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Interview:
GS: TJ, tell us about the very
hard-to-find 2000 video “Sickening Conceptions”. It has been
compared to such hit shows as “Jackass”…
TJ: “Sickening Conceptions” was a
cable access show I created with my friends in Seattle. The
only intent was to get a rise out of the religious and
political programs that were monopolizing the station in the
late 90s. It was a variety show, mixed with skits, stunts
and pranks bookended by a live talk show. It ran from 1999 -
2000 at which point it was one of the highest rated programs
in the station’s history. To see some clips or hear hate
mail check out the
myspace page.
GS: Whatever happened with the
proposed film, “Eric Anderson”? This title has been floating
around for many, many years.
TJ: I love horror/comedy but have
always been interested in doing a “proper” horror film.
“Eric Anderson” was a code name for a psychological thriller
I started but ultimately put on the back burner… Never
discuss your projects until they are finished, kids…
GS: Okay, Mr. Signore, your
turn. What are you hiding underneath that beard?
AS: Hard boiled egg crumbs, booze
residue and some pale Irish skin.
GS: TJ, between the two of you,
you’re said to be the horror fan. We know Peter Jackson’s
“Braindead” inspired “The Janitor” - what other classic
films might our reading audience be overlooking?
TJ: Anything that is a masterpiece
of excess… Horror and comedy are my favorite types of film,
so I was really inspired by genre bending movies like
Frankenhooker, Re-animator, The Story of Ricky, Street
Trash, Brain Damage, Evil Ed, Body Melt, Premutos… I can go
on and on but I won’t because you’ll stop reading.
GS: No, we wouldn’t, I promise.
One of our readers, Seth, asks, “Where does someone come up
with the line ‘Clean it up with your pussy - peace’? That’s
the most memorable line in a movie ever!”
TJ: The blood bukakke scene, yes…
That line wasn’t in the script. If I remember correctly that
was an improvised line.
AS: Actually, that and my other
favorite line in the movie “don’t paint with it”, were both
improvised on the day by a friend of mine - Brett Snider -
who just so happened to create the third most Tivo’ed 2008
Super Bowl spot for Doritos called “Mouse Trap”. He’s a
hysterical guy, and I was glad he was willing to be a part
of our movie. That scene was the most fun to shoot. It was a
scene that wasn’t in the original script, and we realized we
needed more blood sooner — so we added it after finishing
the bulk of filming. Thank God we did, because in my opinion
that’s where the movie finally picks up and becomes an
actual movie.
GS: I saw the Doritos commercial
and I freely admit it was one of the better laughs I’ve had
in a while.
AS: Yeah, they shot it last year
for that Doritos contest, and found out two days before the
bowl that it was gonna air — not too shabby to be part of
the 2nd most watched TV event ever.
GS: For me, the best lines in
“The Janitor” came from Robbie the Mail Guy. Any chance
we’ll be seeing him again?
AS: [The actor who played] Robbie
changed his name from Chris Hall to Logan Christopher -
guess he was a big Wolverine fan? I haven’t heard from him
in a while, I’ll shoot him an email and get an update for
you.
[A day after the interview, Logan
did respond to Andy, who forwarded the message on to me. He
says:]
LC: Right now I have two
commercials running, one for Wendy’s and another for
Progressive Motorcycle Insurance. Also, field producing for
Serena
Yang, who just signed a four show development deal with
Fremantle Media. Optioned a few scripts and working on
putting together the teams. My production company,
Power of 8
Productions is officially moving forward with our
commercial and industrial division, having signed up 4
directors.
As for “The Janitor”, when people
who have seen the film recognize me, it gets almost
uncomfortable until I tell them it’s alright that they’ve
seen my ass. Unfortunately, I was hoping the ladies would
come out of the woodwork after seeing the film, but that was
not exactly the case. Oh well; dream big, I say.
I just look forward to making a
sequel or a prequel where we learn Robbie’s real intentions
and aspirations in life!
GS: How does one get Lloyd
Kaufman to appear in their movie? And why do I suspect our
mutual friend Doug Sakmann might have something to do with
this?
AS: If you give Lloyd a chance to
plug Troma, he’ll show up to pretty much anything. He’s a
true whore for his art, and we love him for it. But getting
him to L.A. for our shoot was thanks to TJ who actually
scored that hook-up, and timing.
TJ: Lloyd is probably the most
accessible person in the entertainment industry. His book
“Make Your Own Damn Movie” is peppered with his personal
email address. All it really took was a phone call to his
assistant… no big story there. Although I have worked with
Doug in the past, he really didn’t have any involvement in
getting Lloyd in the movie.
AS: It was totally last minute, and
Lloyd was in town to honor Stan Lee at some event, plus he
had been gathering footage for his “Make Your Own Damn
Movie” DVD set — which we were honored to be a part of. For
his scenes, which weren’t in the original script, John [Carreon],
TJ and myself got drunk the night before and wrote some of
his scenes.
TJ: John, Andy and I basically got
completely obliterated and wrote his scenes in a few hours.
John showed me how to “shotgun” a beer for the first time
that night…
AS: I wanted something ongoing that
we could pepper throughout the flick to give him more screen
time. We had three segments, but ultimately we thought it
was too much for the final cut. Thankfully you can see all
of Lloyd’s brilliant work uncut on the DVD outtakes.
GS: Any other heavy drinking
involved in the film’s creation?
TJ: Not so much on the actual
shoot. When you’re shooting on such a minuscule budget you
spend most of your time finding solutions to all the
problems that arise on a hourly basis. I equate film-making
to being kicked in the balls for 12-14 hours each day. The
first thing you want to do is go home and drink yourself
into a coma, but we didn’t have that luxury. Once we got
heavy into pre-production there really wasn’t any time. We
shot the bulk of it in 10 days, so we barely had time to
sleep. Now, after the movie is another story entirely…
GS: Now that we have the
low-down on Lloyd, how about the other recognizable cast
member - Judah Friedlander. Where did you find him?
AS: Mr. 30 Rock was a friend of
TJ’s. They met through another comedian friend, and TJ ended
up helping Judah by filming a lot of his stand-up routines…
TJ: Judah and I met through a
mutual comedian friend named Brody Stevens. Brody hosted a
cable access show in Seattle around the same time as
“Sickening Conceptions” called “The Brody & Teina Show”. One
of the few that was worth watching.
AS: It’s great to see him blowing
up. My brother worked on a film with him that he was just
amazing in - American Splendor - if you’ve seen it, you can
see he can do more than his popular funny hat-wearing Judah
character. He’s a super nice guy, and man is that guy driven
to succeed - he doesn’t stop.
GS: The million dollar question:
how does a film with no budget get so many naked women? I
hear the trick is to shoot the nudity before the dialog to
keep them from running away.
AS: You ask really nicely. (big
grin) Also having your wife in the room videotaping helps
keep them at ease and shows you as a little less pervy. But,
honestly, it was a titty flick, people either got that or
they didn’t. And if they didn’t get it, we didn’t want them
- as we knew they’d bring negative Diva energy on set -
which is the last thing you can afford on a zero budget
movie. In Los Angeles you’d be surprised what some actors
will do to get a credit on a feature length film and be on
IMDb. So in casting Mary, the hooker and the TNA girls, we
promised them actual parts with lines, some of which sadly
got cut - but also appear in the DVD outtakes.
TJ: I would advise you not to
“trick” them. We made a point to be 100 percent honest about
the nudity requirements for each of the roles, and if we
sensed that they were the least bit apprehensive about it we
would go with someone else… the last thing you want is for
them to back out last minute or accuse you of coercing or
manipulating them into doing something they didn’t want to
do.
Check out the behind the scenes documentary “Blood, Guts &
Cleaning Supplies” on the DVD. There is a segment that goes
into this topic.
GS: “The Janitor” features
urine, semen and more blood and guts (and cleaning supplies)
than many other horror films out there. Were there any
bodily fluids you forgot?
AS: Well, you forgot vomit -
Mitchell Roche, our vomit guy, is actually one of my
favorite re-occurring bits.
GS: Let’s side-track this for a
moment. Andy, what opportunities has “United 300″ opened up
for you? No doubt it brought a lot of attention that the
less-mainstream “Janitor” had missed.
AS: Sure, but the biggest reward
was just the experience of being recognized in such a large
forum. Being able to share that moment with my wife, my
family and my friends that have supported me through my
years of filmmaking attempts gave me all that much more
drive and passion to “keep going” as Lionel might say. I’m
now repped at United Talent Agency - which gives me a
serious venue to pitch my ideas, develop and pitch around
town. I’ve got nothing signed yet, but I’ll keep at it…
eventually something will hit. One idea I can share is an
“animated” take using The Janitor characters - I’ve been
meeting with flash animators, hoping to connect with
somebody out there who might be into partnering up on it -
if you’re interested or know anybody who can draw, please do
drop me a line (andy@secretsauce.tv)
GS: I’m always looking for juicy
Hollywood gossip. Any MTV after-party stories involving
Hasselhoff?
AS: No Hasselhoff, sadly - but I do
think Ron Jeremy gave me pink eye!
First, they sat me behind King
Leonidas himself, Gerard Butler. He was such a nice guy.
Totally knew about “United 300″ and was all happy to meet me
- then he goes, “But, seriously, you thought I just yelled
all the time?” (laughs) It totally took me off guard, so I
just played it off. “Oh, come on, I’m sure it’s Zach’s fault
- he probably just directed ya ‘louder’” - he laughed and
said “actually, yeah”. I reassured him, “Dude, your
performance was amazing, you’ve inspired more people than I
can think of.” I called my buddy Scott who portrayed him in
my spoof and asked if he’d say hello - he did happily - and
they spoke for a few minutes.
The after party was just as
surreal, I walk in to the back lot at Universal Studio
(where the show and party were held) and they’ve been
playing the show on loop in the background, and as I’m
making my entrance, people are congratulating me, and
suddenly my speech comes up on this huge jumbo screen - all
these people - Pedro from Napoleon Dynamite, one of the
stars from Prison Break, Jerry Bruckheimer, Michael Bay, etc
are all giving me pats on the back, thumbs up, etc. Super
crazy.
But the funniest Janitor related
gossip, was back when we were shooting, we tried really hard
to get Ron Jeremy to make an appearance. Someone lived by
his building and saw him passed out in his car all the time,
plus we had Lloyd call him for us. But ultimately he passed.
So I’m walking around the MTV party and suddenly Ron Jeremy
comes up to me! He tells me how great the short was, and
even admits “My friend _______ submitted too, he told me to
vote for his, but when I saw yours, I couldn’t call his the
best — yours was way funnier.” I then told him about how he
passed on Janitor and he turns to his agent saying “I passed
down work??” At that point he apologized and gave me his
card. Told me to call him directly next time. So I’ll make
sure we get Ron in Janitor 2 this time - just gotta wear
gloves, because I woke up the next morning, after shaking so
many hands and no sink near by, with a bad case of Pink Eye!
Damn those porn stars.
GS: Was it difficult to share a
room with Michael Bay without calling him a no-talent hack?
AS: (laughs) Come on, “The Rock”
was pretty damn fun. I dunno, Pearl Harbor was horrible, and
I didn’t love Transformers, but visually both kept me
interested (Megan Fox more so than Optimus Prime). (laughs)
I guess I’m pussing out in joining the Bay Haters Club and
calling him a hack in print, just like TJ who pussed out
when I tried to call [a notable horror director] a hack, now
that guy I don’t get at all, [his] movies suck. TJ wouldn’t
let me call [the director] a douchebag at the Fangoria
convention in Burbank. His [upcoming movie] trailer was
pretty great, though.
GS: TJ, want to respond to that?
TJ: No thanks, man. I guess I’m a
“puss”… Andy can be brash because he doesn’t go to the
horror conventions, screenings, parties etc.
Andy: You’re missing a great chance
to get TJ to blush.
[Gavin notes: TJ had wished me to
remove the reference to the horror director out of respect
for that individual and the industry. As I found it to be a
perfect follow-up to the Michael Bay question, I have
compromised and left the conversation in but removing the
man’s name, leaving our readers to guess!]
GS: Another reader, Chelsea,
asks, “Were you afraid that spoofing a 9/11 film would come
off as being in poor taste?”
AS: The concept for the spoof came
from my best buddy Daniel Hartley. He pitched it more as a
tasteless joke, but when I heard him say “United 300″ I took
it seriously, and soon we both agreed how badly we wanted to
see 300 Spartans kick the shit out of terrorists. I don’t
think we “spoofed” United 93, the film or the event. I don’t
think anyone can say we made fun of those victims. As
tasteless as I can be, I would never want to hurt those
families. I wanted to inspire people.
We were very careful with the
connections we made between our 300 spoof and their film, we
made the terrorists German, we didn’t use knives, we didn’t
say “let’s roll”. So to answer the question, did I think
some people would be offended? Of course. But I wasn’t
afraid to make it. I got e-mails from family members who
lost people in the attacks, from soldiers, even actors from
the United 93 film — all with 100% support for our short. So
that felt great.
GS: TJ, let’s talk about your
non-Janitor career. You’re also an accomplished musician.
What is the current status of Modern Movement and/or The
Charles Shaw Project (with Aimee Lynn Chadwick, whom our
readers know from “Return of the Living Dead” parts four and
five)? And, for those following along at home, who is
Charles Shaw?
TJ: “Modern Movement” is a punk
band currently on hiatus. “The Charles Shaw Project” was an
acoustic folk band named after a cheap 2 dollar wine that
Aimee and I would drink when we would sit down to write. You
can check out the bands here:
www.myspace.com/modernmovement
www.myspace.com/thecharlesshawproject
GS: Andy, let’s stray even
farther now. This is really off-topic, but I can’t help but
notice you’re an out-spoken supporter of a certain
presidential candidate. Without getting too preachy (we’re
bipartisan at Killer Reviews), any words to share on the
state of politics or the world today?
AS: Well, to be honest, I hate
people who preach their views about politics, unless they’re
asked to do so. I’ve got nothing to hide, and since you
asked — I’ll tell you. I, like many in this country, got fed
up with politics. To me the state of our country, over the
past 8 years is so corrupt, tarnished, battered and bruised
— it’s hard to not just wanna give up on it all. But I got
dragged to an Obama rally — and man I have to admit, I got
swept up by the passion he has. I truly believe that guy is
the real deal. Sure some say, “oh he’s just preaching, yes
we can do this, yes we can do that, but how???” I honestly
could care less about his policies (even though I also think
they’re strong). I’m more impressed by his intelligence and
ability to lead and inspire — not continually divide us,
like one popular millionaire in a pant-suit. I’m so sick and
tired of two family dynasties (Bush and Clinton) in charge
of this country for the past 20+ years. I’m a freakin’
liberal, and I can’t stand Hillary — but even most
conservatives I know have trouble knocking Obama. To me that
says everything about the possibility of the future, and I
can’t wait to see it all unfold over the coming months.
GS: Now, TJ, let’s try to wrap
this all back together again with some general genre
questions. Is horror going in the right direction or the
wrong direction? Personally, I love the rise of
multi-theater festivals like After Dark’s 8 Films to Die
For. But the remakes are a drag and I think the “torture
horror” genre has more than played itself out.
TJ: Horror has always come in
waves. You have to take the good with the bad. The market
gets over-saturated but there are usually a couple of movies
that stand out every year. Rest assured that the genre isn’t
going anywhere, no matter how many remakes they decide to
cash-in on. Being a horror fan, you have to do your
homework, there will always be the little underground movie
that some horror fanatic made on his own volition that will
blow you away. The big budget, A-list horror that you can
see at your local Regal Cinema isn’t it… I don’t think it
ever was…
GS: I think you might be one of
the few people who despises horror remakes even more than I
do. Any remakes lately that just pissed you off?
TJ: Remakes are basically a slap in
the face to us all. You know that the goal behind its entire
inception is to exploit its built-in audience. They’re
basically capitalizing on a cult film’s established fan
base, and they KNOW that as much as we bitch we will still
see the remake in one way or another… That being said, there
are some remakes (I can count on one hand) that have been
worth checking out.
GS: Let’s wind this down the
most generic way possible — what can fans be expecting on
the horizon from Signore and Nordaker, either together or
independently?
AS: Well, I know TJ’s working on a
project, that perhaps he’ll fill you in on. I’d be more than
happy to help him with it in whatever way possible. But I
don’t see any clear joint directing ventures anytime soon.
TJ: I just finished another
splatter script that I hope to get the funding to shoot this
year.
Andy is going about it the smart
way and wants to try his hand outside of horror. I’m just a
horror geek that will probably inevitably wind up
typecasting myself into the genre, get jaded and dwindle
away like all the other “horror directors”.
If you want to stay updated on my
projects, you can add me on MySpace :
www.myspace.com/teajay
AS: I’m writing two scripts — both
R-rated comedies. One’s a really clever Will Ferrell type
vehicle that my friend came up with, and another is sort of
“Parody Movie” — that will be NOTHING like the shit that was
“Date Movie”, “Epic Movie” or “Meet the Spartans” — I can’t
believe people are still paying to see movies by those guys.
I heard “Spartans” wasn’t even 70 minutes, so they had to
add 18 minutes of bloopers/credits to create its (UNDER 80
MINUTE) running time.
I also have a few series and shorts
being pitched around town for the web — I’ll be sure to keep
you posted. Best way to keep up to date with me and my
projects is to check out
My
Website, or by adding me on
MySpace Page
Thanks for the excellent questions,
mate. You’ve clearly done your research and showed a level
of interest most others don’t waste time sharing. If you
need anything else, don’t hesitate to let me know. As TJ
will confirm, I don’t have a problem shutting up or talking
about myself!
GS: No, Andy, thank you. And thank
you, TJ. You guys were great and lots of fun to throw random
questions at. Killer Reviews will keep pimping out “The
Janitor” and we hope to see more greatness from both of you
soon!
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