New Zealand’s Shae Sterling grew up watching George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Paul Verhoeven films – no surprise than that his new film Alien Addiction is a mix of all three. We spoke with him about the film. Here’s what he had to say:
Before we get onto the film, let’s talk about you. Where did you grow up? What kind of film community did the city have?
Shae Sterling: I was born in New Zealand and grew up in Melbourne and Auckland. Having a thick aussie accent for a few years in New Zealand made me stick out like a saw thumb. There wasn’t much film industry in Auckland for a while, most of the buzz was down in Wellington, except for Xena warrior princess which my friend was a stunt double for. I was lucky enough to go to LA where my father lived and he got me on a hollywood set for a TV Movie called “Back in Business”. Not an oscar film but was amazing to get straight onto something like this. I got to play a dead guy in a scene and also chauffeur Brion James (Blade Runner) to set.
And what was your first taste of filmmaking? How did it come about?
SS: When I was about 9 I was lucky enough to use one of the first consumer video cameras so I got a little bit of a feel for it then and then during high school they had a media class and I made my first short film using VHS tapes. It was really tricky because when you would edit in vhs, you had to edit in one go if you made a mistake you would have to start again.
And what movies did you grow up watching?
SS: I really enjoyed some of the classic George Lucas and Steven Spielberg films, they definitely had a huge impact for me. I think John Williams music really helped my imagination. I later got into things like RoboCop, Back to the Future, at the time I could probably write the dialogue out for the entire film.
Any sci-fi films that stayed with you and are even paid homage to in Alien Addiction?
SS: Yeah I’m only realising it now after people asking me this question in interviews, I definitely think movies such as E.T., Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Morons from Outer Space and The Gods Must be Crazy, have affected the way my creativity works. I never like to make something that’s an obvious influence movie, but I can see a small homage to these movies in mine.
Tell us about some of your work before this? It sounds pretty “cool”, for lack of a better word.
SS: I’ve been doing music videos for the last 15 years and that’s been amazing. I’ve really worked out how to do an efficient shoot on the budget, and I’ve learnt a lot about fashion, styling, visual mood, lighting, and met some amazing talented artists. I even did a music video that featured Snoop Dogg. Sometimes I have to pinch myself.
So.. where did this idea come from?
SS: Originally I was thinking about a music video idea that had two aliens walking around robbing banks. I started thinking about mixing it with a local comedian and then it changed from something quite dark into a comedy. I also thought about what humans disregard the most, maybe that’s what the aliens want.
What’s the pitch that hooked your distributor?
SS: I think the sales agent which kicked off all the distributors they heard about the film from the Sci-fi London film festival which I luckily got into, after sending them the film they immediately loved it and wanted to take it on the rest is history. So it really came down to the film’s comedy. I think its working!!! I hope!
Was it hard not to play this too over-the-top at times?
SS: I think the movie is full of over-the-top things. I didn’t want it to be safe, I really wanted to express big ideas, love it or hate it, I just wanted it to be no holds barred. So many movies are simply following a very set path so they will succeed. But they are all just copying each other without taking any risks. What’s the point, it’s really boring me to be honest.
Tell us about any hurdles or issues you faced while shooting?
SS: Continuity was really hard. Coming back to areas in which all the trees had been chopped down and all the farm’s had changed the crops from our previous filming block. Self funding the film was a nightmare. I had to film little bits every 4 months after I’ve saved up enough money to do another block. It was so hard mentally to keep it together. I don’t know if I could do that again. Funding would be nice!
What kind of food do you recommend folks eat while watching Alien Addiction?
SS: I would definitely recommend chocolate mousse or chocolate ice cream or a steaming pudding! You will know what I’m talking about later (laughs).