Low Budget Spotlight was conceived one night when I was speaking with several horror fans on Facebook. I was friends with director Chris Seaver via Facebook for a year or so and wanted to buy a few more movies to help finish my collection of his movies. I couldn’t find him so I made a post in a horror movie group asking if he had deleted his page or what. Soon, I had several people, some of which were filmmakers, asking me who Seaver was. This inspired me to put together LBS showcase his work and amazing career, as well as, others people need to know about.
Seaver is the man behind not just one production company but three with each one focusing on a different type of indie films. His first film company, Low Budget Productions, started out making fan films in the 90s before focusing on original flicks like Filthy McNasty, Mulva, and Teen Ape. He then closed the doors on LBP to work on Warlock Home Video which was an attempt to make faux S.O.V. horror films from the 80s that were considered “lost.” His newest company, Midnight Kids Productions, just recently kicked off with Seaver working on his newest film The Weirdsies.
I was able to speak with Seaver recently about his career. Check that out below:
Horror Society – You have been making films for well over 20 years. What inspired you to make films and what pushed you from making fan films in the 90s to original features that you make now?
Chris Seaver – Well I was a star Wars kid ( Still am) I was born in 77 and my Mom and uncles were into all sorts of wacky and cool things. I grew up loving Star Wars and living in that world, but in 1984 when Nightmare on Elm Street came out, my Mom took me to see the flick and it was then that I got into horror and wanting to make movies. You would think that I would have wanted to be a filmmaker from seeing Star Wars but it was the horror that pushed me into it. That christmas I got a video camera and it started there. I grew up watching as much horror as I could, still loving sci-fi and fantasy and comic books and what not but wanting to soak in as much horror as I could. I made a lot of backyard fan films using Freddy and Jason. as I got older and the Shot On Video boom was happening, those flicks were giving me more confidence to try and do original SOV stuff, so in 1991 I started Low Budget Pictures and making flicks that were based on my drawings and comics I was creating. The better I got with writing and characters the more confident I became at showing other people my work. In 1993 I became friends with a Texas filmmaker named Todd Cook who had been making his own movies and started his own company called Cemetery Cinema. His company was the first place to sell my flicks on vhs!
Horror Society – Over your career as a filmmaker you have created three different production companies each setting themselves apart from the last. What made you drop Low Budget Productions to focus on Warlock Home video and the change from that to Midnight Kids Productions?
Chris Seaver – The reason I closed Low Budget Pictures in 2011 was due to lack of FUN, lack of respect from companies, lack of being paid good money to make movies anymore AND making TOO MANY movies a year based on having to pay rent. It was no fun and I was getting burned out and feeling taken advantage of and just not feeling it anymore. With Warlock, it was a way to go back to the fun of making Shot On Vhs movies like I did when I was younger in addition to making better quality films the way I wanted to. That slowly became another situation where I was NOT happy with the way things were going and so I closed that late last year and started Midnight Kids Productions with my partner in crime, Clint Kelly, to focus on more original web content in addition to shooting one feature a year that we pump all effort and time into. Features that are good enough for festivals and could venture out of the micro budget distro world. Stuff we could be more proud of and have more control over.
Horror Society – The Weirdsies is a film you have been working on and I am very excited about seeing it. What are some other films you have lined up you can tell us about and what does the future Hold for you and Midnight Kids Productions?
Chris Seaver – Well We plan on submitting The Weirdsies into as many fests that will take it. We are all very proud of this one. As for what’s coming next? A film we plan on shooting next September/October called Treat Or Trick. We will be trying to raise money for the budget early next year. We also have a lot of great stuff for the web planned including Vid casts, Web shows, podcasts and more! The Midnight Kids web site will launch October 2nd!
I want to thank Chris for giving me a chance to speak with me a little about his career in indie film making. If you would like to learn more Chris and his films check out the links below
Select Filmography
Mulva: Zombie Ass Kicker
Filthy McNasty
Quest for the Egg Salad
Wet Heat
I Spit Chew On Your Grave
Terror at Blood Fart Lake
Geek War
The Evil Dead Inbred Rednecks
