QUOTE
Bigfoot stalks again in the WOODS
MAY 31-
ndie filmmaker Andy Davis of Emptyhouse Film, currently wrapping up postproduction on his zombie opus “2” (which we last told you about here), is plunging ahead with his next feature, MONSTER IN THE WOODS. Like the previous movie, this one will be directed by Davis from a script he wrote with Al Lamanda, and it tackles another fave genre subject: “MONSTER IN THE WOODS is the Bigfoot movie we’ve always wanted to make,” Davis tells Fango. “I grew up watching a show called SCI-FI THEATRE every Sunday morning, and every three weeks they showed the classic LEGEND OF BOGGY CREEK. It really struck a chord in me; I have always been drawn to genre films that weren’t shot on sets, but took the camera right into the wild and showed the people and landscape as they really were.
“These types of films are a document of life as well as entertainment of a time that has passed, but is now available to view whenever you want, almost like time travel,” he continues. “We will certainly be letting that real-life grit into this film, featuring many interesting characters appearing as themselves, some really funny lines and scenarios as well as that great backwoods feel that made films like DELIVERANCE, STRAW DOGS and BOGGY CREEK so memorable.”
The story centers on two cryptozoologists (to be played by Jana Regan and Seth Holbrook) who go looking into some Sasquatch sightings in the Maine forests and have to contend with the local sheriff, assorted suspicious (and gun-toting) residents and a rival researcher in their quest to track down the man-beast. “We’ve got a 14-day shooting schedule in the thick of the Maine summer season, which will be a real treat compared to the miserable, frigid conditions we shot “2” in,” Davis says. “MONSTER features over 30 talented actors, by far the biggest cast we have worked with on a movie yet.” The ensemble and filmmakers had their first script read-through this past Tuesday, and the director raves, “The dynamics at that rehearsal were unlike any other we have done. I cannot wait to get this group in front of the camera. They really made the screenplay come to life.”
Olin Smith and John Lane are producing MONSTER IN THE WOODS, which rolls June 16 and will shoot on HD, then go into postproduction for two or three months. As for “2,” “We are almost at a picture and sound lock,” Davis reports. “I’d say that we’re 90 percent there. We went back and shot two really great additional scenes in late winter.” You can keep up with all of Emptyhouse’s projects at its official website. —Michael Gingold
MAY 31-
ndie filmmaker Andy Davis of Emptyhouse Film, currently wrapping up postproduction on his zombie opus “2” (which we last told you about here), is plunging ahead with his next feature, MONSTER IN THE WOODS. Like the previous movie, this one will be directed by Davis from a script he wrote with Al Lamanda, and it tackles another fave genre subject: “MONSTER IN THE WOODS is the Bigfoot movie we’ve always wanted to make,” Davis tells Fango. “I grew up watching a show called SCI-FI THEATRE every Sunday morning, and every three weeks they showed the classic LEGEND OF BOGGY CREEK. It really struck a chord in me; I have always been drawn to genre films that weren’t shot on sets, but took the camera right into the wild and showed the people and landscape as they really were.
“These types of films are a document of life as well as entertainment of a time that has passed, but is now available to view whenever you want, almost like time travel,” he continues. “We will certainly be letting that real-life grit into this film, featuring many interesting characters appearing as themselves, some really funny lines and scenarios as well as that great backwoods feel that made films like DELIVERANCE, STRAW DOGS and BOGGY CREEK so memorable.”
The story centers on two cryptozoologists (to be played by Jana Regan and Seth Holbrook) who go looking into some Sasquatch sightings in the Maine forests and have to contend with the local sheriff, assorted suspicious (and gun-toting) residents and a rival researcher in their quest to track down the man-beast. “We’ve got a 14-day shooting schedule in the thick of the Maine summer season, which will be a real treat compared to the miserable, frigid conditions we shot “2” in,” Davis says. “MONSTER features over 30 talented actors, by far the biggest cast we have worked with on a movie yet.” The ensemble and filmmakers had their first script read-through this past Tuesday, and the director raves, “The dynamics at that rehearsal were unlike any other we have done. I cannot wait to get this group in front of the camera. They really made the screenplay come to life.”
Olin Smith and John Lane are producing MONSTER IN THE WOODS, which rolls June 16 and will shoot on HD, then go into postproduction for two or three months. As for “2,” “We are almost at a picture and sound lock,” Davis reports. “I’d say that we’re 90 percent there. We went back and shot two really great additional scenes in late winter.” You can keep up with all of Emptyhouse’s projects at its official website. —Michael Gingold
