I saved the best for last on my interview with the very talented Patrick Devaney. Enjoy
Marie
Gilbert: “When is the last season of the Zombie Hunters? I want people to know
who read my blog.”
Patrick
Devaney:
“For the last season, the eleventh episode will come out in the summer and then
the final one (Episode 12) will be filmed starting January 31, 2015, and
probably will come out in January or February 2016 and, as always, it will be
on public access all over the country. If people e-mail me or come they come to
a show and they see us there, we have DVDs of all the different work that we
do, all of it on DVD and any public appearance that we do, anyone can come to
talk to us and get whatever they’d like to see.”
Marie
Gilbert: “You’ll be at the film festival in New York this year?”
Patrick
Devaney:
“The New York Horror Show? Yes I’ll be there on Sunday only because we’ll be
filming the other two days of the event.”
Marie
Gilbert: “What are you showing at this event?”
Patrick
Devaney:
“I actually won’t be this year because I’m swamped with production of so many
things and, this year they’ve asked me to be one of the judges of the film
festival which is an enormous honor and I immediately said yes. Adam Ginsberg
and LC Macabre, they told me that they wanted me to do this and as soon as I
agreed, they informed me that I had 124 films I needed to watch and I said,
“Oh, I understand, okay...that’s a lot, but I’m in!” They gave me and the other
judges access to them all. The films are some of, especially the short films, they
are some of best that I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Marie
Gilbert: “Well I’m a big supporter of Independent Films because you’re allowed
more freedom and you get better quality because you’re not tied to a big
Hollywood studio and you have more of a say on film.”
Patrick
Devaney:
“I’m happy to hear that, and I’m all for it as well because you don’t have to
follow a formula. A lot of the films that I see that are so successful and so
brilliant, but they would never get off the drawing board in Hollywood because
they didn’t follow a specific marketing formula that they can match to make
money. I understand that it’s a business and they have shareholders and they
have to make money and that’s how the big gears turn, but on the artistic side,
it lacks much. That’s why I love Independent Films, especially Independent
Short-form work,, which is my favorite to watch and some of the ideas that I’ve
seen in the past six weeks is just amazing work. It’s so nice to see so many
people doing such wonderful things.”
Photo courtesy of photographer, John Sheehan
Marie
Gilbert: “One more question. You were in a band or you had your own band?”
Patrick
Devaney:
“Yes, and an interesting time with that. I was in a number of different bands
on the New York circuit in the early to late 80’s. When Manny and Lindsay
Serrano from Mass Grave Pictures told me they were looking to set Blood Slaughter Massacre in October of
1984, I was actually in a recording band at that exact point in time, and they
asked me if I had any little demos to add to the film’s soundtrack. I not only
had that but, the two guys that were in the band with me are both professional
musicians today and one of them is in a very successful band that tours the
world. I said to Manny and Lindsay “If I can schedule everyone together,
they’ve actually agreed to re-record one of those songs for your movie.” So we
got the band together twenty-eight years later and we re-recorded some of that
music and it’s used it in the film. Blood
Slaughter Massacre about to be released by Wild Eye Releasing this spring.
Also, you can talk to the crew from MGP
too, if you want, because that movie is nutty and I’m even one of the
characters in that too. I play Captain Bracken, the Chief of Police of the Town
of Havenwood in the film.”
Marie
Gilbert: “So when I see that movie, I’ll be listening to your music?”
Patrick
Devaney:
“There is a particularly gruesome death scene that you’ll be hearing our music
during, yeah.”
Marie
Gilbert: “Because of your busy schedule, do you have time to devote to your
music?”
Patrick
Devaney:
“I really haven’t at all. I stopped performing over twenty years ago and just
to get this one song together for their movie kind of re-sparked interest in it
for me, but I kind of try to leave the work in the hands of the professionals.
I know much better musicians than I am so I try to work with a lot of different
people, like Charlie Maffia and Steve Montano, the two people I was speaking
about earlier. The band we had was called ‘Romeo Penguin’, the band that did
the work for Blood Slaughter Massacre.
I also work with a wonderful composer
and arranger named Bernadette McCallion, who scores music for shows like The Shield and The Real World and many other major network shows, and she gives me
the time to do my independent films as well, which is a godsend with her.
We’ve been friends for twenty-five years
and she does this for a living and I get her hand-me-downs mostly, but with my
film Aemorraghe,
she actually did the score for it. It was all original music and, it’s amazing
how everything tied in. She worked with Charlie and Steve from her studio as
they worked in The Bastudio in Bayside, NY, on other original music as well as
all the Foley. Bernadette also composed at home and then sent the themes over
to them and then I would approve everything once they had it properly placed
and mixed. Charlie also enlisted a beautiful track from a London-based producer
named Vahn who recorded with a singer called Imonomi, and that was the icing on
the cake for the soundtrack. I could not
have asked for a better sound team to work with, and that’s why I left it to
them!
When you see the film, you’ll see how
everything has come together for it. It’s one of the best-sounding Indie short
films I’ve ever seen, and I can say that because I take no credit for that
aspect of its production. I like to find the most talented person I know, and
often, that isn’t me. So I say okay, who is the best for this, and can we get
them? That’s what I like to do. Bring everyone in and let all their strengths
shine and its one cohesive picture.”
Marie
Gilbert: “If my readers want to see Zombie Hunters: City of the Dead, how would
they find it?”
Patrick
Devaney:
“They can find it on Amazon Prime. They can download that or pick up DVD’s from
Amazon. DVD copies might also still be for sale in stores like FYE, if you can
still find them.
I want to add that for the people
reading this: if they appreciate horror and Indie film the way we do, then they
should go out to the festivals and go out to the conventions and talk to the
people who make these films and support them.
A lot of times, you go to conventions
and you’ll see the cast of “The Walking Dead” and you can spend 300 dollars to
get a picture with them or, you can spend a fraction of that and pick up three
or four Independent Films that you may get more from than a picture with a
celebrity. The convention scene is drastically changing now where it’s focused
on stardom and these photo ops, and what happens is the Independent producers
come in and some of them are mortgaging their houses to make these films and
selling them for ten dollars, but people just walk by them and say, ‘I can’t, I
just spent one hundred and twenty-five dollars to meet Norman Reedus.’ (this is
something that has actually been said to me, and more than once.)
People have different interests, and
there’s nothing wrong with autograph collecting. But if people truly love
Independent work: sci-fi, drama, horror or whatever, then it needs to be
supported. If it’s really good, then people have to be told, “You know this
film was exceptionally good.” This will encourage them to do more things and
that’s how you keep art going because if not, then it’s just Hollywood and just
Transformers movies and that’s all you’ll ever see. That would be a real shame.
There should be room for both.”
Marie
Gilbert: “Thank you, Patrick for being my guest. It was a pleasure talking and
you have to thank Joe Parascand.”
Patrick
Devaney:
“The pleasure was mine. Thank you very much. Joe is awesome and in an industry
that’s built on selfishness, he is the most open guy and the most selfless
person who will put everyone ahead of him and equally promote everyone and he
really takes cross-promotion to a whole new level. I love the guy as a person.
I’ve known him for years, but just being able to work with him...I’m going to
be directing him on January 17th and January 31st in different
scenes in for the last two episodes of Zombie Hunters.”
Marie
Gilbert: “Tell Joe I said hello. You know Joe has referred a lot of people to
me to interview and you are all nice, good people, who love and do top quality
work. Thank you again, Patrick.
And to all my little zombie snacks out there, if you make it out to the New York Horror Show
go looking for Patrick Devaney and tell him Steampunk Granny sent you
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