Exclusive: Justin M. Seaman Talks The Deathday Party
The last time we spoke to Justin M. Seaman, he was getting ready to shoot his movie The Barn. With that film now finished and hitting the festival circuit, he’s currently putting the finishing touches on his next project, a segment for the anthology sequel film Volumes of Blood: Horror Stories called “The Deathday Party.” We were intrigued by the idea, so we tracked him down to learn more.
DC: Without giving much away, can you talk about the plot?
JS: In my segment, called “The Deathday Party,” we are introduced to a married couple named John and Almeda, who like to celebrate the husband’s birthday by painting different rooms in their house each year. On this particular year, the next door neighbors of many years, Fred and Nancy, decide to stop by for a surprise birthday party… suddenly horrific things begin to happen.
DC: So, you describe this as a very odd screwball tale comparable to the likes of Parents or The People Under the Stairs?
JS: Yes, a very odd group of characters with some very unique dialogue and situations. I have to give producer P.J. Starks all the credit on that as he is the writer for this story. There are definitely some scenes in this segment that will follow these actors’ careers as very memorable moments.
DC: Did you try to make it tonally consistent with the rest of the shorts in the anthology, or is it its own thing?
JS: Honestly, I don’t know how the other stories play out or the vibe they are going for. I just tried to create P.J.’s story to the best of my ability while letting it portray the style I am accustom to so I also would feel like my stamp was left on the segment.
DC: How do you find the process of making a short compared to making a feature?
JS: Just as much work to some degree, especially since I believe I was the only filmmaker that lives 8 hours away from the filming location. So stress was super high, considering I had one weekend to shoot the entire segment with no chance of a redo.
DC: You shot the entire short in around 35 hours; that sounds like real guerrilla filmmaking!
JS: It really was, but luckily Blood Moon Pictures put together an amazing crew and cast and it went great. We had some hiccups here and there but nothing like I had encountered on other shoots. It was a great experience, and I’m honored they invited me to be a part of this project.
DC: What have you got planned for the future?
JS: Well, my feature film The Barn is doing the festival circuit at the moment and will be out on DVD in October. Our Austin, Texas, premiere was at the Alamo Drafthouse (South Lamar) just last night (July 7th), presented by Garth Manor Cinema with cast and crew in attendance. As far as new projects go, I am co-producing a horror anthology called Cryptids with Zane Hersherberger (Director of Photography of The Barn), and we are working on a feature-length zombie outbreak film called They’re Not Dead written by Rocky Gray (formerly of the rock group Evanescence). So my schedule is staying very busy, but I’m loving it!
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