The Interviews: Inside The Mind Of An Indie Filmmaker, Creating 'Beverly Hills Exorcist' With Director Rem Scobell

>> Will: Greetings, nerds. This is Will Polk, producer and co host of the Scene N  Nerd podcast with Sarah Belmont. Thank you so much for joining. Scene N  Nerd presents the interviews. And today we have a very special guest, Rem Scobell who is an independent filmmaker and he is here to talk about his film Beverly Hills exorcist and some other things that may come up during our conversation. Welcome to the podcast, ReM.

>> Rem Scobell: Hi, Will. Thank you so much for having me. This is a perfect, oh, well, the privilege is ours.

>> Will: Thank you so much for reaching out to us and you know, and sharing a screener, of your upcoming project that's going to be dropping. It's going to be dropping soon, correct.

>> Rem Scobell: We're actually having our world theatrical premiere at ah, Geekfest. at Geekfest's first standalone theatrical event. Normally they travel all the biggest comic cons in the country, but this time they're doing a standalone theatrical event. And we are in the last program, the really competitive horror block, and it's really an appropriate venue for our film. So I'm really excited about it.

>> Will: Yeah, excited to see it. And where is geek fix going to, the standalone events going to be at?

>> Rem Scobell: It's going to be at the Layann, I don't know how to pronounce it, the layamly North Hollywood seven in North Hollywood, and we're going to have a really, really good presentation there. We're going to project from a really beautiful file, that I had authored by the archetype in Burbank who specializes in theatrical cinema packages. And it has a great sound mix and so I'm really excited people can see it like that.

>> Will: That's awesome. That's awesome. So yeah, be sure to check that out. We'll make sure to drop a link to the film fest in the show notes for our interview today. So you can get tickets to it if you're, if you're there local or if you want to fly to everyone. If you're happy visiting Hollywood, and Los Angeles, you can that area, you can, you can go to the film fest. before we get really into the film, I just want a little bit, learn a little bit more about you, what got you into filmmaking, and also what's your favorite geek project? We of course, right now on the podcast, we're currently discussing fallout and x Men 97 as some of the projects. But what's your favorite, geek IP and what you're watching these days?

>> Rem Scobell: Wow, that's a great question. you know what? If you're going to ask me what my favorite geek properties are, I'll have to say I have to give it to Hideo Kojima and the Metal Gear Solid series. those were like, the first experiences I had where, like, I was blown away by video game. And so, what I'm watching these days, I just finished fallout on Amazon in, like, one sitting. And, I really, happy that now they're doing video games are getting such a great representation with narrative film and television. So, and of course, I love all the classic geek stuff, you know, like back to the future, Ghostbusters, you know, lord of the rings, I mean, you name it. what got me into film was basically, I just like creating worlds. And, and I think that when you do something that's fantasy, you can actually be more honest than you can when you're doing something very grounded because you're in a very symbolic world. So you can explore themes and topics that maybe in a way that it's, you can set aside the things that, people get bogged down in and really focus on these emotional connections with topics that are not often talked about. So to me, you're really much more free when you're doing a fantasy story.

>> Will: Great, great. Yeah, so, to that point.

Ram's very first project before this one was stop motion animation

So you mentioned, the fantasy realm, and I guess, like, as we talked about Sci-Fi and those types of types of things, when did you start your journey into filmmaking? I mean, so what was the, but what was Ram's very first project before you got into this one?

>> Rem Scobell: Oh, my gosh. My first project, I was a little kid and I was, doing stop motion animation with my toys and play doh and stuff. and then, you know, like everybody that gets the skills and the knowledge to do filmmaking, I got into advertising and I started working on, and I also started editing a lot of features that would go direct to video and, really learned what industrial filmmaking was. and then I got to a point where I'm like, well, I don't really like working on other people's movies, as much as I like working on my own. So I decided if I'm going to do films, I'm just going to do my own now. And so this is where my film, Beverly Hills exorcist kind of popped out. And, it's something I'm really, proud of because it kind of incorporates a lot of what I learned working for, other people as an editor and also, what I've learned from advertising and just doing really large projects and putting it into something that.

>> Will: I,

>> Rem Scobell: Think is really unique, but I still think connects with people in a very personal, way. it's my first, like, narrative, like, really trying to make something highly impactful. so, yeah, I feel good about it.

>> Rem Scobell: Yeah.

>> Will: Yeah, yeah. I know one of the things, ah, we really wanted to learn more about. So you talked about these experiences in the past. As far as being in industrial filmmaking and, straight to video work. What are some of the behind the scenes? And we will get. I do want to talk to you about, Beverly Hills exorcist, but I know a lot of things that, some of our listeners and sometimes in our engagement on social, we really get into the nuts and bolts of filmmaking and production. just expand on some of the things that you learned in those priorities, projects and experiences as far as filmmaking budgeting. Because, I mean, because one of the things, just to touch on, Beverly Hills a little bit, I know there's a lot of vfx in this project, and, and being that you're an independent filmmaker, you know, you don't have a big studio back in you. So what are, you know, what are some of the things that go into, into making a film or a tv show, and especially one where you're an independent filmmaker, where you're trying to get financing for a project like this?

>> Rem Scobell: That's a great question. There's such a scope to that question. one thing I learned working as an editor on other people's films is that, this is kind of a nuts and bolts thing, but always let the actor finish the scene. It doesn't matter how wrong they get it. Don't interrupt them. Just let them finish the scene. Because when you're editing, you need all of those scenes. You need them finishing it every time. If you have a scene that was kind of good, but then the director stopped it because the cup was in the wrong place, that is just goes in the trash. But so actually, you really need those scenes. And also always get an actor walking in to the scene. Always just get that shot. Get a shot of them opening the door and walking in. You never know when you're gonna need it. It might save your life. m and, as far as, like, budgeting and resources, go. I mean, that's always a challenge with filmmaking. and so you always, I mean, for my film, I made the decision that this is going to be in one location and that's just a hard line in the sand, because I believe you can tell a good story in one location. You know, it's just your ego that tells you, oh, no. But I want to have five locations, and I want to show people the beach and the freeway and the exteriors, and, because the audience doesn't really care. They just want to be engaged. So part of that art is engaging people with what you got. And if you don't got the resources to shoot for eight days and you have permits to shoot in five different places, then, you know, let's just do this in one location. And then you get into another. Challenge is that stories are more effective when they're in one continuum. So what that means is no flashbacks and no flash forwards. There's no five days later tell it all from almost in real time. And that's a lot harder than you think it is when you're writing, because you're like, oh, my God, I can't just leave the scene. We have to keep going. And so what that does is it forces you to be more honest. What would really happen? What's supposed to happen, honestly. And then when you get to that answer, you're like, okay, well, now that I know we're about this, I kind of have to throw away everything I've written so far, because now I learned what this is really about. So it's that process of digging deep down to the nucleus of an idea and then building outwards again. It's kind of a chaos and creation that, it never gets easier, but you get better at it. So, that's kind of the, when you're working with low resources, that's kind of, what the challenge really is. It's like, okay, well, we have a living room. What makes this story good in a living room? Like, why is the living room better than, a shopping mall or a classroom? And then you write from there. And it's not ideal when you want to be creative, but actually putting your creativity in a box makes you more creative. And, that's the art of it. And it's very thrilling when you feel like, okay, now, this story couldn't be any other way. It has to be like this now. And so, it's really exciting. It's. But it's daunting when you start, when you're like, okay, well, I'm going to shoot a short film. Well, where do I start? Yeah, I mean, that's, that's. It's hard. And then you get that idea, and you have to make it. So, yeah.

>> Will: Cool. Cool. Well, let's put a pin in that short film thing.

What inspired you to create Beverly Hills exorcist

So I do want to talk about one of your short films. But the main reason why you're here today is you want, we are here to talk about Beverly Hills exorcist. And, and you've touched on some of the things that you, you inspired you as far as a filmmaker, and you do all three. You're a filmmaker, you're a producer and you're a writer. So in those roles, especially with this film, what inspired you to create Beverly Hills exorcist?

>> Rem Scobell: well, there is, my biggest inspiration tonally and creatively for Beverly Hills Exorcist is there is a japanese anime written by, this mangaka, this writer called one as in the number one. And, it's like a very modern, satirical and heartfelt take on freelance exorcism, if you can believe it. And it's just one of the greatest animes, I think, of the last 20 years. And I think he's one of the greatest writers of the century. Honestly, I think the only person that comes close to him is Mark Millar, who does the Kingsman series. And he does a lot of great graphic novels. and so mob Psycho 100, like a lot of other animes, draws from the wuxia genre, which is like this chinese, folklore storytelling about chivalrous martial artists. And that is a lot of animes that influence. But mob Psycho 100, it's kind of manifest as people use kung fu almost to fight kung fu with power, to fight the ghosts. Right. And so that's something that really moved me as well. And that's what inspired me to do a story about these freelance exorcists in a modern setting. And they use, everyone has kind of different abilities and they kind of clash with the ghost. And then, normally with filmmaking and films, when you do like a monster story or a ghost story, especially on a low budget, usually the way it works is there's a slow burn in the beginning and they reveal the monster at the end and the monster looks really cool and they defeat it or don't defeat it and that's the end. I wanted to do a story like what if the monster's there the whole time and everyone's fighting it the whole time? And so that actually harkens to like the anime. There's a lot of animes that are like that. and so I was really inspired by it. Especially when people reveal their different powers and the fights take twists and turns and people power up. And I liked that kind of take on fighting a supernatural entity. And so m my challenge was taking that and americanizing it, and to put a fresh spin on things without copying things. And, I feel like we'll see. Well, the audience can judge how it came out.

>> Will: Okay, cool.

I was entertained from start to finish by this short film

Cool. Well, as someone who says, thank you for sending me a advanced screening of the film, and I don't want to spoil anything for our listeners and your potential viewers, but I will say that, what you were able to put on the screen and as you just articulated that came through, through and through, especially for me as, someone who. I'm really not a big fan of the horror genre, so, but I really. But I was from. It was a very short film, but I was entertained from start to finish, and I liked the various characters, that you had in the film. in particular, as far as you had the guy in the chair, you had some of the, You had a little element of romance and tension between some of the characters. You know, all. You know, even though it was a short film, you really touched on a lot of things in the time that you, had the story progressing on the screen. So that being with, talking about the cast and stuff, what was your. How did you go about developing your cast? I was looking at the credits, and I noticed you're, sort of becoming like James Gunn. You have some of your go to folks in your. In your project. so tell me, how did you, come across with this, with this cast?

>> Rem Scobell: Well, I was very. Thank you so much for your kind words on the film. First of all, thank you so much. It means a lot to me that, you would watch a short film, and really, have that feedback for it. I was driven to, make something that would always arouse your curiosity at every step of the way until you get to the end and you're like, oh, my gosh, that's the ending. And that, to me, is when a film really works. but as far as the cast goes, I. When I was working as an editor, I got a call from an actor I'd worked with on a project, and that actor was Greg Martin, who's also. Who's in my film. And he needed, help making, this is right when influencers were making their first comedy sketches and going really viral. This was, like, 2017, and he was trying to make a step into that scene, but he needed help making a sketch. So he knew I edited, and he asked me, can you help me make a sketch. And so we worked together on a few sketches, and they went viral with other influencers that were way bigger than anybody. I mean, they were the biggest people in the world were watching the sketches that we just kind of made. And so he, Greg Martin, became so popular and worked with all the biggest people, and I got sucked into it, too. Kind of like people were calling me. I'm like, why are you calling me? I'm nobody. but working with those influencers was really interesting, and I really got a chance to meet a lot of great people who weren't just influencers, but they were great actors. And what drove me to make an ensemble film was I wanted to use all these people and let them shine in a film. And I thought, if I can make a story where everyone can contribute a little something, it will give the story a lot of variety. And, especially if I'm going to do something that's low budget in one location, that's a great way to have a lot of variety for the audience. and so we, because of the sketches we had done, we got an offer to do some theatrical style sketches for a company called ifunny. And we did a little bit more fancy theatrical style sketches with a union, film crew and sound department. and those were great. And that's when I had my first opportunity to work with Greg Martin and Amanda McCants and Ryan Kendrick, who are in my film. I had a chance to work with them in, like, a theatrical setting, and they are just so amazing. And so when it came time to do, Beverly Hills exorcist, I said, I'm not taking any chances. We got to call the best people. And so, it's a privilege to work with great actors like that, honestly, because, one of the challenges when you're doing a film is finding the right people for the role. And one of the biggest problems with short films and indie films is frequently people are not, are miscast, and it's just because they can't find the right people or whatever. So I was very lucky to work with incredible people. I mean, that's. I'll go to the grave happy about that.

>> Will: Yeah. Yeah. I will say the casting really was on point as far as, the roles that people were planning, I guess, was Greg. Was. Was he the guy in the chair?

>> Rem Scobell: Greg? the, chair, Greg Martin. He's, the curly headed guy.

>> Will: The curly headed guy. Yeah, yeah. Okay. Yeah. So, yeah, yeah. I really liked.

>> Rem Scobell: Oh, yeah, the chair. You're right. You're right. I had a mindset. But, yeah, he's sitting in a chair. In the beginning, I'm like, with the chair. The chair.

>> Will: Yeah, yeah.

>> Rem Scobell: So, yeah, I use machinery.

>> Will: Yeah. He's the colloquo guy. It's like, any of our fans who, listeners who we joke about the guy in the chair, you know, with, the old arrowverse shows on the flash, you always had Cisco, Ramon, you know, sort of the guy, the guy who was in the chair, or I think even in the Spider man movies. Now, recently, I guess, Ned played that role for Tom Holland speakers. He talked about that kind of thing. But, Yeah, but, yeah. Really? Yeah, yeah. And she was really good. I really liked her. and speaking of which, transitioned to her. And I know there was, There's some history between, Sonia and Sebastian and the film that was really. And if you get without giving, I don't want to give anything away. But, you know, whenever we were introduced to these characters, there's definitely. You could tell there was something there, and you wouldn't care to elaborate on that or do you or something that'll, give too much.

>> Rem Scobell: Oh, yeah, well, if you really want to see what really, how it unfolds, you know, geek fest tickets are on sale now, but actually, thank you for asking. The leads of these characters, the lead of this story are these two central characters, Sonia and Sebastian. Sonia is the lead in this story, and, I don't want to give away too much, but I can say that I, wanted the whole film to have the feeling of, a final battle. And so that included, ratcheting up the stakes of the interpersonal dynamics with the lead characters. And I wanted the film to happen to land. We enter the story right as their complex history of unresolved tension reaches a boiling point with each other right before they take on, a demon, the most powerful demon on the west side of Los Angeles. And so intertwining those conflicts, the interpersonal conflicts with the two leads, with the demon was really kind of what the story is really about. That's what makes what gives the movie its heart. And so, and that's what gives Sonia her arc in the story. and so I'm really excited for audiences to go on that journey with such great actors, also, seamlessly blending in just a lot of special effects while it's happening. And what I'm proud of is that all of those things kind of congeal, and you're not thinking, okay, that's special effects and that CGI. You're just watching the story, and, it's really a credit to the actors who could pull it off. It's not easy working with special effects.

>> Will: Yeah. yeah, I would imagine, because I would imagine whenever all those VFX were done post, I mean, they weren't done. So. So tell me the challenges as you, for you as a director, having direct actors who may, may or may not be familiar working with, VFX, especially, work, because I really, I don't know if there was really, other than a couple pieces in there. I didn't see many things that were practical effect, but there were a lot of more visual, special effects that were going on there. So what's the challenge for you as a director in helping those actors who may not, may or may not be familiar with doing that type of work?

>> Rem Scobell: Well, it's hard for actors to work with visual effects. and what I found is it really depends on if the actors themselves. We're at a point now where a lot of actors have grown up watching special effects movies and they kind of know how they're done a little bit. So if you're lucky enough to work with an actor like that, you're golden, because they know. They know, okay, this is supposed to happen, and they bring to it their knowledge of how these movies turn out. And I have to give credit to Amanda McCants. She's exactly that kind of person. I don't know what her taste in movies is. I don't know what she watches, but I could tell working with her, okay, she gets it. She gets what is on here and how it's supposed to come out. And, as a filmmaker, I believe visual effects are like an extension of directing. So there, is a classic system in the movie business that says, okay, well, directors are over here, special effects artists are over there, writers are here. But I see it as, you know, your job as a director is to get the shot and to create that shot that you need to tell the story. That's your director, that's what you do. And so visual effects is just going a step further. You're just creating that shot using trickery, and you're still putting all that skill, like, what do we need, really, for this story? And coincidentally, we just had Godzilla minus one, where the director was also the visual effects supervisor and led a small team. So that's a very purist approach because, you know, movies are special effects. I mean, movies were pioneered by magicians like, Georges melies, right. the earth to the moon, the moonshot movie.

>> Will: Yeah.

>> Rem Scobell: I mean, he was a magician and, ah, movies, illusions are inherent to movies. So I think getting into that trickery is just a purist extension of filmmaking. So I was really excited to work to create these shots and to do really give the audience something, everything I had. Give them something that they won't forget. Let's give them a treat for their eyes. And, well, but special effects. Special effects without a story are really boring. So that's why I really, wanted people to go on an emotional journey with this movie and, really work on a story that I felt was original and special, but at the same time needed special effects to happen. And so you're like a hammer looking for a nail. But also it has to be organic and it has to be right. I don't know if that makes sense.

>> Will: No, that makes total sense. And I will say, given that this was a short film, I was very impressed, with, with, the special effects and VFX work that was done. Did, you, did you. Who did those? I mean, I saw the credits, but how did you go about finding someone who could bring your vision into life? in particular, with, with the demon in particular, that, that has to be exercised from the house.

>> Rem Scobell: Oh, well, I did most of the special effects myself. Oh, I, my favorite tv show when I was a kid was this show on Discovery Channel called Movie Magic. And they would explain. Do you know movie magic?

>> Will: Yeah, I do. I do. I watched exactly what I'm talking about. Yeah, yeah. I've watched, I've watched a few episodes for sure. Yeah, yeah.

>> Rem Scobell: And so I. That informed me. And when I was doing like industrial editing work, I would do a lot of sophisticated tricks not just to save movies. Like we're missing a shot and insert of them grabbing the gun. So you actually create that with special effects. You would like green screen the background, recreate the set and get rent a prop and have a stand in. Do the. You just fabricate that with special effects and the audience doesn't know they just saw a special effect. And so that gave me a lot of practice how to do a really good green screen, how to integrate these things properly, how to recreate the background and how important it is. And so, I did for the demon, I was really inspired by, a lot of, anime kind of influences is specifically, from spirited away. There's Yubaba, who is just this really monstrous face of a character. And there's something very disturbing about a large, oversized head that fills half the room. And also the Borg queen from Star Trek first contact.

>> Will: Yeah, I can see that. That's all that. Yeah.

>> Rem Scobell: Especially that first scene where the Borg queen is lowered from, all this machinery hanging from these cables, and it's just this pale head. I mean, that's an unforgettable shot. That's got to be one of the top visual effects shots in the history of movies. and so for me, that really informs this design of the demon. but I did it mostly myself. There were three shots I needed help with, and I worked with, this guy, this gentleman, very, very talented man, Timothy Timur. And he just did it, no problem. And he's like, you know, if you had done some facial scans, this would go a lot smoother. I'm like, okay, yes, yes. And boom. He did these three shots like, no problem. And I looked up his credits afterwards. I hadn't even looked. He's like, worked on guardians of the Galaxy. He's worked on, raised by wolves. I mean, he's worked on these massive special effects shows. I'm like, oh my God, I'm not worthy. I'm not worthy. But, yeah. I really take a holistic approach to it. I like just having total control of the frame and really having every shot have a meaning and purpose and intention and creating this feeling to the audience that first of all, they're in good hands. And second of all, never pause for the effect.

>> Rem Scobell: Like, I think a mistake a lot of amateurs make, especially me when I was an amateur, is if you're going to do a hard shot, the whole movie stops for your hard shot. Like, look at this shot. It was so hard and you don't want to do that. What matters is what's happening in the story, not the special effects. So if the special effects is really hard, but the story dictates that this is supposed to happen quickly. There you go. That was six weeks of work and it happened in 2 seconds, and we got to keep the story moving. so, yeah, so hopefully, I think when people watch the film, I hope no one thinks, oh, that shot looked hard or that shot looked impressive. I would just want people to think like, wow, I would, I would really like to see, where this, freelance exorcist, this squad, where do they go next? That's what I want to see. And if people feel that, I feel that, all the illusioneering and all the engineering behind visual effects is worth it, because, again, if you don't have a story, it's really a boring thing. It's really not worth doing if you don't have a great story.

>> Will: Yeah, yeah. And I noticed you m speaking to that point. I know you mentioned Ghostbusters was a, inspiration for you in making this film. And I will say for. For viewers, when you. When you do watch it. And one of the things, the first thing as I was watching the. Watching the film was, oh, yeah, I'm definitely getting that Ghostbuster vibe. But, but you're right. but at the. As the story progressed, I mean, again, in a very short amount of time, you did a very good job of making me, as a viewer, invested in these characters, which, is no small feat. I mean, we can, you know, we joke all the time on podcasts. Like with, we were just discussing three body problem, for example, on, it was just on Netflix, and there was one particular character on there that I was having a hard time getting invested in because the way that the character was written, you know, went further down in the show. Things happened, but, you know, it was so late in the story that I was sort of like, You know, whenever the big thing happened for that character, I was like, okay.

>> Rem Scobell: But, you know, the worst.

>> Will: Yeah, but, but I, will say, yeah, I will say all you very, I think there were, what, four or five people in your cast, and all of them were, you know, this team. I could see that they. There was, what came about for me was there was a history there with these. With these characters, good and bad, and.

>> Rem Scobell: Thank you.

>> Will: And there. And when the film ended, I was like, okay, when's the sequel coming?

>> Rem Scobell: So thank you so much. That's, thank you.

>> Will: Yeah, it was a really, really good, very cohesive, part of making, film, and piece of filmmaking. So I will say that I definitely got that about. And, and I could see the Ghostbusters influence in there. So it had elements of comedy and, the scary moments and that kind of thing.

>> Rem Scobell: Oh, thank you. It means a lot to hear that. That's exactly, I think what I would define as success for the film is that people to take away that impression, and, of course, everybody takes away something different from a film, which, is another beauty of an ensemble cast, because you have someone different people for different people to connect with. Like, speaking a little bit about ghostbusters. Actually, one of the things that I really liked about Ghostbusters is the technology in Ghostbusters you have the proton packs and the containment unit and the trap and it all looks so real and it sounds so powerful. And the thing is, you could take out all that technology and you could still kind of do Ghostbusters. They could use magic or they could use kung fu, or they could use other things to catch the ghost. But when you introduce all the technology and science fiction to it, you add another layer of believability and groundedness and excitement. And you bring in people who are interested in technology and there are a lot of people that want to see that. Like another movie, right. That really influenced me was back to the future. And that's another story. You can do without the DeLorean and without the doctor. You could have martyred, hit his head and wake up, you know, 30 years in the past. Because what that story is really about is him meeting his parents when they're his own age as teenagers. So that's the heart of the movie. Yeah, but you introduce the technology and you introduce the 88, you introduce this techno thriller element. Now you're opening up the story to people who are, you know, their imagination is, it opens up to these things and you bring more people in. And that's certainly for me, like in there, seen in my film, where Greg Martin, the scientist character, turns a machine on all the way to maximum power. And for me, I was thinking, okay, 88 mph. We're doing 88 mph. crossing the streams.

>> Will: I went through my head. It was crossing the streams.

>> Rem Scobell: Yeah. Because like with technology, what is exciting about it is technology is so powerful, but it's only as reliable as the people who are using it. And so people are like, not, don't know what they're doing or if they are intimidated, you know, maybe they'll misuse it. And that adds to the excitement of it. And for me, definitely, I learned that also props are expensive. If you want like a big prop, ah. Or an actor can operate it, you're gonna spend a lot of money and you have to think, well, go ahead.

>> Will: Yeah, to that point. Yeah. So we were talking, I know we were talking about effects and props and other things. So how do you, how did you deal with that as far as this budgeting? And also do you foresee in the first question, and the second question is, do you foresee yourself working, doing more practical effect than the traditional you as far as traditional models and things like that and in the future? And then, And then I'll have another question about just props and how you came about.

>> Rem Scobell: Them here in a second, well, oh, yeah, I love practical effects, and I would love to do practical effects. In fact, the demon in the film was practical in the sense that the face was this incredible makeup work by Cynthia Garza, of Alturian Studios. And so she has worked on, in her studio, worked on some of the biggest shows, like Chucky and the new hocus pocus, and they, do like, the best stuff. And so she created the face. And so everyone is looking at the demon's face in the film.

>> Rem Scobell: But the demon has this torture apparatus that's all computer generated that it's wearing. And also probably 99% of the time, the background, the house, and everything is computer generated. And most people don't even notice because they're looking at the demon.

>> Will: Exactly.

>> Rem Scobell: That's a classic. So the thing people are really looking at, you want to do that practical always. And then if you hiding the magic, you can use CGI, and it usually works really well. But if you CGI the thing everyone's looking at, it's a lot harder to pull it off. but I love just magic tricks. It doesn't matter how you do it with a computer or with a model or you building a set and painting flats. I just like using tricks to make something to astonish people.

>> Rem Scobell: And I would love to do more of that, in the future. and I'm writing, there's a feature film version of this film that I'm writing, and I would really very much love to make that. And I'm also writing, other stories. And the common thing is that they all, have a through line where the fantastic meets the personal. And always to make that, you're going to need to use some kind of trickery to create those pictures that can tell those stories. So for me, I'm open to any and all ways of creating those pictures, so long as the heart is there.

>> Will: Yeah, yeah, and that's, that's, that's, that's a very good point, because, you know, I remember, I think Brett spiner years ago. I was watching an interview with him from place data from Star Trek next Generation for folks who may not be familiar with that. But, he said it best. if it ain't on the page, it ain't on the stage.

>> Rem Scobell: And, that's a beautiful way of saying it.

>> Will: and, you know, and again, a very like, again, it very effects heavy franchise as that Star Trek is. But, you know, the stories that stand out, it's the story at the end of the day, and, I really appreciate hearing your approach to the storytelling and filmmaking in that. In that as well. Definitely sounds like you have that same philosophy that, the effects can only take you so far. You've got to have that. You got to have that story to keep the audience engaged, which takes, I guess, projects from a to, you know, from a c level project to an a level project. As far as for the view and experience.

>> Rem Scobell: Well, speaking to the nuts and bolts of filmmaking, I mean, the screenwriter is the only original artist on a film. Every other position is interpretive. They're interpreting the script. So it all comes down to it. And so it was thanks to that, to my script that, when I would show people when I was trying to make it, I got a lot of just immediate, yeah, let's do it. And I was kind of surprised. And then someone, had shared, actually, someone who I had worked with, Mary C. Russell, who was a great filmmaker herself. She shared the script with Eileen Dietz, who's famously, portrayed the, face of the demon in the original 1973 Exorcist. And so then Eileen Dietz started calling me, just. Just out of nowhere, blowing up my phone, and she said, I have to be in this movie. I have to play this demon. You don't understand. I am the Steven. And I thought it was, like, a Hollywood person really calling me to be in my movie. What happened? but that's the magic of a script that forget about being a great script. Just a script that is honest and tells the story honestly and ends where it's supposed to end, with a real ending. Right. It doesn't have to be like a work of genius. Just be honest the whole time. End with a real ending that really says to the audience, this is what life is like, and I really believe this. That's a real script. And if you can pull that off, you'll be surprised, I think. What happens when you show people that are related to the entertainment business, people who know what real scripts look like. I mean, people say all the time, oh, yeah, if you write a script, no, one cares. No one wants to read it. There are people dying to read good scripts out there who are dying to be in good projects out there. So you just have to come up with that script.

>> Will: Yeah. How. Speaking of which, how to that point being that you were both the screenwriter and a director, and as you noted, the screenwriter really is the part of the original piece, but then you're also directing your work. What was sort of the thing, what was the method that you used to help. sort of not, you know, clearly you're very close to it. So who is your, like, guardrail or your reality check to say rem? this, you know, this in the script is working. It's saying one way, but as you're trying to direct it, it's just not working or. Or vice versa. so how did you go about that, being that you wore both hats and just sort of making this thing work?

>> Rem Scobell: Well, the hard part is, like, one of the hard parts is when you're making a film is just to make sure everyone is making the same movie with you. so uniting people have to, like, be on board with it. But I think when you spend a lot of time with the script, as I did, you, it, you like, it kind of goes into your subconscious. Like, when you spend a lot of time on something and you can't solve a problem, for example, then out of nowhere, you just come up with the solution. Or you come up with an idea that works, right? And you think that idea came to you for free, but it didn't, because you had been working on it for so long, and your subconscious mind was working on it. And your subconscious mind is the real genius, because, like, your conscious mind, you want to be liked. You want everyone to smile at you and tell you you're great, but your subconscious mind doesn't care. Your subconscious mind is this dinosaur beast of, a thing that just is raw creation. And so harnessing that is really, what you the benefit of working a long time on a project and not getting in the way of that. In fact, I think a lot of writing a script is just getting out of the way of yourself and putting away that side of you that wants to be liked and wants, a lot of material things that are not really good for telling an honest story. And when it comes to shooting with actors, I just. I, want them to be honest. And if for them, being honest means changing it in a way that they can do it best, I'm fine with that. What I just want is everyone to give their best work. And if their best work is a little different than what I would have wanted, we'll adjust the movie to match your best work. And I think if a, movie is made of people's best work, there's something so special there, and it's much more special than what my ego would say, oh, it has to be like this. I mean, that's, that's never as good as if you can bring out the best in people. And, I think bringing out the best in people starts with you putting your best in first. People have antenna. They know when the writer and the director is really doing his best and he's trying to make something special. And people kind of lock into that and they, whether they like it or not, it brings out the best in them. And that's the hard part. That's really hard, because you can't fake it. And I think, at, least, I can't. I cannot. I've heard of people that are maybe better at that kind of faking thing, but I can't. I have to really do it. And I was lucky that people locked into what I was trying to do and brought their best to it. And, it's a privilege to work with such talented people, especially, I think, working in Los Angeles because of tax incentives and things like that. Productions, go where they can receive incentives from governments to shoot, right? So that means shooting in the UK or in Canada or sometimes in Prague or wherever. and it's not easy or cheap to shoot in Los Angeles if you're an industrial production, if you're going to your big production because of the tax breaks that you can get elsewhere. But if you shoot in LA, there are so many people in Los Angeles who've learned from apprenticeship, from apprenticeship crafts and filmmaking techniques that go back to the silent era. And you have that lineage of talent with you there on set in Los Angeles. For example, Cynthia Garza, and her partner, Sven Granland, were apprentices. They are these special effects makeup artists. And they were apprentices, of Dick Smith. And Dick Smith was a very famous, a, very notable Hollywood visual effects makeup artist who worked. Who pioneered the visual effects for the original 1973 exorcist. Like, what a coincidence that I'm working with his students on my film, which is something you never get if you went to, I mean, you'd never get it organically. You'd have to hire them and then fly them out somewhere else. so, but just, it was a happy accident for me. It's just like, oh, for somebody who does. Who does monsters, you should talk to them. And lo and behold, so, like, I think, you know, the magic of that is doing your best work. And then people want to help you, people want to help someone who's really pushing themselves. So it just sends out a signal. And other artists especially, kind of find it a little, they find sympathy to it and they want to learn a little more and maybe they want to help with it, too. And so it's very, like I said, it's a privilege. It's a privilege to be involved with people like that.

>> Will: That's so awesome that your Beverly Hills exorcist has ties. It has one or two degrees of separation to the tv, to the old classic film. And of course, I know they're, I think they're doing another reboot of it, here recently. But speaking, of speaking of the California and that in Los Angeles and that great greater Los Angeles area, what inspired you to pick Beverly Hills as the place to be where this, demon is holed up in this house?

>> Rem Scobell: Well, that's a great question, actually. I strongly with Beverly Hills. I strongly believe that, there's no such thing as a portable story. the best narratives are linked to the setting, and so the setting shapes the characters and it shapes the story. Right? Like, you know, take divorce for example. People divorce in California differently than they would divorce in Louisiana, right? so the setting shapes it. And so for me, the nucleus of this story, what really made me write it and informed everything about the writing and the adventure of it was what if a house is too expensive to be haunted? So that means that the buyer or the owner can not only afford the astronomical price of the house, but they can afford to pay top dollar for. For a freelance supernatural fixer to cleanse the house of demons and risk their own life and limb to do it. And so where would that be possible? So for me, Beverly Hills was the right place to set a story like that. And so in setting it, in Beverly Hills, you can also explore some social satire of like privilege and wealth versus kind of the more ghost hunters who are kind of not a part of that, but they intersect with it. but in a short film, there wasn't a lot of time to deep dive that theme. But in the feature film, I do. So, film, financiers, you're welcome to talk to me about it. there's a really great script here for a feature film.

>> Will: Awesome. Awesome. well, I wish you all the best, with, with getting this developed into a feature length project. I think there's a, there's a lot of things in when folks are able to watch this film. there are a lot of threads that you could definitely, with more time and more resources, can really explore. and just especially like what you just shared here because you, know, for folks like me, I live in North Carolina, but you know, one of the things you do hear about is the, the cost things and, you know, everywhere. and, and that was, not again, as I was watching the film. I do get, I did get the hint of some of the social, socio economic and class things that you were, that you were dealing with. And even, I think even going back to the original Ghostbusters, they even had that, some of those elements in there too. Of course, when we think about the big wedding scene, where slimer is a big, big, big ballroom. So, and then of course, the hotel manager didn't want to pay for it. Anyway, this is not a good, this is not a Ghostbusters review pod today, but, I know I put a pin in a project that you worked on in the time, in the time we have remaining here. In addition to, Beverly Hills exercise, there was another short project that you, that you've done recently called, let's be kids and tell me, I'll let you share what, that process about, I know for me, I was laughing out loud. It's a very short piece, but, I found it very, very funny. And, wanted to, definitely made a note to talk to you about it today.

>> Rem Scobell: Well, thank you for bringing that up. I really like that sketch too. Thank you so much for the kind words about it. that's a sketch that is kind of this social satire, farcical sketch where these m grown men, these grown adults, have this business like, boardroom meeting, but the errand of the day is to discuss, whether or not they should like girls. And so this, you finally realize that these are actually little kids and they're debating whether or not they should take that leap into associating with girls. And that sketch really depends to be, to work really depends on the actors. And they have to get like, what that is and what, what to go for. And so I was so lucky to work with like, such great people on that. there was like Christopher Kai, who is a great actor, and he's, ah, he was on animal kingdom and he's in the social network. And of course Greg Martin and Amanda McCants, who would right after lead my short film. And also, this incredible, Tiffany Toth, who is famously, ah, a playboy playmate and also just a real multi talented person. And she an amazing artist, photographer, sculptor, photo artist. She just does it all. And so she was nice enough to come in and do it. And it was always kind of my dream to work with like an incredible ensemble like that and do something funny and impactful. and we only had about an hour and a half to shoot it, so I like made my little shot list and, and when we shot it, there was like some problems. People kind of didn't get it. And I was told like, okay, well, good luck with that one. But then when we, when I, when I delivered it, the reception was really positive. And ifunny, the company that we had done it for, offered me like a spin off series for it. And they told me what about a classroom and what about like all this stuff? And I said, I don't, I'm gonna make my short film. I don't know if I can keep this up. But thank, you so much for calling that out. I'm glad it made an impression on you.

>> Will: Yeah, yeah, it did. It was you know, thought about big, you know. So it's one of the, especially when you have these grown people and it's sort of like the e trade ads, you know, where you have the babies talking like with the business. It's sort of like the inverse of that, with that vibe, where, you know, you have the babies talking about the stock market, but here you have grown people in this, in this classroom setting and they're, it just brings back all the awkwardness of you know, the early years and sort of coming of age and things. So it was just kind of. It took me a minute, to be honest. Whenever first when I was watching it, I was like. And then when it clicked, I was like, oh yeah, this is, this, this idea, that and one of the little through lines that all little boys get picked on about doing. And I won't spoil it for prospective watchers, but it's like, yeah, that, that works. That works. So, yeah. well, again, thank you so much for your time. Again, tell folks, where, I know it's going to be debuting at the Geek film fest. in addition to that, is it going to be, are you going to have the Beverly Hills exorcist distributed elsewhere after its debut?

>> Rem Scobell: well, we are showing at Geek Fest and Geek Fest will be traveling comic cons, across the country this year. but also, we are selected for, the Grossman fantastic film and wine festival, which by Moviemaker magazine was rated a top 25 coolest film festival in the world. And they pick, they curate only a small amount of short films, and only a very small amount of films from the United States. So it's really, really humbling. And cool that they would pick, our little film. And so, maybe I'll go to that. And we are very hopeful we'll be in a few more notable festivals this year. Time will tell. but definitely thank you so much for sharing your platform.

>> Will: Yeah, so after. Before we go, after. So you'll have the films festival circuit. after the film festival circuit, do you plan on, releasing it on, say, YouTube or. Or where can people who may not be able to, view it, you know, who are fortunate to be able to have a film festival in their backyard or want to watch it online or, you know, where we'll be able to find it?

>> Rem Scobell: well, hopefully, I'm talking to a couple of distributors. but, I cannot do those deals yet because most film festivals will qualify a short film if you have a distribution deal in place. So time will tell. I'm very hopeful to do, to partner with the distributor. again, I've already talked to a number of them, and I'm really humbled and honestly, really grateful that there's response. I mean, short films don't make money. They're not really business things. They're like showcase pieces. So if anyone wants to say, hey, I'm willing to put a little bit of money here to distribute this, that is just an incredible honor for the production. And I don't even care about the money about for a short film because they don't make money, but just that someone would invest in it is incredible.

>> Will: Yeah. Yeah. Well, and I know you, and I know you mentioned earlier that, you're hoping to expand us to a feature length film. So hopefully, you know, whenever it's being shown at some of these film festivals, somebody will say, yes, I want to greenlight this and help you expand it to feature length because it is. It is a very fun and unique story. And, one that, as I said earlier, there's, definite threads there that you have more. More time and resources. you had the makings of a very special feature film there. And, I thank you for coming on here today to talk with me about your, film, Beverly Hills exorcist. Before, we go tell people where they can find you, on socials, and your website and other pieces of contact info.

>> Rem Scobell: all you need to know is my name. Rem Schobel. R e m s e o b e l l. Twitter? X. I'm sorry. X. Instagram?

>> Will: I do not.

>> Rem Scobell: Yeah, you name it. Google hit up Remskoville. You'll find everything. And if you like that sketch, let's be kids. It's on my website, remskoble.com, and, follow me on Instagram. That's the place I promote the latest happenings, and, I'm very hopeful to have some good news in the very, very near future.

>> Will: Awesome. Awesome. Well, thank you so much again for. For joining us today. You, can, again, if you're in north Hollywood, go to the geek film fest, next weekend. Correct. I know we're recording today on May 11, but the, your film will be debuting on May Sunday, may m.

>> Rem Scobell: 19Th, at 06:00 p.m.. Great.

>> Will: So be sure to check that out. I'll drop a link in the, show notes here. So if you want to buy tickets to the Geek film fest, you will be able to do so. And with that, thank you so much, Rem, for joining us here on Scene N  nerd presents the interviews again. my name is Will Polk. You can always visit our website at www.senienerdpodcast.com to get us wherever you get your podcast. And with that, take care, nerds. Good night. Geek out. You're welcome.