[GORE ORPHANGE premieres Saturday July 11th at 7:00 pm at the State
Theatre in Sandusky.]
Interview by Bob Ignizio
After seeing a sign for Gore
Orphanage Road, Emily Lapisardi was intrigued. Looking into the oddly named byway,
she discovered there were local legends and ghost stories associated with it.
Regardless of how true these tales of terror were, they certainly seemed like a
good starting point for a horror movie. And so GORE ORPHANAGE was conceived, with Emily and her boyfriend Cody
Knotts writing the screenplay to be directed by Emily. The finished film will
have its premiere Saturday July 11th at 7:00 pm at the State Theatre in Sandusky.
I had a chance to ask Emily a few questions about the movie, and here’s what
she had to say.
CLEVELAND
MOVIE BLOG: Tell our readers a little about
yourself. Where did you grow up and how did you first become interested in
movies, first as a fan, and later as someone who decided to make films of their
own?
EMILY LAPISARDI: I grew up primarily in southwestern Pennsylvania,
but also spent some time in Ireland, where my father was working as a dramaturg
at the Abbey Theatre with some of Ireland's top actors. I grew up in the
theatre, rather than in the film industry, but when I was fourteen, I left high
school to attend the university where my father was teaching at that
time. One of my professors there produced shows for the university's TV
station and taught me the basics of shooting and editing; we were still using
SVHS tapes then, though. I wrote, directed, shot and/or acted in quite a
few shows for the station during my time there-- mostly documentaries and
programs about theatre. Nearly ten years later, I was cast as the
lead in a Civil War docudrama , SPIES
IN CRINOLINE, filmed in the Fairfax, Virginia, area, but didn't become
seriously involved in film until I began dating Cody Knotts, who was finishing
up production on PRO WRESTLERS VS.
ZOMBIES at that time. Since I am a professional musician, Cody asked
me to serve as the music supervisor for that movie; it was while driving back
from signing a band contract for PRO
WRESTLERS that we began to think about making GORE ORPHANAGE. Since I am used to working with kids as a
voice and piano teacher, Cody felt that I would be a natural fit to direct it.
CMB: I understand you became aware of the Gore Orphanage story
when you saw a sign for Gore Orphanage Road, but what in particular about this
legend appealed to you and made you think it would lend itself well to a movie?
EL: The name itself is just fantastic and sounds like
it should be a film! As we began to research the legend, we felt
that it included so many elements that would contribute to the creation of a
haunting and memorable film. Children in danger evoke a strong emotional
response and fire triggers deep-seated primal feelings. Obviously, the
story has had a strong resonance in northern Ohio for generations.
CMB: Given that the stories people tell about the haunting of
Gore Orphanage are cobbled together from several different events to begin
with, and any resemblance to actual history is purely coincidental, how did you
and Cody decide what parts to keep, what to leave out, and where to outright
invent things for the sake of a good script?
EL: First, we chose not to make a "teens in the
woods encounter ghosts" type film; this would certainly have been possible
given the subject matter, but we wanted instead to focus on what might have
caused an orphanage to burn down with the children trapped inside. We
researched the Light of Hope orphanage and the Collinwood school fire, both of
which contributed to the legend, and were inspired by the most
memorable elements of each. Most of my work tends to be very
character-driven, so I wanted to have strong, complex characters at the center
of the story; Nellie, the little girl at the center of the film, was part of my
conception of the story from the beginning.
CMB: How hard was it to put together the financing to make the
movie you wanted to make, and yet given the realities of modern distribution,
still come in at a low enough figure that the film could be profitable or at
least break even?
EL: This was Cody's fifth film, and some of the
producers from his previous projects were also involved in funding GORE ORPHANAGE. However, we also
dipped into our own savings-- and during a period when I was between jobs--
because we believed so strongly in the film. We learned to be very frugal
and also had some real luck in finding set dressing, period costumes, and a
great-looking location all at reasonable costs.
CMB: You have a fairly large cast, including several child
actors. What kind of challenges did that pose for you?
EL: Independent filmmakers are often warned not to
make a period piece or anything involving children because of the difficulties
involved, but we chose to do both, and would never have succeeded without the
amazing group of kids and their families who were involved. Although the
number of hours the kids could work per day were limited, it was still very
exhausting and sometimes we all got tired and a little cranky, but they were
all so committed and patient. During the summer, when most kids were
enjoying free time, our young actors and their families were shooting in a very
hot old house day after day.
CMB: The story you're telling is a ghost story, but (regardless
of the name's actual meaning), with "Gore" in the title people are
going to be expecting some blood. Where does 'Gore Orphanage' fall on the scale
between quiet supernatural horror and full-on gore fest?
EL: There is a bit of blood, but it is
somewhere stylistically between Hitchcock and Dario Argento-- a
suspense/thriller with a bit of an art house feel. Some of the scenes are
certainly disturbing, especially if you feel any sympathy towards children, but
it is not extremely gruesome.
CMB: After the premiere in Sandusky, what's next? Are you
planning to take this on the festival/horror convention circuit, or do you have
a distributor lined up for home video and VOD?
EL: GORE ORPHANAGE will be shown in limited
release in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia-- and possibly other areas, as
well. We will also be involved in a few festivals, including the first
Lake Erie Arts and Film festival. It will also be available on DVD,
Blu-ray, and streaming.
CMB: Any plans for your
next project?
EL: We're working on several projects simultaneously
right now. Cody is currently writing a script for a remarkable story
based on the life experiences of former army chaplain David Peters, whose
autobiographical book “Death Letter” has been praised by NPR, Huffington Post,
and Fox News. This is not just another war film, but a shockingly
different and deeply moving story. We're also shooting a sizzle reel in
the fall for an historical project which means a great deal to me.
Additionally, I've written a treatment for a horror film set in New England in
the nineteenth century which Cody just loves and is planning to develop into a
screenplay.
CMB: Anything else you want to mention that I didn't touch on?
EL: The novel I wrote based on the film is already
available in paperback on Amazon.com and also through Kindle. There were
so many details which the cast and I worked out about the characters and the
orphanage while we were filming that I felt a book incorporating this
background would be a great companion to the film. Some stories haunt the
imagination. The tale of Gore Orphanage has been one of those to me and,
judging by the overwhelming response we have received thus far, to many others,
as well.
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