Horror Artist Showcase: Filmmaker Nick Everhart
Pop goes the weasel, or should I say evil? Nick Everhart takes a timeless old boyhood toy and turns it into one’s worst nightmare in his latest horror short Slash-in-the-Box. Of course if waiting for the freakish clown, as was the case with my very own Jack-in-the-box when I was a kid, wasn’t scary enough for you then Slash-in-the-Box is sure to change that sentiment. With an intriguing script, expert direction and camerawork, Nick Everhart places a staple into the short horror genre that is sure to give you goosebumps and will, without a doubt, make you think twice about accepting unwarranted gifts.
Nick was kind enough to sit down with Reelybored Horror and answer a few questions for us about his newest horror short, just exactly who he is and what’s next for this upcoming young director
Reelybored: I’ve had a passion for filmmaking since the age of 8, making short “films” and videos with friends and family. What is your earliest memory in your venture towards filmmaking?
Nick Everhart: My earliest filmmaking experience was in 7th grade when my friends and I got permission in our drama class to shoot a short movie. The school had an old VHS camera that they let us borrow. We made a parody of Scream called Scary Movie (this was several years before the comedy film “Scary Movie” came out). We had no idea what we were doing, but we were coming up with cool shots and camera tricks. We were just experimenting. I remember when we showed it to the class, everyone laughed, and some students were amazed by one of the trick shots we did. They didn’t know how we did it. And that’s when I first became really excited about making films. At that moment, I understood the magic of moviemaking.
Reelybored: Tell us a little about what you did before you were a filmmaker and the journey you went through to get to where you are today.
Nick: In high school and college, I worked for AMC Theatres in my hometown, Kansas City. I managed at several locations. It was an awesome experience, because I got to watch all the movies for free, usually before they were released to the public. And I saw all the trailers, posters, and other marketing materials that were released. I saw what movies did well and what movies were disappointing. It was a great lesson in marketing and distribution. After I graduated from college, I immediately moved to Los Angeles, quit working for AMC, and began working for free as a Production Assistant at a company called The Asylum. The Asylum produces ultra-low budget movies for DVD and the Syfy Channel. They’re basically the modern-day equivalent of Roger Corman. They make a new movie every single month, so it was a great way to get a lot of experience in a short amount of time. Eventually, they started paying me, and about six months later, they let me write and direct one of their films. I ended up directing two movies for them. They were both crap, but again, it was a great learning experience, and an opportunity to get paid a bit to experiment with the process.
Reelybored: Talk a bit about your recent short horror movie Slash-in-the-Box and how the idea came about.
Nick: Slash-In-The-Box happened because I was anxious to direct something again, and I wanted to do a short that was something I could make with my own money. So, it had to be a small concept with a good hook. I was in the shower when the image of the final shot popped into my head. It was something I’d never seen before, and I thought it was great to create that image. So, I quickly thought of a story to lead up to that ending moment, and then I got some friends together, and we shot it. We shot the entire short in one long night (about 14 hours). Some of my crew had to work on another job immediately after we wrapped, so they literally didn’t sleep before going right to another full day of work. It was crazy, but it was fun. The post-production was finished in just one week, because I wanted to meet a festival contest deadline. So, the whole thing was fast and furious, but I think it turned out even better than I had imagined. It’s my favorite piece of work so far.
Reelybored: Have any funny, odd, strange things happen while filming Slash-in-the-Box?
Nick: Nothing odd or weird happened while we were filming. It was very straight-forward. I had a shot list, and we were just going down the list, picking off each piece. It was very calculated.
Reelybored: What would you say is the most challenging thing you encountered while shooting Slash-in-the-Box?
Nick: The biggest overall challenge was trying to film the entire thing in one night. It was getting stressful in the morning as the sun started coming up, and daylight started coming in the windows before we were done. A few shots didn’t match, but we were able to correct them in post. The biggest individual challenge was the trick mirror shot. We were shooting into a mirror and then pulling out to see the world. That was tough, because there wasn’t anywhere to hide a light. We kept seeing the light, either in the reflection or when the camera pulled back. Finally, we found a solution combined with some re-lighting in post, but that one shot took almost three hours. The rest of the shots were pretty easy.
Reelybored: You have done other films including 2012: Doomsday and 666: The Beast. What would you say is the most difficult transition from going to a short from a feature or vice versa?
Nick: My feature films were at The Asylum. There, scripts are written in just a few days. There’s only a week of pre-production, you shoot for 10-12 days, and then three months later it’s on the shelf at Blockbuster. It’s probably impossible to make a good movie like that. I know I couldn’t do it. While Slash-In-The-Box was still a quick schedule, there was still about two weeks of prep where I could cast good actors, time to scout locations and to storyboard and plan each shot. Then, go to the location and pre-shoot each shot with a small camera to make sure that the angles worked before the day of the actual shoot; we did a visual effects test shoot to make sure we knew how to pull off the last shot. That kind of planning is essential. Otherwise, it’s just chaos. On the two feature films I did, there was no time for proper planning. I didn’t even see the filming locations until we were shooting there, so I had to make up the shots on the fly and hope I got enough pieces to complete the story. The best thing I learned from those experiences is to never do it that way again.
Reelybored: Any horror films, or any other films for that matter, and directors that have influenced your work?
Nick: I love all films. My favorite filmmakers combine technically precise filmmaking with great characters and performances. I love Spielberg, Hitchcock, Cameron, Scorsese. As far as horror in particular, I am probably most inspired by the suspense of Hitchcock and the fun campiness of early works by Sam Raimi, Tim Burton, and Peter Jackson.
Reelybored: If you had to pick one genre, which one would you say you wouldn’t mind being typecast as a particular type of director and why, very much how John Carpenter is pegged as a horror director?
Nick: I hope I’m not typecast as a particular type of director. I like a lot of different types of films, and I’m inspired by every type of genre. I think my aesthetic harkens to the filmmaking style of 80s Hollywood films, but that’s not a genre as much as it is a sentiment and style. Some of my favorite films are Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Die Hard, Aliens, Back to the Future, Jurassic Park, T2. They all have a sense of fun, action, and excitement, but they’re not all the same genre.
Reelybored: Fair enough. If you could work with any actor/actress, who would it be and why?
Nick: There are a ton of actors I’d love to work with. I’m really interested in working with actors that don’t appear as often as I think they should in modern films. Actors like Michael Keaton and Jeff Goldblum come to mind. They’re incredible actors, and I wish they made more movies.
Reelybored: What’s your favorite horror movie?
Nick: My favorite horror movie is probably Poltergeist.
Reelybored: Why?
Nick: It’s a fun film with horror, suspense, and heart. And it has amazing practical effects. I’m a HUGE fan of old school practical effects. Modern movies rely way too much on CGI. I’ve heard rumors of a Poltergeist remake, and I just can’t imagine it being any good.
Reelybored: I agree with you one-hundred percent! What do you have in the pipeline? What’s next for Nick Everhart?
Nick: I’m finishing a thirty-minute short called The Scout. It’s an homage to the 80s Amblin films like E.T. and Goonies. It’s about a group of boy scouts who encounter a giant creature in the woods. I’m really happy with how it turned out. It’s part of an anthology horror film called The Penny Dreadful Pictureshow, which includes two other short stories. The project is very much in the vein of Tales From the Crypt or The Twilight Zone. We’re planning to release it in select theaters this fall.
Reelybored: What would you say to aspiring filmmakers?
Nick: I don’t like the word “aspiring.” If you’re a filmmaker, then you need to make films. There’s nothing stopping you. Cameras and editing software are so easily accessible now, there’s no excuse not to go shoot something. You probably even have a camera on your phone! Go experiment, learn how to play with different camera angles, work with editing software on the computer. Teach yourself the basics and show your work to see what people respond to. With YouTube and Vimeo, it’s easy to show your work to a global audience, and with Facebook and Twitter, you can spread the word and market yourself without spending a dime. It just takes time and effort. Good ol’ gumption can get you far. And who knows… the right person could see your work and offer you a job. Anything is possible. Wayne Gretzky famously said, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” That applies to filmmaking as well.
Reelybored: Thank you for taking the time to sit down with me. Best of luck with everything.
Nick: The pleasure is all mine!