Filmmaker Ryan Swantek is embarking on his first feature film. Entitled Vengeance is Her Name it will star Jaclyn Hales (Legion, Cypher, Extinct, Mosaic) as a woman who wakes up in hell and must find out why. Swantek lives in Sarasota, Florida and despite his distance from Hollywood (not counting the Florida one,) hecontinues to pursue his passion. But what does it take to be an independent filmmaker far from the bright lights of Los Angeles? We speak with him here.

HorrorBuzz: You have produced short films so far, most of which are horror pro horror adjacent. Why start in this genre?

Ryan Swantek: I’ve been a horror fan all my life, and it’s a genre that I think still doesn’t get the respect that it truly deserves. I think a lot of people think of horror as just slasher type films, when there is so much more than that. It’s a genre that has no limits or restrictions, and when done right, it can blend perfectly with other genres and create a really great movie.

I don’t think I ever told myself “These films are going to be horror,” but it was more just what they became when I wrote them. I try to write what I feel I am good at, and what comes naturally, and for me horror allows me to really create a unique film that has no limits.

HB: You are getting to your first feature. What is it?

RS: The title of the film is Vengeance is Her Name and the premise is very straight forward; A woman wakes up in Hell and she has to find out what brought her there. When people think of Hell they probably think of fire and pitchforks, but this will be much different from that portrait of Hell. Without giving too much away, this film is going to be like a nightmare, and it is completely unforgiving.

I am very excited to finally be able to direct my first feature, and I am so glad it is with this script. I spent most of 2021 trying to get a different script off the ground, emailing hundreds of producers and production companies. Surprisingly I had a lot of people asking for that script since I had a successful body of short films to show for, but to make a long story short, nothing happened. I ended the year right where I started, with absolutely no momentum with any script and just felt pretty bad to say the least.

I then decided at the end of 2021 I’m going to make my own film here in Sarasota and I’m not going to bother with asking anyone their permission to make it. In January I wrote the script for Vengeance is Her Name, and I absolutely loved it. I’m very glad things worked out the way they did because without that year of nothing happening, this script would never have been written.

It’s the classic “If you want something done right you gotta do it yourself.”

HB: When do you know that a short film needs to become a feature-length film?

RS: That depends on a lot of factors. I’ll start by saying three of my five short films are technically proof of concepts, and none of them made it to the feature stage. There are so many factors that go into taking a short film to the next level, sometimes it just happens with a short film going viral and you have Hollywood knocking on your door (every indie filmmaker’s dream), and other times it’s done the proof of concept way.

With a proof of concept, you’re making that film with the intention of raising financing whether through investors or to be used for a crowdfunding campaign. If you’re going that route it is important to make sure you know you have access to investors, a fan base, or really supportive friends who will donate money to your feature. If you have those things in line, then you probably have a good chance at getting that project to the next level.

My most recent short Rosary was a proof of concept, and it was a project that I really had hoped that it would make it to the next level. We tried getting it in front of people once it was complete, and everyone passed on it. With that film, I would never have been able to fund that myself or through investors/crowdfunding. We needed a company to take that project on, but sometimes it just doesn’t work for whatever reason. I still would love to bring the feature version of that film to life, and hopefully, someday we will be able to.

HB: Can you tell us who is involved?

RS: Jaclyn Hales (Legion, Cypher, Extinct, Mosaic) is going to be playing the role of Vengeance and will also serve as an executive producer. I couldn’t be happier to have such a talented actress bringing this role to life. There’s still more casting to be done, and I’m sort of just completing the puzzle both in front and behind the camera. More updates to follow!

HB: What advice can you give to filmmakers all over the country/globe that think that they are disconnected from movies just because they are far from “Hollywood”?

RS: This is a great question, and it is possibly the most asked, divisive, and talked about question in the world wide filmmaking community. There are people who will tell you that you absolutely have to live in LA and there are no exceptions. Then there are people who say it doesn’t matter you can live wherever you want. I used to think I had no chance of any success without living in LA and going to film school there. My opinion on this now ranges somewhere in the middle, and it all depends on what your goal is. While Hollywood is an actual physical place, it is also a metaphor for the entertainment industry, and the entertainment industry is worldwide.

Do you have to physically live in LA to succeed as a filmmaker? No, absolutely not, especially not in the age of technology that we live in. If the was true, then we wouldn’t have any foreign cinema. With that said, if you are serious about filmmaking as a career and want to make quality films, it is crucial to live somewhere that has a film community of working professionals. I don’t agree with the message a lot of people in the industry put out with saying to just shoot something on your iPhone. I know people have done that before, but they also had a professional crew,
editing software, post-production team etc. Having a professional team is crucial to making a quality product no matter what camera is being used.

If you have a great script, but an inexperienced crew, the film is going to look really bad. I’ve seen movies shot on the most expensive cameras that are used on big Hollywood productions and still look low quality. I’ve also seen movies shot on “cheaper” cameras that look like a professionally made movie because the crew understood how to use that camera, and light a scene. It’s a very harsh but unfortunate truth about this industry. It’s not like music where you
can upload yourself singing or playing your instrument by yourself, filmmaking is a team effort. I could talk forever about this subject, but I will end by saying that you don’t have to live in LA, but try to find a place where you can work with professionals. You would be surprised by how many areas around the world are building their own Hollywood.

HB: When do you HOPE to have your feature done and how can fans of indie cinema see it?

RS: As of now we are shooting this in January 2023, which means a good portion of that year will be spent in post production. In a perfect world we can finish VIHN in 2023 and I can start getting distribution in order. I would personally like to see it get picked up by one of the major streamers. I think this is a film that would definitely work best on a platform that allows films to be shown without any restrictions. There’s a lot of streamers right now that are giving indie films exposure to audiences that might not have known about these films without them. I think it’s a great time for a movie like this, and I’m excited to see where it ends up.