My dad pointed me in the direction of an article in the Winston-Salem Journal about the movie for which Ike is script supervisor. If you're interested, the article is here.
You have to register to read it on the website, so I've posted it here (I hope that's not breaking some big law or something...) That oh-so-appetizing picture is from the shoot...yuck.
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Little Suspense: Downtown Winston-Salem chosen as right place for a horror thriller
By Mark Burger
JOURNAL ARTS REPORTER
On some nights, it's dead in downtown Winston-Salem. That's the perfect atmosphere for a horror thriller, which is precisely what the makers of Fall Down Dead are doing in town.
Director Jon Keeyes and a cast headed by Dominique Swain, Udo Kier and David Carradine have descended upon Winston-Salem to make the sort of Christmas film that is more likely to spread dread than holiday cheer.
The story takes place on Christmas Eve, with an American city rocked by a series of ritualistic murders committed by "the Picasso Killer." This fiend (played by Kier) specifically stalks his targets with the express purpose of turning them into works of art ... the sort that one doesn't see hanging in a gallery.
"We're not treating Fall Down Dead as a campy B-movie," Keeyes said. "We're definitely trying to make a studio-level suspense thriller in the Hitchcock mold and mix it with a touch of the more visceral - like Saw or Seven."
When Picasso targets and pursues a single mother (Swain), she looks for help from two police detectives (Turkish-actor Mehmet Gunsur and R. Keith Harris of Greensboro) and an eccentric security guard (Carradine) - but that endangers their lives, too.
Budgeted at less than$1 million, Fall Down Dead is the first of Keeyes' films not to be shot in Texas. He said the decision to film in North Carolina was made more attractive by the state's incentives for filmmakers.
The production is scheduled to continue at locations around town over the next two weeks. A release date for the film has yet to be set.
"Winston-Salem has been an absolute blast," Keeyes said. "I've been telling people just how friendly the people are. That has been the best experience of the shoot so far - that, and how professional the crew is. They've brought great enthusiasm and experience to the table.
"We've got a nice mixture of talent from out of town and local talent," said Keeyes, whose credits include American Nightmare (2002), Suburban Nightmare (2004) and the forthcoming hostage thriller Living & Dying. "The actors are so talented and professional that it makes your job so much easier."
Carradine is best known for TV's Kung Fu but he is also a veteran of more than 120 feature films. He said, with a wry smile, that he had turned down this role more than once.
"Finally, to get them off my back more than anything else, I said yes."
Now the patriarch of one of the most esteemed acting clans in America, Carradine is looking forward to the release of his book The Kill Bill Diary, a journal of his experiences working with Quentin Tarantino on the two Kill Bill films, in which Carradine played Bill.
Gunsur, Fall Down Dead's leading man, is from Turkey and is one of Europe's hottest young actors. He said he's a fan of horror films and is glad to be starring in one. His character is very much a flawed hero - a hard-driving detective whose intensity has cost him his marriage.
"He chose to be a good cop instead of a good husband," Gunsur said, "and he still feels remorse about it."
Also in the cast are several actors based in the Piedmont Triad, among them Harris, who played a good-natured small-town minister in last year's Junebug. In Fall Down Dead, he plays a cop on the edge.
"He's got a lot of emotional swings and a lot of rage," Harris said, "and his anger ultimately gets the best of him."
Harris, who lives in Winston-Salem, makes no secret of his pleasure that more films are being made here and throughout the state. "It's now become an economically viable entity in North Carolina, and there's a great infrastructure for film production."
The film crew includes a number of students and faculty members from NCSA's School of Filmmaking, including cinematographer Richard Clabaugh.
"There is a thriving arts school in the community, where there are talented people who have promise and who want to work," said producer Ron Gell, a veteran of independent films whose credits include the critically acclaimed To Sleep With Anger (1992).
"They've brought a lot of good will to the project, and in the indie world, good will goes a long way."
• Mark Burger can be reached at 727-7370 or at mburger@wsjournal.com.
Thanks, Dad!
You have to register to read it on the website, so I've posted it here (I hope that's not breaking some big law or something...) That oh-so-appetizing picture is from the shoot...yuck.
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Little Suspense: Downtown Winston-Salem chosen as right place for a horror thriller
By Mark Burger
JOURNAL ARTS REPORTER
On some nights, it's dead in downtown Winston-Salem. That's the perfect atmosphere for a horror thriller, which is precisely what the makers of Fall Down Dead are doing in town.
Director Jon Keeyes and a cast headed by Dominique Swain, Udo Kier and David Carradine have descended upon Winston-Salem to make the sort of Christmas film that is more likely to spread dread than holiday cheer.
The story takes place on Christmas Eve, with an American city rocked by a series of ritualistic murders committed by "the Picasso Killer." This fiend (played by Kier) specifically stalks his targets with the express purpose of turning them into works of art ... the sort that one doesn't see hanging in a gallery.
"We're not treating Fall Down Dead as a campy B-movie," Keeyes said. "We're definitely trying to make a studio-level suspense thriller in the Hitchcock mold and mix it with a touch of the more visceral - like Saw or Seven."
When Picasso targets and pursues a single mother (Swain), she looks for help from two police detectives (Turkish-actor Mehmet Gunsur and R. Keith Harris of Greensboro) and an eccentric security guard (Carradine) - but that endangers their lives, too.
Budgeted at less than$1 million, Fall Down Dead is the first of Keeyes' films not to be shot in Texas. He said the decision to film in North Carolina was made more attractive by the state's incentives for filmmakers.
The production is scheduled to continue at locations around town over the next two weeks. A release date for the film has yet to be set.
"Winston-Salem has been an absolute blast," Keeyes said. "I've been telling people just how friendly the people are. That has been the best experience of the shoot so far - that, and how professional the crew is. They've brought great enthusiasm and experience to the table.
"We've got a nice mixture of talent from out of town and local talent," said Keeyes, whose credits include American Nightmare (2002), Suburban Nightmare (2004) and the forthcoming hostage thriller Living & Dying. "The actors are so talented and professional that it makes your job so much easier."
Carradine is best known for TV's Kung Fu but he is also a veteran of more than 120 feature films. He said, with a wry smile, that he had turned down this role more than once.
"Finally, to get them off my back more than anything else, I said yes."
Now the patriarch of one of the most esteemed acting clans in America, Carradine is looking forward to the release of his book The Kill Bill Diary, a journal of his experiences working with Quentin Tarantino on the two Kill Bill films, in which Carradine played Bill.
Gunsur, Fall Down Dead's leading man, is from Turkey and is one of Europe's hottest young actors. He said he's a fan of horror films and is glad to be starring in one. His character is very much a flawed hero - a hard-driving detective whose intensity has cost him his marriage.
"He chose to be a good cop instead of a good husband," Gunsur said, "and he still feels remorse about it."
Also in the cast are several actors based in the Piedmont Triad, among them Harris, who played a good-natured small-town minister in last year's Junebug. In Fall Down Dead, he plays a cop on the edge.
"He's got a lot of emotional swings and a lot of rage," Harris said, "and his anger ultimately gets the best of him."
Harris, who lives in Winston-Salem, makes no secret of his pleasure that more films are being made here and throughout the state. "It's now become an economically viable entity in North Carolina, and there's a great infrastructure for film production."
The film crew includes a number of students and faculty members from NCSA's School of Filmmaking, including cinematographer Richard Clabaugh.
"There is a thriving arts school in the community, where there are talented people who have promise and who want to work," said producer Ron Gell, a veteran of independent films whose credits include the critically acclaimed To Sleep With Anger (1992).
"They've brought a lot of good will to the project, and in the indie world, good will goes a long way."
• Mark Burger can be reached at 727-7370 or at mburger@wsjournal.com.
Thanks, Dad!
1 Comments:
How cool! I used to love reading about all of the films being shot in Asheville when I was in school there. Very interesting and very cool!
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