David Quitmeyer Interviewed by the Rumour Machine

Many Directors talk up their films and claim that they will shock you, disgust you but more often than not, end up disappointing the audiences that buy into the marketing spiel. Many are wary of creating a negative perception by the industry, their peers and equally reticent to incur a possible a moral backlash so usually end up pulling their creative punches. But, one brave soul has bucked the trend. Director David Quitmeyer has merged two movie genres: horror and porn, to create a film that successfully combines some of the best elements of both. Sounds extreme or far fetched even, but consider this – the main links between both male dominated genres is the victimisation and objectification of women. Even in Slasher films, it is the cute looking female who often gets the chop. In the cheesy low budget soft core flicks that tread both genres we get lukewarm films that ultimately please no one. It has been done before by films such EROTIC NIGHTS OF THE LIVING DEAD and PORNO HOLOCAUST, but with mixed and often disappointing results. SLAUGHTER DISC actually delivers what it set out to do and features a woman getting her revenge on porn obsessed males.

SLAUGHTER DISC is the low budget cautionary tale of what an obsession for porn can lead one into and in the case of Mike, the film’s protagonist it’s into the dangerous yet erotic world of the alluring Andromeda Strange. Murder, cannibalism, necrophilia – just some of the “delights” Andromeda has waiting to tempt poor Mike with.

David Quitmeyer discovered his love of horror movies and special effects at a very early age by sneaking out to watch late-night horror movies on TV. Throughout his life he has been active in the theatre and has won several awards for his horror stories and dark poetry.

David is the founder of Steel Web Studios, a hybrid web and film production company. His directorial debut, SLAUGHTER DISC, has been featured in nearly every major magazine. David is also a co-founder of RAMCO Productions, the creators of the cult adult film CLOWN PORN, which has been featured on The Howard Stern Show and magazines such as Hustler, FHM, Maxim and Rolling Stone.

David filming SLAUGHTER DISC	David	David and Caroline take a break between takes

Q> Have you always been a fan of the horror genre?

I've been a horror freak since I was a little kid. I think I have loved monsters and creepy music for as long as I can remember.

Q> I think I read somewhere that you like the films of David Cronenberg and Clive Barker. Is that so and who else are your favourite filmmakers/writers/artists?

Well, a couple of people have compared my film SLAUGHTER DISC to Cronenberg's VIDEODROME but I don't believe I've ever said I like his work. Now Clive Barker, on the other hand, has been a major influence in my life since I was in middle school. I fell in love with his "Books of Blood" and his film HELLRAISER is one of my all time favourites. My other favourite writer would have to be Stephen King. I own every single King book, including a few rare paperback versions of his original Bachman books. King is the reason I started writing horror stories.

As far as filmmakers, I'm a big fan of Kevin Smith and early John Carpenter Films. Both of those guys showed that you could create a great film and a cult following with a very minimal budget. As far as I'm concerned nobody has to go to film school, just watch Kevin Smith's movies with the Director's Commentary tracks turned on.

Q> Your background info states that you did not pursue filmmaking as a major in your formal College education. When did you get the bug to make films or have you always been active as a hobbyist?

I've dabbled in film here and there for a long time and I have wanted to tell stories since I was a little kid. I was that kid in class that always wrote the longest story and the teacher would always read it out loud. I have always wanted to turn my stories into movies and now I am in a position to do just that.

Q> How did you get involved in adult film industry? When did you decide to take an RSI-inducing ‘hobby’ or ‘interest’ and pursue it as a legitimate career move?

There was a while there where I became sick and tired of staring real life death and gore in the face every day while working in a hospital as a Respiratory Therapist. I followed the surge of the Dot Com boom and started building web pages for a consulting firm. One day a stripper walked into the office that wanted a live cam site built. The job was given to me and soon I found myself being referred to a number of people in the adult industry. It wasn't long after that somebody said, "Hey, grab that camera and help me out." The next thing I knew I was building multi-million dollar porn websites for a number of people and having a fun time doing it.

Q> How did you find it? – making your first Porn film?

It was actually a really rewarding experience on a professional level. My business partner and I set out to write and direct a porn film unlike anything anybody had seen before and it's name was CLOWN PORN. I had filmed sex scenes before but they were with somebody else's style in mind. This time when we picked up the cameras we were inventing our own style. I remember holding one of the first printed DVDs in my hand and having a very surreal moment as I realized this was our product, not somebody else's. All of our blood, sweat and tears sat quietly in my hand on a yellow and red box cover with pictures of clowns fucking.

Q> What inspired you to create something as deviant as CLOWN PORN? Do you have a thing about Clowns or was it merely the most insane thing you could think of doing?

I honestly have no idea where the idea came from. We were sitting around the office brainstorming about characters for our comedy porn and clowns just popped into my head. I personally don't have a clown fetish but I do love the way a clown either makes a person laugh or scare the shit out of them. I have a ton of outrageous ideas up my sleeve but often times we scale things back because we work with such a low budget.

Q> When many fans turn filmmakers they often see through the supposed glamour immediately and it stops being as exciting. Was this the case when you were confronted by people having sex for you on set? Was it as enjoyable as watching porn or did the demands of filmmaking get in the way?

There's nothing glamorous about being an independent filmmaker until a big studio offers you a real directing job. I do have to admit there's a certain thrill that comes from watching women undress and perform sexually explicit acts. The truth of the matter is that I am a really technical person when it comes to making a movie. It's one thing to tell a girl to suck a dick; it's completely another thing to make sure she's looking at the camera, the lighting is right, the sound is right, the makeup is right, you're obnoxious friend hangs up his fucking cell phone, and you're praying to god that you can wrap the scene in ten minutes because you're about out of tape or your buddy forgot the spare battery.

Q> Can we expect any more adult films from you in the vein of CLOWN PORN?

There are plans for an entire Clown Porn franchise. We're currently wrapping up the sequel, CLOWN PORN: CRIMEWATCH and we have a few more planned after that. Eventually I want to move beyond the gimmicks and make some real films.

Q> I have admired the work of people like Gregory Dark (PSYCHOSEXUALS) for some time. He seems to be one of the few to make interesting adult films with great sex and interesting genre transcending plots. I believe the industry has changed, society has grown more tolerant and the time is right for people to create proper films with plots as well as great sex. What sort of films would you like to make in the adult industry beyond the gimmicks?

The adult industry IS a gimmick. Personally I think the quicker I move onto mainstream projects the better off I will be – although I have always wanted to do a porn movie with quadriplegics.

Caroline - doing her best Austin Powers impression	SLAUGHTER DISC artwork	Caroline - It's Hammer time!

Q> LOL….. (stunned silence)…. Can you please explain how SLAUGHTER DISC happened? When did you first conceive the idea?

The film is based on a short story I wrote about 15 years ago that I called "The Tape". I had been scolded at school for carrying a copy of Fangoria around. One of my teachers had this huge talk with me about the fact that violence was just the same as pornography if people enjoyed it. That really started the wheels spinning in my head. I came up with the idea of this transparent VHS and on this tape there was this woman known as The Bride of Death. She would have sex with people and kill them but the more you watched it the contents of the tape would change and the violence and sex would get more intermingled.

When I started kicking around the idea of making a horror movie myself "The Tape" was one of the first stories that popped into my head. It basically had one location and a small cast so I thought it would be extremely quick to throw together.

As I was adapting the story to the screenplay I decided to make it a little more modern. When I wrote "The Tape", cell phones, the Internet and DVDs were not commercially available. Hell, they were mostly still vague ideas in labs. I also know knew the second I had a haunted VHS tape show up people would start comparing my film to THE RING – that happened regardless but it's easy to see they are two completely different stories. I'm a huge fan of feature loaded DVDs so I thought it would be cool to have Andromeda get channelled through the transparent DVD.

Q> How long did it take to write, prepare in pre-production, shoot and edit/get through post?

SLAUGHTER DISC unfolded in bits and pieces over a nine-month period. I wrote the script in July of 2004, started posting casting calls in August and we filmed most of the movie in four days during the second week of November. I spent a few days here over the next two months and by the end of January I had a rough cut of the movie for my composer to start writing music. The film was premiered on March 19, 2005 at a private screening for the cast, crew, their families and some members of the press.

Q> Did it turn out exactly as you intended?

I don't think any movie turns out exactly as any director intends. Hell, George Lucas is still tweaking STAR WARDS twenty years later and he has more money than God. Personally I am very pleased with the way most of the movie turned out. Andromeda Strange appears with more creepy beauty and taboo lust than I could have ever imagined.

Q> What artistic and practical compromises did you have to make if any and are you happy with the end result?

The biggest compromises were with gore and sound. My effects person quit two weeks before filming and she had started sculpting a beautiful neck wound for Andromeda and smashed head for John's aftermath. Two weeks before filming was scheduled to shoot I was forced to result to over the counter makeup kits which pale in comparison to what I had planned. My sound person never showed up once we started filming and two days later tried to give me some crap story about a death in the family. A simple phone call from them would have save me a ton of grief. I'm very pleased with the end result and it appears that I have a growing legion of fans that are happy about it too.

Q> Where did you find Caroline Pierce, aka Andromeda Strange and the other cast members - through a normal audition process or through contacts in the industry?

I found nearly everybody by posting casting calls online and in local papers. Some of the cast are friends of mine and even my wife even has a cameo. The funny thing is that I never auditioned Caroline. I came across her modelling profile when I was sending out audition notices. We communicated a lot by phone and email and something in my gut told me to cast her as the lead.

Q> It is always tricky to find that perfect cast member for a lead role. What did Caroline bring to her interpretation of the role that others were not getting? What was different about her approach?

I took a huge gamble on casting Caroline, but in the end I think it worked fine. She has a very dark and twisted spirit just like mine so I think it was easy for her to understand the character more. Most actresses freak out when I tell them I'm going to cover them with fake blood but Caroline just smiles with glee.

Q> I understand you have further Carnal Morgue films planned. Can you tell our readers more about some of the future projects you have lined up?

My next project is MAIL ORDER BRIDE. It’s a short film I'm making specifically to get into short film competitions and festivals. I want to get my name out there a little more and I think a few shorts is the way to do it. I'm going to spend most of 2006 making shorts for the Carnal Morgue and at the end of the year we'll put them all on a DVD which Andromeda will host.

MAIL ORDER BRIDE is about a guy who thinks he purchased a life-size sex doll but what shows up at his door is a stitched together corpse. The film was inspired by my affinity for stitched together monster women, whether they be THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTIEN, FRANKENHOOKER or Sally from NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS.

I also have plans to create the Andromeda DVD that was featured in SLAUGHTER DISC. "Andromeda Strange: Unleashed and Unforgiving" will start off like those virtual porn star DVDs but it will travel down darker paths of horrible self-mutilation, necrophilia and murdering of the cameramen.

Fans can stay tuned to steelwebstudios.com for all of our latest news and products.

Q> Will MAIL ORDER BRIDE differ from SLAUGHTER DISC? What kind of experience can fans expect?

MAIL ORDER BRIDE is only going to be about 30 minutes long, and it's my plan to pack more blood and gore into it. Everybody who has read the script love the way it ends but then they turn to me and say I'm pretty sick and twisted. Just for once I wish they would tell me something I don't know.

Smiling after a kill	Caroline knows what you're doing!	Death becomes her

Q> The missing element from SLAUGHTER DISC in my opinion was Andromeda’s motivation/origins. I have heard rumours of a possible sequel to SLAUGHTER DISC. Is this a real possibility and will it go into these in more detail?

It's all part of my master plan. The goal was to make Andromeda more of an enigmatic character, to make people wonder who she really is and what makes her tick. That's part of the reason the website featured in the movie, andromedastrange.com, actually exists. I figured there would be a few curious souls who would type that into their web browsers so I figured I should have something waiting there for them as a reward. If I ever get to make the sequel all of the questions about whom or what Andromeda really is will be revealed. Just so you all know, the title for the sequel is STRANGE VENGEANCE.

Q> Are any of your cast members likely to turn up in other productions? Will Caroline return as Andromeda Strange and do you see her in any other non porn roles?

My next film, MAIL ORDER BRIDE actually features a few the actors from SLAUGHTER DISC. In fact, the exact same Delivery Guy makes an appearance in the film and delivers another evil filled package to an unsuspecting customer. Fans will begin to observe that Andromeda Strange may be influencing a few more things other than DVDs and televisions.

It has always been my goal to elevate Andromeda to the female equivalent of a Freddy or Jason. She's an unstoppable force and there are a number of ways I want to bring her stories to the fans. There are plans to add some more meat to the Andromeda website, draw some comics and have Andromeda read some erotic horror stories that can be podcast. In the very near future there will be an entire line of Andromeda and Carnal Morgue merchandise including paper dolls, clothing and fragrances.

Q> Caroline does perform very well both as a traditional actress and as a sex performer. Did you find you both worked well together or were there any trust issues that had to be worked out, to get the performance you both wanted?

Caroline is an amazing and talented individual. We would talk about a scene and rehearse it one or twice but in the end most of the scenes for the film were shot in one or two takes. Once the camera hits her, she truly transforms into my Bride of Death.

Q> The film goes pretty darn far, farther than many other films that claimed to shock. Did you want to go further with the material?

I personally don't think the film goes far enough. I wanted to go much further with the violence, but I knew it was out of my realm for my first horror project. For a low-budget movie I think I did just fine.

Q> Was the decision not to show certain sexual acts a creative/thematic one? The theme is cautionary rather than for titillation, but Mike’s character is someone who has seen most normal sexual acts and is jaded, so wouldn’t he expect more than masturbation, straight sex, oral sex and the odd facial - like anal to name one?

I personally don't see anything special or extreme about plain anal sex. Now sodomizing somebody to a bloody mass with a cheese grater would be cool, but again, that was a little out of my budget this first time around. The movie unfolds exactly the way I wrote it.

If you are watching my films just to catch a glimpse of anal sex you are going to be very disappointed. Andromeda doesn't give a fuck what you want. She's going tie you up, use you like her own personal toilet brush and have an orgasm the instant your fresh blood spills on her skin.

Q> The kind of backstory I have in my head for Andromeda’s motivations was one of victimisation by men and the male dominated porn industry. I found it hard to reconcile the murder of Mike’s girlfriend; it seemed to deviate from what her character might do – if I am on the right track. Why was her lesbian scene so brief and so un-erotic compared to the other sexual scenes? Was this because of the other inexperienced performer? Or was it cut down in the edit?

You are actually headed down the completely wrong track, but that's OK. You are following down the road of a mortal that wants to see the sex come to some sort of completion, but for Andromeda sex doesn't reach a completion until somebody dies.

I hate explaining things but it seems people get too caught up in the sex. Andromeda is fucking with Mike from the second he pops in the DVD. She's the one hiding his keys and screwing with his alarm clock. In the end Andromeda's kidnapping and murdering of Carrie is just another move in her little game. She kills Carrie because she knows Mike is right there watching it all unfold.

In the actual script Andromeda just breaks Carrie's neck with a quick crack. At the last minute the actress told me she wanted to die a bloody death, so we improvised. I had a little blood left so we tried to do a shot of her lying on the bed and the blood oozing out from neck. Because of the way she was laying in the bed the blood just pooled around her chin and boobs.

Q> It is difficult enough for filmmakers to raise money to shoot ‘Horror’ films. How hard was it to raise the money for SLAUGHTER DISC because of the porn elements?

Horror films are sure moneymakers. They don't have to be good and they will make a ton of money for the people who made them. Full Moon and Troma are shining examples of this fact.

It's hard to raise money or for that matter even sell a film like mine because of the violence and sexual overtones. I've had more than one distributor or actors back out because they feared legal repercussions from the film.

Q> Did you self finance?

I financed the entire project myself. I never once sought outside investors for this project.

Q> Yes I thought that self-financing might have been the way you achieved it. Ironically you may find others will come forward and do the same, now that someone else has done it and not been dragged through the press in shame.

I'm amazed at the reception SLAUGHTER DISC has received and it has certainly opened a number of doors for me. I've noticed there are now a number of adult companies trying to create adult horror films. The problem I see with them is that they are still adult companies looking to sell fuck tapes, not writers trying to tell a serious story. People are constantly writing me because they want to something similar.

Q> What was the budget for the film? Was it so low that you had to do pretty much everything on set yourself?

I had $10,000 in a bank account and when I was done filming I had $300 dollars. I wrote the script with a shoestring budget in mind and part of adhering to that budget was knowing that I was going to have to do most of the work myself.

Q> How did you find tackling all the duties yourself? Did you find it hard to enable yourself some creative freedom, when you have to watch the purse strings and keep the production moving, look out for others needs as well as stick to the narrative elements needed to achieve your vision?

I always write my scripts with the camera work, special effects and editing already in mind. I know exactly how I'm going to do it and it’s a waste of time and money getting other people involved. As my budgets grow I would love to have a few more experts on the team but they have to prove to me that they can execute things to my standard and vision – that would definitely take some of the guesswork out of the process for me.

The great thing about a small crew is that you don't have a lot of needs to attend to. The cast and crew are there to help me make my film. They trust me completely, they like my work and we all pull together to accomplish the goal of creating original films. I always make sure I have one or two assistants around who can hold things or make coffee runs.

Q> On your future projects do you envision sharing more of the roles to allow more creative vision?

As my budgets grow I would be more than happy to employ a few more people, especially a sound guy. Learning to trust others with important roles will be one of the things I have to learn to accept if I want to grow as a filmmaker.

Q> What equipment did you use to shoot the film? Was it shot in DV?

SLAUGHTER DISC was shot entirely in Mini-DV. I used a 3 chip Sony VX-1000, a piece of shit mono shotgun mic and a $15 Hakuba tripod. Some of b-roll footage was shot with a one chip Canon ZR-60. For most of the lighting I used a few colored flood light bulbs, some Christmas lights, lots of aluminium foil, a $10 pole lamp and a single 500-watt video light with barn doors. I edited everything using a Windows PC and Adobe Premiere 1.5. That's all folks.

Q> How has SLAUGHTER DISC been received? Have you had any feedback from fans and peers?

Our fan base grows everyday and most people seem to really like the movie. I can honestly say it was better received than I ever expected – and better than most independent filmmakers could ever hope for. Of the 40 reviews from websites and magazines that I've had only three of them were completely negative. Yes there are glitches with the film, but it was nice to see that the film has enough character to get people over that hurdle and tell the story. Ordinarily those types of things can quickly kill an indie film. It's another thing to see that most people quickly get over the whole porn issue and accept it as a reasonable part of the story line.

I can't judge feedback from my peers too much because they're my peers. They'll tell me they love the film even if they hate it just because we hang out. They offer some constructive criticisms after the fact but overall most of the respect me more because they realize I undertook a huge task by my self and delivered it.

The Many faces of Caroline pierce - SLAUGHTER DISC

Q> What about your family? Do they know you have made SLAUGHTER DISC and have you had any problems with their reaction to the film?

I don't really have any problems with my family. Most of them know I spent a couple of years building adult websites and all of them know I am an award-winning writer. Not everybody is ecstatic about the sexual content of the film but then again one of my grandfathers once owned two strip clubs so there is probably a little more tolerance in my family than in others.

Q> Where do you see your career going? Where would you like to see this film take you?

Onwards and Upwards – that's what I always say. Apparently SLAUGHTER DISC has given me the reputation that I am a "filmmaker with balls", so hopefully I'll be able to live up to that expectation. I would love to make horror movies all day long but right now I'm still a Respiratory Therapist with a little too much free time on his hands. While I would love to keep making my own stories I wouldn't mind directing for somebody else.

Q> Do you expect to try and push the envelope even further? If so, where do you go from here?

This may be hard to believe, but I never had any plans to push an envelope. Most of that talk seems to come from other interviews or critics. I just want to tell original stories and hopefully people will appreciate what I am doing. Some of the projects I undertake will be much more extreme than SLAUGHTER DISC and some won't be anything more than a dry comedy. It all depends on the story and what the plot calls for.

As for myself I would like to mature as any filmmaker does. I will try and learn from my mistakes, undoubtedly make new mistakes and hopefully have enough footage at the end of the day to make some sort of movie.

Q> What advice would you give to other filmmakers considering following you into such a potentially risky creative venture?

There are a hundred things that come to mind but you really need to keep your cast, crew and equipment safe. Oh yeah, and don't forget to remove the lenscap. If filmmakers have any really specific questions they can feel free to contact me through my website at steelwebstudios.com

Many thanks for taking the time out to answers these questions. Best of luck with the Short and the sequel!

Interview conducted by email:

If you haven't already seen SLAUGHTER DISC. Please check it out. Alternatively visit David's website to find out more: www.steelwebstudios.com.

Lee Bailes