AH–There was mention of The Hanover House getting distribution. How did that come about and how has the process been?
CN-I think there were two factors that helped The Hanover House receive a distribution deal. The first was luck. As with everything, it came down to the right person seeing the film at the right time. In this case, a judge at the Fear Fete film festival was so impressed with the film that he tracked us down to get a copy to show to his employer. If we hadn’t submitted to that festival, I’m not sure we’d have gotten the deal that was right for us.
The other part, which definitely helps more than luck, is simple hard work. I’m blessed and honored to have found a team who believes in our collective, Bonfire Films, as much as Haley and I do. It was their hard work on set, always striving for perfection, even on negative twenty-degree shoot nights, that made the film what it was. After production, I owed it to the team to make sure the film got as much traffic as it could, so I’d spend several hours a day researching festivals, soliciting reviews and networking with like minded folks. You do this every night for the better part of two years, and the word slowly starts to get out. Filmmaking is not an easy profession, but man is it a rewarding one.
AH–With both of you being writers, Haley working in the make up department and Corey directing, how does that balance work during filming?
HN-It’s been a lot of experimenting. Creating short films has been that playground for me. Writing is the easy part for me. He or I will have an idea and we bounce back and forth until we have a solid story that we’re both happy with. We don’t always explain to each other in the right way, but by the end of the writing process and the story is complete, we both look at each other as if we’ve been reading each other’s minds the whole time, we nod and say, “Fuck yes!”. We just get each other. I’ve found a gal to take over makeup for me, which to wear all those hats and run a set is a huge time suck during production. I tried my hand as AD once…. I hated it. I’ve taken over project management and really stepped into producing head on, we’ve moved people around to different departments and it’s just been magic. We all find our groove. But Corey and I? We always find a way to compliment each other and we are very much a team.
CN-We share a brain… and I’m not joking. When we first got together, my mother would laugh when we’d finish each other’s sentences. I think Haley and I are just really in tune with one another. We love the same music and grew up on the same breed of horror. Sure we squabble, what married couple, who are business partners, doesn’t but in the end we always see eye to eye. I trust Haley to pull the ideas from the ether as she places them on the page during the writing process, and she trusts me to bring those works to life in production. Frankly, I think I’d be lost if I didn’t have her to share the process with.
AH–Last but not least, what’s your favorite movie of all time?
CN-This is a question we get asked all the time, and it wasn’t until tonight that I have finally settled on a favorite. Stand By Me, is a movie I’ve seen well over a hundred times and it never gets old. The writing is brilliant and the acting by young versions of Wil Wheaton and River Phoenix is hard to match. I always wonder what kind of actor River would have developed into had he not been taken at such a young age. Now, as far as genre films are concerned, Stanley Kubrick’s version of The Shining is my all time favorite (sorry Stephen King).
HN-I don’t think this question ever gets easier. I’m such a genre snob too with horror… I’m not limited though! So of all time? I will forever love The Neverending Story.
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Adam Holtzapfel is the face behind Reviews From The Crypt and Interviews From The Crypt. Growing up in the 80s on a steady diet of VHS horror, he has maintained a love of the genre since. Loving almost everything from the good, the bad, and the weird he now searches the deepest realm of the Roku to press play on any film he hasn’t watched a million times.