chiller blog

Posted Jun 15, 09 03:32 PM

You Can All Go Straight to --

DVD.

That's the debut destination of The Grudge 3. Earlier company in the once-VHS-initiated venue includes such franchise proliferations as Hellraiser (four sequels), The Howling (four), Scanners (four), Children of the Corn (five) - and Leprechaun (five??!!). Even the spin-offs have sequels, a.k.a. Return of the Living Dead, Part Etc. And while you're at it, chalk up numerous one-shot continuations, too: Anyone feeling a little Alligator II: The Mutation?

The genre, by virtue of being so concept-driven, can remarkably substitute imagination and style for double-(and even single-) digit budgets. Admittedly, in the past, that open door has let in its share of Slumber Party Massacres and Silent Night, Deadly Night incarnations. But need I remind you once again that Leonardo DeCaprio's first film credit was Critters 3?

Under tighter studio supervision, bolstered production standards, and infinitely more polished writers, the direct-to-DVD market has experienced a renaissance. Unfortunately, current economics downturns threaten to further restrict, if not shutter, this increasingly intriguing distribution arm.

CHILLER got on the horn with the writing team of James Robert Johnston and Bennett Yellin. These gents effectively collab-ed on the Fox stick-our-toe-back-in-the-water, Joy Ride: Dead Ahead. Budding scribes take note.

Chiller: How do a writer on Dumb & Dumber and an associate producer on Supernova end up doing a sequel to a road horror film?

James: I was in the development world, working behind a desk (for Patrick Stewart's production company at Paramount). Bennett came in to pitch something. After I left that company, I decided I wanted to be a writer. When Bennett I discussed writing together, the idea that we sparked to was a horror film - we're both fans of the genre regardless of what we've worked on in the past. The very first thing we wrote together was a horror film, and that became a sample. Once you have one sample, you kind of get branded in that genre. That got us our managers. Our managers were aware that Joy Ride 2 was an open writing assignment and sent our spec to the executives, who read it, liked it, and brought us in to meet with them on it.

Bennett: That's why you have managers. For connections.

James: And then, later, we went on to write a comedy spec which then got us work in comedy. It kind of depends on what you write first.

Bennett: Think carefully about what your sample script will be, because that will become your marketable genre.

James: Or, if you want to be marketed in more than one genre, be sure to have more than one sample.

Chiller: So whatever happened to the sample?

James: It was too expensive. The bane of horror existence is that it has to be budget- conscious for it to be made and not be a risk at the box office.

Bennett: As we say this, the rules change. Before you can even print it, the rules will change back.

James: But at the time we went out with it, the horror boom had already happened and we were on a downswing. It took place in snow, and apparently snow is expensive to make. But the script got us a ton of meetings --

Bennett: Lot of fans.

Chiller: So did you approach Joy Ride 2 as comedy-horror, or horror with dark comedy? It's pretty funny, I have to say.

Bennett: We appreciate that.

James: We've been told comedy horror is a big no-no. It doesn't sell. Things like Shaun of the Dead are considered anomalies. We never approached this project with any sort of sense of doing it as a comedy horror film. We just knew that it involved young people - and we wanted a kind of looseness and humor to them so that you would care more about them. Before they get hacked up.

Bennett: The humor would offset the tension.

Chiller: I think of the jawbone scene, in particular.

James: The original draft had a lot more dialogue that was trimmed. You want to get to the horror, to the action.

Bennett: You have a lot of leeway with the first draft or two before the project gets greenlit. Then, as it moves closer to production, the realities of budget force you to make a great deal of cuts. Very often, the first things to go tend to be the more subtle elements - character quirks, motivation, nuance - they're quickly snipped away. It's done out of pure necessity.

James: And one of the general feelings about direct-to-DVD features is, the more time onscreen, the bigger the budget. So they tend to really try to get you to a much shorter length. You're probably not going to go beyond an hour and a half.

Chiller: At what point did they decide to go directly to DVD? Was there ever talk about putting it out theatrically?

James: There was discussion about that potential of it, but it seemed more a pipe dream because the original was many, many, many years ago.

Bennett: From pretty early on, we knew the project was intended as a direct-to-DVD production. Of course, that particular market has, naturally, been impacted by the current economic difficulties.

Chiller:Perfect segue to another question...

James: Piracy?

Chiller: No, no, no. With the DVD market shrinking - Blu-Ray, online downloads and On-Demand viewing options - are we still going to see the franchising of branded titles?

James: There certainly has been a decrease. We've had two projects that we fully storied out, and then the plugs were pulled. With the economy in general and also the sense that these aren't doing as well as they used to, you are going to see people being a lot more careful about which projects get chosen.

Bennett: Every studio opened its own direct-to-DVD division with high hopes and a great deal of excitement about exploring this new platform for entertainment. While there were certainly promising sales at the outset, the market's unquestionably taken a hit along with the rest of the economy.

James: We have already developed two direct-to-DVD sequels - granted, they were comedies, ready to go, waiting for them to pull the trigger. Then they came back to us and said we're cutting our projects left and right.

Chiller: With the economy in its current state, you'd think that horror wouldn't be as affected.

James: The feeling is that they're going to make more money and get more prestige out of tentpole releases. So, take the $5 million and put $5 million more of extra effects in the next summer blockbuster. Since people might not be buying DVDs as much anymore, invest that money in theatrical, which is still going strong. It's too bad, because some real gems can still come out of that direct-to-DVD market.

Chiller: Do you see any recourse for turning things around?

Bennett: Success is the turning point for anything in the business.

James: There are other DVD features still coming out. If they start doing well, or if Blu-Ray picks up...to the studios, it's all about numbers. And rightfully so.

Bennett: Can it be presold? There's a lot of development of family stuff for direct-to-DVD. They just develop to the very end of whatever's been successful.

Chiller: What are we up to, Bambi VI?

(laughter)

Chiller: Let's see. They've put out sequels to Bring It On, American Pie? I'm trying to think of horror...

Bennett: Fox has just made Wrong Turn 3?

Chiller: Yes. Now, have you heard of the distribution limbo of this film, Trick 'R Treat?

James: That was a film so teetering on the edge of getting a theatrical (release).

Bennett: It's been done for a few years.

Chiller: Wow. And it's got major stars.

James: Well, it's an anthology.

Bennett: It's hard to sell an anthology.

James: Horror audiences embrace it, but they (the studio) are saying that the crossover potential is not going to be that high?

Chiller: The consensus of the buzz I hear about Trick 'R Treat: All strong. But I think people are nervous because of the content. Apparently, there's a lot of little kids getting killed in the movie.

Another question. Since it's intended for DVD, does that allow you to push the envelope in terms of explicit content?

James: Very much so. They love to have the concept of "unrated" on the label. From the beginning, they're pushing that element as opposed to theatrical releases when that's the kiss of death. On DVD, they don't really need the MPAA's approval. Selling it as more extreme should attract more people because they feel like they're seeing something they couldn't see in the theater.

Joy Ride 2 was sold more as a thriller rather than horror because that's an expansion of audience. We, on purpose, added more horrific elements than the original to make it more of a crossover. They saw the franchising of the character of Rusty Nail. They wanted to give Rusty Nail more qualities that would make him stand out.

Bennett: Earlier drafts went much further: Rusty Nail's background, what he was doing before the first movie --

James: One of the problems of doing hardcore horror is that it does up the budget because of the effects. Some things have to be tempered to be more (financially) reasonable...to really compliment the people we were working with, they very much allowed us to run wild. Then they were smart about what cuts should be made to keep it in the realm of what was 'shootable.'

Chiller: Will there be a Joy Ride 3?

James: We have a fantastic take on JR3 - it would all come full circle as a great trilogy. We're not sure, though, if there will be another. I hope there is, because we heard Joy Ride 2 did well. Apparently, 2 was a good seller for Fox. So, it's never say never.

Chiller: Back in the '80s, there seemed to be stigma between crossing over from TV to film. Respectfully, do you think there's a stigma about getting involved in a project that isn't theatrical and instead goes straight to DVD? Or with the diversification of cable networks and content EVERYWHERE, does it matter?

James: I don't think it matters at all. I think it's a great calling card when someone reads your writing or appreciates what you've done. They can see that it translates easily to theatrical.

Bennett: Simply being produced is success in itself. Honestly, we were so excited when we did JR 2. It was like, bring it on!

James: We'd have been more than happy to stay in it (this venue).

Bennett: Direct-to-DVD is its own special platform: Something bigger than a television film yet smaller than a feature. It's really quite unique, when you think about it.

James: With theatrical features, you have a lot of people breathing down your necks: Change it this way, change it that way. The writer is really in a tough position to make everyone happy. When you're doing a direct-to-DVD feature, it's very focused. The people who are involved - it's like a train moving straight ahead. There's a speed to it that's similar to the speed in television. It gives you leeway to get stuff into a script that you probably would never have been able to get into a theatrical feature. So in that regard, the director-to-DVD market is really a writer's friend.

Chiller: How fast was the development?

Bennett: Fox called us in July and wanted to shoot it by the end of the year (November) to have it out the following year.

James: It wasn't feeling like we were running ahead of the game. The script got it moving forward that quickly. They (execs Sara Kutney and Tom Siegrist) totally respect the writer but, at the same time, are incredibly good at their job to make the product. They made it painless. They KNOW what they're doing and that's what's so impressive: Work quickly, but effectively.

Chiller: Cigars! Great. Thank you so much for your time and candor.