Director Nick Simon on The Girl in the Photographs, Wes Craven, and More!
Staci Layne Wilson
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I first discovered Nick Simon’s work in 2010 when I watched his creepy, unforgettable feature Removal. It was so original – “Gothic horror meets industrial-strength cleaning products in this spine-tingler about a pill-popping cleaning service employee and a sprawling mansion with secrets of its own.” The fact it was co-written with Oz Perkins (son of Anthony Perkins) made it that much better.
I eagerly awaited his next film, and five years later I was rewarded when The Girl in the Photographs (review) was one of the featured offerings at Screamfest, a prestigious horror festival in Hollywood. The movie turned out to be one of the most original fright flicks I’d seen in a while. Once again, Nick had teamed up with Oz Perkins as a writer as well as working with another true talent – the late Wes Craven, who was not only Nick’s mentor but a producer on The Girl in the Photographs.
We had the opportunity to sit down with Nick to pick his brain. And ask him a few questions about his gory new opus, which is now available for everyone to see on various streaming platforms.
Dread Central: It must have been so wonderful to work with the great Wes Craven on this. How did that all come together, and did he get to see any of the film before he passed away?
Nick Simon: It was an incredible experience to work with Wes. I first met Wes through the WGA mentor program. I was shocked to find out that he was my assigned mentor, more shocked to find out that I was having dinner at his house the following Tuesday. We ended up having many dinners at his house, and I became pretty close to him. Towards the end of the mentorship, we were talking about other projects we were working on, and I brought up The Girl In The Photographs. It was a little pet project of mine that I had been working on for about 4 years at the time. He read it and loved it and asked how he could help get the picture made, and I asked him to be a producer. He graciously said that he would “be proud to put his name on it.” He was very involved as a producer on the film. He was there for casting; he watched dailies every day and would give Dean and I feedback. While we were cutting, he would watch the weekly cuts of the film every weekend and give us input. When he found out we were accepted in the Toronto International Film Festival, he sent over bottles of champagne to the editing room. The only thing that he did not see was the final sound mix.
DC: You have so many cool little elements in The Girl in the Photographs. I mean, it’s so textured. How’d the idea come about, and how many drafts of the script were there?
NS: Oz and I had just come off of my first film, Removal, and started discussing trying to come up with a modern slasher that would have current themes while paying homage to the films that we grew up loving. The idea for this movie really came out of driving around and seeing all of the American Apparel billboards that surround Silver Lake. Oz and I discussed how creepy it would be if the models were looking back at the camera with looks of terror. With that the script evolved eventually into what it is now. We went through several drafts over the course of four years. It was always a hobby script for us. In fact, Oz went off to write February, and I continued to work on this with another friend of mine, Robert Morast. Robert and I really explored different stories in this world. I think in one of the drafts we also had the Sturgis Bike Rally going on at the same time. I kind of wish we kept that now. Ha.
DC: Katharine Isabelle is the best! Why is her role so small?
NS: Katie is the best! I love her and really hope I get to work with her again. We always wanted a person that people would recognize in the opening of the film. We aimed high and sent her the script. I remember our casting director in Canada telling us that she probably would not do it for a couple of reasons. One, she is asked all the time to do horror, and two, she didn’t think it was a big enough of a part. However, Katie read the script, and I called her to talk to her about it. I told her I am a huge fan of her work and that I see her in these movies all the time. What I don’t see is her die in these movies in the first five minutes. She loved that idea and immediately said yes. I actually have to say I love this entire cast. It was my dream cast. It’s very rare that, as a director, you get the people you really want in the picture. We were incredibly lucky to have Nancy Nayor as our casting director. She has worked with Wes several times in the past, and I really have to credit her for finding so many amazing people for this picture. We saw a lot of great actors to play Colleen. Nancy brought in Claudia [Lee], and she was just awesome in the room. She was experienced, and I always wanted to find someone who was kind of a discovery. I thought it was important to the story. Peter discovers Colleen as do Tom and Gerry. Claudia is terrific and really gets her generation and the attitude of that. We struggled to cast Peter for a while. We were always planning on using some “name” actor for the role. The people that were being brought up never really excited me. Wes’ manager suggested Kal Penn initially, and that really excited me because it was unexpected and I had no idea what he would bring to the character. I loved him in The Namesake and knew he could handle the drama and, of course, handle the comedy that the character required. Kal is so dedicated, and he nailed his performance. People either love him or hate him in the picture, and I think both reactions are correct. Peter is that sort of character, and Kal handled it beautifully.
DC: When it comes to the body count horror aspect, you’ve really got it going on. To me, that’s where the Wes Craven nods come in. Was that something you consciously did, or was it kind of organic to the story you wanted to tell?
NS: Well, I think when we were initially writing the script, we always knew that we wanted this film to pay attention to the rules while turning them slightly onto its side. With the body count it was no different. We always knew that in this film, nobody stands a chance in it. There are no chase scenes, there is no fighting back, even the survivor girl is slightly tilted. We were always trying to go for something that could actually happen. And what would actually happen. Wes’ early films were a big influence on the third act. It’s just brutal.
DC: There’s a lot about the Internet and social media in The Girl in the Photographs. What’s the scariest thing about living in this day and age, to you?
NS: So much scares me about the Internet and social media. I think the Internet is a dangerous place in general. People hide behind their computer screens and say truly awful, angry, and scary things to complete strangers without consequence. The Internet mob mentality and anonymous lynching is terrifying. You can post a picture of yourself, and if something is found to be offensive, you can lose your job the next day after an Internet reaction. It’s interesting to me that some critics really bashed the police in The Girl in the Photographs as not being “real” or proactive. However, every day there are hundreds of people tweeting rape and death threats to women on Twitter, and nobody is getting arrested. The Internet is an amazing wealth of knowledge and information, but it’s also the most dangerous place on earth.
DC: One more question about Wes… would you please share your favorite story about him?
NS: That’s like asking me what my favorite movie is! I have so many wonderful memories of Wes. He was an amazing mentor, collaborator, and friend. He passed away much too soon. One time I was at his house and we were talking. He got up and brought over a piece of paper he had printed out showing me all the different projects he had going on. He had several things in the oven cooking, and it’s really tragic that he passed away from such a horrible disease. Some of those projects are still in the works, and I hope to see them. I guess my “favorite” story is when I received the email from him letting me know how much he loved The Girl in the Photographs and that he would be a producer on it. That moment was life-changing. It is a moment that every struggling filmmaker daydreams about. I will be forever in his debt.
DC: What can horror fans expect from you in the near future?
NS: I love the horror and thriller space. I really want to continue working in the area. I have a couple of scripts that I’m finishing up and some others that I’m reading that I didn’t write. There is one in particular that I love. It’s a thriller, based on a true story that happened in the early 1980s. It’s weird and terrifying and all completely true. I hope to make it next.
Perkins wrote The Girl in the Photographs with Robert Morast and Nick Simon. The film stars Kal Penn, Claudia Lee, Kenny Wormald, Toby Hemingway, Luke Baines, Miranda Rae Mayo, Katharine Isabelle, and Mitch Pileggi.
For more on The Girl in the Photographs, visit its Facebook page, and follow the film on Instagram.
Synopsis:
Colleen’s life isn’t going anywhere. The small town check-out girl with natural beauty is bored with her dead end job and annoyed by her apathetic boyfriend. This isn’t the life she wanted. In the midst of her turmoil, a pair of deranged serial killers begin leaving her photos of their mutilated victims.
Her chance to escape comes in the form of Peter Hemmings, a hipster celebrity photographer who has traveled back to his hometown of Spearfish, South Dakota, with a pack of models, intent on copying the killers’ intense and unapologetic artistry. When he learns Colleen is the killers’ muse, Peter resolves to make her his own and use her as the centerpiece of a photo campaign in Los Angeles.
But before Colleen can leave her old life behind, she must contend with the desires of her murderous stalkers, who have chosen her last night in town to execute their most provocative work to date.
Categorized:News
