Gary Ugarek Interview (Deadlands 2: Trapped)
Interviewed on the 11th August, 2009
   
What kind of treat are DEADLAND fans in for with your new film
DEADLANDS: TRAPPED?

Well, When I set out to make Trapped, I wanted to give zombie fans
something to enjoy, plus of course make an improvement over the first
flick. I wanted to stay true to the zombie genre as a whole, other than
the running zombies, but also give horror fans tons of of American and
foreign horror film references.

The treats should be pleasing in that fans of zombies films should enjoy
massive amounts of zombies tearing through humans, and pretty much
taking over the town within the film. Not too mention the appearance
of one of the most famous zombies in zombie film history, Jim Krut,
who played the Helicopter zombie in Romero's original DAWN stars in
the film as the head of our government agency unleashing the zombie
plague upon the world.

If you're a Jim Krut fan, you'll enjoy this flick quite a bit as Jim plays evil
so perfectly. I can't explain into words how great Jim is in the flick, and
I hope the fans enjoy his evilness and revel in just how much of an evil
character he is within the film, but Jim is just one of the treats in store
for fans along with massive zombie hordes. I set out to up the anti a bit
with this entry. I felt I could have done better with Deadlands 1, and a
lot of people were disappointed with it, so I constantly kept that in the
back of my head while making the film and made sure I avoided those
mistakes when possible.
Did you find it hard to shoot a full length film with a budget, half the size of your first film DEADLAND: THE RISING?

It was a challenge, I will not lie, but when I opted to make a feature instead of a short, the producers, cast & crew were behind
us 100%. I explained to them that a much larger story needed to be told, and that trying to sum it all up in 20-25 minutes wasn't
going to happen because I wanted the audience to connect with the characters. I spent a lot of time trying to build up a
relationship with the characters in editing that the audience could connect with, I wanted them to feel their plight, but at the
same time keep the film under 90 minutes.

In terms of locations, the only problem was the Roadblock massacre scene, that was the hardest location to nail down, whereas
the theater, and bio-lab and government offices were all something I had easy access and connections with through my normal
day to day life outside of doing indie films.

The gunstore was an added bonus, not originally written into the script, when it became available to shoot at, I quickly sat down
and did a quick re-write to include that location, and it helped establish two characters a litlle earlier than I normally would
have established them in the original draft of the screenplay.

However, the producers and crew knew the budget was small and made it work. Everyone from the PA's to the producers
jumped in and made everything happen. They understood that in order to complete the vision I had we had to work harder at
getting things normally outside of a film with a budget this small, and it paid off. All that hard work really paid off because
when you watch the finished product, especially on the big screen it really shows through.  I can never give enough praise and
thanks to everyone for all they did.

The budget challenges did have its ups and downs, it did cause some rifts between the producers and I during the production,
but we all talked it about when it was done, and I of course apologized for getting everyone worked up, but in the end it
brought out something great in all of us, it should us all that in a pinch we can come through and make it all work.


What other filmmakers or films inspired you to come back with a much stronger film? What mistakes did you learn from
your first film that you corrected/avoided?

It wasn't so much other filmmakers and films, it was just looking at the finish product of Deadlands 1, and taking notes. While I
did go out and try to make a much more serious zombie film than most people try and do at this level, it still wasn't up to my
standards, meaning Deadlands 1 should have been better than it was, but it is what it is and I am still proud of it as it was my
first flick, but it was also an education.

So in order to make a better and stronger product I took an entire day and read through every single comment, review, and
blurb I could find on Google about Deadlands 1, I looked at everyones criticism, good and bad and then re-looked at the
screenplay for Trapped and made adjustments accordingly. I felt I owed it to the zombie fans.

I also had a lengthy conversation with my Cinematographer, Krystian Ramlogan, I gave him a copy of the first flick, and said
acting and story aside I need something dark and with a feel of lost hope in terms of the look of the picture. I also said it had to
have that 80's vibe to it. Krystian went out and did some research on the cameras we used and came up with this great color
scheme, that i almost did away with during the initial editing stage because I had this bug in my butt to bleed the color out of
the film and do this almost B&W homeage to Night of the Living Dead, but ended up restoring everything in the final cut of the
film.

The list of mistakes noted and corrected was everything from the acting to the script, I spent a long time studying D:TR and
looking at everything that was wrong with it, and made a long list of items to be on the lookout for during production.


Does your first film have anything to do with your new film? If not/so why?

Deadlands: The RIsing, and Deadlands 2: Trapped, are not connected in anyway whatsoever. I originally set out to make a direct
sequel, but the production budget would have been to large and I was not in a position to get that kind of cash needed, so
another oppurtunity presented itself in the form of a short film, that like, Deadlands 1 expanded into a feature. Deadlands 2:
Trapped wasn't even originally called Deadlands 2, it was just Trapped, originally scripted as "The Escape", but after hearing
news that Deadlands 1 was doing decent business for Tempe Entertainment, it was their #1 seller for quite a while, I opted to
add the Deadlands name to "Trapped" and it sort of fell into the realm of how Romero does his films, the only connections are
the zombies, but with this flick it is another outbreak film, whereas Romero's Night was the outbreak and the follow ups were
thrust into the middle of the apocalypse.


After reviewing DEADLANDS: TRAPPED, with zombie films, gorehounds really depend on this prime factor when buying a
zombie genre DVD. Can you please explain why you didn't show many gory scenes, was it all due to budget restraints?

It wasn't budget restraints, it was more of the fact I didn't want to tread any further into Romero's territory than I already was at
that given moment.  I always felt the copious amounts of Gore was a Romero thing, and that is what he is known for in his
zombie films. I wanted to make sure some carnage was there to satisfy the gorehounds, but I didn't want to make it the focal
point of the movie, plus if you look at a lot of indie made zombie films the filmmakers go so gore crazy that it becomes
laughable or boring because there is no substance to their product, its just a 60-90 minute bloodfest.

If you look at Night and DAWN, or even SHAUN of the DEAD you will notice the gore makes up only about 2-3% of the film if
even that, zombies film were never about the gore and carnage it is the story of the characters and their plight in the situation.
However, When you thin zombie gore the first person to come to mind is either Romero or Savini, and since that is their thing I
didn't want to walk all over it, I mean I am already making a zombie film, so I don't want to infringe on Romero's trademark
anymore than we already are by making zombie films.

I will say though my biggest factor was because of how indie zombie films go way too over the top with blood and gore, and I
am not looking to over do the gore, I am trying to use the zombie carnage as a way to both satisfy the gorehounds thirst for
blood, but also get a reaction out of the audience in general which is why my zombie attacks within the film are very quick,
brutal and violent. I would rather make someone cringe with quick violent cuts, than have them barfing in their popcorn bag.
Basically I am trying to get a "HOLY SHIT" type of reaction out of the viewer with the gore and violence I put into the film. this
is why I keep things to a minimum... sort of. There is enough to make them stand up and take notice, but not an over abundance
that makes them hit the stop button and say, God this is the cheesiest gore or whatever.
TempeDVD help distribute your first film,
why the sudden change in going with
Anthem Pictures?

When I completed the first edit of Trapped
I offered it to J.R. Bookwalter at Tempe ,
but he wrote back saying he was cutting
back on the DVD distribution stuff. The DVD
market has gone downhill quite a bit and I
think he had a lot of other things on his
plate, freelance work etc., but I did send
him a cut of the film and said well if you're
interested or change your mind let me
know and in the mean time I just set out to
find other distributors.

J.R. did get a hold of me in June 09 and
opted to take on the film, he said he
watched it and liked it and was ready to go
with it, but Anthem stepped up to the plate
a week or so earlier and pretty much let me
have free reign over content for the DVD,
and they had a wider network for distribution, but I really did want it to be housed at TEMPE because J.R. has been good to me
and honest and Deadlands 1 did well for them, I mean none of us became millionaires off if its release, but it had a decent
market penetration for a $10,000 film.
I was absolutely blown away with the score to DEADLANDS: TRAPPED. What music composers inspired you to create the
score for DEADLANDS: TRAPPED?

I can't really say any composer inspired me. I just find sounds that appeal to me and I build the soundtrack that way, even when I
collaborate with Brian Wright we just work off the stuff I put together. Brian likes to Joke and call me Carpenter Jr, as he feels
my scores seem to have that 70's 80's Carpenter-ish vibe to them, but I didn't try to mimic or copy his style it is just something
that sounded great to me, and worked with the context of what I was doing.

A lot of the score for Deadlands 1, and 2 was written before the films were shot or edited, however, during the Deadlands 2 re-
edit in the spring of 2009 I opted to rescore the film and that is when I changed the feel of the music. I mean it is still synthy,
and some have compared it again to Carpenter and/or Goblin, but I believe it is what the listener or viewer takes away from it.
However, Deadlands 2, while a little more claustrophobic than Deadlands 1 is also a larger scale film, so The score needed to fit
the films scope, which is another reason I opted to rescore and really put a lot of work into the different pieces.

While Brian and I composed or arranged most of the music, he also contributed a track without my input or assistance, and
another local Maryland composer, Marq-Paul LaRose contributed another track as well. I am hoping in the future to step out of
composing duties, and would like for Marq and Brian to right the score for my next flick. However, that may change because
when I do get the bug to write or arrange music I jump in and write tons of songs at once.

For Deadlands 2 over 90 different tracks were written and recorded, in fact, the work print version of the film has a completely
different score than the completed version you reviewed for DVD resurrections.


Did you have any problems on or off set? If so what happened?

We had some issues, outside of the norm. While shooting at the theater some of the locals to the Hagerstown , MD area were
either mocking us, or just being complete dicks. You know the type love to criticize but hand them the camera and the script
and they look at you like a deer in headlights. They made some of the nights we shot at the theater miserable and a fight nearly
broke out between myself and one of them, but the producers talked me out of it, and instead we watched them go on and on
like drunken idiots. In fact one of them stood in the middle of the street punching himself in the face for over 5 minutes, and it
was at that point I realized the producers were right just ignore it and let it be, but we did film this moron beating the snot out
of himself, and I have it somewhere in the Master Tape archives. I pull it out every once and a while to watch as a quick laugh.
I thought of posting it on you tube, but said fuck it and just left it in the fire safe.

We broke two doors at the theater shooting zombie stuff, and on another night someone was firing BB’s at the extras and
theater while we were shooting. One of the BB’s hit the glass door and shattered it. So we had the cops come out and make a
report, and then ended up offering on set security during our shoots, so I made arrangements with the State and County police
and they ended up partaking in the fun. Its amazing what meatballs and baked ziti gets ya nowadays.


What extras can DEADLAND fans look forward to view/finding on the DVD?

This has been a hard question to answer because I submitted over six hours of special features for Anthem to include, and
Anthem said pick what you want, so I sent them:

- The UNRATED cut (16:9 enhanced 2.35:1)
- Directors Commentary
- Weapons and Tactics Presentation with Eric Thomas of Combat Solutions
- Cast & Crew Interview
- All 4 trailers
- Interview with me
- The 86 Minute work print cut with the alternate ending and score. I also do an introduction for this cut. (An alternate version of
my intro can be found on You Tube)

So those who scoop up the DVD will get 2 versions for the price of one.
It hits DVD shelves on October 27th 2009 ( USA and CANADA )


Are you happy with the final outcome of DEADLAND: TRAPPED? And the way you ended it?

I would say I am 95% happy with the final cut. There were a few more things I wanted to do, but those really would have upped
the budget substantially, but I dig the ending and the vibe and the flow as it is. In fact after the massive spring 09 re-edit I went
back and made another tweak to the films ending to help give it more closure.

However, I am what you call a fiddler. Even though I have submitted the final version to be released I still open up Sony Vegas
Pro and tweak the film every now and again, it is hard to find every single thing you want to fix right the first time, you just
have to say this is good enough, but I also go back to try different editing techniques to use on future projects, plus I also study
scene composition within my edits, I am never done tinkering, but I am happy with the final output, considering the budget and
time constraints I think it is a fantastic film, much better than the first and I think those who jump in and watch it while see the
improvements and will dig the vibe the film has during its running time.


Can you tell us what you have installed for DEADLANDS 3 in the near future?

Deadlands 3 is pretty much ready to go, albeit on another lower budget scale, but this time we go into the apocalypse, society
is pretty much wiped out and there are just these survivor pockets, sort of like LAND of the DEAD, but without the super smart
zombie, and one person controlling the safe zones. These pockets of survivors have learned to work on a bartering system
involving trade, and they co-exist throughout the zombie infested wasteland. The script has two versions (The low budget and
the high budget) The higher budgeted version is the more in depth and complete story, but getting funds for zombie flicks isn’t
the easiest thing in the world so I took it upon myself to cut back the screenplay Lonnie Martin and I have worked on for over
two years and made a version that budgets out at $60,000.00.

The higher budgeted screenplay was one of the finalists at the 2009 Bridge International Screenplay competition, and I have
entered it into many more screenplay contests, hoping we can maybe drum up some interest in producing the higher budgeted
version, but this script has been in and out of the Hollywood studio system for over two years, nearly being pushed into
production twice, but every time a bigger zombie flick comes out and if it tanks or under performs it sets it back.

We were almost a go with it back in 2007, but when 28 Weeks Later didn’t perform well when it opened the studio shelved the
project. However, I am hearing if the upcoming Zombieland performs well we could be back on the fast track again, so it really
depends on the state of the genre. To the studio’s it is a business, and even though all zombie films do turn a profit, they wanna
see a fast Return on Investment through theatrical, so that when they hit DVD and Blu-Ray it becomes all profit. This is a weird
scenario, but it is there business.

The last time it was in a studio’s hands they budgeted it out at around $19,000,000.00, which was probably close to what the
higher budgeted version needed, I thought closer to $30,000,000 because of how large in scope it was, but they set the numbers.


Have you been offered of approached to direct any other films or projects? If so can you please name them?

A producer out of Allentown , PA asked me to direct his low budget Mummy style movie, but I passed on it. I just really don’t
have much interest in Mummy films. I recently belted out a screenplay for a Joker based Fan Film. Josh Davidson who plays jack
in Deadlands 2 has done some Joker fan films over the past 2 years, and they were decent, but I wanted to see him do
something darker and closer to Ledgers Joker. Josh has the look, and the body language to do it I just wanted to see something
much more dark and deranged, a very twisted tale of just how psychotic he really is when it comes to his own little games.

I set it against the backdrop of an abandon Amusement Park, which there are plenty of here in the USA, the park I set it at I
used to visit as a child and I already have preliminary permission from the county government to use the park as a setting we
just need to set a date to film.

Most people would ask, “Why bother making a fan film?” and to that I answered, well so many people have asked me to make a
film outside the zombie genre, and I do have a vampire script ready to go but the twilight True Blood hype is a little crazy right
now so I shelved it for the time being, and with everything else I have been thinking up I figured this short 30 minute fan film
would be just the trick. I don’t care if Warner Brothers or DC takes it away after its complete, I just wanted to do this really
dark and creepy fan flick with Josh and see what happens with it.


You have just re-opened your WETWILDRADIO website which now features podcast shows... What is the one thing that
divides WETWILDRADIO to other million podcast sites? And what can fans look forward to hearing you and
producer/composer/actor/friend Brian Wright speak about?

A lot of podcast shows are scripted, and by that I mean they set out with an open agenda of items they want to discuss. We had
it planned like that, 4 items to jabber on about, but the more we got into the show the more we began saying how we felt
about things. I didn’t hold back on anything I called out my own inadequacies as a filmmaker as well as the majority of other
indie filmmakers when it comes to the zombie genre. We talked about the RIAA, which both BRIAN and I hate with a passion
and how they have ruined the music business. Its basically a bunch of straight talk from two guys who look at the world with
open eyes. Although our Dark Knight/Remake discussion really gets in depth as to both our feelings about the numerous remakes,
and the hype surrounding the Dark Knight. Brians views on TDK are quite comical.

After listening to the show in post production I realized this felt like one of the drive to work or drive to home radio talk
shows, although with much more colorful language, but we both have always said we won’t hold back on anything.

As you know I work on the Helena , Hussy of Horror web series created by Cindy and Lonnie Martin, and I even delve into some
of pet peeves I had with the project, such as the theme song, and the production challenges Helena brings out. I admit in the
show I joined up to hone my editing and cinematography skills and Helena has been a great tool for that, plus Lonnie provides
great comedic scripts for Helena, so between his writing and Cindy’s acting as Helena, I have been able to work on something
outside of zombies and as I noted beef up my filmmaking skills.

Brian won’t always be joining me on every show, he may only jump on board once a month, but I want to use the resurrection
of WETNWILDRADIO to help introduce and put the word out for other indie filmmakers. I have always been a big supporter of
helping out anyone who needs a break. I have been lucky enough to gather a small following of people because of Deadlands 1,
well if I can use that to help promote other filmmakers I will do it. I don’t care if ever get successful as a filmmaker. I mean it
would be nice to make $30-$100m budgeted films, but even if I don’t but promote someone else’s work and they get noticed I
get the same high.

WETNWILDRADIO was a really popular site back in the day, but when I lost the domain it sat in limbo hell from some schmuck
trying to sell it for $100,000, when he finally gave it up under squatting laws I scooped it back up and decided to resurrect it,
and hope to fully dedicate it to indie musicians and filmmakers as a forum to get their voices heard.

Filmmakers and musicians can send us there screeners and demo CD’s and I will work them into the show. You can email me MP3’
s at Deadlandsthemovie@yahoo.com of your music, and if you have a film shoot me an email so I can send you and address for
you to send a screener.

If I enjoy your film I will promote the hell out of it for you. I have no qualms praising what deserves to be praised, but if it is
shit I will also tell like it is. One thing though… If you made a zombie film and the premise contains excessive amounts of gore or
just over the top stupidity don’t bother sending it because I won’t even look at it. Horror is supposed to be horror, not campy
over the top shlockfests.


Before we end this interview, is there anything else you'd like to say to your fans who is reading this interview?

Yes… I really want to thank you, the fans, and DVD resurrections, for your support. There have been people who have stuck by
me and have been following my progress since Deadlands 1 and have been eager to see the next flick, and knowing there are
people like that out there means a lot. I also want zombie fans in general to know that when it comes to our beloved genre I
take it very seriously which is why you will never see anything campy ever come out from me that spoofs or humiliates the
zombie genre or its fan base.

Thank you to all those who took a chance and scooped up my first flick, and judged it with an open mind and on its merits. I do
what I do because of the genre and its fan base and I want everyone who supports me to know that. If it wasn’t for them I don’t
see a reason to even bother doing it anymore.