Film Addiction: Your film 008 won an award through Chrysler, tell me more about this project. Was the car provided by Chrysler (It kicked ass by the way!)
Scott Allen Perry: Thanks for the compliment. This is a tough film for me to discuss. It actually did not win an award through Chrysler ... making 008 was the prize for being selected as one of the top ten films in the Chrysler Million dollar Film Festival.

The basic deal was Chrysler, in association with Hypnotic (Doug Liman's Company) and Universal Studios (I'm not sure, but I think this is some small, independent production company ... I mean, Universal? Never heard of 'em) Anyway, the basic idea of this "festival" was to take one of two Chrysler vehicles -- Crossfire or Pacifica, generously provided by Chrysler -- and making a commercial for it that was disguised as a narrative film

Also, I didn't even submit Side Effects to the festival. A Hypnotic representative saw it at the Nashville Independent Film Festival in 2002 and had to convince my Executive Producer, Dan MacLeith, to let them have Side Effects as part of the competition. That took about 6 months worth of convincing. Dan finally said yes and the next thing I knew, myself and 24 other directors were shipped off to Sundance for a press junket and a Chrysler schooling on how we needed to make or films if we were selected to move on to the top ten. The Top 25 directors selection was based on their submission films (Side Effects was mine) Top 10 directors selection was based on the previous submission film and the SCREENPLAY we wrote that we would then shoot if selected for the top ten. We made the cut but didn't move on. If you want to see all the films that beat us out for the top 5 spots you can watch them at http://chryslermdff.com/festivalfilms.asp

All in all, I am happy with the film. Plus I had a hell of a fun time shooting the thing. One day, my DP, David Loeb, and I got strapped to the back of a mac truck going 60 MPH down 7th Avenue. We were chained to our cameras, tripods locked in ... safety first ... and shot the car doing all the swerves and curves you see in the flick. I wish Chrysler had let us do more with the car that way, more action. Just to let you know the kind of pressure we were under in shooting alone, the schedule was as follows:

Arrive in New York Wednesday night, Cast Thursday, Location Scout Friday, Shoot Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, edit Wednesday, Thursday and turn in the finished product Friday at noon. We premiered that Saturday night at the DGA New York.

One of the best things out of the whole deal was the perks ... free Tivo for the top 25 directors ... WOOHOO! My TV life is changed forever. Go TIVO!!! (I have no affiliation with Tivo whatsoever, it's just that awesome)

FA: When are we going to get a feature film out of you?

SAP:Whenever someone give me the money to shoot one. Seriously. Send the money. I'll make a feature. I have plenty ready to go.

I am directing a documentary that shoots this June. It's gonna be fun and funny as hell. All I can say at this point is it involves a group of high school buddies who get together once a year and have a friendly competition that involves events like The Four Beer Chug and The Drunken Hatchet Toss. Intrigued?

The feature I am most excited about now is Something Evil. It's a Horror/Comedy/Action flick I wrote that is steadily building heat. So far we have attached Jonathan Breck, best known as The Creeper in the Jeepers Creepers films and the fabulous Doug Jones, aka Abe Sapien in Hellboy, aka Seth in Side Effects. We are looking to attach one or two other big name actors from the horror world to the film. The catch is, they all get to play humans. Imagine Robert Englund playing a hysterically funny, cowardly British actor. The guy's a horror ICON. The downside is, we don't get to see him enough as a human. And he is a spectacular actor. I would slice up a boiler room full of high school kids to work with this guy. RENT THE "V" miniseries DVD. It was made in the 80's and he's awesome in it. One of my goals as a filmmaker is to cast great actors in movies that are actually good. I'm so sick of seeing Owen Wilson give wonderful performances in crap films. (falls off soapbox) Ouch! Where were we?

FA: I have been reading a lot lately on scripts and directors (and
how some directors prefer to write their own scripts and some don't) What is your take on this? Would you direct a film with someone else's script?

SAP:I  love making good movies. If the story is good and something I feel I would be able to do justice in adapting it to the screen, I am 100% down for the job. I love to write, I love shooting my own stuff, but the bottom line is that I want to make good movies and will do anything I can to make that happen. Send me your screenplays!

FA: Are you a strict film man or would you ever consider shooting
on video?

SAP:I'll shoot whatever makes sense for the story and the budget. 008 and Perfect Couple were both shot on the Panasonic DVX 24p mini DV camera. That was fine for what we were doing. Also, if you're making a short film, I highly suggest using this camera. Get a good DP (don't just get someone because they own their own gear and it's cheaper)

Film is my first choice across the board because you can make film look anyway you want it to look if you know how to do it ... even like video. It's not easy to make Video look like film, regardless of what video camera makers tell you. They want to sell cameras. And if you're trying to shoot Lawrence of Arabia on video you'll soon find out how easy it is to make video look like crap. Story is the most important thing, do the story justice by presenting it the way that serves the story best. That's my two cents.

FA: The last time you were in OKC you were in and out in a flash,
but rumor has it you got really smashed while you were here. Any truth to this rumor? Are you willing to take on this sort of endeavor for your next visit?

SAP:Lies! All lies! Are there photos? Is so, FABRICATIONS!

So, yeah, I tied one on. I actually remember tying three or four on. What's the word you used? Smashed? Yep. That works. I had a blast, and I was only there for one night. Imagine the damage I can do if I get to stay longer. More hangovers for everyone! Yeeeeeehah! If i can find a cheap hotel or an extra bedroom in some film loving Oklahoma-ite (is that right??? Oklahoma-ite?) I am down for the whole festival plus one recovery day. I also plan on bringing a couple of my favorite film posse peeps with me to aid in the utter annihilation of Brick Town. Ooh Lah Lah.

Scott Allen Perry: My whole family is a barrel of laughs.  Especially my grandmother. She's 80 as of last week and has more fire in her than most 30
year-olds I know.

The entire family is located in Lafayette Louisiana ... contact as many
as you want, they are all characters.

FA: What particular challenges have you experienced on the set of your first three films? What would you do different?

SAP:Challenges Schmallenges!

Lets see Side Effects had a few interesting moments. It was my first film, so I had the challenge of convincing someone to give me the money to make it. That ones still a challenge even when its not your first movie. There was also an editing fiasco on Side Effects. The first editor we hired clearly did not understand the kind of film I was trying to make and was eventually replaced. We were also out of money at that point so we had to find an editor who would not only work for free, but also be willing to complete the task of fixing the existing cut between 8PM on a Friday night until 8AM the following Monday. After securing the editing skills of one Mr. Steve Conn, we discovered after importing all the footage that the previous editor we replaced had saved the project in a very special way that made it utterly useless. Basically, none of the footage could be connected to the missing media. So Steve went home to take a nap, daunted by the new task of cutting the entire film from scratch. He returned at about 8AM on Saturday morning to discover lil ol me editing away at the avid bay. I had the first 5 or so scenes cut. Inspired by my disgusting level of energy and realizing I had every frame of footage we shot etched into my brain for easy access, he strapped himself into the captains chair and we hacked away until Monday 8AM when we output the final cut. Woo Hoo!

008 posed a challenge in the way we had to work. We had all our prep in Los Angeles for a shoot in New York. Also, there were some odd scheduling problems in getting the picture cars. Chrysler either sent the wrong cars, or the wrong color cars or no cars something to do with cars. Anyway, we were asked to reshoot the entire first day with a different color car. Same model car, just a different color. Fortunately, someone at Hypnotic found the cars or painted the cars or rode in a car that went back in time where he fixed what ever mix up there was that caused the whole car/color debacle in the first place and also got my mom and dad to have their first kiss at their prom.

As for Perfect Couple WOOOOO! Lets see, where to begin.

Okay, the way Perfect Couple was made was as part of a 24 hour film competition. I got an email, told a friend of mine about it and they agreed to produce it for me. Told an editor who agreed to cut the film. Got all the actors I thought I would need, the crew, equipment we were a go. Heres how it went down.

I paid the $50 entry fee on Wednesday. That night, my producer bailed on me for a non-paying job, my editor bailed on me for a paying job.

That Friday night at Midnight the 75 other directors and myself received envelopes that contained the theme and one location that we would have to incorporate into the films we were about to make. I believe there was a total of 5 or so themes and locations assigned randomly to all the directors ours was THERE IS NO TRUST and WALK-IN CLOSET. I headed to our location and worked out the beats of the story with my two leads Brett Halsey (also James in 008) and Mercy Malick (sings the closing theme in 008) and my ultra suave DP Alex Naufel.

We shot Saturday Morning from 2:30AM until 10AM. I had been up since 10AM on Friday. Alex and my two leads officially became zombified corpses with the magic words thats a wrap! Then I took a break, ate breakfast and began editing. Luckily, an angel in the form of Miss Shannon Hullender had imported most of the footage, otherwise there is no way in hell I would have finished the film. I started editing around noon on Saturday and turned in the final cut at Midnight. A whole film in 24 hours. And then I went to sleep. Im actually still asleep now. It was very draining.

The only differences in the film you see now and the one we turned in are changes to the credits. I left some people out in my slumberless state of insanity and cut new titles into the film so everyone got their props yo!

The one challenge that has been true for all my films is paying my rent. Really, that is the one challenge I would most like to see vanish. I will make a movie in 2 hours if it means I dont have to worry about rent.

FA: Sound is always an issue in independent films, how did you maintain a steady balance of voices and background music in your films? Any  particular tools of the trade that helped you capture the sound for your films?

SAP:Hmmmmmm. Soooooouuuuuuuuuuuund! I think as far as sound goes you should always record everything. Even when you think it needs to be MOS or you think you will use sound effects instead of the natural sound. If I know a scene is going to have background conversations and action I always get sound takes of the actors doing those things. I like to use real sound whenever I can.

The biggest rule is to always have good production sound and check it on set just to be sure. Having to ADR dialogue can make a good film turn out not so good. You get that odd Shaolin Kung Fu Master vibe when you start to notice the words don't really match the lips exactly. Get a good sound person, even if it means he is the only guy on your set thats getting paid. (and all the sound people stood up and cheered into their lavs)