Tell us about Jason R. Miller?
This is a very “Actor’s Studio” question. Jason R. Miller is a dude from Boston, who used to want to be a comic book artist and a rock star (perfect combination), but read a book by Robert Rodriguez and realized that filmmaking with no money was a possibility. Oh and he also owned every single HE-MAN Action figure when he was a kid.
When did you decide on film as a career?
It actual came to me later than you usually hear about. I was 18 or 19 and I owe it to my then girlfriend, Stacy. She was obsessed with all things Kevin Smith, Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. She gave me the bug and I ran with it and never looked back. It’s such a passion for me and it keeps me going. I’ve worked more than 24 hours straight on numerous occasions doing film work. I can’t imagine working that much at anything else. It’s really not work, it’s just what I do.
Name one movie you would remake and why?
This is sore spot for me. Generally I don’t believe in remakes. I feel like almost every one of them is just unnecessary or under cared for. With the exception of John Carpenter’s THE THING, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW remake and a few others, but there is one movie I’ve always wanted to remake. AKIRA. And it’s not really a remake because the original was an animation. But even before I realized I wanted to direct, I wanted to be part of making the live action AKIRA movie. Then when I moved to Hollywood it was always my passion project, but as everyone knows, it’s now being cast and it seems like a reality that they are making it. So it makes me sad that I was too late to the party and I want to boycott it, but I’m sure I will go see it and yell at the screen the whole time. Who knows, maybe DiCaprio loves Akira as much as I do and it will be great. I can only hope.
Which project are you most proud of and why?
As a writer and director I would say my current short film INFECTED. It just premiered at ScreamFest in LA last month and it was amazing to watch it with a crowd and hear positive comments and reviews afterward. It’s a good feeling, you know.
As a Producer / VFX Artist / 2nd Unit Director I would say CHILLERAMA was a major accomplishment. FROZEN and HATCHET II were REALLY hard shoots, but CHILLERAMA had so much going against it that it was a constant battle that lasted over a year. The directors got to work on their films and when they were done, they were done, but as Producers myself and Cory Neal had to be there for every day of each film, do all the prep, scheduling, casting, find the locations, hire the crew and about a thousand other things. On top of all that I was prepping 2nd Unit for Zom-B-Movie and answering questions as the VFX Supervisor. So even though CHILLERAMA is this small movie that was designed to be a side project for everyone, it turned into this unstoppable monster. But we pulled it off and we have a pretty cool movie because of it.
With chillerama’s release right around the corner on nov 29th, tell us about the visual effects on the film?
The VFX for CHILLERAMA were fun because I got to work with so many different styles. For WADZILLA we went old school, so I was going for a MARS ATTACKS feel with the visuals. The Chiodo Brothers did such an amazing job with the stop motion and I came in and designed the scenes around their work based on some rough plates that Adam Rifkin and the editor laid out. We also did a lot of miniature work which was a blast and saved us from modeling 3D cars and helicopters in the computer. We embraced this hybrid of old school and new. WADZILLA ended up having 100 FX shots which is a lot for a 23 minute film.
For ZOM B MOVIE I got to go 80’s Horror style which is actually difficult because everything needs to look as real as possible. A lot of the work was on enhancing what was already there which I find works very well when you are adding FX elements that aren’t real. It’s easy to match something than it is to recreate it without reference. My least favorite part was when Joe Lynch sent me a bunch of stills of poop for DEATHICATION with the simple caption of “This is mine, enjoy.” We also had to do a lot of roto work to erase lights and composite the drive-in screen. I also had to change signage since it was an actual operational drive-in we couldn’t show that UNSTOPPABLE was playing on the screen in the background. In the end ZOM-B-MOVIE had around 75 FX shots and a lot Shit!
And with THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANKENSTEIN & WEREBEARS there weren’t many FX shots because of the way Adam Green and Tim Sullivan embraced the genres they were in. You don’t expect a 1940’s style Frankenstein movie and a 1960’s Beach Blanket movie to be wall to wall VFX. So I think there was a total of 10 shots between the 2. And this was a blessing because as with everything we had a looming deadline. I had about a month and a half to turn in all 200 FX shots for final delivery. Even now when I look back, I can’t believe that my tiny crew of 3 people was able to pull it off. It was a lot of sleepless nights, but a rewarding feeling when you sit with an audience.
What was your most surreal moment in the industry?
I actually have a few surreal moments, but the 2 that stick out are pretty amazing. The first was when I got a phone call from Bill Paxton. He called because he had seen a video pitch that I put together for Adam Rifkin and he was in the middle of pitching a secret project to James Cameron and wanted me to help out. So I got to meet him and work with him. He’s probably one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met.
The other surreal moment was when I was helping this newly formed company that did Live Internet Broadcasting. I got a call from one of the owners and he said: “Can you bring all of your cameras and computer equipment to this address tomorrow morning?” And it was weird because we just agreed to start testing out this idea and we were just trying out this new software and equipment, but I said yes. It turns out the address was Charlie Sheen’s house. So I get there and one of Charlie’s assistants is waiting outside for me and he walked me into the back patio and sat me down. Then he said, “Charlie will be down in a few minutes.” And the whole time I’m waiting, I’m just trying to figure out why I’m sitting in Charlie Sheen’s house, because this was at the height of the Tiger Blood and Warlock activity. Well a few minutes later Charlie walks out in his pajamas and he greets me and then he just starts going off talking about how he wants to send a message and that we’re going to make history when we go on live TONIGHT. And I turned to the owner of the company and said: “You want to go live tonight?!?!” and he just kind of shrugged and then Charlie interrupted with : “Fuck yeah! Let’s do this!” And for the next few days I was set up at Charlie’s house directing “SHEEN’S KORNER” the internet show that lasted 3 episodes. And while it was definitely a crazy thrown together, A.D.D. driven debacle, I came out realizing why Charlie Sheen was a star. He’s amazingly nice and charismatic. He’s the most professional person when it’s time to work and he’s one of the smartest people I’ve met in Hollywood. And it was definitely surreal to watch a show I put together being spoofed on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE the next week!
Do you have a favorite type of film (genre)?
While I love horror, I have to say my favorite genre is Sci Fi. I grew up watching STAR WARS 3 times a day when I was a kid and I’ve been obsessed with space travel and all things futuristic ever since. Although my favorite movie is FROM DUSK TILL DAWN.
Do you collect DVDs if so what gets the most rotation in your DVD player?
Yeah, I own about 200 DVDs & Blu Rays. My go to movies are definitely ALIEN & BLADE RUNNER. Those 2 movies are just perfect to me. I try to study them as much as possible. I think Ridley Scott killed it back to back with those 2 amazing movies. My girlfriend always yells at me when I pop in the Alien disc before bed.
What’s next for you?
I’m currently working on Adam Green’s HOLLISTON TV series and Adam Rifkin’s upcoming TV series. I’m also writing my first feature right now.
Jason I wanna thank you very much for taking the time to talk to us at horrorsociety.com
Thanks you!
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2390386/
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