A Dash to the Death: 7 Questions with Michael Millichamp, Director of Necrophilia: A Love Story

1. You received a MTV scholarship from AIGA World Studio Scholarship Foundation, which allowed you to go to college and making countless short films. What can you tell us about your early years that led to you wanting to become a film maker and can you give us some background info on the projects that helped you to get your scholarship?

When I was 7 the movie that really sparked my interest, over everything else, was Jurassic Park. I remember watching it and just being so amazed, because it felt like I was actually on the island with all the characters and going through the adventures with them. I wanted to live in the world that Spielberg and Crichton created. That’s where I really found out I wanted to try and put people in that mind set as well. Throw them into a world I create and have them dying to stay. So from there it led to creative writing UIL’s for school and even writing short scripts. Finally when I was 17 I decided to actually make these movies I had always wanted to. I worked at a summer job, saved up enough money and bought a consumer hand held camcorder. I did little shorts here and there, but even at 17 I realized there was no talent around that could act, so I decided to try my luck with animation and clay-mation. So I went into clay-mation, made some videos, entered them into an Art UIL event for my school, and won State Recognition two years in a row. I submitted those to the AIGA foundation and I was lucky enough to recieve a scholarship.

2. The new short you are looking to film, Necrophilia: A Love Story, has a very interesting and disturbing plot: “Mitchel, a lonely and depressed recluse, decides to dig up the grave of his deceased ex-girlfriend, Emily, to spend one last moment with her. When he digs her up, he some how brings her back to life and, with their love stronger than ever, they decide to make it work for good! The only problem is, she is rapidly decomposing. Necrophilia: A Love Story, at the core, is a story about second chances at romance and how things are never exactly the same when you try again.” While you mention on your Kickstarter video that the idea for the film was based on seeing some of your friends make-up and break-up, what was the motivating factor for using one of societies last taboos like necrophilia as a theme and what research have you done into the topic?

So the idea, like you mentioned, came from me seeing my friends go back and forth from being together and breaking up, and in those types of situations I always wondered, well what happens if one of them die? How terrible would you feel because you took that relationship for granted and just flip flopped. So thinking of that just made everything fall into place. Have this story about a living guy getting another chance with his dead ex-girlfriend. But there is a bitter-sweetness to it because she is rapidly decaying. They know the future and they can’t fight it, but they try so hard to finally make it work when it’s too late. It’s just one big metaphor on how I actually see relationships of people who break up and get back together. There is normally an event that happens that makes the relationship dead from the beginning and will only go downhill.

3. While not very common in any genre, horror has had a few films that explore the concept of necrophilia in different aspects, including such titles as George Dugdale and Peter Mackenzie Litten’s Living Doll (1990), Straw Weisman’s Dead Mate (1988), Frank Van Gelovan and Edwin Visser’s Necrophobia (1995), Chih-Hung Kuei’s Corpse Mania (1981), Takashi Miike’s Visitor Q (2001), Jacques Lacerte’s Love Me Deadly (1973), Nacha Cerda’s Aftermath (1994) and Jörg Buttgereit’s amazing Nekromantic (1987) and Nekromantik 2 (1991). Where any of these films inspirations for your short, have you seen any of them and what are your thoughts on what the impact of these films has had on the genre and industry?

I actually have not seen any of those films, not out of a lack of wanting to, just the lack of knowing they were around.

4. You have cast Rachael Lee Magill and Corey Cleary-Stoner as the lover/ex-lovers Emily and Mitchel. Can you tell us a bit what lead you to cast them in the roles, did they have any reservations about the characters or the content of the short in the beginning and what are you hoping that they bring to their roles that have not been seen in films that are about this type of content?

I have worked with Rachael a lot in the past on several different projects, although this will be my first time actually directing her. She’s an amazing actress and I can not wait to see what she brings to the table. When I was writing the script, I could only think of her, so I guess you could say I wrote the role around her. I met Corey through a mutual friend and have been good friends with him since. He’s one of the nicest guys I ever met and he can act like no other. I was excited to bring these two together and I can’t wait to see how they bring an extra life to the film. When I first sent Rachael the script, she was immediately turned off by the title and I could tell she wasn’t 100% about it, but she read it and then later that day she told me how much she absolutely 100% wanted to play Emily. Corey was the same way, I gave him the script, he read it quickly, and immediately called me and wanted to play the role of Mitchel. We talked it over and he understood everything that I was trying to say with the script, which was such a positive thing because it meant we were on the same level. I want them to bring this type of realness and emotion to this movie that makes people totally forget that it’s all imaginary. I want them to suck people in and make them feel for these characters and think that this could happen, even though it couldn’t. This movie could easily be written as a comedy, but we are taking a risk and making it more of a drama.

5. You have award winning composer Giles Lamb composing and scoring the short, and he also scored the music at the beginning of the Kickstarter teaser. For those that may not know, he is also known for scoring such video games as Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, Risen 2, Darksiders 2 and the amazing Dark Island trailer. How did you go about getting him to score the trailer, what was his response to the script and how do you feel his music will affect the overall tone of the project?

I have been a fan of Giles ever since I saw the Dead Island release trailer. The visuals were amazing, but the score was just breath taking. It really stole the show, I think. When I finished the script I was just listening to ambient tracks on Spotify and the Dead Island score came on while I was reading my script and it just clicked. I immediately thought Giles was my guy. But as an independent film maker I assumed that I would for sure not be able to get him, but I decided why not? I found his email, sent him a letter asking him if he would be interested and what my project was about. Three weeks went by and I hadn’t heard anything, I actually just totally forgot about it, and then one day I get a response back saying he would love to. I was so excited I could barely contain it. I told everyone possible and even called my Mom and Sister. So after he said he was interested, I sent him the script, he read it quickly and loved it. He was officially attached, we shot the opening scene, I gave him a rough outline of things I wanted in the score, had him score it and he nailed it on the first demo. I didn’t ask him to make any changes at all. When I first heard it I was smiling from ear to ear. That’s when I knew that he was going to add a whole other level to our film.

6. The advent of social media and the internet have made it possible for film makers to get their projects to the masses and help with funding. Indiegogo and Kickstarter have been incredibly important to the indie film maker. How do you feel these programs have helped you with your vision, do you think this will become the norm in the industry and does it bother you that larger named talent (Zach Braff, Paramount Pictures) are now using it to fund their projects?

I absolutely love Kickstarter. The idea of people funding your movie, purely based on if it’s a good idea or not, is genius. I also think having to reach your goal or you get nothing is genius! It makes you strive and take risks and advertise as much as possible and if you are passionate about your project, you will be willing to do absolutely anything to achieve it. Right now I think Kickstarter is really coming into it’s own. People know about it, but not everyone. And it’s not just for film, it’s for everything you can think of! It’s such a great site to give people the opportunity to do stuff and get funding that they never would have had 5 years ago. Big Kickstarter projects don’t bother me too much, like Veronica Mars or Zach Braff, because they have fan bases of people who want to see their movies or TV shows, so if those people have a way of getting what they want, and all they have to do is throw $25 or $50 to see their favorite things come alive, then why not! I hope major studios don’t try to cash in on the independent crowd funding sources and ruin Kickstarter, but I don’t think that will happen any time soon.

7. Thank you for your time and for your amazing project! When are you expecting to have the short completed, what would you tell up and coming film makers about the industry and what else would you like to tell your fans about this project and your other work?

The project will be completed by August 9th. Then after that it’s the festival circuit, trying to get recognized, then it’s hopefully onto making feature films! My best advice for up and coming film makers, which is hard to do because I am still one, is just don’t stop. I have a full time job paying off student loans and payments, but I knew that this is what I wanted to do and no one was going to give me ideas or the opportunity to direct, so I had to take it upon myself to prove to everyone that this is what I want to do. It’s so cliche, but you can’t give up and I think that’s the best advice you can get. Thanks for having me!