Another fascinating project that has popped up on our radar is one called MY FRIEND THE DEMON. It tells the story of a young woman who, after years of abuse by the hands of her father, develops a relationship with a Demon. Bringing the creature to life is Oscar winner SFX make-up artist, David Marti who won the Oscar for his work on PAN’S LABYRINTH based on a creature/character design by artist Jared Krichevsky. Jared’s work can be seen in PREDATOR, RAMPAGE and KRAMPUS. The film’s leading man is Javier Botet, who is best known as SLENDER MAN and has appeared in IT, CRIMSON PEAK, MAMA, CONJURING 2 and INSIDIOUS: THE LAST KEY.
But what is it that inspired this group of horror fans to tell a story of trauma through kinship with a supposedly dark entity? We interviewed writer-director Matt Sears and Producer, Brandon Waites on how this little project came to be and where they hope to take it.
Contribute to get the project finished HERE
HorrorBuzz: Tell us about the project My Friend The Demon.
Writer-director Matt Sears
Matt: My Friend the Demon is a story about a young girl, who after years of abuse from her father is offered an escape from a very unlikely source. But at what cost?
It’s a high-end proof of concept short that we’ll be using to hopefully gain enough interest to create a feature version.
Producer, Brandon Waites
Brandon: Matt sends me his horror scripts all the time which we’re currently developing a handful of them. When I first read My Friend the Demon I was instantly hooked off of the concept. I could see it being developed into something bigger. There are so many elements in this story that people can relate to. An easy way for your audience to envision it by movie references is: My Girl meets ET meets Sinister. I know, a weird comparison but there’s the dynamic of friendships/relationships, unknown adventure mixed with the darkness of it all. It leaves the audience morally conflicted.
HB: This looks like a pretty intense premise. What inspired it?
Matt: I love to tell stories about vulnerable characters. If you can put the audience in their position effectively, it makes for a very powerful experience. It’s the key to creating a good horror. I wanted to approach it differently this time, offer an escape for the character and create a power shift.
This is ultimately what the demon represents, an escape. We all have our escapes, some are just a lot darker than others. This takes on a very dark and physical representation of the girl’s hatred for her abusive father.
Then from there, I thought it would be fascinating to see how this relationship would develop. In most horrors, we run and hide from the demons, but what would happen if this demon was loyal to you, and you had an element of control over it. Or so you think. Maybe it has control over you? Who knows?
HB: What are the key ingredients you used in developing a horror story?
Matt: I think putting yourself in the position of the viewer is key! I love horror films and I’ll think about what would scare me in that situation or where would I like to see that scene go as a viewer.
Balance is also critical, often in a short film people try to cram in a lot of information and try to get their scare across too quickly, but without the set up the scare is unsatisfying and the whole experience feels rushed. You need to spend time creating the atmosphere and context for that scare to exist. Lights out is a great example of a short horror. It doesn’t try to do too much, It just focuses on the situation and the hook. It builds suspense and delivers a great scare.
With My Friend the Demon it’s slightly different, we need to put more of a focus on story elements as we’re trying to build the world in which the feature could continue the story. This is all balanced out by some really great scares, and the scares work to serve the story.
Brandon: As a producer, the main thing I’m looking at is the concept. Does the concept have the potential for mass appeal? Right away, I could see the potential in My Friend the Demon. There are so many ways the story can go and the title itself makes you want to learn more about the story. It’s funny because I remember Matt telling me when he first sent me the script, “I am not sure about the title.” I was like “No, the title is awesome. Don’t change it.”
Jared Krichevsky Demon Design
Q: How did you land Oscar Winner, David Marti? Had he ever seen your work?
Matt: David Marti came from Brandon. He has so many amazing contacts, he told me that he could get this script in front of Javier Botet and David Marti and I couldn’t believe it. I thought why not, let’s give it a shot. So when I found out that they were interested, that’s what persuaded me to launch a campaign to try and get the money to pay for these guys!
I had a phone call with David and he was awesome, he liked the script and the concept design by Jared Krichevsky and had some great ideas on how we could make it work.
Brandon: I’ve always been really good at networking and connecting with people. That’s how I ended up getting my first internship with Hollywood production company Benderspink. I connected with Hollywood producer Chris Bender and he gave me the opportunity to come intern for him in Beverly Hills. After that, I co-founded a company called The Film Empire where we host Hollywood mentorship meetings for screenwriters & filmmakers. As a producer, I feel relationships with people are key to ensuring projects get made. Now that I’ve developed my background a little bit, it’s easier for me to reach out to talent, agents, and managers and get the ball rolling.
In regards to David Marti, I actually was introduced to David from Javier Botet and his manager Alvaro. They said they’d love to work with him again and I was like, “We would love to work with him too!” So I reached out to David and told him about the project. He loved it and set up the call between David and Matt. As you can see, it all worked out.
Q: We have to ask; What are your top 5 horror movies in no particular order?
Matt: Hereditary, REC 2, Annabelle Creation, Pans Labyrinth, VHS 2 – The Safe Haven segment
Brandon: Pet Semetary (original), Child’s Play (originals), IT, Halloween, Saw
And I just want to throw out there that I’m very excited to see Brightburn. I think that is such an original concept that I am seriously excited to go watch it.
Q: What are the stakes here? As an indie filmmaker how are you making ends meet, what struggles are you facing and what would making this movie mean for you?
Matt: I’m lucky enough to have a job as a Senior Filmmaker in an agency and then outside of that I’ll work on my own projects. This really allows me the freedom to do what I like with my personal projects as I’m not relying on them to make me money to live or anything. I can make the kind of projects I want to make and then hopefully they’ll impress the right people.
I think the biggest struggles facing indie filmmakers are funding and then getting your work seen. I’ve written so many stories that I then put on the back burner because I realise how much money I’ll need to scrape together or how many people I’ll need to be involved.
Once you’ve made your film then it’s all about finding your audience! I think that can be as hard as making it! You really need a bit of luck, the right person to see it and share it. There’s a reason why studios spend millions on marketing and publicity, as indie filmmakers we don’t have that luxury and we have to do this all ourselves.
Brandon: Well, first and foremost, I have to thank my wife Stephanie. As an entrepreneur/producer, nothing is for sure which includes my income. Stephanie is the one who works the 8-4 job. Without her, none of my work is possible. She allows me to pursue my dreams and because of that, my dreams are coming true. I’m currently running The Film Empire with my partner Erman Baradi. We’ve been running it for two years and it’s growing pretty fast. Outside of The Film Empire, I’m launching a new horror film festival called HorrOrigins for independent horror filmmakers which will be taking place in Atlanta during the last weekend of October. HorrOrigins will allow independent filmmakers the opportunity to get their work discovered. Also, I’m producing all type of genre feature films under my personal film company W8S Entertainment.
I think the biggest struggle for any film is finding the means to fund the film. For indie filmmakers, it’s so much harder. You don’t have the same studio resources so you have to take different approaches. Right now, I’m doing the Indiegogo. I have a couple of other plans that I’m going to put in motion soon to try to help us raise our $20k goal. I’ll do whatever to ensure that we reach our $20k goal. It’s important for me to get Matt’s proof of concept seen by the studios. My Friend the Demon is the perfect story for the fact that it’s original work and encompasses multiple tones. Matt’s work is amazing and I’m glad to be a part of this journey with him.
Q: What advice would you give other indie filmmakers?
Matt: Be as productive as you can by yourself, but know your limits. You don’t need a producer, a DOP, a sound guy etc, etc to make your film. My early films were made with just myself and friend. You don’t need as much as you think. Sure it can be really tough with such a small crew as you’ll have to split your focus across so many things, but you’ll learn so much and you’ll have your film to show at the end of it.
Learn as much as you can about the filmmaking process, then you’ll know what roles you can cover and where you’ll need help.
The more films you make and the more your work is recognised you’ll meet people you know you can rely on, then you can put together that bigger team and work on those more ambitious projects.
Brandon: I think Matt hits it on the nail here. You can create your own work. If you don’t know how to do something, there are plenty of YouTube tutorials to help teach you. Don’t be surprised if your first film or screenplay isn’t up to industry standards. It’s a learning process. It typically takes time and patience. Learn your craft and keep plugging. If you want to make a living as a filmmaker, it will take a long time to get where you want but keep pushing and getting the experience that you need. Also don’t let the speed bumps of life bring you down and tear you away from your goals. There are so many people that come out to California to pursue their dreams of acting, directing, producing, or whatever. They spend one or two years and give up. It’s a long process for the norm. You just have to be ready for the long haul.
Q: How can people contribute to the project?
This is the link to the Indiegogo: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/my-friend-the-demon-a-horror-short#/
Matt Socials: www.youtube.com/mattsears https://www.instagram.com/matt_sears_films/
Brandon socials: IG: @brandon_w8s Twitter: @Brandon_w8s FB: Brandon Waites
Again, if you would like to see this film complete production…
