Dan Kiggins: Paying The Landlord with Blood, Sweat and Tears. By Brian Kirst
“Hurry up and wait is the whole thing on the set,” admits Dan Kiggins, producer of the recently wrapped Chicagoan horror comedy, The Landlord. Still, Kiggins, who spent the majority of his summer and fall hunting down locations (including a bar, a doctor’s office, a super market and his own apartment) and assisting during shoots, acknowledges that he had many fun and unusual experiences. “We had to shoot during torrential rain and in a small cramped house with a dog running around,” he wryly states.
But his most cherished memory involves a souped up sports car and the cops. The production was shooting off of a side street without a permit and needed a shot of the vehicle peeling out into the street. Some local police officers stopped by to admire the car and eventually wound up stopping oncoming traffic for the very relieved film makers. “They peeled out at the end for us, too,” he laughs.
As for the film itself, “This is definitely a labor of love,” states Kiggins, who is now a full time producer for The Landlord’s production company, Massive Ego Productions. “We want people to truly enjoy this film but we also plan to use it as a resume builder. We want it as a showcase to hopefully fund other products.”
Indeed, with a successful screening of a rough cut of the film generating many positive comments, The Landlord is certain to provide not only chills, but chuckles when it is finally unveiled for the public. And – hopefully, a lot more work for the passionate, horror loving Kiggins and Massive Ego Productions.
Can't wait to see the final product.