PopHorror Let's Get Scared
The Leavy brothers are quickly climbing to the top of my list. While producing the Terrfier movies, they dig deep into the horror realm with movies like STREAM (2024) (our review). I was lucky enough to talk with Michael Leavy about some questions about his background and more.
PopHorror: How did Fuzz on the Lens begin?
Micael Leavy: Fuzz on the Lens you can say in a sense always existed. I was making movies with my siblings and neighborhood kids as far back as I could remember, used to take my mom’s camcorder, and just film whatever we could think of. I went to high school and was the head anchor at WRBN-TV the television studio there, where I did the most skits and short films in the schools history. There I worked with my brother and now business partner Steven Della Salla. Together we made many short films, feature films, commercials, and music videos.
We started calling ourselves Fuzz on the Lens Productions around 2010, from a running onset joke established in 2007 and officially became an LLC in 2013.
A Family That Slays Together Stays Together
PopHorror: How did you come across the Terrifier family?
Michael Leavy: It was in 2015 when we were shooting a comedy horror film entitled Abnormal Attraction and our sound operator / post production supervisor introduced us to Phil Falcone. He came for a set visit and we just hit it off, we then helped him on his film “Joe’s War” and from there was asked about working on the original Terrifier.” Myself, my brother and Steven Della Salla of Fuzz on the Lens all had roles and worked as crew for a few scenes and from there our relationship crew. Maybe it’s because we are all mostly from Staten Island but we instantly became a family, which lead to us producing both Terrifier 2 and “3” together as well as our other horror film STREAM!
STREAMING Soon (Get It?)
PopHorror: Where did the inspiration for STREAM come from?
Michael Leavy: We always wanted to do something in one location and follow a family. It was around 2016 we began writing it when the big craze of crypto currency was starting to happen. We love the slasher genre and we wanted to modernize it by bringing it and updating it to the 21st century but still showcase the love we had for 70s, 80s and 90s horror.
It’s all about exploiting your safe spaces – Psycho did it with taking a shower, Jaws a day at the beach, Halloween your home and neighborhood, A Nightmare on Elm Street your dreams, Friday the 13th camp and so on and so forth so we wanted to exploit not only hotels where everyone goes and can release and feel safe but also exploit technology and how we all feel safe using it but we also question and never really know who could be watching or listening to us from afar or right next door.
When We Were Young
PopHorror: You started very young, what age were you when you know you wanted to be a director?
Michael Leavy: To be honest I was probably around probably around 4 years old when I knew I wanted to be involved with film, I also love acting so I started doing that first and then shifted to doing directing and producing but nowadays I enjoy switching up and doing a bit of it all to keep things fresh.
PopHorror: Have you been star-struck when horror movie icons are cast in your movies?
Michael Leavy: I wouldn’t say star-struck per se, but definitely excited to work with people I idolized growing up and watching, at first you have to take it all in and appreciate it and kind of pinch yourself that you’re really doing it, this way the little kid in you is satisfied and never forgotten but then it’s kind of immediate overshadowed by we have a job to do and they are just normal people who do what I’m doing just for longer, but every once in a while I do get lost thinking about how cool it is and I’ll never take any of that for granted. I’ve met and become friends with some wonderful people along the way thus far.
PopHorror: How is it working alongside your brother? you seem like best friends.
Michael Leavy: We are! It’s great working with my brother and even Steve Della Salla is like a brother to us too. It’s nice to have such a long history together with all of us, we have sort of a secondhand language we all can speak and get things done quickly and efficiently because we know each other so well. We also feel safe working together because we know we can truly trust one another so it’s easier to take risks and feel protected in a way, knowing we all have each other’s backs.
A Little History
PopHorror: What is the first horror movie you watched?
Michael Leavy: It’s hard to fully pinpoint the first horror movie I saw but I know a few of the earlier ones were Leprechaun, Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Stephen Kings IT the mini series. I think my love for horror started though with kids horror tv shows such as “Are You Afraid of the Dark” and “Goosebumps.”
Clowning Around
PopHorror: What drove you to love filming?
Michael Leavy: I was always just mezmerized by storytelling and portraying different things on screen for people to watch and be entertained. I was drawn to the idea you can create a world or a character and have it be whatever you can imagine. The wonders of that as a child were really cool.
PopHorror: What is the Staten Island clown?
Michael Leavy: The Staten Island Clown was an idea hatched by myself and my brother Jason, probably after a few too many drinks at a local Buffalo Wild Wings. We wanted to treat the clown as almost a film project in itself. Basically to do a social experiment of changing the narrative of the news cycle. Everything was so depressing and bad every day with over doses and other horrible news etc. We wanted to have some fun. So make people almost forget those things and feel as if they are in a movie and give some excitement. It also ended up being a promotional stunt for our film Abnormal Attraction.
In The End
PopHorror: Where do you see Fuzz on the Lens in the future?
Michael Leavy: Hopefully Fuzz on the Lens Productions will be a powerhouse in the filming industry. We obviously love horror and comedy feature films but would love to try it all. The sky is the limit, we can do anything that really involves a camera and beyond. Maybe like a mini Disney, that would be cool!
PopHorror: Your recent movie is STREAM when does it come to streaming?
Michael Leavy: We are so excited for STREAM to be released digitally. It involves our entire Terrifier 2 and 3 team and had a really successful limited theatrical run last month. The movie will be coming to a much wider release on October 15th. The movie is available to Stream on Fandango at Home (Vudu) Amazon and Apple TV to start.
*******
This was a lot of fun to put together and we want to thank Michael Leavy for his time.
