Interview With Director J.A. Steele on BLOOD FARE

J.A. Steel is the director, the producer and the writer of the upcoming horror / action film hybrid Blood Fare starring Gil Gerard, Michelle Wolff, Brandi Lynn Anderson, Kim Sønderholm, Bridget McManus, Scott Beringer, S. Edward Meek, Adrian West, Savannah Ostler, Brenden Whitney, Alison Trouse, Thomas J. Post, April Knight, Antonio Lexerot, Marcus Intheam and Natalie Garcia. Blood Fare is about Corporal Henry Trout who fought valiantly in the forgotten skirmish of the Lethe Confluence during the Civil War. The year was 1861. In 2011, he will come face to face with his descendants as the battle for blood begins. Tyler and her brother Chad, Henry's fifth generation grandchildren, will challenge the very legend of Charon the Ferryman, as the lines between the living and the dead become blurred. Blood Fare which just currently wrapped film, is now deep into post production. Blood Fare takes elements of Civil War lore and mixes that with a modern day ghost story. Call me crazy, even though the film isn't even finished yet, but Blood Fare has franchise potential in this humble critics opinion as there is so many different forms of mythology and lore that can be associated with the Civil War and ghosts. J.A. Steel has tapped into an untapped market which is something so refreshing to see in an era of lifeless remakes and carbon copies. Here is what this innovative director had to see about her upcoming film, Blood Fare.

So who is J.A. Steel and what are you all about?

J.A. Steel is about making fun, kick ass, low budget B movies. The Horror is an add-on. I'm more of an Action-Horror hyphenate. Or action-SciFi. I love action, blood and guts. The next progression was to add a horror element. Nothing is better than action horror. I love "Resident Evil".

Can you please tell us about your latest film, Blood Fare?

"Blood Fare" is a Civil War ghost story with a modern twist. Tyler Mitchell (Brandi Lynn Anderson) is haunted by the ghost of her 5x Great Grandfather Henry Trout (S. Edward Meek). With the help of Professor Meade (Gil Gerard), Tyler has to solve a string of murders surrounding the battlefield haunted by Henry.

What was the film's budget and how was it secured?

The out the door budget is about $300k. We are doing a lot of the cash fundraising through crowd funding, IndieGoGo and Kickstarter. We also have some private investors.

How were you able to get the film made on such a low budget?

Having complete creative control helps to get it made. I can change the script if necessary on the fly or rearrange when we shoot what. Being the Writer/Director/Producer helps out a lot.

What was the inspiration behind Blood Fare? What kind of innovation have you shown with Blood Fare?

With BLOOD FARE we took the Legend of Charon, the Ferryman and completely twisted it around. Adding a bit of Civil War history makes it a bit more interesting and fun. S. Edward Meek, who plays Henry, is a Civil War Re-enactor here in Utah. So we have strived for an element of realism.

What was the most difficult aspect about making Blood Fare?

The most difficult aspect was some sound issues we had while filming at the University of Utah. They were having a pep rally downstairs and outside from where we were shooting. So we had to completely change locations. We lost an hour and a half of shooting and waiting so we could get usable sound. Not to mention , losing an hour by having to change locations.

What was your favorite on set memory?

My favorite memory was when the whole team pulled together to film a certain scene that was not on the shot list for that day. They were ready to go in 20minutes. The scene looked awesome and by switching the shooting order around, it actually saved us about 2 hours of set up/prep time and enabled us to shoot even more of the movie the next day.

Why should people be looking forward to Blood Fare?

People will want to see BLOOD FARE to see fun storytelling with a different twist on action/horror other than hack n slash. And of course, to see Gil Gerard like you've never seen him before. Gil was a lot of fun to work with and he turned Professor Meade into an even better character than I originally envisioned.

What piece of advice would you give to other directors starting out?

Advice? I don't really have any...It's either in your blood or it isn't...nothing really prepares you for the long hours and the sacrifice you have to make to "get it done".

So what's next?

Right now, I would love some sleep and a beach in Mexico with a beer. But, for the next several months, BLOOD FARE will be in post productions so I'm going to be 24/7 working on that. After that I may do another creature feature like my last movie DENIZEN or a straight action film called TAKE OUT DELIVERY.

Any final comments?

I want to thank our sponsor Voltaic Systems for giving us some smoking hot solar backpacks. Not only is BLOOD FARE a green production, but we actually incorporated new technology into the script. Check it out at : http://www.voltaicsystems.com/. I think it's cool when we can incorporate future technology into a film that deals with the past and the present.

Thanks so much!

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