Eduardo Sanchez Interview
Foolish Babe January 4th, 2008
On December 19, 2006, the film ALTERED was released on DVD. It is the first film from director Ed Sanchez since the 1999 box office phenomenon, THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT. ALTERED is the story of five men who were abducted by aliens fifteen years before. Only four returned. Now, these same four men have managed to capture one of the creatures who killed their friend and ruined their lives.
I caught up with Ed to discuss his new movie, life since the BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, and what his future plans are.
Foolish Babe: Have you ever had a close encounter? And if so, care to share the details with us?
Ed Sanchez: No close encounters for me, though I’ve heard plenty of stories from one of my aunts, who had a few of them. Don’t know if they were true, but I loved them and they always scared the hell out of me.
Foolish Babe: ALTERED is your first movie since BLAIR WITCH. After the BLAIR WITCH PROJECT phenomenon, did you feel you had to take a break from making movies?
Ed: Yeah, I luckily had the luxury of not having to work again for while, so after our would-be follow-up to BW, HEART OF LOVE died a slow and painful death, I kind of took it easy for a while. I moved to Maryland (where I grew up) and concentrated on the family thing, still co-writing scripts and developing ideas but mostly on a part-time basis. One of those scripts ended up being ALTERED.
Foolish Babe: ALTERED seems like a throwback to the 80’s slasher-type movies. It seems like horror movies today are trending towards the graphically violent variety such as SAW and HOSTEL. And the Japanese-remake horror films such as THE RING and THE GRUDGE. Do you prefer a particular type of horror movie?
Ed: I like just about any kind of movie, genre-wise. That pretty much goes for horror, too. I like the scary, creepy films like THE CHANGELING or THE EXORCIST, monster or action horror films like the first two ALIEN films and the over-the-top gore and fun of something like EVIL DEAD II. And I don’t mind the gore, its part of the fun if done right. ALTERED has plenty of it, more than I ever thought I’d have in one of my films.
The only thing that I don’t like is the recent “torture” trend in horror films today. It seems like they’re all about seeing people in extreme pain or being mutilated in one way or another. That isn’t fun for me.
Foolish Babe: Everyone has what they consider their own worst nightmare. Mine is being in a situation similar to that in the film, OPEN WATER. What’s yours?
Ed: Mine is being buried alive in a coffin, with enough air so that I last quite a while. Enough said. I don’t want to get into it.
Foolish Babe: ALTERED is going straight to DVD. On your blog, Haxan.com, you described the pitfalls you had to overcome during the making of ALTERED. Do you feel that this experience has made you a better filmmaker? Or has this experience discouraged you from making future films? And if not, what’s next for you? Will you continue making horror films or will your next film take you in a different direction?
Ed: It has been one of the most debilitating things that I’ve had to go through, but it has definitely made me stronger and in the end, a much better filmmaker. The creative process for me will change on the next film. I’m already approaching it differently, but that’s true for every film I will ever do. Every new story requires a new approach. It’s what makes this part of the process the most exciting for me. The sky is the limit at this point.
And yes, I will continue to make films. I’m really excited about the next one, which is called SEVENTH MOON. I’m sticking to the horror genre, but this one has a completely different feel than ALTERED. First off, it’s my story idea. I’m co-writing it with Jamie Nash (writer of ALTERED) again because he is the fucking man but I’m taking the lead and bringing him in to tweak things up a bit and make my stuff better. Secondly, we’re planning on shooting this in China, so everything will be new to me there. I hope that this completely foreign, mysterious atmosphere will permeate into my film and give me something really creepy and scary. It’s all about the isolation, the chills and fear for this one.
Foolish Babe: You spent some time at Skywalker Ranch during the production of ALTERED. What was that experience like? Did you get to meet The Man—Boba Fett? No, but seriously, did you get to meet The Other Man—Greedo? Oh, okay, what we really want to know is did you meet George Lucas?
Ed: The RANCH is a dream come true for people like me and my partner, Gregg Hale. Our wives, Stefanie and Adrian joined us (along with my two little ones) and they fell in love with it, too. It’s just the perfect blend of work and leisure. It is the most relaxing, chilled place you’ll ever go to. It’s beautiful, the air is clean, the weather is perfect, the people are cool, the rooms and buildings are nice and comfortable, the food is great.
There’s a fireplace in every room and one of the true pleasures in life is coming home after a hard day of sound mixing (yeah, right) and getting the fire going. There are Norman Rockwell originals everywhere and there’s a big kitchen and central dining room that they urge you to use. So many little details like that. It’s just amazing.
We can’t wait to go back with our next film. Mixing at SKYWALKER SOUND is more expensive than other places but those two weeks are worth every penny of it. Not only is the work the best in the business but it’s truly a working vacation.
Gregg saw the MAN and he was coming to see us on our last day but he ran behind schedule and missed us. We were incredibly disappointed but we got a hand-written letter in the mail a few weeks after we got home from RICK McCULLUM, the producer of the PREQUELS, telling us that he was sorry that he had kept the MAN from us and to tell them the next time we were in the San Francisco area so that they could both meet with us. That was freaking amazing.
Foolish Babe: ALTERED was originally named PROBED. Why the change in name? Without giving away too much, what can viewers expect from ALTERED?
Ed: FOCUS didn’t like PROBED. They thought it was too goofy and seemed like a gay porn or something. I had gotten this reaction before but I loved the title, and I knew a lot of other people dug it, too. So I came up with ALTERED and FOCUS liked it and we liked it too, so we went with it. ALTERED definitely sounds like more of a horror movie but in the end, I think PROBED probably fits the film better.
What to expect from ALTERED? It’s not BLAIR WITCH, that’s for sure. It shows a lot more. It’s a monster movie. It’s a fun ride. And absolutely, positively keep in mind that this script was called PROBED. That title says everything.
Foolish Babe: As it pertains to your filmmaking career, do you have any regrets? Again, as it pertains to your filmmaking career, what was the best day of your life? What was the worse day? And what advice would you give aspiring filmmakers?
Ed: Filmmaking has been a wonderful profession for me, and I’ll do it as long as I can. But it is quite a draining field to work in for the family life, especially if you work all the time. It’s why I think that Hollywood marriages mostly never work out. You have to spend so much time away from your home that it puts a lot of stress on any relationship you’re in.
My long-term goal is to start making films here in Maryland, but even doing that is difficult. You work really long hours and I really can’t have a normal life while I’m working on a film. It’s hard for me to shut-off the directing and trouble-shooting and worrying even when I’m not on set. So my balancing act is how often do I make a film? Every two years seems to be a good answer, at least that’s how it’s shaping up now. But my next one will probably be in China which means many months away from the family. That’s the most difficult part for me.
Best day: The call from SUNDANCE that we had gotten in. It was the ultimate validation for all the many years of work and sacrifice, all in that one call. We all got together that night and smoked and drank and somehow ended up beating on a bunch of drums for many hours and letting it all out in the most powerful releases of emotion that I’ve ever been a part of.
Worst day: The test screening of ALTERED. Having my baby talked shit about was the worst. Terrible feeling of worthlessness.
Advice: Make films! Stay in school as long as you can afford it and make as much shit as you can, put it up on YOUTUBE, build a MYSPACE page and start marketing your stuff. No one else is going to do it for you. Keep doing that until you’re ready for the next step. You’ll know when the right time is.
Foolish Babe: Thanks, Ed. Blunder on, fools!