Eugene: Uh, what camera were you using?


Jeff: Uh, I shot that on High 8 VHS, the same as the original. Yeah, so it was designed to be more or less a companion piece to the original, kind of. To watch right before to seamlessly tie it together. It was even shot on the same week that they shot the original in in 2020. They shot theirs back in October 97, the third week of October. And I had to make sure that I shot mine at the same time. Because all the same original shooting locations and everything. So that’s why it looked, you know, pretty seamless because it was shot in the exact same places as the original shots. 


Eugene:  Oh yeah, that was impressive. Especially with syncing time and keeping the quality of the video. That is not easy in our HD world. 


Jeff: Yeah yeah, so. Shoot. Um. I just think the cool part of the aesthetic was when you did the digital transfer from VHS is what made it more grainy and a little more gnarly so that was one of my favorite parts of it is how it accidentally turned out that way.


Eugene:  Yeah, that’s fantastic. So, when coming up with this project, how many people did you have or do you have working with you trying to finish the script and just coming up with the plans as to just, you know, how the story was going to uh. Fulfull itself. 


Jeff: It was a solo trip at the beginning because this was also shot at the height of COVID. So having a team kind of wasn’t an option just because you couldn’t be in close quarters and there was a lot of mandates and things like that. Hammering the script out was what I did alone early on and then I had to take kind of the close-knit, like, my girlfriend Meyer of course who played angel and the family members and things to keep it safe. But creating a fake 1994 in a COVID world was a challenge because of the cars in the background. And you really had to be careful not to um shoot people with masks and things like that so it was one of those things where the ambience was the key to it. But yeah, from a team standpoint, I had a ton of good help from friends and family once the script was hammered out. 


Eugene:  It’s perfect! I love how you made references to blockbuster and some 94 lexicon exactly 


Jeff: Yeah you can never find those maps anymore, they used to be everywhere! Yeah, and that was actually the funny thing about it was finding a map was impossible to find. So it was one of those instances where it was just the story was becoming a little bit real because I couldn't find a prop map, like an old map. So then I do find one, and it was at like, a Barnes and Noble or something, and it was waterproof so when it was tossed into the stream it wouldn’t be that big of a deal.


Eugene:  That’s nice. With the weather, and going through all the locations. How was it?

It was pretty good, it was a pretty good october. It wasn’t too hot or too cold, it was perfect. And Lucklily i did shoot it in 2020 because last october the same spot was too green, way too green, it was abnormally warm. And the foliage wouldn’t have looked the same as the original. So yeah, it was the perfect time to shoot it [in 2020]


Eugene:  Okay wonderful. I’ve noticed you’ve been able to keep the beard! Was maintaining the continuity with you know your hair and you know, your features, was that difficult throughout the production? 


Jeff: Yes? Well, kind of. I mean, it was kind of like the way I would normally walk around but it was shot over a couple of months just because it was just finding time. So stretching that original october all the way until february the next year. If yu look you can kind of definitely see that it’s time as time has taken the hair’s a little longer in some shots, but it wasn’t overly an issue. So it’s kind of normally what I’d wear but the um shave part at the end is what threw people off at work, when I had to shave for that part. But that was really fun.


Eugene:  Sequentially I think that when you did the shave parts that you- that was the last scene you probably-


Jeff: Yeah, yeah, that was exactly one of the last bars 


Eugene:  yeah. Save it for the end. That’s wonderful. The interactivity between you and the femal actress, your girlfriend am i correct? 


Jeff: Yes, Myra? 


Eugene:  Yes, yes. Like you know. Was this her, speaking Spanish, just like throwing that at you. Did it hurt? 


Jeff: Yeah, yeah, I knew she was getting that but it was very important that she kind of had to flip into that mentality where, you know, she was truly scared and she wasn’t gonnan mask it with her second language which would be English, or, you know, have to rattle off to say just how terrifying it really was. And how she couldn’t believe she fell into that trap. But um no, it was important to me to have her be comfortable. At the same time, putting all jokes aside, uh, when you actually have the baby noises come out of nowhere, that is, uh you know was that something else? I’m pretty sure, like, the blair witch had at least two sequels, is that correct? And uh, I think the most important thing for me that they did was to acknowledge the lore that they had previously established and not create my own thing to hinder that. I based a lot of what Eduardo Sanches had put into it and a lot of what Ben Rock the production designer put into it. And they had this backstory when the first movie came out about, um the Burkittsville seven. It was kind of seven children that were either abducted or killed. So, um, loonie had also mentioned in this, the main character did accidentally run over a kid in a drunken issue. So in my mind that definitely linked together. The past is always gonna come back to haunt you kind of thing. So whether it was the burkittsville 7 or one of the kids that was killed a long time ago, or if it was the child he accidentally killed, it’s something coming back, and it’s slowly creeping into him. But, ultimately, he didn’t pay the price, his girlfriend did. 


Eugene:  Yeah, lovely. I guess you answered this question earlier also since you mentioned COVID, but were there any difficulties in actually finding people for that? 


Jeff: No, it’s just that I used all my friends and family. That was actually one of the criticisms when I frist screened it, was that you could tell these weren’t actors. But I think they did a really good job. I think under the training and circumstances everyone did really well. I didn’t really have the budget to pay anyone or recruit actors, so it was just friends and family. So my sister, who was one of the scenes that she gave him the clue to the map, she’s actually helping out with marketing now too. There’s an old school technique actually, like placing qr codes and stuff for the movie link inside different places like bookstores and stuff so people stumble across it and see it. It’s one of the old school ways of getting people to watch, and i’m so appreciative of that.


Eugene:  It’s lovely, yeah. Have you been touring with us or? 


Jeff: No no, I actually won a couple of awards on like independent little film freeway circuits and that kind of thing but i haven't’ really launched it yet. It was very quiet. Last may I put it on youtube and had a little link put on reddit, but I haven’t done anything to push it. I don’t currently have any social media so I can’t put anything on there. But i’m just waiting for it to catch up the right way. I am looking into perhaps getting an instagram for my production house and just kind of tap into a new audience, because I haven't spent any time advertising it at all.


Eugene:  Are we the first to actually screen this or? 


Jeff: Yeah, besides youtube. Haha. I mean, it was available on youtube before. But yes, this is the first time in a formal setting. And I just wanted to say, thank you for organizing this. I know that it’s got to take a lot of work but I really appreciate the time and um everything you did to set this up. 


Eugene:  Yes, of course.


Jeff: Uh, we actually have Suze Lukski that was the um, the shop clerk with the flannel shirt that gave the character a clue, she’s actually tuning in to watch. 


Eugene:  Well, hello! Haha. Were there any difficulties in the production? 


Jeff: Actually, at the beginning of the story, it just wasn’t gelling very well. I think that was the most difficult thing to overcome, was how to connect the dots and then have it seamlessly pair into the original movie. But, after a couple months of just toying with the editing, I think that was the most difficult part. Was having it tie in. 


Eugene:  Wonderful. Last but not least, where can we find out more? I know you don’t have too many social media. 


Jeff: I can list my youtube. It’s still in pre production, the next movie is called unison. It’s not a found footage movie and it’s not 100 percent original so I think the legends of Burkittsville is probably going to be my last found footage style. I think it's an amazing genre, but I think i’m ready to move on. So my next one is probably going to be a little bit bigger and have more people involved. But the script is already punched out 60 pages and um, looking forward to it. The trailer will probably come out on Monday.


Eugene:  Wonderful, wonderful. Well, thank you so much jeff! Feel free to enjoy the rest of the festival and we’re happy to have you be a part of the FanFilm awards this year.