Interview With Storytellers Brad and Josephina Sykes For ‘HI-FEAR’ (2022)

Earlier this year, we had an opportunity to review a unique anthology Hi-Fear (2022) for the Horror-On-Sea Film Festival 2023. You may read our review HERE. Recently, we had an opportunity to speak with Brad and Josephina Sykes. Both were writers for various segments of this anthology, Brad also directed a couple of the segments.

PopHorror: Thank you for taking the time to speak with us. We enjoyed Hi-Fear (2022) immensely. How did you get started in the film industry? And have you always been in the film industry?

Brad Sykes: I started making shorts and, later, features, in Virginia Beach with my friends on Hi-8 video while in high school. After graduating from Boston University’s film program, I moved to Los Angeles in the late 90s and worked various crew jobs till I landed my first professional writing-directing gig, Scream Queen, in 1998. Since then, I’ve been writing and directing movies in the Los Angeles area.

Josephina Sykes: I grew up in Romania where my uncle was a director of photography so I got the film bug from him. As a kid, I acted in his student shorts, followed him around in his dark room, on sets. I grew up watching lots of movies and reading cinema magazines and books. So, trying to get in film school didn’t come as a surprise. It is a very tough exam, but I got admitted in the National Film School where I studied screenwriting, made shorts and after graduation I worked in production for the two major studios in the country. After my move to Los Angeles, I continued my film work on sets of various indie movies till Brad and I started Nightfall Pictures in 2004 and made our own features.

PopHorror: Wow! That’s an amazing adventure! Hard work and perseverance! Where did the idea come from for this particular anthology?

Brad Sykes:  Hi-Fear (2022) is the third and final film in the ‘HI’ series, and each time we make one of these films, we give it a theme. In this case, we asked the participating filmmakers, “What’s your greatest fear?” Of course, everyone has their own answer to that question, so each segment in the film addresses fear in a different way.

PopHorror: It most definitely captures many fears! Can you explain more in detail about your previous anthologies, Hi-8 (2013) and Hi-Death (2018)?

Brad Sykes: Hi-8 (2013) began as an experimental project and a chance for eight veteran indie filmmakers to go back to their roots and make a short film just for the fun of it, using analog equipment from back when we were starting out, shooting on tape, not using VFX etc. The movie was popular with fans and critics, so we decided to make a sequel a few years later. For Hi-Death (2018), we kept some of the same filmmakers and the same indie approach but decided to make a bigger film, shot in HD this time around (in Hi-Death-inition, if you like) with fewer segments that were more complex. Hi-Fear (2022)has most of the same filmmakers returning with even more ambitious and diverse horror stories.

PopHorror: You have some of the best indie horror filmmakers directing these stories. How did you approach directors to direct each of your stories in Hi-Fear (2022)?

Brad Sykes: When we started preproduction on Hi-8 (2013), I approached directors, all of whom had a long track record in the genre. Almost all of them immediately said yes. Two of those directors were Tim Ritter (Killing Spree), who actually came up with the title Hi-8: Horror Independent Eight, and Todd Sheets (Bonehill Road). Tim and Todd ended up contributing segments to all three films in the series.

For Hi-Fear (2022) Tim, Todd, and myself returned, as well as Amanda Payton (producer of Clownado) and Anthony Catanese (Girls Just Want to Have Blood), a very talented filmmaker who has also become part of the ‘HI’ family.

By the time we made Hi-Fear (2022), Tim, Todd, and Anthony were all interested in being part of a third film – and I directed a segment, as well. So, we didn’t have to approach anyone new on Hi-Fear (2022), just worked with people we knew and trusted, and it made for a more streamlined production.

PopHorror: Can you tell us more about the casting for Hi-Fear (2022)? And was it a long or short process?

Josephina Sykes: Casting is a very important part of making a movie because you need to find the actors that are similar to the images of your characters you created in your head. So, it is a longer and complicated process.

I place ads in at least 4-5 major casting sites in LA, we get submissions, carefully review them and together we select the actors we’d like to audition. I pick a safe casting place, either a theater or a casting space that actors are used to going to and schedule the auditions. We always invite more people because some actors usually don’t show up and we also want to be open and invite various kinds of people because you never know, you can be surprised by someone’s performance or look. It might not be what you envisioned, but it opens up other possibilities, filmmaking is teamwork so we encourage input from everybody.

Casting is hard work, we spend at least 8 hours a day for a few days to meet everyone and audition them. We prefer to do so in person for various reasons. Sometimes Brad would like an actor to try a different take, give them direction and see how he can work with them. Also, you select actors from photos, but after you see them act, after the audition you might realize they could be better for a different part so you ask them to try it out. We also enjoy chatting with them, get a sense of who they are as people since you’d be working together under an intense schedule. And you observe them, see if they match who you imagined to play your characters.

I read that David Lynch likes to meet with actors and talk, that is his way to audition, see if they fit his mold for his creations and we agree with that. Afterwards, we watch the auditions many times to reach a decision, never easy. But with Hi-Fear (2022), we feel like we accomplished what we were seeking, found very talented actors that helped us bring our characters to life!

PopHorror:  Thank you for sharing details about the process. On the outside, it’s easy to overlook the long and arduous task of making films, including casting, which is one of the vital parts of movies.

The style of Hi-Fear (2022) is unique. The viewer feels like they are reading each story as it plays out on screen. Can you tell us more on how you produced and developed that idea?

 

Brad Sykes: On the ‘HI’ films, the wraparound ideas usually come to us later on, after some of the segments have been filmed and we start thinking about segment order and the best way to connects the dots. On Hi-Fear, it was even more challenging, because our original concept involved shooting in downtown L.A. with extras wearing FX makeup. Once the pandemic started, that idea was dropped in favor of something simpler that we could film locally, in North Hollywood, with a smaller cast.

Around the same time, I had been talking to an artist named Scott Fry and he had shown me some of his work, which had a strong comic book style. That’s when the new wraparound idea crystallized, to have a comic book artist character whose drawings ‘come to life’ and bring us into each segment. It not only solved our production needs, but would be a nice callback to films like Creepshow and Tales from the Crypt, which are my two favorite anthologies.

The process turned out being anything but simple, though, because after we wrapped the shoot (done between lockdowns with no crew), we still had plenty of post/VFX work to do, which was all done remotely with Sara Casey. And Scott had to execute all the drawings that you see in the film and create a completed, full color comic book prop which would appear on camera for the final scene. Just getting that comic book finished was one of the biggest challenges of the entire movie, lol! But I’m very happy with how it came out and I think the wraparound offers something fresher than the average anthology movie.

PopHorror:  I am a huge fan of Creepshow and Tales from the Crypt! I definitely believe Hi-Fear (2022) is a fresh anthology movie. How long was the filmmaking process for Hi-Fear (2022)from start to finish?

Josephina Sykes: We started shooting Hi-Fear (2022) in 2019 and it was completed in early 2022 when it premiered at festivals around the world. So…longer than we thought. Needless to say, the pandemic slowed us down, our wraparound segment was shot in 2020 (at the end of the year) and bits and pieces afterwards.

The New Jersey segment was filmed in February 2021 since they had lots of COVID 19 cases there for a while. And we had lots of VFX – which always makes your post-production longer, especially during COVID 19 when everyone jumped on that since it was impossible to do practical effects for a while, or not safe enough. Lots of long-distance work, which is safe, but drags out things more and sometimes things get lost in communication. We did try to focus on details on every step of the way and enjoy it as much as possible.

We’re excited for everyone to see Hi-Fear (2022) soon with our upcoming Wild Eye release.

PopHorror: While it is hard to choose favorites, do you have a favorite segment from Hi-Fear (2022)? And why is it your favorite?

Brad Sykes: I’m biased, but I’m really happy with how my segment. “Day out of Days” turned out. It’s a longer piece (35 min.), it was a location shoot, and the script that Josephina and I wrote together has a lot of ideas and images I hadn’t really tackled before, mixing apocalyptic sci-fi with eroticism. So, it was a tall order for everyone involved, and I was working with an entirely new cast and crew. But everyone brought their ‘A’ game and delivered a really cool film that isn’t really like anything else I’ve done before, or anything else in any of the ‘HI’ films, for that matter.

That said, all the other Hi-Fear (2022) filmmakers directed terrific segments that really deliver whatever type of horror they were going for: extreme gore, urban paranoia, or backwoods terror.

Josephina Sykes: Hmmm.. how to choose your favorite between all of your kids? Impossible! I like the diversity of the types of horror every filmmaker brought, that is what Brad and I were hoping for. Tim Ritter comes back with a wild redneck cannibal story placed in the deep woods of the countryside, Todd Sheets brings an 80s style gory horror comedy in his segment that follows a few geeky gents eager to visit a whorehouse, Anthony Catanese mixes edgy reality with fantasy against an urban background. I feel like we accomplished our futuristic end of the world vision with “Day out of Days”. And I hope everyone will enjoy our wraparound “What Are You Afraid Of?”, a slight homage to Creepshow, about a female comic book artist hit with an unexpected deadline to create 4 scary tales! A bit of horror for everyone’s taste? We hope so!

PopHorror: I agree, there is something for everyone in Hi-Fear (2022).  Which directors/filmmakers influenced you to pursue making films?

Brad Sykes: Some of the directors who inspired me to get into filmmaking were George A. Romero, Sam Raimi and Peter Jackson. I’m still a huge Romero fan and return to his work often.

Josephina Sykes: Many, and the list gets bigger. Paul Schrader, Antonioni, Kusturica, Gaspar Noe, Almodovar, David Lynch.

PopHorror: Great choices! I always end my interviews with this question. What are your top three scary movies?

Brad Sykes: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) is still the scariest movie I’ve ever seen. No matter how many times I’ve seen it, it never gets any easier to watch. The Hitcher (1986) and The Hills Have Eyes (1977) also both rank highly for me – I love desert horror flicks!

Josephina Sykes:
1. Carpenter’s The Fog
2. Cemetery Man (it was cool to cast and work with one of its female leads, Fabiana Formica in our movie Hi-Death)
3. Maniac (the original, Joe Spinell all the way!)

PopHorror: Awesome selections! The Hitcher holds a special place for me, it was one of the first horror movies, I snuck to watch on cable and I was terrified. Rutger Hauer is so underrated in that role, in my opinion. I also love The Fog. I believe that is an underated John Carpenter film, in my opinion. Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us.

Hi Fear (2022) is available on most VOD platforms. It is also available for DVD purchase on Amazon. Check out the trailer below!