you on board to direct any decent budgeted movies?

Most really liked it. They all seemed genuinely impressed that I could bring that level of production value and visual style to something that was done for a ridiculously low budget. Everyone was very intrigued about how certain things in the movie were done. Like the shot where Batman stands up out of the puddle with his cape collecting around him, for instance. A lot of them thought that was a CG shot. Most studio people for some reason were perplexed about how I could achieve so much of that stuff practically, in camera. I dunno, to me it wasn’t really a big deal, but I always thought it was kinda funny how some people forget the fact that back in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, when so many brilliant, landmark, genre films were made, there was no such thing as CGI.

As far not getting a directing gig right away, and why that didn’t happen… Well, I think there were several reasons. Some I understand, some I don’t. It’s hard to pinpoint what really happened because each situation and potential project was different. Unfortunately, things like that in this town are rarely black and white. There’s so much gray area. Some people will tell you I had the wrong agent. Others would say I wasn’t open enough to some of the material that I was being given to consider. I’m sure a few people as well, would tell you that they were still unsure if I could carry an entire feature and be able to tell a cohesive story in a much longer format. To some extent, I guess there’s truth in all those reasons, really. There was certainly no question whatsoever, in my mind that I could do it, but it really wasn’t up to me ultimately. That was the thing that bothered me the most. The fact that my future as a feature film director was in someone else’s hands, to a large degree... I had to change that.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t really frustrated at the time, but I went through those years, knowing in my heart that it was never a question of IF I was going to direct a feature, it was a question of when. Timing and luck are two very big parts of the gigantic puzzle of making a motion picture. It takes the right project, at the right time, with the right people involved, with the right studio or group of investors, and at that point in my life, those things just never quite aligned or fell into place.

If they did, are you at liberty to tell us what movies that you were offered to direct? And why didn’t they go through?

Officially, I was never actually “offered” a film to direct, but I was given several scripts to read, including “Shazam” and “Creature From the Black Lagoon”. The industry term for that, from what I can gather, is called “being considered to direct”. I was very interested in both of those projects and had several meetings at New Line and Universal respectively, to talk about my thoughts on the scripts and how I would approach each of those projects. It was all very exciting… I had a lot of interesting ideas regarding how to achieve cinematically, what I’d read in those scripts. The William Goldman script I was given for “Shazam” was excellent. I really felt that movie literally jumping off the pages at me. It hit all the right notes and was exceptionally well written. It had kind of a Norman Rockwell innocence to it. Very Americana. Very Spielbergian. I would have loved to have done that film as a post World War 2, period piece… Late 40’s or early 50’s.

The “Creature from the Black Lagoon” script was a very early draft. Gary Ross himself was going to rewrite it at the time they were considering me for that project. I don’t know if he ever did, or if there’s a director attached to that film at this point in time. What I do remember pretty clearly about that whole thing, was that I was very much into doing the creature very traditionally. Basically a “man in a suit” just like the original, which to me, still holds up to this day. That suit is really an incredible work of art in and of itself. Unfortunately, this was something I guess the Universal guys and I didn’t quite see eye to eye on. When I brought in some drawings and a maquette that I’d done for the creature, they didn’t really respond to it. I think they wanted to make a big CG thing and go for more of a Loch Ness Monster vibe, which I thought was interesting, but for a Nessie movie, not CFTBL. I told them we should make a Loch Ness Monster movie… Jurassic Park underwater. They just kind of stared at me for a minute, then one of the execs in the room, turned his head slightly and said; “Really?”

I also had several meetings with the head of production at Miramax and with Marvel when they were going to do “Werewolf by Night”, and did a bunch of production art for that one too, but it never went anywhere either. I think it’s actually kind of ironic how none of these three films I’ve mentioned, have been made yet.

There were a few others as well. Mostly lower budgeted horror/slasher type flicks, or psychological thrillers that really didn’t interest me. No matter how hard I tried, creatively I just couldn’t get into any of these projects because I simply didn’t relate to the material. In my opinion, none of it was clever, fresh, well conceived, or well written. There seemed to be this opinion with most of the producers and executives involved, that if you take good looking, young people, have them do drugs, have sex, use lots of vulgar language, and subsequently chop them up by way of a crazy, deformed mutant with an axe or something, you’d have a great horror movie… I just simply and very respectfully disagreed. I don’t have any interest at all in making those kinds of movies.

I had my own horror scripts that I had written and already developed, but I was also very open to directing something that I didn’t write, especially at that level and sort of bringing my own sensibilities and visual style to it, but unfortunately, none of the material I was given to choose from was something I felt I could do that with. There was no spark or really cool, or uniquely inherent element that I could grab a hold of and run with and unfortunately, the producers and studios that were giving me these scripts weren’t open to me adding those elements and incorporating my ideas to the level I was suggesting. It would have resulted in making a much different film than I think they wanted to make.

Most of the problem to me personally, was the tone and style in which a lot of those scripts were written. My suggestions were more about creating drama and tension through how the film is shot and concentrated more on mood and what you shouldn’t show the audience, as opposed to being very graphic and overly gory. I felt I didn’t need to show excessive blood or gore, just for shock value, and unfortunately that seemed to be the direction they were looking to pursue with those particular films.

I really feel that bringing a certain level of casting, visual style, richness of design and textural quality to something that would otherwise just be a B movie, is something appealing and very challenging to me as a director. I’ve always admired and been inspired by what directors like Ridley Scott or Roman Polanski did with films like “Alien” and “Rosemary’s Baby”. I think those guys were inspired a bit by Hitchcock, actually… They made incredibly stylish and beautiful, but very scary movies, without showing the audience everything or pelting them with gory images at a breakneck pace for the entire film. Same thing with Kubrick . “The Shining” is another masterpiece of suspense and horror… You just don’t see a lot of films being made of that ilk anymore. I guess the art of the classic genre film is kind of getting lost these days in the shaky cam, over processed, skip framed, quick cut, bloodbath of most modern horror films.

One of the producers of those scripts I was given, hadn’t even seen “Rosemary’s Baby”. How could you be a development executive in the genre division at a major studio, and not have seen this film? He had absolutely no idea what I was talking about when I was referencing certain scenes from that film, or specific shots. He even further admitted to not ever seeing any of Roman Polanski’s work, though he DID know that he was “The guy who had sex with the 13 year old girl and fled to Europe…” I thought that was a perfect example of the kind of mentality you’re forced to deal with so often in this business. Celebrity and what’s in the tabloid headlines, is much more important to certain people, over what’s going on creatively or artistically and that unfortunately is responsible for a lot of the corporate paranoia and bad decisions that get made in this business. Decisions that instead, should be made based upon an individual’s talent, skill set, sensibilities, experience and their ability to do the job.

Hunter Prey is your first full length motion picture film. Why did it take so long to get your first motion picture up and going? What are the challenges you faced in trying to get your film up and running?

Who knows what’s said behind closed doors, when I leave a pitch meeting or whatever… Maybe they thought I was nuts, I dunno… I tried to convince them that the bridge, so to speak, between art and commerce, was indeed something that could be built and that I knew how to build it, but like I said, in the end, it takes one of those executives not only to believe you, but to also believe IN you. That simply just didn’t happen at that time, at least not with someone who had the power or clout to greenlight any of these films. Basically, I just decided it was time to stop pitching movies or talking about them, and go MAKE one.

The biggest challenge was raising the money and everything that went along with that whole thing. The business and politics of this industry have always been very challenging to me, much more so than anything creative. So often, those things are counterproductive to films getting made the best way possible, and that’s unfortunate. I’m not talking about budgetary restrictions, I’m actually fine with dealing with those, I’m referring more to the political aspects of how things are sometimes done, and how many people feel the need to be involved in making certain creative decisions that should not be made by committee. Being collaborative is a wonderful part of filmmaking that I truly do embrace, but when ideas get proposed that could compromise the integrity of the film, it can get really hard to balance. It’s my least favorite part of the whole process. It generates much more stress and tension, than anything else the job entails. It’s tricky sometimes, but I deal with it fine and smile through it all like I said, it’s all part of the big adventure, but I don’t dig that stuff… I don’t know any filmmaker that does.

I was at Monsterpalooza where you went into some detail on some of the experiences you had while shooting the film. First of all I remember you saying that a lot of people were telling you that you could never pull this movie off, especially due to the location that you shot the movie. Where is it exactly that you shot the film?

We shot the film in Mexico. Everyone thought I was crazy… Even one of the producers wasn’t really sure if it could be done, until I took him there and showed him all the locations and the house we would all stay at. After that, he was like, “We HAVE to shoot here.” At that moment, it all clicked for him, I could see it on his face. He got it, and to his credit, he worked some of the logistical and financial things out and we made it happen.

Even after that point though, there were doubters. There were some people who just couldn’t fathom, especially after reading the script, that I could go down there with a tiny crew, and in 17 days, come back with anything that was a recognizable semblance of a movie, let alone, a sci-fi movie that was this ambitious. I dunno, what can I say, really? There were just people who were kind of waiting to see the train wreck, so to speak. They thought I couldn’t pull it off. I feel I proved them wrong… Not really much more to elaborate on there… Pretty simple.

I guess I’ve just never let what anyone said about my abilities, what I was or wasn’t capable of, get into my head or bother me in any way. If you do that, they’ll put you in a box… Saying things like; “He’s just another FX guy who wants to direct.”, “His stuff looks good, but can he work with actors?” or my personal favorite, “Yeah, he can do a lot with a low budget, he’s really talented, but could he handle a big budget movie?” I swear to God, that’s totally real. Someone actually said that.

How long were you out there?

Almost a month. It took a full day to get down there, we shot 6 day weeks, with 17 shooting days, and then one full day of travel to get back home. We went back down there a few months later and did 2 days of pick ups with just the DP and the two main actors. How far was it from any civilization?

Well, San Felipe was really the closest town that had any real medical facilities or a restaurant with a place where you could get internet service, and that was about 75 miles from the Las Tunas dunes location and over 200 miles from the other locations, which were in and around the towns of Puerticitos and Gonzaga Bay, on the Sea of Cortez. Most of the locations were in places that you could only get into with a 4 wheel drive vehicle, or by hiking into them. They were pretty much in the middle of nowhere. Looking back on it now, the thing I remember most about the locations, was just how harsh they were. By the end of each day, everyone looked like they walked out of that John Wayne movie; “The Sands of Iwo Jima”. We were all battered, bruised, cut up from the sharp rocks, and everyone was always really dirty. It was like being in a war.

Where did you stay?

When we shot in the dunes, we stayed in San Felipe in this very simple, little hotel, which wasn’t really that bad. We were packed 2 to a room, and they were tiny, but they were air conditioned (sort of) and at least there were beds. Costume designer, Mike Macfarlane was my roommate the first night we stayed there, and he snored like a bear. Clark was my roommie the other night, and he farted a lot. It was a no win situation. It was a tough shoot, but we had a lot of laughs too.

The house we stayed in when we were shooting around Puerticitos and Gonzaga Bay, is actually one of my favorite places on this Earth. We called it the castle, because the top of the roof looks like an old castle. It’s a very simple, two story house, right on the beach, made of stone and cement, but it has so much charm and character. I absolutely love it. There’s just something very pure about it, very understated. It doesn’t have a lot of the amenities that we take for granted here in the states, but it has a one hell of a view.

How did you prep everything for the days shoot like costumes and make-up?

All of that was done, assembled and pre-painted before we got down there. The make-up and costume guys were like a well oiled machine. We’d gone over, in more detail than they probably could stand, exactly what needed to be done on what day and to whom, before we even left for Mexico. What those guys were able to pull off, in those conditions, was truly amazing. There’s just no way they could have done it without pre-painting all the appliances and prepping everything to the level they did. Like any show, there were little issues here or there, with this or that, but those guys were just awesome.

I also heard about these crazy sand storms. Tell us about that!

One evening after shooting, on the drive back home, I noticed that the wind was picking up a bit more than normal. It was blowing the sand around in these massive clouds. By the time everyone was getting ready to go to bed, it was probably blowing close to 20 mph. By midnight, there were gusts that I’d say were at least 40 mph. Every window in that house was shaking like crazy, and not only could you hear the wind, but you could actually hear the sand getting blown around, pelting everything. I slept directly under a window and at one point, the sand was getting blown into the glass with so much force, it sounded kinda like someone was throwing thousands of ball bearings or BB’s at the window. I actually moved my air mattress away from the window, because I was sure it was going to shatter.

It never did, but when we woke up the next morning, there was literally 3 inches of sand, covering everyone and everything INSIDE the house. Outside, the production vehicles were buried about half way, and had to be dug out before we could move them. It was truly a sight to see. I grew up in NY, and in the winter, after a bad snowstorm, everything would be buried in snow drifts. This pretty much looked exactly the same, except it was sand instead of snow. It was really trippy looking. Kinda cool, actually.

We shot “Hunter Prey” a year ago, and I still have sand in my truck, clothes, shoes, backpacks, toiletry bag… It literally got into everything. I also had a big, green, soft sided, binder that I kept all the storyboards in, that had plastic sheet protectors and so forth. That thing weighed about 2 or 3lbs more, on the last day of shooting, than it did on the first. It was loaded with sand. Still is.

I got a chance to talk to your DP for a little bit and he told us about an experience involving killer bees. What happened with the Killer bees?

Well… They weren’t really “killer” bees, as in the Africanized sense. At least I think they weren’t, but in one of the canyon locations, there were swarms of bees that would attack us when we were in this one particular area. You had to be very careful not to leave any food out, or an open container of Gatorade or anything like that. Those bees would be all over it in no time. I guess there really isn’t much for them to eat or drink out there. We could relate, because we were kinda having the same issues they were, in that respect.

I gotta ask... what kind of food did you and your crew eat while in the middle of nowhere?

That’s actually a whole other interview in and of itself, but I’ll give you the short version; There was supposed to be a chef with us down there, to cook all the meals for the cast and crew, with food that was brought from the states. Well, for whatever reason, that person didn’t materialize until very late in the shoot, and most of the cast and crew weren’t really digging the food. When he finally did get there, he cooked up all kinds of good stuff, and the morale of the crew increased by quite a bit, but for most of the shoot, food was brought in from local restaurants and markets. Some people got really sick and blamed the food, I dunno… This is one of those questions where the answer is really gonna depend on who you ask. To some cast and crew, the food or lack of it, was a big deal. To others, it wasn’t. I remember one day in particular, when the first AD, Mark Mathis made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and that was lunch.

I was so focused on the film and what I had to do, that food was not really high on my priority list. I was fine with the cold eggs, melted protein bars and scrounging a piece of borderline rotten fruit here or there. I personally didn’t think it was that big of a deal. I fished out in front of the house on the days off, and cooked fresh seafood on those days for the guys who weren’t asleep or had gone into town. I’m really used to being outdoors, especially by the ocean, so I was very at home there. The food thing was not an issue for me at all.

What are some other experiences you had while filming Hunter Prey?

It was a hundred degrees in the shade, there were bugs, snakes, tarantulas, harsh terrain, and 18 sweaty, hungry, tired, thirsty people, staying in one house with one bathroom. Use your imagination.

As hard as it was to shoot this movie I am sure you also had some fun times. Did the crew play pranks on each other, or did you get a chance to just mess around in general?

There was some messing around… I mean, there kind of had to be to keep everyone sane. It was a very intense shoot, but there were definitely some moments of levity. I’d say the most famous and memorable thing, joke or prank wise, was the ongoing farting contest between Damion and Clark. They were always trying out-fart or out-trash talk each other. It was pretty funny… I’d be setting up a shot, it’d be a pretty quiet, serious moment, then all of a sudden, one of those guys would just rip one, and everyone would totally crack up. They were farting on set, in the vehicles, at the house, all the time. One morning, I saw Clark actually squat down and fart directly on Damion’s head when he was asleep. I don’t remember who actually won the fart war, but I’ll tell you this, both of those guys could bring the stink.

Out of everything you and your crew went through what is the best experience you had, good or bad?

The whole thing was a great experience, really. Just the pure sense of adventure of the whole thing. Getting out there, off the beaten path, hundreds of miles away from the day to day existence, was something that made me really excited about making this movie. A lot of it for me, was the hope and anticipation of what might happen out there. Setting out against the unknown into uncharted territory to discover the magic and wonder of making this movie on what was essentially an alien planet. Leading a small, rag tag, film crew into the vast, Mexican desert, against all odds to make an ambitious movie, to me, was an incredibly challenging adventure. It was like living in an Indiana Jones movie, but for real… I even rocked the fedora a few times. It was hard, probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but it was awesome. I wouldn’t trade one second of it for anything.

Do you have any footage of this stuff? Will we see a behind the scenes film documentary as a special feature on the DVD/Blu Ray?

I’m sure something will either find it’s way onto the DVD or whatever. There isn’t a ton of behind the scenes footage, it was an “All hands on deck” situation. We didn’t have anyone there specifically to do that stuff, but whenever someone had a free hand, they’d pick up a video camera and shoot some footage. I honestly haven’t had a chance to even go through it yet and see what we have. Personally, I think there’s a great documentary in there somewhere. The story of how this film got made, I think is just as interesting and dynamic as the film itself. Almost a “Lost in La Mancha” kind of a thing, but with a much different ending. Poor Terry Gilliam… I really hope he makes his Don Quixote movie someday. I think It’d be brilliant. I think he’s brilliant.

What was your inspiration behind the story of Hunter Prey? Movies, books, art...?

Lots of things… My co-writer, Nick Damon and myself wanted to make a very nostalgic, old school, sci-fi movie. A love letter to the films of the 70’s and all the things we truly adored about that very magical decade. Saturday morning television, comic books, Heavy Metal magazine, and all the Mego toys and Aurora models we had as kids. It’s a very pure, very heartfelt representation of my childhood and the amazing experience of being a kid in the 70’s, discovering all the early Spielberg films, The Micronauts toys, Planet of the Apes, and of course, Star Wars. All the cool genre stuff that decade gave birth to… To Nick and I, it was just a very natural thing... We wrote a script that reflected all the things we love about sci-fi and about movies. I remember feeling so good and so incredibly confident about shooting the movie, when we left for Mexico. I felt the script was very solid and that if I could get what was in those pages, on film the way I saw it in my head, we’d really have something special.

What are your views on the films that are being made today? Hollywood is developing one remake after another, remakes of remakes. Movies based on Toys, Comic Books, and video games. It's like they don't even read scripts anymore.

Look, I love “Predator”. I love “Alien”. I love John Carpenter’s “Halloween”, and I love “Star Wars”, but all those films are over 20 or 30 years old… Yes, they are the benchmarks for genre filmmaking and they rightly should be held in as high regard as they are, but where are the NEW monsters? The NEW epic space fantasy sagas? The NEW sci-fi and horror icons? If the studios keep making more sequels and remakes, where does it go from here? Where’s the industry going to be in another 20 years? Are they going to remake all theses remakes and sequels? How many Predator or Alien movies can you make? How many action figures of the same creature or character, painted a different color can you sell? At what point is someone going to look at the fact, that at one point in time, ALL those films were original ideas. Ideas that sparked the imagination of an entire generation of filmmakers, including myself, that now want to contribute their own original ideas and characters to the genre lexicon. All these remakes that are slated over the next few years have reached the point now where I think it’s officially out of control… A runaway train with no engineer.

That was actually one of the things I thought was really odd about when I started meeting with all the studios after they saw my Batman short. I’d talk to the executives and they all say; “We’re looking for something different, something new, something fresh.” Then, I’d go pitch them exactly that… Big presentations of original, very high concept ideas, with artwork, maquettes, the script already done, the world already conceived, designed, etc… But for whatever reason, none of them would pull the trigger on any of those projects. I don’t know why, and I’m certainly not complaining about it or anything. I was happy to be out there, pitching my ideas and meeting all these people. Believe me, I had a big smile on my face the whole time, I’m just being honest about what happened.

There were even a few junior execs along the way, younger guys, who really got what I was trying to do and were very passionate about it. One in particular, even got an actor very interested in doing one of my original projects, and also had a writer that the studio had worked with before, that they really liked working with, that was willing to do a pass on the script, but he just couldn’t get it passed the studio brass. It was around that time that I made the decision to part ways with my agent and not wait any longer for something to happen at the studio level. I switched direction, moved forward with the indie approach, wrote and developed a much lower budgeted project, raised the funding and just did it myself. It took longer than I would have liked, but the fact is, I made the dream a reality.

Now the film is currently in post production. How much longer do you have until it is finished?

By the time you run this interview, the film should be done. We’re planning a little something special at The San Diego Comic Con next month, so be sure to come to the masquerade on Saturday night and check it out!

Once it is complete what are your plans with the film? Film Festivals? and Distribution prospects?

Honestly, that’s all business stuff that is best handled by the executive producers and so forth. I try not to get too involved in those kinds of things. But I will say that the film has been submitted to a handful of festivals, including Toronto and Fantastic Fest. I think it’d be a lot of fun to show this movie in a festival atmosphere, should we be fortunate enough to be selected. I guess we’ll find out soon enough.

Regarding distribution, I know we’re planning to screen the film for buyers as soon as it’s finished. The money guys and exec producers have already been talking to people that are genuinely excited to see it. Cannes was awesome exposure for us, and hopefully once all the buyers see the completed film, they’ll dig it and we’ll see what happens. Stay tuned…

What are your goals after the movie is complete? What do you hope it does for your career?

The short term goal is to start another project as soon as possible. I like to work and want to be as prolific a filmmaker as I possibly can. I have a lot to say, a lot of worlds to build, and a lot of stories to tell. I’ve spent the better part of the last 20 years, writing and developing scripts, collaborating with incredibly talented people; Drawing, sculpting, creating universes and populating them with interesting and colorful characters. It’d be great if this film provided the opportunity to actually start realizing some of those ideas, and put them on film.

A longer term goal, which has always been a dream of mine, is to assemble a small group of artists, writers, designers, sculptors, FX people, and form a production company. A creative collective so to speak, that would create, design and develop original intellectual properties for films, TV, toys, and video games. I know some incredibly talented creative people, and having them all under one roof in a very open, airy, relaxed, studio atmosphere, would produce some pretty amazing things. Basically, a larger version of my little studio in Huntington Beach… Lots of skylights, plants, lava lamps, beanbag chairs, a big screening room, and a full on arcade. That’s right, I said ARCADE… And dressing up on Halloween would be mandatory.

As far as what I hope it does for my career; Of course I want it to do good things, but the bottom line is, I don’t have all the answers. Once the house lights go down in that theater and the opening credits come up, it’s all up to the audience at that point. I don’t know what the future holds or exactly what my next project will be at this point. I guess a lot of it will depend on how “Hunter Prey” is received, so I guess we’ll see. What I can tell you though, is that whatever it is, I’ll do what I’ve always done; Which is put the most talented, dedicated and smart group of people together that I can find, and make the absolute best movie I possibly can, with the money and resources that are available to me.

How excited are you to start showing this film off to audiences? As a hard core movie and sci-fi geek, I’m really excited to see Hunter Prey. What type of reaction are you expecting from people like myself and the general audience?

Of course I’m excited! I’ve lived intimately with this movie for the past 19 months of my life, and I’m really looking forward to unveiling it to the world. I’m hoping that people like the film and can embrace its originality and the independent spirit of the whole thing; That 70’s, old school, lived in, approach, which makes it so organic. I guess to be honest, the reaction I’m hoping for is one that allows me to make more movies, create more worlds and tell more stories, on a much larger scale with a bigger budget. I’m really excited about finally releasing the film and getting out there to promote it. It’s all part of the adventure of filmmaking, that I truly love and feel so privileged to be a part of.

From what I have seen of Hunter Prey, I am extremely excited to see what Collora has done. The guy has gone through a hell of a lot to make this movie, and I have a feeling it is going to pay off.

Comments

[Clark Bartram]

I won the fart war BTW!