Spooked: Behind the Curtain With Series Director, Richard Martin (Interview)

Posted by Antony Athippozhy on Aug 22, 2014 | 0 comments

“Spooked” is a web based horror/comedy that follows the adventures of the “Paranormal Investigation Team” (P.I.T.) as they encounter a variety of supernatural forces. The brain child of Felicia Day’s (The Guild, Co-Optitude) Indie YouTube channel, Geek & Sundry, and Bryan Singer’s (X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Usual Suspects) Hollywood production studio, Bad Hat Harry Productions, the show is currently airing on Hulu, Hulu Plus, and Youtube.

We had the opportunity to interview the series director, Richard Martin, to discuss this show and what makes it unique.

MF: Tell us a bit about yourself and how you got into filmmaking and directing?

Richard: I’m one of those babies from the Eighties, growing up on Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Back to the Future, etc. Storytelling was always a part of my life, whether it was playing Bilbo in a high school production of The Hobbit or filming my little brother and sisters’ soccer games. There was something magical about the whole process. So I put all my eggs in one basket, got my BA in Film Studies from the University of California, Irvine and then my MFA in Film Production at USC. I’m very pro-film school, I think it’s a great creative environment for people to thrive in and make life-long connections.

MF: For our readers who haven’t yet seen the show, why don’t you tell us a bit about “Spooked,” what it’s about, and how you got involved in it?

Richard: The show follows a group of ghost hunters known as the “Paranormal Investigation Team” as they help clients with poltergeists, demonic possessions and other occult mysteries. P.I.T is comprised of Connor (Julian Curtis; TV’s Dance Academy) the leader of the group, Elliot (Derek Mio; TV’s Greek) the fanboy, Morgan (Ashley Johnson; The Help, TV’s The Killing) the resident occult specialist, Lindsey (Neil Grayston; TV’s Eureka) the tech guy, and Piper (Shyloh Oostwald; In Time) the gifted one.

During the development process, we spent a lot of time working on the script to make it a show that was multi-layered with a dynamic team of characters that you wanted to root for, fun moments for pop culture fans watching, as well as building in mythology that will unfold throughout the season. As for my involvement, it’s a bit cliché to say everyone follows a different path to directing, but it’s the truth. I actually started at Bad Hat Harry as an intern seven years ago and over time, progressed my way up to my current position as Director of Development. Bryan Singer and the company always knew I had aspirations of being a director (doing random projects on the side) so when we sold Spooked, they approached me with the idea of directing the series.

I can’t imagine another A-list production company approaching an executive and giving them an opportunity to direct a project. It was pretty amazing.

MF: Now, unlike a television-based show, you’re using a web-distribution platform. What are the challenges there? What have been the benefits?

Richard: Actually, from very early on we decided to prove that you can make “real shows” for the internet, so the format was like standard television with commercial breaks (22 minute episodes). But the web is still the web, so the biggest challenge is always the marketing, getting the world to hear about our show.

Geek & Sundry has done a fantastic job of getting the word out there and really building a fan base for Spooked. As for the benefits, we were able to tell the stories we wanted to tell. We didn’t have to worry about attracting millions of viewers to appease the stockholders. We were extremely fortunate in that regard. Yet, back to the challenges, that meant we didn’t have quite as much of a budget as a show you’d see on broadcast TV. So we had to meticulously plan out every minute of the day in production, otherwise we would never have made our days (120 pages in 11 days).

Wow, just saying that is stressing me out again.

MF: Also, unlike most television shows, which have a showrunner that oversees the show, while directors come and go, you’ve directed all of the episodes to date and no showrunner is mentioned. Tell us how you’re situation on “Spooked” is working out? How are typical “showrunner” decisions handled?

Richard: Well I should thank HBO giving Cary Fukunaga all of True Detective, I suppose. There’s something creatively refreshing about not having too many cooks in the kitchen and letting our core team of creators (writers, producers, etc) make the show we always envisioned. So yeah, we didn’t have a showrunner in the typical sense of the word. It was really that core team working hand in hand to create the best show possible and then trusting me to execute our collective vision. And once we were in production, everyone took a back seat and let me tell the story how I felt best for the show; it was a dream scenario for a first-time director.

MF: The show draws inspiration from a broad range of sources. What were some of the sources? How were references to these sources of inspiration worked into the show?

Richard: There are PLENTY of references in the first four episodes, I don’t even know where to begin. The character of Elliot is spouting references from Poltergeist to Jurassic Park to Psy. For me, the biggest inspiration is probably Snick’s Are You Afraid Of The Dark? (google it). It was the first half hour “horror” I was ever exposed to, and while we may not have written in any dialogue to reference the show, I did throw in a small easter egg in the pilot… you may or may not have noticed that the clients (Dichen Lachman and Alison Haislip) owned an orange couch! Yes, that was intentional.

MF: The show makes use of a lot of special effects. Did you have a favorite effect? If so, what was it and how was it implemented?

Richard: Personally, the flying picture frames gag from the teaser of the pilot is my favorite. And not just because our VFX team (Johnny Renzulli) cleaned it up, adding a cool effect to the tv and fire place, but it was fun to be on set and watch 6 different people all holding these wires connected to random picture frames in the room, like a weird marionette, and us trying to get the timing perfectly so the picture frames were all yanked at the same time. It reminded of how I’d always try to do too much, and usually overreach, in my student films. Luckily, we pulled it off and I think the bit works great in the final product.

MF: Watching the show, it looked like the people that worked on it really enjoyed working together. What was it like working with the crew? Are there any interesting behind the scenes stories you would like to share?

Richard: We’re all thrilled with the team we put together and it really shows on the screen. We didn’t have any room for downers on set. We all knew the difficult task we had to achieve and everyone came to set with a smile on their face. I think the entire crew was a fanboy/fangirl at heart, they all loved the content and were laughing on set. And I just can’t stress how lucky we are to assemble such an amazing cast, thank you Steve Brooksbank (our casting director). Everyone was so professional and dedicated to making the best show possible, but the minute the cameras were off they all got along so well, the chemistry was unreal. There was literally a day when we stopped shooting and I turned around to find the cast all singing along with Tom Lenk at the piano. I may or may not have captured that on my iPhone…

MF: The characters really experience some complicated interpersonal interactions and express a broad range of emotions that a lot of viewers might not expect due to preconceptions of comedy-based shows. Do you have any suggestions to aspiring directors on how to direct actors to cover such a broad range of emotions?

Richard: Casting, casting, casting. You have to spend as much time as possible in the casting process. For me, I was much more concerned about the emotional range of the actor. A majority of the sides were the heavy, character based scenes. And when they would nail that, I would give them an adjustment that was entirely different. Not because I really considered shooting the scene that way, but I wanted to know they could do it if we HAD to shoot it that way. And personally, I find that the smartest actors always portray the, for lack of a better word, dumbest characters. You have to be able to understand the joke in order to pull it off. And man, our characters definitely had some dumb moments… and suddenly I’m afraid my subtle compliment to my cast is too subtle. They were all VERY smart!!!

MF: Who is your favorite character? What’s your favorite thing about that character?

Richard: That’s a loaded question that’s gonna get me in trouble with the cast! While we were writing the show, it was always fun to throw in my inner fanboy into Elliot, use my debate team skills with Lindsey and Morgan, and tap into my real brother/sister relationship for Connor and Piper. Hmmm. At the end of the day, I think I’d have to pick Connor. He’s just all heart. He wants to do the right thing, sometimes via the wrong avenues, but he honestly cares about everyone and wants to help any way he can. That’s what he brings to the team and I think without it, we wouldn’t have a show.

MF: Do you enjoy working with the horror theme? What are some of the special challenges in shooting a horror/comedy?

Richard: Personally, I’m actually not a horror fan. I know, I know. That’s sacrilegious. I respect the genre and have obviously seen many of the staples! But I found that the good horror films don’t try to be a horror film, they are really a drama that have horrific moments. And that’s what I wanted to do with Spooked. It’s a drama that has comedic and horrific moments sprinkled throughout. It’s something I really pushed for hard in the scripts because as much fun as all the paranormal stuff can be, our audience isn’t tuning in for that. It has to be about the characters, about the team first and foremost.

MF: What is your favorite horror movie? Did it influence how you chose to direct the show?

Richard: Jaws and Alien probably tie, but a close second, and the film that influenced me the most for Spooked was Scream. It had plenty of laughs, scares, and some heartfelt moments. Plus it was the first time I’ve seen two fanboys (spoiler, sorry) go crazy like that. Movies are dangerous!

MF: Richard, thank you so much for taking the time to sit down with us! We wish you continued success with this great show! (We’re all pretty big fans of what both of your companies have been creating of late, so keep up the great work!)

Readers who would like to check out Spooked can do so below with our embedded Trailer that’s linked to their video stream from YouTube. In addition to YouTube, “Spooked” is currently airing on Hulu & Hulu Plus, as well.