THE DEVIL'S CANDY: Sean Byrne Interview

THE DEVIL'S CANDY: Interview with Director Sean Byrne

 

The Devil's Candy marks director Sean Byrne return to the Midnight Madness program. His first feature The Loved Ones was so beloved that it won the 2009 Midnight Madness People's Choice Winner. I recently spoke with Sean about his eagerly awaited sophomore film. -- Robert A. Mitchell

Your first film The Loved Ones had an amazing world premiere in 2009 at Midnight Madness. Could you share some of your memories from that night? How did that screening change your life?

It began as a blur of jet-lag and sleep deprivation and ended as one of the most vivid memories of my life. Making a film is a marathon. The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is hopefully getting it in front of a big audience like at the Ryerson. The nerve-racking part is there’s no guarantee the audience will like it and all those thousands of hours that go into creating a film end up amounting to nothing more than egg on your face. So the way the audience embraced the film - screaming, cheering, wearing their heart on their sleeve - was so satisfying it’s hard to put into words. So much so I’ve been fighting to get back to Midnight Madness ever since.

As far as changing my life, the fact we won the Audience Choice award opened a lot of doors. It got me an Agent, countless meetings, and meant scripts were sent to me for the first time in my life. After flirting with various projects I ended up coming back to my own material because in the end I wanted to retain some sort of voice but thanks to Midnight Madness I suddenly had more than one avenue open to me.

I'm eagerly anticipating The Devil's Candy. What is the basic premise of the story? Where did the idea come from?

I don’t want to say too much because half the fun is in the not knowing! And The Devil’s Candy definitely has an air of mystery to it. I guess all I can say is it’s a haunted house movie about a father desperately trying to protect his daughter from the darkness in disguise. As for where the idea came from, I started wondering what’s the greatest disparity of power, the ultimate David versus Goliath battle in a horror context, and it seemed like child versus monster. After that the challenge became how to create a monster we haven’t seen before. There’s echoes of The Shining in terms of how a location can wreak havoc on the mind and also a hint of the Crossroads mythology: would you sell your soul for personal gain even if it meant jeopardizing the lives of those around you? 

What are some things you learned about film making from The Loved Ones? How did you apply this knowledge to your second film?

Prepare as much as you can then once the train leaves the station just hang on. Tackle one obstacle at a time and eventually you’ll reach the finish line. Surrounding yourself with the right producers and heads of department who not only share your sensibility but are also decent, passionate, supportive and great at what they do is also crucial. If you’ve got a good script or blue print, understand the tone of the film, do your best to communicate it clearly and work with the right people then you’ve at least got half a chance!

You have teamed up with producers Keith Calder and Jessica Wu of Snoot Films who  has a history with the Midnight Madness program producing You're Next and The Guest to name a few. How did their experience producing genre films aid the production of The Devil's Candy?

Keith and Jess have made sixteen films. I think The Devil’s Candy is their eighth film at TIFF. You can’t buy that kind of experience. You have to earn it and they have. So in a practical sense I felt in very safe hands. Everything is handled in a calm, methodical manner. But what was perhaps most rewarding was their ability to creatively align themselves with the film. We were all striving to make the same movie. As a writer/director I end up living with the material for an unhealthy length of time and to have producers who are able to remind you what was so exciting about the story in the first place is invaluable. They have strong commercial instincts but aren’t afraid to take risks because they understand horror, to avoid being predictable, sometimes needs to be dangerous, even taboo. And that’s where I live as a filmmaker so to share that ethos and have that kind of faith and support was incredibly helpful.

What kind of cinematic experience awaits the audience?

I wanted to pay homage to the classics of the supernatural genre - Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist, The Omen, The Shining - but with a distinctly modern sensibility. Like The Loved Ones, metal plays its part. In a perfect world The Devil’s Candy would lift the underground into the mainstream. We’ve been calling it a Doom Opera. I hope it creeps like death, sends chills then attacks the throat. I hope it feels like hell has risen.

From Sean Byrne how how to see The Devil's Candy this weekend:

Horror fans and metal heads of the USA, THE DEVIL’S CANDY releases tomorrow. If you want to fully experience the wall of dread closing in on you then see it in these theaters:
3/17/17 Arena Cinelounge - Hollywood, CA
3/17/17 IFC Center - New York, NY
3/24/17 Coolidge Corner Theatre - Brookline (Boston), MA
3/24/17 Gateway Film Center - Columbus, OH
3/24/17 SIE Film Center - Denver, CO
3/24/17 Alamo Drafthouse Mason Park - Katy (Houston), TX
3/24/17 Valley Art - Tempe (Phoenix), AZ
3/31/17 Alamo Ritz - Austin, TX
3/31/17 Loft Cinema Twin - Tuscon, AZ
3/31/17 Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Winchester - Washington, DC
4/14/17 Celebration Cinema Grand Rapids North & IMAX - Grand Rapids, MI
4/14/17 Celebration Cinema 11 - Mt Pleasant (Flint), MI
4/14/17 Studio C! Meridian Mall - Okemos (Lansing), MI
4/14/17 Celebration Crossroads 15 - Portage (Kalamazoo), MI
4/28/17 Guild Cinema - Albuquerque, NM

If it’s not playing at a theater near you then the Devil will visit your home on these digital platforms from tomorrow:
iTunes
Amazon
Sony
Google
Xbox
Vudu
Comcast
Cablevision
Charter
TW
Direct
AT&T

Originally Appeared 09/11/15 Midnight Madness Blog 

MEET THE PRODUCERS: Interview With Keith Calder. Bunraku, You're Next, Anomalisa, The Guest, The Wackness

This is the third installment in the ongoing series Meet the Producers of Midnight Madness 2010.


Let me introduce you to Keith Calder. Mr. Calder arrived on the film scene as an executive producer for the Midnight Madness film All The Boys Love Mandy Lane. In subsequent years he has also produced such films as Battle For Terra and The Wackness and is executive producing Walter Hill's next film St. Vincent. Bunraku marks Mr. Calder's return to the Midnight Madness program.


It has been five years since you produced All The Boys Loved Mandy Lane. What changes have you seen in the business side of the film industry in those five years?


In all honesty, it's hard for me to separate my own personal experience from the overall business. When we shot ALL THE BOYS LOVE MANDY LANE, I was a year out of film school. I thought I knew how to make movies, and I thought I knew how the film business worked. Here I am five years later, and I realize that I'm only just starting to learn how to make movies and how the film business works. It's hard for me to tell how much the film business has changed, and how much of the perceived "change" is just me understanding the film business better. But with my current understanding of the film business, I'll try to answer as best I can. The biggest change I've seen in the film business over the last five years is that it's now easier to get talented people to want to work on your independent film, but it's harder to sell your finished film.

Bunraku was financed outside the studio system yet attracted top name talent,. How did so many name actors sign onto the project?


We had a pretty hefty package of material that we presented to actors when we approached them to be in BUNRAKU. We had the screenplay, and a DVD of concept art, previz, and style clips. On top of that, Guy Moshe is obviously a talented and compelling director and the actors were drawn to the idea of working with him on the film. I think that a lot of the actors were taking a big risk coming a board an independent film like this, but their doubts were answered after a couple days working with Guy, the rest of the cast, and our incredible crew.


There is always pressure for a film to perform well in the box office and I'm sure this pressure has increased ten-fold in recent years. Does this pressure ever affect the vision of a film? Is there ever a temptation to make a film more mainstream and more accessible?


The short answer is easy: Yes, there is always a temptation to make a film more mainstream and more accessible.


The long answer is more complicated. With every film I produce, I try to make a classic of the genre. It may sound egotistical to say that, but I think there's no other way to be successful in this business. You aim for greatness, so if you fall short you still have a good film. If you aim for "good-enough", you'll end up landing at "piece-of-crap". So with a big independent film like BUNRAKU we took on a huge risk, but we only did so because we believed it had the potential to be a classic of the genre. It's too soon to say if we landed close to our mark, but when your goals are that lofty you start to worry less about "accessible" and "mainstream". "Accessible" and "mainstream" are really sub-goals of "awesome" and "great". If it's great enough, then it becomes accessible. If it's awesome enough, then it becomes mainstream. So yes, I always try to make my films mainstream and accessible, just not by dumbing them down or sacrificing the craft.

This interview first appeared 09/10/10 on the TIFF Midnight Madness Blog 

THE DEVIL'S CANDY World Premiere Interviews Director Sean Byrne, Actor Ethan Embry with Robert A. Mitchell

It took six long years for Sean Byrne (The Loved Ones) to fully realize his sophomore feature film The Devil's Candy but the wait was worth it. Sean is a consummate gentlemen and a film craftsman. His first feature The Loved Ones was so well received at the Midnight Madness program at the Toronto International Film Festival that it won the inaugural Midnight Madness People's Choice award. The anticipation was high at the World Premiere and the film delivered. Robert A. Mitchell spoke with Mr. Byrne and actor Ethan Embry about The Devil's Candy.

From Sean Byrne on how to see the film this weekend! Horror fans and metal heads of the USA, THE DEVIL’S CANDY releases tomorrow. If you want to fully experience the wall of dread closing in on you then see it in these theaters: 3/17/17 Arena Cinelounge - Hollywood, CA 3/17/17 IFC Center - New York, NY 3/24/17 Coolidge Corner Theatre - Brookline (Boston), MA 3/24/17 Gateway Film Center - Columbus, OH 3/24/17 SIE Film Center - Denver, CO 3/24/17 Alamo Drafthouse Mason Park - Katy (Houston), TX 3/24/17 Valley Art - Tempe (Phoenix), AZ 3/31/17 Alamo Ritz - Austin, TX 3/31/17 Loft Cinema Twin - Tuscon, AZ 3/31/17 Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Winchester - Washington, DC 4/14/17 Celebration Cinema Grand Rapids North & IMAX - Grand Rapids, MI 4/14/17 Celebration Cinema 11 - Mt Pleasant (Flint), MI 4/14/17 Studio C! Meridian Mall - Okemos (Lansing), MI 4/14/17 Celebration Crossroads 15 - Portage (Kalamazoo), MI 4/28/17 Guild Cinema - Albuquerque, NM If it’s not playing at a theater near you then the Devil will visit your home on these digital platforms from tomorrow: iTunes Amazon Sony Google Xbox Vudu Comcast Cablevision Charter TW Direct AT&T