Elias is the
creator of Indie film LovecraCked
and founder of BiFF JUGGERNAUT productions (with Chad
Bernhard). He is simultaneously wacked-out, obsessive/compulsive and
pretty cool.
When I found out about the Independent Film LovecraCked
I
was intrigued.A
spoof documentary and
film-short compilation focused on H.P. Lovecraft sounds like a good
time from
the beginning.Once
I watched the film I
was further intrigued – by the mind and personality of the
man that would
conceive of and create such a warped offering.
As the interview date and time
approached I did a bit of
preparation.My
list of questions to ask
included the standards such as a short biography (married, lives in New York, attended the School of
visual arts in New York,
spent over a year living in Germany),
creative influences (Lovecraft, comic books) and other similar basic
fare.The
background questions took about five
minutes of the two hour interview, and then the fun started.
Elias is a very open, driven and
focused individual.This
became crystal clear when we started
discussing the origins of the LovecraCked project.“The project
started as a short mocumentary,
poking fun at people that have never heard of Lovecraft in spite of the
huge
impact his work has had on the horror genre” explained Elias.“A sort of
‘parody of anonymity’ in the vein
of Monte Python.I
soon realized however
that such a project would be a lot of work for a minimal audience, so I
thought
‘why not create an anthology feature?’ –
what could be shaped by that?”
Elias then put out a call for film
makers to submit film
shorts that were either directly related to Lovecraft or displayed a
“Lovecraftian theme”.
“Put
out a call” I asked?How does that work?
Elias replied that he spent an
“unhealthily large amount of
time posting on message boards and newsgroups, ran advertisements on
film-school bulletin boards and launched emails and calls to everyone I
could
think of.It took a
year to find the
films for the project.”
Between Elias’ unwavering
style of getting a point across
(my attempts to change subjects were completely ignored if he was in
the middle
of a thought or idea) and the maniacal search far and wide for
Lovecraft film
shorts over a full year, I had to ask:“Do you consider yourself to be
obsessive/compulsive?”
“It is hard not to be in
film” Elias replied.“It’s
all about detail.It
sometimes turns me into a raving lunatic,
but I try to draw the line where going past a certain point (of
perfectionism)
doesn’t do anyone any good.A friend
used to say I was ‘pulling a Kubrick’ because I
insisted on so many takes (when
shooting).I’m
getting better at not
staying so fixed on a specific result and exploring new directions on
the fly.”
With LovecraCked nearing
the final stages of a distribution
contract (he wouldn’t say with whom) there are new projects
on the horizon for
Elias.
“The ultimate project would
be based on a comic called
Transmetropolitan”he said.“It
is a futuristic satire on politics and
culture.Expansive
story and large-scale
events.Or maybe The
Walking Dead series
of comics by Robert Kirkman that is a post-apocalypse series (where the
world is overrun by zombies).Both
of these are
not very realistic considering the ownership of the concepts, and each
would be
a huge undertaking.Maybe
more realistic
would be the campy Mad Night comic by Richard
Sala”.
“So what is the most likely
and immediate new project for
you?” I asked.
“My wife came up
with a great story idea, and it should
breach the mainstream a bit.A
series of
3-4 films firmly in the ‘psychological horror’
realm.Two friends
deal with taboo subjects that
become very personal and bring up questions of ethics and morality.The result is a very
horrific chain of events
and the audience will be put in the position of the characters.The goal is for production
in about a year,
and to do the first two parts at the same time for
consistency”.
The time for the
“exclusive” was fast approaching, when I
ask the interviewee to reveal something to Best-Horror-Movies.com
that has
never before been shared publicly.He
couldn’t think of anything.
“Tell me your most
embarrassing moment then”, I said.It was at this point that I got a glimpse
into the highly creative inner-workings of Elias.I suggested that he forget he was being
interviewed and imagine that he and I were sitting in a bar drinking
shots of
Jack Daniels.“But
there is no Jack” he
said.“Just
imagine” I countered.
Suddenly
Elias’
whole demeanor changed.His
tone was more relaxed, language got a bit
more colorful…I even detected a bit of a slur.And the embarrassing moments began to flow.If you ever get the chance
to sit in a bar with
Elias while the Jack is flowing, ask him about the $17 cover charge
that
trapped he and his friends in a club with greased-up muscular men
dancing on bar
tops, or being shushed by a guy doing drugs in public, or the foggy New
Years
eve in Virginia with the lonely disco ball.
He might even tell you about the
Hookah Bar in New
York, complete with
fruit-flavored tobacco, lots of liquor and no dinner.You didn’t hear this from me, but this night
resulted in Elias waking up in the emergency room just in time to have
some
roughneck steal his lunch.Now
that’s
embarrassing.
Elias is a definite “up and
comer” with a lot of creativity,
drive and focus to share.Watch
for him
in the coming months and years, especially when some off-beat comic
comes to
the silver screen.I
am sure he will be
right in the middle of it.
Oh, and about the single name.“I have no
desire to fit into the ‘Cher’
thing” said Elias.“It’s just that no other name felt
right.” Fair
enough.
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When I found out about the Independent Film 
“My wife came up
with a great story idea, and it should
breach the mainstream a bit.
Suddenly
Elias’
whole demeanor changed.
