AN INTERVIEW WITH FILMMAKER RUSS EMANUEL
Occupants, the science fiction film that has been making waves on the independent circuit. As well as being selected to feature in a number of film festivals, this ambitious project is also getting it’s own tie-in graphic novel. Movie-Blogger.com’s very own Ian Hornbaker got the chance to sit down and chat to the director of the movie, Russ Emanuel, all about the film and the graphic novel.
Hi Russ, it’s great to meet you.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got into filmmaking?
I got into filmmaking due to the influence of composer John Williams. I remember watching the Richard Donner version of Superman back in the early 1980s and I just fell in love with his score. As a kid, I did stop motion videos with my Lego’s, building medieval sets with shoe boxes. Then when I was a senior in highschool, I created a Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode for a class project, something that got me into the USC Cinema School.
What a great way to get into the industry, by simply doing what you loved.
Can you tell us some information about your upcoming feature film Occupants?
It is a film about a young couple named Annie and Neil Curtis (played by Briana White and Michael Pugliese) who discover a parallel version of themselves on footage that Annie is recording for her new documentary – a psychological take on voyeurism, a film that shows the potential darker side of each of our personalities that we didn’t know existed. The film starts out as found footage, then becomes science fiction with the parallel universe angle, and then pure horror.
I personally love the found footage style, but usually it’s reserved for horror movies. What made you use this style for Occupants, which is more of a sci-fi movie?
It was the brainchild of the writer Julia Camara, and I was immediately hooked. It is basically a psychological piece, causing our fun-loving cheerful main characters to doubt themselves, since their parallel doubles border on the darker side of life.
It’s a fascinating concept.
One thing I found interesting about Occupants was how it used still cameras on tripods throughout the house instead of handheld. What made you choose this style?
I chose this so that we could inter-cut between the real and parallel worlds to show both differences and similarities. For me, that’s what made the editing so interesting, since a lot of thought went into the look of both worlds. For example, working with my producer designer Tatiana Kuilanoff, in the dining room, the parallel couple have a 3-piece dining table, symbolic of their failed marriage, whereas our real couple has a 2-piece dining table, again symbolizing their closeness and love. Another example is the sound design work by my longtime collaborator Sean Fahimian who created a unique ‘hum’ for the parallel world.
Wow, I noticed some of the differences between the two worlds, but I didn’t realize how much thought actually was put into it.
How long did the film take to create, from the original idea until the last editing session?
My longtime producer Howard Nash first optioned the script in late February 2014 from Julia Camara and we completed the film on December 11, 2015.
What was the most difficult part of bringing Occupants to life?
I think the most difficult part was finding how to keep a film that had only 2 main characters and taking place almost all the time in one house interesting for 81 minutes. I thought the acting, music, editing among others things were the reason the audience has been receptive to this film at the various comic book conventions and film festivals we’ve screened at over the last few months.
It is definitely a captivating story.
I love the idea of alternate dimensions, in fact Sliders is still one of my favorite TV shows of all time. There are so many theories about the possibilities of alternate universes. Did you find it difficult trying to incorporate all the information and theories inside of one film?
Not really because honestly the parallel universe theory is just that, a theory and a credible one at that. That means, since we can deal with infinite universes, we have infinite possibilities to branch off of. For this film, we chose to do it in one house, although the film establishes that there are many others who have witnessed this phenomenon – which you can see at the Peterson Research Institute (which is the company that Picardo’s character runs).
I’ll have to check out that website, thanks.
Robert Picardo (Star Trek: Voyager) is in Occupants and all of your previous feature films (Chasing the Green, P.J., and The Legends of Nethiah). How did you get such a great actor involved in all of your films?
It was because of my producer Howard Nash, who happens to know him. I was just honored to be able to work with an actor of his caliber.
Where and how can our readers watch Occupants?
A couple weeks ago we got distribution with ITN Distribution, so the film should be available on such sites as Amazon Prime in the upcoming months, as well as Blu-Ray and DVD. We are also screening at various upcoming film festivals:
- Toronto Independent Film Festival (Toronto, Canada) –September 13, 2016
- Great Lakes International Film Festival (Erie, PA) –September 22 – October 1, 2016
- Downtown Film Festival Los Angeles (Los Angeles, CA) – September 23, 2016
- Velvet Rope Film Festival (Sacramento, CA) – September 30 – October 2, 2016
- Shriekfest Horror Film Festival (Hollywood, CA) –October 6-9, 2016
- Ellensburg Film Festival (Ellensburg, WA) – October 7-9, 2016
- Louisville’s International Festival of Film (Louisville, KY) – October 15, 2016
- Kansas International Film Festival (Overland Park, KS) –November 4-10, 2016
- Fright Night Film Fest (Louisville, KY) – November 25, 2016
Congratulations for being picked up for distribution. I know that can be a really exciting moment for filmmakers. We’ll make sure our readers keep an eye out for these upcoming festivals, as well as looking for it on those streaming services.
Do you have any directors you take inspiration from?
My favorite directors are Alfred Hitchcock and Steven Spielberg. Specifically, for this film, I was inspired by Rear Window, which is also a film about voyeurism. As for Speilberg, it’s the use of music in his films, which when I worked with my composer Vasilis Milesis for this film, I made sure there was a specific music arc, where music was almost non-existent at the beginning of the film, but slowly but surely became more dominant as the film progressed, capping off with a rousing finale in the end credits.
I can definitely see Rear Window being a huge influence. The feeling of spying into other people’s lives is something that has always been a little unnerving.
Do you have any other upcoming project you can tell us about?
I am directing a concept short called Assassin’s Apprentice in early December, starring Tarah Paige and Robert Picardo. It is a precursor to a feature film project already written. I am also involved in a horror film called The Dollhouse, which we aim to shoot next summer in Macedonia, Ohio. And we have officially commissioned Occupants writer Julia Camara to begin writing Occupants 2.
You definitely have your hands full for a little while. Hopefully all these projects work out the way you are hoping. We will be keeping an eye out for these in the future.
I heard that there is going to be a comic book tie-in to Occupants, can you tell us anything about what kind of story it will tell?
The tie-in, being drawn by DC/Marvel Comics artist Dave Beaty and edited by the film’s associate producer Eric Kask, takes place during Acts 1 and 2 of the Occupants feature film and the minor characters in the film become major characters in the comic book, and vice versa. That means, you will see cameos by Annie and Neil Curtis, as well as Dr. Peterson (played by Robert Picardo). We will also be having a comic book release party on October 22 at the Phoenix Comic Fan Fest where we will unveil this 24-page comic book.
That sounds awesome.
I am an avid comic book reader and love the unique style of storytelling. How did you find writing a comic book to be different than working on a movie?
Honestly, it was exciting because I got to create an additional story that further explored the Occupants universe. The fact that we raised 225% during our Indiegogo campaign makes me hopeful there is a demand for further comic book stories and feature films. You can see our campaign HERE.
I know I will be picking up a copy. I’ll encourage our readers to do the same.
If our readers wish to see other projects you have been a part of, what is the best manner they can do so?
Please go to my official website RussEm.com or see my IMDb page HERE.
Once again, thank you so much for your time and we here at Movie-Blogger.com wish the best of luck in your festival screenings and upcoming projects.
Thank you so much for taking the time to interview me.
If you planning on attending any film festivals then we highly recommend you keep an eye out for Occupants and watch out for the tie-in novel in the very near future.
