Steve (S) 1: How long have you both been in the film industry?
David (D) 1: For me one year in film industry as an actor/producer/director, but I go way back to the entertainment industry's to the 1980's. I've also been in a horror rock band Darkness Visible since 1994 and organized our first of 9 music videos.
Trish (T) 1: 1. Quite a while… I started acting in 2003, & presenting & producing from 2004, so it’s easily well over a decade, though I’ve had various breaks in between doing other things like travel & live performance for a few years.
S: Wow that's been awhile for both of you I wish to get into the "biz" at some time.
S: 2: Is this the first horror TV show made by Australians for Australians?
D: 2: The first hosted horror show made by Australians that I can remember was Deadly Earnest. It was a TV that ran from around 1961-1978. It didn't feature Australian horror movies though. Prior to our project, there have been other that only know I am becoming aware of such as Dark Carnival https://www.facebook.com/groups/darkcarnivalshortfilms/,
T: 2: 2,3,4,5. David can answer those
He’s more versed up on the history of the Horror shows, he’s like the horror show history guru, & Horror House is his brainchild The amount of work he has put into it has been amazing.
S: David you know your history pretty well for falling into it.
S: 3: Who inspired you to this sort of TV/film work you have done?
D: 3: I can't say anyone inspired me. I sort of fell into it when I was invited to be an extra on Cult Girls. It came along at just the right time as I was just getting over bouts of exhaustion that I had been suffering from when I had cancer. Suddenly a whole new world had opened to me with acting in the local movie industry, and I was off and running. https://www.facebook.com/cultgirlsfilm/.
S: Glad to hear your cancer free bud, and I also fell into it when an old friend said she wrote a TV/Drama that she wanted to pitch and wrote the asshole role cause she knew I could do it. lol.
S: 4: Who came up with the Horror House idea initially?
D: 4: I came up with the idea of Horror House. It started off with thought that producers of short horror movies were not able to get DVD distribution because you need a feature for a DVD. By joining them together in a hosted horror show, I would be able to do this. After making enquiries with distributors, it seemed that the cost involved in authoring, getting artwork made, getting ratings done vs returns from distribution, made this unlikely. Creating this as a TV show was more doable.
S: That is awesome cause those shorts were excellent and people need to learn the up-and-comers by name to look out for future projects.
S: 5: Did you both contribute to the Horror House show before it was decided to pitch it to TV
executives and eventually picked up by Foxtel Aurora for broadcast across Australia?
D: 5: Trish has contributed quite a bit, but she was brought in after it was decided to pitch it to Foxtel Aurora. The plan on where to pitch it was put together within a minute of me mentioning that I would like to do this show on my Facebook page. I am good friends with Adam of Bosworth Entertainment and he contacted me immediately to say that the idea was a winner and his entertainment company wanted it. He already had his plans in place.
T: 5. (additional) Hahaha, my original contribution to horror house was my experimental short film “The Kali Geisha Erotica Grotesque”, which David asked if he could screen as one of the shorts on his pilot, when he was conceptualizing, way before I was brought on as Co-host!
S: Well at least he brought in the best quality host he could you two have great chemistry on screen.
S: 6: Was there a group of some sort to pick the shorts for the pilot or just you both?
D: 6: The selection of films has been open to all in the work group since the beginning. Not everyone has chosen to watch films and give feedback, but for those who have, the decisions have been made by consensus.
T: 6: This is David’s brainchild like I said, so basically I only came on board towards the end when the pilot was nearly ready to be shot & needed a Mistress Boobyanna, so besides knowing that my film & David’s were going to be screened, I was not really involved in the selection process for the shorts in the pilot.
S: Well I must say he made great choices all around from the films to his co-host.
S: 7: How do you feel this is making you grow as a filmmaker, sorting through the hundreds of
shorts submitted trying to find the most intense ones for airing?
D: 7: The whole process has been helping me grow as a film maker because I am working with a great team. Everyone has been patient with me and I am learning from everyone from my co host to the sound guy, to the editor ... basically from everyone.
T: 7: I have a short attention span, if something doesn’t grab me within the first 20-30seconds, I tend to turn it off. lol. Especially for short films. Features I tend to give them maybe 2-3minutes leeway before I turn it off. Unless it has been highly recommended to me to watch to the end. We are only given so much time in this world. Reminds me of when I was hosting a music TV show years ago, we’d get thousands of music videos in from bands regularly. For short films I would watch for things like acting, production quality, storyline, artistic merit, creativity, originality, etc. & then you can also create subsections or specials, so I guess as we have access to a wider catalogue we can maybe start to theme our shows as well. So I don’t think I’m particularly growing as a filmmaker watching them, but I guess for me it’s just another avenue to be able to have fun with cool people & be part of a great project & another avenue to express creatively & play a fun character.
S: You both had solid answers to that being from two very different perspectives, I like the honesty.
made the air in American TV households?
D: 8: Aurora is a community channel with Foxtel. I grew up with our community channels having an "everything goes" attitude. If it was foreign, weird, full of sex and violence, it was always on the community station.
T: 8: I don’t know, I have no idea what execs want, but wouldn’t necessarily say that it wouldn’t make it to US screens, because even though the content on HH is more MA/R rated, mainstream timeslot shows, even like Game of Thrones on HBO are pretty graphic these days, so never say never.
S: Yeah but that over here Is a premium service channel, so it costs extra to have with your normal cable, due to some extreme programming.
D: 9: I have 2 idols for Australian film makers. Both active and both in Ozploitation, Daniel Armstrong and Stuart Simpson. Daniel has produced at least 4 features and my favourite so far is The Sheborg Massacre. My favourite Stuart Simpson movie is Chocolate Strawberry Vanilla.
T: 9. Australian filmmaker idols? Hmmm… I never thought about it. I don’t actually have an Australian filmmaking idol tbh. I am predominantly an actress first, & so my idol was always Angelina Jolie, and as I get older, Jada Pinkett. My filmmaking idols are Quentin Tarantino & Guy Ritchie, but Australian I guess maybe Baz Lurhman because of his beautiful imagery & I am a very visual person. & whoever made Bad Boy Bubby (1994) way back in the day cos that movie is so twisted I still remember it to this day. & the guy who made Gods of Egypt. Kudos to him for getting such a budget to make the film. We need more budgets like that in Australia & I would love to get a budget like that to make a fantasy film one day.
Though I would have to say my Indy Australian filmmaking MENTOR, not necessarily idol, is definitely Nathan Hill, I have learnt so much about making Indy films from working with him & watching him work.
S: I honestly have never heard of most of those, of course Tarantino, Ritchie, Pinkett, and Jolie I've been watching since Cyborg days, but the others I will need to look up, from your recommendations of course.
S:10: As the Horror House Host/Hostess who comes up with all the jokes in your skits?
D: 10: Trish and I have both come up with the material. I've provided the start with each segment, but then we discuss it, try things out and alter it. Some is also really on the spot. E.g. Trish was supposed to squirt milk in my face with a fake penis prop. It was her idea, straight out of the blue, to shove the penis in my mouth and move it in and out.
T: 10: Hahaha most of the jokes originate out of David’s twisted little mind. He has all the props, & writes a whole list of joke ideas around them, so once he’s compiled a list of jokes, then I just go over & bounce ideas & then we expand the jokes & script, try them out to see what works & then lock in the best things for the show. I love it cos it’s ‘no holds barred’ and we can just take it as far as we want. It’s so fun & crazy!
S: That is lovely blame it all on David, being sick and twisted, lol, and who jammed what, where in the impromptu moment, lol.
That was a great interview between the three of us. They have the great ability to joke around like kids, and their choices on films were excellent. I look forward to seeing what either Twisted David, and Tantalizing Trish has in store for the future of film. I hope everyone searches them out and supports them and the many others keeping independent film alive. Thanks David and Trish for the interview and patience with me.
Pictures coming soon
