Zombie Movies

I’ve got a special treat for you zombie fans! I’ve got an exclusive interview (and the first exclusive for the Deadsville movie period!) with Thomas Newman who is the writer, producer and director of the upcoming 3D movie Deadsville.

You may remember Thomas Newman from the cult-hit Bong of the Dead which blended humor, zombies and marijuana into a Cannes Independent Film Festival appearance and world-wide release – for a movie made for just $5000! This time around there will not be a micro-budget as Newman is lining up investors and taking advantage of social media and the internet to create his new 3D movie.

The following is Zombie Movie’s Q & A with Thomas Newman:
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For the past year I have been following the hype around Thomas Newman’s Bong Of The Dead. All I kept hearing about was this epic $5000 zombie movie soon to be “cult hit”, made by one man in his basement. If you’re a die-hard zombie fanatic then you’ve probably already heard about this up and coming visionary first time director. According to Thomas Newman he has been paving the road to his own success one single digital frame at a time, with his scope set on busting into Hollywood. The filmmaker claims he had literally locked himself away for over 3 years working vigorously holding hours suitable only for the undead.

His journey began back in 2008 when he had apparently only written 7 pages of a script, with no title, and had only shot a single sequence involving 3 zombies ascending from a dark tunnel. The whole sequence was beautifully orchestrated to Darren Arinofskys “Requiem for a Dream” sound track and was gory enough to make you squirm and scream for more. The sequence had mass appeal and production value due to the realistic gore and zombie make-up provided by Mike fields. Newman pitched Mike Fields on the concept for his film then sealed the deal by offering him a co-producer position. It was impressive to see what Thomas Newman had achieved for zero dollars and proof enough that perhaps he would be able to pull off an entire feature length movie of the same caliber with only $5000.

The mini sequence or “Hook”, as he called it, worked according to his plans because he was able to quickly attract a cast and crew consisting of friends, family and local talent recruited from Craigslist. Once he had assembled his team and secured the locations he set out to shoot the entire movie in an ambitious 15 days. He was also determined to shoot the whole movie on a single borrowed HD cam which in his words, “some people laughed at” at the time. The result is a very stylistic polished film that one would not expect given the circumstances and equipment or lack there of. That said, now that the film is finally complete and out there, the praises are pouring in from fans, critics and major festivals from around the world.
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Thomas Newman who is the writer/producer and director of the $5000 epic zombie film “Bong Of The Dead” seems to be going places fast. Here is some exciting updated information about the film and its growing success.

Bong of the Dead has garnered some great reviews from industry heavyweights like Rue Morgue and Tommy Chong. Rue Morgue has also just released their latest issue of their wildly circulated and much respected magazine with a full-page article about Bong Of The Dead! In it they say “Bong of the Dead has cult hit smeared all over it!”

Tommy Chong the king of pot humour says of Bong of the Dead, “This is a sure winner!”. It was rumoured Tommy might make an appearance at the Vancouver movie premier of Bong of the Dead on May 15 at the Rio Theatre, and tickets are going fast.

“I’m pleased to announce that my film has been selected as part of the Cannes Independent Film Festival official selection (CANNES ) The film will be premiering in France at the festival this MAY 12th and 14th. It will also be premiering on MAY 15th in Vancouver BC at the Rio Theatre.” said the director of Bong of the Dead, Thomas Newman.

When asked how he feels to have gotten this far with his film, Thomas Newman replied, “I’ve been incredibly busy pounding the pavement hard to get the word out about my struggles as a filmmaker with no budget or studio support to make this movie. I set out to hit a homerun by making a movie that would appeal to a mass audience and become an instant cult hit classic. I know that some said it was too ambitious for a no budget film, which is the exact reason why I had to do it!”

When asked what else might be in store for the movie Thomas added, “I have received tentative invites from MOLINS DE REI HORROR FILM FESTIVAL as well as The Traverse City Film Festival (TRAVERSE CITY FILM FESTIVAL) was founded by and still run by Michael Moore. Each time the phone rings it seems to bring good news.”

Visit Bong of the Dead

I had the great pleasure yesterday to partake in my first aptly named zombie walk. The 2010 Vancouver zombie walk had about 5000 participants, with most of them done up as the undead. The zombies present were of all shapes, sizes and shades of blood red. There were even zombie children with their parents at this yearly event.

Each year the event draws more and more people to the Vancouver Art Gallery for the start of the annual zombie walk. Participants walk down Vancouver’s posh Robson Street much to the delight of the onlookers on the sidewalks, in the shops and in their cars. Many onlookers come ready with cameras in hand to take photos of this great event.

This year the event was headlined by the upcoming feature film Bong of the Dead by writer, producer and director Thomas Newman. Along with his award-winning crew that includes make up guru and industry leader Mike Fields, some of the cast of the film and of course zombies, headed the procession through the streets of Vancouver. Under a BongoftheDead.com banner, the cast and crew of the film handed out t-shirts and flyers to the upcoming movie. No other group of zombies attracted nearly as much attention as this bunch did.

The 2010 Vancouver zombie walk had about 5000 total participants and they jammed the streets with the undead. There was very little police presence as the zombie hoard was well-behaved – except the odd transit bus was surrounded and covered in fake blood by the zombies. Most passengers could be seen to making mock scared faces and gestures of panic, but it was clear everyone dead and undead had a great time with the spectacle.

Well it’s the interview you all have been waiting for! We had the great pleasure to sit down with the writer, producer and director of the upcoming feature length zombie movie, Bong of the Dead, Thomas Newman and the following are his answers.

For those that don’t already know, Bong of the Dead is a creation of the warped mind of Thomas Newman. The blood and gore was put to full effect with the FX guru Mike Fields who is a veteran of every major gore and horror movie of note as of late.

Bong Of The Dead is a comical road adventure about two close friends who find a way to make the best of a mass zombie outbreak caused by meteorites from outer space. Tommy and Edwin are a pair of major stoners who one day discover a way of using zombie brains as a means of growing potent pot. Now that the world is abandoned and there are flesh eating monsters at every turn what more can one do except find a way to benefit from it. The boys manage to deplete their supply of weed and decide to take a road trip in search of more zombies in order to kill them and use their brains for fertilizer. Along the way they find themselves hostages to a psychotic zombie who has an evil plot to take over the world.
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