After impressing audiences at the 2019 Shriekfest and taking home the award for Best Thriller, Graham Denman is looking forward to the upcoming VOD release of his new thriller Greenlight. A hit for its mix of neon visuals, breakout acting performances, and its darkly twisted comedic energy, Greenlight is surprisingly Mr. Denman’s feature debut — check out our review HERE. I had the pleasure of chatting with this “Tales From The Crypt”-loving director about what led him to filmmaking, the ups and downs experienced in the making of Greenlight, and the relief of wrapping up the financial-miracle that was this meta film. 

At a young age, Graham Denman had the good fortune of meeting people who introduced him to great films and the production that goes into making them. Namely, a colorful man who gave him copies of Reservoir Dogs, Full Metal Jacket, The Big Lebowski, Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, and American History X. “[These movies] blew my mind and as soon as I watched them I was addicted. I wanted more of this is incredible stuff, so I started seeking things out and from that moment forward I was in love with wanting to make movies.” Also, at the age of 19, meeting a man at a tattoo appointment who invited him to Mark Villalobos’ special effects shop, Monster Effects, who took him on as a production assistant. “I spent about 8 years of my life there…helping with makeup and monster suits. Through that, I got to do some acting because a lot of directors thought I was a good-looking dude who could act. I also scored movies and was the composer of a couple of things, but directing was always the main goal. I used that experience to get people to finally give me some trust and I made my first short, won some awards. Then I got to go to Crypt TV, and because of people who saw that, I got money to make Greenlight. It helps with a movie like Greenlight to have all of that experience because I’ve been a PA, I’ve been an effects guy, I’ve been a composer, I’ve been an actor – I’ve done a lot of different areas and they all help inform the real passion, the directing. They helped give me knowledge on how to work in that world a lot more by just dipping my hand in every cookie jar I could.”

HorrorBuzz: Did your personal history in the industry influence the premise? 

Graham Denman: Thankfully, no one got killed in my line of work [like in the movie], but this movie is the most meta thing I have done in my life. I told Chase Williams that he is essentially playing me and to feel free to take some of my mannerisms and use them. You are not only an actor but you are playing through some very real moments of my life.” As far as the Jack/Shantel relationship, Denman admits, “There are definitely some real-life lines that are out there about supporting each other through tough times. Also, there’s an opening scene where Jack is in the office of an agent and talking to them about wanting to make stuff for them. The guy ignoring Jack and eating, that definitely happened to me where I’ve been in a meeting where someone just ate their food and didn’t even look me in the eye. I got into filmmaking because it makes me happy, it jumpstarts my heart and even when the world is in a shitty place movies are that escape that sometimes no matter how bad things get there is beauty in the world even if it is tragic. You should be leaning into the darkness of life as an artist, and you take that experience and turn it into something that you can throw back at the world that hurt you but in an inspirational and beautiful way. Making Greenlight was very cathartic because I spent so many years talking about making movies. I wanted Jack’s journey to reflect that and this movie is very based in reality. It couldn’t have been the same movie if it hadn’t. It’s really just a movie about a guy chasing his dreams and how everybody is telling him no and he needs to stand up and prove it to everyone….and then the drama comes in of needing to kill someone in real life and it’s this overexaggerated fun version thriller of a real-life story.

HB: Sometimes it’s hard to do labels, especially with a film like yours that has both horrific, romantic, even comedic elements. Greenlight was overall a mind game kind of thriller to me. Would you say that darker thrillers are your wheelhouse? 

GD: I love horror movies so much but I don’t want to just make horror. I want to make westerns, dramas, thrillers, maybe someday comedy since I’m usually a silly dude in general and my comedic senses bleed into my work whether it’s comedic timing or how a line is said. Being a versatile director is very important to me. Being a first time director, I didn’t want people to walk away saying it’s a straight horror film, that’s why the opening is a western, then turns into an indie rom-com, then a drama, then a thriller, then finally it becomes a horror movie. That way you get all of these different genres that normally wouldn’t work all in the same movie, but because it is a film about making a film you can experiment and make it somehow work. With my horror experience though, sure, I would love to make a full-blow horror movie in the future.”

HB: With this being your first feature-length film, what were some set-backs that you experienced? 

GD: The biggest one was the budget, we made this for a shoe-string budget of $55 grand, which is nothing in the world of filmmaking. One of my producers, Greg London, said it best ‘$55,000 isn’t a lot of money, but it is a lot of money’. Also, time, which is always the enemy when making a movie. Coverage and planning and making sure everything is what you need. A lot of filmmakers go in with a “cool-shot” mindset, but to make a good product, you have to get what you need, and then, get what you want. Most of the time it was ‘go, go go!’, but thankfully, the cast that we had was super professional and everybody gave it 100%.”

HB: Did you have any input on who got to fill each role? Did you know any of the actors personally or did you advocate for anyone to be in the film?

GD: The first time I saw John Dies at the End I knew I wanted to work with Chase Williamson. I thought he was an incredible actor, and also, he’s my age, has looks and mannerisms like me, so I thought I could get more of an organic performance. Chase read the script and was on board, and it was incredible to get my first choice. With Chris Browning who plays Bob Mosebey, I PA’d a lot on sets, one of them being the Last Rampage [with Chris Browning]. He was just so cool to watch on set, brilliant actor, humble, and kind to everyone on set. When it came to making Greenlight, I knew I couldn’t get him because of my budget and didn’t want to insult him, but I had messaged Chris letting him know that I’m making my first feature film and I hope that at some point we can work together. What I didn’t think was going to happen was that he messaged me back.” Moseby was sent the script and he came on board a week before shooting. Graham Denman and Caroline Williams worked together previously, and he saw an opportunity for the veteran horror actress to show her range. “The stars aligned for the casting of this movie in my opinion.

HB: What got you through each day of filming?

GD: I would be totally lying if I didn’t say that my girlfriend at the time wasn’t a huge reason for why I got this movie made; she was so supportive and understood I needed to get this done. But also it was more about thinking of all the directors I look up to and every movie and story I’ve ever adored and thinking that they didn’t quit and that they probably went through some really bad shit trying to push their movies and getting people to believe in them and realizing that that didn’t stop them. Anytime that I felt down on my luck I was able to turn to the movies that I loved as a reminder of why I’m doing what I’m doing and that I’m even lucky enough to be in a position to do the thing that I’ve been dreaming of doing. I would sit there on set and think what the fuck do I have to complain about, we’re making a movie right now, and we need to get through this, and then I would push myself. And lastly, another huge thing would be Rudy Scalese my producer on Greenlight. I love that man through thick and thin, he was basically my on-set therapist. Any time I was stressed out, Rudy was there to be a real friend. Also, my DP Powell Robinson who’s just a brilliant dude and Patrick Robert Young who wrote the script, those three were truly my inner circle that helped me get through every hard day. We were dealing with such a small budget with such a big vision — everyone thought I was out of my fucking mind working with only $55 thousand — but I said you know what, we’re storytellers and we face our problems head-on, and we’re gonna do this.”

HB: What were some of the highlights that you experienced?

GD: Finishing the damn thing (LOL). Because we didn’t have a distribution deal in place we didn’t have a time limit on when this needed to be finished. Since we didn’t have any money we couldn’t rush people, and we had brilliant people like Shawn Duffy who is an incredible sound designer who came in and did huge favors for us, and also Kevin Ripple who did the score for the movie and is an incredible composer who really cared about the material, but when you have no money and other jobs come up for those people I never want to be that person [to stop people from taking those jobs]. I knew they were doing me a favor so I was patient. It was slower than we wanted it to be but I also think that worked in our favor. It made post feel like we had all of the time we needed to get the cuts right, to get the sound design right, and to get the score right. Everything felt good by the time we finally finished, and even though we were all tired of watching the movie because we all saw it a thousand times while agreeing on everything, it really allowed us to make it what it needed to be at the level that we were trying to do it at.

HB: What is in the future for Greenlight?

GD: We were picked up by the Horror Collective after our world premiere at Shriekfest where we won best thriller feature film, and also, best actor for Chase William who super deserved it. We were the first movie that the Horror Collective picked up for giving to the world. We made this movie for nearly no money, the whole point of putting it out there is hopefully people will rent it and enjoy it.”

How can we stalk you?

• Instagram: GrahamFromTheCrypt
• Twitter: KillingTimeGD

On February 25th, Greenlight will become available for rent via pretty much every platform — PlayStation, Xbox, Vudu, DIRECTV, iTunes — so no excuses! Check out this thriller with killer performances, a relatable premise of someone trying to follow their dreams and continually getting the shaft, and a great aesthetic from the very promising director, Graham Denman. In his own words, “I hope everybody out there who’s wanted to be a filmmaker or artists gives us a couple of dollars to watch our film and rent it because I think they’ll all have a great time seeing an indie film that really is the definition of an indie film and we hope that we made something special that everyone can enjoy”.