He is the man behind Autopsy Room Four Dollar Baby Film.

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

Steve Zakman: Well, I am Steve…but I guess you already figured that one out. I am a producer and talent manager. I have produced four films. Two are features, “We Married Margo,” that had appearances by Kevin Bacon, Tom Arnold and Cindy Crawford, to name a few, and “Come Away Home,” that is currently in post production. I developed the story for “Come Away Home” as well. It stars Lea Thompson, Martin Mull, Paul Dooley, David Keith and Thomas Gibson. I also produced two shorts, “The Fine Line Between Cute and Creepy” and “Autopsy Room Four” “Autopsy Room Four” is the only movie that I directed.

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

Steve Zakman: I made “Autopsy Room Four” in December of 2002. In fact, we finished the shoot on December 13th, Friday the 13th. I thought that was the most appropriate thing for a Stephen King film…and it didn’t hurt that it also happened to be my birthday.

Production of “Autopsy Room Four” was tough due to the nature of the story. It all takes place in one room. That’s 23 pages (with the exception of two or three shots we got on a golf course for the flashbacks) that needed to be creatively shot and assembled into a narrative without driving the viewer crazy. Anyone who has directed a film will tell you that that is a directors nightmare. In addition to that, we needed to find a realistic looking autopsy room for the story to work. There is so much equipment involved in doing autopsies that it would have looked foolish if I tried to cheat the location in my garage or something. We were actually able to find a private autopsy room here in Los Angeles that we used for the shoot. That was just dumb luck.

We shot “Autopsy Room Four” on 35 mm film over five days and it cost about $30,000.

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

Steve Zakman: I love Stephen King. I have read all of his books…some of them more than once…and had been looking for a good short story to make into a film. Most of what he had done before “Everything’s Eventual,” which is where I found the story, had either already been made or was too complicated to do inexpensively.

What I liked about the story was the fact that I assumed, wrongly I would come to realize, that it would be very simple to shoot…only three main actors and one location. Once we decided to go ahead with the shoot, I realized how naive I had been. First of all, as I mentioned above, the shoot was extremely difficult in that we had to keep coming up with new ways to show the action in the same room without creating absurd looking camera angles. Then we had to do it in such a way that we would be able to edit together. We also had to come up with “in-camera” effects to show the action from Howard’s point of view. That’s isn’t the easiest thing to do with a great big Panavision 35 mm camera and only five days. The second problem was that I wanted to use recognizable actors in the main roles. For the role of Peter, Stephen King describes him in the book as “a Baywatch beefhunk, only marginally smarter.” Well, I had just produced a movie that Michael Bergin was in. He also starred in Baywatch and when I called him and asked him to do the film he was happy to sign on. I found Torri Higginson, who played Dr. Katie Arlen, through a friend who had just worked with her on his movie. It turned out that Torri was also one of the leads in Stephen King’s “Storm of the Century,” so I got lucky again. The story of Howard Cottrell was another matter completely. It is the job of an agent and/or manager to protect their client. I know this because I am a manager. I found myself calling agents around town and trying to persuade them to let their clients, all well-known actors mind you, act in a short film where they don’t actually speak, lay on a cold autopsy table essentially naked, get a 24 inch thermometer shoved up their ass and have their life saved by getting an erection. Needless to say, it wasn’t an easy sell. One day as I was working on the shot list, I saw Stephen Furst on television. Stephen played Flounder in “National Lampoon’s Animal House” and was a series regular on the television show “St. Elsewhere” for about seven seasons. I called his manager and pitched the story to him.. After a few seconds of silence, he asked me one question…”will his eyes be open or closed?” I told them that they would be open and he said “that’s a brilliant part for an actor…let me call you back.”
That night my phone rang and it was Stephen. He said that he had been with this particular manager for over twelve years and the manager had never told him that he had to take a role…until now. He said that he didn’t even need to read it to decide and agreed to play the part. In hindsight, be might rethink that decision, but we had him! After that, everything just kind of fell into place.

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?

Steve Zakman: I had heard about the dollar thing but just assumed that it was an urban legend. I was on my way to a film festival in Florida for another film I had produced when I first read the story. When I got off the plane, I started looking into getting the rights to the story. I called King’s agent and was basically brushed off. But I persisted and eventually they asked me for copies of my other films, the script, my bio and some things like that. I sent it all off to the agent and didn’t hear much after that. About three months later, I was at the Montreal “Just for Laughs” Comedy Festival with another film and was pitching the role of Howard to various comedians there. I didn’t know if I would be permitted to make the film or not, but I knew that if I was able to, Howard’s character needed to be able to be funny. The story is too dark otherwise. Besides, if you read the story, Howard;s frustration comes across as really funny. Anyway, when I got back to Los Angeles, I had an email from Stephen King’s attorney in my mailbox. I panicked because I was afraid that word had gotten back to him that some knucklehead was up in Montreal pitching actors for a role in a movie that King hadn’t granted the rights for. When I opened it up, however, it was the contract granting me the rights. He didn’t even make me pay him the dollar!

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

Steve Zakman: Even with all of the stress, we had a ball shooting the film. I think this comes across in the film.There are lots of funny stories that happened during the filming…too many to go into here. I will tell you that we had lots of fun with the “stunt cock” that we used to shoot the climax of the film…no pun intended!

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 video release would be possible?

Steve Zakman: I wish that all of Stephen’s fans could see the movie…we put a lot of work into it and it is a shame that the only people who do get to see it are people who live in the cities where we got into festivals. I was invited to show it at the Stephen King Dollar Baby Festival earlier this year in Maine, but was too busy working on “Come Away Home” to go…maybe next year. I will see what I can do, but the deal I made with King’s people is that I would not put it on the Internet, so I have to live up to my agreement. We’ll see what happens.

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)?

Steve Zakman: Stephen has seen the movie and said that, “he liked it a lot.”

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?

Steve Zakman: I think that almost everything that is worth shooting has already been shot…or is currently being shot. We’ll see if he keeps on writing or not. I would love to make a Stephen King film that actually got into theaters…but I will let someone else direct…I’m a much better producer! If I got the chance and had an infinite supply of time and money, I would love to do the “Dark Tower” series…each and every freakin’ book!

SKSM: Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. Is there anything else you want to say to the fans that read this interview?

Steve Zakman: Thanks so much for reading all of this. I hope I didn’t bore you guys with all of my babbling…I started to bore myself! Hopefully someday soon, anyone who wants to see these dollar babies that we have worked so hard on will be able to see them…until then…keep the faith.

Jack Sawyers, the Director of Gotham Cafe Dollar Baby Film.

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

Jack Sawyers: I was born and raised in New Jersey. I moved to California when I was 18. My goal is to make horror movies. I want to be the Frank Capra of horror movies. My background is in production. I have produced everything from commercials to music videos to independent films for the last ten years. I own a post production facility as well as a production company. I have never had the opportunity to just direct until now. In the past I have always produced and directed. It was an awesome, awesome, awesome experience just to show up and direct and I’d like to thank Julie Sands for making that possible.

SKSM: When did you shoot Gotham Cafe?

Jack Sawyers: We started shooting October 6th at which time we shot some exteriors and Mick Garris’ cameo. We did that to accommodate his schedule. We took a week off and came back the following week to finish on October 19th.

SKSM: Can you tell me a little about the production?

Jack Sawyers: We had a great cast and crew. All the elements were already in place for me. It was great, no stress.

SKSM: How much did it cost?

Jack Sawyers: I have no idea. The film looks like it cost 20 million though.

SKSM: How long did it take to film it?

Jack Sawyers: Six days.

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

Jack Sawyers: I did not develop Gotham Cafe. Julie Sands picked the story, formed a production company called Turtle Bay Entertainment, got the rights and developed the film putting in place all the casting, financing, locations, crew, FX, stunt people and everything needed to make this a hit many months before I came into the picture. She brought me on as the director a few weeks before the shoot. We had worked together on a film I directed and produced and she liked my work.

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?

Jack Sawyers: This question does not apply to me.

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

Jack Sawyers: Yes. There were many fun times. My favorite moment came when Cullen Douglas, who plays Guy, and I developed a plan to trick Julie to get a major reaction to a scene. Cullen would throw a fit and quit in the middle of his performance. We kept the secret all day and when he told Julie he quit she let us think she believed it, but then got us back with an ear splitting scream I am sure the sound guys are still having nightmares about. She said to really scare her we should have had Lauri our line producer come out and tell her she was over budget! Funny thing was in dailies she had already got the reaction I wanted on the first take before Cullen played the joke on her. We had a lot of fun like that on set.

SKSM: How does it feel that all the King fans out there can’t see the film?

Jack Sawyers: I wish everybody could see Gotham Cafe. It’s a great film.

SKSM: Do you think that will change in the future? Maybe a video/dvd release would be possible?

Jack Sawyers: I don’t know, that is up to King. Maybe if there is enough interest, who knows?

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)?

Jack Sawyers: I have never had any contact with Stephen King. I have no idea if he has seen it.

SKSM: Do you have any plans for making more movies based on Stephen King’s stories?

Jack Sawyers: Not currently.

SKSM: If you could pick – at least – one story to shoot, which one would it be and why?

Jack Sawyers: The Talisman because I’m Jack Sawyers of course.

SKSM: Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. Is there anything else you want to say to the fans that read this interview?

Jack Sawyers: Stephen King rocks, Julie Sands rocks and I am in awe of this production.

He is the man behind Night Surf  Dollar Baby Film.

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

Peter Sullivan: NIGHT SURF was produced in the spring of 2001. I had optioned the rights almost a half year earlier, but it took me a long time to raise the money and also to find the perfect location. Because of budget concerns, I knew I couldn’t afford to set the movie outside on a beach at night. but I wanted to find the perfect alternative. Since I couldn’t afford to relocate the production to the East Coast, I finally found a house in the central California town of Cambria that looked like a Maine cliff-top beach house.

Once we had the location, my producers and I cast the film and dove into shooting. We shot over the course of two weekends, with another weekend of pick-up shots a few months later. The budget was a couple thousand dollars. Not much by mainstream standards to be sure, but we were a bunch of broke film school grads.

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

Peter Sullivan: I liked NIGHT SURF because it was contained and because it had a small cast. I also liked it because of the themes it involved. I’ve always been fascinated by stories like LORD OF THE FLIES, which explore the mankind’s primal nature. How will people behave when they’re put in a pressure cooker and stripped of the laws of society? I thought King’s story set that up perfectly. I was so intrigued by the set up that I went a step further and extended the story in the film beyond the point where the short story ended.

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?

Peter Sullivan: I’d heard about it in passing, but I went to a seminar where Frank Darabont was speaking, and he encouraged me to pursue my interest in doing a short film based on NIGHT SURF. I actually ran into him at a video store last year and thanked him for his encouragement.

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

Peter Sullivan: I’m not sure it’s so funny to the people that owned the location, but during a fight scene, our actors got a little carried away and one of them actually pushed the other THROUGH a dry wall in the hallway. We left the house with a perfect imprint of our actor preserved in the plaster for posterity. It was funny. I could hear the crunch, but I couldn’t see the indent on the monitor until I walked over to the scene of the crime.
We had another instance where we’d set up in the backyard for a shot and all of a sudden, the underground sprinkler system (which we didn’t know existed) turns on and douses our grip package in water.

That’s the fun thing about film shoots. they’re always unpredictable. I had a 30 lb dummy fall on my head in a previous film, so you never know what could happen.

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 video/dvd release would be possible?

Peter Sullivan: To be honest, I haven’t pursued an official video release, although I would certainly be interested in discussing it. I love the idea of the upcoming DOLLAR BABY FESTIVAL, and I think it would be terrific to be able to have a DVD compilation for fans to enjoy. If it wasn’t for video, I would have never seen the terrific WOMAN IN THE ROOM.

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)?

Peter Sullivan: I haven’t.

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?

Peter Sullivan: I don’t have any plans at the moment, but you never know. I have other ideas, but I’m not going to give them away just yet.

SKSM: What have you been doing since ‘NIGHT SURF‘?

Peter Sullivan: I actually sold my first script while I was in the middle of reshoots on “NIGHT SURF.” It was a horror movie about a mummy on a tropical island which, luckily, has never been produced. It was a piece of exploitative schlock horror that nonetheless helped get my foot in the door as a “professional” writer. After that debacle, I went on to option another horror film with a producer at Mandalay, and that script started me off writing films for television. My television credits include “TERROR PEAK” starring Lynda Carter and Parker Stevenson, “CAVE IN” starring Mimi Rogers and Ted Shackelford, and “FAULTLINE” starring Doug Savant from “Melrose Place.” This fall I have two more movies going into production: “EVE’S CHRISTMAS” starring Elisa Donovan (“Clueless”) and Cheryl Ladd, and “BLIND INJUSTICE“, which I co-wrote with Jim Snider and C. Thomas Howell. I also recently directed my first feature, “GAME OVER,” which will be released on video next year.

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

Peter Sullivan: –

He is the man behind The Secret Transit Codes of America’s Highways Dollar Baby Film.

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

Brian Berkowitz: I am currently entering my final year at School of Visual Arts in New York City. I’m 22 years old working full time as a photographer while I finish up my final year at school.

SKSM: When did you make The Secret Transit Codes of America’s Highways? Can you tell me a little about the production? How much did it cost? How long did it take to film it?

Brian Berkowitz: Transit Codes was done in the Spring of 2003. All the shooting took place in one weekend which was shot in a motel in New Jersey. The full production cost in total was around $1500. It then took several month for the editing. From start to finish, including the writing, it was from about January 2003 until may 2003

SKSM: How come you picked The Secret Transit Codes of America’s Highways to develop into a movie? What is it in the story that you like so much?

Brian Berkowitz: I read the short story, which in actuality is titled “All that you love will be Carried Away” in the summer of 2002 and I immediately wanted to adapt. I just felt an immediate love for the character and his personality and how you could see inside his head and learn what goes through an unstable mind.

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?

Brian Berkowitz: I was unaware that he sold rights. I made the film for a class assignment and when I was happy with the results, I went about getting right to display the film in some festivals and the like.

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

Brian Berkowitz: This was a year and a half ago. Unfortunatly , nothing particular from that shoot stands out.

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 video or dvd release would be possible?

Brian Berkowitz: I am glad that King fans have the opportunity to see this film. If people are fans of this particular short story, I am happy to give them an opportunity to see it on film.

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)?

Brian Berkowitz: I’ve had no personal contact with Stephen King while making this film, aside from getting those rights for $1. As far as I know he hasn’t seen it but I would be glad to show him if he’s interested.

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?

Brian Berkowitz: Right now Im in the middle of going through a bunch of short stories to find the next one for me to film. Some of them happen to be Stephen King stories but I havent made a final decision. Hopefully soon I’ll pinpoint the story I’m going to use. If anyone know some good Stephen King short stories, drop me an email.

SKSM: Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. Is there anything else you want to say to the fans that read this interview?

Brian Berkowitz: Thanks for eveyones support and keep watching, I’ll have a new film out within a year!!

He is the man behind Rainy Season Dollar Baby Film.

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

Nick Wauters: I was born and raised in Belgium, moved to the states where I attended Oberlin College, before moving to Los Angeles. After getting started as a production assistants on various television shows, I became an editor on reality shows and continued writing screenplays the side.

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

Nick Wauters: We shot the film in the spring of 2002. It’s been a while, so i can’t remember the exact number, but I believe we spent around $10,000 total on the production. It took 3 days to shoot and many weeks of post production. Most of the people involved volunteered their services.

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

Nick Wauters: I had read Rainy Season 10 years earlier and loved it. I thought it was such a great mix of horror and comedy… It reminded me of horror classics from the ’50s, and movies such as the Blob. It followed the outline, structure and rules of a typical horror story, yet had a tongue-in-cheek twist to it. loved it!

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?

Nick Wauters: I had heard stories, but didn’t know if they were true. I just wrote him a few times then it just happened.

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

Nick Wauters: We had a lot of funny moments, although most of them during the actual shoot didn’t seem very funny but were just stressful. For instance, frogs jumping around everywhere before we’d start rolling, and not wanting to move when they were supposed to when the camera was actually rolling… The dog we used kept leaving the shot in the middle of a take… little things like that…

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 video or dvd release would be possible?

Nick Wauters: There are no plans at this time. We had an agreement for a limited release in festivals because of certains contracts tying the rights to Rainy Season I believe. I get a lot of emails from people who would like to see it. Unfortunately, there’s nothing i can do at this time. Maybe there’s someone out there who wants to arrange a compilation of Stephen King shorts and deal with all the paperwork? Who knows!…

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)?

Nick Wauters: Has he seen it (and if so, what did he think about it)? He dropped me a few notes and i got some feedback through his assistant also. He did see the film and found it “fun and enjoyable.”

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?

Nick Wauters: I would of course, love to make another Stephen King story. We did look into it for a while, however the cost of producing a short and not being able to recoup your investment is considerable. Who knows, maybe in the future, I can take it to the next step. The Mist is one of my favorite stories. I believe Frank Darabont still own the option on it. I think it’s a great story and I love the open ending. The man In The Black Suit, from Everything’s Eventual, is also one of my favorite short stories.

SKSM: Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. Is there anything else you want to say to the fans that read this interview?

Nick Wauters: –

He wrote the script of Jack Sawyers‘ Gotham Cafe Dollar Baby Film.

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

Peter Schink: I’ve primarily been a feature film editor in Hollywood for the last 16 years. I’ve done some Second Unit Directing as well as some music video directing. More recently I’ve been doing some writing and producing. I wrote a horror feature called “Legion” and have Gregory Dark attached to direct that one.

SKSM: When do you make Gotham Cafe?

Peter Schink: We’re aiming at shooting at the end of July.

SKSM: Can you tell me a little about the production?

Peter Schink: We’ve got a great leading man in Ingo Rademacher (Jax from “General Hospital”). Cullen Douglas will blow you away with his portrayal of a Maitre d’ who is off-his-rocker. And the beautiful and fantastic Julie Sands is playing Ingo’s angry wife. I’m lucky to have such an experienced and enthusiastic cast!

SKSM: How much do you think it cost?

Peter Schink: We’re spending more than most of these Stephen King dollar babies. I’ve been in the business a long time and I’m only interested in doing something as polished as the feature work I do. Also I’ve got some great, talented friends who’ve been in the industry for a long time, helping me out.

SKSM: How long wil it take to film it?

Peter Schink: We’re looking at a six day shoot which is a long shoot for a fifteen minute film but we want to get it right!

SKSM: How come you accepted Turtle Bay Entertainment’s offer to direct Gotham Cafe?

Peter Schink: It’s a favorite of King’s stories and I thought I could do something with it cinematically that’s a little different. Short films are a different media than feature films. I think it’s an opportunity to do something different that may not support itself for an entire 90 minutes. I’m planning on this one being very stylish.

SKSM: What is it in the story that you like so much?

Peter Schink: There are some interesting themes: people hung up on petty problems in the midst of life-or-death situations. And how the most minor of details can ultimately determine our fate.

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 video/dvd release would be possible?

Peter Schink: Well, they CAN see the film. They’ll just have to track us down at festivals. Mr. King is pretty specific about the usage of the film but who knows what will happen in the future?

SKSM: Did you have any personal contact with King before making the movie?

Peter Schink: No

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?

Peter Schink: God! There are so many! I’m still anxiously awaiting “The Mist” someday. I really love “The Boogeyman” I think that might have been the first King story I ever read and it kept me awake for years after that. In my new house I can’t see the closet door when I sleep. I like it that way!

SKSM: Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. Is there anything else you want to say to the fans that read this interview?

Peter Schink: Hopefully we’ll be coming to a festival near you soon. Track us down!

He is the man behind The Road Virus Heads North Dollar Baby Film.

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

Dave Brock: My name is Dave Brock and I just received my Masters Degree in Film Production at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. For most of my life I’ve been a student, although now that i’m at the end of my academic career, I hope I can put this final degree to some use!

SKSM: When did you make The Road Virus Heads North? Can you tell me a little about the production? How much did it cost? How long did it take to film it?

Dave Brock: Trying to make RVHN hasn’t been easy, with most of the problems we experienced having something to do with money. We got the rights back in 2001, so it’s been pretty slow and, at times, laborious. Making any kind of project in an acedemic setting can be a hassle, considering the nature of film school and the myriad hoops a student must jump through in order to get anything done. We had a few false starts and some scheduling snafus with a couple of actors we had approached, but everything finally fell into place and we were finally able to shoot it in December of 2003 for a period of seven days on a (non) budget of $10,000 (financed entirely by student loans). The really cool thing is that I was blessed with an extremely talented crew who made the production value seem as if it had cost five times as much to make it.

SKSM: How come you picked The Road Virus Heads North to develop into a movie? What is it in the story that you like so much?

Dave Brock: I blame my sister Rebecca for that one. I remember the phone call I got from her one night during my first year in film school, when she absolutely raved about the story after she read it in an anthology called “999.” I knew why she liked it so much: when we were kids, we were both freaked out by an episode of Rod Serling’s “Night Gallery” in which Roddy McDowell plays this snotty nephew who hastens his uncle’s death so he can claim an inheritance that wasn’t even his. What he inherited was a spooky old house and a painting of the family graveyard…in which he sees his dead uncle rise from the grave, shamble towards the house, open the front door…man, that was creepy! I guess it was the reaction we had to that episode, to the idea of a picture that changes, that all of a sudden came back to us and why we had reacted so strongly to RVHN. We thought it would be very, very cool if we had even the slightest opportunity to make it.

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?

Dave Brock: I’d read about Mr. King’s kindness to struggling filmmakers in numerous articles, but in his foreword to “The Green Mile” screenplay, he went in to more detail about it as he spoke about Frank Darabont’s wonderful “The Woman In The Room.” I’m not sure if he remembers me, but I worked as a production assistant for Jay Holben for a couple of days when he shot an independent horror film in West Virginia way back in 1997. A few years later, when I read that he wrote and directed his own dollar baby called “Paranoid” (which I’d love to see) we contacted him and he generously shared his experiences in securing permission from Mr. King. My sister, along with a couple of friends of mine at film school, helped with the five months of follow-up after our initial contact in April of 2001, and we finally received permission from Mr. King’s office to start production in September of 2001.

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

Dave Brock: I’d say the funniest moment for me personally was towards the end of the shoot, when we were shooting Richard’s confrontation with the Road Virus. Denny Dalen, who played Richard, is a highly respected actor and theater professor here at Ohio Univerisity, and was a real trooper throughout the shoot. Anyway, here we are, in Richard’s home, the front door flung wide open, poor Denny being blasted with ice cold air from a gigantic industrial fan while being simultaneously blinded by a pair of HMI’s that were stacked on top of one another, and I’m just screaming monosyllabic instructions at the top of my lungs, like “FLICKER! LIGHTS! DOOR!”, which the crew used as cues for the scene. After the second take or so it really started to seem a little absurd (it was getting late and I was getting loopy), and all of a sudden I recalled this television image of a paratrooper practicing in a wind tunnel, his lips flapping uncontrollably because of the high-pressure blast of air hitting him in the face. So I’m watching Denny and I was imagining his lips flapping uncontrollably because of the huge fan in front of him, and I just lost it. I almost had to leave the room.

I’d say a special moment occurred on the first day, when I saw the beautiful set for the nightmare sequence (which was in the basement of a crumbling old asylum, by the way) and had the privilege of watching these really talented people working so hard after so many months of trying to get the movie going. It was pretty surreal.

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 video release would be possible?

Dave Brock: Well, Mr. King’s agreement is pretty explicit as to the types of exhibition the filmmaker is allowed to pursue, and for a very good reason. I think Mr. Holben explained this reason very eloquently in his interview on your site, and I’m glad that he did. I’m in the process of drafting a request to Mr. King’s office for another exhibition possibility, but in the meantime, I’m very thankful for the opportunity to be able to submit the film to festivals, and more importantly, I’m just thankful to have had the opportunity to make something that Mr. King had written, with his permission!

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)?

Dave Brock: Mr. King’s assistants, Julie Eugley and Marsha DeFillipo, have always been kind and helpful to us and have just been wonderful. We haven’t had personal contact with Mr. King, but we are in the process of putting together a final package containing the film and other materials that I hope to send out to him soon. I really hope he likes the movie!

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?

Dave Brock: Oh, god…I think he wrote in one of his introductions that someone once told him that if he published his laundry list, people would buy it. I know I would, and I’d probably ask his permission to make a short film about it. Whatever he writes, I’d love the opportunity to shoot it!

I’m thrilled that Frank Darabont has the rights to “The Mist;” I think he’d do an amazing job.

SKSM: Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. Is there anything else you want to say to the fans that read this interview?

Dave Brock: I’d like to thank Mr. King, of course, for his generosity, my cast and crew for a job very, VERY well done, my sister Rebecca for starting the whole thing, and to Ms. Eugley and Ms. DeFillipo for all the help. And to the others fortunate enough to secure permission to make a dollar baby, I wish you all nothing but the best of luck and I really hope that you had (or will have) just as much fun making a Stephen King story come to life as we did!