Film Guru: Before directing The Familiar, you worked as an office production assistant on several films. Tell me how that influenced this film.

Kody Zimmermann: Being an office p.a. is really one of the coolest jobs you can have as a budding filmmaker – and I’ll explain why. You may not get paid a lot, but it’s still a pretty good check come payday. Every coordinator I’ve had has been cool with just twelve hour days, so there’s no 15 hour days like some other film positions. You’re inside, near a fax machine, your computer (to write your scripts at night), a telephone, a photocopier, paper and when the show starts, you get to meet the producers, directors and writers. Because you’re the lowest on the totem pole, you leave the job at the office and work on your own stuff when you’re at home instead of worrying about other people’s problems. You meet contacts, learn a lot about budgets and are free from a lot of extraneous responsibilities because that’s the coordinator’s job. It’s a good gig. Without it, I wouldn’t have been able to write my own scripts, shoot and edit my own movies or meet some invaluable contacts.

FG: As a former assistant to a Hollywood actor, did you have trouble switching roles and being the director? How did it feel to tell actors what to do for a change? (evil grin)

KZ: That’s like the Batman/Bruce Wayne question. If anything, I feel most comfortable in the director role – the assistant role is my fake identity. When I was on “The 6^th Day” I had the coolest experience. The director, Roger Spottiswoode, asked me to shoot a “happy birthday” greeting for one of his pals back in LA. I asked if I could have access to equipment and crew, and he proceeded to write a note that granted me keys to anything I needed. Totally out of my mind on adrenaline, I asked if I could use Arnold Schwarzenegger in the video. Roger answered: “We’ll see.”   A few hours later, while filming other shots, my cameraman (Riley Walsh, producer on “The Familiar”) and I got the call. Arnold is on stage and waiting. We go in, and all I’m thinking is “Holy Christ, I’m about to meet Arnold Goddamned Schwarzenegger.” I think you can appreciate the magnitude of having a superstar in your presence and being the one to tell him what to do. Fortunately, a voice in the back of my head said: “he’s just another actor.” And that was all I needed. I was able to give him the simple direction of coming down some stairs, point a gun, say a trademark line and pull the trigger. No stammering, no gushing, no problem. Not even when I had to tell him that the camera bumped and we had to do it again. Or when after telling him that, I got the same look Bill Paxton gets in “True Lies” when he tells him he wants to bang his wife. Arnold’s great; really funny and a good guy.

FG: The Familiar uses voice over narration, something that’s uncommon in this genre. Why did you decide to use this form of storytelling?

KZ: It’s funny, I don’t really classify “The Familiar” as a straight horror movie – it’s more of a dark, absurdist roman a clef that’s set in the horror universe. But that makes it sound sort of crazy and art house, so let’s just label it a dark comedy. Since the story was about Sam’s life, it made perfect sense as a writer that he guide us through his journey. Every screenwriting book will tell you voice over is poison, but I call bullshit on that. It’s part of cinema, a tool. You look at something like “Fight Club” and “Goodfellas” and those narrations are absolutely integral to them.

FG: You have some pretty good effects, especially the scene at the end of the film. Was there anything that you envisioned for the film that had to be cut due to budgetary or other constraints?

KZ: As a writer — for the first draft at least — I go nuts. Throw everything and the kitchen sink into it. In the original draft, during the vampire hunter scene, we had crossbows going off, mist effects and the vampire teleporting. There was also a party scene where Sam is in a room full of different vampires that eventually got dialed down to meeting the “Godfather” character. But when the main bloodline to the film is your own bank account, you think on your feet quick on how to get what you want in camera without sacrificing the story in any way. If you keep the story, the theme and the structure in the forefront, it’s pretty easy to shed the dead weight.

FG: Shooting a vampire story, you’re pretty much stuck with a lot of night shooting. Did you run into any technical problems as a result? Any lighting issues?

KZ: We were lucky that we only had to shoot one night outside – the scene where the vampire takes out a jogger. Everything else was done in an old manor in Vancouver or on a stage at North Shore Studios. Riley procured the best lighting package ever for the film, and our DP George Campbell started as a gaffer before moving up as a cinematographer, so I was in the hands of angels when it came to the lighting. I was adamant that the film have a Val Lewton feel to it – unmotivated lighting, almost noir. I wanted the lighting to act as part of the set decoration, creating subliminal webs in the background. George really went all out with it.

FG: What was your favorite part of directing The Familiar?

KZ: All of it. You start by writing a script, and that’s a pretty cool feeling when you’ve found your blueprint. Then you forget all about that feeling because now you’re focused on finding locations, or talking to your crew or interpreting a character to your actor. You’re in a constant state of awareness; constantly falling in love with the problem you’re solving.

FG: Without giving away too much, it seems that The Familiar ends with a promise of something to come. Any plans to expand the story into a feature or maybe give audiences a sequel?

KZ: The idea was originally conceived as being a feature. When we decided to make it a short, I still wanted to retain a feature’s story structure – a clear setup, middle and climax. We get a lot of people telling us this should be a TV series, which has sparked some ideas on how this world of Familiars and their masters would play out every week, particularly Sam’s journey. I think we’re open to anything.  

FG: You made a horror film, so I have to ask… What frightens you?

KZ: My mortgage. Now that’s a monster.

FG: This is your first time in the role as director. Who’s work would you say influences you?

KZ: This is actually my first role as a director for a film I’m proud to show. Actually, that’s not true. I did an adaptation of a Neil Gaiman short story called “We Can Get Them For You Wholesale” a few years back that I’m proud of. Mostly because Neil liked it a lot, and when you can get one of your idols to throw you a “thumb’s up,” it’s worth it. As far as my influences, here’s you go: John Carpenter’s up at the top. He has this unmistakable style – the flowing camera, the uncompromising characters. It’s easy to throw out props to “Halloween” and “The Thing,” but I could watch “Christine” or “Prince of Darkness” any night of the week too. That man knows how to end a movie. James Cameron has never made I film I disliked. When I lay down money to see a Jim Cameron movie, I know I’m going to be entertained. He’s the consummate filmmaker: a technical genius and incredible writer. He knows dialogue and character. Martin Scorsese’s style seems effortless. He’s the definition of filmmaking. You watch something like “After Hours” and there’s a shot where Griffin Dunne is in a diner and decides to talk to Roseanna Arquette. With one camera move, you understand everything there is to know about that scene, the emotions, the character’s state of mind. Who else can do that? I also have to mention Sam Raimi. If he isn’t the Patron Saint of indie horror filmmakers, I don’t know who is. When I was a teenager, I was reading some horror zine (probably Fangoria), and there was a picture of Sam wearing a white lab coat, some safety goggles and splattered with fake blood. He had a grin on his face and his thumb “up.” I remember telling my best friend that this guy looks like he’s got the best-damned job on the planet. I think I was right.

FG: What are you working on next?

KZ: I’m starting the second draft to my haunted house film called “The Hollow Season.” It’s still in its early stages, but the characters are starting to “talk” to me – and I think any one who writes knows how great that is when it starts. My producer Riley is completing the preliminary budget so our other partners will be able to hunt down the investment money. I give my partners the same pep talk: that when Springsteen went into the studio to create “Born to Run,” his ambition was to “sound like Phil Spector, write lyrics like Bob Dylan and sing like Roy Orbison.” So, with that in mind, I tell them to hit The Hollow Season with a bit of the same outlook: it should have the style of “The Ring”, the tone of “Candyman” and presence of “Session 9.” If you’re going to aspire, aspire for the best.