Despite the success of the Twilight franchise, real vampire movies are alive and well. I found out as much in November 2009, when, on behalf of SuicideGirls I took a drive up to Woodstock, NY, to visit the set of Stake Land, a low-budget horror film that eschews sparkly, boy-band vamps in favor of the more traditional, animalistic bloodsuckers we all know and love.
Writer/director Jim Mickle, who made the rounds a few years ago with his much talked-about indie-horror film Mulberry Street, is the brain behind the project, a road movie that takes place in a post-apocalyptic North America, years after a war between vampires and humans has left the entire continent in ruins and relegated survivors to a medieval existence, living hand-to-mouth and traveling together in tightly-formed, armed brigades.
Arriving at the set around lunchtime on one of the last days of shooting, I was quickly escorted to that days outdoor location, situated at the mouth of quaint covered bridge and surrounded by rolling hills and forests. Despite the films severe budget constraints, a heroic attempt was obviously being made by all to create a tone to match the epic feel of the script, which takes place over a number of years and essentially charts the decline of an entire civilization into vampire-induced chaos. Each of the actors and extras were appropriately grimy and dirty, wearing what looked like Salvation Army castoff clothes and sporting a variety of down-and-dirty weapons. As I hunkered down behind the camera to watch, a scene was rehearsed and performed several times in which the survivors are ushered through the checkpoint.
Taking part in the scene were lead actors Danielle Harris (Rob Zombies Halloween, H2) who plays Belle, a young, pregnant mother-figure to the group, Connor Paolo (Gossip Girl, Alexander) who plays Martin, a young boy coming of age in this barren wasteland, Nick Damici (Mulberry Street, The Black Donnellys) who plays the wizened warrior that instructs young Martin in the ways of vampire hunting (and who is also a co-writer of the film and a long-time collaborator of Jim Mickles), and Sean Nelson, who plays Willie, an Army grunt who has found a home with the survivors.
After watching the scene be filmed to the directors satisfaction, the cast members were brought over as a group to take a break and have a chat about how they got involved in the project and exactly what kind of post-apocalyptic vampire movie theyre attempting to make. Here is a transcription of our talk:
Ryan Stewart: So Nick, you helped write this film?
Nick Damici: Yeah, basically, weve been working on it for eight or ten years. We have a system where I do the hands-on and then he [Jim Mickle] comes in and does the edits, and we talk it out. We do that about 500 times until we have a script.
Danielle Harris: Ive heard that Jim mellows out Nicks writing.
Nick: [laughs] Yeah, he dulls me down.
RS: What kind of vampires are we dealing with in this film?
Nick: The feral, ferocious kind. In the script we say We just call them vamps because they drink blood, but were not really following classic folklore.
RS: Can you walk us through the basic idea of the story?
Nick: A vampire plague has collapsed the world, basically. America has fallen, the governments gone, and its sort of an apocalyptic time. Theres this guy who hunts vampires and he saves this kid and the kid becomes his protg, in a sense, and hes trying to get the kid to Canada where everybody says its safe. We dont know if its safe, though, its a journey and they pick up other people along the way, like Belle, which is Danielles part, and Sean, who plays Willie. Youve also got Kelly McGillis as a nun. Its a family movie!
RS: Is it mostly practical effects in the film, or are you using CG?
Nick: Theres probably going to be a little bit of CG.
Connor Paolo: Theres a little bit of green screen, plus some practical stuff. Were doing all our own stunts.
Nick: Weve had a few special effects, but nothing super-major, just a few tricks. You should see some of Jims tests; for the last year Ive been getting one of him stabbing Adam in the eye with a pencil.
RS: Danielle, what can you say about your character?
Danielle: Belle is a free spirit, Suzie Homemaker-type trying to round up this rowdy group of boys. Shes sort of the nurturing caretaker and also an odd man out amongst these burly men. Shes making a home and trying to keep the peace and be positive. Shes also pregnant as they continue on the trek, which was interesting I hadnt gotten to do that yet in my career. [points to her stomach] Just a little bump right now!
RS: So its going to expand?
Danielle: Oh, yeah. The movie is kind of about finding a family out whats left.
RS: The film has been described as an epic. Does that sound right to you?
Danielle: Yeah, Ive worked on supposedly epic, $100 million dollar features that looked like crap, but from what Ive seen so far this is looking really amazing. Weve got two red cameras shooting at all times, which is awesome. Jim is covering the crap out of the film, and the reason I wanted to do it was because I saw Mulberry Streetand what they were able to do for that amount of money, and I did think God, this one will be epic. It really looks unbelievable from what Ive seen so far.
Nick: And this is a genre flick too, so its not that different from Mulberry Street, structurally, except its all outdoors instead of indoors. Mulberry Street was like shooting a submarine movie, we were shooting in my apartment with 500 people.
RS: Is that a real gun in your waist?
Nick: [laughs] No. I would not put a real gun near my special parts!
RS: Are you doubling as producer on this one too?
Nick: Nope. I write and I act and otherwise, I keep my mouth shut.
Danielle: Liar.
Nick: Well, unless I have a strong opinion!
RS: Sean, what can you tell us about your character?
Sean Nelson: Willie is a military guy that they pick up, and hes really trying to get back home to his family. Hes trying to find his way and hes lucky to get picked up by these guys, they save his life. Thats basically the gist of my character.
Nick: He also hates Christmas.
Sean: [laughs] He hates fuckin Christmas.
RS: The movie takes place at Christmas time?
Nick: No, but we kill a Santa Claus.
Sean: A vampire Santa gets the shit kicked out of him.
RS: What are some of the stunts you guys have done on the film so far?
Nick: Its mostly roughhousing kind of stunts. Running, jumping, some fight stuff. Weve had some stunt guys come in for big scenes, weve done some choreography and some rope work, but otherwise its just, you know, act like youre killing each other.
RS: Is there a big villain?
Danielle: Oh yeah, there are lots of villains, one in particular.
Nick: Michael Cerveris. Hes on fire, terrific. Hes done a lot of television work and some big movies. He just did that Cirque Du Freak movie.
RS: You shot some of this movie and then took a hiatus before coming back, right?
Nick: Yeah, that was kind of a part of our original plan. In order to get the epic feel we wanted to watch the characters age a bit, and when I started out the first two weeks I had dyed my hair and now Ive let the grey grow back in. Theres a big feel of time going by, peoples hair getting longer. Martin, if you look at him the first two weeks he looks like hes twelve years old and now he shows up and Im saying Hey, look, he grew up!
Connor: That was a big part of the hiatus, not only getting the summer-to-winter thing, since this film takes place over two years, but also because its ultimately Martins coming of age story. He kind of narrates the whole thing in retrospect of his time with Mister and becoming the man he was born to be.
RS: What are you shooting here today?
Nick: Weve got to cross through this town to get to the next spot, so theyre disarming us at the border of the town. This is at the top of the third act.
RS: Are there any big emotional scenes you have to do?
Danielle: Oh, yeah.
Nick: The movie has a lot of heart. Kelly McGillis has been stupendous. A really good actress, nice to work with.
RS: Did she tell you any Top Gun stories?
Nick: Yeah, but I cant repeat them! Youll have to ask her yourself.
Connor: Dont ask, dont tell.
RS: Is there any comedy in this film, or is it all dire?
Nick: Theres a few laughs, Im sure.
Danielle: I dont know if comedy is the right word, but there are some lighter moments.
Nick: There are a few tension-breaking moments before we return to the blood and gore.
RS: Connor, how did you find time in your Gossip Girl schedule to do this?
Connor: I just took it, I wanted to do it. The great thing about my show is that we have so many storylines going its easy for them to take one character out for a week or two. This leg of the film is only about two and a half weeks, so thats really only two episodes. It wasnt a big deal, we gave them enough notice.
RS: Youre doing webisodes for this film, I heard?
Danielle: Yes! I had great luck with Fear Clinic, which I did with FearNet, with Robert Englund, and theyve been talking with me about directing some stuff for them and finding webisodes to do. I couldnt really find anything that I wanted to do, and I was talking to Jim and Nick a bit about it, and then I went on hiatus and came back and got a call and now were gonna do it. And I think its a good idea because we kind of get thrown into Stake Land rather quickly and its a nice way of letting the audience see all of the characters back stories. Im directing Sean, Willies story. I told him today that he has a 4:00am call time tomorrow!
Nick: It also takes place in a swamp.
Sean: And might involve some nudity.
Danielle: [laughs] So, yeah, Im excited about it. I think its a really great idea. Theyre short, about five minutes, just little snippets to kind of get an idea. Its our job to get you emotionally invested in the characters in that amount of time. And all the directors are very different, so its nice to see the different filmmakers styles.
Connor: Mister and Martin are very committed to not hearing anything about the history of the people they meet, and we dont talk about where everyone is from, so any chance in the film of finding out about a characters origins we quickly kind of shut down.
Nick: The thing about our scripts is that when were done with the first draft we go back and take out all the exposition. You dont really have to know who anybody is or where they come from. If the audience isnt in, then you didnt do it right anyway
RS: So when are the webisodes are going to air?
Danielle: I think Ill have some of it up you know, Ive got this video camera and Ive got my website, the HorrorGal website that Im doing, so Im gonna grab my camera and shoot a lot of my directing assignment tomorrow. I couldnt shoot any of me when we actually shot Belles story, because it would have given away sort of the end of the short, so I couldnt really bring the camera around, but Ill put the making of that on after you see the webisode.
RS: Is this going to lead to more directing for you in the future?
Danielle: I hope so. Ive been reading scripts for the last year and a half, and its hard to find a really great script. Im on the hunt for that first, debut film, but I havent really found it yet.
RS: You could direct Halloween 3D, if the Weinsteins havent found someone already..
Danielle: Oh, God no. Ive learned my lesson. Dont put that in there, please. Omit that! But yeah, Im done. Four Halloweens is enough. But I dont know, Ill probably come back in flashbacks, though.
RS: Sean, how did you get cast in this?
Sean: There was a meeting, and I met with Jim Mickle. I wasnt familiar with his work and I still havent seen Mulberry Street, but I heard it was great from these guys.
Nick: Of course we said it was great, we made it.
Sean: [laughs] And I believe it! Also, Ive never been in a horror film. I kind of persuaded Mickle to let me be a part of it.
Nick: I told him That kid? Hire that motherfucker now!
RS: Do you guys plan to take this film onto the festival circuit?
Nick: I gotta be honest, I dont know. MPI is basically running the marketing of it and I dont want to answer for them.
RS: Hows MPI treating you?
Nick: Theyve been great, lot of support. Its a tough shoot in that were really being ambitious and theyve gone out on a limb to trust us.
RS: Is Stake Land an actual place in the film, or is it more like a state of mind?
Nick: Its more like what the world has turned into. When he first introduces Martin to the world of killing vampires, Mister basically says Welcome to Stake Land, kid. Then he lets the vampire attack the kid, so its like Live or die, buddy!
RS: Mulberry Street had a big political subtext what about this film?
Nick: Well, its kind of about If society failed, what would happen next? Or What would it take for us to really fall back to feudal times? We go through these different eras, and we have, like a Great Depression scene: normalcy, middle-America hanging in there in tough times and being hopeful.
Connor: Were pushed almost back to witch hunt times.
Nick: Yeah, and theres a Western feel to it. Its very Civil War-ish, in its costumes and stuff.
RS: You guys watch dailies with the Red Cam? How do you watch your footage?
Nick: We get a lot of playback as we shoot.
Danielle: I dont watch dailies.
Connor: But you could watch it on a laptop.
Nick: Yeah, we can. Patrick has it all down, if we want to see something, and Jim is very generous about that stuff. If we need to see something, hell let us.
Danielle: Id go crazy if I had to watch myself every day.
Connor: Some actors do like that, but its harder for other actors. You dont want to see the mistakes youre making. If you start worrying about the way your hair looks or something
Nick: You find yourself directing yourself.
Danielle: Yeah. Let Jim do that.
RS: How is Jim handling his second feature so far?
Danielle: Hes really difficult to work with!
Connor: A total asshole.
Nick: Yeah, he threw cold water on me! No, hes been great.
Danielle: [laughs] Yeah, hes great. Theres a big canvas too, I mean look at where were filming.
Connor: The locals in this area kind of have to be involved, too, because were using different areas and weve got scenes where we need 50 people in the background, which is a lot to take on.
Danielle: Everyone here is really excited to be part of it, including the townsfolk, for lack of a better word, as well as the crew.
Nick: The other night we had a guy playing a bouncer in a saloon scene and then we went to get a drink and he was sitting in there, and he goes Oh God, here come the vampires!
RS: As far as shooting goes, do you have to move too fast for comfort, at this budget level?
Danielle: No, its actually moving nice and steady. Were racing the sun a lot, but yeah, ten or eleven hour work days. We have two cameras and our DP is great and the crews great, and everything is set. We just rock and roll. You know, Ive done a lot of movies at this budget and Ive seen a lot of disaster, and youre always worried about things when youre filming and freezing, but were really not aware of working with a crew of this size because it doesnt feel like it.
Nick: Our biggest problem is having a temperamental, 40 year-old car that Adam and I towed up here ourselves. That was a lot of fun.
RS: Do you hope there will be more Stake Lands after this one?
Nick: If I had my way. I just want this one to be good enough, but if that opportunity comes were ready for it.
RS: Whats up next for you and Jim?
Nick: Were trying to raise money right now for one called Cold in July, based on a Joe Lansdale novel. Were trying to pull a cast together, and I dont know how solid it is, but its looking pretty good and hopefully by summer well be onto that one. This one will be being edited then. And Id like to just keep going Im getting old!
RS: What about you, Danielle? Is 2010 booked up?
Danielle: You know, in this genre you never know whats actually going to end up making it or not making it. Right now, there are three things that have come my way and Im just hoping that one of them works out. We dont get cell reception up here so I havent been able to do any business or anything, were just focused on this. But Im waiting to see and hoping there might be a film, or maybe a franchise in my future.
RS: And you shot the remake of Night of the Living Deadalready?
Danielle: Yeah, it was just voice work, its CGI-3D. Simon West is producing it. Its a really cool, interesting idea. To come back as an iconic character like Annie in Halloween and now to be Barbara in Night of the Living Dead is pretty awesome. I kind of decided after the last Halloween that I was only going to do movies this year, and I keep saying this for press because I want to stick to my word, Im only going to do genre things that I havent done before. This was the first vampire script Ive done, and trust me Ive read a lot its kind of the wave of the moment and this was the vampire movie that I wanted to do. And Night of the Living Dead was the zombie movie that I wanted to do. So, Im being a little bit pickier and Im also kind of done with being the victim for a while. And Im not doing any of the CGI part of Night of the Living Dead, and Im not even sure if its going to look like me. It might be a cross between me and the original Barbara. But the script is very heavy, I was actually surprised at how intense it was. Its about the origins, its a prequel that takes place in New York City and its insane. Its mostly scenes with Mos Def and I, and Ive still never met him its just voices.
With that, the Stake Land cast was gathered back up by the assistant director to go do some more filming and I was left to mull around the set some more, talking to crew members about the demands of getting that days shooting in the can and watching them set up for a second location down the road in a local bar, where they would be joined later that evening by the films legendary producer, Larry Fessenden, and the other star of the film, Kelly McGillis, making her return to feature filmmaking after a multi-year hiatus.
After a long meal break it was time to tackle a nighttime schedule, during which multiple quick, indoor scenes would be filmed. These night scenes included, in order of least-to-most interesting: a snippet of a rowdy get-together in a tavern where lots of local humans have gathered; a set-up in a cramped attic space where our survivors watch through their window as the military fires guns outside and someone gets snagged by a random bullet; and an intimate musical performance by Danielle Harriss Belle, who sings a lonesome, bluegrass-style song about the damage the vampires have wrought. Its not every day you get to watch a live performance of a vampire-inspired country music song!
During the down period before the intensely-paced night shooting began (remember, this is an indie film where every second counts) I got a chance to sit down with both director Jim Mickle and producer Larry Fessenden, where we discussed the origins of this project and the plans for its release by independent financiers Dark Sky Films in 2010, as well as plans for potential sequels. A long-time staple of the independent film world, Fessenden has a longer credits sheet than most Hollywood veterans and is an industry maverick who prides himself on working successfully outside of the system; he was able to give me some insight into how a low-budget genre film like this gets set up and financed in the current economic environment, as well as his thoughts on the benefits and negatives of making movies outside of the Hollywood system. Here is a transcript of our talk:
RS: Larry, youre the intermediary between Jim and Dark Sky Films on this project?
Larry Fessenden: Yeah, Dark Sky offered a slate of three movies over the course of a year, and I knew I wanted to work with Mickle. Long before I was on Mulberry Street I met Jim and he pitched me a sort of vampire picture, and I saw his shorts, and was totally into working with him. That didnt quite work out and he went to make I]Mulberry Street and when this idea for the slate came up with Dark Sky, I went straight to Jim.
RS: So, did you have the idea for Stake Land before the deal came about?
Jim Mickle: Well, we were working on Cold in July for a while, and it was kind of frustrating because it was hard to find funding, and hard to get actors attached, and it was kind of a frustrating two years. This originally started off as an idea to do webisodes, to do something cheap basically to do Mulberry again, but [the concern was] could lightning really strike twice and wed get a great film out of it? So, we went the other way and built the story around the webisodes. Nick wrote a little ten minute scene, which is the opening scene in the movie now, and that was episode one and then we branched off from there. Its kind of an episodic story, and when Larry came along with the slate we tried to adapt to that. The original idea was just kind of folding them all together, and it didnt quite work, but we kept finessing it. At some point Nick just got the bug, took all the characters and completely reworked the setting, gave it this weird, post-apocalyptic, political feel. I think it was written right around the time of the election, so theres that. The economy was all over the news and that sort of became the backdrop, along with the swine flu.
RS: What else can you say about the atmosphere of the film?
Larry: Well, we do have plenty of gore! You can count on Mickle for that.
Jim: We kind of want to go for, like, a western with this one. Mulberry was all about being in this one-bedroom apartment, but in this we travel from Virginia to Canada We broke it up into two chunks, and shot the first half in August and it was gold and green, and now its all blue and dark and gray. Nicks beard has grown out and the kids hair has grown out. So I would say the atmosphere is very stark, empty, barren and depressing. And in the midst of that theres a kind of coming-of-age story with a kid.
Larry: There are also so many great interiors that we found upstate, and once youre inside you see people who have sort of hunkered down and made their own little world. Its got a lot of texture, even more so than, I think, maybe The Road which I think will be relentlessly bleak and grey. This sort of shows how people do continue to survive and live in the world even when theyre fortressed against the vamps, which are outside roaming the place.
RS: There are lots of post-apocalyptic movies out right now.
Jim: Yeah, were all inspired by the same shit its on the news.
RS: Are you reinventing the wheel with the vampires, or going traditional?
Jim: Were just trying to make them gross, scary creatures. I was ripping on Twilight for a while and Id never actually saw it. Then I went and watched it and it was more neutered than I even expected. So yeah, were definitely trying to make them scary and brutal. Were gonna have mangled breasts and intestines hanging out. Were going for scary monsters, not talking and dating.
Larry: It feels like were making a zombie movie, but really theyre just hungry.
RS: Do we see any vampire transformations?
Jim: We see some, theres a little bit of post-bite, and transforming a little bit. Its not like zombies, where they instantly pop back up. Weve really worked on it at different stages, theres a whole mythology behind it. They get to a point where you can only kill them a certain way and Nick has names for them and he keeps notebooks on them, you should check out his notebooks. So yeah, there are newbies and there are the ones that are really far gone, missing limbs and that kind of stuff.
Larry: It would make a good coffee table book.
RS: Are you using a lot of CG effects?
Jim: I do some after-effects, some animation and compositing. I think the CG stuff that will be in there will be more helping shots, painting out things that we dont want to see, removing wires because we did some stunts with wires, and that kind of stuff. So, there may be some CG, but were not doing CG creatures or anything like that.
RS: What kind of stunts are you working on?
Jim: Tomorrow night were going to shoot a big one out in the street, we have quite a few people on for that one. We shot the opening scene, which had quite a bit thats where we had a bit of wire work. Nick and Connor have been great with that, and even Kelly is running through cornfields and falling down. So, yeah, theres quite a bit of action in it, but you forget because its spread out. Its a lot like Mulberry where you have these big scenes and then the quiet, character scenes, only on a grander scale.
RS: Larry, whats your specific role on set? Are you a traditional producer here?
Larry: Well, Im basically an idea guy. In this case, Adam Folk, whos been a partner with Mickle, those guys do the hard work. They come in and do the SAG contracts and the schedules and stuff, but I take the role of being an advocate for the artist, making sure they get as close to what they want as possible. And on this slate, I talk with the money guys. I like to think outside of the box, and nurture a lot of different talents out there. My role is to set these things up and to fight for the vision. We go in and do some story stuff, depending on the project, each one requires different things. I just love the genre, there are so many different flavors. If I had the freedom to make my own films all the time, which I dont, I would probably never make Stake Land. So, I get to be part of that and part of a movie about a chef that goes crazy. So, its an incredible privilege.
RS: What impact do you have on the screenplay?
Larry: We hang out, and we work on it together sometimes. In the case of Nick, whos probably written 600 pages for this, its a matter of going in and saying Do you think we have the best possible story for it? We know we have several sequels in us, its just a matter of honing it. And then I have to go to Dark Sky and say This is the one, this is the way its gonna go. We started with about nine or ten pitches, different movies, different directors, and so there is a bit of negotiation involved in landing us on the projects we land on thats the kind of thing Im involved in, while my guys in the field are focused on getting every day to happen.
RS: Larry, is your energy going towards The Orphanage project these days?
Larry: No, that was two years of waiting. Working on the script with Guillermo del Toro was a very exciting experience, but then I got into a casting miasma and thats where the thing is. I think theyre going to do it another way, actually, so I think Im out of it. Hopefully, theyll still use my script, but Im not sure Im directing it. Thats Hollywood for ya!
RS: Do you have your next directorial project lined up?
Larry: I have, like, three movies that I want to do that are, ironically, at this level. The Orphanage got my foot in the door with studios and with managers and agents, but I dont really trust that it works and Im a little wary. Ive seen Ti West get involved, he made Cabin Fever and then came running home to Daddy to work with Glass Eye Pix again. And honestly, my aesthetic is to be a bit of a badass and work outside of the system and see if we can scam em and make our own way. We all love a lot of different Hollywood movies and we presumably all want to work with a lot of money, but theres so much trade-off for that. I continue to stick to this aesthetic of a band of outsiders trying to make movies. Ive produced five movies since Ive been dicking around with The Orphanage.
RS: Is there budget pressure with this Dark Sky slate?
Larry: I guarantee the budgets with them, and thats my cross to bear. Weve got a lot of producers on this Derek Curl works very closely with Dark Sky, keeping them informed of our progress. But the fact is, we cant go over. So, I ride Mickle and then it goes like that. We actually had to cut a day from this whole second half.
Jim: The day that youre seeing now was supposed to be two days.
Larry: [laughs] And still he has time for you guys!
RS: Is that part of the learning process, when youre forced to lose a day?
Jim: Yeah, we find creative ways and Larry was really good about it. He could have just said Cut a day and thats it, but we had a couple of conversations about creative ways to solve it. You learn creative ways to solve problems, and that was the whole way we worked on Mulberry: We cant do this, so whats the alternative? And it was good that this came along when it did, because we definitely trimmed the fat.
Larry: It helped us hone an approach to the filmmaking, which is what I love, when youre constantly challenged. Winter has shorter daylight hours just simple things like that, where youre like, fuck, we have even less time than we had before! Even if its a case where we have to shift something in the film towards night, because thats the reality. Also, when youre dealing with all these communities you have to be respectful, while at the same time milking them for everything theyve got. Its all part of our rock n roll aesthetic, which is distinct from Hollywood, where they just buy everything they need. With this, you have to be a little more stealthy, a little more light on your feet.
Stake Land is in select theaters now.
Writer/director Jim Mickle, who made the rounds a few years ago with his much talked-about indie-horror film Mulberry Street, is the brain behind the project, a road movie that takes place in a post-apocalyptic North America, years after a war between vampires and humans has left the entire continent in ruins and relegated survivors to a medieval existence, living hand-to-mouth and traveling together in tightly-formed, armed brigades.
Arriving at the set around lunchtime on one of the last days of shooting, I was quickly escorted to that days outdoor location, situated at the mouth of quaint covered bridge and surrounded by rolling hills and forests. Despite the films severe budget constraints, a heroic attempt was obviously being made by all to create a tone to match the epic feel of the script, which takes place over a number of years and essentially charts the decline of an entire civilization into vampire-induced chaos. Each of the actors and extras were appropriately grimy and dirty, wearing what looked like Salvation Army castoff clothes and sporting a variety of down-and-dirty weapons. As I hunkered down behind the camera to watch, a scene was rehearsed and performed several times in which the survivors are ushered through the checkpoint.
Taking part in the scene were lead actors Danielle Harris (Rob Zombies Halloween, H2) who plays Belle, a young, pregnant mother-figure to the group, Connor Paolo (Gossip Girl, Alexander) who plays Martin, a young boy coming of age in this barren wasteland, Nick Damici (Mulberry Street, The Black Donnellys) who plays the wizened warrior that instructs young Martin in the ways of vampire hunting (and who is also a co-writer of the film and a long-time collaborator of Jim Mickles), and Sean Nelson, who plays Willie, an Army grunt who has found a home with the survivors.
After watching the scene be filmed to the directors satisfaction, the cast members were brought over as a group to take a break and have a chat about how they got involved in the project and exactly what kind of post-apocalyptic vampire movie theyre attempting to make. Here is a transcription of our talk:
Ryan Stewart: So Nick, you helped write this film?
Nick Damici: Yeah, basically, weve been working on it for eight or ten years. We have a system where I do the hands-on and then he [Jim Mickle] comes in and does the edits, and we talk it out. We do that about 500 times until we have a script.
Danielle Harris: Ive heard that Jim mellows out Nicks writing.
Nick: [laughs] Yeah, he dulls me down.
RS: What kind of vampires are we dealing with in this film?
Nick: The feral, ferocious kind. In the script we say We just call them vamps because they drink blood, but were not really following classic folklore.
RS: Can you walk us through the basic idea of the story?
Nick: A vampire plague has collapsed the world, basically. America has fallen, the governments gone, and its sort of an apocalyptic time. Theres this guy who hunts vampires and he saves this kid and the kid becomes his protg, in a sense, and hes trying to get the kid to Canada where everybody says its safe. We dont know if its safe, though, its a journey and they pick up other people along the way, like Belle, which is Danielles part, and Sean, who plays Willie. Youve also got Kelly McGillis as a nun. Its a family movie!
RS: Is it mostly practical effects in the film, or are you using CG?
Nick: Theres probably going to be a little bit of CG.
Connor Paolo: Theres a little bit of green screen, plus some practical stuff. Were doing all our own stunts.
Nick: Weve had a few special effects, but nothing super-major, just a few tricks. You should see some of Jims tests; for the last year Ive been getting one of him stabbing Adam in the eye with a pencil.
RS: Danielle, what can you say about your character?
Danielle: Belle is a free spirit, Suzie Homemaker-type trying to round up this rowdy group of boys. Shes sort of the nurturing caretaker and also an odd man out amongst these burly men. Shes making a home and trying to keep the peace and be positive. Shes also pregnant as they continue on the trek, which was interesting I hadnt gotten to do that yet in my career. [points to her stomach] Just a little bump right now!
RS: So its going to expand?
Danielle: Oh, yeah. The movie is kind of about finding a family out whats left.
RS: The film has been described as an epic. Does that sound right to you?
Danielle: Yeah, Ive worked on supposedly epic, $100 million dollar features that looked like crap, but from what Ive seen so far this is looking really amazing. Weve got two red cameras shooting at all times, which is awesome. Jim is covering the crap out of the film, and the reason I wanted to do it was because I saw Mulberry Streetand what they were able to do for that amount of money, and I did think God, this one will be epic. It really looks unbelievable from what Ive seen so far.
Nick: And this is a genre flick too, so its not that different from Mulberry Street, structurally, except its all outdoors instead of indoors. Mulberry Street was like shooting a submarine movie, we were shooting in my apartment with 500 people.
RS: Is that a real gun in your waist?
Nick: [laughs] No. I would not put a real gun near my special parts!
RS: Are you doubling as producer on this one too?
Nick: Nope. I write and I act and otherwise, I keep my mouth shut.
Danielle: Liar.
Nick: Well, unless I have a strong opinion!
RS: Sean, what can you tell us about your character?
Sean Nelson: Willie is a military guy that they pick up, and hes really trying to get back home to his family. Hes trying to find his way and hes lucky to get picked up by these guys, they save his life. Thats basically the gist of my character.
Nick: He also hates Christmas.
Sean: [laughs] He hates fuckin Christmas.
RS: The movie takes place at Christmas time?
Nick: No, but we kill a Santa Claus.
Sean: A vampire Santa gets the shit kicked out of him.
RS: What are some of the stunts you guys have done on the film so far?
Nick: Its mostly roughhousing kind of stunts. Running, jumping, some fight stuff. Weve had some stunt guys come in for big scenes, weve done some choreography and some rope work, but otherwise its just, you know, act like youre killing each other.
RS: Is there a big villain?
Danielle: Oh yeah, there are lots of villains, one in particular.
Nick: Michael Cerveris. Hes on fire, terrific. Hes done a lot of television work and some big movies. He just did that Cirque Du Freak movie.
RS: You shot some of this movie and then took a hiatus before coming back, right?
Nick: Yeah, that was kind of a part of our original plan. In order to get the epic feel we wanted to watch the characters age a bit, and when I started out the first two weeks I had dyed my hair and now Ive let the grey grow back in. Theres a big feel of time going by, peoples hair getting longer. Martin, if you look at him the first two weeks he looks like hes twelve years old and now he shows up and Im saying Hey, look, he grew up!
Connor: That was a big part of the hiatus, not only getting the summer-to-winter thing, since this film takes place over two years, but also because its ultimately Martins coming of age story. He kind of narrates the whole thing in retrospect of his time with Mister and becoming the man he was born to be.
RS: What are you shooting here today?
Nick: Weve got to cross through this town to get to the next spot, so theyre disarming us at the border of the town. This is at the top of the third act.
RS: Are there any big emotional scenes you have to do?
Danielle: Oh, yeah.
Nick: The movie has a lot of heart. Kelly McGillis has been stupendous. A really good actress, nice to work with.
RS: Did she tell you any Top Gun stories?
Nick: Yeah, but I cant repeat them! Youll have to ask her yourself.
Connor: Dont ask, dont tell.
RS: Is there any comedy in this film, or is it all dire?
Nick: Theres a few laughs, Im sure.
Danielle: I dont know if comedy is the right word, but there are some lighter moments.
Nick: There are a few tension-breaking moments before we return to the blood and gore.
RS: Connor, how did you find time in your Gossip Girl schedule to do this?
Connor: I just took it, I wanted to do it. The great thing about my show is that we have so many storylines going its easy for them to take one character out for a week or two. This leg of the film is only about two and a half weeks, so thats really only two episodes. It wasnt a big deal, we gave them enough notice.
RS: Youre doing webisodes for this film, I heard?
Danielle: Yes! I had great luck with Fear Clinic, which I did with FearNet, with Robert Englund, and theyve been talking with me about directing some stuff for them and finding webisodes to do. I couldnt really find anything that I wanted to do, and I was talking to Jim and Nick a bit about it, and then I went on hiatus and came back and got a call and now were gonna do it. And I think its a good idea because we kind of get thrown into Stake Land rather quickly and its a nice way of letting the audience see all of the characters back stories. Im directing Sean, Willies story. I told him today that he has a 4:00am call time tomorrow!
Nick: It also takes place in a swamp.
Sean: And might involve some nudity.
Danielle: [laughs] So, yeah, Im excited about it. I think its a really great idea. Theyre short, about five minutes, just little snippets to kind of get an idea. Its our job to get you emotionally invested in the characters in that amount of time. And all the directors are very different, so its nice to see the different filmmakers styles.
Connor: Mister and Martin are very committed to not hearing anything about the history of the people they meet, and we dont talk about where everyone is from, so any chance in the film of finding out about a characters origins we quickly kind of shut down.
Nick: The thing about our scripts is that when were done with the first draft we go back and take out all the exposition. You dont really have to know who anybody is or where they come from. If the audience isnt in, then you didnt do it right anyway
RS: So when are the webisodes are going to air?
Danielle: I think Ill have some of it up you know, Ive got this video camera and Ive got my website, the HorrorGal website that Im doing, so Im gonna grab my camera and shoot a lot of my directing assignment tomorrow. I couldnt shoot any of me when we actually shot Belles story, because it would have given away sort of the end of the short, so I couldnt really bring the camera around, but Ill put the making of that on after you see the webisode.
RS: Is this going to lead to more directing for you in the future?
Danielle: I hope so. Ive been reading scripts for the last year and a half, and its hard to find a really great script. Im on the hunt for that first, debut film, but I havent really found it yet.
RS: You could direct Halloween 3D, if the Weinsteins havent found someone already..
Danielle: Oh, God no. Ive learned my lesson. Dont put that in there, please. Omit that! But yeah, Im done. Four Halloweens is enough. But I dont know, Ill probably come back in flashbacks, though.
RS: Sean, how did you get cast in this?
Sean: There was a meeting, and I met with Jim Mickle. I wasnt familiar with his work and I still havent seen Mulberry Street, but I heard it was great from these guys.
Nick: Of course we said it was great, we made it.
Sean: [laughs] And I believe it! Also, Ive never been in a horror film. I kind of persuaded Mickle to let me be a part of it.
Nick: I told him That kid? Hire that motherfucker now!
RS: Do you guys plan to take this film onto the festival circuit?
Nick: I gotta be honest, I dont know. MPI is basically running the marketing of it and I dont want to answer for them.
RS: Hows MPI treating you?
Nick: Theyve been great, lot of support. Its a tough shoot in that were really being ambitious and theyve gone out on a limb to trust us.
RS: Is Stake Land an actual place in the film, or is it more like a state of mind?
Nick: Its more like what the world has turned into. When he first introduces Martin to the world of killing vampires, Mister basically says Welcome to Stake Land, kid. Then he lets the vampire attack the kid, so its like Live or die, buddy!
RS: Mulberry Street had a big political subtext what about this film?
Nick: Well, its kind of about If society failed, what would happen next? Or What would it take for us to really fall back to feudal times? We go through these different eras, and we have, like a Great Depression scene: normalcy, middle-America hanging in there in tough times and being hopeful.
Connor: Were pushed almost back to witch hunt times.
Nick: Yeah, and theres a Western feel to it. Its very Civil War-ish, in its costumes and stuff.
RS: You guys watch dailies with the Red Cam? How do you watch your footage?
Nick: We get a lot of playback as we shoot.
Danielle: I dont watch dailies.
Connor: But you could watch it on a laptop.
Nick: Yeah, we can. Patrick has it all down, if we want to see something, and Jim is very generous about that stuff. If we need to see something, hell let us.
Danielle: Id go crazy if I had to watch myself every day.
Connor: Some actors do like that, but its harder for other actors. You dont want to see the mistakes youre making. If you start worrying about the way your hair looks or something
Nick: You find yourself directing yourself.
Danielle: Yeah. Let Jim do that.
RS: How is Jim handling his second feature so far?
Danielle: Hes really difficult to work with!
Connor: A total asshole.
Nick: Yeah, he threw cold water on me! No, hes been great.
Danielle: [laughs] Yeah, hes great. Theres a big canvas too, I mean look at where were filming.
Connor: The locals in this area kind of have to be involved, too, because were using different areas and weve got scenes where we need 50 people in the background, which is a lot to take on.
Danielle: Everyone here is really excited to be part of it, including the townsfolk, for lack of a better word, as well as the crew.
Nick: The other night we had a guy playing a bouncer in a saloon scene and then we went to get a drink and he was sitting in there, and he goes Oh God, here come the vampires!
RS: As far as shooting goes, do you have to move too fast for comfort, at this budget level?
Danielle: No, its actually moving nice and steady. Were racing the sun a lot, but yeah, ten or eleven hour work days. We have two cameras and our DP is great and the crews great, and everything is set. We just rock and roll. You know, Ive done a lot of movies at this budget and Ive seen a lot of disaster, and youre always worried about things when youre filming and freezing, but were really not aware of working with a crew of this size because it doesnt feel like it.
Nick: Our biggest problem is having a temperamental, 40 year-old car that Adam and I towed up here ourselves. That was a lot of fun.
RS: Do you hope there will be more Stake Lands after this one?
Nick: If I had my way. I just want this one to be good enough, but if that opportunity comes were ready for it.
RS: Whats up next for you and Jim?
Nick: Were trying to raise money right now for one called Cold in July, based on a Joe Lansdale novel. Were trying to pull a cast together, and I dont know how solid it is, but its looking pretty good and hopefully by summer well be onto that one. This one will be being edited then. And Id like to just keep going Im getting old!
RS: What about you, Danielle? Is 2010 booked up?
Danielle: You know, in this genre you never know whats actually going to end up making it or not making it. Right now, there are three things that have come my way and Im just hoping that one of them works out. We dont get cell reception up here so I havent been able to do any business or anything, were just focused on this. But Im waiting to see and hoping there might be a film, or maybe a franchise in my future.
RS: And you shot the remake of Night of the Living Deadalready?
Danielle: Yeah, it was just voice work, its CGI-3D. Simon West is producing it. Its a really cool, interesting idea. To come back as an iconic character like Annie in Halloween and now to be Barbara in Night of the Living Dead is pretty awesome. I kind of decided after the last Halloween that I was only going to do movies this year, and I keep saying this for press because I want to stick to my word, Im only going to do genre things that I havent done before. This was the first vampire script Ive done, and trust me Ive read a lot its kind of the wave of the moment and this was the vampire movie that I wanted to do. And Night of the Living Dead was the zombie movie that I wanted to do. So, Im being a little bit pickier and Im also kind of done with being the victim for a while. And Im not doing any of the CGI part of Night of the Living Dead, and Im not even sure if its going to look like me. It might be a cross between me and the original Barbara. But the script is very heavy, I was actually surprised at how intense it was. Its about the origins, its a prequel that takes place in New York City and its insane. Its mostly scenes with Mos Def and I, and Ive still never met him its just voices.
With that, the Stake Land cast was gathered back up by the assistant director to go do some more filming and I was left to mull around the set some more, talking to crew members about the demands of getting that days shooting in the can and watching them set up for a second location down the road in a local bar, where they would be joined later that evening by the films legendary producer, Larry Fessenden, and the other star of the film, Kelly McGillis, making her return to feature filmmaking after a multi-year hiatus.
After a long meal break it was time to tackle a nighttime schedule, during which multiple quick, indoor scenes would be filmed. These night scenes included, in order of least-to-most interesting: a snippet of a rowdy get-together in a tavern where lots of local humans have gathered; a set-up in a cramped attic space where our survivors watch through their window as the military fires guns outside and someone gets snagged by a random bullet; and an intimate musical performance by Danielle Harriss Belle, who sings a lonesome, bluegrass-style song about the damage the vampires have wrought. Its not every day you get to watch a live performance of a vampire-inspired country music song!
During the down period before the intensely-paced night shooting began (remember, this is an indie film where every second counts) I got a chance to sit down with both director Jim Mickle and producer Larry Fessenden, where we discussed the origins of this project and the plans for its release by independent financiers Dark Sky Films in 2010, as well as plans for potential sequels. A long-time staple of the independent film world, Fessenden has a longer credits sheet than most Hollywood veterans and is an industry maverick who prides himself on working successfully outside of the system; he was able to give me some insight into how a low-budget genre film like this gets set up and financed in the current economic environment, as well as his thoughts on the benefits and negatives of making movies outside of the Hollywood system. Here is a transcript of our talk:
RS: Larry, youre the intermediary between Jim and Dark Sky Films on this project?
Larry Fessenden: Yeah, Dark Sky offered a slate of three movies over the course of a year, and I knew I wanted to work with Mickle. Long before I was on Mulberry Street I met Jim and he pitched me a sort of vampire picture, and I saw his shorts, and was totally into working with him. That didnt quite work out and he went to make I]Mulberry Street and when this idea for the slate came up with Dark Sky, I went straight to Jim.
RS: So, did you have the idea for Stake Land before the deal came about?
Jim Mickle: Well, we were working on Cold in July for a while, and it was kind of frustrating because it was hard to find funding, and hard to get actors attached, and it was kind of a frustrating two years. This originally started off as an idea to do webisodes, to do something cheap basically to do Mulberry again, but [the concern was] could lightning really strike twice and wed get a great film out of it? So, we went the other way and built the story around the webisodes. Nick wrote a little ten minute scene, which is the opening scene in the movie now, and that was episode one and then we branched off from there. Its kind of an episodic story, and when Larry came along with the slate we tried to adapt to that. The original idea was just kind of folding them all together, and it didnt quite work, but we kept finessing it. At some point Nick just got the bug, took all the characters and completely reworked the setting, gave it this weird, post-apocalyptic, political feel. I think it was written right around the time of the election, so theres that. The economy was all over the news and that sort of became the backdrop, along with the swine flu.
RS: What else can you say about the atmosphere of the film?
Larry: Well, we do have plenty of gore! You can count on Mickle for that.
Jim: We kind of want to go for, like, a western with this one. Mulberry was all about being in this one-bedroom apartment, but in this we travel from Virginia to Canada We broke it up into two chunks, and shot the first half in August and it was gold and green, and now its all blue and dark and gray. Nicks beard has grown out and the kids hair has grown out. So I would say the atmosphere is very stark, empty, barren and depressing. And in the midst of that theres a kind of coming-of-age story with a kid.
Larry: There are also so many great interiors that we found upstate, and once youre inside you see people who have sort of hunkered down and made their own little world. Its got a lot of texture, even more so than, I think, maybe The Road which I think will be relentlessly bleak and grey. This sort of shows how people do continue to survive and live in the world even when theyre fortressed against the vamps, which are outside roaming the place.
RS: There are lots of post-apocalyptic movies out right now.
Jim: Yeah, were all inspired by the same shit its on the news.
RS: Are you reinventing the wheel with the vampires, or going traditional?
Jim: Were just trying to make them gross, scary creatures. I was ripping on Twilight for a while and Id never actually saw it. Then I went and watched it and it was more neutered than I even expected. So yeah, were definitely trying to make them scary and brutal. Were gonna have mangled breasts and intestines hanging out. Were going for scary monsters, not talking and dating.
Larry: It feels like were making a zombie movie, but really theyre just hungry.
RS: Do we see any vampire transformations?
Jim: We see some, theres a little bit of post-bite, and transforming a little bit. Its not like zombies, where they instantly pop back up. Weve really worked on it at different stages, theres a whole mythology behind it. They get to a point where you can only kill them a certain way and Nick has names for them and he keeps notebooks on them, you should check out his notebooks. So yeah, there are newbies and there are the ones that are really far gone, missing limbs and that kind of stuff.
Larry: It would make a good coffee table book.
RS: Are you using a lot of CG effects?
Jim: I do some after-effects, some animation and compositing. I think the CG stuff that will be in there will be more helping shots, painting out things that we dont want to see, removing wires because we did some stunts with wires, and that kind of stuff. So, there may be some CG, but were not doing CG creatures or anything like that.
RS: What kind of stunts are you working on?
Jim: Tomorrow night were going to shoot a big one out in the street, we have quite a few people on for that one. We shot the opening scene, which had quite a bit thats where we had a bit of wire work. Nick and Connor have been great with that, and even Kelly is running through cornfields and falling down. So, yeah, theres quite a bit of action in it, but you forget because its spread out. Its a lot like Mulberry where you have these big scenes and then the quiet, character scenes, only on a grander scale.
RS: Larry, whats your specific role on set? Are you a traditional producer here?
Larry: Well, Im basically an idea guy. In this case, Adam Folk, whos been a partner with Mickle, those guys do the hard work. They come in and do the SAG contracts and the schedules and stuff, but I take the role of being an advocate for the artist, making sure they get as close to what they want as possible. And on this slate, I talk with the money guys. I like to think outside of the box, and nurture a lot of different talents out there. My role is to set these things up and to fight for the vision. We go in and do some story stuff, depending on the project, each one requires different things. I just love the genre, there are so many different flavors. If I had the freedom to make my own films all the time, which I dont, I would probably never make Stake Land. So, I get to be part of that and part of a movie about a chef that goes crazy. So, its an incredible privilege.
RS: What impact do you have on the screenplay?
Larry: We hang out, and we work on it together sometimes. In the case of Nick, whos probably written 600 pages for this, its a matter of going in and saying Do you think we have the best possible story for it? We know we have several sequels in us, its just a matter of honing it. And then I have to go to Dark Sky and say This is the one, this is the way its gonna go. We started with about nine or ten pitches, different movies, different directors, and so there is a bit of negotiation involved in landing us on the projects we land on thats the kind of thing Im involved in, while my guys in the field are focused on getting every day to happen.
RS: Larry, is your energy going towards The Orphanage project these days?
Larry: No, that was two years of waiting. Working on the script with Guillermo del Toro was a very exciting experience, but then I got into a casting miasma and thats where the thing is. I think theyre going to do it another way, actually, so I think Im out of it. Hopefully, theyll still use my script, but Im not sure Im directing it. Thats Hollywood for ya!
RS: Do you have your next directorial project lined up?
Larry: I have, like, three movies that I want to do that are, ironically, at this level. The Orphanage got my foot in the door with studios and with managers and agents, but I dont really trust that it works and Im a little wary. Ive seen Ti West get involved, he made Cabin Fever and then came running home to Daddy to work with Glass Eye Pix again. And honestly, my aesthetic is to be a bit of a badass and work outside of the system and see if we can scam em and make our own way. We all love a lot of different Hollywood movies and we presumably all want to work with a lot of money, but theres so much trade-off for that. I continue to stick to this aesthetic of a band of outsiders trying to make movies. Ive produced five movies since Ive been dicking around with The Orphanage.
RS: Is there budget pressure with this Dark Sky slate?
Larry: I guarantee the budgets with them, and thats my cross to bear. Weve got a lot of producers on this Derek Curl works very closely with Dark Sky, keeping them informed of our progress. But the fact is, we cant go over. So, I ride Mickle and then it goes like that. We actually had to cut a day from this whole second half.
Jim: The day that youre seeing now was supposed to be two days.
Larry: [laughs] And still he has time for you guys!
RS: Is that part of the learning process, when youre forced to lose a day?
Jim: Yeah, we find creative ways and Larry was really good about it. He could have just said Cut a day and thats it, but we had a couple of conversations about creative ways to solve it. You learn creative ways to solve problems, and that was the whole way we worked on Mulberry: We cant do this, so whats the alternative? And it was good that this came along when it did, because we definitely trimmed the fat.
Larry: It helped us hone an approach to the filmmaking, which is what I love, when youre constantly challenged. Winter has shorter daylight hours just simple things like that, where youre like, fuck, we have even less time than we had before! Even if its a case where we have to shift something in the film towards night, because thats the reality. Also, when youre dealing with all these communities you have to be respectful, while at the same time milking them for everything theyve got. Its all part of our rock n roll aesthetic, which is distinct from Hollywood, where they just buy everything they need. With this, you have to be a little more stealthy, a little more light on your feet.
Stake Land is in select theaters now.