Kyle Burnett

He is the man behind Big Driver Dollar Baby Film.

SKSM: Could you start with telling me a bit about yourself? Who are you and what do you do?

Kyle Burnett: Well my name is Kyle Burnett, I am the father of three beautiful children, and I live near Denver Colorado. I love movies and I look forward to the day I can work on them for a living. I love to write, watch movies, play video games, and hang out with my kids.

SKSM: When did you make Big driver? Can you tell me a little about the production? How much did it cost? How long did it take to film it?

Kyle Burnett: Big Driver was shot in summer 2014 over the course of five weekends. We shot at least twelve hours each day, which was difficult because I actually work my regular job on the weekends. The production cost is sort of hard to calculate since part of the budget was spent on a camera and an editing computer. With those things included we spent nearly $9,000. About $3,500 of which was raised from Kickstarter.

SKSM: How come you picked Big driver to develop into a movie? What is it in the story that you like so much?

Kyle Burnett: I actually picked Big Driver for the sole reason that I had a friend who wanted to work on something with me and originally seemed interested in the role. However, once the script was finished, she had decided that it wasn’t for her.

SKSM: Are you Stephen King fan? If so, which are your favorite works and adaptations?

Kyle Burnett: I may be the biggest Stephen King fan alive. Seriously. I watched Children of the Corn when I was four years old and have loved him ever since. I started reading his books when I was eight years old. I have read everything he has published (most more than once) and will continue to do so. My favorite would probably be The Stand. I also absolutely love the entire Dark Tower series.

SKSM: How did you find out that King sold the movie rights to some of his stories for just $1? Was it just a wild guess or did you know it before you sent him the check?

Kyle Burnett: Being such a big fan of King, as well as a movie buff, I heard about the Frank Darabount stuff and what he had done with The Woman in the Room and how it spawned Dollar Babies. Since the official start of the project I really wanted to do it. I had a few others that I would have rather done but they had all been done so many times before.

SKSM: Was there any funny or special moment when you made the movie that you would like to tell me about?

Kyle Burnett: The entire experience was special. This was the first actual film any of us had worked on. So we were all learning as we went. It took an insane amount of trust in each other to do it. So every take felt like a new experience and some grand adventure.

SKSM: Do you plan to screen the movie at a particular festival?

Kyle Burnett: We submitted it to the Mile High Horror Film Fest and we are hoping that they will select it. Other than that we are hosting a Premiere event on August 30th to show it to our friends and family.

SKSM: How does it feel that all the King fans out there can’t see your movie? Do you think that will change in the future? Maybe a internet/dvd release would be possible?

Kyle Burnett: I do wish more people could see it if they wanted to, but due to the strict terms of the contract we can’t distribute the film at all. King has been known to select a few special films to release as collections, but I am not holding my breath.

SKSM: What “good or bad” reference have you received on your film?

Kyle Burnett: No one has seen it yet, besides you, so what did you think?

SKSM: Did you have any personal contact with King during the making of the movie? Has he seen it (and if so, what did he think about it)?

Kyle Burnett: I didn’t, though the day we received the contract in the mail happened to be the same day I got to see him do a reading of Doctor Sleep in Boulder, Colorado. I would have loved to speak with him. He is my idol.

SKSM: Do you have any plans for making more movies based on Stephen King’s stories? If you could pick – at least – one story to shoot, which one would it be and why?

Kyle Burnett: I don’t have any plans to do another Dollar Babies film, but I would love to be able to work on a Stephen King film in the future. My dream job would be to direct IT or possibly the entire Dark Tower Saga.

SKSM: What are you working at nowadays?

Kyle Burnett: I am currently writing a feature length film, and preparing to shoot a short I wrote based on one of my short stories called Scissors: A Love Story.

SKSM: Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. Is there anything you want to say to your fans?

Kyle Burnett: I don’t think I have any fans yet, but to anyone reading this, thank you!

SKSM: Do you have anything you’d like to add?

Kyle Burnett: Thanks for taking the time to check out the film, Oscar. And thank you for supporting the love of Stephen King!

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