The new Indie Hit Thriller “Roulette“ is the type of film that will leave you thinking for days on end. Though the film is not meant for everyone because of explicit content and certain subject matters, one will be left with a greater appreciation for its genre.
For those who are true “thriller connoisseurs”, you will be shed with sheer delight and say to yourself, “Finally!” and then ask yourself how you can watch the film over again.
Erik, along with his cast and crew managed to perfectly mix all the right elements that should go into a film. In its own right, it deserves to go far.
Find out more about this Erik and his film “Roulette” with the ARTS ALA CARTE’s Connoisseur’s Talk and don’t forget to watch the highlights below.
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Spotlight Interview
ARTS A LA CARTE - When and how did you get involved with film-making? What inspired you?
Erik Kristopher Meyers - As backwards as it may sound, my love of film stems from my love of literature. If one is opening that third eye properly, you’re directing a film every time you crack a book. I was fortunate to have had a father who was and is a voracious reader, and he passed this on to me at an early age. I was read Tolkien’s "The Lord of the Rings" as a multi-month bedtime story when I was five or so, and the movie I saw unfolding in my mind was so powerful that even Peter Jackson can never rival it, because in my mind it was truly and uniquely "mine." That said, my passion became making those images, whether high fantasy, horror, or comedy, come to life, because film is the one medium that can be called the realization and actualization of dreams.
I was dabbling with short stories and screenwriting at a very young age. When I was about thirteen, I adapted "The Hobbit" as a four-hour radio drama for school, and directed it using a small group of student actors. It was huge and ambitious; anything worth doing is. From there I began making short films with my friends in high school while doing the whole Theatre scene, and things really snowballed from there. I spent years after high school studying film and screenwriting, and ultimately dropped out of the teaching program and dove headfirst into film studies on a collegiate level.
ARTS A La CARTE - Tell us about your award winning feature film "Roulette". Who wrote it? If you didn't write it, how did you feel after you read it? Or if you did write it, how did others feel about reading it?
Erik Kristopher Meyers - As of this writing, I am finishing work on my first feature, "Roulette",which is a nasty little thriller about three people, a gun, and nothing tolose except the tops of their heads. I wrote it during a three-week creative fever back in the summer of 2008 and went into production on it shortly after. It’s got a pretty unique structure – we follow the game of Russian roulette in real time as their backstories unfold, bringing us closer and closer to whys and hows of their involvement in the game. It’s designed as a bladder-burster – there are no good “pee spots,” particularly once you hit
the third act. If I can cause people to wet themselves and sit in it, I’ve accomplished the goal of making a riveting film.
"Roulette" had the largest budget I’ve ever worked with, and 99% of it went into equipment purchase and rental – all of which was credit. There was nothing left over at the end of the day other than several rather frightening debts. I was fortunate to have cast and crew donate their time and materials, based solely on their faith in the script and my vision for it. No one was paid. It was strictly voluntary. I can’t tell you what a compliment that was, to have people believing that our shared work will help jumpstart their careers. It means a lot during those long, frustrating shoots when you see an actor eating a bagged lunch and remembering that they're there out of pure faith. People took their clothes off in front of camera knowing full well that it was “art for art’s sake”; and when you’re asking them to do that for free, then you better deliver "Art".
The biggest compliment, however, came from my wife Laura, whom I’d just married and who was driving an old car about to break down at any minute. She was the one who kept pushing me to spend money we didn’t (and still don’t) have on going bigger, bigger, and bigger still. If anyone in this world deserves my gratitude, it’s her. This film represents the entirety of our married life together so far: a project that was conceived literally right after we got home from the honeymoon and that still keeps going. It's like a child, in that way, though one she's eager to see grow up and get the hell out of the house (and rightly so).
ARTS A La CARTE - Where did you film "Roulette"?
Erik Kristopher Meyers - One of the most rewarding aspects of watching "Roulette" (for me) is the sheer scope: there is a large ensemble cast spread over numerous locations ranging from bars, restaurants and office buildings to private residences ofvarying type depending on the characters – farm houses, suburban homes, studio apartments. We have a church; we have a psychiatrist’s office; we even have a hospital (which was a major hassle, but one that was worth the effort). And these are just the interiors...! In retrospect, I was a little cavalier in my abmitions; I really had no idea how challenging it was going to be to lock down these places. Ultimately, we filmed all over Baltimore, Harford and Howard Counties.
The hardest part of shooting, indoors or out, is sound. Audio is a nightmare. If a bar is gracious enough to allow you to shoot, it might look fantastic, but that loud, whirring refrigerator and ice machine next to the mic creates an obnoxious blanket of noise that requires a lot of post-production fixing. When a business is granting you so important a service, you don’t ask them to unplug their food and beverage storage units because of audio. Same thing with other locations: AC units make noise, but you don’t ask the hospital to turn it off. You shoot and then, as the saying goes, “fix it in post.” There really aren't many options on a shoe-string budget.
One of the major plot points in the film is a busy stretch of York Road in Baltimore County in which a large part of the story takes place, and this necessitated shoots along the road which were, at times, a terror, not only because of the speeding cars, but the noise they were creating. Indoors or out, audio is the major challenge. Because of this, we purposely shot the "Suicide Room" scenes (the Russian Roulette sequences) last over a grueling period of overnights. Not only are the performances enhanced by stress and fatigue, but it was the only time we had complete and total quiet.
ARTS A LA CARTE - "How long did it take to make? How long did it take to edit?
Erik Kristopher Meyers - The initial round of shooting (double-pun not intended) occurred between August and December of 2008. Not only were the four months necessary due to the fact that most of us had full-time jobs, but because I had an idea early on that we could realistically have (or at least simulate) all four seasons during that time. As such, the sense of scale increases: the film, with its myriad of locations and storylines, utilizes the changing weather to maximum effect and allows the story to play out over the course of about a year and a half. It made continuity a bit of a nightmare, but was well worth it.
At the time, I was working an overnight job at XM Satellite Radio in DC as a reporter/producer, and I was totally backward from everyone: shoot days began when I was usually going to sleep. I was mentally and physically a mess, and had bronchitis from October until December, going through six or seven rounds of antibiotics and steroids without getting better simply because I wasn’t sleeping. I had other health issues at the time that I didn’t have time or energy to investigate until after we wrapped. Add to this locations that fell through constantly; scheduling woes, and honeymoon time with my wife spent wrapped up in spreadsheets instead of bedsheets. So yeah, I’m sure I was a little tense.
I was editing the film at work, cutting as we shot because of the sheer number of mirror images utilized in the film. It was necessary to know my continuity as precisely as possible. Once we wrapped in December, I took a few weeks away from the film to let it digest a bit, and then came back to fine tune in the early part of 2009. The bulk of that year was spent in post: establishing an audio team, finding a color artist, and scoring.
However, we hit a major speed bump later that fall when a contract dispute forced us to reshoot one of the supporting lead actresses. It was either that, or the film go on a shelf and stay there. So we recast, got the gang back together (all of whom were universal in their desire to see the project through), and shot into the Spring of 2010. It took six months to redo the necessary twenty percent of the film because my Big Idea -- utilizing the seasons -- came back to haunt me: we began reshoots in the late fall and needed the warmer weather months to come back around in order to preserve the aggressive continuity. Once in the can, however, we jumped back into post, and are only now seeing the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.
ARTS A La CARTE - How did you get your cast?
Erik Kristopher Meyers - I cast "Roulette" with many actors I had worked with on shorts or whom I knew by reputation. I was blessed with an amazing cast who pulled off, in many cases, the hardest work of their careers, and some of them have very kindly and graciously sung the film's praises to the community. That fact, coupled with Ethan Meyers’ multi-part series "Luck of the Draw: The Making of Roulette", has helped to expose my work to other talented individuals, and me to them. My hope remains to do auditions so that I can meet new people and watch my characters come to life in front of me.
"Roulette "contains numerous sex scenes. The whole film is about life and death, and sex became a way of illustrating beginnings turning into endings, and vice versa. Sex depicted character transformations as their attitudes toward the act shifted into new areas. In total, there are six scenes. Some are implied (fellatio); the rest display intercourse, in which actors had to “go for it.”
With that said, let me take this opportunity to sing the praises of all those who took part in said sequences (in no particular order): Mike Baldwin, Michelle Allegra Murad, Ali Lukowski, Jan-David Soutar, Will Haza, and Jenna St. John. Simulating sex on camera for a room full of bystanders is "not" an easy thing to do, nor is it easy for those who have to watch. I felt extremely protective of all involved. The character of Sunshine (Ali Lukowski) loses her virginity in a locked-down, long duration take that never cuts, never flinches; and the moment was so necessary to her arc that I couldn’t imagine losing it. Ali and Jan were amazing.
For all the adult themes in "Roulette", I have to stress again that these actors were not paid. I take it as a tremendous compliment that these people did what they did out of sheer faith in the finished product. Trust is absolutely vital, between Actor and Director. If they don’t trust you, they’re not going to do it without a paycheck; and many actors won’t do sex scenes regardless, so the role you’re offering had better be strong and worthy of performance. Otherwise you end up with another indie where a marginally attractive and even less talented actress shows her implants and then gets killed by a zombie or something.
Many Baltimore-based genre stars stepped in for featured roles. George Stover ("Female Trouble"), Leanna Chamish ("The Devil's Playthings"), Brian St. August ("Come Hell or High Water"), Frank B. Moorman ("6 Nonsmokers"), Mark Kilbane ("Collide"), Frank Lama ("Fear of Clowns"), Amy Freedman ("Hair
"). The sum total is not only a better film, but one that feels validated by notable association.
ARTS A La CARTE - And crew?
Erik Kristopher Meyers - J65 Productions, who shot and crewed "Roulette", is owned and operated by Jamie Bender and (at the time) Mike Baldwin (who, aside from running the crew, also stars as Dean Jensen, one of the three leads). I knew them both from film school. J65 provided necessary equipment such as a second camera, lenses, lights, a crane, and other toys (a custom dolly built specifically for the film that could be sized to match some very difficult locations was quite appreciated). Bender is an amazing Director of Photography – anyone who sees the film will be blown away both by the intricacies of the image as well as his ability to pull off some extremely complex sequences. He learned to hate me every time I presented my shot lists; they’d be filled with setups that would sometimes take up to thirty takes for one five-second shot! But the end result speaks for itself, and the execution is a credit to his talent.
Baldwin handled most of the lighting, which ranges from natural to stylized, particularly in the Suicide Room sequences, which he often did while acting!
His ability to handle tech while still giving an unflinching performance is amazing.
J65 brought a handful of interns to the table, primarily from Harford Community College. Zack Trees went from PA to audio recordist and continuity hound over a short time, and has now become a foley artist and audio mixer here at the home stretch; and Adam Ballweg made a point of collecting credits – he’s everything from Grip to Stunt Driver! This was true of just about everyone on the crew, down to myself and Laura and Brian: we wore a lot of hats, because we "had "to.
ARTS A La CARTE - Who were your biggest supporters?
Erik Kristopher Meyers - I mentioned my wife, Laura Myers, as being instrumental to the production. She hardly produced the film out of convenience. Laura is the one person on this planet who can read my work, or even just hear a rough description, and then see it as clearly as I do. She gets it immediately. It’s why I married her: we’re in synch on every possible level. One of her passions is costuming – she’s been designing wardrobe most of her life, and even sewed all six of her bridesmaids’ dresses. So it was a no-brainer to let her go crazy on "Roulette", and the work speaks for itself: Mike Baldwin's Dean shrinks from a thickly-muscled healthy guy into a withered bundle of sticks largely through wardrobe; and both Will Haza and Ali Lukowski are unrecognizable from their other work based on how they were conceptualized and then outfitted. Performance, of course, has a lot to do with this, but costuming enhances performance.
For budgetary reasons, wardrobe was a mix of clothes specifically bought and fitted, as well as clothes out of the actors’ closets. Certain characters required numerous department and thrift-store visits; others came to life right out of the actors’ own daily wear. In either case, an enormous amount of thought went into the selection of fabrics and colors – every character had to “speak” through what they wore. In the case of our three leads, each goes through a major visual transformation from beginning to end, which, coupled with hair and make-up, led to some continuity headaches, given that we filmed out of order. However, it all works, and a large part of what makes those characters sing is how they’re visually represented. That’s all Laura.
The film’s other Producer, Brian Andress, was also instrumental in terms of getting the film made. A Producer’s job is to "produce. "A Director cannot direct elements that aren’t available. Brian came on as my personal assistant and then ended up a partner in the endeavor. Aside from his hard work (which, at one point, resulted in him staying awake for three or four days straight during filming), he also dropped a frighteningly large amount of his own money into the project. And it’s not the sexy stuff, either – he built a server just to hold the enormous amount of footage we were capturing, and that alone cost more than the camera, computer and software combined. When we were desperately searching for someone to record ADR and couldn’t due to an inability to pay, he knocked down a wall in his new home and "built "an audio chamber. Without Brian, this film would never have made it past principal photography.
I cannot emphasize the importance of audio enough. I alluded earlier to the perils of location shooting where audio is concerned; and while the main priority of production is capturing the visual elements necessary to tell you story, that sound problem needs to be addressed eventually; and the best way to prepare for that eventuality is to have a strong audio team.
And audio is exactly what we "didn’t" have much experience with, so assembling a team proved to be a major headache. Ultimately, Producer Brian Andress just got fed up with trying to find a supervisor with the energy level we needed, and he said, “To hell with this – I’ll do it.” And it was as simple (at least on paper) as that: he bought the equipment, built a sound chamber, and got to work. He didn’t go it alone, fortunately: not only did we have our on-set sound recordist, Zack Trees, come back to put in many long hours on foley, but we found a passionate and dedicated post-production audio leader in Adam White. Adam’s ability to take audio I considered unsalvageable and to not only salvage it, but to "polish "it, is astounding to me. And of course, since ADR is a nightmare balance of technical and art, I had Laura and Brian to direct performances when and if I wasn’t available. Both grew in leaps and bounds when it came to guiding a performance.
Speaking of Producers: I found our composer, Dan Schepleng, through a mutual associate. I’d sampled several other composers but never found the right fit. If every shot in "Roulette" is saying three things at once, and if every line of dialogue is saying three things, than I needed a composer who could do the same thing through instrument selection and the building and overlapping of designated character themes. Music is vital to expressing the psychology of a character, and at times its absence is equally important.
Dan “got” the film immediately. We spent many hours over many days discussing the script at great length, and discussed character histories as far back as their fictional childhoods. From there, he was able to start writing. I asked him to largely hold back and merely hint at character themes until the third act, which is a twenty-minute operatic assault. Thanks in large part to Dan, the third act will be what people are talking about when the film is over.
For the Suicide Room scenes (which comprise a full quarter of the film), I asked Dan to score non-music. Instead, he used processed sounds designed to raise the hair on the back of the neck, and layered them to the visual so that they acted as instruments of aural chaos, albeit the controlled kind. Suicide should never sound pretty. In the end, Dan, like Laura and Brian, willingly absorbed more responsibility: he stepped up during a very bad time and took over the
Producing chores when no one else could. Without him, the production would have folded a very long time ago. He's a comrade in art, and a comrade-in-arms. I'll never be able to thank him properly for his contributions to the film, which extend to all aspects of post-production and beyond.
ARTS A La CARTE - Did the film come out exactly how you originally envisioned it? Were there any challenges?
Erik Kristopher Meyers - No film is ever going to be exactly as envisioned. In a perfect world, one in which a film maker has money, resources, time and the ability to dedicate
twenty-four hours a day to a project (i.e. no day job), nothing should be left to chance: all elements of production have been planned in advance. A film maker without a shot list isn’t a film maker; they’re just someone with a camera. The only accidents should be happy ones.
I am an aggressive planner: I hold script meetings, character meetings with actors, and plan every shot and how it connects to the one that precedes and
follows it. But independent film making also means having to change that vision at the last minute because a location fell through and the hastily acquired substitute won’t allow for the planned shots, etc. Anything that can go wrong will, so the better prepared you are, the less you have to scramble.
There are two schools of thought about film making: one being that it is a wholly collaborative process; the other being that Auteur Theory of a single mind guiding the execution. I think the answer lies somewhere in the middle. "Roulette "is such a complex film, both on a narrative and visual level, that I am unable to be hands off – every shot, every line of dialogue, all of it says about five or six different things on ten or twelve different levels. It is a film designed to be revisited, with each viewing offering new ideas and insights. To that end, I couldn’t "not" be involved.
However, I encourage new ideas, because I’m not infallible. Nobody can be a perfect artist; they don’t exist. I’m quick to ask for thoughts and opinions of my cast and crew, because they have their own insights, their own interpretations, and can reveal new layers that were previously invisible. Many such collaborations made their way into the film, particularly in regards to the acting and score: all seek to underline and enhance the elements I seek to stage; but at the end of the day, only one person can drive the car. To direct by committee is to run off the road.
The single biggest change from script to screen is the execution of the third act, which occupies the film's final twenty minutes. I wrote it one way, and during the first part of shooting, began envisioning a huge opera in which the story elelments were remixed and restructured. Very little was re-written, but the editing yielded a significantly bigger and more tumultuous ending. Then, of course, Dan Schepleng came in and dumped one of the most incredible pieces of score on top of it and radically altered it yet again. For me, the post-production process has yielded a film that, by and large, reflected my original intent; but the third act is and was a revelation.
ARTS A La CARTE - Who did the special affects?
Erik Kristopher Meyers - "Roulette "has only a handful of digital effects: two of which were pulled off by Mitch Klein ("Sealed Fates")"," the other by the terrifically talented Carl Porter ("The Devil's Playthings")"," who created the very stylish posters for the film. A few effects were accomplished on set, care of Kurt "Truk" Feigelis.
Right now, our Color Artist, Dylan Lee, has officially finished the digital grading on the film, which definitely gives it an even more cinematic feel.
Each character and each storyline has its own color and emotional palette (The Suicide Room is red, Dean's story is blue, Kessler's is green, and Sunny's is yellow), and these elements coupled with minor effects enhance the visual and thematic elements still more. Dylan has transformed despair into something beautiful.
ARTS A La CARTE - How has the film done with festivals so far?
Erik Kristopher Meyers - As of this time, "Roulette "has played at Washington D.C.'s World Music & Independent Film Festival, where it took home DMV trophies for Best Director (Erik Kristopher Myers), Best Actor (Will Haza), and Best Actress (Ali Lukowski). We are very proud and very grateful. We've submitted to several other festivals and just heard we'd accepted into our second competition; but right now the focus is on aquiring distribution.
ARTS A La CARTE - How have the screenings been? What type of responses and feedback have you gotten from the audiences? How about feedback from any controversial issues?
Erik Kristopher Meyers - In late 2010 we had a sneak preview of the unfinished film at The Charles Theatre in Baltimore. Though it played to a packed house, the screening was fraught with technical issues. Overall, the response was very, very positive, though the ending definitely scared a few people off -- several viewers literally jumped out of their seats during the climax and went straight out the door. Considering the intended effect of what we now refer to as "The Baby Scene," -- a sequence showing a gruesome metaphor for abortion -- I consider such flight better than a standing ovation.
I'm sorry on a personal level that the film (and particularly the ending) bothered some viewers; that's the human being in me speaking. However, the
artist isn't sorry. That sounds cold, but isn't meant to be: I create art to invoke a response, good "or" bad. The film was "meant" to upset people, so
to have done so is probably the biggest compliment I can receive.
I woke up the day after the screening to several hundred emails and assorted voice mails, text messages, etc., and everyone wanted to tell me how much
they couldn't shake off the film's effects. A "bad" movie is one that you forget immediately after. I was terrified of my family being upset, my
friends being upset, my co-workers being upset; but I had to separate myself from my work. We're not one and the same.
When we screened at the World Music & Independent Film Festival in 2011, there was no such exodus, largely due to The Baby Scene's reputation preceding itself. A few ashen faces in the audience afterward, some audible gasps, that sort of thing. However, I received none of the shocked emails that I did after the Charles sneak preview (nor any of the hate mail, which, believe it or not, is what I enjoyed reading most). The bottom line is that if you set out to provoke your audience, you'd better be prepared to stand behind the work.
Just like with the abortion climax, I didn't want to do some safe, boring movie where characters sit around talking about things they did off-camera -- I wanted to confront audiences and force them to acknowledge certain things. Abortion, sex, infidelity, religion, addiction, mental illness, gender confusion, violence, rape: the film touches on all of these taboos. How do you tell a story about people wanting to end their own lives without making the audience understand the nightmarish horrors that would drive them to that point? How can you ever connect with them, or share their pain (or their pleasure)? If you're going to tell a dark story, it "has" to be dark. It has to be real. Otherwise, what's the point? I didn't want to show boobs for the sake of showing boobs: the whole film -- all of it, every character, every story line -- is about sex (life) and death. They're two sides of the same coin. Real life (and death) isn't pretty, it isn't neat, it doesn't come with a built-in soundtrack or some shitty Aerosmith song playing over the credits: life is cruel. Some people see films to escape that; others see film as a window through which to observe that which they've never known. It all depends on personal taste.
ARTS A La CARTE - What are the next steps for "Roulette"?
Erik Kristopher Meyers - Get it seen...!
ARTS A La CARTE - Could there be a part 2? If so, would you consider doing it?
Erik Kristopher Meyers - Only if I could call it "Roulette 2: Roulette Harder."
ARTS A La CARTE - Who is your biggest inspiration for film-making?
Erik Kristopher Meyers - My wife is my greatest inspiration, not only for film making, but in every sense. I want to give her the best life possible, and that means the being the best husband possible. The best Erik is a happy Erik; and a happy Erik is an Erik who gets to tell his stories full-time. Maybe it's unrealistic to shoot for Hollywood, but so long as I can secure myself in such a way that I can continue film making for an enthusiastic audience--even on an indie level--I'm content to keep doing it. I just won't be able to let my future children see any of my work until they're thirty-five or so.
ARTS A La CARTE - What are your next steps with film-making?
Erik Kristopher Meyers - I have a horror script waiting in the wings called "Smilers" that generated interest from film circles, but was designed to be shot inexpensively by myself. No one would fund it with me at the helm until I had a feature under my belt; hence the necessity of "Roulette". All offers were for the script, not for me. So the goal here with "Roulette" is to say: “I can make a film that looks like it cost two million dollars, and I can do it for nothing. Now think of what I can actually do with two million dollars…!”
"Smilers" is old-school. It’s about terrifying people. When was the last time that happened? "The Exorcist"? The genre has gotten so diluted. Somewhere, “gore” became confused with “fear.” They aren’t the same thing.
2012 is all about shopping "Roulette "and sowing the seeds of future projects. It's gonna be a busy year.
ARTS A La CARTE - Tell us about the crew that followed you in the making of "Roulette" Who's idea was this?
Erik Kristopher Meyers - I consider behind-the-scenes pictures and videography to be of the highest importance, and here’s why: First off, continuity photos are vital, especially when dealing with things like facial hair. Low-to-no budget film making requires an additional level of creativity when it comes to marketing. There’s no PR department; and who cares about some dinky indie when "The Avengers" is coming out...?
I approached award-winning film maker Ethan Meyer ("All's Fair in Love and Work"), who would ultimately work on the crew in numerous capacities, about
shooting a feature-length documentary detailing the process of shoe-string film making from beginning to end. Ultimately, what he began producing was a
series of behind-the-scenes featurettes, each roughly ten minutes long, and hosted on a dedicated website. Currently, there are something like sixteen
or eighteen episodes, with the promise of more to come -- it's been a while, but Ethan's a busy guy.
"Luck of the Draw: The Making of Roulette" is totally Ethan’s – it’s his baby. And that baby has been a fantastic way of generating interest throughout production, and will ultimately appear on the Blu-Ray. There have also been a few featurettes contributed by other crew members: Jamie Bender did two, Alex Krowzow did three, Laura and I each did one, and Tommy Duncan did the most current one. Kim Hoang did an epic 40-minute doc back in 2010, and I hope to include all of these on the disc. Aside from really giving a fly-on-the-wall look at how we did what we did (and the problems, such as the massive reshoot in 2009-2010), it's also the ultimate home movie. Some day I'll be able to show these to my kids and say, "This" is why Daddy says you need to be a doctor or a lawyer instead of an artist...!"
ARTS A La CARTE - The film is pretty intense which when on set could bring about some comical moments. where there any and if so, can you tell us about it?
Erik Kristopher Meyers - I'm going to let the upcoming blooper reel speak for itself. All I'm going to say is that it's nearly thirty-five minutes long, and given the nature of
the film, wonderfully surreal.
ARTS A La CARTE - What is your most memorable moment on set?
Erik Kristopher Meyers - The night Will Haza and "Truk" Feigelis decided--without my knowledge--that the best way to give Haza's character a bloody, foaming mouth was to mix food coloring, corn syrup and laundry detergent. Will ended up in the hospital that night, which, coincidentally, was the last night of initial shooting. Never a dull moment on "Roulette."
ARTS A La CARTE - What "lesson learned" will you take on to the next film?
Erik Kristopher Meyers - Find someone "else "to handle the business end! There's enough to worry about as it is.
ARTS A La CARTE - Where can people find out more about you and about "Roulette"?
Erik Kristopher Myers is a writer and film maker based out of Baltimore,MD. His close association with CaptainHowdy (and the now-defunctBloodyNews.com) has led to numerous critical writings on the Exorcist franchise, and earned him the first screening and exclusive interview regarding Paul Schrader's then-shelved Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist in 2005 (reprinted this fall ball Centipede Press). He is the acclaimed director of the multi-award-winning 2011 independent thriller
"Roulette" and is currently at work on the academic study William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist III: From Concept to Novel to Screen.
