"BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE FOUNDING FATHERS AND THE FIRST AMENDMENT."

Tony Urban: Writer / Director

1. Give us a little background on yourself, when did you decide that filmmaking was what you wanted to do? As a kid in rural PA, I grew to love films.  In high school I decided to become a writer and tackling screenplays seemed to be the natural course to follow.  I loved all films, but especially horror.  I was fortunate in that I broke into the film industry quickly as a writer but after a couple years of writing I found myself wanting more.  That's when I decided to try my hand at filmmaking and I've never looked back. 2. You have directed 6 films since you co-wrote the screenplay for the film  "Poor White Trash" via e-mail in 1999.  How has the filmmaking experience  been so far? Any highlights you would care to share with our readers? Filmmaking, contrary to what most people think, is hard work.  I didn't know what a long, drawn out process it was before I started making movies and if I had, I probably never would have tried it.  I'm glad I did but at the same time, there are things I would have done differently.  Making movies without "real" money is nearly impossible and just makes the filmmaking process even harder than it should be.  In hindsight, I would have only made about half the films I actually shot if I knew then what I know now.  That said, it can be extremely fun at times.  I've met some incredibly great people (and some incredibly big assholes) through making movies and that's really the best part.  As for highlights... well, we've had the cops called on us a few times.  That's always neat, at least when you know you're not doing anything wrong.  When you're shooting somewhere you shouldn't be... then it's not as fun.  I think my favorite individual moment on set was when we had Nathan Faudree eat regurgitated food during the A POUND OF FLESH shoot.  We had the actress "puke" up the meat and then intended to cut and replace it with new meat for the shot of Nathan eating it.  Well, he was so into character that he kept on going and shoved it right into his mouth.  It was revolting yet wildly entertaining at the same time.  I'm just glad we kept the camera rolling! 3. Tell us about your upcoming project "Psycho Cheerleaders". What's the scoop on that? PSYCHO CHEERLEADERS is about high school cheerleading squad that is turned into demons when a satanic ritual goes awry.  It's going to be a hilarious movie with tons of blood and guts to go along with the laughs. We're hoping to shoot it this spring/summer. 4. You've also just finished producing "The Shrieking" by Director Shawn Hunt? What is the film about and what was your experience like producing it? The best part about producing THE SHRIEKING was meeting Shawn and becoming friends with him.  The movie itself is going to be great.  It's a good, old-fashioned monster movie with lots of suspense and scares.  I was in Pennsylvania while it filmed in North Carolina so I missed out on taking part in the actual production but I'm still happy to have been part of the pre and post crew. 5. What do you think is the most important thing for a Director to bring to  the set? A calm demeanor.  You can never lose your cool on set and even when everything is going to hell in a hand basket around you, you can't show weakness.  Even if every single person in the set can see that everything is going wrong, you need to be able to smile and say "It'll be okay".  If you panic or lose your composure, you're screwed.  6. What do you think is the biggest problem with Hollywood today? The lack of originality.  Hollywood wants to remake or rip-off everything and they seemingly refuse to even try anything new.  It's ludicrous that they're remaking movies that are barely twenty years old. The executives need to grow a set of balls and green light some original screenplays. 7. What has been you're all-time favorite project to date and why? I can easily say that my favorite project is HUNTING SEASON.  The script was one of my favorites.  The shoot was so much fun and virtually trouble free.  And the movie itself is, I feel, my best work.  I'm very proud of the film and the hard work of everyone involved in its making.

8. Do you have any advice to aspiring filmmakers? Don't do it!  Seriously, think long and hard before you try to make a "real" movie.  Spend a lot of time making shorts with your friends and classmates.  Sure, they'll probably suck but the experience is invaluable.  If you really love doing it, then go for it.  But don't make the mistake I did which was diving headfirst into a feature length film with no other experience whatsoever. 9. Any future projects in the works? Right now we're just focusing on preproduction for PSYCHO CHEERLEADERS and post production on some of our other projects.  Our film KOTTENTAIL will be released worldwide in 2006 and I can't wait for that.  I'm hoping we soon land a distribution deal for HUNTING SEASON too.  It'll make the years of hard work and no income worthwhile.  Maybe. 10. Plug away! Please feel free to visit our sites at http://www.crazyralph.com and http://www.crazyralphfilms.com We're on MySpace at http://www.myspace.com/crazyralphfilms so send us a friend request and we'll accept.  Oh, and drop by our message boards and chat with our actors, crew and me! http://www.crazyralphfilms.com/phpBB/ 11. Here's where we give you a word or phrase and you give us the first  thoughts that pop into your mind. Hollywood- scared to try new things Biggest regret- too many to count Favorite director- Tobe Hooper Toxic Shock TV- Kicking ass site and taking names! Biggest Prick- My friend John Karyus - and he shows his off in POULTRYGEIST! Your biggest "break-thru" moment- When I had a $1,200 camera lens get destroyed during HUNTING SEASON and didn't lose my composure for a second. You can only watch 3 movies for the rest of your life, which 3- TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, THE EVIL DEAD, FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2. You can only listen to 3 songs for the rest of your life, which 3- Sorry, I have no idea.