Making Evil in Oregon

It has been a little over three years since the camera started to roll on The Evilmaker. I wish I would have kept a daily journal, but at the time, it didn't seem too important. All that mattered was getting the movie completely shot in the nine days we had. Looking back on the experience, I have mixed emotions.

Shooting on the Evilmaker was so different than any other picture I had worked on up until that point and after. I had shot one full length feature the year before it, called Dreamwalkers (which is finally nearing completion) and have done several since, all in post production now. Editing on Dreamwalkers was put on hold to make way for Evilmaker, which I decided would be Pipedream's first release.

Unlike Dreamwalkers, which was shot over a period of eight months on various weekends, I was flying in a scream queen (Stephanie Beaton) and we had to get everything done while she was here.

Things started out good, the first few days went rather smoothly. Everyone got comfortable with each other and there were some funny times. Then, we got behind schedule and the stress kicked in. We were supposed to have two days off in the middle of the shoot and it didn't happen. To top it all off, I had a girlfriend at the time that absolutely hated what I was doing and she would call out to the set constantly. She even came out to the set a couple of times and made it difficult to film. Needless to say, I am not dating her anymore.

I understand that all productions do not go off as planned, but this was my first experience in trying to play 10 different roles all at once. There were some things that happened on set that I didn't like, but you have to roll with the punches. Sometimes personalities clash and you have to play peace keeper as well. Plus, when you work 15 hours or better per day for that many days straight, you are bound to get on one anothers nerves.

Another thing was we were out on location way out in the boonies and it was difficult to sleep at times. I also got my first lesson on catering and how you should have good food for everyone. I ran out of money and had to borrow some. That really sucked.

Despite all of the headaches, I really enjoyed making this movie. It was an incredible experience and I have become a better director and person from it. I'm very proud of it, and I just finished shooting the sequel, so it couldn't have been all that bad. For the future movie makers out there reading this, if you start hitting bumps in the road, just keep pushing ahead. They don't always come across as you want them, sometimes they turn out better.

Good luck and happy movie making!

John Bowker