New Fears Eve, the latest film from local creators P.J. Starks and Eric Huskisson, is well on its way to being complete. Featuring a main cast of local actors plus some celebrity appearances, the slasher pic blends horror and comedy while still focusing on a character-driven plot.
Filming for this project is about halfway finished, and Starks said the current schedule has them continuing through June.
“Production has had its hiccups but we’re used to that by now with this being our fourth feature,” Huskisson said. “There are a lot of new faces within this production, so considering, I would say production actually is going great. I’m very pleased with how everything is looking up to this point.”
Most of the filming takes place in an office setting, and the group has already filmed all of the scenes with celebrity actors including Jeffrey Reddick, Felissa Rose and Dave Sheridan.
Starks said this was a cool experience because this is the first time they’ve done a film with celebrity actors at the studio level. Alongside the celebrity actors, New Fears Eve features an entirely local crew and main cast.
“Our leads and supporting cast have done a tremendous job giving gravitas to the dialogue through great performances,” Starks said. “It’s funny in the right spots, it’s serious in the right spots and bloody when it needs to be. As a slasher fan and filmmaker, it’s been a lot of fun putting my own spin on the sub-genre.”
Huskisson said his favorite part of this project thus far is watching all the new talent and old talent mesh together.
This script is a different from past projects and is more character-driven.
“Whether I’m writing something dramatic or even action oriented, I almost always find a way to inject humor into the story somehow,” Starks said. “Next to horror, comedy is my other favorite genre. Going into this particular script, I had planned on it being a fairly straightforward horror narrative. Over the past several years I’ve gone through a lot in my personal life and knew I’d planned to use this to tackle my feelings about it. As I started writing, I found the characters and situations became more interesting and relatable through farce. Despite the real life situations being much more dramatic, I was able to see the flippant nature of each scenario.”
This project was no small undertaking, and the crowdfunding campaign is still ongoing. The producers did reach their initial goal, but are still hoping to raise additional funds to make the project bigger and better. Plus, Starks said the funds will help with post-production.
Starks said they are still offering local businesses a chance to become a sponsor.
“Your support helps us get the film produced and in turn becomes a unique branding opportunity for your company,” he said.
Current sponsors are Musick Studios, Asylum Tattoo and Art Gallery, and Fetta Specialty Pizza and Spirits. For more information on how to donate or become a sponsor, email [email protected].
