Exclusive: Brandon Scullion Talks New Christmas-Based Horror Film December
David Gelmini
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The news of a new Christmas-based horror film makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside, so when we heard about December, we decided to talk to director Brandon Scullion to learn more. You can contribute to December on Indiegogo, and be sure to share the campaign to get a credit.
DC: As you shot your previous film, Live-In Fear, in the snowy Utah mountains, are you prepared for another freezing shoot?
Scullion: Well, not quite I think. LIF was such a unique experience and one I’ll never forget, but not one I want to relieve any time soon— mostly because of the cold! I’m very happy and relieved we’ll be shooting December in bright and sunny Los Angeles, California, in April/May so the weather should be perfect!
DC: So, all the misery is caused by a sinister mounted stag’s head?
Scullion: Is the stag’s head evil? Maybe. I wanted to have this representation of nature, patriarchy, and oppression be constant in the girls’ lives. I wanted it to feel like something was always watching them, leeching away their sanity, and I thought the stag’s head was the perfect way to represent all those things and also be really fucking weird at the same time!
There’s this really cool sequence in the script, one of my favorites, that plays out on a theater stage dressed to look like a forest in 1899 which elaborates on the stag’s origin. It’s always been a killer, before and after death. But I really don’t want to give a lot away because this sequence is really cool from a visual and thematic standpoint.
DC: And I understand that the film’s Indiegogo rewards will very easily allow people to get credited?
Scullion: Absolutely yes! I wanted a way to reward people who share the campaign since that is such a big part of whether or not you are successful in these sort of endeavors. So I came up with this idea to entice people to share that would require relatively little effort on their part. If you share the December Indiegogo page on social media or email, take a screenshot and send that to DECEMBERMOVIE99@gmail.com, you’ll get an Associate Producer’s credit on IMDb and in the credits of the film. That’s it. Now you’re a film producer.
DC: Why does Christmas personally represent death for you?
Scullion: I wouldn’t say Christmas itself represents death to me, but yes, there is a certain sort of death that occurs around that time of season. A year is gone, and along with it comes a new chance at redemption. A new year to start over with hope and optimism. A chance to let go of the past forever and leap forward into change.
DC: But December the film is not about new chances. It’s about using up last chances. December is not the movie where everything goes right; it is the movie where everything goes wrong. Why did you choose to have it set in the 1990s?
Scullion: The 90’s were the years of my childhood. All of my influences and great loves come from that time. It is a period that I think is reflected, at least visually, in a lot of my work; and it wasn’t a conscious effort either. You just sort of adopt and adapt things so they fit into your style. I think a lot of things from the 90’s appeal to my sensibilities; that’s why I like having the film set there, right on the edge on the 2000’s. After Columbine, but before more great wars. Before 9/11. It was almost like a time of innocence before all this terrible shit happened.
DC: Can you talk about the two protagonists, Isobelle and Emlyn?
Scullion: I’m glad you mentioned two protagonists because December really is both of their story. Isobelle struggles to find her way after losing her son. Emlyn is left to attempt to put all the pieces back together by herself while things are still falling apart. As a person who does not have any siblings, it was tricky to nail the dynamic between sisters, but I’m really happy with where everything landed. I think there’s just the right amount of love/hate/resentment. Isobelle is definitely the more susceptible of the two when it comes to the stag’s influence. She seems to have a strange fascination and special connection with it. it whispers dark little secrets in her ear and tells her to do things.
I think the actresses we have playing Iso and Em are really special and perfect, and we’ll be announcing who they are in the next few days!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uwKammkuY4]
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