#35: “Nobody Said: Wow, We’re Doing Something Revolutionary Here”: Ron Bonk on his Early Found-Footage Film STRAWBERRY ESTATES
Today’s guest is Ron Bonk, best known as the owner of the New York-based underground production and distribution company SRS Cinema. Ron started out as a filmmaker in the shot-on-video world of the 1990’s, writing and directing low-budget genre films like CITY OF THE VAMPIRES and THE VICIOUS SWEET. He…
#35: “It’s Good to Be Ahead of Your Time, But Not a Decade”: Director Dean Alioto on Pioneering Found Footage Film UFO ABDUCTION
Today’s guest is Dean Alioto, writer and director of the groundbreaking found footage horror film UFO ABDUCTION, which also became known as THE MCPHERSON TAPE. The film tells the story of a family whose house is surrounded by alien creatures one night, and while the panicked people inside the house…
#34: “It’s very easy for me to scare myself”: Director Ted Nicolaou on THE ST. FRANCISVILLE EXPERIMENT
Today’s guest is Ted Nicolaou, best known for his many collaborations with producer Charles Band, including the popular SUBSPECIES series. Ted started out as a sound recordist on Tobe Hooper’s cult classic THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE and then went into editing, working on films like ROAR, TRANCERS and GHOULIES….
#33: “We Didn’t Think Anyone Would Watch 1½ Hours of Crappy Video of Running Around in the Woods”: Stefan Avalos on Found Footage Precursor THE LAST BROADCAST
Today’s guest is Stefan Avalos, who was once profiled by Wired magazine as “one of the twenty five people helping to reinvent entertainment”. Together with Lance Weiler, he wrote, produced, directed and starred in the found footage thriller THE LAST BROADCAST, a film which they also shot, edited and scored…
#32: “In 1999, There’s a Lot of Things People Don’t Know About”: Brian Leslie on Producing the BLAIR WITCH Follow-up THE BLACK DOOR
Today’s guest is Brian Leslie, producer of the found footage horror film THE BLACK DOOR, which came out in 2001 on the heels of the success of the genre-defining THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT. THE BLACK DOOR was directed by Kit Wong, and Brian Leslie was brought on board by his…
#31: “I Don’t Need Cute” – Director Carl Schultz on THE ADVENTURES OF YOUNG INDIANA JONES
Today’s guest is director Carl Schultz, and our conversation revolves around his work on the TV series THE YOUNG INDIANA JONES CHRONICLES, or THE ADVENTURES OF YOUNG INDIANA JONES, as it’s later been retitled. This lavishly produced early 90’s show, a spin-off of the popular Indiana Jones movies, follows the…
#30: “It Made Me Read THE TRIAL by Franz Kafka”: Actor Sean Patrick Flanery on THE ADVENTURES OF YOUNG INDIANA JONES
Today’s guest is actor Sean Patrick Flanery, and our conversation revolves around his work on the TV series THE YOUNG INDIANA JONES CHRONICLES, later re-titled as THE ADVENTURES OF YOUNG INDIANA JONES– a lavishly produced spin-off of the popular Indiana Jones movies which ran from 1992 to 1996, following the…
#29: “We Need the Indiana Jones Character”, Says Novelist Max McCoy
Just like in our last episode, today’s guest is not a filmmaker but a novelist. In our last episode, I spoke to Rob MacGregor who wrote several Indiana Jones novels at the beginning of the Nineties – this time, I’m talking to writer Max McCoy who continued the series from…
#28: Mythology and Spirituality: Rob MacGregor on his Indiana Jones Novels
Today’s guest is not a filmmaker – but his best-known work is closely connected to one of the most popular movie series of all time. It is novelist Rob MacGregor, who wrote the novelization of Steven Spielberg’s third Indiana Jones movie, INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE – and then…
#27: “Nothing Would Ever Top the Ark of the Covenant”: Screenwriter Menno Meyjes on INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE
Today’s guest is screenwriter and director Menno Meyjes, best known for his collaboration with Steven Spielberg in the 80’s. Menno was born in the Netherlands but moved to the United States in 1972 to study at the San Francisco Art Institute. After writing a script for one of the best-known…
#26: CRITTERS, CREEPERS & Other Impossible Projects: A Conversation with Producer Barry Opper
Today’s guest is Barry Opper, best known as the producer of the CRITTERS series, the tongue-in-cheek sci-fi horror series about furry little creatures from outer space creating havoc here on Earth. Barry started out, together with his business partner Rupert Harvey, as the producer of Aaron Lipstadt’s 1982 sci-fi cult…
Talking Pictures #25: Aaron Lipstadt, Director of ANDROID
Today’s guest is Aaron Lipstadt, best known from the mid-80’s onwards as a director on popular TV shows like MIAMI VICE, QUANTUM LEAP, LAW & ORDER, CROSSING JORDAN, THE 4400, BOSCH or ELEMENTARY. As a producer/director, he also worked on shows like THE MARSHAL, THE DIVISION, MEDIUM and GRIMM. In…
Talking Pictures #22: Nicholas Meyer, Writer of THE SEVEN PER-CENT SOLUTION
Today’s guest is the amazing writer and director Nicholas Meyer. While Meyer is probably best known as the writer and director of the beloved sci-fi sequels STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN and STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY and also as the director of the sci-fi adventure TIME…
Talking Pictures #20: Allan Warnick, Supporting Actor in CHINATOWN
This is the second part of our CHINATOWN series where we discuss the making of Roman Polanski’s 1974 masterpiece, and today’s guest is character actor Allan Warnick. CHINATOWN is Allan’s best-known role, and if you’ve seen the film, you remember Allan from the perfect and very funny scene in the…
Talking Pictures #19: Hawk Koch, Assistant Director of CHINATOWN
Our third season starts with three interviews where we discuss the making of one of the most revered New Hollywood classics, Roman Polanski’s CHINATOWN, originally released in 1974 and now considered to be one of the best American movies of all time. Today’s episode features my conversation with Hawk Koch,…
Talking Pictures #18: John Ottman, Director of URBAN LEGENDS: FINAL CUT
For today’s episode, I had the honor and pleasure of talking to John Ottman, best known as the editor and composer of several X-MEN films – X-MEN 2, DAYS OF FUTURE PAST and APOCALYPSE – and of other Bryan Singer movies like THE USUAL SUSPECTS, VALKYRIE and SUPERMAN RETURNS. In…
Talking Pictures #17: Jamie Blanks, Director of URBAN LEGEND
Today’s guest is Australian horror movie director and genre aficionado Jamie Blanks. Jamie made a name for himself with his 1998 feature film debut URBAN LEGEND, a neo-slasher movie that came out in the wake of Wes Craven’s SCREAM movies and which told the story of a madman whose killings…
Talking Pictures #16: Jan de Bont, Director of TWISTER
Filmmaker Jan de Bont became famous as one of the most creative and exciting cinematographers of the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s. He started out in the Netherlands where he worked on Wim Verstappen’s controversial film BLUE MOVIE and quickly became known for his collaborations with director Paul Verhoeven on movies…
Talking Pictures #15: Steve Beck, Director of THIR13TEN GHOSTS and GHOST SHIP
Filmmaker Steve Beck created two notable horror movies in the early 2000’s: THIRTEEN GHOSTS, which came out in 2001, and GHOST SHIP, which followed in 2002 – both of them produced by Robert Zemeckis, Joel Silver and Gilbert Adler for their company Dark Castle Entertainment. THIRTEEN GHOSTS was a remake…
Talking Pictures #14: Bert I. Gordon, Director of THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN
Our latest episode features a very special interview with a legendary filmmaker who put his own unique stamp on horror movies. His initials are B.I.G., and size is also one of the major themes of his movies which featured giant lizards, giant grasshoppers, giant cats, giant spiders, giant rats, giant…
Talking Pictures #13: Zak Penn, Screenwriter of READY PLAYER ONE
Today’s guest is Zak Penn, best known as a screenwriter on several big-budget superhero movies like X-MEN 2, X-MEN: THE LAST STAND, THE INCREDIBLE HULK and THE AVENGERS. Zak also wrote the 1993 comedy LAST ACTION HERO starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, and he directed a wonderful mockumentary called INCIDENT AT LOCH…
Talking Pictures #12: Jeremy Pikser, Co-Writer of BULWORTH
Today’s guest is screenwriter Jeremy Pikser, best known as the co-writer of Warren Beatty’s political satire BULWORTH for which they got both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe nomination. In BULWORTH, a senator decides to end his life and spend his last few days telling the truth wherever he…
Talking Pictures #11: Joshua Michael Stern, Director/Writer of SWING VOTE
Today’s guest is director and screenwriter Joshua Michael Stern, best known for his 2013 biopic of Steve Jobs starring Ashton Kutcher, and his 2016 TV series GRAVES starring Nick Nolte as a former president of the United States. In our conversation, we focus on Stern’s 2008 movie SWING VOTE which…
Talking Pictures #10: Jackie Kong, Director of BLOOD DINER
Today’s guest is cult filmmaker Jackie Kong, best known for her outrageous horror comedy BLOOD DINER – the charming story of two homicidal brothers who dig up their uncle’s corpse and follow the instructions from his undead brain to kill a large number of people so that they can use…
Talking Pictures #9: Charlie Haas, Screenwriter of MATINEE
Today’s guest is screenwriter Charlie Haas, best known for his work with cult filmmaker Joe Dante. Our conversation focuses on their movie MATINEE, released in 1993 – a love letter to the horror films of the 50’s and 60’s set during the Cuban Missile Crisis: John Goodman plays Lawrence Woolsey,…
Talking Pictures #8: Midge Costin, Director of MAKING WAVES
Today’s guest is sound editor-turned-filmmaker Midge Costin. Midge worked as a sound and dialogue editor on some of the biggest films of the Nineties – ARMAGEDDON, CON AIR, THE ROCK, BROKEN ARROW, CRIMSON TIDE – but also on films like CRY-BABY, LEAP OF FAITH or SWING KIDS. She later became…
Talking Pictures #7: John Orloff, Screenwriter of ANONYMOUS
Today’s guest is John Orloff, the screenwriter of Roland Emmerich’s ANONYMOUS – a complex and fascinating historical drama about the theory that William Shakespeare may not be the author of the works of William Shakespeare. Instead, the movie claims that the Earl of Oxford, Edward de Vere, wrote famous plays…
Talking Pictures #6: Kevin Droney, Screenwriter of MORTAL KOMBAT and WING COMMANDER
Today’s guest is screenwriter Kevin Droney – who adapted not one but two computer games for the big screen back in the Nineties: MORTAL KOMBAT and WING COMMANDER. MORTAL KOMBAT, directed by Paul W.S. Anderson and based on the fighting game series that was known for its ultra-violence, was released…
Talking Pictures #5: Steven E. de Souza, Writer/Director of STREET FIGHTER
As part of our series on video game adaptations, I spoke to Steven E. de Souza, writer and director of STREET FIGHTER. After SUPER MARIO BROS. and DOUBLE DRAGON, STREET FIGHTER was the third video game adaptation to be released in the Nineties, and unlike its predecessors, it actually turned…
Talking Pictures #4: Jim Yukich, Director of DOUBLE DRAGON
As part of our focus on the video game adaptations of the Nineties, I spoke to Jim Yukich, director of DOUBLE DRAGON – an adaptation of the popular beat’em up video game series. The movie came out in November 1994, one and a half years after SUPER MARIO BROS. and…
Talking Pictures #3: Rocky Morton, Director of SUPER MARIO BROS. and Creator of MAX HEADROOM
For today’s episode, I spoke to British director Rocky Morton – the co-director, together with his then-wife Annabel Jankel, of the infamous SUPER MARIO BROS. movie. Released in 1993, this very first video game adaptation was plagued by endless rewrites and heavy studio meddling, so it became almost a cautionary…
Talking Pictures #2: Mark W. Travis, Director of GOING UNDER
Back in the Nineties, I came across a comedy on German television starring Bill Pullman that was called U-BOOT ACADEMY – a film that seemed to be in the same vein as the POLICE ACADEMY movies, with lovably goofy characters and a delightfully silly kind of humor. Even though Michael…
Talking Pictures #1: Howard Ziehm, Creator of FLESH GORDON
In February 1994, a film that was shown late at night on TV caught my attention: FLESH GORDON MEETS THE COSMIC CHEERLEADERS. It was labelled “flop of the day” by my TV guide, but that never stopped me from checking out movies that looked different and interesting. The film turned…