*Louis Bekoe is a director and producer, and the brains behind Black Cannon Pictures. More importantly, he is the creator of Zombie Fried Chicken, a new web-series currently broadcast on YouTube. Operating out of North Carolina, Louis has crafted a zombie-thriller mixed with, well, fried chicken. I guess you can say there will be some comedy in there too! Read my interview with Louis Bekoe below to find out all about Zombie Fried Chicken. It’s actually pretty interesting. The series seems like it will be more than your standard zombie plot. Episode Two was released yesterday, but I’m going to start you off with Episode One after the interview. Consider this your introduction to the web-series, and I encourage you to keep up with it!
Q: Why did you decide to do a web-series instead of a feature film or short film?
L: I thought it’d be an interesting way to try it. I get to move more characters around and build story lines instead of everything being focused on 1 or 2 characters. Even though each episode is 7 minutes or less, I can put characters in conflict immediately. It gets down to business faster. But don’t rule out a short film or feature-length film. It could happen to wrap up the whole ZFC universe.
Q: Can you tell us a little bit about the synopsis of Zombie Fried Chicken? How did you come up with the plot?
L: The UK, France and Spain have pooled their financial resources to buy back United States loans from China. Their objective is to destabilize the US economy so they can take control of the areas they owned before the United States declared independence. After the H1N1 Bird-flu was a failure, the British come up with a better idea. This time, the virus is in the chicken.
The idea came about a couple of years ago when I was working on my first independent film called Balls Count Anywhere, a beer pong movie. On the first night of filming, I ordered 200 chicken wings for the cast and crew. Every time I turned around someone was taking pictures of themselves or someone else with a chicken wing in their mouth. It was like they were zombies.
A few films later, friends were prodding me about doing a zombie film. “Every director needs to do at least one zombie film!” a friend said jokingly. I thought there needed to be more to it than just the whole post apocalyptic, we’re running for our lives in some cabin In the woods type of film. There needs to be a film about how the government (The CDC in particular) stops the zombie invasion from happening. And thus, Zombie Fried Chicken.
Q: So in other words, a virus in chicken is what turns people into zombies? Are they dead zombies like in …Living Dead or just infected humans like in 28 Days Later?
L: More so infected, but with dead properties. They run on metabolism the same as the rest of us. Eat well, run faster, metabolism burns off, and you have the walking dead. There will be a cure, probably much to the chagrin of most enthusiasts. However, it has an 8 hour window from infection to treatment that it’d be a viable treatment.
Q: What were your plans after you came up with the plot? Cast, crew – did you have any specific people in mind?
L: As far as crew, we are all on each others’ sets so it never ends. As far as the cast, there are folks we use on an almost normal basis and others who gave some great performances that give me ideas for other scripts.
Q: The first episode premiered on YouTube at the end of October. How was the response from viewers?
L: Pretty good for not having any zombies in it. For no real promotion at cons and such, I’ve been impressed at the interest. I had a high school buddy call me out at a bar. Another one call me out at Walmart and a random person say, “Aren’t you that guy who made zombie chickens?” The best part is when people say they’d like to be a zombie in it or want to work behind the scenes. I’m happy to have more of both. I hope the response is just as good for the next episode released this week.
Q: How many more episodes are planned? Will they be released monthly?
L: It’s unlimited or until executive producer Duane A. Sikes stops funding it…or until I run out of ideas. Yes, I had planned on monthly releases, but some of the crew and cast want to do two a month. We’ll see what happens there.
Q: Is there anything else you’d like to touch upon in regards to Zombie Fried Chicken?
L: Sure! It’s amazing how many people will work for fried chicken, shooting guns, kicking open doors and getting turned into zombies. I love the fact that some of the actors have gotten so in tune with their characters that they refer to themselves as the character even after filming. Chickens were harmed in the making of this series. Usually 100 pieces or more orders. Sorry, PETA. I also have a newfound respect for makeup artists. I’m happy to throw a bucket of blood on a zombie and keep rolling. That way looks cooler in my mind than on camera.
*PS: Episode One features one of our favorite gals over in these parts, Miss Angela Pritchett.
