UN: How did the original idea for Blood Car first come about? Did it take a long time to develop the story?

Alex: We (me, Adam Pinney and Hugh Braselton) came up with the idea for Blood Car riding around in the car pitching stuff back and forth. Someone said, "A car that runs on blood". And we went from there. Adam wrote the first act that day in about 4 hrs. Then over a couple weeks he and I finished the script.

UN: How long did the casting process take for the film? Mike and Kate both did wonderful jobs in the film. Did they both audition or did you have them in mind right from the start?

Alex: The Archie and Denise characters were written specifically for Katie Rowlett and Mike Brune. We have all been friends and worked together for years. I'm really lucky that all my friends are talented people- and because I've known them for so long they have to show up for set.

Casting of the other characters was done from people I had worked on other films with and local actors and people who do improv comedy. It wasn't too hard. Matt Hutchinson (Doanld Watkins) was a film professor at Georgia State and Mr. Malt (the Carjacker) is a local rapper. I was the gaffer on his music video. You meet people all over. You just have to remember the great ones when it is time to write parts for people.

UN: How did Anna Chlumsky become involved with the film? I was surprised to see her name and have to admit that I was a fan of My Girl back in the day.

Alex: I met Anna on another film. It was really small, about a four-person crew, so everyone got to know each other very well. We sent her the script and she was into it. That's the only way I know to talk to people about working together. You say you have this thing and see if they're into it. If they're not, I don't want to trick them or anything because they won't be having fun and doing good work on set. She liked it, so she did it. It should always be that simple in my opinion.

UN: How long was the shoot? Was it tough to try and get everything done on time? Do you feel that the shoot went smoothly?

Alex: We shot the film in 12 days, then after some editing- shot for 2 more. Everything went pretty smoothly for an indie film shoot. We did a ton of prep work before shooting so we could move really quickly and so people would think we had it together. When you cant pay people it helps to show them that youre not half assing things so theyll be excited and show up for work. Being organized and having a plan allows for everyone to have more fun and be creative on set too. Just because you have a plan doesnt mean you cant drop it and go with something else.

Looking back on the shoot and at the film there are things that I would have done differently, but it was my first movie so I had to learn some things by doing them and seeing that I was an idiot. Everyone needs to do that I think, its the best way to learn.

UN: I was curious to ask what the budget of the movie was. The movie looks phenomenal and certainly doesn't look like it was shot on a micro budget.

Alex: Super micro budget. I'm not sure what exactly the final numbers are because I'm still spending money. During production we had about $14,000 and during post maybe spent another $11-$15,000, somewhere in there. But we got a ton of help. Our parents fed us, we got free or cheap gear donated. We only used free locations. That all goes back into doing a ton of prep work. That's how we pulled it off, looking for deals and getting free stuff. Begging for favors and doing anything we had to do to get the movie made. When people see some folks actually getting together and trying to do what they want, they're more than happy to help you out.

UN: A few of the scenes in the film were shot using a crane. Did you have the scenes planned out shot by shot before hand or were the crane movements decided on set?

Alex: The crane stuff was all one day and was planned very carefully. We wanted people to not think we were broke and had just thrown some crap together so we started the film with the largest crane shot we did. All of our shots were planned and because Adam Pinney was the co-writer and Director of Photography we knew a lot of what we wanted to do as we were writing and talking about scenes.

The day of the crane I think we only shot 2 pages, which is normal on a bigger film, but on a twelve-day shoot you have to do more. Just do the math, the script was around 90 pages. So that day caused us to have to really hustle on other days, but it was worth it. Things always change on set, when you involve actors and the crew and whatever other thousand variables that happen when shooting on location, you have to adjust- but I'm not ever ok going in without any plan at all. I never think we'll just figure out everything on set. Before shooting I over think everything so I can avoid as many catastrophes as possible.

UN: Being that Blood Car is your first time directing a feature length film, did you feel a lot of pressure to make Blood Car the best film you possibly could?

Alex: Well, even if it was my 10th feature I would hope I would want to show people the best thing I could make. That's what I expect when I go to the movies, so that's what I should give people. I didn't think we were shooting The 400 Blows or Citizen Kane, we were making a silly movie, but we took it seriously. We wanted it to be as funny as it could and still stay in that shlocky area of a boob filled bloody movies. As for pressure, yes I felt it. Even though we didn't have millions of dollars or any of that- there's always pressure.

UN: What would you say first motivated you to become a director? Were there any films or directors in particular that inspired you?

Alex: I was one of those kids that got their hands on a camcorder and fell in love with it. I was always obsessed with movies as a kid. I never thought of myself as a director or anything, I just really enjoyed doing it, enjoyed getting an idea and shooting it. I never even thought of it as a job until I took a film course in college. I never saw a certain film and stood up and said YES, I will make movies! or any of that. There are tons of films that inspired me, there was the indies of the early 90s that made it all seem possible, reading Robert Rodriguezs book Rebel Without a Crew was very empowering. It gave me that feeling that I should stop running my mouth about making a movie and start making strives to shoot one.

The more I learned about film and filmmaking the more I knew it was all I wanted to do. So I'm constantly a student of film, I'm always seeing something that I want to learn about, or a certain way of telling a story that makes me want to learn more and understand the mechanics of it. How it was made.

I started working in the film business to prepare myself for making my own films. I was always terrified that on the first day of shooting, no one would show up so I wanted to be sure I could get by if I was all alone with a bunch of actors staring at me. No one ever did but I always thought I should know what's going on in the different departments. I never wanted to be totally ignorant about whats going down on the set, what everyones job involves. It is hard to keep the respect of the crew if they think you dont know what you're doing. And when I was working I learned lots of tricks and the very particular lingo that goes with working on set. And being the movie obsessed geek I am, that stuff is just always fun to see. Every which way film crews have figured out how to cheat something is always so interesting, like a good magic trick. I'm sure other people have that same relationship with whatever interests them. I never had to force being into movies or wanted to make them, it was just something I gravitated to.

UN: Blood Car has been doing pretty good on the festival scene, I would say. It is exciting to know that people are into the film and giving it the praise it deserves? I must be cool to get to sit in the audience and watch people react to the film.

Alex: It was totally unexpected that we would play all these film festivals. It was never my intention. I still can't believe the film won a few awards. I really just wanted my first film to be on the shelf at a video store. That was a realistic goal for us so that's what we set out to do. As for getting what it deserves, I dunno. I think it deserves to be watched by an audience, I think it can entertain people, give them a good laugh. That's why we shot it, so I'm happy about that. But even if it was a total failure, I still got to make a movie with my friends and I learned a lot doing it that will help me going into the next movie.

I can't sit in the audience and watch the movie to see the reaction though. I can't handle it. I once read that Woody Allen never rewatched any of his films after he finished them and I thought that was the craziest thing I ever heard. But after you go from script to screen and go through the sound mix and color correction and all of that, you learn so much about making movies and about the mistakes you made. So now when I watch the movie I only think, I can do better than that now. I need to make another film. The first time it played in front of an audience it was great to see what they laughed at and to settle some editing room arguments about what was working and what wasn't. Because you never really know until people sit together in a dark room and watch the movie. Now I understand that an audience is either with the film right off, or they don't get our jokes and hate it. That's the great thing about cinema, if you don't like something there are a million movies waiting in line for your approval. You can't make something that pleases everyone, in doing that you just end up making something empty. That's what $100 million dollar movies are for.

UN: The DVD was just released; does it feel good to hold a copy on your hand? Is it exciting to know that the film is available through Netflix and Blockbuster? It is definitely a title that would stand out if you saw it on the shelf.

Alex: Is it exciting to hold the Blood Car DVD in my hand? Hell yeah it is! It was a great moment when I got one in the mail and looked at it and thought that was the goal. We made a movie that can be discovered by some people we will never meet. Maybe a few kids will trick their parents into buying them a copy and they'll enjoy it with other friends. Or maybe someone will rent it and it will ruin their evening because its not their thing. Either way, it is just great to know were on the shelf and people have the chance to check it out. I used to watch everything in the video store when I was a kid. Id look at the box, grab it and take it home having no idea what I was in store for. I still do that today. It's fun to put yourself in someone elses hands for a couple hours and see what they got for you. I'm proud that hopefully there will be people giving us that chance. Looking at the screen for an hour and a half and seeing what weve got for them. I hope that video stores don't just disappear completely with online video rentals. There's something great about just grabbing the box that youre in the mood for and popping it in for the ride.

UN: While gas prices haven't quite reached the amount in the movie, they certainly have been on the rise. Do you think gas prices might one day soar to $40 a gallon?

Alex: I don't know about that. I guess with inflation they might one day. I would think that technology will provide a cleaner, cheaper, more efficient means of travel for us all. I know I'm one of the few people that do not work at an oil company that likes the price of gas going up. Every time I see high prices at the pump I know my movie still has some relevancy and isn't from a time when gas was expensive. Ahh, remember those days? When gas was expensive. I'm glad thats over.

UN: I was curious to ask if you or either of the other two writers were vegan or vegetarian as it seems like you guys understand that a lot of people push meat on vegetarians and vice versa.

Alex: Nah, neither of us is a veggie. We just wanted Archie to have as many good qualities and values that we could corrupt through the course of the film. I think it is just a great time to see person that believes in things really strongly have to go against everything he/she stands for. I knew a vegetarian once. They were always pushing gazpacho on me.

UN: What's next for Alex Orr? Obviously a sequel to Blood Car is out of the question. Have you put any thought into what youd like your next project to be?

Alex: The sequel Blood Car 2: Blood Boat is actually filming right now in Miami. I'm kidding. The Fake Wood Wallpaper guys are all writing scripts. I can't go through a day without thinking about what I want to do next. I'm writing a script about Little League baseball and violence and I'm co-writing a comedy called Pelican-which is about a giant pelican. Adam Pinney is working on what I call an incestual, existential, heist script. Hugh Braselton is writing a comedy about a mans life and marriage falling apart and Mike Brune just finished an amazing short film called The Adventure. We'll be taking it to festivals in 2008. I can't wait for people to see this film- Mike has a really original way of handling things and this movie is both amusing, beautiful and creepy. I'm sure it will have a polarizing effect on audiences, which is always fun. There's a trailer for The Adventure online at: www.fakewallpaper.com