WeHeartHorror

WHH: Wow.
 

BL: Even when I'm not working as an actress and producer, I'm doing press interviews, I'm in pitch meetings, at production companies to pitch projects, other directors are pitching me their projects to star in and see if they can attach me to their projects. It's just an interesting game. I was on a conference call till 1am last night and I started today at 7am. And that's sometimes the way it goes. You just go with the flow and sometimes, I feel like I'm Superwoman and I will work myself to the bone till I get physically sick.
 

WHH: You've got to know where to draw the line. Especially when it starts affecting your health.
 

BL: The old cliché of "Without your health, you have nothing" - it's totally true. I've experienced that over the years when stress has really gotten to me and it's important what you just said - you have to know where to draw the line. You have to make the choice and now I know that if I choose this, here's the consequence. I use that a lot in my Life Coaching. There are things that, as actors we have to think about more than the normal person. Or if you're behind the camera, you don't have to focus as much on looking good, or being in shape and watching what you eat and drink. I'm so blessed with what I do. I love it more than anything in the world and I've sacrificed everything for it, but it's not easy.
 

WHH: You mention that you started your career outside the horror genre - acting in comedies, Broadway shows and mobster movies. Now, you're synonymous with horror. How did you have to adapt from your previous experiences and moving into horror?
 

BL: That is a great question. Like I said, I never anticipated this. I saw myself as a comedy girl and the mobster movie girl with all the mafia movies and TV shows that I used to do in New York. I was a die-hard horror fan, which was so great. I never imagined that it would embrace me the way it did. There are several things that I love about horror and the horror community which I don't think people outside the genre realise or understand. One thing I talk about a lot and that I'm really grateful for-  I think that because I'm not a tall, skinny blonde in Hollywood, I'm perceived differently. I think that the horror fans and horror films embrace women differently, in a much more positive light. Horror fans have addressed this with me when I've met them at conventions, and they'd say, "You have such a gorgeous, curvy body. I love that you're voluptuous and you're not a stick-skinny girl". I've always embraced that the horror fans - men and women - love the Betty Page look, or again, Elvira - she always had boobs and curves and the women that I watched growing up, they weren't that picture perfect. Some of my icons are Adrienne Barbeau and Jamie Lee Curtis, who was tall and skinny, but she is a big spokeswoman for being yourself, and you don't have to be perfect. I love that. I was a big fan of Karen Black and the Dario Argento movies, and you look at the women like Barbara Magnolfi who I love, and these women in horror are voluptuous and especially the Italian women who are curvy and beautiful - Sophia Loren-esque - and I think that really the horror genre embraces and wants normal-looking women, not Hollywood anorexics. So, I love that, because that's me! Number two; So many people talk about horror in a negative light - you know this from teaching Film. They feel that women are disempowered. That they're victimised and there's gratuity, and I'm no fan of that. I have to be honest - I speak about this openly - I'm not a fan of the "no purpose guts, gratuitous, let's show boobies and pour blood on them and make the movie". That's not my choice in horror films or in art in general. I happen to be a fan of the mystery films of Hitchcock, and Dario Argento movies. Now, I'm obsessed with the French horror films. Yes, we know there is a shock factor in horror movies, but for me - and I made very clear choices - I feel, especially as a producer - part of the reason why I became a producer - was that I wanted to play roles that did empower women, that had strong women behind them. Strong characters. If you look at Kinky Killers, I play a psychiatrist. I don't want to give away the ending, but if you see my character, you'll understand. In iMurders, I'm a detective. Dahmer vs. Gacy, it's comedic, but I'm playing a televangelist - this incredible, crazy character. In Slime City Massacre, Nicole is a prostitute and she's very vulnerable. However, it's a very layered role to me, and the big joke actually in our community is that I've never been killed! I've never done nudity. I don't judge whatsoever, but it's a choice I made and the characters that I play don't warrant it, and that's what I love about them. I know that I miss out on roles because of all that. I know that I get offered a lot less because of that, but they are the choices I've made and I'm very drawn to strong female roles. I feel that especially what I love is the thriller stuff, and that gives the opportunity for really great, smart female roles. The third thing is, as I said earlier, that the horror community is the most supportive, encouraging, forgiving audience that I've known. I just find that they are so supportive and I have fallen in love with the horror community.
 

WHH: You mention setting up Philly Chick Pictures, in 2002 and a lot of work involved, especially when you're producing. What are some of the biggest challenges you've faced running Philly Chick Pictures?

 

BL: After making a living acting for four years in New York right out of college, I started Philly Chick Pictures when I moved to Los Angeles. The purpose for that was that I started producing short films. I wanted to learn, I took some producing courses, and I got my feet wet by producing a couple of projects that I didn't act in, which broke my heart. I realised that I'm not a good producer in itself, but I also needed to be acting in it. I came to Hollywood, not knowing anyone other than the people I studied acting with in New York - actors and directors - not having any family here, not coming from a famous film or tv family, which makes it really challenging. So, I chose to start my production company. I thought, "You know what? I'm like a natural producer. I know a lot about business; I'm a great negotiator; I almost went to law school, so why not try my hand at production!?" It can give me a sort of leverage to create acting roles for myself, and I came into it thinking, "Ok. If I have this to offer and deliver, aside from just acting, there's a way better shot at me getting jobs and producing and creating stuff". That was the initial purpose, so I could bring more to the table so I could star in these films. And I did it. Back in the day when I started, it was way easier pre-economy crashing to go to investors and raise money for indie films and as an indie film producer, you actually could make money. You could barely support yourself, but you could. I was able to do that. Then the economy crashed, things went south and I was not able to make a living as a producer anymore. Then the digital era started and HD cameras evolved and the internet evolved and we shot Kinky Killers and iMurders on 35mm. That's what I knew. That was the film world that I came from. And now there's these young film school kids, popping up that are super über talented, who know a lot more technically than I do, and they are able to make feature films for no money on digital cameras, and sell them on the internet. So, you're competing with all of that. It really became challenging. So, without question, the biggest challenge as an indie film producer is raising money.  I have done it. I've done it numerous times, I don't know how, and sometimes it took years. From inception to distribution, it took seven years sometimes - Five years just to make it and raise the proper money to hire the proper cast, the proper director. So you look at projects like that, and that was many years of my life. It's no easy task. I would say financing is the hardest part. You get to the level where you're really doing this professionally and in a bigger way, and I fancy myself to be doing that. I speak about this a lot on film panels, and a lot of younger filmmakers don't get it because times have changed so much. When you're dealing with actors and agents, and casting directors, and directors - you're dealing with their representatives. Just because an actor may love your product, it doesn't mean you're getting them. Then you've got to negotiate. That's a big challenge as a legitimate producer. You're negotiating with people's reps and you're negotiating with actors, and you're doing it on a level where it is not easy. All these younger filmmakers that think it's so easy to go out - It's funny, because as an actress, I get it now. I get people that email me and call me constantly, my production company Philly Chick Pictures, or BrookeLewis.com - which is my press outlet - everyday making offers, offers, offers. There's a protocol here. There's a professionalism here. I can't just say yes without my agent/manager coming on and going "We need to negotiate. What's the pay rate? What's the billing? What's the back end?" There are so many things involved that a lot of people don't understand, and especially as producers that you need to know about. When you're doing it at a level as producer with private investors, there is a lot that you need to know, but most don't. So, they are all challenges. I'm going to bottom line it - and the bottom line is, it's a business! And people don't always understand, especially artists - and I say that with respect because I am one - they don't understand the business part of this, and that's where I think a lot of the challenges of this come in. For me personally, Since I started producing, people started perceiving me more as a producer than an actress, and people would come to me with their projects and say, "Brooke, we have this project we want you to star in." I'd get so excited and they would say, "But you have to produce it too and raise the financing." It is years of your life, and now, if you're not paying me upfront, I'm not producing your project. I'll focus on my own stuff. But the sad part is, it's like I started producing so I could act and create a career for myself, and now a lot of times, people come to me and see me more as a producer than an actress, and that's great, but it's not for me. All I want to do in this world is act.