Last Tuesday, Screamfest LA 2022 hosted it’s opening night in Los Angeles.
Hulu’s Matriarch, directed by Ben Steiner, premiered Tuesday night. Other films that premiered later that week included Slayers, the latest from director K. Asher Levin about a vampire slayer (Thomas Jane) teaming up with social media superstars also starring Abigail Breslin.
There were a lot of new faces and many . In attendance was Rob Rogge (Producer of KillHer), as well as Kyra Gardner (Writer/Director of Living with Chuck) who were all very excited to watch their films premiere later that week
We got a chance to talk to Cody Mobley, the director, writer, and producer of CIMIM, which was chosen to play at Screamfest this year.
Check out the interview below:
The Knockturnal: You just directed your first horror short. How was watching the final cut for the first time for you?
Cody Mobley: There’s a difference seeing it as a director rather than a writer. I came out here to act so it’s a much different process. The whole post production, pre-production, all that was incredible. So, I really created something that was really a collaborative project and being a director was a little bit more exciting.
The Knockturnal: So you wrote it as well? How different was the original concept from the final cut?
Cody Mobley: Pretty close to be honest. The concept itself is the first five minutes of a feature that I’ve written. With that, it’s literally just shot for shot the way I wanted it, and luckily we were able to have the budget to create it from that and it was able to come to fruition which is pretty cool! And for me to do it rather than hand it off to someone was kind of an awesome experience.
The Knockturnal: What would you say were horror film influences that you were looking to while you were writing or directing?
Cody Mobley: I wouldn’t necessarily say there was something that influenced me from like a certain film or a certain director that way, I just kind of took what scared me the most and kind of took that as a direction that way. I would say that I’m a very influenced by the written word: Stephen King, Dean Kootz, is kind of what I grew up with, love the horror films and stuff. I can name thirty different ones that I loved, but I wouldn’t necessarily say one of them is what helped create this, I think it’s mostly my own thing. Hopefully no one steals it!
The Knockturnal: My final question I have is: do you have any advice for younger filmmakers?
Cody Mobley: Just make it, honestly, and you don’t necessarily have to have a budget. If you have a phone, and some friends, just keep creating. Because every single time you create something, you learn something. Even a failure isn’t a failure, it’s still a step forward. So as long as you can just continue to make stuff, write stuff, or create things and be in that moment, you’ll succeed.
The Knockturnal: Oh! And favorite horror movie.
Cody Mobley: It’s not really horror, it’s more horror/comedy, but I’d say Army of Darkness!
For more information about the shorts, features, or just Screamfest in general, visit: https://screamfestla.com.
