With the Joe Dante produced Cold Camp Brook entering production, we chat with its screenwriter.
Alex Carl recently had his screenplay, Camp Cold Brook, a classic horror throwback set to star Chad Michael Murray and Danielle Harris, snapped up by promising horror outfit Petri Entertainment. If that’s not exciting enough, prolific filmmaker Joe Dante (Gremlins) has come aboard, with his company, to produce the movie! What a dream! Carl tells us about working with “living legend” Dante, and more, in a new interview.
Was there ever a moment when you considered taking the script to one of the big studios?
Numerous producers that my agent took it to did go to their studio deal. We had a few development opportunities from that, but it would have been tied up for a year with no guarantee of anything. We were fairly confident we could pass and eventually find a home.
What are the benefits of doing this film as an indie, do you think?
Being able to execute a unique vision without a half dozen cooks in the kitchen. (Director) Andy Palmer completely understands how this story needs be told, visually and therefore I am very confident in what viewers should expect.
Where is it shooting?
In and around Oklahoma City as well as a summer camp in the mountains nearby.
Did any budget limitations cause you to have to modify the script at all?
Zilch. It will be shot exactly as it was written.
How do you feel about the cast?
Love the cast. There are so many vacillating pieces when it comes to the casting process. I’d get updates as to who was available etc, as preproduction moved along, but when I was informed of who they finalised, I was quite pleased to say the least.
Can you talk about Joe Dante and not only his involvement but how much he means to you as a movie fan?
He’s a living legend. His films made such an impact on me, especially the early horror stuff, that he absolutely had a hand in forging the genre as it is in my mind’s eye.
Why do you think you gravitate towards horror-thrillers?
Thinking back to when I was a kid, I think what turned me on to horror films the most, wasn’t the actual horror revealed, it was the ‘threat on the edge of the town’. That unnameable place/feeling before the terror was unleashed, but knowing that it would. That comfort in the ‘pre’. What my brother and I used to refer to as the “nice-and-safe-and-warm’ feeling, moments before all hell broke loose.
Where do you hope to be in the next few years?
Writing and directing. Producing projects that I find.