Vancouver-based filmmaker Kody Zimmermann is unveiling his latest short film “The Familiar” at the 2009 ScreamFest Horror Film Festival this weekend. Torrance Coombs (“jPod,” “The Tudors”) stars as Sam, a 21 year-old who has just accepted a very unusual job: to be the assistant to an amoral, immortal, bloodsucking vampire.
Before he hopped on a plane to Los Angeles for the festival, FoG had the chance to ask Kody about this dark horror comedy and his storytelling process.
Q: What was it about the story of “The Familiar” that made you want to make it?
A: I will preface this by saying I have never worked for a literal vampire, but I have worked for a Boss From Hell. A lot of the stuff in the film came from a job I had once being an actor’s assistant and the weird world he roamed freely around in. In that light, it was a cathartic experience.
Q: How many days did you shoot and what was your post schedule like? Any huge challenges during the process?
A: We shot five days. My producer Riley and I are adamant believers that you figure everything out (or as much as humanly possible) before you start shooting, which saves a lot of time and frustration for the crew. The post schedule was a bit longer — about seven months, but was a great process in the end.
We definitely pulled a lot of horseshoes out of our butt on this one. We were given a thumbs-up from the Vancouver film community, with nods from North Shore Studios (which gave us a sound stage to shoot in), Sim Video (supplying the camera package), and William F Whites for the lights and grip equipment. Sharpe Sound threw everything and the kitchen sink into the sound design, which really makes all the difference in the world.
We had a great cast and crew working for us — all pros in the industry who made it look like a million bucks. I’d be a jerk if I didn’t give a nod out to my post team – Chris Buffett (VFX), Rich King (score), Sharpe Sound and Ed Lee (color grading), who all went above and beyond.
If there were any challenges, it would be in actually getting to this film. It’s a journey and a half following the filmmaking star: it’s expensive, detail-oriented and devours a lot of years. Just keeping the faith is challenge enough.
Q: How did you get into filmmaking?
A: Without sounding too much like a cliché, my dad took me to “Star Wars” when I was a kid, and that was it. I grew up in Northern British Columbia, where you spend seven months of the year sheltered from the elements. I overdosed on too many geek related topics – comic books, role-playing games, low-budget horror movies starring Tom Atkins. My parents had this archaic typewriter that I tried writing scripts on, but as a scrawny kid with no upper body strength, banging out a sentence was a test of endurance.
I eventually got an electric typewriter, started playing around with my grandpa’s video camera and stole whatever book I could find about film at the public library until I was accepted to film program in Oregon.
Q: You’ve crewed on some high-profile features such as “I, Robot,” “Catch and Release” and “The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Any lessons that you learned on those sets that you were able to apply on the set of “The Familiar”?
A: The best show I worked on was “The 6th Day.” Its executive producer, Dan Petrie Jr, is not only one of the most talented screenwriters in film, but also one of the nicest guys, period. He was a wealth of knowledge to an aspiring screenwriter, and I credit him for hammering home the absolute importance of script structure.
I also had the pleasure of watching Lawrence Kasdan direct “Dreamcatcher” in 2001. You observe someone like Larry and you just pray you get something by osmosis. He’s cordial to the actors and crew, confident in his vision and thoughtful in his direction.
Q: “Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant” starring John C. Reilly is being released in the U.S. on October 23rd. Are there any similarities that you’re aware of?
A: I think that movie is what Sam (my main character) was hoping it would be like being a vampire’s assistant: a magical ride with a wizened vampire as your friend and mentor. What he got was probably the reality of it – indentured service to a self-centered, thoroughly psychotic bastard who makes him dispose of the victims. Other than that, both shows probably had really good craft service.
Q: Who or what are the biggest influences on your work, and why?
A: Stylistically, I wanted “The Familiar” to have that old-school horror look from the Val Lewton era — unmotivated noir lighting with no rhyme or reason. I showed my cinematographer stills from David Lynch’s “Mulholland Drive” and “Lost Highway.” The colors are neon and nightmarish, showing an unreal dreamworld for the characters to inhabit.
Writing it, I was influenced heavily by authors Chuck Palahniuk, Christopher Moore and Neil Gaiman. That’s an odd combination, but it’s true.
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.
Q: What do you hope your short film achieves, and what projects are coming up next for you?
A: We’re gearing up for a feature film, and hopefully “The Familiar” can show people what we can do with very little time and very little money. The feature’s called “The Hollow Season” and it’s an old-style haunted house movie with a “Candyman” tone rooted to it. It’s a different approach than “The Familiar” as it’s a no-holds-barred horror film, a statement I take very seriously. I appreciate genre films and filmmakers that make the effort to scare you – that develop believable characters in actual suspenseful sequences, while painting the screen with shadow and dread. Right now, we’re putting the team in place to deliver that kind of film.
Q: Over what are you currently geeking out?
A: I’m loving this film called “Cold Prey,” this cool slasher film from Sweden. I’m reading “Astro City” and “Preacher” and re-watching “30 Rock: Season 3” and “Kolchak: The Night Stalker.” That should sum it up.