UN: How did the original idea for Deadlands first come about? Is it safe to assume that you are a big fan of the zombie genre?

Gary: Yes I am a huge fan of the zombie genre, when it comes to horror I only dig zombies and vampires. I was never a huge slasher fan, although when it comes to slasher films Michael Myers will always get my vote.

The original idea from Deadlands started in 2003, in a script titled Beyond Dead. It was the second time I had attempted to write a script for a zombie film. Beyond Dead was polished up by an internet buddy after my initial draft and then it laid dormant for 2 years as I had no way of getting it made. So I sat down and wrote Deadlands picking small elements here and there out of the screenplay too use in Deadlands. The original Deadlands script was not filmed, but I took some of those elements and put them into Deadlands: The Rising. More or less, when it came time to film I said I wanna see all the things you never get to see in an outbreak style zombie film.

UN: Were you initially disappointed that you couldnt use the initial script that you had written? Do you think that one day it will see the light of day as possibly a sequel?

Gary: I was bummed, but not distraught over it. It was just a matter of money and I just had to compromise, but it will be coming very soon. In fact as soon as I wrap my current film, Trapped, I am going to be gearing up for Deadlands: The New World.

UN: Was it tougher than you thought to get the movie made? Was it a big relief to finish shooting after the 14 months it took to get the film made?

Gary: There were many moments I was about to say fuck it and just give up. Deadlands was becoming very difficult to complete, mainly because of our 9-5 jobs. However, after a 4 month hiatus we got the ball rolling again and we never stopped. I remember sitting down doing the final edit and I needed to make a new ending. It was one of those things were the film just needed a little P.S. to conclude the story, so we all got together one last day and knocked it out in a couple of hours.

It was a tough film to complete because everyone was working for free and a lot of the crew just wanted to get it finished, so everyones patience was beginning to wear thin at one point, but they held it together and we got it done. So far it has been the toughest thing in my life to do, but I wouldn't trade it for the world.

UN: Having zombies being the result of terrorist attacks was a unique idea. I think it gives the film a Romero feel as he always threw in social commentary along with the gut munching. Was it important to keep the film socially relevant?

Gary: Not really. I mean, I hid my little social commentary in there, but it was more of a look at the problems with the governments response to Katrina. The Terror attack was just something to let people know we are in that day and age when something like a terrorist attack could happen, and having worked in the bio-pharmaceutical industry and seeing all the cool things happening in medicine today, why not make the cause of the zombie outbreak bio-terror related. People really look the other way when it comes to certain things and they should really keep their eyes open, with science today anything is possible. I am not saying they are developing a zombie weapon, but they have already found medical treatments to induce death upon a human and bring them back.

Romero has his commentaries and the film usually focuses on that commentary throughout, whereas mine just taps on the window slightly and than walks off. The social relevance of Deadlands, is more or less just a window dressing. My only intention was to make a zombie film and when writing the shelter sequence I relied on the Katrina disaster for momentum, but that is really where it ended.

UN: Now that you spent the money on all of the equipment you used on the film, can we expect more films from you in the future? Is there any other style of movie youd like to try your hand at?

Gary: Right now I am working on 2 zombie projects at the same time. Actually it is one film being shot two ways. The film is Trapped. It is an homage to Demons and Return of the Living Dead. The film will be edited two different ways. Once as a short, and it will be attached to a project titled Zombthology in which 4 filmmakers each make a zombie short film. The guys at Art Held Hostage got me involved and said we will give you $1,000.00 to make a zombie short and we will make this Creepshow style anthology of zombie films in which your flick will be featured. I liked the idea, but I hate short films. So I said... How about I film an extended version as I see fit, cut a 15-20 minute short out of it so you can put it in Zombthology, then after Zombthology is out, I will release an Extended Director's cut of Trapped. They agreed and since 9/15/07 I have been in production on Trapped.

So far we just finished production day 13 (Filming on weekends) and I still have about 5-8 more shooting days left to complete my extended cut which should come in at around 80-90 minutes. The extended cut will feature a storyline not present in the short version, and some other sequences as well. As far as gore, the extended cut will only have one extra scene versus the short version, but it does deliver on the gore.

Trapped is very different from Deadlands: The Rising. Instead of following a story, which is what we did in Deadlands, Trapped kind of shoves you into it. We pretty much shot the entire fucking thing handheld, mainly because I wanted it to feel chaotic, and I wanted to do something a little faster in the pacing. It has been a wild ride, but so far things have been looking good.

After our first weekend of filming I created a My Space page for the film, made a 30 second teaser, and received permission from Netherlands rock group Epica to use their song Blank Infinity for the teaser. The teaser has been getting great feedback and a lot of indie labels are expressing interest in the project and I am not even finished filming yet.

UN: I was curious to ask how you and Brian met. You guys seem to have a real camaraderie on film and must be really good friends off camera.

Gary:Yes we are very good friends. We actually worked for the same company at one time. I started at the job and he and I were the one only guys in the QA department. A department loaded with Women whom loved to gossip about anything and everything, and since I really don't care who fucked who on ER or desperate housewives him and I kind of hit it off as friends... I found out he was a horror fan, and we kind of dug the same music, although he was shocked at first to find out I was into hard rock. He thought because I dj'd so many years I only liked Club or Hip-Hop, his eyes bugged out of his head when he found out I liked Black label Society.

We also shared the same sick sense of humor. I don't really run around with large packs of people. I love to chat with anyone, but there are only certain people I can be friends with, and it is nothing personal to anyone... I just have a twisted sense of humor and most people don't notice it or get into it, so I keep to myself mostly.

UN: Was it important to have a more professional approach to a low budget zombie flick? Low budget zombie films are a dime a dozen, but few take themselves very seriously.

Gary: Yes I wanted the professional approach, I wanted the crane shots, I wanted the dolly shots, but the one thing I didn't get 100% was the vibe. There are some really great shots in Deadlands, but it lacks a certain vibe. A lot of that is because the DP duties were shared between myself and Thomas Fant. When Thomas wasn't available I had to step in, and being a first timer I managed to fuck things up, or when he was around, I wouldn't always take his advice because I was seeing it a certain way. In the end it works, but I learned a valuable lesson LISTEN TO THE DP!

With the new flick I am again sharing DP duties because my new DP Krystian Ramlogan is a Masters student at Howard University and isn't always available for our shooting schedule, but I check in with him before each shoot to make sure I get it right and it doesn't look hokey.

As far as on set atmosphere, I keep it light. I love to laugh with the cast and joke around, but when it comes time to get serious I want it to be serious. However, I always make time for the 10-15 minute giggle fits.

UN: Was it difficult to score the film yourself? Did it take a long time to put together all of the music? You mentioned in the commentary track about staying away from thrash metal. Do you think having blaring soundtracks somewhat misses the point? Zombie films are meant to be creepy.

Gary: I don't want to sound like a dick when I say this, but I FUCKING HATE Thrash metal soundtracks. One of my biggest pet peeves with indie low budget zombie films is the constant use of Death or Thrash metal. The songs never fit the tone of the film, and make the films come off more amateur than they already are. Is it that hard to find someone to score the film? It isn't very difficult to score a film. If you have a musical background, write the music. Zombie films need to have a certain tone and feel. I don't see how using thrash sets any kind of tone. Honestly do the filmmakers actually think the audience will be more into the flick when it has thrash guitars over some zombies eating intestines? All it is, honestly, to me, is just a bunch of noise that detracts from the experience.

I had a group of people who wanted my help on their zombie film this past summer and my first question was.... What kind of score will it have? When they said Speed Metal I passed on the project. I offered to score the film for them, but they wanted Thrash/Speed metal. I asked why, but never received a straight answer.

This is what a lot of producers have told me. The score needs to either fit the story or set the tone. Return of the Living Dead's punk score worked perfectly because the mix of music and dark comedy were perfect. I myself couldn't edit Deadlands until I had a temp score to work with, so Brian and I would work on temp bits, then once the final edit was getting close we switched over to final musical compositions. It didn't take long and I feel the score for Deadlands is one of the best things going for the film. I am excited as hell to work with Brian on the score for Trapped, we have been writing little bits here and there, but in another 2 months we will be starting work on the final compositions.

UN: Are you pleased with how the film has been received? Has it been getting a good reception at the festivals its played at? Have you had the chance to watch it in front on an audience?

Gary: I am very happy with how the film has been received. With all the combined reviews 79% are positive so thats a good thing. The DVD continues to Be Tempes Best Seller, and it has a very small fan base.

On the festival circuit it does well. It played twice at the recent Full Moon Film Festival in Little Rock, Played in France, and from what I heard seems to have been a huge success with the audience, and it had two theatrical runs. It has won a total of 5 awards between two festivals and has played at 15 festivals total.

I have 2 cuts of Dead lands: The Rising. The DVD release which runs 63 minutes, and an extended version which runs 72 minutes with an Alternate Ending. I have watched both with an audience and everyone seemed to enjoy it. What negative criticism is out there is minor, some of it bothers me because they mostly rag on the technical side of it, being it was shot on DV, but I have been learning to ignore most of it. Some of it though pissed me off enough to write the reviewer and tell him off... mostly because they either misrepresented or missed the entire point of the film, but in the end I am learning you can't please everyone. If you like it great, if you don't FUCK YOU, someone else digs it and thats all that matters.

UN: When did Tempe/Splatter Rampage come into the picture? Were you excited when they showed interest in releasing Deadlands on DVD? How has it been selling?

Gary: I did a self release in October 2006, which sold well, and I think it was TEMPE who contacted me about it. I honestly don't remember. I do remember them saying It has flaws and that they weren't really that into it, but would release it anyway. They honestly expected it to not even break even, and it has turned out to be a sleeper hit for them. I know TEMPE was shocked at the success it has had. I mean the success has been nice.... not huge amounts of copies being sold, but enough it warranted extra pressings. I think it is still their #1 selling DVD.

I am happy TEMPE took the chance with it. I think the fact a lot of the early reviews from the horror sites being positive helped and Fangoria giving it a positive review helped a lot too. The film is actually pretty well known, which surprised even me. I never expected it to be a total flop, but I never expected it to be out there like it is either. The biggest shocker was surfing a horror forum and reading a thread titled "List your Top ten Zombie films" One of the members listed it at #9 on his list and another listed it at #6. So that was a special moment. Some of my filmmaker friends have said it could turn out to be a cult film, like The Dead Next Door, I doubt it will ever reach that legendary status, but it would be nice. I am just happy it found an audience.

UN: It says at the end of the credits that a sequel is going to be made. Do you have a concrete plan on when shooting will begin? Are you going to approach anything differently this time around?

Gary: Yes a sequel is in the works... with a real budget. We have been in talks with a few producers and even a few studios. Right now there is an indie film group looking to make Deadlands 2, but it would be more of a stand alone film.

They have inquired about re-making parts of Deadlands: the Rising and using that to start the film off, then take it into this zombie infested world. The current screenplay runs about 125 pages, but if we re-shoot parts of the movie to make this stand alone film, we would be looking at a running time of 2 hours and 30 minutes. The interest in the project was on and off throughout the summer. At one point it was almost a go with a $10,000,000 budget, but then horror films were tanking left and right at the US box Office so the interest died off, but recently a producer got a hold of script and went ape shit over it. He couldn't stop telling me how much he liked it and he set the wheels in motion to get it made. If it is green lit we could be looking at a $1 million to $5 million dollar budget. If it happens great, if it doesn't I am not worried because I think once Trapped is release there will be no problem getting it made. However, as it stands right now once Trapped is done I am supposed to move into pre-production of the Next Deadlands.

UN: Did you have a lot of fun doing the commentary track for the DVD release? Im sure you must have watched the movie a million times, but it must have been cool to be able to tell people the behind the scenes facts and give mew filmmakers like yourself tips.

Gary: On my computers Hard Drive are 4 other commentary tracks for Deadlands: The Rising. I had so much to say about the making of it but not enough running time to say it all. I will say it was weird to sit and actually record the commentary track for the film. I am a huge commentary track fan, so to be the guy giving it was, I hate this word but surreal. Between the editing and proofing I think I watched Deadlands: the Rising about 200 times, and then add the theatrical screenings and Film Festival screenings to that. However, it has been at least 7 months since I last watched it. However, the extended cut will be getting an international release and I will need to record another commentary for that version so I guess I have to watch it one more time.

The coolest thing about it is being able to share your experience with the viewer. I wanted to be informative during the commentary so if anyone else wanted to make the leap and do their own thing... maybe they could take some tips away from my commentary. I tried to leave no stone unturned.

UN: What can you tell us about Trapped? Has the film finished being shot yet? Any idea about a release date yet?

Gary: Like I noted above Trapped is my newest zombie project which is still filming. I have a great cast and crew behind the film. Some of the Deadlands cast have small bit parts, but I myself opted not to make a cameo in the film as of yet. Although my cast and crew have been trying to get me to do a cameo.

I am really excited about Trapped because it really goes to the next level. The production values are better, the camera work is better, the cast is phenomenal I have never been this excited before well not since the release of Deadlands. Zombie film fans should really dig Trapped. I even managed to cast Jim Krut, the famous helicopter zombie from Romero's DAWN of the DEAD. Jim is a great guy and loved being on the set. He came in and just played it all out and did a fabulous job.

We are hoping to wrap principal photography in late spring 2008 and I have set the release date as October 23rd 2008, which is 2 years to the date Deadlands was first released. I am also hoping to get it on DVD April 17th 2009 which would be the exact date 2 years since Deadlands hit DVD through TEMPE.

Right now our biggest challenge is getting zombies. I have one more massive zombie shoot to do and with the cold weather it is hard to get people to come out in the cold, so we are on hiatus until late winter early spring. However, I am anxious to finish it and get it out there because I am super proud of this film as I am of Deadlands.

UN: Let's end on an easy one. What is your all time favorite zombie movie? Also, what is your all time favorite gore scene from a zombie film?

Gary: Well I have been going back and forth about my all time favorite zombie film. I can tell you the one I hate with ease (Children of the Living Dead tied with the 30th anniversary edition of Night of the Living Dead), but all time favorite... I guess it is a tie between the Original DAWN, which is usually at the top of every zombie film fans list, and 1985's Return of the Living Dead. I am such a huge fan of ROTLD that if they ever remake it I want to direct it. I would prefer it not get remade, but it eventually will and I would rather see a true fan direct it before some jackass who will just fuck it up (i.e.: ROTLD 4 & 5)

My Favorite gore scene... This is another tie. In Day of the Dead when the zombie is peeling back Rickels eyelid, the zombie removing and eating someones tonsils in Land of the Dead, and the girl getting her throat torn out in Deadlands. Those are the best gore scenes and my personal faves.