Director Joe Stauffer talks Pieces of Talent
Writer/director/cinematographer Joe Stauffer has been building up a steady portfolio of shorts, commercials and music videos through his production company Shutter Blade Media, and is now poised to assemble his own homegrown horror franchise with Pieces of Talent, a blood-soaked indie shocker that’s also shockingly beautiful.
Pieces of Talent is co-written by and stars David Long as a disturbed “filmmaker” named (you guessed it) David Long with an aptitude for snuff films. This long-haired freak sets his eyes on an aspiring actress named Charlotte (Kristi Ray) and proceeds to carve his way into her life. Although they “meet cute” when she rescues him after a beat down in front of the strip club where he works, their relationship goes from harmonious to ominous once it becomes apparent to her that David is a true-blue psychopath.
Though there’s plenty of gore and torture for genre fans to whet their appetite for destruction, Stauffer brings a keen eye to the film’s visuals and manages to transcend the cut-rate look most microbrudget horror suffers from. He also scores some deeply felt performances from the cast, and leaves room for the “David Long” character to stretch into a planned sequel, titled A Missing Piece and set to go into production this year.
Shock Till You Drop: What was the impetus for Pieces of Talent?
Joe Stauffer: David and I have been making things together for years. Sometimes we drink beer, make corn dogs and weird things happen. When it come to this project, we just wanted to tell a story, shoot a film, and do it on our own terms.
Shock: This is an odd film because it’s beautifully shot for a low-budget effort, it’s got very disturbing moments of gore offset by humor and even tenderness. What was the target tone, as well as the target audience, that you had in mind while making it?
Stauffer: When David and I wrote this film, we were not really aiming for anything specific when it comes to genre, audience or overall tone. We just wanted to peek into a part of David and Charlotte’s lives. Real life has it’s ups and downs, much like the situations and tones in this film. David is a nice guy at the core of it all, he has his reasons for doing the things he does.
Shock: How did you connect with David Long?
Stauffer: David and I met in a Piggly Wiggly parking lot back in 2006. I had locked my keys in my car and he helped me fish them out through the window. As an act of gratitude, I offered him a beer from the items I had just picked up at the store, he noticed the camera equipment in my car and we chatted for a bit the rest is history.
Shock: David is the co-writer, the star, uses his real name AND has a rap song/video named after him. Is this an attempt to make a name for Long or more just you guys having fun?
Stauffer: David doesn’t really care about being an actor, it just so happens he is really good at it. The music track for “The David Long Song” was sent to us by Klassified, a music artist who has a few tracks in the film as well as a cameo. We didn’t even know he had written it, so once we heard the song the music video was just something we decided to do for the hell of it. All of the music and art in the film are from local and independent artists.
Shock: In a lot of ways the film reminds me of the original “Maniac” in the sense that it’s a slasher written by the lead actor who created a role where he’s somehow able to charm his way into the life of a beautiful woman. Was it tricky pulling off the burgeoning relationship between David and Charlotte in a way that felt at least semi-grounded?
Stauffer: It wasn’t hard at all. What you see on screen is a real friendship. Kristi Ray and David are close in real life and I think it really comes across in the film. We all grew close during production, and it has been very rewarding to work with such kind, creative, and genuine people.
Shock: How much of the filmmaking/movie industry stuff layered into the story comes from your own experience?
Stauffer: A lot of my personal experiences were put into the story. I stay as far away from the film industry as possible.
I have seen behind the curtain enough to know I want no part of it.
Shock: Did you always have a sequel in mind, or did that spring from the response to the first film?
Stauffer: I put “to be continued” on the end credits since it was first released, because I personally wanted to see what happened to these people. There is a lot more that we can learn about and learn from David and Charlotte if we get another peek into their lives.
Shock: What lies in store for David, Charlotte and Jeramy Blackford’s journalist character in “A Missing Piece”? How will it differ from the original?
Stauffer: I can’t really give anything away about the story at this point, but A Missing Piece will be extremely different than P.O.T. We will focus more on David and Andrew (Blackford’s character) rather than Charlotte. We will get to see a little more into what makes David tick and follow Andrew as he unravels the depth of David and Charlotte’s relationship.
SHock: Tell us some of the obstacles you overcame to get “Pieces of Talent” made, and how you plan to finance the new film as well.
Stauffer: Any film has it’s own set of challenges. For us it was working with a small amount of money ($50,000), as well as managing not to die on the farm. Aside from all of that though, I think the distribution of this film has been the most challenging and the most rewarding. We are doing it 100% independently and it has been a success.
Shock: What’s the best individual reaction you got from someone who saw “Pieces of Talent”?
Stauffer: A few people have gotten tattoos of the tagline “I have something beautiful I want you to see” that is the ultimate compliment, especially since it is in my handwriting. One of the best parts about this entire experience is getting to meet the people that have supported our film.
Shock: How big is your crew on an average shooting day? You seem to get a lot of bang for your buck visually (being the DP as well), how do you manage that without a large amount of time/resources?
Stauffer: During principal photography, we had about 15 people on the crew, but once that was over we never had more than 5 people on the crew. I prefer a small crew. We just stuck with it and did what we needed to do to get the film completed and up to our standard of quality. There was no deadline, there was only a goal: making a quality film. All of the credits were hand written by me.
Shock: You have clips from another project on your website for a more traditional ghost story called “The Azalea Haunting.” What is the status of that?
Stauffer: I have a few projects in “limbo,” but right now I am more focused on getting lost in the woods for a few months and taking a break from everything. When I get back from my vision-quest, I am going to be making some films with Natalie Jean. Hopefully by then I will have grown a beard that will command respect and hopefully let everyone know I mean business.
Shock: Do you see yourself sticking with this genre or is horror just the most commercially accessible way of kickstarting a career right now?
Stauffer: I just want to make art. I put my heart into this film and plan on doing the same with the next project I get involved with. That makes me happy. I am not really interested in having a career in film. I really don’t care about being commercially successful. I really don’t care about being a director. I realized years ago that I had no interest in playing the “game” that everyone else governs their lives by in order to get ahead.
STYD: Anything else you’d like to tell us about you or your production company Shutter Blade Media?
Stauffer: I am extremely picky when it comes to ranch dressing it has to be fresh or it just doesn’t taste right. Of course, when it comes to Pieces Of Talent, the Blu-ray is now available for preorder and will ship in late August.
(Photo Credit: Joe Stauffer)
