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HorrorBid Exclusive: One On One With 'Cheerleaders Must Die' Director Zeke Pinheiro
Zeke Pinheiro, co-writer and director of the forthcoming, The Cheerleaders Must Die! (I’m sure you’ve spotted our coverage over the last few weeks) took some time away from his frantic campaign to get the film into production to share some thoughts with you, the faithful Bidite nation.
For those unaware, The Cheerleaders Must Die! is a proposed slasher feature boasting well, you guessed it, blood, guts, and cheerleaders; all the things a hormonally driven genre fan needs! While the film’s Kickstarter promotional campaign has yet to garner the full $7,000 required, the financial deficiency is clong quickly.
In just the last few hours TCMD’s Kickstarter funds have risen from $4,400 to roughly $5,200; that’s because people want a slice of the slasher pie. I for one don’t blame them!
All numbers ade, there are multiple reasons to support this project, and the fact that Zeke’s a great guy with a wonderful outlook is one of the absolute strongest incentives to invest. But enough of my babble, I’ll let Zeke tell it…
ted actress she is also one of the coolest people I've ever met. Something I like about her acting work is that she understands tone.
If she is in a Syfy movie she is going to give a very different kind of performance from the one she is going to give in a film like Righteous Kill. She does her homework on the script and asks all the right questions then comes up with some brilliant answers on her own. And if you just look at the photo of her we have up on our kickstarter page, she is the kind of beauty Mario Bava would have cast. Really haunting eyes.
HB: Examining the overall idea of the film; the directions you aim to take; revelations you plan to unveil, what film (or films) could you draw comparisons to?
ZP: I think when the film is complete you will find a lot of the same DNA in our film as The Burning, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween, Scream (for the mystery component rather than its self-referential perspective) and Mario Bava’s Blood and Black Lace. I love the sardonic look at the fashion industry in Bava’s early gialli and kind of took cues from that in the way I want to explore the main theme of our film, which is the toxicity of high school nostalgia.
HB: How is the KickStarter campaign going for you?
ZP: It's been a nerve-wracking experience with me obsesvely updating and checking our status for the last month, but it's also been a rewarding one. We have had a blast creating videos and web-content for it, I have gotten to talk with some incredible people (yourself included, Matt) and during these last few days the outpouring of support has been incredibly touching.
The campaign, in short, has been awesome.
HB: When all is said and done, what’s the goal? Will we see this flick make a strong festival run, or will you be bypasng that avenue and looking to get this straight out on disc with a distribution deal?
ZP: I would love for it to play festivals. There is nothing like playing a film in front of a festival crowd.
We actually have a couple distributors already looking at us, but we needed to do something more to convince them to come on board, hence the Kickstarter.
Getting a film off the ground is always a Herculean task, but with the economy the way it is people need a lot more convincing. With the funds we raise we'll be hiring a casting director who will be getting our cast in place and a storyboard artist so we can fully pre-visualize the film.
HB: Anything you’d like to say to those who are supporting your cause?
ZP: Thank you! That doesn't even come close enough to my appreciation of their support, but thank you. I am so incredibly grateful for every dollar, re-tweet, and post on blogs or facebook.
You can help with the Kickstart campaign here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1371792136/the-cheerleaders-must-die
For those unaware, The Cheerleaders Must Die! is a proposed slasher feature boasting well, you guessed it, blood, guts, and cheerleaders; all the things a hormonally driven genre fan needs! While the film’s Kickstarter promotional campaign has yet to garner the full $7,000 required, the financial deficiency is clong quickly.
In just the last few hours TCMD’s Kickstarter funds have risen from $4,400 to roughly $5,200; that’s because people want a slice of the slasher pie. I for one don’t blame them!
All numbers ade, there are multiple reasons to support this project, and the fact that Zeke’s a great guy with a wonderful outlook is one of the absolute strongest incentives to invest. But enough of my babble, I’ll let Zeke tell it…
ted actress she is also one of the coolest people I've ever met. Something I like about her acting work is that she understands tone.
If she is in a Syfy movie she is going to give a very different kind of performance from the one she is going to give in a film like Righteous Kill. She does her homework on the script and asks all the right questions then comes up with some brilliant answers on her own. And if you just look at the photo of her we have up on our kickstarter page, she is the kind of beauty Mario Bava would have cast. Really haunting eyes.
HB: Examining the overall idea of the film; the directions you aim to take; revelations you plan to unveil, what film (or films) could you draw comparisons to?
ZP: I think when the film is complete you will find a lot of the same DNA in our film as The Burning, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween, Scream (for the mystery component rather than its self-referential perspective) and Mario Bava’s Blood and Black Lace. I love the sardonic look at the fashion industry in Bava’s early gialli and kind of took cues from that in the way I want to explore the main theme of our film, which is the toxicity of high school nostalgia.
HB: How is the KickStarter campaign going for you?
ZP: It's been a nerve-wracking experience with me obsesvely updating and checking our status for the last month, but it's also been a rewarding one. We have had a blast creating videos and web-content for it, I have gotten to talk with some incredible people (yourself included, Matt) and during these last few days the outpouring of support has been incredibly touching.
The campaign, in short, has been awesome.
HB: When all is said and done, what’s the goal? Will we see this flick make a strong festival run, or will you be bypasng that avenue and looking to get this straight out on disc with a distribution deal?
ZP: I would love for it to play festivals. There is nothing like playing a film in front of a festival crowd.
We actually have a couple distributors already looking at us, but we needed to do something more to convince them to come on board, hence the Kickstarter.
Getting a film off the ground is always a Herculean task, but with the economy the way it is people need a lot more convincing. With the funds we raise we'll be hiring a casting director who will be getting our cast in place and a storyboard artist so we can fully pre-visualize the film.
HB: Anything you’d like to say to those who are supporting your cause?
ZP: Thank you! That doesn't even come close enough to my appreciation of their support, but thank you. I am so incredibly grateful for every dollar, re-tweet, and post on blogs or facebook.
You can help with the Kickstart campaign here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1371792136/the-cheerleaders-must-die
Matt_Molgaard
Sunday 9/04/2011 at 09:04 PM | 82162
