Exclusive: Tim Sullivan Comes Aboard Cut/Print
Steve Barton
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We’ve been sitting on our hands with this one for a few weeks (we actually were on set so stay tuned for that report soon), but given the buzz currently surrounding filmmaker Tim Sullivan’s latest splat-stick effort “I Was A Teenage Werebear” (his recently wrapped segment of the anthology film Chillerama; see our exclusive on that here), we thought it time to mention his involvement with the decidedly different-in-tone Orlando Entertainment feature, the grisly shock “doc” Cut/Print.
Long known for the outrageous horror-comedy films 2001 Maniacs and 2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams (as well as his hosting duties on the VH1 “Scream Queens 2” reality series), Sullivan has shifted gears in his collaboration with lead filmmaker Vince Orlando, producer Jeff Burton and director Nathaniel Nose. His now-wrapped feature Cut/Print, a grisly slasher film that brings you inside the mind of a serial killer, is devoid of the typical Sullivan humor and was marred by a behind-the-scenes tragedy that halted production, nearly killing the film altogether.
Cut/Print, written by Orlando, Gary Wayne Allison and Nose, follows a group of independent filmmakers who set out to film the world’s first reality horror film by offering a serial killer known only as ‘The Maestro’ complete anonymity and a worldwide platform via which to display his work. In exchange, the killer must deliver genuine, recorded footage of his grisly crimes. Sullivan’s participation in such grim material is certainly an interesting departure from his catalog, and the way in which he became involved is surprising as well.
Having completed three quarters of principal photography, filmmaker Orlando found himself in a quandary as to whether or not to complete Cut/Print following the suicide of Cut/Print actor Randall Godwin (who portrayed The Maestro) on December 19, 2008.
After some personal debate, Orlando brought the project to film producer/actor Jordan Yale Levine via platinum selling Shady/Aftermath recording artist Obie Trice, who had collaborated with the two on the urban drug drama Life Goes On. In turn, Levine brought the project to Sullivan, who had recently worked with Levine on 2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams. Sullivan, taken with the shocking footage and disturbed by the behind-the-scenes real-life tragedy, felt that the film needed to be finished with its intended message of the numbing effects of on-screen violence too important to remain on the shelf unseen.
Coming aboard the project as executive producers, Sullivan and Levine enlisted the help of 2001 Maniacs: Field Of Screams editor Adam Robitel along with practical effects guru Vincent Guastini, pairing with CGI man Adam Fanton, to complete the project, which now includes a brand new, rather high-impact ending devised by Sullivan, which was recently shot in Guastini’s studio in Sun Valley, CA.
Actor Earl Roesel (“I was a Teenage Werebear”) took on the role of The Maestro, as will several others in future filming, bringing home the filmmakers’ provocative theme that there is a little bit of The Maestro in all of us.
Stay tuned for more photos and an exclusive and in-depth report from the production. In the interim you can check out an early NSFW trailer as well as a scene from Cut/Print below.
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