“Dread Factory” script supervisor, Weston Henry, actress Alex Williamson, and Mark Kerins go over blocking for a scene in a film. (Photo Courtesy of Student Film Association)
SMU is in for a scare Friday night, as the Student Film Association is set to premiere its long-awaited project, “Dread Factory.”
The film, which was shot in the now torn-down Mrs. Baird’s factory, is a 40-minute horror film that was shot last summer.
“Dread Factory” started its journey to completion after a mix of SMU’s film and advertising students got the idea to shoot it while working on a commercial for the Art Directors Club of New York student competition.
“After some informal meetings, during which we tossed around various ideas, things started to come together and the concept for ‘Dread Factory’ came to life,” Griffin Klement, one of the film’s writers, said.
Considering the film’s location, much of the project’s inspiration came from the dilapidated Dallas landmark.
“The factory was very cool in a creepy way, it added a lot to the project,” Mark Kerins, the faculty advisor for SFA, said. “A group of us thought it was such a great space that we wrote a movie specifically to take advantage of that before it was torn down.”
While the location may have been a muse to the filmmakers, it did not come without a slue of problems.
“There was a miscommunication between the manager of the building, us and SMU PD,” Klement said. “They tried shutting it down, but after realizing the amount of money and number of people involved they reconsidered and allowed us to film as long as a police officer was supervising.”
Originally planned to be filmed in the Fall of 2010, the project had to bump up the project when plans to tear down the factory threatened to interfere with the project.
In mid-spring we were told the building was going to start being prepped for demo shortly after school ended,” Kerins said. “We had to cram a lot of screenwriting and pre-production into a short period of time. At the last minute, the demolition ended up being pushed back by months, and it turned out we could probably have shot in the fall as originally planned.”
While the film may have had a few ups and downs, the end project is believed to have turned out well.
“I always hoped the end product would turn out ‘good given the constraints,’ but it actually turned out to be just plain ‘good,'” Kerins said. “Everyone on the cast and crew kicked up their game a notch and came up with one of the best looking films I’ve seen shot at SMU.”
The film will premiere Friday at SMU’s Hughes-Trigg Student Center, much of the film’s cast and crew will be present to take questions after the screening.
“I guarantee you won’t be bored by this film,” Kerins said. “It’s got a little something for everyone-there are some truly funny parts, some suspenseful bits, a little bit of romance, and a few surprises.”
Following the presumed success of “Dread Factory,” SMU’s film department will start production of its new summer project.
What separates this project from other film department projects is the funding that the film received.
With a bulk of the funding coming from the Meadows School of the Arts, the film will be perhaps the biggest production ever accomplished for SMU’s film department.
“We’re hugely thankful to Dean Bowen for strongly supporting this project, we think that it shows that the school recognizes the potential of this project as a great learning opportunity for current students,” Kerins said. “Having such strong support from Meadows, this year’s shoot to me is a boost of confidence but also makes us cognizant that we need to do this year right, with a really positive experience for those involved and a great final product coming out of it.”
Another hope for the summer project is that it will market SMU’s film department to a wider audience with its submission in various festivals.
“For this department, this is a chance to get our name out there to prospective students,” Kerins said. “Not just through film showings themselves, but also as something unique we’re doing that other school are not. USC may have a giant soundstage, but here our student got the chance to come up with a story, write a feature film, and then go on location for two weeks with faculty and alumni to shoot the film.”
With the completion of “Dread Factory,” and the beginning of a feature film, the times are strong for SMU’s film department.
“‘Dread’ was a project that began just because a group of students thought it would be cool to shoot a film in the Mrs. Baird’s factory,” Kerins said. “I think this summer will be the same, everyone doing it is certainly hopes that we get a solid film.”
