When major cities around the world burn in the aftermath of massive, coordinated terrorist attacks, Dr. Alison Olsen and her friends escape Atlanta for the refuge of her family property deep in the heart of rural Georgia. What they find there is unnatural, violent, and anything but safe.
Star Wars : The Clone Wars’ Catherine Taber stars alongside Hannah Fierman (V/H/S), Megan Hayes (“Stranger Things”), Robert Pralgo (“Teen Wolf”), Anthony Ngyuen (“The Have and Have Nots”) and Alex Zuko (“Cobra Kai”) star. Chris Ethridge directs from a Michael H.Harper script.
Congrats! When did Haven’s End first start for you?
Haven’s End began life in conversation with my friend and frequent collaborator, Writer/Producer Michael Harper. We had some resources available, this property outside of Augusta, GA being one. I knew that I wanted to work with Catherine Taber again, she had a smaller role in my previous feature, Attack of the Morningside Monster. From there, Michael worked with this idea that these characters were forced to flee the city to this piece of family land. He worked on a story pitch from there, and Catherine and I both loved it, so we started working towards making the film.
And was the initial interest to do a film about social anxiety… or did that just creep into the script?
In my initial conversations with Michael, as he was building the story, I was actively interested in the concepts around lack of trust and lack of control. Social anxiety was not a theme I specifically targeted, but I think those two concepts are large components of social anxiety, so there is a natural progression from those ideas that found their way in.
I imagine you must have known something about the topic before constructing the tale around it?
I certainly have several friends and family members who suffer from it to varying degrees. It can be paralysing for some people.
It’s a hard one to categorise -a little bit of everything here – and welcomingly so! – how did you pitch it to everyone, initially
I have been using the term “genre-bending”, because the film definitely blurs and crosses a lot of lines in that regard. I personally love it, mashing up genres is the way I prefer to approach my films. My last film was marketed and presented as a masked killer/slasher style horror film, but it ultimately plays more like a mystery and even a little bit of a police procedural.
When you’re doing a comedy is it hard not to play things too over-the-top?
Yes! Particularly in a movie like this where the comedy is mostly dark and there to provide some release of tension from the other things going on, you have to be very careful to maintain the overall tone. A good stand alone joke might not work in the overall context of the film because it doesn’t fit with everything else. We definitely had to remove a couple of things of that nature in the editing room to make sure the movie stayed focused and tonally consistent.
Ultimately, I imagine the plan is to get this out around the globe? Where has it been so far?
We’ve played in festivals all over the U.S. prior to the pandemic. Now we are out on VOD and DVD in North America, and I think we’ll start popping up, at least digitally, in other countries very soon.
Favorite film and series of 2020?
Queen’s Gambit was incredible, I’m still thinking about that one weeks later. Beautifully shot and brilliantly told. As far films go, it may be an unusual choice, but I’m extremely fond of Bill and Ted Face the Music. In addition to the nostalgia fix that it gives me, it does something really interesting with the storytelling by basically putting the main story engine into what is ostensibly the “B” plot. And because it only works because it’s a Bill and Ted movie, to me it felt almost like cinematic sleight-of-hand.
Least favorite?
Black Bear was my least enjoyable film experience this year, even though Aubrey Plaza gives a tremendous performance.
What kind of changes do you expect within the industry for 2021?
Warner Bros just broke the news today that their entire theatrical slate is going to appear on HBO Max at the same time as they hit theaters. That’s a sea change for this industry, and other large studios will probably follow. The theatrical experience is going to change, likely with fewer multiplexes. I have no doubt there will always be theaters and I am hopeful this will push theater companies to continue focusing on improving the experience in order to attract people back to the screens, and that’s a good thing for people who really care about how they enjoy films on the big screen.
Do you have a dream project? If Tinkerbell could sprinkle fairy dust upon you and bring any project to you, what would it be?
I’ve always wanted to see a big budget theatrical version of the Star Blazers cartoon series, and I would love to make it. Would love to take a shot at a Bond film. I’d also be interested in remaking Flight of the Navigator with modern technology. Ha, I guess I’ve got more than one dream project.
Genre-bending post-apocalyptic thriller Haven’s End is now available on DVD and Digital from Mill Creek.