Daniel Sukara as The Producer

Daniel Sukara is a Producer, one of the script writers, and the First Assistant Director for Hell. He’s in charge of organizing the set and managing the crew, ensuring we stay on schedule to meet what are some pretty ambitious goals for every weekend of shooting. He works in production in LA, and has made a number of films of his own (one of his shorts is currently making the festival rounds), so he’s talented and knows his stuff. 

Dan, if I send you some questions early tomorrow, think you could write up some answers for them so I can feature you on my blog?

HELL! yes! (see what I did there? Referenced the movie in my response? Yeah, I don't trust my jokes either...)

We’re definitely leading the blog post with that. How’d you get started working in film production?  

I went to a performing arts high school and there was a film class there, so almost every weekend there was a short film that needed help and I was involved in almost every aspect - acting, writing, producing, script supervision, costuming, and especially make-up effects (I was the go to guy for anything bloody and gory). It was an industry that I knew I wanted to be in, and I was pretty good at it, so I continued to pursue it outside of high school.

Not too long after I got a job as a runner for a production company that made commercials and music videos. I did that for a few years until they started to go under and had to let me go. Then, desperate for work, I accepted an offer from a friend to start filling in days on professional, union sets. Long, brutal, 12 hour minimum with no chance of sitting down unless it was lunch, days. I even pulled a couple of 24 hour days. And in a weird way I kinda miss them...now I work post production scheduling. From home. I am literally sipping a cocktail in my pajamas at 1pm while I write this. Dream big, kids. 

What are some movies you’ve worked on?
 
Not including the countless student and short films I’ve been involved with, I worked for a bit on National Treasure 2 and The Informers. TV is where I spent most of my set time. I was on Wanted (which was a fun cop show that had crazy action and explosions on almost every episode I worked), Jericho (where a day of shooting was held up due to an escaped prisoner hiding out very close to our set), Cane, Moonlight, and The Cleaner, among others. I also ran the set on Wayout.TV which was an internet sketch show created by Damon Wayans - mainly to showcase his kids - which was sadly never launched. But that was so much fun. It was an incredibly laid back, almost high school movie kind of set, loaded with comedians who just kept us all laughing hysterically every day. All that and we got paid to do it!

You’ve made several short films of your own. Say words about them. 

Ray Gun was the first that I wrote and directed. That was made a long time ago. Like “doesn’t exist on DVD” long time ago. It was a fun little ode to sci fi movies and radio shows from the 1940s and 50s. I even had props and costumes made for it that I still have...which has lead to awkward moments when someone sees that there is the dress of a Martian princess hanging in my coat closet.

A few years after that I wrote and directed a brief, silent horror movie about a nightmare creature come to life called Static. And most recently is one that I wrote called Allergic to Flowers, which is about two loser, slacker, pseudo-friends who, after just being dumped by their significant others, have to work delivering flowers on Valentine’s Day. It’s an anti romantic comedy, and it’s doing the film festival rounds at the moment. Really proud of that one. I drew on my firsthand experience of delivering flowers and getting dumped to dream up this story. It was a lot harder than I expected...

You grew up in LA, yeah? 

I did. My family is originally from Ohio, but I was conceived, born, and raised in Los Angeles. I always feel the need to emphasize that. I think it’s because LA natives, especially in the Hollywood area, are so rare. Meeting one is like seeing a unicorn. 

Do you feel like everyone who grew up in LA either works in, or wants to work in, movies?

Not entirely. I mean there are plenty of people who grew up with it, but most people I’ve met in production came here from different parts of the world to make it. And it’s usually those people who find the most success because it’s so different from where they come from, and it’s so fresh and unique that they really hustle when they arrive. But a lot of the people who grow up here kind of just see it as another industry and get jaded real quick. Like, when I see a movie shooting on my street, I rarely think “Ooh, I wonder who the stars are in this one!” I mainly think “they better not block my goddamn driveway again, I got things to do…”

What are you most excited about, working on Hell? 

So many rad things have already happened while working on Hell (from the writing sessions to the read throughs to the pre-party) that I almost can’t comprehend how much more excitement is waiting for us. But what I’m really looking forward to is just getting in there and working with everybody. Meeting the cast and crew at the party (and especially after seeing them at the Lost Church the night before) has made me a total fanboy of this group. You have no idea how bummed I was to leave for home that Sunday, and ever since I’ve been counting down the days like a kid at Christmas. Being able to be a part of this group, on a great project, with everybody down for the cause....that’s just mind blowing. I seriously can’t wait to get this movie filmed. Although I’m pretty sure I’m going to be bummed again when we wrap production.  

Erma Kyriakos as The Devil

Erma Kyriakos plays a goofy and out-of-touch Devil, one of the primary antagonists of Hell. She’s also a talented singer, songwriter, musician (she plays the violin for heaven's sake!), and actor. You may have seen her perform around town, or maybe even in Cuba, as Miss Erma. Here are some words that are all about her. 

You’re a singer! Tell me about that!

OK! I’ve always sung in the shower since I was little, but my mom started me on piano. So to everybody else I was a pianist or a violinist, but I always really liked to sing. I didn’t start to sing for people until I went to college, though. I had some friends who were singing at an open mic, so I played one of my songs, and that’s when I really started to do that. From there I joined a Jazz Combo, and I would also sing with my friends who weren’t in the music school who just liked to drink and have fun and get together and play music. That to me was like, where it’s at. That’s what music is for, playing with other people and enjoying yourself.

How’d you end up in San Francisco? 

I graduated college and was living in Miami — which I did not like it at the time — I like it now, didn’t like it at the time. My friend was moving out here to go to the Conservatory of Music and she was like you should just move over here, what do you have to lose? You’d fit right in. And without ever having been here before I was like, “OK! Let’s do it!” So we did and I’ve been here for about six years, singing my heart out. 

Did you already go by Miss Erma when you moved? 

That took me awhile to figure out. Miss Erma was something I was first called in college, in the Jazz Combo actually. They were calling me out on stage for my debut performance as a jazz singer, and the drummer forgot my last name. 

“And now our vocalist, Miss... Miss... Miss… Erma!” 

And that was it, you know. That stuck, so people called out “Hey, Miss Erma!” in the hallways. Then I came here and started teaching and the kids call me Miss Erma, but I was so fickle about it- “I don’t know, is it too much like Cher if I just go by Erma? Or do I need the Miss? Is that like, pretentious or what?” It kind of just settled in. 

When did you become interested in acting? 

Well, when I was eight, my mom put me on a bowling team with my sister. My sister’s older than me and all the other kids on the team were older, probably like twelve. I was really bad at bowling and they were really trying to get ahead on the bowling board, I don’t know what you call it. I once bowled an 8 in a game- that’s really low. So they talked to my mom and told her that maybe I shouldn’t be on the team. But she didn’t tell me that, she said, you know what, let’s try something different. 

She put me in acting classes and at the end of this three week summer camp we had a performance and I was chosen to be Calamity Jane. My mom had no idea, I didn’t tell her anything, she just dropped me off at this acting camp. She came to the show at the end of the three weeks and here I am in this really blonde wig, my brown bangs still sticking out the front, singing “I used to be a plain Jane.” 

So here I am singing as Calamity Jane and I look out in the audience and my mom was balling, she was crying and I remember thinking “stop it, what are you doing!?!” So that was the first time I acted and I really fell in love with it. 

And you’re good at it, watching you on stage, you and Jamie both. I mean, there’s two types of acting: good acting and bad acting. And you do the good kind. 

There’s also levels within that, and I think, if you can tell someone is acting it can be good sometimes but it’s leaning towards the bad acting I just mentioned. But you never seem to be acting, you’re just your character.

That’s good!

It is! What’s the part of Hell that you’re most excited about? 

Actually it seems like kind of a drag. Hahaha.  

No, I’m really excited about Hell! What am I most excited about though? Working with everybody, I think it’s gonna be really fun. Having worked with Jamie before, we just kinda crack each other up. He’s someone I can be completely dumb around and go to a silly, silly place and he thinks it’s funny. It seems like you and George are the same way, so I’m really looking forward to working together with you guys. 

And we are looking forward to the same thing! Now let’s celebrate the end of this interview with one of your songs:

Jamie Milliken as Roger Oddcock

Jamie Milliken plays Roger Oddcock, the protagonist, and sometimes antagonist, of Hell. Roger is Jamie’s real life alter ego, honed over the past several years in solo shows and performances with his band Clamhawk Manor. He’s also one of the screenwriters, is scoring the entire movie, and will likely do art for some of our promotional material. Plus we’ve been friends for more than twelve years, which is the greatest gift of all. 

I asked him some questions. He answered them. 

Where does Roger Oddcock come from? 

Roger, the concept, he’s just dumb, someone who is self absorbed, he’s so into himself that he can’t see beyond his own little sphere, but maybe is slightly talented. He’s really a washed up musician, but in his mind he’s still huge. Spinal Tap was a real jumping off point, just in his being a vaguely heavy metal character but so dumb everything washes right over him. 

How long have you been performing as Roger? 

I came up with the idea in 2009. I was at kind of an unhappy place creatively and wanted to shake things up. The original idea was that he was more of a lounge singer and I’d write these songs and have these backing tracks and do karaoke of my own songs up on stage. I wanted to do something sort of bawdy and get into the burlesque scene in San Francisco, maybe even involve some aspect of burlesque like have tearaway pants, which I did once. But Roger evolved into a hair metal dude pretty quickly.

When did you first start playing music? 

My friend Salad and I started playing music together when we were about 12 or 13. Neither of us knew how to play any instruments, but we both had casio keyboards. We’d program a little beat, hit some keys, and make up some words to go with it. Then we’d record ourselves doing it and try to get our friends to buy the tapes. That band was called the Gymnoblastics. It was actually around a long time, I started taking guitar lessons so I could function better in that band and my friend Salad continued to play the keys and we got a real drummer, played a couple of shows in high school, so that was my first main experience. 

How many bands have you been part of? 

Not a shit ton, but probably like ten or twenty. 

Richard’s non-musician note: that sounds like a shit ton.

Some of them serious about playing shows and some of them just recording projects or like a one-off kinda thing. Closer to ten if you want to talk about bands that actually played shows and then quite a bit more with bands that were more of a concept than something you could buy a ticket to go see. 
 
Any favorites? 

There’s definitely been some great ones along the way. I really like Clamhawk Manor and I felt for the first time that the band was a real incarnation of my vision, even though my vision of Roger had kinda changed along the way. I felt very proud of that. There was another band when I was in college, we were called the Meat Lincolns. We’d get together and come up with a song practically every night. We recorded a 14 song album in one day in my mom’s garage. It was a lot of fun. It was really stupid. It was pretty fucking out there. 

What are you most excited about working on Hell? 

I’m excited about the script at this point, I feel like over time we’ve put together a good story and the jokes are really good. I overheard Toby (who plays the part of Frankie Lodge) say he originally planned to turn down the part because he didn’t think he had the time, but then he read the script and that changed his mind. 

I’m excited about the music too. I have these ideas that have been rattling around in my head. I’m excited to sit down and really focus, and that’s what this month is going to be about, getting the songs rolling. I have three or four songs that are half written and then the duet with Erma is coming along and I think it’s gonna be this movie’s version of Rainbow Boobies. 

OK. Good. People love Rainbow Boobies. I love it. Let’s all listen to it here:

What the Hell is this Movie About?

Hell is a rock-and-roll musical comedy about a washed up wanna be rock star who dies and goes to a hell run by an out-of-touch devil whose conception of evil is completely outdated. At least that’s how it starts. Saying anything more about the plot would potentially spoil the movie before we’ve even started filming, but if I stop writing now this blog post will only be one paragraph long. 

So to describe what Hell is about I've put together a list of movies that helped inspire it. This list certainly isn’t complete, and I’m sure George and Jamie and everyone else involved in writing the script would make their own lists. But here it is! 

The Muppet Movie

A goofy musical about a bunch of weirdos. Of course the original Muppet Movie is on the list. 

After Hours

Oh look it's a Scorsese movie, establishing that I am both male and a director. After Hours is his weirdest (well, arguably) and funniest film, about an office dude who has the worst night of his life after he agrees to visit a girl in Soho whom he met that evening at a coffee shop. It has great cinematography, and is darker and more surreal than that blurb makes it sound. This is probably visually closest to how I want Hell to look.   

Phantom of the Paradise

Phantom of the Paradise is a bizarre rock-and-roll version of the Phantom of the Opera. It flopped when it was released (except, oddly, in Winnipeg, Canada where it was a huge hit) but over time has gained a much deserved cult following. It really should be as well known as the Rocky Horror Picture Show. 

Brazil

Terry Gilliam's Brazil is about a bureaucrat in a retro-future world who tries to correct an administrative error and ends up becoming an enemy of the state as a result. No movie had a bigger influence on how I initially envisioned both the heaven and hell of Hell. 

Hot Rod

A very funny and absurd movie from The Lonely Island that almost no one seems to have seen. If Hell gets half as many laughs as Hot Rod gets from everyone I've shown it to, I'll be very happy. 

Monty Python and the Holy Grail 

A very funny and absurd movie that pretty much everyone has seen. Made on a much smaller budget than you might expect, the split responsibilities approach that Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam took when directing Monty Python and the Holy Grail inspired the approach that George and I are taking with Hell.

Learning from My (Many) Mistakes

I was the kind of kid who wanted to be a magician when I grew up. I'm pretty sure that this one thing explains every problem I've had in my life up to this point. This is an example of a non-film related mistake I've made. This blog post, however, is not about my whole life, but is instead about making a movie. So how about we take a look at some film related mistakes? Let's see: 

Not planning enough. Flying by the seat of my pants. Working ten to twelve hours a day at my regular job while shooting and editing a fifty minute movie in an arbitrary three month time limit that I put in place for no real reason. Setting up the camera and moving the lights and ordering lunch and handing out the release forms and ordering dinner and driving all the equipment to and from sets and acting as the producer and the director and the cinematographer and the line producer and the production assistant all at the same time. Taking on too much. Way too much. 

These mistakes are all well and good, if pretty stressful, and did not stop us from making funny and interesting movies. But they did stop us from making most of our short films as good as they could be, something I’m determined not to repeat with Hell.

How?  

A Larger Crew

In the past, the crew has often consisted of me, someone on sound, and maybe one other person. This worked fine, and was occasionally even reasonable, on our very smallest movies, but left us completely short handed on larger productions. 

For Hell we have two directors (the handsome and talented George Sukara is directing along with me), a Line Producer to manage the crew, an Assistant Director to help set up shots, someone on sound, someone on lights, and one or more production assistants helping out where needed. We’ll always have a crew three to five times the size of what we’ve had on previous shoots. 

Rehearsals

George tells one of the actors that he'd like to see them do more acting. 

Acting is not magic. Good actors don't show up on set or on stage and just start blowing you away with an incredible interpretation of something they just read. At least not usually. 

This is, however, the way I treated it in the past. A quick read through and discussion of the character a week or two before shooting, then the actor shows up to set and acts. This wasn't a disaster since you can do lots of takes for each scene, but an actor who fully understands what's expected of them before we film a scene is going to do a much better job than one who is figuring things out while we're shooting.  

In spite of this, I think one of the best parts of my past movies is that the acting in them is uniformly good. With rare exception, no one on camera seems to be straining at playing their character. Part of that is writing characters directly for specific people and part of it is just knowing a lot of talented, funny people.   

Now we've added in-depth rehearsals of every scene. If the acting was very good before, it's going to be very gooder this time around.  

More Preparation

We've been writing the script for well over two years. Plus we're endeavoring to lock down all locations two months in advance of shooting at those locations, while getting wardrobe and props and everything else set a month in advance of each scene. As you may have guessed from what I said above, we've never previously planned this far ahead.  

Ultimately what I'm trying to say is that I used to be a dumber person, but now I'm a less dumb person. We're about to make our best movie ever as a result of that improvement.