0:09

Welcome to Coast to Coast Creatives , a

0:11

podcast for and about working

0:13

professional artists within the entertainment

0:15

industry . I'm Joe Funk

0:17

, and here we interview actors , directors

0:20

, photographers , writers and many

0:22

, many more . Today , we'll

0:24

be chatting with Diane Foster , alison

0:26

Lobel and Kelly Grant . Together

0:29

, they form the creative powerhouse behind

0:31

the upcoming film Easter Bloody

0:33

Easter . Alison discusses

0:35

the writing process for this film and

0:38

how it feels to watch her first full-length

0:41

screenplay be brought to life . Kelly

0:44

, stepping into the role of producer , talks

0:46

about the act of juggling the technical

0:48

and artistic sides of production and

0:51

how her role as an actor informed her

0:53

judgment in her new role . And

0:55

Diane , the director and star of

0:57

Easter Bloody Easter , provides insight

1:00

ranging from the hiring of department heads

1:02

to seeking domestic and international

1:04

distribution . Please check out the links

1:06

in the show notes to see how you yourself

1:08

can watch this film , and please be sure

1:10

to go and pre-order your copy today

1:12

on iTunes . All right

1:15

, let's dive on in with Diane Allison

1:17

and Kelly of Easter Bloody Easter

1:19

. We

1:22

are now rolling . Everything you're saying

1:24

is recorded and can

1:26

be used in a court of law . Welcome

1:29

, everybody . How are we all doing today

1:31

?

1:32

Awesome Great .

1:35

I love it . I love to hear it . You're all calling

1:37

in from Los Angeles , los Angeles

1:39

area , and with us we have Diane

1:41

Foster , alison Lobel and

1:44

Kelly Grant . How , how

1:46

is it going ?

1:47

It's amazing . It is a whirlwind

1:50

experience releasing a film and

1:53

we are moving and grooving and

1:55

talking to a million people and

1:57

it's amazing . It's amazing , very , very grateful

2:00

.

2:00

Yeah , I've never experienced anything quite

2:02

like this because , yeah , I've been working on many indies

2:05

throughout the years but never have gotten like press

2:08

and like a big premiere . So it's

2:10

really just so exciting .

2:12

I can't wait and

2:14

the premiere is the end of March

2:16

, correct ?

2:18

Yes , at the New Art Theater .

2:20

And this has been quite a process , especially for you

2:22

, allison , because you are the writer

2:25

of this project . How long have

2:27

you been working on Easter

2:29

, bloody Easter ?

2:30

I wrote it in 2020 . And

2:33

it took me probably like three months to

2:35

write . And then I

2:37

showed it to Diane and Kelly and they really loved it

2:39

and we're like let's make this movie . And

2:42

I spent probably about two

2:44

or three months doing more rewrites in 2021

2:46

. And yeah , then we shot it and

2:49

now it's coming out .

2:50

I love that . I'm so excited . So many people

2:52

have those stories about writing and creating

2:55

projects during the COVID times

2:57

, during the lockdown times , when it's like I

2:59

have nothing else to do . I'm locked in my apartment

3:01

. What can I do to be

3:03

creative ?

3:04

Exactly .

3:05

And you two , you three of you , you , you

3:08

have worked together , known each other

3:10

for years now . Give us a little bit of a backstory

3:12

on your relationship .

3:13

Yeah , we have known each other

3:15

a long time and have worked together several

3:18

times and it's just been amazing . We met

3:20

at acting school in Beverly Hills and

3:22

we actually did a play together in Beverly

3:24

Hills and San Francisco and

3:26

that sort of set everything off

3:29

because we loved working together

3:31

so much . And both

3:33

shows went really , really well and

3:35

we were like we want to keep doing this and actually

3:37

at first we were going to take

3:39

it on the road . We were talking about doing the play

3:41

in Texas , we were talking about doing it in New York

3:43

, and then the pandemic hit and

3:46

we were like , ok , we kind of have to shift

3:48

because we can't do the play

3:51

anymore , because you know , nobody can go

3:53

out and see us and you can't be

3:55

in a public forum . And then

3:57

Alison wrote the movie and

4:00

it was just sort of the perfect balance

4:03

of everything . It was the experience

4:05

that we had working together on the play and then

4:07

her incredible , beautiful

4:09

mind of making this world

4:12

of Easter , bloody Easter

4:14

and , you know , putting them together . It

4:16

was really exciting to then go on a journey of

4:18

making a film together , which is a whole

4:20

different thing than doing a theatrical production

4:22

.

4:23

Oh yeah , very , very different experience

4:25

, and you all wear multiple

4:27

hats on this project as

4:29

well . Let's go down the line and

4:31

explain your various roles within

4:34

Easter , bloody Easter .

4:35

Okay , I guess I'll begin . I

4:38

am the director , star

4:41

of the film and producer , and

4:43

the production company that I have , wally

4:45

Bird Productions , was the one

4:47

who put the movie together .

4:49

Hi , I'm Alison Lobel and I'm the writer

4:51

and I'm also an actor in the film

4:54

and a producer and actually

4:56

composed a couple songs . But we have an amazing

4:58

composer also who did the rest of the music

5:00

, mark Vogel . He is incredible

5:02

and he made this incredible tapestry

5:05

of scary sounds for all the monsters

5:07

.

5:07

Yes , I saw . I saw some something in writing about

5:10

the music and I

5:12

can't wait to get into that later . And Kelly

5:14

, how about you ?

5:15

I'm Kelly Grant and I

5:18

wear the hat of actor and first

5:20

time producer .

5:21

Amazing . So , yeah , you're all

5:23

balancing so much within this project

5:25

and this , this sounds like quite

5:28

a unique project

5:30

. Let me let me direct this question

5:32

at you , allison , since you are the writer

5:34

, without getting into any spoilers

5:37

, give us a little overview of the plot

5:39

.

5:40

Sure , easter Bunny Easter

5:42

. It's a horror comedy about

5:44

an evil Easter bunny , a jackalope

5:46

, destroying a small town , texas's

5:49

Easter celebration . So

5:51

yeah , they get warnings

5:53

about these evil bunnies that are coming , but they

5:55

put on the Easter celebration anyway and there's

5:57

a lot of gore and death and hilarity that

6:00

ensues .

6:01

I think it's funny when I hear

6:03

you describe these scripts

6:05

that you work on . I've talked to you about several

6:07

of your scripts before and you are

6:09

just such a light bubbly

6:11

person and then you come out with there's

6:14

comedy , but you come out with some

6:16

horror films , so there's

6:18

some gore in there . Where does this

6:21

come from ?

6:22

It's a good point . I'm actually a scaredy

6:24

cat too , so I can't watch really

6:26

scary movies . But I think that's the reason I

6:28

like writing horror is because the

6:30

way my brain works is an

6:33

overactive imagination , and so I picture the creepiest

6:35

, grossest things , and so I

6:37

can put them on paper very easily , because they're

6:39

what keep me up at night . And actually that's how I got the

6:41

inspiration for this film . It

6:44

was during the pandemic . I was taking a bath and I heard

6:46

little skittering noises on my rooftop

6:48

and I was like listen , it's probably a tiny

6:50

little animal , but it was creeping me out so

6:53

much and I was like that's fun . It's fun

6:55

when something small and sweet can be so scary

6:57

. And I'd heard at some point that it's really

6:59

good to write a holiday movie because they're

7:01

really easy to pitch out , because streamers

7:04

are always looking for them , and so I was

7:06

like you know what that could be ? A bunny on the rooftop

7:08

. And I just flowed with

7:10

that and I was like I'm gonna make a scary

7:12

bunny movie , do you ?

7:13

do you have ? This is for all of you . Do you have

7:16

a favorite holiday

7:18

film , like a nostalgic

7:20

film that you look back on ? They're like oh

7:22

, this reminds me of Christmas , this reminds me of fourth

7:24

of July is . Do you have any favorites ?

7:27

Oh , my gosh For horror in

7:29

particular , or just any in general

7:31

. Oh yeah , I mean absolutely

7:34

For me . I Halloween is , you know

7:36

, classic , obviously to watch at Halloween

7:39

, but also , like I

7:41

love home Alone , I literally watch that

7:43

every Christmas , like I'm

7:45

a little

7:47

kid , like I just love that movie so

7:49

much .

7:50

Oh yeah , Can't go wrong there . How about

7:52

you two ?

7:53

For me probably . Hocus Pocus is

7:55

one of my favorite Halloween movies and , joe

7:58

, you and I have watched Muppet , christmas Carol that's got

8:00

to be my favorite Christmas movie

8:02

of all time . Oh , I love that movie too , yeah

8:05

For me .

8:05

I watch like every Christmas movie every

8:07

year and all the bad ones

8:09

that come out . But Elf , I

8:11

think , is Christmas for me

8:14

.

8:15

I love it . I love it One of my favorites

8:17

and the tone , just from watching the

8:19

trailer kind of reminded me of this . I love

8:21

and we've probably watched this together . Allison I

8:23

love Krampus kind of reminded me of this . I

8:26

love and we've probably watched this together , allison I love Krampus

8:28

. It came out seven or eight years ago , a Christmas

8:30

horror film with a lot of camp and a lot of humor in it and a lot

8:32

of practical puppets

8:34

and things like that . It's

8:36

like , oh , this just looks right

8:38

up my alley . Yes

8:41

.

8:41

I love that comparison . That is perfect

8:43

, exactly .

8:44

Yeah absolutely . That's a

8:46

. That's a Christmas staple of mine .

8:48

Every year I force somebody to sit

8:50

down and watch Krampus with me because it's so good and

8:53

this is a tangent , but I was in New Zealand

8:55

and we went to the Weta workshop where they

8:57

built all the stuff for Lord of the Rings

8:59

. They also did Krampus and so we saw

9:01

some of the practicals for that and I was blown

9:03

away . I love that movie because of how they

9:06

used the puppetry and everything . We definitely

9:08

leaned into that in our film as well .

9:10

It's a lost art form of

9:12

puppetry and miniatures

9:15

within filmmaking . In my opinion

9:17

, here in Atlanta there's a museum here

9:19

that is like the National Museum of

9:21

Puppetry , where they have all

9:23

of the Henson , dark

9:25

Crystal , sesame Street , everything

9:28

like that . So if you're ever in Atlanta , come check that

9:30

out , because it's really cool to see

9:32

all of these puppets , all of these animatics

9:35

and things like that .

9:38

So yes , I would definitely go there . That

9:40

sounds amazing .

9:41

Yeah , check it out .

9:42

I'm totally into that . We used all practical

9:45

effects in Easter , bloody

9:47

Easter . We had um Jesse Velez

9:49

of Raptor house effects who did our demon bunnies

9:51

. He created the hand um

9:54

on Wednesday Netflix . Oh

9:56

cool , yeah , which was incredible

9:59

to have him and and all these you know

10:01

, demon puppets . And then we had a couple

10:03

of different , um , wonderful special effects People . Then we had a couple of different wonderful

10:05

special effects people create the jackalope costume

10:07

for that character , and

10:09

again , all of our blood was done

10:12

in camera . All that stuff . You know

10:14

, I grew up watching that kind of stuff

10:16

and it was really important to do

10:18

it in camera and not , you

10:20

know , have to rely on it

10:22

. You know , doing it in post . I

10:25

think there's something really special about seeing

10:27

it done when you're doing it

10:29

in camera as opposed to afterward

10:31

.

10:32

Yeah , let's talk a little bit about that

10:34

Because , like we said , it's kind

10:36

of a lost art form and a

10:38

lot of the reasons why they

10:40

move towards digital effects

10:42

is budgetary reasons . It's

10:45

because , you know , we can create this

10:47

amazing , amazing landscape , the CGI

10:49

landscape on a computer , or

10:51

we could have these technicians working on all of these miniatures

10:54

and that could take weeks or months to

10:56

get that final , final image . So

10:59

when it came to Easter Bloody

11:01

Easter how did

11:03

that factor into the budget and

11:05

how important was it to bring

11:07

those practicals to life on screen ?

11:09

Yeah , it was really important

11:11

to do it in camera because

11:13

I think that the nature of the

11:15

film is very much quirky

11:19

and we wanted , you know

11:21

, we wanted to up the camp value certainly

11:23

of the film and I think doing it in

11:26

camera , as opposed to doing

11:28

it in post , really elevated

11:31

all of the different kills

11:33

Definitely . And I

11:35

think you know , budget wise we

11:37

were really lucky because we got incredible

11:40

people to do our special effects who

11:42

really know what they're doing and

11:44

wanted to do it , and we talked

11:47

through every single kill . We talked through

11:49

, you know , how each thing was

11:51

going to be laid out , how it was going to happen

11:53

. And you know , I think , that

11:55

originally there were some things that

11:58

Alison wrote that were amazing

12:00

. I think at one point , like the whole town was

12:02

destroyed and it was , like , you know

12:04

, steven Spielberg style , and

12:06

I was just like Alison we can't

12:08

do it that way . We cannot

12:11

have the airplane hit

12:13

Mulver , texas , you know . So

12:15

we had to kind of dial back

12:17

some of it and we figured out

12:19

a way how to do it that would work for our budget

12:22

but was also really exciting

12:24

for the audience and that , you know , we were able to really

12:26

hit . Those things have a high

12:28

kill count , as they say , which is important

12:31

, certainly in horror film and

12:33

and really just bring the magic

12:36

of practical effects to

12:39

this film . And we are so grateful

12:41

to the artists that we have because their talent

12:43

really shines through on this and it was

12:45

important for us to do that .

12:47

When you have a character that's CGI

12:49

, it's a lot harder to like , latch onto it

12:51

, and I think it's so much more

12:53

fun to have a villain that's like real

12:55

and solid and like the bunnies are actual

12:58

creatures . So , yeah , I always find

13:00

it more interesting watching practicals than

13:02

CGI .

13:03

Yeah , that's exactly what I was going to bring up . You

13:06

all have an acting background

13:08

so I'm sure you appreciated having

13:10

that physical interaction on set versus

13:13

. You have to go in as the director , diane , and say

13:15

it'll be here later , we're going to have a monster

13:17

here later . Kind of use your imagination . It's

13:19

such a different game to be interacting

13:22

on set even if it is with

13:24

a puppet .

13:26

It was more fun that way , like even the jackalope , like he

13:28

was a big human , and then

13:30

in the costume , like it was easy

13:33

to react to him .

13:35

So I appreciated that , that effect

13:37

yeah , he was like seven feet

13:39

tall with the costume on because it's

13:41

so huge and then it has ears and you

13:44

know , horns and all of that stuff

13:47

. And it was really cool because he was Jamie

13:49

Klein , who played the Jackalope , did

13:51

all the physicality of the Jackalope

13:53

, and then Miles Cooper , who voices

13:55

the role , was there on

13:57

set and he was reading the dialogue

13:59

right next to camera as

14:01

Jamie was doing the physicality , and

14:04

that really allowed us to

14:06

interact with him and really play

14:08

and I think , at the end of the day , that's that's

14:10

really what it's about . Creativity is about

14:13

playing and we we

14:15

were able to do that because , you know , everyone

14:17

was totally in and was

14:19

like let's , let's go there . You know , this is a giant

14:21

jackalope and we are talking to him .

14:28

I love it and you've brought all this nightmare fuel

14:30

to life . Alison , Thank you so much for making your own personal nightmares , a feature

14:32

film .

14:33

You're very welcome .

14:33

I appreciate it , and we're kind of delving into the world

14:36

of producing . Kelly

14:39

, I'd like to hear a little bit about

14:41

. You said this is your first

14:43

time producing , correct ? Yes

14:47

, how did you find both the balancing act of acting

14:49

and producing ? But how was producing

14:51

overall for you ? How was the experience

14:54

?

14:55

Just a huge learning experience

14:57

for me and , like Diane has

14:59

done this in the past , so like watching

15:01

her and like all these

15:04

moving parts that she

15:06

had to keep track of , and like

15:08

we were in production meetings . So usually

15:11

as an actor , I just have to worry about my , my

15:13

line , scripts and when I need to

15:15

be on set . And now it's like , oh , there's

15:17

so much before shooting , like

15:20

we had meetings every week and you

15:22

know the script was changing a lot and

15:24

locations , so it

15:27

was a lot of work really

15:29

. And just going back to Diane

15:31

, I don't know how she does it because

15:35

it can be overwhelming . I'm like how

15:37

do you keep track of all this ? So , being

15:39

a very organized person , I think matters as

15:41

a producer .

15:43

Yeah , nice

15:47

person I think matters as a producer . Yeah , and which aspect of producing did you find the most surprising

15:49

? As far as surprisingly difficult , something like I didn't think about

15:52

this aspect . What part

15:54

of the producing made you stop and pause and be

15:56

like well , now I have new respect for producers

15:58

everywhere .

15:58

I think it's everything that can go wrong and you got to be a fixer . Well , I think

16:00

it's everything that can go wrong and

16:03

you got to be a fixer . So

16:05

, because that you can't really prepare for

16:07

that , you can go in as prepared

16:10

as possible , but then you also have to have

16:12

a cool head , and it's

16:14

never especially watching Diane

16:16

, it was never . We can't do this . It's how

16:18

are we going to do it and how are we going

16:20

to move forward . That

16:23

was always the mindset , so to me , that was like

16:25

the biggest learning thing

16:27

that I got from it .

16:28

I imagine you have to put on a really good face

16:31

and not show , oh no

16:33

, how are we going to figure this out ? How are we going to puzzle

16:35

this back together ? The

16:37

rest of the crew has to look at you and be like , no , they got it

16:39

covered . They understand what's going

16:42

on . Diane , one more

16:44

time , all of these titles that you had . List

16:46

them out for us , please .

16:47

Okay , hi

16:51

, I'm Diane Foster and I am the director

16:54

, star producer

16:56

and production company for

16:58

Easter Blood Easter . This is my feature

17:00

film directorial debut . Yes

17:03

.

17:03

Okay , tell

17:06

us about that .

17:06

How has the experience been , Honestly , the most amazing thing

17:09

other than being a mom . Truly , this has

17:11

been the most amazing experience ever . And

17:13

when Alison wrote the script , she said

17:15

to me I want you to direct this . And

17:18

I was like what ? Oh my gosh , really

17:20

me , and

17:22

you know , I just have been producing

17:24

forever and I have done

17:26

, you know , music videos that I've directed

17:29

and things like that . And I really

17:31

appreciated that so much because it gave

17:33

me the confidence to to

17:35

move forward and say like , okay , I can

17:38

do this . Somebody who I love

17:40

and admire so much and

17:42

in Alison Lobel , who is supremely

17:45

talented and just an amazing

17:47

person , um , you know , believes

17:49

that like I can take her script

17:52

and like , make this world on film

17:54

. And , um , I loved

17:56

every minute of it and I'm like now

17:58

I'm like a director monster , I'm like I

18:00

can't stop , I want to do , I want

18:02

to do every , I want to direct every movie

18:05

ever because

18:07

it's so exciting . It really is , and I think

18:09

that my type of personality lends

18:11

itself to directing . It really does . It's

18:13

like I love it . I love working with actors

18:16

, I love talking to the crew , I

18:18

love creating a world and

18:20

, um , it's just , it's something that I've really

18:22

found in myself . It is , it

18:24

is a lane for me that I'm I'm

18:26

really excited to continue doing , and

18:28

I cannot wait for audiences to

18:30

see this . I think what Allison

18:32

wrote , and then you know me

18:34

being in the director's chair and being

18:37

able to , you know , bring it to life . It

18:39

was a really incredible experience

18:41

and I just want to do more and

18:43

more .

18:44

I can't wait for you to do that . And , and what was

18:46

the most difficult thing , between specifically

18:49

jumping , between acting in the

18:51

project and directing , how

18:53

do you , how do you , juggle those

18:55

two roles ?

18:57

Yeah , I think that was the most challenging part

18:59

, was sort of , you know , going back and forth

19:01

with that , because you know Jeannie

19:04

, the role of her , I mean , she's a very

19:06

dynamic woman and she has a lot going

19:08

on in this film . So it

19:11

wasn't just kind of stepping in front of the camera and

19:13

just reading lines . It was a lot

19:15

of work to , you know , create this

19:18

woman and her world and all of

19:20

that . And I think , you know , honestly

19:23

, having a wonderful team that I trusted

19:25

was really important to know

19:27

that I can be in front of the camera . And

19:29

you know , we worked for

19:31

months and months in pre-production

19:34

and really and truly I say this to

19:36

anyone who is making a film you must

19:38

do that work , you must do that foundational

19:40

work in pre-production , spend

19:42

as much time as you can before you ever

19:45

step foot on set , because those

19:47

relationships that I created

19:49

in pre-production were

19:52

vital to me , trusting

19:54

that I was going to do this scene

19:56

and I can say , can we move on

19:58

? And that we've got it Okay

20:01

, great , we can move on next . And

20:04

if I didn't have that feeling

20:07

with all of the team that we

20:09

made during pre-production , I would not

20:11

have been able to be comfortable enough to

20:14

then say , okay , we can move on , and

20:16

then once I get to the edit room , oh no

20:18

, like , what do I have ? So I

20:20

knew , going into it , okay , I feel

20:22

really good about this , my particular

20:24

portion , I can move on . There were definitely scenes

20:26

where I was like I want to see playback , but

20:29

on a film like this we don't have a lot

20:31

of time to do that . So I had to trust

20:34

. I can't watch every scene

20:36

. I do , you know , I

20:38

couldn't watch it back over and over again . So

20:40

I just needed to myself , first of

20:42

all , be prepared as an actor and

20:44

do my due diligence of who

20:46

I was as this character of Jeannie and

20:48

then be able to just flip that

20:51

hat back and forth of like , okay , cool , we

20:53

got it moving on , and then come behind

20:55

the camera and watch the

20:57

actor that I just acted with and

21:00

then direct them . So it was , it

21:03

was exciting and , honestly again , I

21:05

think with my type of personality

21:07

, it just it works . So I

21:09

love that , I love the challenge and

21:11

, um , you know I would do

21:14

it a million times over again .

21:15

Yeah , I think that the key takeaway

21:18

from there is the trust that

21:20

you have in your co-stars

21:22

and your department heads . Kevin Smith

21:25

, the director , always says that the best

21:27

directors are the people that have

21:29

complete trust in their department heads . They

21:31

say , ok , you are art

21:34

department , you're going to bring me the best ideas and

21:36

I'm going to say yes or no to this . We're going to work me the

21:38

best ideas and I'm going to say yes or no to this . We're going to work together and move forward

21:40

. But it's bringing the director some of some of your best ideas

21:42

and then yes , or knowing those and

21:44

passing on those if you have to . And

21:46

I'm sure you've already assembled such a , such a

21:48

great team from being

21:51

the head of Wally Bird . So how

21:53

many of these crew members

21:55

have you worked with previously ?

21:57

Well , interestingly enough , some

22:00

of the department heads I had worked with on

22:02

other Wally Bird productions and I knew

22:04

, ok , these people are going to be really great

22:06

to to work with again , especially like the

22:08

hair and makeup team . A

22:10

couple of the producers were

22:13

actually people that I had never worked

22:15

with before in that capacity . I

22:18

had worked with them , maybe in a different capacity

22:20

, maybe they had done different roles on

22:22

a film and I saw , okay , you know , these

22:24

people are really engaged and they

22:26

give their all to it and

22:30

that was a key factor as well , and

22:33

I think it really came down to , you know

22:35

, every single person who stepped foot on set

22:37

. We interviewed prior to them

22:39

actually stepping foot on set . It was really important

22:42

to bring a certain kind of energy to

22:44

the set . You know we were going to be working

22:47

long hours and because , you know , I had

22:49

to wear so many hats and because Allison and Kelly

22:51

also had to wear so many hats

22:53

, it was really important that we had

22:55

a very cohesive

22:57

team that was like , ok

23:00

, we're all in , I'm going to pass this football

23:02

and you're going to catch it and run to , you

23:05

know , the end of the line there and

23:07

score a touchdown . Like

23:19

it was important to to

23:22

do that with people who know

23:24

more than me and

23:27

you know , if you can do that , then you're

23:29

you know you're golden because you

23:32

know these people are bringing their expertise and their

23:34

passion for it and I really think that

23:36

was the thing . At the end of the day , some

23:38

of the people we knew , some we didn't

23:40

, but we worked again a lot

23:42

in pre-production to really

23:45

, you know , ensure that once we got

23:47

on set , we were , you know , we were going to

23:49

be able to take any challenges that came to us head

23:51

on . And sure , at the end of the day

23:54

, things are constantly changing on a film

23:56

set , but we were prepared

23:58

, going into it and we had those relationships

24:00

of you know we're working , you

24:03

know , every single week , getting on

24:05

Zooms and talking to one another and talking

24:07

this through . That we had that trust moving

24:09

forward , going into

24:12

it conversations , how

24:14

Wally Bird is .

24:17

I think you describe it as being committed to

24:19

fostering diversity and

24:21

equality across the board . Can

24:24

you talk a little bit about how that was

24:26

accomplished on this production ?

24:28

Yes , that is vital to the

24:30

mission of Wally Bird Productions . We want

24:32

to see , both in front and behind the camera , people

24:34

who are diverse . We want to see a lot of females

24:36

, both in front and behind the camera , people who are diverse . We want to see a lot of females and

24:39

we were able to do that on this film . We

24:41

were actually awarded the reframe stamp

24:43

from Women in Film , which is

24:45

a collaboration of the Sundance Institute

24:47

and IMDB

24:49

, for having

24:52

gender parity . We were incredibly

24:54

lucky and grateful to have

24:56

a 95% female identifying

24:59

crew and we

25:02

also have a very large cast . We

25:04

had a lot of females in the cast as well and

25:06

it was just great to look around

25:08

and be like , wow , look at all these badass

25:11

females on set every single

25:13

day who are just bringing

25:15

their A game . And I just

25:17

love , love it so much because I

25:20

think , historically , women a

25:22

lot of times our stories are written by men

25:24

and it's

25:27

just hard to actually go

25:29

like wait a minute , that doesn't feel right

25:31

because that's not how we live it

25:33

, because we actually live in those shoes every

25:35

single day . So I think being

25:37

able to not only give opportunities

25:39

to the stories of women , but

25:41

also to the roles in , especially

25:44

leadership positions , is so

25:46

important , vital to my mission at Wally

25:48

Bird , that we are , you

25:50

know , moving that needle forward and

25:52

making sure that women are seen

25:55

and heard , and we are are hearing

25:58

their stories and we are giving them the opportunities

26:00

that they don't normally get . And I

26:02

just want to keep looking

26:04

around my sets and seeing incredible

26:07

, diverse females all

26:09

the time . We're going to keep doing

26:11

that at Wally bird and I'm so grateful that

26:13

we did that on Easter bloody Easter

26:15

and also that we were

26:17

, you know , seen for it from the reframe

26:20

stamp from Women in Film

26:22

. That's a huge , just

26:24

a huge accolade to get , especially

26:27

with all the films that they do give that to , so

26:29

we're really grateful to have it

26:31

.

26:32

Congratulations on that . And it is more

26:35

difficult than anyone could

26:37

imagine to have all

26:39

of these departments filled with

26:41

women , because the breakdown by

26:43

department is pretty vast

26:45

Men versus women , like

26:48

the percentages . I remember when

26:51

I worked at the Directors Guild we got the breakdown

26:53

of the directors and those were

26:55

closer to equal

26:57

. But then we also got the breakdown

26:59

from the Cinematographers Union

27:01

and that was like 95%

27:04

men , male DPs

27:07

and 5% women . So it's

27:09

amazing what you're doing

27:11

.

27:13

Thank you so much . Yeah , the numbers

27:15

are actually horrifying

27:17

. It's like watching a horror

27:19

movie . It's like wow , and I think

27:21

you know , year after year , it

27:24

just you know , it's , you

27:26

know , we want to have females

27:28

in this position and

27:40

we're like going through the weeds trying

27:42

to find them . Um , because

27:44

the numbers are so small . Um

27:46

, and Alexa Cha , who is our

27:48

cinematographer . It was her first feature

27:51

film . She has now gone on

27:53

to , uh , work at universal

27:55

music group and she does all kinds of music

27:57

videos for huge

27:59

pop stars . And to see

28:02

her go from , you know , her

28:04

feature film debut as a

28:06

cinematographer to now doing what she's doing

28:08

, it just it lights me up and

28:10

I love that . And just seeing all

28:12

the incredible women that we worked with and

28:15

what they're doing . And you know , it's

28:17

really about the women who have come before us , who

28:19

are the trailblazers , who have been

28:21

able to allow us to be in these

28:24

positions . And I think , you know , as

28:26

long as I live , I'm going to continue moving

28:29

that forward for the women that

28:31

are behind me and

28:33

also for the women that have come before me to

28:35

say thank you for , you know

28:37

, giving me the opportunity to be in this position

28:40

. It really means a lot . So

28:42

, yeah , we

28:44

have to keep doing it and if you are in a position

28:46

to be able to hire people , really think about

28:48

that , that you want to , you want to give

28:50

women and you want to give people who are diverse

28:52

an opportunity , because you

28:55

know they don't normally get to do it .

28:57

Yeah , exactly . And , allison , I

29:00

want to know how does it feel

29:02

to see your script transformed

29:05

from the page into

29:08

a full production , and were there any

29:10

moments that were particularly

29:13

surreal on set ?

29:15

Yeah , it was very cool . I've

29:18

written many things but I've never

29:20

had anything produced before , so it was

29:22

one of the coolest things was just the first

29:24

day showing up and seeing all these people working

29:26

together to make something that I'd written like

29:29

just seeing all the tents get set up and like

29:31

people in the costumes and makeup and all

29:33

the art department and everyone

29:35

who'd read my script and imagined what it would be

29:38

. And nothing was exactly how

29:40

I imagined it would be . But it was just even better

29:42

because there were so many different minds and creative

29:44

ideas that were forming . That

29:46

was like grander than I could have ever imagined

29:49

. And I think the most rewarding

29:51

was the first day I saw the jackalope on

29:53

set and just being like , oh my God , this monster

29:55

is is real , I imagine it and

29:58

now he's here , like that had to be the

30:00

coolest thing that's ever happened to me .

30:02

So , yeah , just it was just unreal

30:04

seeing my script come to life

30:06

and we we mentioned earlier

30:08

that with with the script , diane

30:10

said well , we , you know we can't have what . Was it ? A helicopter

30:13

crash ? What happened ?

30:15

I don't know if we specifically had a helicopter crash , but

30:17

we did have a a big . The whole town

30:19

got destroyed . We did have

30:21

a motorcycle jump over a cliff

30:23

and that had to go .

30:25

Yeah , I want to know how

30:28

that is going to affect your

30:30

screenwriting moving forward . Do

30:33

you still want to shoot for the stars ? Are

30:35

you going to try to be a little bit more pragmatic with

30:37

your scripts and have that adaption

30:40

process and figure that out with the budget ? Where

30:42

are you going to fall now as a writer ?

30:45

That's a really good question . I think , yeah

30:47

, I like in a first draft to just like

30:49

let my mind go where it wants

30:51

to go and just feel it and like

30:53

not worry too much about budget . But

30:55

having said that , I've actually already written

30:58

the sequel to Easter , buddy Easter and

31:00

I would say it's quite a bit cheaper than

31:02

the first one . Like it's going to be huge

31:05

and grand and amazing . But I think

31:07

I do have a more practical mind for

31:09

what costs a lot of money and I

31:11

think , subconsciously , I must have thought

31:14

about that while I was writing this , because I'm like , oh

31:18

, I actually have thought about that while I was writing this because I'm like , oh , I actually have less locations this time and thank goodness you didn't destroy

31:20

the town and I didn't have a

31:22

helicopter building .

31:24

Thank you , You're welcome .

31:26

Diane , yeah , so I think I still

31:29

like to go where my mind goes , but I

31:31

think I have a better idea of what

31:33

budget I actually have going forward

31:35

.

31:36

Any other genres that you want

31:39

to dabble in ?

31:40

I actually am currently writing a

31:43

kind of enchanted kind of movie . I

31:45

worked as a party princess for many years

31:47

, and so I am

31:49

writing for the first time something that is not horror

31:51

at all . It's pure comedy , fish out

31:54

of water kind of film . So that's

31:56

been fun . I keep wanting to throw in

31:58

some blood or some murder and

32:00

I'm like this movie doesn't need

32:02

blood and murder . It's a different thing , and

32:05

yeah , so I've been dabbling in that , but

32:07

I think I'll always write something funny . I

32:09

think that's just what I like to do .

32:11

Jumping off of that , let's talk a little bit

32:13

about bringing Kelly on board as

32:15

a producer , our first

32:17

time in this role . What was the conversation

32:20

that happened between the two of you , and

32:22

why now for producing on

32:24

your end , kelly ?

32:26

I think the three of us I

32:28

don't know this again came from the play and

32:30

then it was just always the three of us . We're

32:32

always like we're doing this , we're moving

32:34

this forward , and I

32:36

wasn't really expecting to be a producer

32:39

but Diane and Allison

32:41

have always like kept me there

32:44

and I was willing to . I

32:46

was excited to learn Like I never

32:48

had quite the thought of producing or

32:51

the opportunity . So I

32:53

don't know if it was ever a conversation you got

32:55

. It just kind of happened and I was like

32:57

OK , let's go . I

32:59

have a lot of more learning to do

33:01

and a lot

33:03

more watching Diane do what she does

33:06

because , like she said , it does

33:08

take a personality to do it . But

33:11

I did like it . I liked being a part

33:13

of , I like seeing the movie

33:15

like from the ground up . That

33:17

was really exciting . So

33:21

I like being involved , I think

33:23

that from the very , very beginning

33:25

and just seeing this come to life , because

33:27

it's kind of it's amazing

33:29

, like how a movie ever gets

33:31

made . Oh yeah , it's a miracle .

33:34

And I will say Kelly is an amazing producer

33:36

, because Kelly is a great person

33:38

and she keeps great relationships , and

33:53

that's really part of being a great producer

33:55

is , and I think she doesn't realize

33:57

what an amazing producer she

34:00

is , as

34:02

well as an amazing actress and just a

34:04

beautiful person , period . So

34:07

I hope that you continue doing it , kelly

34:09

, because you're absolutely fabulous and

34:11

, by the way , we have a lot more of these Easter

34:13

films to make , so you are definitely

34:15

producing those as well .

34:19

Sounds like you're coming back , kelly , I

34:22

think so , whether you like , it or not , you're a producer

34:24

now . Yep , it's in me now let's

34:27

talk a little bit about the

34:30

distribution process . For a

34:32

project like this , distribution

34:34

is one of the most daunting aspects

34:37

as a filmmaker . It can stop

34:39

a lot of creatives from even taking

34:42

a chance on their projects .

34:44

What was the distribution process

34:46

like for Easter , bloody Easter for

34:58

this film and filmmaking and I learned a lot through this process

35:01

. Yes , I , you know , run Wally Bird Productions but never had

35:03

, quite you know , the trajectory of doing

35:05

it , from inception all the way through

35:07

distribution , and it is a

35:09

ton of work and it's a

35:11

sort of like a mystery . You

35:14

know , you make a movie and a lot of people

35:16

don't talk about distribution

35:18

, they really don't go into the

35:20

ins and outs of it , because there

35:22

is so much to it . You know we

35:24

spent , you know we shot

35:27

for it was almost 20 days , something

35:29

like that , which is , you know , pretty standard for

35:31

an indie film and then we spent about

35:34

a year and a half in post-production

35:36

and the movie was actually

35:39

done in 2023

35:41

. It was done last year , but

35:43

I had hired

35:45

sales agents to come

35:48

on board the film , because my

35:50

idea from the beginning with this film was , you

35:53

know , I had done a lot of film festivals , certainly

35:55

with all the other films at Wally Bird Productions

35:57

, but really this film

36:00

was like we want to go direct to distribution

36:02

and we want to be in

36:04

millions of households all over the world and

36:07

in order to do that , we wanted to obviously

36:10

get a sales agent on board right away and

36:12

I had taken distribution courses

36:15

and things like that on online

36:17

platforms . Stage 32 is an amazing

36:19

one , so

36:21

I knew that going into it , so

36:23

hired the sales agent and they were like you

36:25

know , this movie is

36:28

wonderful , they loved it and

36:30

it's going to sell really , really well , but

36:33

we have to wait until 2024

36:35

for it to come out . So it was a whole nother year

36:37

. The movie was already done , but

36:39

we were just kind of in a waiting game of

36:42

making it happen and , of course , everyone was reaching

36:44

out like when's it coming out ? When's it coming out ? And

36:46

I'm like just be patient . And

36:49

I think that's the other thing is like as

36:51

a filmmaker , just like you know , stay

36:53

true to the vision . Don't

37:04

let people push you around of like it has to come out now , do it when it's supposed to and do it

37:06

do it right . And , um , you know , the amazing thing about this film is that every distributor that we

37:08

went out to I would say almost every distributor we went out to wanted

37:10

to put the movie out . Um , and

37:13

even when I went out to sales agents , it was like

37:15

I contacted them directly and

37:17

they all were like we want this movie

37:19

. And what a thrilling , amazing

37:22

thing to hear yes , yes , yes , yes , especially

37:24

in this business , because you normally hear no all

37:27

the time . So I knew we had

37:29

something really special , you

37:32

know , going through that process . So once we

37:34

had the sales agent , it

37:36

was really , you know , up

37:38

to them to then sell to . You

37:40

know , find a distributor who was going to put us out essentially

37:44

worldwide . And you know , we're

37:46

coming out with Gravitas Ventures in America

37:49

and then we are , we also sold

37:51

to Latin America , we also sold to

37:53

the UK , so we will be definitely

37:56

in those this Easter

37:58

and then , you know , we're going to be in every

38:00

territory in the world . It's just a matter

38:02

of time and getting out to those

38:04

places . So the process

38:06

is long , you know , and

38:09

I think the thing that filmmakers need to

38:11

know about the process of distribution

38:13

is there's a lot of delivery and

38:15

a lot of technical aspects to

38:17

distribution yes , your film

38:20

, but there's also other things clearance

38:22

, title reports , captions

38:25

, subtitles . There's all

38:27

these things that you don't

38:29

think about when you are making a movie

38:31

and then you have to kind of do that on the other

38:33

side and you're like oh , I realized

38:35

I need to do this , which also costs money

38:38

. It is not cheap to go

38:40

through distribution . So there

38:42

is a whole process and you have to , you know , be cleared

38:45

and there's all contracts and all

38:47

these kinds of things . So it

38:49

really is very much the

38:51

business of show . So

38:54

I think it's important for filmmakers to understand

38:56

that and I really want to dive deep

38:58

into that more and and obviously

39:01

happy to talk to you about it further , but also

39:03

like just to talk to other filmmakers

39:05

about the process of distribution , because

39:07

there really is a lot

39:11

. See it , you

39:14

know you have your distribution

39:16

, you get that , you get your distribution partners and

39:18

then you have to plan a release , and

39:21

that release is your publicist

39:23

and the people

39:25

that are marketing the film

39:27

with you from the distributor . So there's

39:30

teams of people that are it's

39:32

their job to do this . So you're constantly

39:35

meeting with them and talking to them , and

39:37

it's about taking the

39:39

brand of the movie and then putting it out

39:41

worldwide to audiences , and what

39:43

does that look like ? So distribution

39:46

is , I would say , sort of like the

39:48

sixth tier of filmmaking

39:50

, um , and

39:52

it really is part of the process and you , you

39:55

, you have to be willing to go through it

39:57

and do it , because it does take time , energy

39:59

and money to do that

40:02

. So , knowing that , moving

40:04

forward and going into your film , these

40:06

are going to be things that you have to do .

40:09

And I imagine you also have to battle

40:12

some of the stigma of left

40:14

brain , right brain , artistic

40:16

versus technical . A lot of people

40:18

will say I'm just the artist , I don't really

40:21

want to dive into the

40:23

business side , but to be successful

40:25

you got to blend

40:27

both of those together , correct

40:30

?

40:31

Absolutely and also really

40:33

being able to separate you

40:35

as the creator and especially for

40:37

me on this film , as the director and

40:39

sort of what I envision and that

40:41

creative part , and then also the

40:44

producer side , which is like , well , you

40:46

know , this is the way that it has to be or

40:48

this is the way that you know they're wanting

40:51

to present it , and sort of melding those

40:53

two things together and not being emotional

40:55

about it . You know you really have

40:57

to remove the emotion when

41:00

making a film , you

41:02

know . You know you're creative

41:04

and there's a lot of emotions that come with that

41:06

, which is beautiful and wonderful . But

41:09

as far as this

41:11

being a business which it is show

41:13

business , you have to you really

41:15

have to , you know , have your head on straight of

41:18

oh , this is , this is

41:20

what it has to be and this is how we're going

41:22

to move forward with it . And just being able

41:24

to separate yourself really is

41:26

is really important and not take things personally

41:29

, I think is the biggest thing . And

41:31

you know we are releasing a film and there's going to

41:33

be people who love this movie . There's going to be people who

41:35

absolutely hate it and you

41:38

know , going

41:42

into it , going like we made what we

41:44

wanted to make and we

41:46

love it . I love this movie so

41:49

much it makes me laugh hysterically

41:51

when I just even think about some of the

41:53

scenes , and I'm

41:55

excited for that and I know that

41:57

audiences are going to love it . But you always

41:59

have people in the mix . Not everybody loves everything

42:02

, and that's okay . I don't love everything . So

42:04

being able to separate yourself and go , I'm not going to take this

42:06

personally . It's not for everybody , and that's okay . I don't love everything . So

42:08

being able to separate yourself and go , I'm not going to take this personally . It's not for everybody , and that's cool . But I know the

42:10

audience , who this is for and

42:13

that's who we made this movie for . We made

42:15

this movie for us and we made that for

42:17

them as well .

42:19

And when you're talking about having to

42:21

disconnect yourself from

42:23

some of some of your emotions when it

42:25

comes to the artistic product , I'm

42:27

curious , allison , did you , did

42:30

you have to do a lot of that with presenting

42:32

this script and saying , well , this has to be changed

42:34

, this like I like this , we'll keep this

42:36

. Was it difficult for you emotionally

42:39

to see this in the development

42:41

process , the pre and the production ?

42:45

Definitely . I mean , it's always hard to separate yourself

42:47

from your art . But yeah , I had

42:49

a really good team with me giving me

42:51

notes and oftentimes

42:53

I'd get some notes and I'd be like I don't

42:56

know about that . And then I think a couple days and I'm

42:58

like , oh , they're totally right , I definitely need

43:00

to change it . So yeah , the script changed

43:02

so much . In the months leading up

43:04

to shooting . I was writing all the time

43:07

and at first it was really

43:09

. It was hard and I think it

43:11

made me a much better writer to be able to like

43:13

disconnect a little bit and just like

43:15

look at the film practically as opposed to

43:17

like it . Being my child and

43:20

I've definitely done that more

43:22

since writing this film because I've

43:24

learned not

43:26

to look at it kind of as I would as an

43:28

audience member you know the way I'll watch a movie

43:31

and be like , oh , I wish they'd done this and this and this

43:33

, and thinking about that with my film

43:35

I'd be like how would I feel if I were sitting

43:37

down and watching this ? Would I be kind of bored ? At this point

43:39

, it definitely

43:42

has helped me a lot as an artist to be able

43:44

to go in things a little more

43:46

practically , as well as being able to

43:48

jump in and be on the journey

43:50

and just be the artist . So like it's good to have both

43:52

, to be able to look at things in all the different

43:55

ways .

43:56

And you always hear people say don't

43:59

go into business with your friends

44:01

, don't lend money to your friends

44:03

, don't do creative activities with your friends , because

44:05

you never know what sort of wedge that that can cause

44:07

within friendships . For all

44:09

three of you , how was dealing

44:13

with being friends and being professionals

44:15

and artists ? How did those all blend

44:17

together on this project ?

44:19

I mean it was wonderful . Honestly , the

44:21

pre-production stuff was stressful . Going

44:23

into it , like I was like I've never done anything

44:25

like this before , but the minute we were all

44:28

on set together it was the funnest thing

44:30

I've ever done in my life . Like everywhere I

44:32

looked , I was like I love that person , I love

44:34

that person and

44:36

everyone is working their asses off and it was one of the best film

44:39

experiences I've ever had . Being on the set Like

44:41

it was just an absolute joy .

44:48

Yeah , I agree with Allison Like every day was just a all . Of August

44:50

was a blast Like , and it felt like family and any day I get to

44:52

be with these two I'm like it's a good day . And

44:55

then we get to act together Like , yes

44:57

, that's why we're doing this , we

44:59

just like each other .

45:01

Yeah , I will . I will also

45:03

say those sentiments as well . I mean I

45:05

love Alison and Kelly

45:07

so much as people , but then

45:09

being able to create with them and

45:11

, you know , go on this journey

45:14

of Jeannie Carroll and Mary Lou is

45:16

just like wow , how could

45:19

it made

45:23

our friendship even stronger ? I

45:26

mean , I look at both of them as like my

45:28

sisters , like I would stop

45:30

traffic for both of them , I would do

45:32

anything for either one of them , and

45:34

I think , working together in

45:36

that capacity , it really made

45:39

me realize what incredible people

45:41

they both are and

45:43

like , oh

45:46

wow , I have some really incredible

45:48

badass women that I'm friends with

45:50

who are not only talented but like good

45:52

people , and that just makes you feel

45:54

good and it makes you like trust

45:57

yourself , that , like you

45:59

know , oh , I'm , I've got great

46:01

people in my life and it

46:03

really has given , I think , our friendship

46:06

a level

46:08

to it that you know I actually don't

46:10

have with anyone else and

46:12

it's really , it's really beautiful .

46:14

What I enjoyed was looking through your

46:16

IMDB for this project and saying

46:19

, oh , I know that person , I know this person

46:21

, I know this person , and you're

46:23

all so good at maintaining

46:25

good relationships with good

46:27

people , which is so so

46:30

important to this process . Let's

46:32

talk a little bit about the

46:34

music of this film and

46:37

how that came to be .

46:39

Yes we had it Go for it

46:41

, Allison .

46:42

Okay , well , I'll talk a little bit and you should talk more

46:44

because you know Mark much better than I

46:46

do . But I just want to say Mark Vogel created

46:49

this amazing tapestry

46:51

of music for this film . He created different themes

46:53

for our jackalope and for genie

46:56

and it really helps tell the story

46:58

and it's very it's got that classic

47:00

like 80s camp A

47:03

lot of times . That really is the creature feature

47:05

music and

47:08

we have an album coming out with all the songs and , yeah

47:10

, I am blown away by what Mark did for

47:13

this film . It really it's what made

47:15

the film work , because I saw the early cut and

47:17

I was like this is fantastic . And then I

47:19

saw it with all the music and I was like , oh my

47:21

god , this is epic . Mark

47:23

really did a magical job with this film

47:25

.

47:32

Yes , absolutely , mark Vogel is a dream . He is like , he's become like my brother through

47:34

this process . I met him through we have the same publicist

47:36

and she was like you know , you

47:38

have to meet him . And we met and it was instant

47:41

, we were just instant connection . And

47:43

when Alison had written the script and she had

47:45

, she had already had some songs

47:47

and she , she knew that I was a singer

47:49

and she was like I want Jeannie to sing

47:51

in this and , um , you know

47:53

, we're going to have other people singing

47:55

in it at the Easter Palooza , um

47:59

, and I was like fantastic . And

48:01

went to Mark and that was very

48:03

, very early on in the process and I just said

48:05

you know , do you want to make an Easter film about

48:08

a giant jackalope killing people ? And he was like

48:10

I am totally in . And

48:13

we worked tirelessly together

48:15

to create the sound

48:17

of this . And Mark is somebody who is so

48:19

talented , we work so

48:21

well together . I would just say to him I'm

48:23

thinking this and he would go oh

48:25

, yeah , like this , and then do , do , do , do , do on

48:27

the piano in the studio and I'm like

48:30

yeah , that's it . And that

48:32

is how the entire thing came to be

48:34

. We just went back and forth . He

48:36

created the Jackalope theme . He literally

48:38

created a theme for every single character

48:41

in the film . There are seven

48:43

, over 75 pieces of music in

48:45

the film , and that is not even including songs

48:48

. So it is a very musical

48:50

movie . That's why I

48:52

say all the time it's very much like a Rocky Horror

48:54

Picture Show , because people are going

48:56

to be singing along to this movie as much as they

48:58

are going to be laughing and screaming at

49:00

the same time time

49:08

. So what an amazing process to work with him , somebody who really knows themselves as

49:10

a musician and can bring a sound which you know film and

49:12

sound , film and music together and that

49:14

is the . That is it . And we also had

49:16

Pekah Thomas , who's the sound designer and

49:19

, between you know , all three of

49:21

you know us working together . It

49:23

was just a really magical combination

49:25

. We have a soundtrack coming out which is incredible , which has you

49:27

know us working together . It was just a really magical combination . We have a soundtrack coming out which is incredible , which has , you know , there's 10

49:29

, 10 songs that

49:31

are on the soundtrack . There's even more songs

49:33

in the film . So we're really , really

49:36

excited about it because they are

49:38

very like their Easter classics and

49:40

we really wanted to make songs

49:42

that people could sing every single

49:44

Easter and that is

49:46

absolutely what you're going to get

49:48

with this movie . So it's

49:51

incredible and just the way that he , you

49:53

know , kind of came up with different things and

49:55

you know , we we recorded bunnies

49:58

, like actually eating carrots , and

50:00

then kind of worked that

50:02

sound , you know , it was all

50:04

these like really kooky kind

50:06

of creative things to create

50:09

the sound of not only

50:11

Easter , blood Easter , but Wahlberg , texas

50:13

and these people who live there and

50:15

what it . What an amazing experience

50:17

and and yeah , I'll work

50:20

with Mark a million times over he really

50:22

, he really got it . He really got

50:24

the movie movie , he got the humor , he

50:26

got the horror element and people

50:28

are just gonna absolutely love it when

50:30

they hear it and that that soundtrack

50:33

will be available on spotify

50:35

. And yes , and it's also on collector

50:38

, a limited edition collector's vinyl , which

50:40

is so exciting because the

50:43

uh record itself is peep yellow

50:45

colored , so it

50:49

is a really cool collector's

50:51

edition . You know we're

50:53

not making a ton of them , it's limited so

50:55

you absolutely have to get it while it's hot

50:58

. We're working with LBC

51:00

Badger Records , which

51:05

is a cool Long Beach , you know , record company , and yeah , they're putting out the

51:07

vinyl and it's really cool .

51:09

You're making all of our nostalgic hearts so

51:11

happy . You got the vinyl , you got the Blu-ray

51:14

, you got the DVD . We can have all our

51:16

physical medium for this one .

51:18

Yes absolutely .

51:20

Let's talk a little bit about

51:23

and this is again for all three of you what

51:25

do you hope that audiences

51:28

take away from watching

51:30

Easter , bloody Easter .

51:32

I hope that they have just the

51:34

time of their lives . I hope that

51:36

they scream a little bit and laugh

51:38

a lot and I hope that they just

51:40

remember these creatures and that they think

51:42

about them that night when they try to go to sleep

51:44

and they get a little scared the way I would .

51:47

Yeah , I just hope everyone just has a blast

51:50

and laughs and gets

51:52

the song stuck in their head and I

51:54

want it to be like a rewatch , like you

51:56

watch because , like Rocky Horror

51:58

and you know , like Diane was saying

52:01

, you want people to dress up and just

52:03

like , have it be . This thing they watch every

52:05

Easter .

52:14

Yes , I would also say that I think I want people to take away . I want them to have an

52:16

amazing time . I want them to laugh , scream and sing

52:18

along , and I also want them to look

52:20

at the world that we created and

52:23

go , wow , I really love

52:25

that town of Wahlberg , texas . Those are some

52:27

crazy kooky ass people and

52:30

look around at it and

52:33

just go like that's the world that

52:35

we all live in . And I think that's what's even more

52:37

exciting is that we have a super diverse cast

52:39

and everyone is so wonderfully

52:41

talented in it and I and I hope that

52:43

audiences go like . This

52:46

is so cool that people that you wouldn't

52:48

normally see together in

52:50

this movie are together in this movie

52:52

and that they enjoy it , they laugh

52:54

, and that they , they continue , they watch it with

52:56

their families over and over again . I think

52:58

that's . The other exciting thing is that it's horror

53:01

comedy , but it is not um

53:03

, it is something that , like , you can watch with your grandma

53:05

, but you can also watch with your like five

53:07

year old nephew . You know it's

53:09

like it's really for

53:12

all ages , and I think that's

53:14

what's so exciting about it is that we finally

53:16

have an Easter film that families

53:18

can watch every single year together as

53:20

a tradition and go like let's watch

53:22

Easter , bloody Easter , and have a blast and

53:24

just laugh together , sing together and

53:27

, you know , keep doing

53:29

it for years to come .

53:31

I love it . I feel like we need a film to fill

53:33

that slot , because we all have the

53:35

Christmas films , we all have the

53:38

horror films for Halloween , but

53:40

there's a few that kind of fall through

53:42

the cracks . And that's Thanksgiving , even

53:44

though they they have planes , trays and automobiles

53:46

is usually what people go to there . But as far

53:48

as easter goes , I don't really have a film

53:50

that I would , that I'd be reaching for and and

53:53

you've talked- now you do , now , I do , now

53:55

, I do , and you talked a bit about

53:57

. You've mentioned rocky horror a couple of

53:59

times and how , uh , that's

54:02

an interactive experience when , when you're watching

54:04

that film . Was that something you had in

54:06

mind before shooting

54:08

or is it like , did you find that in the editing

54:10

process ? Where did that idea come about

54:13

?

54:13

Yeah , definitely , that was

54:15

through the editing process . I didn't think

54:17

of that like going into it , I realized

54:20

that we had a lot of music as we

54:22

were going through and I think , through

54:24

the editing process working with Mark , you

54:27

know , we already obviously had songs . Alison

54:29

had written some songs to be in the film

54:31

but through that process

54:33

I was like , oh wow , we're like creating a lot

54:36

of music and watching through the edit

54:38

and then working in the studio with Mark

54:40

, it was like this really

54:42

, this needs this sound

54:45

and this needs this music . And it

54:47

just became more and more musical

54:49

. As sort of we went through it and

54:52

it was so exciting because I'm like , oh my

54:54

gosh , that's totally , first of all , my background

54:56

. I come from musical theater . So as

54:58

a musical theater nerd , I was like I am

55:00

so excited about this and

55:02

I think other people are going to be too , and

55:05

sort of , as we went through it and the characters

55:07

are so unique and

55:09

like each character has its own thing

55:11

. It's had its own look . It's like own

55:14

. You know you're you're going to want to be like Eugene

55:16

at Halloween . You know you're going to want to be

55:18

Mary Lou . You're going to want to . You know you're going to want to

55:20

be these characters at

55:22

Easter , whatever . And I think , as

55:25

we went through it , I really started to

55:27

realize , oh , wow , like , this

55:29

is so much like Rocky Horror and

55:32

you know the songs are

55:34

so fantastic and

55:36

you know you just are singing

55:38

them . And Pekka Thomas , our sound

55:41

designer , who's so incredible and we were

55:43

very lucky to get him kept

55:45

saying to me this movie is an earworm

55:47

. It is an earworm , it just sticks

55:49

with you in your ears over

55:52

and over again . He's like I'm just walking around

55:54

the grocery store and I just hear carol

55:56

saying this in my ear . Right

55:58

, I hear these , these , these

56:00

. You know the dialogue from the film

56:03

. So it's just exciting . Because someone

56:05

like that , who is a you know , many

56:08

time Emmy award winning sound designer , for

56:10

him to have an earworm of this movie

56:12

was like , okay , we've done something really

56:14

really right . Um , so yeah

56:17

, I think , um , I think people are going to really get

56:20

that , uh , when ? When they watch

56:22

it . So it's exciting

56:24

. We want people to dress up and sing along

56:26

.

56:26

You know , every Easter , Are

56:29

you going to bring any of that , that

56:31

dressing up , that quirkiness to the premiere

56:33

? Are there any plans for that yet ?

56:35

Oh , yes , yes , yes , yes , we

56:38

absolutely are going to . There's going to be many

56:40

surprises . I don't want to , you know , divulge

56:43

too much , but there

56:45

is going to be some very fun people

56:47

who are going to be on

56:50

the red carpet with us , who

56:52

are going to show up in a very exciting

56:54

way . So I guess you'll just have to be

56:56

there to see it . But , of

56:59

course , everyone who is in the virtual world

57:01

they will . They will get to see it because we will absolutely

57:04

have a videographer there capturing it

57:06

all . Yes , and someone you might know

57:08

, joe , might be there , dressed up in a certain

57:10

way , of course I would assume

57:12

no less from this , this production

57:14

at this point and and I'll also say that

57:16

the , the dress code for our premiere

57:19

is um easter , best dark

57:21

easter , or glamour cowboy

57:23

, or a little of all if

57:26

the uh listeners are not in the Los

57:28

Angeles area .

57:29

Now's a great time . Why don't you plug wherever

57:32

we can follow you on socials

57:34

and how we can watch it at

57:36

home ?

57:38

OK , I'll start . You can

57:40

follow me at Diane Foster Official

57:42

on Instagram , facebook

57:44

and TikTok . You can follow Wallyberg Productions , which is my production company , at Wallyberg

57:47

Productions on Instagram , facebook and TikTok . You can follow Wallyberg Productions , which is my production

57:49

company , at Wallyberg Productions on Instagram

57:51

and you can also pre-order

57:53

the film right now on iTunes

57:55

, apple TV . Please go to the link in

57:58

my bio on Instagram , Facebook

58:00

and TikTok . You'll get that link right away

58:02

. It is imperative for

58:04

independent filmmakers to get lots of pre-orders

58:06

on their movies , so we appreciate

58:09

and are so grateful for the support . It

58:11

helps us get elevated on

58:13

iTunes and Apple TV so that more

58:16

and more people will see it . So if you pre-order

58:18

, what you're doing is giving independent filmmakers

58:20

an opportunity to have their work seen , and

58:23

we have over a hundred creatives working

58:25

on this film that were just passionate

58:27

and wanting to do it . So I implore

58:30

all of you to please go and support

58:32

and pre-order with the link

58:34

that I am sure that you will put in the notes . So

58:38

we appreciate it .

58:39

Yeah , and Kelly

58:41

and Allison , you want to plug some of yours as well

58:43

.

58:44

Sure , I'm on Instagram and Facebook

58:46

at . I am Kelly Grant and

58:49

if you're into charcuterie , follow

58:52

Formagin Fair as well , which

58:54

we'll have some at the premiere , because

58:57

I just started a little side business .

58:59

That's awesome , that's so cool and Allison

59:01

.

59:02

Yeah , you can find me on Instagram

59:04

and TikTok at Allison Lobel

59:07

.

59:07

Amazing . I'll again put all of these links

59:10

in the show notes so everyone can go and

59:12

please check them out . Well , thank

59:14

you so much , all three of you , for

59:16

being here today , for chatting with us

59:19

about Easter , bloody Easter . This was really informative

59:21

, and I'm even more excited than

59:23

I was beforehand to see this . I

59:25

already got my preorder on iTunes , so I'm even more excited than I was beforehand to see this . I already got my pre-order

59:27

on iTunes , so I'm ready to go . I'm

59:30

ready for this and I hope to see some really , really

59:32

cool pictures from the premiere .

59:34

Thank you so much , Joe . This has been so fun talking

59:36

to you from across the country .

59:39

I miss you . I miss you too . I

59:41

wish I could be there with you guys .

59:43

I wish that too , we wish too . We wish

59:45

to . You're always so wonderful and can't thank

59:47

you enough for all your great questions

59:49

and your amazing energy , and just support

59:52

in general has been instrumental

59:54

.

59:55

So thank you , thank you so of course , of

59:57

course , and you're all welcome back

59:59

at any time . I'm sure we got the

1:00:01

sequel that you might be producing . You have

1:00:03

many other projects with Wally Bird . You

1:00:06

guys are officially friends of the

1:00:08

show . Come back anytime , please

1:00:10

. Thank you so much . Thanks

1:00:12

, joe .

1:00:13

Thank you guys have a good rest of your day .