Knife, 3min., USA
Directed by Michael Kuciak
A slasher told from the point-of-view of the murder weapon.

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?

The short film KNIFE is a proof-of-concept for a feature I’m working to get made.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?

I got back from Illinois/Wisconsin from having directed another short film. I decided to jump right into shooting a proof-of-concept for KNIFE. I reached out to Jason, and offered him the role; he was gracious enough to volunteer his apartment for the shoot. David Gordon (my DP) did a walk-through with Jason and Anthea while I was traveling. I got back to town, and we shot out the film in one 12-hour session. I cut it together, and worked with Adrian Innaimo on the sound and score, a process that took several days. David Gordon did the final composite shot of the Knife looking at itself in the mirror, and handled color correction. And that was that – KNIFE!

3. How would you describe your film in two words!?

Cutting edge.

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?

On the technical side, David had to handle the final composite shot. It wasn’t something I was able to pull off in the initial cut. Story-wise, I was looking for an ending that would put a nice button on the short. I reached back to an earlier version of Knife the feature script, in which part of the mythology is the killed then gets up and kills. That aspect has since been dialed back in the feature version for narrative reasons. But in a short, it works just fine.

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?

It’s a lot of fun. You make these things, and you want people to watch them. In the course of our festival run on Knife, we’ve gotten a lot of great feedback.

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?

Very young. Growing up in Chicago, my favorite part of the week was watching horror movies on Son of Svengoolie. I had an uncle who was a co-owner of a theater. My parents weren’t super-rich, so the free tickets we got from him meant that a frequent family outing involved seeing movies at his theater. When I was a little kid, I thought the people who owned the theaters also made the movies, so I would pitch him ideas for films; they were always monster movies. As a teen, I set aside film for music, and played in bands for a while. When I didn’t become a rock star, I started looking for something else to do, and I realized that if I didn’t at least give film a shot I would always regret it. So here we are.

7. What film have you seen the most in your life?

I have certain comfort food movies that I’ll spin on a whim: Evil Dead II, Fellowship of the Ring, Big Lebowski, Spider-Man 2, Goodfellas, and so on. But the films I’ve seen most in life… I would give that a split decision between Conan the Barbarian, Robocop, and Road Warrior.

8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?

I’m not sure. You seem to be doing a great job already.

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experiences been working on the festival platform site?

I’m a big fan of FilmFreeway, which makes it incredibly easy to submit films. The only downside is it’s so easy that you can let your eyes get bigger than your wallet. You go through the available festivals and think, “This one! And this one! Oh, and this one!” And then you go to checkout, and the tally is over a grand. So you have to dial it back, get more selective.

10. What is your favorite meal?

Whatever craft service has going on set.

11. What is next for you? A new film?

My next hitter project is a sci-fi thriller called Innescape that I’m working on with my writing partner, Jeff Connell. It’s a high-concept mystery thriller in the tradition of Blade Runner. And of course I’m always looking for financing for the feature film version of Knife.