Q&A With Zombie film maker AD Lane!!

Whats happening friends? Sorry I've been such a slacker on here, work has been crazy busy!! ANYWAYS.... Recently I did this Q&A session with film maker AD Lane, the man behind INVASION OF THE NOT QUITE DEAD. As you all know, I'm a big zombie movie fan. I came across AD doing some research, and was really intrigued by him and his project, that I've not only followed his progress with his movie, but I regularly donate to his film, which will be 100% fan funded! I hope you enjoy the interview and consider contributing to the film like I have. I can't wait to see the completed INVASION OF THE NOT QUITE DEAD!. He's a great guy and an inspiration to get off your ass and make shit happen! Enjoy!

Q-Have you always been a fan of the zombie movie genre? Do you preferthe Fast or slow Romero-esque zombies? AD- I remember my first horror film that I saw when I was a kid, was 'NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD', so you could say that the zombie genre was my first love & then I met 'DAWN OF THE DEAD' a few years later, so the zombie genre has always had a special place in my life, especially the early ROMERO movies... & to answer your question, SLOW ZOMBIES all the way, to me FAST ZOMBIES & very shaky camera work is an easy way to scare viewers, with slow moving zombies, you as a filmmaker, must build up the suspense more & the payoff to me is a lot more powerful...

Q- How long have you been working on this project?

AD- I came up with the first draft of the script in 2006 in my final year of film school at the INTERNATIONAL FILM SCHOOL OF WALES... the project to try & raise money and awareness began on Jan 1st 2007...

Q- This is going to be a 100% fan funded film. Was that the original plan? Did you try and shop it around to other producers?

AD- The truth is, being at film school I was very fortunate to have a couple of great mentors, Justin Kerrigan (Human Traffic) & Ken Russell (The Devils) they both did 2 hour seminars warning us about the industry & how you will have to sell your soul & your movie to get it made & seen, you loose all control the moment you sign any contract for the money to make it, and in some cases you don't even get to stay on the project, with Justin & his 'HUMAN TRAFFIC' he had just finished university & got totally screwed over by his mentor & producer, so much so that none of the cast & crew received a penny for their work, including Justin (the writer/director), the movie was a huge hit & made millions, the only person to see any money was the producer, who continues to make a lot of money off that film... With Ken Russell, his advise was different, he told me that he was just a director for hire, so he got his pay check & then he had nothing to do with the movies he made & in many cases the movies he made wasn't his, it was 10-20 suits that made the choices on what would bring the films the most money in... So it was their horror stories that made me want to go down the FAN FUNDING route, the only problem was, in 2006/2007, no one had successfully done it, but out of fear of losing my dream project, I made it a life's mission to do it my way & keep complete control of my vision... & you only need to look at the FUNDING BODIES guidelines for it to be very off putting, they state that they would have creative control, and have a big say in the cast & crew attached, the only way of making the film thats in your own head is by raising the funds yourself & being in control of the vision & hence my 6 year battle to do it my way...

Q- Was there ever a point where you didnt think it was going to happen because of funding?

AD- Well, yeah... when my FAN FUNDING ideas didn't work from 2007 to 2008, it was really quite upsetting, then in MAY 2009 when I launched the INDYWOOD MOVIE PROJECT on twitter, all of a sudden, there was hope, but even in the first couple of years of fundraising it was always on my mind, will we raise enough to make the movie thats in my head... & even to this day, with over £60k raised after 3 years its still a major concern, the film in my head is very very ambitious, so much so, I have had to tone it down to a more realistic level... but what I've found is, if you can't afford to do something it makes you be more creative, so what I'm finding out now with my new script revise is that its becoming a much more powerful character driven movie, due to being forced to tone it down...

Q- How can fans contribute to the film? AD- To raise our films budget, we are offer PRODUCER PACKAGES, basically when people donate £10/$16 or more, they will become a producer, with perks & the more they donate at www.indywood.co.uk the more PERKS they can receive, like: being a ZOMBIE in the film, an END FILM CREDIT, tickets to the PREMIERE, a chance to record an AUDIO COMMENTARY, the list is huge...

Q- Since its fan funded, how do you bring them in on the movie making process?

AD- Its always been my dream to have something called a PRODUCERS LOUNGE, which is a place on the website, where we update WEEKLY about the progress of the movie, & its also a place where we can reach out to our BACKERS & say, we need help with finding this, or doing that, giving people a chance from anywhere in the world to be able to support our film during the production process, the idea of giving people a chance to help & interact during production is something that excites the hell out of me... with the final script re-write almost finished, we are on the verge of launching the PRODUCERS LOUNGE & then the fun really begins...

Q- when can we expect to see the film finished?

AD- all being well, the movie will be completed in 2013... We are currently doing a full production schedule right now, so there is a chance that we will be shooting over the Summer, then at the end of the year & potentially all of our special FX & MAKE UP scenes in the new year... thats what we are aiming for right now...

Q- What is your background in the film industry?

AD- My background is very limited, from leaving school I've made short films, music videos & documentaries, all on a HOBBY level, I've done college/university courses, but it wasn't until I was struck down with a year long illness that made me realise I was wasting my life on NOT going after my dreams, so when I recovered from a lodged kidney stone in the Summer of 2004, I immediately took control of my life & enrolled in a 3 year film degree & I had a brand new outlook on life, to NEVER GIVE UP on bringing my dreams to reality... So... this journey I'm on really began in the Summer of 2004...

Q-Who are/ were your inspirations as a film maker?

AD- My biggest inspirations are people who risk all to bring their dreams to life, I always get inspired when I watch movies like ED WOOD or THE AVIATOR, watching people do what ever it takes to do the things they love... In regards to INDUSTRY inspirations, I'd have to say, STANLEY KUBRICK, STEVEN SPIELBERG, JOHN CARPENTER, WES CRAVEN, GEORGE ROMERO, DAVID CRONENBERG, QUENTIN TARANTINO... the list is huge...

Q-What are your goals? What do you have to acheive to feel like you're a success in the industry?

AD-I just want to be in a position to produce films & not have to spend years raising my budgets, hence another reason why I'm desperate to SELF DISTRIBUTE & be in control of the profit made, the goal is for my films to bring in money to then go straight into the next project, so we will still offer PRODUCER PACKAGES, but there will be a huge amount of profit from the previous films we make, going into the next one, rather than giving the film to a distributor & never seeing a penny due to their clever book keeping...

Q-Are there any other projects on the horizon? AD- HELL YEAH there are... We are in development on a few feature film projects, a time travel movie, two WW2 movies, a stalk & slash Christmas movie, a character driven movie about a musician loosing his mind & also an ONLINE TV SERIES, in the same tradition of 'THE TWILIGHT ZONE' & 'THE OUTER LIMITS'...

Q-Anything you would like to add or mention to fans?

AD-I always like to finish up these interviews with a message to anyone who is fighting to see their own dreams turn into a reality, trust me when I say its hard work & you will have to sacrifice a huge chunk of your life to see it happen, but PLEASE DON'T GIVE UP... just keep going... find something that inspires you & if you're having a bad day & trust me again, there will be a lot of them, go to that inspiration & turn your day around... Life isn't about dreaming, its about making those dreams a reality... GOOD LUCK to everyone & if anyone needs any help or advise you can follow me on twitter @indywoodFILMS


Hopefully you had as much fun reading as I did corresponding with AD. Please check out his donation page and share it as well as this blog. Oh yeah, I'm obsessed with the Draw Something game, so bring it on! thestevestrout is my screen name as well as twitter handle. Love ya all, Steve!