Matt, thanks for taking the time to answer some questions for us.How did you get connected with Six Sense Productions?
Hilary Six, the Producer, and I have worked together on many projects. She has hired me on numerous occasions and I have hired her. We’ve both worked together in many crew capacities besides being Producer and Director, and therefore developed a mutual trust and understanding. We both go about the creative process in a very similar manner – which means that we are in sync. We function as partners both working together to create the best quality film that we can. As a director it is rare to find a Producer like that.
The Cellar Door was written by Christopher Nelson, obviously a very talented writer. How did you get involved in The Cellar Door?
It all starts with a good writing. Chris Nelson is an extremely talented writer. He understands what a low budget film is and how the limitations of a low budget INDY can be turned into strengths.
He has created fascinating characters that are placed in horrifying situations. Herman, a serial killer, abducts Rudy the lead character in THE CELLAR DOOR. What must she do to survive? And how far will she go to survive? These are horrifying but extremely fascinating questions to ask.
The script actually evolved from a previous vampire script – which Chris Nelson had written. In the prior script the first act was about a guy who thought he was a vampire and abducts a woman as a source of food – this first act was then adapted into an entirely new concept that became the full-length feature film THE CELLAR DOOR.
What attracted you to the project?
I was seeking a movie that was more than just a typical slasher horror movie. Yes, we wanted a commercial product that we knew we could sell – but we also wanted to make a horror movie that we would want to see. THE CELLAR DOOR is more than just a horror movie – it is also a deeply disturbing psychological thriller.
The Cellar Door seems to be centered around obsession and captivity. How do you approach these topics in such a unique way?
Yes – obsession and captivity. But why do we obsess and hold onto things – it’s because we “love” them to an extreme. At its core THE CELLAR DOOR is a love story – often when we try to hold onto or control what we love we become cruel and brutal.
This is what is so fascinating to me about Herman’s character – he abducts these women not to hurt them but to convince them to love him! Now - locking the woman of your dreams in a cage in your basement and torturing her until she begins to love you may not be your typical love story but it is a great story to make into a movie.
I understand that The Cellar Door was scheduled for a minimal amount of shoot days. How was your planning process a key in keeping with the planned pace?
Planning an INDY with minimal shoot days is always an incredibly difficult challenge. For me it was all about how can I get the maximum amount of coverage in the minimal amount of time. With page counts as high as 8-9 pages a day it meant coming up with a very aggressive shooting style.
The DP, Skye Borgman, was instrumental in making this happen. On the set, the director and DP relationship is vital. Skye is a gifted cinematographer – not only does she have amazing composition and lighting skills but she also understands the limitations of a low budget shoot. She was able to achieve incredible results with limited manpower and a tiny Grip & Electric package.
In a short shooting schedule we had to figure out ways not to compromise the lighting and composition. Which means designing lighting and shooting concept that can happen quickly. Speed becomes vital! The faster we move – the coverage we were able to get.
As an audience we are used to seeing $30 – 100 million dollar movies – these are what we expect to see when we go to the movies! So the DP has an incredible challenge. How to create a visual look and style that looks like a Porsche but only costs as much as a Pinto.
The DP and I spent a great deal of time constructing a shot-list that was very ambitious butalso shootable. We also spent a great deal of time figuring out how to limit our turnarounds and how to best pre-light locations so that we could get the maximum amount of looks without major re-lights. This allowed us to get incredibly high number of shots per day with out evergoing into overtime!
What was it like working with James DuMont?
James DuMont is a true professional in every sense of the word. He is an actor with excellent instincts combined with great technical skills.
Did you find that having actors of this caliber made it easier in keeping up with such a rapid pace?
Much easier! The two leads had heavy page counts each day and heavy emotional demands. With such a small cast it was rare for the leads to actually have much down time. James Dumont set out to create a unique serial killer – his character Herman, is the guy that lives next door to you.
That is so much more difficult to play than just the evil villain. We have to believe that this character is capable of horrifying acts – but also lives in a suburban neighborhood where no one would ever suspect him – it’s very creepy.
Michelle Tomlinson, who plays Rudy, had to create numerous emotional levels of fear, terror, isolation, resignation, desperation and defiance. Sometimes shooting all those varied emotions in the same day – quite a challenge. What is so wonderful about her performance is that even in the moments of weakness her character has this will to survive.
What was the biggest struggle you came across in production?
As a director I love movement. I believe that it is the actor in motion that leads you to emotion. Plus movement, whether it is from the camera or the actors is vital in creating visual interest. But in THE CELLAR DOOR the lead actress is locked in a cage on page 14 and doesn’t escape till page 81 – that ‘s 67 pages where her movement is confined in a 3x3 cell.
So we developed a shooting style that kept the feeling that we were confined but also had a great deal of camera movement, the camera was rarely ever static – it was almost always in motion.
Also it was very important to create visual variety in a basement that you see over and over again. It meant that we had to constantly find new compositions and new lighting to allow the space to have visual variety. So we approached the basement almost as if it was a character – in that we slowly revealed different parts of it throughout the whole movie – which kept the movie visually interesting.
Jack Millard, the Production Designer created an incredibly dense and rich environment – filled with tons of creepy torture devises and body parts.
What a lot of people don't understand is that the actual filming of a movie is only a part of the process. What major aspect of post-production do you find to be the most difficult?
All of it! After months of developing the project, then more weeks of prep then even more weeks of shooting – when it’s all finished I always feel like “great the movie is done”. Wrong - then post starts! Months of editing weeks of getting a musical score, then more weeks getting the sound design and mix. Then you have to start thinking about all the deliverables – it’s a whirlwind that lasts a very long time!
I understand the TriCoast International is offering the film for sale at Marche du Film in Cannes, from May 16th to the 26th. That is pretty impressive. How does that make you feel? It’s a great feeling knowing that all the hard work put in by the cast and crew is going to pay off. The nightmare scenario is you work so hard only to discover that no one wants to buy your movie! Hooking up with TRICOAST INTERNATIONAL has turned into a great partnership.
They are filmmakers themselves, so they really understand the process and the obstacles that we faced on an INDY budget. They have offered us a two-picture deal – which we jumped at! We look forward to making many more movies with them.
What are some previous projects you have worked on?
As a director I love to tackle different kinds of projects – prior to
THE CELLAR DOOR - I directed several Kids TV series. They were a blast!
You have obviously proved yourself as a filmmaker. Does it bother you or compliment you when you are referred to as “Indie”?
Being referred to as an INDY Director doesn’t bother me one bit. Especially now when it seems that being INDY has become far more mainstream – with the success of filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino, Steven Soderbergh, Robert Rodriguez– INDY has become very popular.
What has been your most memorable moment in filmmaking?
The best moment was meeting the love of my life on set.
Perhaps the hardest was surviving a hurricane in Alabama that left an entire city and film crew trapped for almost a week.
Do you have any projects in the works as of right now?
Yes, we are already deep into pre-production for a film tilted WHACKED…“ A hit man for the mob, must track down two witnesses and kill them before the mob takes him out.”
It’s a great action/– thriller with a lot of chase scenes! Very ambitious for an INDY.
If you weren't making movies, what would you be doing?
Sleeping! I keep thinking I’m going to get a chance to take a vacation – but since we shot THE CELLAR DOOR things have been non-stop – which is great – trust me I am not complaining.
Thank you for taking the time to answer some questions and give us a director's point of view on the filmmaking process.
