Producer Jay Schweid believes the key to making a good film is to make “whatever you do your own”, and his latest film, Another Kind, is definitely original. We caught up with the prolific producer to speak about the creepy new home entertainment release.
The film’s marketing materials describe the film as being in the vein of The X-Files and The Blair Witch Project. Is it fair to say they were influences?
Jay : When Osiris (our distributor) told us that’s what they were going with, we were quite honored. Neither film came up when we were developing the story or during filming or post, but I guess when you’re a filmmaker the influences always seep in to your consciousness. The key is to make whatever you do your own and I think Jonny did a great job with that.
Where did the story come from? What sparked the idea?
Jay : The idea came as we were sitting around brainstorming and putting the final touches on a Slate of films that we’d been working on. Jonny suggested that we come up with an idea, knock out a script and shoot it ourselves as quickly as possible. I said let’s go for it more as an exercise than anything else, but once the idea started to take shape, we all got excited and couldn’t wait to start shooting.
Had you guys worked together before, or was this the first collaboration?
Jay : Jonny started working with us on a script that is part of our Slate. After working together for a few months, I asked him to come on board as a Senior Writer. We worked together every day in the office, but this was our first Director/Producer project that we worked on.
Where was this film shot? Was it tough – shooting out there in such punishing terrain?
Jay : We shot up in the Catskills in Upstate NY. It was the coldest any of us had ever been or ever hope to be again. Shooting for 9 days straight through is tough under the best conditions. Shooting in the cold with over 2 feet of snow was brutal, but we were determined to make it happen and everyone pulled together and did a great job.
Was the budget limiting at all? Any restrictions?
Jay: Certainly when you self-finance a film, your budget is going to be limited as we’re not as big as the Weinstein Company – yet. Having a bigger budget would have given us more time and enabled us to put together a bigger crew and have better heating areas. That being said, I’m glad we did it the way we did. If nothing else, we did something that most people never have and that feels pretty good.
The movie is on DVD, but is now being released on VOD. Do you think VOD is the way of the future? Will all movies soon go straight to VOD, you think?
Jay: I think films should be available in as many formats as possible to attract the largest possible audience. As fans, you can’t deny that seeing a film in a theater is something special and I believe will always exist for numerous reasons. That being said, sometimes you just want to stay at home – either alone, with family, friends, etc. – and why not be able to enjoy the movie you want to see? As a producer, I want our films to have the largest reach they can and if VOD is what it takes to get there, I’m all for it.
Another Kind is now on DVD, and will be available shortly on VOD
