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For immediate release
Electronic
Press Kit
“THE
LEGEND OF CRAZY
GEORGE” 8/. Interview with Mike McCaleb We have with us today Mike McCaleb, co-writer, co-producer and editor of the film, what gave you the inspiration to write such a bizarre story such as “The legend of Crazy George” I’ve been involved in the creation of interactive haunted environments since 1999. In 2001 George Furman came in to ‘art-direct’ our project. He borrowed my truck, went out & dug up the bones of about 10 cows, soaked them in bleach for 3 weeks & then arranged them into prehistoric dinosaurs. George basically begged me to help him make a movie. We wrote the screenplay in about 90 days. Inspiration? two-words – pot brownies Tell us a little more about this “Haunted House” or should I call it the “Fright Factory”
Well it
started as a purely financial venture for me. A friend kept talking about how
much fun he’d had the year before working in a haunted house, & he kept saying
how much money he thought we could make, so I called his bluff. We rented an
abandoned factory basement & filled it full of props & sounds & shit, (basically
a maze in the dark), sold tickets for $10 & watched people line up. I couldn’t
believe it. We had people lined around the block, some people came back 4 or 5
times. Something about the S&M scene? I don’t know, but afterwards we’d chill
out & laugh about all the people who had pissed them selves or passed out or
started crying (maybe that’s insensitive to some, but we laughed our asses off.)
We barely made any money cause we were completely over-budget, but we came back
for 3 more years. 1999,2000,2002,2003. Cookeville is typical of small-town America. It’s in the buckle of the bible belt, so it’s fair to say it’s a pretty conservative city. However, since there is a local university, there’s a pretty good vibe & openness to explore new ideas. We used the best actors that we knew from the local theatre departments & got the rest of our cast by running an ad in the Nashville Scene. Adam Brookfield is my brother-in-law, so I was able to con him into coming over for the summer – he knows a tremendous amount about film-making, we probably couldn’t have done it without him. Debbie Rochon was suggested to us by another local filmmaker, Donald Farmer, who was also very helpful in giving advice on how to keep production costs from skyrocketing. Your partner in Thinkingmonkeythinking. Mr George Furman has quite a artistic history which you like to elaborate a little on this? George is one of the best artists I know. He is also one of the most misunderstood. He lives in Cookeville and is in denial about his being an artist, he likes to pretend he’s a real-estate appraiser. He is manic-depressive so when he’s manic he does things like the cow-bone episode I mentioned earlier & he formed a record label to record the Jazz-Fusion band Hosemobile (who were recorded by Steve Albini, and have a song on our soundtrack.) & when he’s depressed he appraises real-estate. His favorite medium is photography, but George also craves social interaction & that drives his Andy Warholian activities such as the “Box-of-Fame”. My favorite work of George’s is a brass sculpture called “Punk-Fish” Would you care to share your thoughts on the budget for the film, it looks to me as if that cost a lot of money to make Earnest Rutherford (who split the Atom & was a fellow Cantabrian) said “We don’t have the money, so we have to think" – That’s where George came up with the idea to call our production company ThinkingMonkeyThinking. I’m pleased with the way the film looks & I enjoy it when people say it looks “very professional” or “like a ‘real’ movie” of course it also makes me wonder what they thought I’d been doing for the past year. We made the most of the latest technology available using a Canon XL1S camera & Apple’s Final Cut Pro for editing. a few lights, some actors willing to work for deferred payment & “ACTION!” Many people volunteered many hours to help us get through the production phase of the project. That’s interesting tell us a little bit more about this digital production, is it all done on computers and such like? Our movie is digital in & digital out. Steven Soderburgh made his last film ‘Full Frontal’ with the same equipment & a slightly higher casting budget. We spent around $12,000 on every single piece of equipment to make the film. The rest is sweat equity & a quick learning curve. Don’t get me wrong, we would love to have a larger budget & I really can’t think of a problem we had during the project that having more money wouldn’t fix. We knew that the website would be important to get the word out, so having digital footage helps in that regard. So you’d edited the film in New Zealand and may I ask why? My wife and I had planned to move to NZ at the end of 2002. I had actually hoped to finish editing in TN, but after the Fright Factory 2002 I had 15 minutes done & basically had to pack things up & get them on their way. I love NZ & fortunately I had some contacts in the industry here. (I lived & worked in NZ in 97 & 98) So it was just a matter of getting a power converter to plug the computers into. I have to admit that having a 6 month vacation from the film also gave me the perspective to be able to put the film together in the way it wanted to be. With the internet & phones & such, you’re never more than a phone call away, so I reckon there’s two kinds of people in the world – those that live at Waikuku Beach, and those that want to. The one thing that did strike me with the film was the excellent soundtrack where and how was that produced? Zack Buersmeyer wrote most of the material for the film over the last couple of years. He has an independent record label: Whisk – Hutzel and they have a large catalogue of bands & music. Zack is an amazing artist who is also underestimated. Putting pictures to some of the songs that Zack had written was a really enlightening experience. Most people think that the music was written for the film but that’s not really the case. Zack is just so creative that he plays with so many ideas & conjures so many emotions musically, it makes the film very intense in the places where it is already very intense. Zack himself is a one-man band, the virtuoso behind Pensil – Zack plays computer loops, samples, keyboards, guitar, & sound modulators, Circle of Planets – mostly with noise generators recorded in many different ways & formats, and also the blues-based Jose P. Orchestra. Combined with another Whisk-Hutzel one-man wonder – The Senator Will Fist – their music comprises 90% of our soundtrack. Debbie Rochon is a pretty big name actress, what was she like to work with ?
Debbie was
very professional & very helpful. We never had to do a second take with her.
(we did, just to be safe) she looks great on camera & she has a tremendous
amount of talent. I was suspect, but she really blew us away. Her scene in the
film is just legendary. We’d love to work with her again. Adam is my brother-in-law and we were having trouble getting a local lead actor, so we offered to fly Adam over & put him up for a month. He said no. Then we mentioned that it was the lead role & that he would get plenty of “face-time” he was on the next plane out. Adam is phenomenal. He is an educated actor & it shows in his ability to convey emotion & feeling without speaking. It really makes him perfect for the role of Tommy. Adam also has a great ‘look’ he reminds everyone of some other actor or someone they know. He had lots of experience & he helped out on the set constantly. (only when asked) such a polite boy. Adam lives in Wellington and works with one of NZ’s leading casting agents. The release is in Cookeville shortly, where do you feel the film will go from there and can someone buy a copy of it? The Cookeville Premiere is really just an elaborate Cast party. We’re headed to the festivals, Sundance, Slamdance, Toronto, the New York City International Horror Festival & others. Whether or not they accept us is another story. But we’re committed to getting the movie in front of as large an audience as possible – cause we think it deserves it. Our original goal was straight to video so that’s now become our backup plan. As always we keep all the fans up to date on the website about how they can get a copy. (I’ve collected over 100 names online already!) Do you have any further plans on other feature film projects?
George has
started having dreams about Crazy George. night sweats, cold chills, we’re
jotting all of these thoughts down just in case. There’s enough material from
‘the Legend’ that was culled from the original script to make LEGEND 2. So
we’re keeping our fingers crossed. Tell us a little more about this “Haunted House” or should I call it the “Fright Factory”?
I can’t tell you where it began, I just recall standing in a rank
old ditch with about 15 dead cows. I collected bones, bleached them and turned
them in to monsters. The Fright Factory is where we got the idea to do the film
I remember the exact moment. It was a Sunday night and the last groups were
being lead through the maze. Four drunken high school boys were breaking all
the rules and complaining that they weren’t scared and wanted their money back.
Then one kid grabbed the tit of one of my guides. No one fucks with one of my
girls, so I lead the boys into a dark room and left them there for about 5
minutes in the silence. Then about four of us started ranting and raving and I
began to preach. In the middle of all that I thought that it would be pretty
believable if some group of Haunted House workers lost their minds and started
killing people. You know, and hanging them up in the Haunted House for people
to see and think “wow, cool wax corps.” Cookeville IS the buckle of the Bible belt – that’s exit 287 on I-40. My grandfather helped found a Rescue Mission there. It’s a good place with kind people who will help you for 3 days if you’re down and out. All you’ve got to do is listen to the word. There really are more churches in Cookeville than fireflies in a night sky – swear to god. I don’t know how they feel about the film and I really hope none of them try to watch it, because there will be hell to pay from my grandfather after they tell him. I once did a photomontage of four men preaching on the street corner. The center man held a huge sign with a picture of an army of sinners burning in hell – that’s Cookeville and some of that feeling is reflected in the film. Cookeville actors, yes we used as many as we could get, but I also used a lot of non actors. They are harder to work with but I think they’re worth it. I’m all about real people. I think that’s what makes Andy Warhol and David Lynch films so powerful - real unique people. There are some real wild people in "The Legend of Crazy George". There is a bank robber, a Baptist preacher who does pro wrestling, and a direct descendant of the Confederate outlaw Champ Ferguson… to name a few. We also pulled a lot of talent from Nashville. I hated to rely on city people but when you see Ree Mitchell –"Pearl" - handle a pistol you’ll understand. Our big score was Adam Brookfield from New Zealand. As a note, New Zealand is not part of Canada. Anyway, I first saw Adam act in the Truth about Demons. I kept thinking, now that guy has got to be the secret killer who’ll pop out in the end and so some serious killing – didn’t happen. You have quite a artistic history which you like to elaborate a little on this? I’m a photographer because I accidentally took a photography class in high school due to a scheduling problem. I fell in love with the camera because I saw it as a great way to get girls to take their clothes off – one of the greatest joys of my life. Strangely, I began enjoying shooting like clouds, my feet, and ants crawling in the nose of a dead possum as much as naked girls. My favorite photographer is David Hockney. I do sculpture as well. My cousin built a bronze foundry in his barn. I love pouring bronze because its so dangerous. We make it extra dangerous because the barn we melt the bronze in has hay and cows in it. I have stories man, real insane moments. As for film, I wanted to be a filmmaker when I was 19. I started studying in at Emerson College, but in middle of the year I went stark raving mad. It turned out that I was a Manic-Depressive and I had a few episodes that scared some people. That summer I left Emerson and my dreams of being a filmmaker behind. I went to Drew University and started my life over, still untreated and unmediated. At Drew I saw my first Luis Bunuel film. He is a Spanish filmmaker who I consider the father of Surrealist film. I love Exterminating Angle. The finest film maker I think is Andy Warhol, I know its strange to say but I think he was an aggressive pioneer. Think about all the reality television shows – that’s Warhol. So, I’ve lead about 10 years of pure Manic-Depressive madness. I’ve cases of photographs from Gang unit cops arresting thugs in Memphis to the great New Zealand shoe fence. I’d totally given up on the idea of film when the Fright Factory led me to the opportunity. The pieces were all there; I just took the risk.
Would you care to share your thoughts on the budget for the
film, it looks to me as if that cost a lot of money to make? That’s interesting tell us a little bit more about this digital production, is it all done on computers and such like? After reading few books and talking to a few sales men I’ve decided that no one know much about digital cameras. I came across a lot of little surprises, like; the way the background jiggles when riding in a car or the odd color fire. I never found a light meter reading I liked and good advise on the matter is rare. If you’re going to use the Cannon XLS as we did, go ahead and budget in the money for the 3 X wide-angle lens. As for the computer, you’ll have to talk to McCaleb. He’s the brain behind that monster. So you’d edited the film in New Zealand and may I ask why? McCaleb was moving New Zealand to start a family. Their baby is due soon, and New Zealand offered more in terms of quality of family life. I love New Zealand and am pleased that the film is being finished there – its got good energy. As for me, I still haven’t got my fill of bootleggers, cowboys and old ladies on their pilgrimage to Graceland. I’m staying in Tennessee until one more person sticks a pistol in my face – that would make it strike three. The one thing that did strike me with the film was the excellent soundtrack where and how was that produced? McCaleb was in charge of music. I had a real close relationship with a lot of bands that were on the short list, bands I was crazy about like NoiseufusioN, Joshua Falcon Trio, the Hosemobile, Pensil. Some of the music was really great, but not right for the film. McCaleb had some distance and could say yes or no easier than I could. McCaleb picked some great stuff. I’ll just have to make another film for the music we left out. Debbie Rochon is a pretty big name actress, what was she like to work with?
She was nice to everyone she met. I really didn’t get to chat
with her much because I was so involved. Rehearsal went well with her, you can
tell she’s done a lot of acting – which made my job easy. She has an amusing
Canadian accent which come out a little in her performance, but its Ok. Oh, and
she likes ice cream sandwiches. The release is in Cookeville shortly, where do you feel the film will go from there and can someone buy a copy of it? I’ve got high hopes for the Toronto Film festival because I like the city. I’m also aiming for the Stuttgart festival because I’ve got friends there who know all the best beer gardens. Do you have any further plans on other feature film projects?
Potential films fill my head all the time. The Legend of Crazy
George II is writing itself. I had a chunk of material cut from the first film
that is now growing into a second script – like one of those evil plants from
outer space… hack off a limb and pop another alien. I love thinking about Crazy
George about what he might look like… how about with a big gray confederate hat?
Does he ride a horse? What do you think? These are just daydreams. Filmmaking
is exhausting. Right now I want to rest and I’m sure McCaleb does to. |
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