UN: How did the original idea for LovecraCked! The Movie first come about?

Elias: It started out as a 30 min mockumentary spoof that I made titled just LovecraCked!.

UN: Was it planned right from the start that youd have fellow filmmakers contribute segments for the film or was there ever a time when you were going to do the entire film yourself?

Elias: As I mentioned, the short was first. The idea to expand it into a feature-length anthology came as more of an after thought. Marketing a short film and getting any real distribution for it is really tough and expanding the project into an anthology seemed like a good way to plunge into the feature market and really exploit our full potential. I never planned on producing all the segments myself, but I was prepared to fill in where needed if we came up short on material. Basically for about a year I accepted submissions of short Lovecraftian flicks for potential inclusion, and the ones that ended up in the final feature (LovecraCked! The Movie) were the ones that I enjoyed the most and worked the best when cut together with the original LovecraCked! short. At one point during the process it looked like we might lose the rights to a couple of the films so I began scrambling to produce some new segments myself to take their place, but it all worked out in the end thankfully. I did complete two new segments just the same, and one of them is actually going to be included in an extended cut of the anthology due to be released on DVD this year by Unearthed Films. Amongst other extras there will also be a rather chaotic drunken commentary as well, which is sure cause some folks' heads to explode.

UN: How did it work for the people submitting parts for the film? Did you get a lot of people submitting films? Was it tough to decide what to use? Were there any submissions that didnt fit at all and just seemed like people trying to use the project for exposure more so than to show off a love for HP Lovecraft?

Elias: When I was accepting submissions for the anthology there were of course some criteria, but they were over all pretty loose. Basically shorts had to be 30 min or less and at least somewhat Lovecraftian in nature. That was pretty much it in a nutshell. There were a good number of submissions, but it was still kinda tough because a lot of the entries I received had nothing to do with Lovecraft, not even in the loosest sense. One filmmaker actually sent me a DVD collection of some 20 odd shorts that while often not bad, had absolutely no discernible Lovecraft connection. Lovecraft's stories are all in the public domain and readily accessible online. I posted links and actually ended up introducing a lot of people to him for the first time as a result of all the promotion for the call for entries. Maybe some folks didn't read the submission guidelines, maybe some didn't care, maybe some thought Lovecraft actually referred to the care that they put into making the film;-), I really have no idea, but it was always exciting popping in a new DVD:)

UN: Do you have any favorites out of what was submitting for the film and made it into the film?

Elias: Sure, but I consider most of the folks involved to be friends so I'd rather not play favorites. I will say that I about creamed my pants when I first saw the birth scene in Tomas Almgren's short BugBoy;)

UN: The investigative journalist sections are quite humorous. Was it important to have the comedic elements to the film? Can we expect humor to play a big role in any of your future work as well?

Elias: Thanks! Glad to hear you found them amusing. Apparently they also have driven some folks to near suicidal. Having the comedic elements interspersed throughout the anthology can be somewhat hit or miss depending on the person, but I feel like it's an important part of the movie. I'm pretty much always rocketing back and forth between horror and comedy so you can count on seeing a lot of both in the future, though they may not always mix as freely as they did here in this flick.

UN: What was it like getting to work with Lloyd Kaufman? Was it hard to get him to appear in the film? Are you a big Troma fan?

Elias: Short answers would be: Awesome! Easy! Yes! Here are the slightly longer answers for those of you who are interested, the rest of you please feel free to skip on;)... Lloyd was a lot of fun to work with and great at improv, which is very evident I think in his scene in the movie. I was writing to him to get permission to feature some Troma merch and posters in the background of one of our shots and he was extremely cool about it, and also offered to appear in the film. I didn't have a part in mind, so I decided to just write him in, and boy did he deliver! Definitely one of the highlights in the flick for me. I've been a big fan of Lloyd and Troma for quite a while. Love Toxie, Tromeo, Sgt Kabukiman and of course the penis monster! Really looking forward to Poultrygeist as well... Damn it Lloyd how much longer do we have to wait!?

UN: I was curious to ask how much longer the extended cut of the film will be? Will it have more segments with the journalist or more horror segments?

Elias: The extended cut will be appr. 5 min longer. The new segment entitled Coo-coo-Cthulhu is it's own little vignette, separate from the ongoing misadventures of the Journalist.

UN: Do you feel that even people unfamiliar with HP Lovecraft can enjoy the film? Personally Ive never read any of his work although Ive seen pretty much every film based on his work.

Elias: Yes. Definitely. There's pretty much a bit of something for everyone in there, so by that rational then of course everyone should watch it;) Support independent horror films! Read Lovecraft's stories, too! For fuck's sake their free and awesome! How often can you combine those two words in one sentence?! Check it out: http://tmoct.co.uk/lovecraftlibrary.html

UN: How has the response to Lovecracked been so far? Have the reviews mainly been positive? Any reviews in particular stand out?

Elias: Pretty good. Lot of kind words, and plenty of detractors as well. All and all it's been a well rounded experience. Depending upon who you believe it's either complete idiocy or utter genius. There are a 100 plus often vastly differing reviews you can read out there, and I've compiled some of the best and worst here: http://www.biffjuggernaut.com/lovecrackedthemovie/reviews.htm

UN: Your film The Voice Inside as well as the music videos you have done all have a very artistic approach. With future projects is this something you want to continue to explore?

Elias: Thanks for the kind words. I think it mostly comes down to self expression for me rather than any particular approach, and really whatever feels right for the project at hand. As long as I have stories to tell and thoughts and feelings to express things will probably keep taking shape, and right now I don't think I'm in any danger of running out of material.

UN: What's next? I'm sure you are spending most of your time promoting Lovecracked, but have you put any thought into what your next project might be?

Elias: Yes, still promoting LovecraCked! and it's upcoming release by Unearthed, but in answer to your question: I have a number of new scripts I'd like to get produced. Right now I'm in the early stages of pre-production on one of these. It's a mixture of horror, comedy, adventure, road movie and strange romance. I wrote it originally as a feature-length pilot for a continuing series, but it could work as a stand alone flick or as the first installment of a film series as well. The current draft of the script is pretty tight and I'm working on putting together a cast/crew and of course a budget.

UN: How did Biff Juggernaut initially start? Would you like to see the company grow to the point where you are releasing films for other filmmakers or will it mainly stick to your own projects?

Elias: BiFF JUGGERNAUT is the name that my friend Chad and I came up with to label our respective film endeavors/collaborations back in the 90s. We came up with the name late one night through a process of random selection. I would love to be large enough and successful enough to help release and distribute films made by other folks as well, and in a way we've already started doing that with the anthology. For the moment I'm just glad when I'm able to get my own films made, but I'm open to whatever the future brings. I'd love to build a strong collective of filmmakers to collaborate with and help get our respective projects produced and out there in front of audiences.

UN: How did you initially become interested in film making? Were there any films in particular that inspired you to make films?

Elias: At first I wanted to be an actor and writer, then I decided after a few years that I'd like to expand into directing/filmmaking. I still write most of my own material, and I love acting, but you can't play all these roles all the time, so I'm looking to vary it up a bit and I'm definitely interested in working with other writers and acting in other filmmakers' productions, etc, etc. Some filmmakers that have inspired me over the years were and often still are Romero, Carpenter, Cronenberg, Stone, Scorsese, Coppola, Lumet, Peter Jackson, Takashi Miike, Kim Ki-duk, the Monty Python boys, Trey Parker & Matt Stone, Lloyd Kaufman and many others.

Thanks for having me on Unbound, Mike. It's been an honor and a blast!

For more info on past and future BiFF JUGGERNAUT Productions just visit:

http://www.biffjuggernaut.com