An Interview with Scott Goldberg, Paul Kratka and Chris Margaritas - By Brian Mo

Interviews: An Interview with Scott Goldberg, Paul Kratka and Chris Margaritas - By Brian Mo
Posted on Monday, November 03, 2008 @ 18:30:41 Mountain Standard Time by Duane

I'm a big fan of Scott Goldberg and his movies, and it just so happens that this month, on November 4th, Scott is premièring his latest movie, Loss Of Hope, online at Scott Goldberg Movies.com, and the best news is that it's free just by dropping over to the site and checking it out! Well, I had the chance to chat with writer/director Scott Goldberg, writer/actor Paul Kratka and actor Chris Margaritas about Loss Of Hope. Let's start with Chris Margaritas, an up and coming actor who's in several movies that are about to hit.

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BM - What are you opinions on war both in Vietnam and the war of today in Iraq?

CM - As a 39 year old male I was born during the Vietnam War so I really did not experience what was going on first hand. Growing up later on I came to learn through articles and family members who were in Vietnam, that this war was a war we should not have been fought and once we were involved in it, it became a war that we could not win for several reasons. One being the jungle conditions our soldiers had to fight in, on top of being out numbered for most of the war. As a result it lead to thousands of U.S casualties. In general I am against war and the reasons most of the wars are started. I feel that our government is not one hundred percent honest with the public and a lot of these wars could be prevented. I am although one hundred percent behind our innocent troops that are sent to these ungodly places to fight these wars.

BM - Scott said that the film was about the possibility of the media not being honest with the public, whether it be through the news on the television or news media in general. What are your thoughts on at?

CM - I do not believe anything the mainstream media reports to us. I feel that they are like puppets for our government to feed us lies that they want us to believe. That is why when it comes to the media I have to tune them out and stay away from the lies they try to feed us.

BM - With your scene in the film, you play a documentary soldier who is being interviewed during the Vietnam War. What the process like you for that scene?

CM - In my scene of Loss Of Hope I was asked to portray a U.S Soldier in the middle of the Vietnam War. We filmed the scene in Glen Cove, New York at the Welwyn Preserve which is surrounded with acres and acres of trees, very similar to what you see in the footage from the Vietnam War. Once I put on the U.S Army Uniform the character kind of came out naturally from all the footage I've seen on the Vietnam War and the stories I had heard through the years. So the mock interview that was adlibbed came out to be very emotional and flowed very naturally which I was very happy with. In the end I was very glad Scott asked me to do this scene and let me be free to express what the character was going through being in the middle of the war and seeing his friends being killed right before him.

Now let's turn to writer/actor Paul Kratka, Paul is probably best known for his role in Friday The 13th Part 3 that was his eyeball shooting straight at you! Paul took a break from acting and became a successful chiropractor, but is now returning to acting.

BM - Thanks for taking a minute with us, Paul.

PK - Thanks for having me.

BM - How different was shooting an independent production such as Loss of Hope compared to a big studio production like Friday the 13th Part 3?

PK - There are some fundamental differences of course in that on a big budget film everything is done on such a large scale. This includes the crew and technical aspects as well as the logistics and support strategies to get the work done. On an independent production there are some very special and unique qualities that make it appealing. First and foremost is the intimacy on the set and the filming itself - it’s a great environment for an actor because there is so much less distraction which allows for greater creativity. Also, on an independent film I think there is more ‘collaboration’ between director and actor because by default it becomes a team project versus being ‘hired’ for a role; that’s not to say that larger productions can’t have those aspects, it’s just harder to develop because of the large crew, budget, set, etc.

BM - Any interesting on-set stories from shooting the film?

PK - Well, the script called for the post-nuke basement scenes to take place in hot weather during the summer, but at the time we were filming it was the dead of winter and really cold on location in the basement at the Welwyn Preserve on Long Island so we had to change it to being ‘cold’ which I think really enhanced the feel of those scenes. I was shivering and it added to the depressive and oppressive mood. I haven’t seen the final cut, but I’m hoping that’s how it comes across.

BM - You co-wrote the screenplay with Jennifer Baltusis. What are some things you added or emphasized within the script?

PK - I think co-wrote’ might be a bit of an exaggeration; I helped clean up some of the syntax so it flowed better. Also, although I was never in Vietnam , I am of the generation that was and have known many people who did ‘tours’ there so I was able to add some things that hopefully created some real grittiness to the flashbacks.

BM - How did you prepare for the role of Paul Sanders?

PK - It was difficult in that one, we were working on the script up until the last minute; and two, how does one imagine living the last few hours following a nuclear attack? What I focused on was the futility of our society’s ignorance and the loss of my family and how utterly sad it would be. Also, the whole premise of a terrorist nuclear attack is not that far removed from actually happening, given today’s geopolitical landscape.

BM - What draws you to act in recent independent films of today?

PK - I like the spirit and passion that young independent filmmakers bring to their work. Plus, with specifically the horror genre, the independent film directors are fiercely loyal to the original formula for horror movies, something that is lacking in studio-produced films today.

BM - What is your opinion on war and the media?

PK - Well, those are certainly two huge topics. Regarding war, it seems there is sometimes very clear reasons for armed conflict, such as Adolf Hitler’s heinous genocide campaign which lead to WWII and more recently when Saddam Hussein blatantly invaded Kuwait in the early 1990’s. However, today’s situation in Afghanistan and Iraq are so much more abstract and ill-defined. Plus, the bald-faced lies that President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair used to justify the invasion of Iraq combined with the greedy profiteering by former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfield and Vice President Dick Cheney and their cronies has made that situation seedy and obscenely disreputable; additionally, it has cost America its credibility throughout the world, although the average American citizen is ignorant or in denial of that obvious outcome. In years past, the media used to be somewhat of a clearing house for truth; now it has simply become the mouthpiece for the right wing political beliefs of those individuals who own the large media conglomerates, such as Rupert Murdoch and Summer Redstone, etc. Unfortunately, this has coincided with a period where Americans have become more and more influenced by the sound bites they see and hear through the media versus truly understanding the issues and being exposed to the truth via in-depth truthful reporting.

BM - You are very much into a healthy way of living your life both physically and through food. What is the most important key to health that a lot of people are lacking in their lifestyle?

PK - Without question it would be the understanding that to be well, we must eat well, move well and think well. At first glance that seems overly simplistic, but in actuality or in lifestyle application, it is not easy and much deeper than people realize. For example, what the average person perceives as “eating well” is the standard modern society disease-producing diet of grains, dairy products and meat, all of which are mass produced, highly processed and incredibly toxic. Finally, the real issue with ‘eat well, move well, think well’ is that you have to do it at the same time, for a period of time to create wellness. Now that is clearly a much more challenging responsibility for each of us to be healthy.

Finally, it's time for writer/director Scott Goldberg to sit in the hot seat and tell me about Loss Of Hope.

BM - Thanks for taking the time.

SG - No problem.

BM - How did Loss Of Hope come about?

SG - It was basically an idea I had, I sent an email to my friend Jennifer saying that I had an idea for a film, I wanted to do something emotional and I'm a filmmaker, I'm not necessarily a great writer, so I needed someone like Jennifer to come up with something where we could feature Paul Kratka, where we could give him a platform, if you will, where he could act. I think that people are familiar with his acting in Friday The 13th Part 3, but that was a film where the acting wasn't that great, so I wanted to give Paul a platform to do dialogue and act and get into it. So, I started in January of 2008 after a couple of months of preproduction, and being a filmmaker who doesn't have a lot of money, you do the best you can. Prior to this project, I had not shot with a 35 mm adapter, and we used this because, I think, the cinematic experience that someone can get from a shallow depth of field, compared to what we don't usually get when we shoot on digital, was something that was a must for me. My friend, Mike Rubenstein, had shown me some footage from one of his films, called The Black Forest, and he had shot with a 35mm adapter and when I saw the footage I was blown away! And I asked, what did you shoot this on? Was it your own camera? And he said, no we shot it with a 35mm adapter, so this was the first film working with something like that and the experience was great. We made a film with, really, no budget, but you don't see that. It's really the story of this guy who's lost all hope, which is where the title comes from, it's just like 9/11, everyone was angry and everyone was fearing terrorism, so Loss Of Hope is about a man who witnesses nuclear terrorism and has to deal with it and he reminisces about his past, his life and what it was like to have a family.

BM - Now, it seems like the political aspects of the movie are just as important to you as the story, is that true?

SG - Yeah, sure. We live in a time where nuclear war is definitely possible and I think that playing off those fears and trying to make a film about that is definitely a healing experience. And, as far as being a filmmaker I feel healed, because the art is lacking in today's independent cinema. A lot of people make films and they mean well, but there are a lot of people who are lost and they're trying to understand what art is. You know, filmmakers who make horror films today are trying to make films just like Romero and trying to pay homage, and the reality is that it's disrespectful because it's been done already. They've done it on a big budget, a million dollar budget, and then you have independent filmmakers, and God bless them, I'm one myself, I made a zombie film called The Day They Came Back...

BM - Which is a great movie, by the way.

SG - I appreciate it, man. But, when you make a film, or you make a zombie film, it's not really an original take because it has been done before. Day Of The Dead is one of the greatest zombie films of all time because of the feeling of dread, the music and just the essence of it, so I think that a lot of filmmakers who are just starting out make a zombie film because it's kind of fun, it's fun to make zombies, to put on the makeup and use the fake blood and make a storyline and all of that, but I also think there's a difference in making a zombie movie like one that's been done and making something more original. The problem I have with people today, and I don't want to go on a tirade about people, but I think that a lot of people have lost their way as to what filmmaking is about. Too many people see it as promotion, you can go on MySpace and see all of these filmmakers promoting themselves and that's where we lost our way with trying to understand the aspect of art. So, I feel that a lot of the filmmakers of today are just promoting themselves and everyone doesn't understand that, as far as art goes, that you should just make a film about what you want, whenever you want, but make a film that means something to you.

BM - I don't want to argue with you, because I think that you're right, but let me play devil's advocate for a minute. Don't you think that promotion is the second most important thing after making a good movie?

SG - Yes, yes, but what I was getting at is that people are promoting themselves rather than letting their art do the talking for them. I'm talking about people that I know from MySpace and online and they over-promote themselves, it's not about the art, it's about their image, you know, they go to horror conventions and it's about having it be about them not the art. Yes, I'm promoting the movie right now because we want to get the word out, it's a film that means a lot to all of us who worked on it, but I never want it to be about me, I want it to be about the film.

BM - So, you're feeding the art, not the ego.

SG - Exactly. Promoting yourself, especially when you have nothing to give, if you don't have a film that's out, or coming out, or even being made and you're out promoting yourself, I think people won't care.

BM - I understand that, but isn't ego a factor in making someone want to become a filmmaker in the first place?

SG - Well, I guess there's a difference in cockiness and confidence. People sometimes mistake it when someone is confident about something that they're being cocky. I think the problem is that a lot of people, when they make a film, say I want to go to Hollywood, I want to make it in Hollywood, but in reality when you look at what's going on in Hollywood, it's just a bunch of shit. It's an overabundance of garbage and people who are too materialistic and care about how they look and who's picking their nose or who's farting and I feel like we've really lost our war as to who we are as a society and I think that through our films we can reflect off of that and that people can get into and really enjoy and also have a message as well.

BM - Which leads us back to Loss Of Hope which is a message about the future.

SG - You know, I mentioned that I'm a big fan of Romero and Day Of The Dead and that kind of vibe I really wanted to add to the film, especially with music. So, our composer, Mark Nadolski, came up with this really dreamy, retro vibe similar to Day Of The Dead, I said to him, don't copy it, but keep the essence of it with the synths and, kind of make a hybrid, I guess. He's really into James Newton Howard and people like that who have a lot of orchestral cues in their movies and he definitely came up with some interesting stuff that I'm really excited about and I hope that people will hear it and enjoy it because I think it's important. Of course, some people will see the film and think that it's shit and others will see it and love it, but I think we've really put out a high quality production, I'm telling you man, that 35mm adapter give a look...it's like night and day between digital video and how film should look. I think a lot of people will be fooled by the way it looks because of that 35mm adapter. For you filmmakers out there, if you have a couple of thousand dollars to spend, and I understand that a lot of people don't, but if you do that go out and get one, because this is something that can really bring out the artistry in filmmaking. You know, with digital video, if you want a shallow depth of field you have to go far away from the person then zoom in and focus on the person to get the background in focus and I think that this is something that a lot of people could succeed with. Now, they're coming out with a camera called Red, if you go to RED.com, it's something that's similar to the 35mm adapter, but it's on high definition, and it's a little camera unit that doesn't record on tape like digital video does, but it has these 35mm lenses that are pretty cool and it's something that, hopefully, in a couple of years, the price will come down so it will be more affordable, because right now a lens for that is about seven thousand dollars, which is pretty ridiculous.

BM - You're releasing Loss Of Hope online on November 4th, why are you doing it that way?

SG - The release online is something that my friend, Chris Garetano, came up with for his movie, Cottonmouth. He premiered that online on Halloween night, and he suggested that I do that as well. So, I thought, yeah, maybe, that might be interesting. Then he suggested that I do it on election day, and I gave that some thought and I decided that it wasn't a bad idea. The original thought was not to put it online, it's weird, when I did The Day They Came Back, I wanted to do it for DVD and I didn't think I would put it online and then it became more of an online film, rather than put it on DVD when I got finished, because it served it's purpose by being put online for people to see and enjoy. And it's the same thing with Loss Of Hope, you can watch it on DVD or you can watch it online. As we speak, we're still a couple of days away from our launch and we're trying to figure out what the best resolution is, but these are things that you figure out when you put videos up online. It's kind of new when you think about it, releasing a film and having your own film festival online, with your own media and all this awesome content, so hopefully, people will come to the site and see it and enjoy it.

BM - Since it's becoming so hard to get traditional distribution, do you think that's the way indie film is going? More online releases?

SG - Definitely. Especially if you make your own website and host it on your website, like we've done with Scott Goldberg Movies.com. Rather than putting something up on YouTube, where there's an over abundance of cool videos and they're mixed with a bunch of amateur, home video type stuff, so I think you'll see more people doing online premieres, and that's how my friend Chris feels too, since he's done his online premiere, and I think it really just depends on how you promote the film.

BM - So, what if you premiere Loss Of Hope online, someone sees it and calls you and says they saw the movie, they love it and they want to pay you to make a movie for them?

SG - I think that's what a lot of filmmakers would like. I think everyone has their own path, as well, but I know that after Loss Of Hope, only death can stop a person (laughs), and personally, right now, I feel like I need to keep travelling in this direction, rather than the direction I was going in just a couple of years ago. So, I'm not banking on that or expecting it, although it would be nice, but I feel like I still have a ways to go, as far as filmmaking and understanding the craft. But I feel that any filmmaker would like that to happen, but I just hope that people like the film, because it is a labor of love. You know, you put so much time and effort into a film and the audience only sees six and a half minutes, which is how long Loss Of Hope is, but a lot of people don't understand what goes into those six minutes, all the hard work and the thousands of dollars and the other aspects of the film, and that's fine, an audiences experience should be what's in the final product, but if someone is interested in what went on behind the scenes and what went into making Loss Of Hope, it's important for the filmmaker to provide that content as well.

BM - It seems to me that you've moved from movies like The Forest Hills and The Day They Came Back, more conventional horror movies to Loss Of Hope, a horror movie, but a very different kind of horror movie.

SG - You know, even right now, I feel like I'm still trying to find my voice. I feel like this is just another stepping stone in going towards making something more original. Back then, I was watching more conventional horror films, and I became friends with Chris Garetano and he able to take me under his wing and tell me that you have to make a film about something you love. He thought The Forest Hills was good and he thought The Day They Came Back was good, but he thought I could come up with something more original, something better, so to have someone like that to push and to help you out is so important, and it's important that you take in that information and use it. It's so important to have a group of filmmakers who support each other, when I go to one of Chris' film sets, I don't go because it feels like work, I go because it feels like friends playing on a playground, yes it's serious, but you learn so much. It's like Steven King said about Romero's films, he said it just felt like and excuse to go out and hang with his friends and I think that's something that needs to go on in today's filmmaking scene.

BM - Since it sounds like Loss Of Hope has a political undercurrent, how important was the November 4th premiere date?

SG - (Laughing) Well, if you want to get me started on the whole November 4th thing and the election. My whole thought process on the election is, and I think some people will take offense at this, but I feel that the whole election is a joke. I think that there's a lot of things going on in our country that a lot of people are not awake to and because of that we have a big rift. We have people on the Republican side and people on the Democratic side, but the Democrats and Republicans, especially in Congress are really the same thing. Think of a bird on top of a white house, one wing of the bird is red, which is Republican, and one wing is blue, which is Democrat, they're different wings, but the same bird. I think there are a lot of corrupt elements within our government and it is an important time in history for people who have a message and speak out about it. In my honest opinion, and if you don't agree that's fine, this is America and we're all allowed to have our own opinion, but mine is that elections don't mean anything. The more that people feel like they're not being screwed and the more that people feel that they have a say in something like an election, and neither candidate, Obama or McCain, have anything to offer that will fix our economic problems, or that will fix America, so it's like you're voting for either or, but they're both still corrupt and there's just no point. But I think that people will go out and vote because they want to feel like they have a say, and that's just my opinion, I'm not right, I'm not wrong, I'm just putting out the information and hoping that people will look into it. I think there's a lot of people are misinformed, I heard on The Howard Stern Show, they sent a person into the street and asked about Obama, but they attributed all of McCain's ideals to him, and people still agreed with it. They asked people how they felt about Obama's choice of Sarah Palin as a running mate and people were saying that they thought Obama made a great choice, so I think that people are so busy with their daily lives, getting screwed by the government and trying to pay off credit card debt and all these other things that they don't have time to research things. If I were to have voted, it would have been for Dennis Kucinich or Ron Paul or someone like that who's looking out for the America people, not these corrupt politicians who lie and don't give us any choice, they want to work towards something that works for big business or that works for their special interests. So, sorry about going off on a tangent there, but November 4th is a date that is significant since the film is about the lies of the media and the lies of the government, I think they go very well, hand in hand, with one another.

BM - And the whole thing feeds into a Loss Of Hope in the entire system.

SG - Sure, sure. I think the system has always been flawed and it's been corrupt from day one, just look back at history, at the way we stole the land from the Indians. There's always been a corruption of what America's been about, you know, I love the way the late George Carlin spoke about it, he said, it's the American dream and you have to be asleep to believe it, and I think that's true. A lot of people don't see what's going on in society and the more people open up to understanding certain aspects of our society, that people are corrupt and people are bad, cause the world we're living in is not good. There is killing every single day, people have such bad lives that they want to kill people, people are brought up in bad family situations and that's a big problem and because of that we have an over abundance of hate, and a lot of these crimes are hate crimes, so hopefully things change and that's, hopefully, what we can do through our art, is make a change.

BM - That's a good point, everyone is talking about change, but nothing ever really seems to change.

SG - And that's why I feel that it's important that the change comes from within yourself first. The change starts within you, with the understanding that the world we live in is not all fine and dandy, I think that a lot of people live their lives thinking that everything is okay , that the government is alright, oh, if the government knew about 9/11 they wouldn't let it happen, but is the government that smart? I have no idea. I don't think all government is bad, there are just corrupt elements that just look out for themselves more than they do for the American people and I think that's a big problem.

BM - And does all of that lead into your documentary, Dying For Change?

SG - Dying For Change is definitely how I feel about certain topics, whether it's health awareness, or politics, or the environment, or independent cinema, or music, it's all about different aspects of change. It's still in the works, I've been shooting for about a year and a half, taking some time off for Loss Of Hope and a couple of other projects, but I hope that it's something that people will see and then decide to make a change for themselves, whether it's about their health or the world of politics. I think that everyone will have their own point of view about it. I know that when I see a film, I might have a different point of view from someone else, but it's a film about people who are trying to make a change for the better. We have a group from New York and a bunch of other groups of political activists who are trying to find answers for the lies that were told about September 11th, such as, in their mind, how building seven, which was the third building that fell on September 11th, in what looked like a controlled demolition. Now I don't know if I believe in the whole controlled demolition theory, because I'd like to see some proof, of course there are people who have come and testified about it. But I do feel that there are a lot of issues like the 9/11 first responders who are sick and dying, and it's unfortunate that the government isn't doing anything about it, like giving them health care. They'd rather pass a seven hundred billion dollar bail out to bail out their criminal friends on Wall Street rather than putting toward the people or the first responders. There was a bill brought by Dennis Kucinich into Congress that he wanted to pass that would help these first responders, but Mayor Bloomberg and a bunch of others voted against it because they didn't want it, because they'd rather bail out their criminal friends. So, it's like it's us against them, it's the people against the people in charge and it's sad, because we're living in a society where people want to stay asleep and want to care about garbage, what Paris Hilton is doing or what Britney Spears is doing and I think that all needs to change at some point, so I hope that, through our art, we can make that change, by making art and music and different media that can really push for something that can start a revolution that will get people interested in making films that are art again instead of just promoting themselves.

BM - Instead of more remakes and more of the same.

SG - Well, you know there used to be some great remakes, there was The Fly and The Thing, the remake of Night Of The Living Dead, I thought. Now it's just being done because the studios want something safe, they just want to put people into seats, which is understandable, that's the business. But, from an artistic standpoint, I don't think the remakes of today do justice like they did back in the 70s, 80s and 90s when they were great. I think film is in a sad state right now, it's like my friend Chris said, people are going to look back on this era, the last seven or eight years, and say, oh yeah, that's the time when people weren't original, that was the time when people were just doing remakes.

BM - Well, in my opinion, I think it's guys like you and Christ who are going to carry the industry forward. Guys who are interested in making good movies and making them on their own terms.

SG - I appreciate that, see that's what we're trying to do. We're trying to inform people that it shouldn't be about promotion, it shouldn't be about yourself, it should be about the art because that's the important thing. You know, back in the 70s, Tobe Hooper didn't care to make his film like anything else, he went out to make Texas Chainsaw Massacre and he did something original. He made a movie about slaughter houses and, I guess, how he felt about that but instead of animals he put humans in that situation. But Tobe Hooper didn't say, I want to make my film just like this or like that, today, people say they're inspired by Dawn Of The Dead, and that's fine, be inspired, but don't copy it. So, for you filmmakers out there, if you want to catch someone's eye, make something really unique, make something different, don't make a zombie film. Make something that means something to you, make something with a message, a strong message, that you want to show to the world and want to share with the world. I feel that it's all about giving back, more and more, I don't want to be part of this Hollywood society. People tell me that I should go to Hollywood, I should go out to California, and I say, No, Fuck that! We're doing it here, let's start something from the ground up, let's be a part of this revolution and do something from here. Make friends, share your art and be able to express yourself and be able to be a part of something special instead of being a part of something that's dying and sick and just full of shit. I'd rather do something that's unique and special, rather than adding on to something that's already been done and being a slave. I don't want to make any films that have no heart and have no passion, I'm sick of that, I can't stand for that.

BM - Alright, all that being said, let's say a big studio calls tomorrow and wants to give you ten million dollars to make a remake, what movie would you remake?

SG - I would remake The Gate. It's a film from 1987 by Tibor Takacs. It's a film about these little small demons, a rock crashes in this kids back yard and and he and his best friend do all these rituals by mistake, I'm not sure how you'd do them by mistake but they do, and release these demons and, as a kid, seeing that movie, I was really creeped out by it, so I think I would do that, if I had to do a remake. I'd rather do something original, but if I had to, it would be The Gate and it would have to have a message behind it, whether it was political or social, and I would have to have complete control over it, I wouldn't want someone watching over my shoulder telling me what to do. That's why I like independent cinema, we're able to make the films we want without any restrictions. I could have a dead baby roasting over a campfire with a whole tribe of Mexicans or something dancing naked around it or whatever, it can be anything you want, it's the great thing about independent filmmaking, it can be whatever you want.

BM - What message do you hope people take away from Loss Of Hope?

SG - You know, I don't know, it's different for everyone. I think everyone will see it in different ways.

BM - Would you disappointed if someone were to watch it and just enjoy it? If they didn't take any message away from it?

SG - No, not at all. I think if 50 people see it and only 10 get a message out of it, that's great. But if you just see it and enjoy it, that's fine too.

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Well, my thanks to Chris, Paul and Scott. Their movie, Loss Of Hope, goes live at Scott Goldberg Movies.com on November 4th. I, for one, can't wait to check it out. Watch Rogue Cinema next month for my review, and take a minute (or six) and head over there and check it out for yourself. Scott and the guys worked hard on this movie and I know that they would appreciate everyone checking it out. So, until next month, we here at RC wish Loss Of Hope all the best and we can't wait to see what's next from this talented group!