Nicholas Carrodo
and
Ella Evans
Thank you so much for this interview opportunity. I’m joined by my producer, Ella Evans, to help make sure I cover every detail about this process.
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Did you study in any film school or private course? Or did you learn to make movies on your own?
I would say it's a little bit of both. I took a couple classes in high school to learn how to edit and use a camera properly. From those classes, I knew I wanted to go into a career in film. After high school I went to Northampton Community College and enrolled in their Tv and Radio Production major. I learned a good amount there, enough that I thought I had all the knowledge necessary to find my footing and build a career. After graduating with an associate’s degree I did a handful of odd jobs with film, commercials, interviews, product spotlights, etc. After 2 years of freelancing and struggling to find more and more work, I decided to throw in the towel with filmmaking and get a warehouse job in order to live a somewhat comfortable life with a stable schedule and income.
After working there for 2 weeks, I realized I shouldn’t have given up on my dream. Film is what makes me truly happy, and I wasn’t willing to leave that behind so easily. I quit that job and immediately applied to DeSales University’s film program to get a bachelor's degree in the one field I truly love. DeSales helped get me back on track and reignite that burning passion I used to have for filmmaking. I’ve found nothing but success after going back to school, and I’m so incredibly thankful for the experience it gave me. I can confidently say that I wouldn’t be the filmmaker or person I am today without setting my ego aside, admitting to myself that I didn't know everything about filmmaking, and deciding to continue my education. In my eyes, I will always be a student in film. I’ll never stop learning and trying to improve my craft.
-Nicholas Carrodo
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How many years have you been making movies and how did you get started in movies?
I’ve been working on movies for over 8 years now. While attending Northampton Community College, I made my very first film Lygophobia in 2016. I’ve always loved the found footage genre and saw it as an easy starting point. I liked the story I set up and wanted to continue it, so I made its sequel, Monophobia, in 2017. After making 2 found footage films, I became labeled as “the found footage guy” by other students and decided it was time to branch out. For my final project at NCC I made my first “traditional” narrative short, The Guy. It was pretty rough and I scrapped it at the time (but I ended up making something out of it and later releasing it in 2019).
After NCC, I worked with a paranormal investigation company, Ghost Hunts USA, to make a documentary on one of their haunted locations, the Shanley Hotel. This was my first ever documentary, aptly named A Weekend at the Shanley Hotel and my longest film to date. I’m obsessed with the supernatural, it's one thing I think is very evident in almost all of my films, so going there and literally hunting for ghosts was a dream come true. After this I formed my own production company, Ducklatch Productions, with 2 friends from NCC and we created Bitten together in late 2019. We really struggled to create that film. I couldn’t let go of how amateur it felt and I really wanted it to look so much better than it did. I had never used a professional camera or decent audio equipment and wouldn't even know how to use them if I had the chance. The only thing I had to make movies was a DSLR and a positive attitude. I saw Bitten as a
failure and a mark of shame, and I had to admit I didn't know the first thing about making a movie. I went back to college very shortly after that to continue learning about film.
At DeSales University, I created my best work. Intrusion, my sci-fi thriller, as shot in quarantine for a Production and Distribution class. Part of that course required us to submit our movies to film festivals. From there I fell in love with that process and became almost addicted to my film festival run. It was truly invigorating seeing my film get selected and even win awards. I became an award winning director because of that film. Finally, for my senior thesis film, I created The Door: a passion project I’ve been working on for 5 years with my fiancé, Skye Cruz. We wrote this short as an alternative opening of a feature film, and we intend on using this as a proof of concept piece in order to find more funding or maybe even a studio that’s willing to bring us on to create a feature film. There is so much of that story left to tell, and I hope one day I can share that with you.
-Nicholas Carrodo
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One of the problems that we filmmakers have is that we are not like the actors or the technical team, who work with many different productions and can learn different ways of doing things. Normally we only attend our own shoots. Have you had the opportunity to assist in the shooting of other people or are you usually only in your own shoots? If yes, is there anything that caught your attention?
I always try to help out fellow students with shoots or attend any sets that I can. I try to pick up whatever I can from the people I work with. One of the things I love about filmmaking is working as a team. A set can never be run by one single person, it requires effort from so many people. Collaboration is truly a beautiful thing, especially creatively. Everyone you work with in film has their own way of doing things, they come from different backgrounds and have different experiences that will influence their craft.
Things that stick with me are organization and discipline. If you don't organize and plan things out, you’re going to have a hard time making any progress. Without proper discipline, your set can turn into a disaster real quick. I learned this very early on in my career and I make sure now that my shoots are meticulously planned out. If a crew member is not on the same page as the rest of the crew, we have a discussion about that. If we can’t compromise, they leave the project. I’ve seen far too many projects fall apart because of pointless drama or lack of a plan. It turned me into something of a stickler, but once I see that we’re working like a well oiled machine (like we did with The Door), I can let loose and have a lot of fun on set. There’s something really special about finding your footing with your team and moving mountains together.
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What budget did you have for your project?
We had a gracious $5,700 budget.
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Is it self financed?
Part of the budget was self-financed as it was Nick's passion project and he had saved up to make this a reality. But most of the funds came from our wildly and unexpectedly successful IndieGoGo campaign. [https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-door--16#/] We were funded
252% and received $2750 more than our goal was. We’re truly grateful to our amazing backers who believed in this project and helped us in this financial capacity.
-Ella Evans
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Any anecdote that you can tell us about the filming?
My favorite part of filming happened on the very first day we shot. We had rented a part of Pennsylvanian state game land and they gave us a code to unlock the gate so we could bring the truck with the physical door up into the woods. It seemed pretty straightforward. So we got there very early in the morning, gathered in the parking lot in front of the gate, put the code in, and...nothing. It didn't work. We started to worry, our actors would be arriving in an hour and we needed to set up base camp, dress the set, and get shooting. Seeing no other way, my First Assistant Director Chris Folley and Gaffer Andre Ewing hauled that beast of a door down the trail and deep into the woods to our set. They had to have carried that thing close to a mile into the forest, it was incredible.
We called up the state game commission to see what happened and if we put the code in wrong. Their response: “Did you push the lock in?” I don't think any of us have ever felt as dumb as we did in that moment. We put the slightest amount of pressure on the top of the lock and it clicked itself open. I will never forget the absurdity of that first day of shooting for the rest of my life.
-Nicholas Carrodo
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What are you most proud of about this project?
I am most proud of the people we had on this project and their flexibility and resolve through challenges. We had some struggles during pre-production with securing locations, getting actors, and the general uncertainty of COVID. And once we got to set we were constantly battling the weather and the sun to get the footage we needed. But our entire cast and crew remained pleasant and helpful through it all. Everyone cared deeply about the project and wanted to see it done well and I think that reflects in the final product. We really could not have done it without our team.
-Ella Evans
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I agree with Ella. I'm so incredibly proud of my cast and crew. Making this film required a constant stream of minor miracles that everyone pitched in to pull off. There were so many times where things seemed so bleak or borderline impossible, but somehow we pulled each other up by the bootstraps, brushed off the dirt, and worked to make this happen. When everything was pushing against us, we pushed back and made this film come hell or high water. We were as resilient as we could be. It was so rewarding to have crew members tell me this was one of the best sets they worked on. All the hours, the sleepless nights, the blood, sweat, and tears were all worth it in the end, and I am eternally thankful to everyone involved.
-Nicholas Carrodo
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And what less? What would you change if you could go backwards?
If I could go back and change anything, I would add more of the cult. Sean Riehm played Trenton so well and I wish I gave him more lines. I couldn’t get enough of him on set and he was
an absolute joy to work with. I would’ve loved more screen time with him. But hey, that’s what the feature film is for!
-Nicholas Carrodo
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Did you comply with the shooting plan or did it take longer than expected?
One lesson a filmmaker learns early on in their career is: Make a plan but don’t get attached. You can work on pre-production for years and have a foolproof plan but once you get to set, everything can go out the window in a heartbeat. We were able to stick with our original number of shooting days but we had to often rearrange and combine shots to get everything done. And we had a great 1st AD (Chris Folley) who was essential to making sure we got all the coverage we needed. And Chris worked so well with Nick and Jesse Crum (our DP) to troubleshoot through the schedule and make it all work out.
-Ella Evans
I was very happy that we actually ended most days ahead of schedule. That’s all thanks to Ella and Chris for making sure we stayed on schedule and on time. They were essential to this shoot and I don’t think it would have been anywhere near as successful without either of them.
-Nicholas Carrodo
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Fincher says that if a director can translate into a film 70% of what he had in mind, he can be more than satisfied. What % do you think you have achieved in this project?
I feel like it was a solid 70%-80%. There were things I wanted to do to the set, like burning the ground to give it a distinct scorched look that we were unable to achieve for obvious reasons. I also wanted the latter half of the film to take place more towards golden hour/dusk and the ending shot occurring at night. Due to our equipment limitations, a night shoot just didn't seem possible although we did end up getting very close!
-Nicholas Carrodo
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If you had an unlimited budget. Which actor and actress would you like to work with?
When my fiancé and I were working on this and thinking of the feature film, I always envisioned Jon Bernthal as Neil (the older brother) and Nicholas Cage as Trenton (the cult leader). If I had all the money in the world I would absolutely want to work with both of them on the feature version of the film. Can you imagine those two absolute powerhouses acting opposite each other? The idea is legendary to me, absolutely legendary.
-Nicholas Carrodo
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Your favorite movie?
My all time favorite movie is Peter Jackson’s King Kong. I remember my dad keeping me home from school the day it came out and we went to the very first showing at my local theater. As an eight year old, the movie absolutely blew me away. As an adult, it's still breathtaking. The visuals are an absolute spectacle and the story is such a classic. That’s the movie that sparked my passion for filmmaking. I want to give some kid the exact same feeling I had sitting in that theater.
-Nicholas Carrodo
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Similar to Nick’s story, of being impacted as a child by film- my favorite movie is The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. I was about 7 years old and I to this day remember sitting in the theatre and having my imagination totally and completely captured by the story. And part of what is special too is my mom had spent many nights reading the book to me before we went to see the film. So seeing a story I already loved told visually through film was so impactful. And even 17 years later, and after having gained an education in film, that movie still holds up for me in everyway possible. There have been many steps along the way to making me the filmmaker and storyteller I am today, but Narnia is at the beginning of it all.
-Ella Evans
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And filmmaker?
There are so many filmmakers that have made an impact in my life that it’s so hard to pick just one. My major inspirations are Guillermo del Toro and Neill Blomkamp. They each have such a distinct style and vision that makes them stand out from the rest. They continuously work towards their passion projects and refuse to give into pressures to change their visions. I try to carry that same energy in my own life and with my own work. I hope to one day tell them how much their work means to me.
-Nicholas Carrodo
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What is the scene that has impacted you the most?
One of my favorite scenes is when the brothers are approaching the Door for the first time. Nick and our DP, Jesse, did an amazing job visually showing the rift in the brothers’ relationship and the reconciliation of them both. The brothers drift apart and create physical space while fighting and when they reach the Door they are drawn back together and mend their relationship with each other. Having the visual reinforce the emotional on screen is so important in filmmaking and it was a great scene to see play out.
-Ella Evans
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A scene that I didn't expect to impact me as much as it did is when Neil gets shot and is writhing in pain on the ground. Romeo Sanchez did a phenomenal job of bringing Neil’s–not only physical, but emotional–pain to life. I feel very uncomfortable watching it. The desperation and determination he has to crawl over to his brother in what may be his final moments was powerful. Romeo brought so much to that role and impressed the heck out of all of us.
-Nicholas Carrodo
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If you could do a remake of a movie, what would it be?
To come full circle, I’d love to remake King Kong as the very last thing I do as a filmmaker. The movie means so much to me, it’s what made me want to make movies. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the film, but it would be a blast to dive into that world and play in that sandbox. I would be doing eight year old Nick a disservice if I didn’t hop on the first chance I could to bring that world to life in my own way.
-Nicholas Carrodo
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Where do you see yourself 10 years from now? Do you think you will continue making movies?
I don't think anything will ever stop me from making movies and telling stories. When I’m working on a film, I feel like I’m following a path I was always meant to follow. It feels natural to me. It’s stressful and overwhelming at times, but it's a different kind of stress. I thrive in it and can’t get enough of it. There’s nothing like seeing something you imagined in your head come to life in front of you and the validation you get when that vision is appreciated by other people. I would hope that in the next 10 years I turn The Door into the feature film I always wanted it to be. I’ve always seen this project as my stepping stone into the larger world of filmmaking, something to get my name out there and...my foot in the door–pun intended.
-Nicholas Carrodo