Rudy Scalese Interview

Exclusive, with the new Director of Development at NALA Films

Rudy Scalese: We are doing Open Grave, which Eduardo Rodriguez is directing. We're very excited about it. We are going to shoot it this fall. The script was written by a pair of brothers Eddie and Chris Borey - it's a very scary and smart horror film, then I read and I really liked. And you know my background of course.

Staci Layne Wilson / Horror.com: Yes: L.A. ScreamFest.

Rudy Scalese: And so it was really great to work for a company that that got behind [a new horror film] and was very willing to sort of go to that, because we were open to any genre. It centers around a guy who, in the beginning of the movie, wakes up in a pool of dead bodies and he has no idea how he got there, who he is, and he has to figure out why he's there in the mystery surrounding the whole thing. That's all I can say.

SLW: Ha, ha. That's not the first time I've heard that!

Rudy Scalese: It's just that when you it was it was very smart on paper, and that's what I've always been attracted to or why I wanted to get into the film business to get behind smart horror films. It was a dream come true… just to sort of set the record straight, there was a body of films that they happen to be horrible movies that influence me to want to go to film school and get involved in movie making. So I could say I was involved in a good horror film. We all believe this is going to be a good one, so it's for the fans. You come from being a fan and now you're in a position of power to say, 'hey this is what I think is a great horror film'. And so, hopefully, I think everyone is going to like it.

SLW: Had you seen his previous work? Curandero was supposed to be good, but I never had the opportunity to see it.

Rudy Scalese: I did. We loved it, and I loved his short, Daughter. It's very very creepy it's very smart director and he's great for the film and we all love him and were very excited and Eduardo is just going to be great. So you know I'm very excited about that and you know again, Going To Pieces was very exciting for me. [I think we made the point that] when something sort of violent sort of happens… in the media, this is something is always quickly pointed at movies, entertainment, and just hopefully they'll see the for its just be inspired and pick up and read the book which is far better than the film in my opinion. And, just say 'wow, you know there was something that happened, you know I might not still want to go and see one but I have a little bit more respect for it now'.

I think at the end of the day that's what's filmmaking is all about. You're trying to put your heart into something regarding the genre when it's just a certain part of filmmaking [that's] always looked down upon. So it's just like any other genre: comedy or dramas. People like to be afraid and they go and, pay their 10 bucks, or $12, have a fun roller coaster ride, and then be done with you.

And that's what going to the movies from my experience is all about. I'm very excited about it I'm very, very thrilled because there's so many independent for films being made and it's just so funny how, like all of a sudden now the markets oversaturated. Before, there weren't any horror movies and all of a sudden there's this big abundance. So it's hard… like if two or three come out in a row and they do poorly, at the box office, all of a sudden it'll pop up and say the genre's dead.

Then the next thing you know, 1408 comes out and makes $20 million dollars, just over the weekend. It is the same thing that Hostel did just a year ago, and all of a sudden: 'oh you know, wait a minute, we were wrong'. Audiences, genre fans, people; just want to see good movies. At the end of the day, there could be three or four horror films that don't work but there's always going to be one that does well.

SLW: Tell me about going from ScreamFest to being the Director of Development at NALA.

Rudy Scalese: The great thing about working for a company like NALA is that we do all genres, so I am in not just living through myself and my tastes — although my background is with horror films. We have a movie coming out in September called In The Valley of Ellah starring Tommy Lee Jones. And we're very excited about that. We have another movie coming out in the spring called The Air I Breathe, which is directed by a gentleman named Jieho Lee, which stars Brendan Fraser, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Eddy Garcia, Kevin Bacon, Emile Hirsch, and Forrest Whitaker. And that centers around the Chinese proverb that says that life is made up of four emotions. Happiness, pleasure, love, and sorrow.

Being at NALA Films has been a joy. It's definitely a step up for my career, and again it's very exciting that they actually trusted me with Open Grave and got behind it. And they are learning about the genre. Any given day when I talk to them, and I'm in the room [laughs].

And then I'm learning about all the other genres, the financing, and how these get made and it's just an interesting world you know… it's interesting to see to read all kinds of material. Say it's a studio thriller, you know, that will star someone like Richard Gere. The type of moments that are actually written for someone like Richard Gere, who can walk through a movie that, if it were a low budget movie without a star, it would seem like you know, a simple walk through the park. But with someone like Richard Gere, who has an audience who goes to see him, they're on his every move. So it's really interesting to sort of see the various layers of writing amongst the Hollywood community; you can really see why studios by products and why they pass up certain things.

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