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quietearth [Film Festival 10.19.07] post apocalyptic movie interview

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We've been waiting on this movie for a while now, and if you head over to the official Ezra Crane website, you can check out 2 different trailers, a production blog, and plenty of photos. Matt is not only making a cool looking post apocalyptic flick, but he's give us inside access to his film, and he's a friend of Quiet Earth. Here's hoping the post-production phase is finished by January! Now without further ado, the interview:


QE: First off, I know you're a big post apocalyptic fan, so can you tell us what your favorite PA movies are?

MD: The Mad Max films, of course. The Road Warrior (Mad Max 2 to our friends around the world) would have to be at the top of the list. Le Dernier Combat and A Boy and His Dog are both powerful films. I also like The Blood of Heroes (a.k.a. Salute to the Jugger), Survivor, Warlords of the 21st Century, Steel Frontier, Steel Dawn and many more.

QE: Why did you bag on my rating for Salute to the Jugger? That movie stunk!

MD: What can I say? I really like it. It was written and directed by David Webb Peoples, one of my favorite screenwriters. It was lensed by David Eggby, one of my favorite cinematographers. I’m also a big Rutger Hauer and Delroy Lindo fan. It has its weaknesses, but all in all it is a good PA film.

QE: Were any of these PA movies inspiration for Ezra Crane?

MD: All of them were, but indirectly. I love PA movies, so I had to make one.

QE: I know you've been keeping the storyline under wraps, but can you give us anything more?

MD: Well, here’s the official synopsis:
“Wars raged. Plagues ravaged. Civilization fell. A new dark age took a hold of mankind. Small bands of survivors huddle together living off the remains of the old world. Yet, one man wanders the wild lands alone, shunned and feared. He calls himself Ezra Crane, but who he really is no one knows. One day a young girl interrupts his solitary existence. She calls herself Feather and says she’s on a quest. Not wishing her to face the dangers of the wilderness alone Ezra agrees to aid her. The journey takes them deep into the forgotten lands filled with strange perils. Ezra is forced to reveal terrible secrets about his past and finally his true identity. Eventually, Ezra realizes the mysterious young Feather may hold the key to his long awaited redemption.”

I don’t know what else I can add without ruining the movie. I will say that Ezra is a fantasy film whereas most PA’s are action movies. We learned on our first film, Forever Cursed, that we lacked certain resources to make an effective action movie. Though, it did win 1st Place Action Feature at one fest which was awesome.

QE: Based on the pictures on the site, it looks like Ezra is/was a priest? Is he Catholic or something?

MD: Yes, he is a Catholic priest. I like to use the Catholic iconography as a kind of visual shorthand. You see the collar and you know he has religious convictions without him talking about it.

QE: As a Christian, I am betting you will have a good spiritual message in the film, am I correct on this, and can you divulge any details? Also does this help factor in to what goes into the movie?

MD: Yes, the movie ended up with many messages. I started out wanting to have a anti-scientism theme. The spiritual message came about unplanned, yet it connects the movie together. As it turns out it is the theme mankind is most often obsessed with, namely redemption.

QE: Is Ezra going to be running the festival circuit or are you going straight for a release?

MD: Our plan is to hit the festival circuit, get our names out, gather some reviews and hopefully win an award or two. We have had some interest from a few distributors already which is very exciting.

QE: Do you have anything in the works for your next film, and if so is it post apocalyptic or zombie related? (please say yes)

MD: I wish I could yes, but I can’t. We were planning to shoot a George MacDonald-like fantasy film, but that has been shelved. Actually, my whole filmmaking future is up in the air right now. In 2008 we may produce a short film or two. After that nothing is very certain. A lot depends on Ezra Crane and how well it does.

QE: Thanks Matt, you rock!

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Anonymous (2 years ago) Reply

I've seen the trailer and it is truly horrible.


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