(The following is an excerpt from the film festival press kit)
Filmmaker's Statement :
Being the only son of a young, single mother who worked a full-time job during the day and was a cocktail waitress at night, I was fortunate that for relaxation she went to see movies and she drug me along with staunch "no talking during the movie" warnings. She sensed I was imaginative, well adjusted and stable enough to watch stories unfold at 24 frames per second in that magical place she called a theatre. Up to that point, my movie watching was limited to Shock Theatre and Dr. Creep every Saturday night on WKEF 22 in Dayton, Ohio. Shock Theatre was usually a double feature of horror/thriller movies including Universal & Hammer horror classics. But a 19 inch screen couldn't compete with that humongous screen at the Page Manor theatre in Dayton. My fondest cinematic memories of sitting in the dark with my hard working Mom include falling in love with Faye Dunaway in BONNIE & CLYDE and feeling Steve McQueen's ultimate cool resonate off the screen as well as having my ass rocked by the greatest car chase ever filmed in BULLITT. But when I walked out of DELIVERANCE, my 12 year old brain was filled with images not easily forgotten at that age. That film resonated with me for a long time. The mold had been cast. I already knew I wanted to tell stories. But now, I knew I wanted to make a film like DELIVERANCE.
Fast forward 40 years. Having been married to my soul mate Michelle for well over 20 years and with a son in college who is one of the most remarkable young men I've ever known, I've become a hopeless romantic. I enjoy a good love story, be it TITANIC, THE NOTEBOOK or BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN. I respond to characters in a relationship who go through all the highs and lows of being in love. They meet, they have sex, they break up, they reunite. Simple but glorious when well written and well cast. So when I sat down to write another screenplay in 2011, the two genres had...let me put it this way - Mr.Thriller met Ms.Romance for a drink. The chemistry between the two was palpable. They were made for each other. They went back to Ms.Romance's apartment and banged like bunnies till they passed out in an orgasmic, drunken stupor. Nine months later, THE HIKE was born. (it actually took 2 years to write).
THE HIKE isn't for everybody. Never intended it to be. I'm not a filmmaker for the masses. The language the bad guy spews is vile, disgusting. The serial killers in my head don't speak like Hannibal Lecter. Nor do they act wacked out like Buffalo Bill. They're charming. They're manipulative. They tell you what they're going to do to you. They're in your neighborhood. They're true psychopaths living amongst us. They're unlike any serial killer we've seen on screen. When putting together the cast and crew, many folks read the script and turned it down. They would say "I'm not comfortable working on this, sorry", or they'd never return my calls. It's okay. I totally get it. If I read the script and didn't know the writer, I'd be weary of meeting the guy as well, LOL!
While we were shooting, our D.P. William Otto said to me on a number of occasions, "Dude, this is gonna be a cult classic!" I took it as a compliment and thanked him. There will be a small group of film lovers who will get it. They will be all I need to motivate me to make another film with real characters, reacting to real situations. There are movie lovers out there who are starved for something other than a sequel or a film based on a comic book. They are who my wife and I made this movie for, they are the reason we used our own money along with a donation from my Mom to finance this film. No investors. No money-raising campaigns, though admittedly we did try an IndieGo-Go campaign and failed miserably. I hope those movie lovers will enjoy the offspring of Mr. Thriller & Ms. Romance.
Dave
Filmmaker's Statement :
Being the only son of a young, single mother who worked a full-time job during the day and was a cocktail waitress at night, I was fortunate that for relaxation she went to see movies and she drug me along with staunch "no talking during the movie" warnings. She sensed I was imaginative, well adjusted and stable enough to watch stories unfold at 24 frames per second in that magical place she called a theatre. Up to that point, my movie watching was limited to Shock Theatre and Dr. Creep every Saturday night on WKEF 22 in Dayton, Ohio. Shock Theatre was usually a double feature of horror/thriller movies including Universal & Hammer horror classics. But a 19 inch screen couldn't compete with that humongous screen at the Page Manor theatre in Dayton. My fondest cinematic memories of sitting in the dark with my hard working Mom include falling in love with Faye Dunaway in BONNIE & CLYDE and feeling Steve McQueen's ultimate cool resonate off the screen as well as having my ass rocked by the greatest car chase ever filmed in BULLITT. But when I walked out of DELIVERANCE, my 12 year old brain was filled with images not easily forgotten at that age. That film resonated with me for a long time. The mold had been cast. I already knew I wanted to tell stories. But now, I knew I wanted to make a film like DELIVERANCE.
Fast forward 40 years. Having been married to my soul mate Michelle for well over 20 years and with a son in college who is one of the most remarkable young men I've ever known, I've become a hopeless romantic. I enjoy a good love story, be it TITANIC, THE NOTEBOOK or BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN. I respond to characters in a relationship who go through all the highs and lows of being in love. They meet, they have sex, they break up, they reunite. Simple but glorious when well written and well cast. So when I sat down to write another screenplay in 2011, the two genres had...let me put it this way - Mr.Thriller met Ms.Romance for a drink. The chemistry between the two was palpable. They were made for each other. They went back to Ms.Romance's apartment and banged like bunnies till they passed out in an orgasmic, drunken stupor. Nine months later, THE HIKE was born. (it actually took 2 years to write).
THE HIKE isn't for everybody. Never intended it to be. I'm not a filmmaker for the masses. The language the bad guy spews is vile, disgusting. The serial killers in my head don't speak like Hannibal Lecter. Nor do they act wacked out like Buffalo Bill. They're charming. They're manipulative. They tell you what they're going to do to you. They're in your neighborhood. They're true psychopaths living amongst us. They're unlike any serial killer we've seen on screen. When putting together the cast and crew, many folks read the script and turned it down. They would say "I'm not comfortable working on this, sorry", or they'd never return my calls. It's okay. I totally get it. If I read the script and didn't know the writer, I'd be weary of meeting the guy as well, LOL!
While we were shooting, our D.P. William Otto said to me on a number of occasions, "Dude, this is gonna be a cult classic!" I took it as a compliment and thanked him. There will be a small group of film lovers who will get it. They will be all I need to motivate me to make another film with real characters, reacting to real situations. There are movie lovers out there who are starved for something other than a sequel or a film based on a comic book. They are who my wife and I made this movie for, they are the reason we used our own money along with a donation from my Mom to finance this film. No investors. No money-raising campaigns, though admittedly we did try an IndieGo-Go campaign and failed miserably. I hope those movie lovers will enjoy the offspring of Mr. Thriller & Ms. Romance.
Dave
IT IS HERE!! My podcast titled "FILMMAKING AIN'T FOR PU****S!"
CLICK HERE filmmakingaintforpussies.buzzsprout.com
I will go into gory detail about what it took to make THE HIKE. The highs and the lows. From losing my producer just weeks from beginning production to special effects wizard Toby Sells promising to make a prop for me, taking my money and then telling me just 2 days before the prop was needed he wouldn't be sending it. Of course, he kept my 3000 dollar deposit even after my attorney sent him a letter requesting the money. Yep, he's a jerk. I have tons of stories. I'll break it down and hopefully make it a bit easier for anyone who is interested in making their first feature film. I'll also have interviews, chat about films and answer questions from you - the folks.
CLICK HERE filmmakingaintforpussies.buzzsprout.com
I will go into gory detail about what it took to make THE HIKE. The highs and the lows. From losing my producer just weeks from beginning production to special effects wizard Toby Sells promising to make a prop for me, taking my money and then telling me just 2 days before the prop was needed he wouldn't be sending it. Of course, he kept my 3000 dollar deposit even after my attorney sent him a letter requesting the money. Yep, he's a jerk. I have tons of stories. I'll break it down and hopefully make it a bit easier for anyone who is interested in making their first feature film. I'll also have interviews, chat about films and answer questions from you - the folks.
