Toby Wilkins Interview, SPLINTER

We had a chance to sit down with Toby Wilkins the director of SPLINTER to talk about his upcoming film.Splinter is set in and around a quiet gas station on a lonely freeway, where a terrifying virus-like monster inhabits the bodies of its victims and drives them with a relentless lust for blood. The virus monster is said to twist the bodies of its prey into the shapes best suited to pursue its unrelenting desire to infect more victims and kill again.  Here is what he had to tell us.

Thank you so much, Mr. Wilkins, for taking the time to talk to us here at horror-movies.ca.

It's a pleasure, I am a big fan of the site and appreciate everything you do for the fans as well as the films.

Okay let's jump right in with your most recent film, Splinter.  Please give those out there who don't know, a little taste of what that is about.

Splinter is a story about two couples, initially strangers, who are violently thrown together by a chain of violent events that inevitably force them to work together, fighting for their survival, as they find themselves besieged by a creature that's like nothing they have seen before.  A creature that... regardless if you are human, or just some animal from the forest... will seek you out, and relentlessly attack, until it infects you and turns you... alive or dead.. into another of its species. So your body can be used to find its next victim.

Where did you come up with the idea for this story?

When Ian Shorr's script came my way (called "Tooth and Nail" at the time) it presented a classic framework that reminded me of the great horror movies I watched growing up... "Dawn of the Dead", "Alien", "Night of the Living Dead"... horror movies that explore the siege scenario, and how being trapped in a confined space by a creature, or creatures, effects the characters and how they interact.  But I wanted to do something new with it, I had had this creature concept living in my head for a few years, an idea that was sparked by my friend George Cawood.  We had talked about the idea of a creature that would take over your body, not psychologically, but physically take it over, from the inside.  George and I both come from a background in design and visual effects, and our minds raced with how this thing might look... how it would move.  So I fused those two ideas together, and with extensive rewrites by Kai Barry who took over developing the script, "Tooth and Nail" became "Splinter".  A blend of the classic horror scenario, with a new and horrific creature.

When can fans expect to dig into this film?

It's getting a limited release in theatres on Halloween, but in a brave and fairly ground breaking move, Magnet Releasing have arranged for a limited time, a nationwide sneak preview of "Splinter" through cable providers' "On Demand" service. If you live in the US, and have cable, you can watch the film in HD, right now for about the price of a movie ticket.  While I do feel that no experience can match seeing a film with an audience, especially a horror film, making it available on thousands of screens is only a reality for the biggest studio movies.  So with an indie like "Splinter" there are always going to be way more audiences excluded, than included, and its not fair that a lot of eager horror fans have to wait months for the DVD.

I have never shied away from new avenues of distribution, I've had work premiere in all formats, theatrical, internet, Video On Demand, even on mobile phones... So it's really exciting to be able to make "Splinter" immediately available to large audience like this.

Do you find that your extensive (as well as impressive) background in visual effects makes it easier for you as a director?

I think the planning, production, problem solving, and post-production experience that comes with a decade in that, or any intensely technical area of filmmaking certainly makes you better prepared to deal with the challenges that are presented every minute of the day while making a movie.  At one end of the spectrum, on short films and indies, I have worked with very limited resources to bring a specific vision to life on the screen, be it my own vision, or someone else's.  And at the other end I have worked on sequences for some of the most expensive films ever made, where a single shot might cost more than all my short films put together. Both scenarios hold unique and exciting challenges, and both can be just as rewarding. So really it's a variety of experience that makes me feel most at ease in production.  There's great comfort in knowing that no matter what gets thrown at you, there's always a way to make it happen on time, and on budget. It's just a matter of problem solving, and that's really all directing is.

Did you find it challenging to get what you saw in your mind onto film and are you pleased with the outcome?

Certainly with the resources we had, some compromises had to be made, but for the most part I'm very happy with how the film turned out.  I knew from the beginning that when it came to the creature we were going to have to make the audience think they saw more than we could actually show them.  That's why I brought cinematographer Nelson Cragg on to the project.  We had worked together before, on "Devil's Trade", and I knew that he shared my love for Paul Greengrass's Jason Bourne films.  "Splinter" is getting a little bit of flack for the hand-held camerawork, but I love that style and think it makes action extremely exciting to watch.  The way we shot the film was very immersive, and intense.  We would shoot extended takes with two cameras and just let the actors go at it, and if they or I wanted to try something again, we would do it right then without stopping.  It's a testament to the skills of Nelson and his crew, and our editor David Maurer, that we were able to shoot like that and still tell the story.  But there was no way we could have made this film shooting any other way, there was just too much action, too much going on.

Do you wish to continue writing and directing your own films?

Actually I rarely write my own projects, I have a couple of times, but I didn't write "Splinter".  Like most directors I help steer the writing process towards what I see in my head, helping to shape the story and characters.  I'm a quite visually minded person, so I always have certain images and ideas in mind which I will bring to the table for discussion, but I'm generally very collaborative, and I don't think that will change.  With few notable exceptions, that's how the process has worked since the beginning of filmmaking.

What would you say is the biggest challenge facing a horror filmmaker today?

Actually I think horror filmmakers have an advantage right now, but the challenges are the same in any genre, from financing all the way through distribution.  But in my opinion there is no challenge more immediate and potentially devastating to future generations of filmmakers than piracy.  It's a terrifying prospect, but the current trend of freely downloading rent-n-rips ignores the basic fact that if the consumer doesn't share the cost of making new movies, then the whole system will stop working.  And here's a scary thought... the first thing to go when risk outweighs reward is originality.

Do you have any thoughts on where horror is going?

Sadly, it seems to be on the slow boat to remake island. That said, I think it's an exciting time to be a horror filmmaker, moods can change fast in the horror world, and I would really like to see a return to interesting characters at the core of fresh stories and styles like we got with "28 Days Later" and "Saw". Recently there seems to have been a shift towards just finding new gross ways to kill people, ignoring the need to let the audience care about them.  And personally I hope we can get out of the torture-porn rut, there's so much that's scary beyond that.  The great thing about horror audiences is that they are enthusiastically there for new ideas, and it seems like even in the last year movies from all over the world are finding an audience here, and that gives me great hope for the future of the genre.  Now we just need to remind people that movies aren't free.

Do you plan to remain in the genre or do you feel as if you are just passing through?

Well I think even my recent comedy short "Kidney Thieves" could find a home at a horror festival, and I'm very open minded when it comes to choosing projects.  I have gone from a comedy, to a thriller, to horror, back to comedy, and then horror again, but no matter what I do it's always with an eye on the darker side of any story.  I love making movies, and directing horror is a real blast.  Sam Raimi said in an interview recently that he didn't realize he missed horror until he heard "Drag Me To Hell" audiences screaming, and I think that's a great reminder that horror is a ton of fun for filmmakers who get a taste for it.

Who are some of your heroes, horror or otherwise?

My favorite directors tend to be those with great range in and out of the genre, like David Fincher, Ridley Scott, Danny Boyle, David Cronenberg, Darren Aronofsky... They all have great style, great vision, and uncompromising attention to detail.  In my mind these guys set the bar, and they set it high.

Other than films, you have directed several short projects, and even webisodes.  How would you contrast the mediums and which do you prefer?

There are short stories and there are long stories, but there is very little difference when it comes to filmmaking. There are technical differences of course, the size of the screen makes a difference in what works and what doesn't, the delivery method to a degree...  but essentially the rules are the same. They are all just methods of telling a story and you have a duty to entertain and hopefully make the audience feel something.  Though I will say, it's much harder to scare someone on a screen that's only three inches wide.

You also directed the upcoming The Grudge 3. Tell us about your connection withSam Raimi and Ghost House Pictures.  Did that come as a surprise to you?

I try to never take anything for granted in this business, so everything is a surprise really. My involvement with Ghost House Pictures has been going on for a while though. Back in 2005, after premiering at Sundance, my short film "Staring at the Sun" played at ScreamFest, and Ghost House were on the festival's judging panel. "Staring" ended up winning the award for Best Horror Short and that one event is what really started the ball rolling on my career. Ghost House called me soon after the festival to see if I would be into doing horror shorts for them... and who wouldn't be?  So one project after another they gave me guidance and insight, and with each new project bigger opportunities.  From "Mousetrap", to "Tales of the Grudge", to "Devil's Trade", and all the way up to "The Grudge 3". The whole Ghost House family has been hugely supportive and encouraging every step of the way.

What is next after the release of Splinter and The Grudge 3?  Is there anything coming up that you wish to tell us about?

I can't give any details just yet, but there are some pots on the boil, and I have a number of great scripts that would I love to bring to the screen.  I try to keep a hand in several projects at a time, at all different stages of development, from creating original web series, to big budget adaptations of Japanese manga titles, there are just so many great stories yet to be told.