Jason Liquori is an independent filmmaker that recently wrapped his fifth feature “Savaged”. He does his films on the smallest of budgets and has worked with such horror stars as Debbie Rochon. In addition to directing he also runs Hocus Focus Productions, is a writer and an actor. I recently interviewed Jason.

Thanks for agreeing to the interview, Jason. First things first, what is “Savaged” about?

My pleasure. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to talk about my film. “Savaged” centers around Maria (Debbie Rochon), who has uprooted her life in order to escape an abusive boyfriend. She takes a job as a dog sitter and house sitter in order to have a place to hide and finds herself alone in a place that seems to be even safer than she hoped. As time goes on, however, she finds that things aren’t always as they appear and the homeowners she is working for may be running from something themselves. Meanwhile, Jeff, her ex-boyfriend, starts showing signs that he is closing in on her and it becomes apparent that the dog is more than she seems.I know the film’s budget is micro-budget. How do you approach a micro-budget project?I had just read the biography of Val Lewton and was inspired by what he achieved with what Hollywood perceived as small budgets. The indie equivalent is micro-budget, so I thought I’d give it a try. The key was to concentrate on atmosphere and character development. Once I had decided on the style I wanted to shoot in I took inventory of what I already had available: my house, a fairly big dog, friend Tabatha Gipe, who does excellent make-up work and an astounding talent in Debbie Rochon. From there it was easy. I had to make an isolation movie so I wouldn’t need a lot of other locations or talent to make these components work for me. I took a very minimalist approach to the whole thing and hopefully that allowed me to keep the production itself at a higher level and stretch my small budget where it counted.

Other than the budget what was the biggest challenge in filming “Savaged”?

Well, it’s sort of due to the budget, but the other challenge I set myself was getting principle photography done in under 5 days, which really turned out to be 4-1/2. The schedule was also partly due to Debbie’s rigorous schedule at Fangoria Radio. I could work with her between shows and really could afford to fly her out once. If I could of I probably would have extended her stay by a day or two. Since most of the movie features her character it meant shooting almost the entire thing during her visit. We did do some pick up shots with the dog and the opening credits sequence on different days and Debbie did an excellent job of tracking her own continuity and adapting to schedule changes. In fact, at times, she and I would restructure the schedule together after a 14-hour day. In a very big way she helped to produce the movie. Most horror fans have seen this loose formula a few times before.

How do you make sure you’re offering the audience something new?

I’m not sure I really concentrated on that much. We have our own story to tell and our own characters to present and I think once they take on a life of their own the audience will see that it’s a new twist on an old favorite. We do use some familiar aspects of other formulas to our advantage, I think. It all goes back to “things aren’t always what they seem”. Knowing what people will expect creates the opportunity to surprise them.

Your dog had a role in the film?

I would say that my dog, Valkrie has the second biggest role in the movie after Debbie Rochon. The first half of the movie is really about Maria’s relationship with Lotus, the dog. It was really fun to shoot their scenes because Debbie has met Val on several occasions (and my other dog, Xena) and they have a great rapport. I think it comes across on screen. With our micro budget hiring a film trained dog was out of the question, but fortunately I was able to shoot a lot of cutaways of Val on days before and after the shoot but I had to keep my house “set ready”. I also wrote in behaviors I knew she would perform and used the weeks before production to teach her one or two behaviors I knew we’d need. Teaching her to look in specific directions for example.Her eyeline with Debbie, though, is usually genuine. That dog would follow her anywhere. The toughest shots to get were her looking vicious. She was just so happy to have so much attention every day.

You had Debbie Rochon host a chapter film you directed entitled “Death Plots”. What made you decide to do a film in which she starred?

Actually, Debbie hosted “The Lunar Pack”, “Death Plots” and “All Wrapped Up” for me. After seeing her performance in “Nowhere Man” and working with her on a few occasions I realized I was wasting an immense talent on campy cameo type of roles. I wanted to give her something she could really sink her teeth into, so I wrote a movie that she had to carry nearly on her own. I’m sure she’ll forgive me someday. Also, once I had a script featuring Val forming a relationship with our lead character I knew Debbie Rochon was the actress to play Maria. She has such a way with animals. We were shooting long days, as I said earlier, and she was still very patient when we would have to wait for Val to hit her mark or just decide she was in the mood to be on camera.

What does Debbie Rochon bring to the table that differentiates her from other actors and actresses?

Debbie Rochon is a force. She can delve into a character with nearly no rehearsal time. She understands the filmmaking process better than I do and is a vast source of information and ideas. She shows up ready to work, but understands the delays that other departments sometimes suffer. By “other departments” I of course mean me and a few volunteers that may or may not have been around on a given day. She has so much experience that she is willing to share. She is not, however, pushy about how a movie is being shot or produced. I really could not have completed this movie without her. It would have been a vastly different project

Tell me about your production company Hocus Focus Productions

Hocus Focus Productions started out as an event videography company, but I always wanted to write and make movies. Horror, sci-fi and action are the genres I enjoy, so I tend to write within those genres. We shoot digitally and with “Savaged” we take our first step into High Definition production. The “company” is mostly me and freelancers and volunteers come in to help on a per project basis. As we’ve worked over the years though we’ve built up a stable of cast and crew that I like. Basically I have stories to tell and Hocus Focus Productions is the tool that allows me to tell them.

All horror fans tend to have an opinion on the direction horror is going or on recent releases. What impact do you hope to have on the horror genre?

Not to beat a dead horse, but I’m going to mention remakes here. Remakes have been a Hollywood staple for decades, especially in horror and sci-fi. Sometimes the remakes recognize the original and sometimes they just “borrow” ideas from it. What I think is missing though is the actual feel of the older films. I’d like to bring horror and suspense back to basics. Towering CGI monsters are cool, but the sci-fi channel has that covered. I want to tell stories about people who just happen to be going through something scary, tense or weird.

When can we expect to see “Savaged” released? 

That’s always a tricky question for an independent movie maker.”Savaged” is showing June 7th in Tampa (www. myspace. com/freedoublefeature) Fl as part of a cast/crew sneak preview, but as far as a DVD release that will depend on whom we sign with for distribution. I’d like to see it street by the end of this year, but realistically it may take a little longer than that. Meanwhile, keep an eye out for it at film festivals. We’ll be submitting it to a few of those soon. Thanks again for giving me the opportunity to tell people about “Savaged”.