The Premiere

The House that Jack Built
-9pm December 16th in 101 Becker



Not far in the future, a disease has wiped out most of the United States. Small, isolated, groups of survivors must find a way to outlast the epidemic. Three of those survivors will have their tale told. They've barricaded themselves in an old house, belonging to Jack, a brash survivalist with a last-man-alive mentality. With him is Liz, his last-woman-alive. The third survivor is Brian, rescued by Jack and Liz and offered shelter in their sanctuary. Jack's frequent attempts at hunting some food are less than fruitful, and the group's food stores are running low. More urgent, however, is the evidence that one of the survivors may be infected with they mysterious disease. A bloody rag prompts an inevitable decision: Die Together or Live Alone?

Cast:
Jack - Brad Gasplin
Liz - Amanda Pichler
Brian - David Philips

Directed by:
Joe Hotek
Darin Webb

Who Wants Hot Cocoa?

It's cold.

The house we're shooting in hasn't had heat since 2000, and a tiny space heater and a gas burner didn't do much to warm up our actors. The room is a few degrees warmer than the rest of the house however, and that small difference is enough to keep everyone on set. Hot cocoa and alcohol don't hurt either.

Shooting took place on two different days. The first shoot was unfortunately missing a female actor, and the part of Liz was changed to Lance. Unsatisfied with the results, we returned two weeks later, with tighter storyboards, and a keener eye for set design. Lance became Liz again, and the day was wrapped with satisfaction.

Check out the photo gallery on the left for behind-the-scenes photos taken on set.

Let's Make A Movie!

So, this movie has changed quite a bit since Joe and Darin first decided to do a project together. The first script featured a Zombie v.s. Militia nighttime firefight, which was not only impractical, but would be most definitely very very cold. Using available resources as a skeleton, a new script was drafted, featuring a bloodthirsty survivalist, a bookish academic, and a young woman barricaded in an old house. Several rewrites and character reimaginings later, the final script was locked down, and production could begin.