David Daze, Director # 1

       Independant Movie Maker David Daze

        on Rule Hollywood T.V.  Atlanta Ga.

        "photo courtesy of rule hollywood t.v."

    all other photos (C) courtesy of Film 1 Studios

 

      Director  David Daze onset,  (pictured Right)

                     Doing what he does best

             Making Great Independent Films. 

    In early 2010, Doug Diggs did an indepth exclusive interview with one of the most dazzling, innovative cutting edge Independant Hollywood Movie Director's on the Entertainment market today, this multi-talented, Award winning Director, has less filmaking experince than any of the movie makers I have reasearched, yet he has covered more film ground than most film Directors will cover in a  lifetime. In only five short years he has carved a swath in the Movie making field that no other film maker may ever duplicate. And he did it with Zero studio backing. While most of the notable independant Directors make an impact on the movie industry in an averege of 6-8 years with only a single film or two under their belt, just five years into the movie game, David Daze already has 25 feature films in multiple genres under his belt and in the next few years his impact on the film making and Entertainment bussiness is going to be astonishing!

   Just who is Director David Daze, that was my first question when I had been sent a copy of his first film in 2007 "Street Godz Of War II", at the time I had'nt even heard of the name but I decided to give his martial-arts action film a fair shake and was pretty dam impressed. That was five years ago people and this guy is only just getting warmed up......belive me. I got a copy of his current film "The Spook Movie" an 80's slasher homage film and again I was dam impressed with his work. Made in under ten days and shot on a tiny budget  I was so Impressed with this guys work I decided to do an exclusive one to one interview with what, very well maybe one of the up and coming true greats in cinematic legends. After a brief phone conversation with Mr. Daze, I decided to stop into Augusta Ga, which is home to the Masters of Golf, and quite possibly home to one of the great filmakers of my generation. During my road trip to Charleston s.c. it was raining lightly but I was determined to get my  interview with Independant film Director David Daze before making my way to charleston. I arrived at 7pm sharp and waited at a little diner called "Nacho Mammas" just off Broad Street. David Daze walked in at 7:30 pm and I spotted him instantly, with a sly grin, dressed down casual and slightly muscular build and a computer bag slung over his left shoulder. He was just as I had imagined .....straight to the point. He ordered his food and said whats up Diggs? Lets get started. By the time the food had arrived I was mesmerized by this guys presence as was the two blondes sitting over in the corner and the waitress at the counter dancing away, but Daze never lost his concentration as he talked away about his film exploits and adventures. His love of films and filmaking being his soul focal point. After a 4 hour interview we parted ways and I can only tell you, the feeling was as if I had just walked away from interviewing Martin Scorsesse himself, I was simply stunned.

Name ? David Daze
Born ? Augusta Ga.
Age ? I'm an actor , my age range is 25 plus!
Favorite Sport?  Any, I like any Sport
Hobbies? Building things and blowing them up!
High School ? NorthShore High Houston, Texas
Favorite pastime? Walking and Thinking
Favorite Color? Blue
Favorite Movie? Dont have one , I like most all movies in any genre
Training in Martial Arts? since I was 10, in many styles of Martial Arts

 Daze I've seen your films and was dam inpressed with your work, whats your take on filming your movies so fast? The average Joe seems to think a film is only good when its been shot over a lenght of time? Atlest when its shot fast it loses valuable production quality thereby making the film look cheaply made. And how do you go about setting up your films production from start to finish? "First off you seen my movies do they look like they were made in just a few days? (No, I thought they were made in about a year, the production value and quality  completely fooled me, I never would have guessed they were made in a few short days on the budeget you had).  "The second question is an oxy-moron because only a moron would think that because a movie is filmmed fast it's gonna be no good. I can show you 100% proof from hundreds of movies that took years to make, even some here locally that look like they were made in just a day or so. Because the production quality was deplurable during filmming. Most filmakers spend oodles of wasted time on over bearing their films on production qualites,  production controls and production equipment and so on and so on........but what they always forget is the simple formula of " Entertaiment Value" thats whats gonna make or break your film in the long run. And as far as setting up my films production, I attack all phases of my films production with military precision, and as far as speed goes here is the basic formula for filmaking. Big budget will spend weeks to months, setting up and shooting just one scene in their film, however an Independant filmaker will spend that same amount of time shooting several scenes in their production, I on the other hand will spend the same amount of time shooting 3 feature films."
 

  David Daze has been compared alongside the movie greats like Robert Rodriques, Roger Corman, Quinton Tarentino, Sergio Leone, and Stephen King. Whats your take on this Daze? I have? Hell, I like and respect all those guys. Just to prove my point I named the Killer in My Horror film "The Spook Movie"  (Quentin  Rodriques),  after two of my favorite Directors, Robert Rodriques and Quentin Tarentino. Roger Corman gets all my respect for just being a sheer movie making genius, and Sergio Leone in my opinon was the man, you have to respect an Italian Filmaker who made some of the best American westerns in Spain!, using all spanish props, locations and sets. But I will always give props to the kings of Independant movie making........THE SHAW BROTHERS, they built an entire entertainment empire from scratch with no studio backing at all.

 
  Daze you and your films have won several Awards at film festivals for Best Director, Best Writer, Best Screenplay, Best Actor and you were a featured film Director on "RULE HOLLYWOOD" a T.V. Show based in Atlanta and interviewed on other web-based shows and its been talked about in many web threads about how you jump from genre to genre in your films? Whats that all about? And how has the local media in Augusta ga, reacted to your rapid  success in the Entertainment industry? "First off the awards were nice gifts and Im thankful for them, its nice to get some appriciation for your hard work sometimes. And I guess because I make so many different films in various genres is the reason they seem to think Im a genre buster, some filmakers like Tyler Perry stick to one kinda film genre or (formula), but I prefer working different areas of film and I have done Horror films, Gangster films, Action Martial Arts films and even western films, aside from that the local media has never given me a fair shake, they tend to promote a local filmaking hobby group thats been here for a large number of years that shoot short films and who slowly turn out a feature film every four or five years or so......I always thought free press was free press , just not here I guess. I don't even fool with them anymore (local press) I send my press releases out of the area that way I'm guaranteed the coverage I need for my films.
 
 How long have you been making feature movies, how many have you actually made so far, whats your average filming time per movie shoot? and why did you feel the need to found your film company? Was it just for kicks or were there pressing issues?  "Well, for starters I've been making films for five years, I am about to start production on my 25th feature film in may of this year. I film my movies in multipules of three or more, my average movie shoot lasts about twenty days and I only do feature films.....never shorts. Shorts to me are 60 second trailer 's for my feature films promo. Founding my film company was needed in my area, because there was'nt enough established actors or crew who could perform professionally during the production process. There is a local group of hobbie filmmakers in the area which have only made a few films over a 16 year span and the local media seem to favor them quite a bit no doubt they are all buddies, but working with amatures in film production is costly and slows you down quickly. It can also ruin your films production. It was just a more effective move for me to start completely from scratch rather than try and struggle thru all the muck that was already there from the previous HOBBY filmakers.
 
   Being that your films are shot in video with largly unknown casts and using limited sets and funding, what are your main obstacles in bringing your films to life? "One of the main obstacles for me even from the start is having great cast availability. Actors that can actually act  and perform professionally on set during production and another is I have to shoot mostly on weekends because the vast majority of my company's cast members come from out-of-town (Atlanta, Columbia, Savannah, Rome, all over south carolina) or work full-time jobs during the week while some are full-time students."
 
  Surfing around the internet, it seems there have been some pretty amazing things written on you and your films. At "moviesmademedoit.com" you were dubbed the Film-Making-Machine who does'nt waste anytime in cranking out film after film in any genre possible.  In a review, I quoted Danny Onforro from Danny's action-movies Drive-In reviews who said, "Director David Daze" cranks out feature films so fast and good....even the great Roger Corman would be left shaking his head in disbelief." And my favorite thus far, was "Amy Kleg" of ,The Independants Only who stated, "David Daze" is already an iconic figure in Film-making history, he just works so fast that no-one, including his own fame has had time to catch-up with him yet..... How does it make you feel Daze when you read these words to yourself?  "Hey , Im just glad they like my work so far doug, I'm a simple man, I enjoy making movies , I enjoy working with the professional actors,  actresses  and my skeleton crew, I always try and relax when working and mostly I just enjoy watching the finished projects come together".
 
  According to all sources I've talked to, you not only write all the films  made at "Film 1 Studios" in Augusta Ga which is a independant film production company you founded yourself in 2006,  but also direct them, cast them, shoot them, manage them, co-edit them, produce them and even build the sets too!  Dam!...., My God man, is there nothing you don't do to ensure these films get made?!!!!!!!!!!  "Of course there are no other directors around my area doing this, but there are others out there who take on this much production in their films, Robert Rodriguez comes to mind, so does Roger Corman and of course the late great Sergio Leone amoung others. They have also written , directed, edited, managed and scored a number of their films. Personally, I love being able to work all phases of my productions. However if you do have to rely on the work of others in your crew on productions, they have to be very competent people if not it can lead to very big problems for your production at this level."

David Daze as Brisbane's DeMon 2007 , Shane Madsen 2009  and Drakka 2006

  Daze ,lets get into some of your films? I noticed as I sifted thru your website that you make quite a few Horror Films and I even noticed you have a listing of Horror films called , "The Crawfordville Horror Collection" Whats that all about?  " Well Doug, I do have quite a few original Horror films but my Crawfordville Collection is based on a series of homage horror films, which starts with my Horror Film "Roman"  which I already have in production, in the story RoMan is lobotimized and after that comes a series of escapes from the Crawfordville Mental Hospital's patients , as many of the inmates escape, a new story begins in the collection, there are 16 films or stories in the total collection. " And these are all your scripts?  Dammm man , do you ever rest?  And  how many scripts do you have or written?  I think about 120 + finished scripts Doug. So your just as much an accomplished Script Writer as a Director ? Yep, I  enjoy it too Doug.

     Mr. Daze as an Award winning Independant Film Director and a successful movie maker who has only been making films for five years what has been your most fun movie to make so far, and why? which was your hardest movie to shoot and why? what was your most demanding movie to shoot and why?  What has been your most notable film to shoot so far? And why was it? And lastly what has been your fastest film to make?     "Well Doug, all my films have been fun but the one I had the most fun filming was "Horrorville" 2009 my horror comedy film, it was also the first film I was able to shoot entirely at my Studio, The hardest was my first film "Street Godz of War II" 2006 mostly because It was my first film and was a trial and error film, I had no studio and worked with all amature actors and crew and due to that, it was my longest film to shoot.  My most demanding movie to shoot was "DeMon" 2007  because I had an all live location shoot that was shortened from a 2 month shoot, to a 3 day shoot before the building was destroyed. My most notable movie to film so far was my western film, "The Gunfighters Last Stand" 2009 because it was a period film and my first Western. I was forunate to work with some truly great actors and crew on that film, I also enjoyed building the sets and small eastern town that the film's story was centered around. It was also my biggest location shoot to date, we filmmed in locations all over Georgia and South Carolina. Doug, my fastest film to shoot to date is " 7 Loz Doggz"  2009 which is a Gangster/Hitman action drama that I filmmed in under 20 hrs and yes..........its a feature film! DAMMM!, MAN...thats not only hard to belive, its almost impossible to belive!!!!, I had heard Roger Corman shot "The Little Shop of Horrors"  in that time frame. "Well Doug, I did it in less time... and mine is a full feature Action film! And in color!! Complete with car chases and tons of shoot-outs !! We shot over 4,000 rounds of LIVE Ammo making that film!"

  What Makes David Daze Tick? And whats your thoughts on "Hollywood" "Ha, Its simplicity Doug. Why the hell would you want to complicate anything?" Hell, I'm not sure if "HOLLYWOOD" can handle me.

  For better or worst how has the past five years of making movies been for you Mr. Daze, I would imagaine its taken quite a toll on you both mentally and physically and has it slowed you down any?  "Well, Doug its been both a fast and slow road for me, but its also been both exciting and fun to travel, and always a learning process, nope it has'nt taken a toll on me yet although I've taken a few bumps and hits here and there, its never gonna slow me down.......thats for SURE!

Mr. Daze who and which writers, actors, directors influenced you to make movies, and to become a filmaker?  Aha dammm, there are many for me in these catagories but writers first, Miyamoto Mushashi , Sun Tzu, Shakespere, Stephen King and Ernest Hemingway,  Actors: William Dafoe,  Bruce Lee, Samuel L. Jackson, Sylvester Stallone, Robert Redford , Clint Eastwood, Paul Newman, Robert Deniro,  and John Wayne was cool and  The King himself, Elvis Presley ...great singer and good actor all together awsome entertainer,  I guess he would be your defintion of a true "Hollywood Rockstar Doug"   this list can get big,  I like old school Horrors like "The Creature From The Black Lagoon and Nosferatu, all the b-list directors and movie makers like George Romero, Sam Rami, Roger Corman,  Sergio Leone, Akira Kurosawa,  William Fredkin,  Walter Hill,  Robert Rodriques , Quinton Tarentino just to name a few, but the one who influenced me the most was "Sir Run Run Shaw", he built an Entertainment Media Empire!  Now thats a goal worth going for! And thats what I'm gunning for! I like Dramas like "Serpico"  , The Warriors, and  "The Good The Bad and The Ugly",  But the thing that actually made me get up and make films was watching a big budgeted action flick one day, that just totally suxed and saying to myself...dammmm I could do better than that sh** and so....I picked up a camara, got some of my scripts ready and started making movies, and I have'nt stopped yet! 

Mr. Daze how about film school?  script writing? and short films?  Nope, I have no formal film school training and to me film school  is way over rated and it teaches people rules and guidelines that don't often work in the real life production process. True Filmakers are Artists to me and the great filmmakers don't follow rules and guidelines because they are indeed Artists, I know when I started working as a movie maker with some film school students, they basically had to forget everything they learned in film school,  just to hang with me and the speeds I work and film. I remember one kid running around my set saying we have to have a pre-production meeting so we can story board these next action scenes,  and I laughed as I explained to him.......I already shot those scenes the day before! the fact is all filmakers work at different speeds,  different levels, different styles and some are fast,  some are really slooooow. Besides all that,  film school is expensive as hell,  and check out the rate of film school graduates that finish....... and never make a film! 

Script Writing is a totally different ballgame , to me it varies quite a bit,  and it depends alot on the writer and what style of writing he/she formats to in their technique, be it linear or circular,  I did take a few commercial and online scripting courses but found little use in the techniques taught.  There is a huge difference in writing for your own projects and writing for others,  I  try and keep my scripts as simple as possible so as not to over burden the actors, and I  write some scripts linear (Tarentino's style, which is also early  b/w silent hollywood movie  scripting) and some circular  which is typical modern hollywood scripting,  as a writer for anything, books, scripts, ect. you just need to find your style and what works for you to be great and original. I remember on my first film, I had some  local yokal come into my production  who claimed to be this great script writer who had written tons of great scripts, which to this day I've never seen.  He actually called a meeting on my production expecting me to reformat my script to his terms,  not-realizing the fact that I'm also an accomplished writer with actual work and awards to back up my scripts,  needless to say after the meeting I promptly handed him his ass,  and walking papers. The moral of that being ,  this guy actually teaches script writing classes and and in my own opinion knows very little,  if anything about  actually writing scripts..........beware of who teaches you! 

And as far as Short films go, I realize that some budding filmakers do these for grades in film school , and some hobby filmakers do them for fun, but there is no real market for them  and actors that want to pursue a viable acting career should steer clear of these guys who can tie them up for months on end  with short projects. I've actually met actors who worked with short filmakers for years on a single "short film". Thats just  a waste of talent and time. If you really want to be a filmaker.......then grow some balls and make features!

Mr. Daze whats your take on big budget films versus independant Films?  Thats an easy answer Doug, It all boils down to studio backing versus ingenuity at my level. example, James Cameron spent a number of  years and 500 million dollars to make "AVATAR",  give me half that budget and I will turn out 50 "AVATARS" in half the time.

 from left to right, David Daze scripting, trouble shooting on location and giving Direction onset

               All good things come to an end so whats in-store for David Daze and Film 1 Studios in the next few years? And whats your biggest gripe about filmming feature films and lastly whats your take on people in general? David Daze the Director will be rockin Film 1 Studios over the next few years with 30 more films slated for production, My biggest gripe about filmming is the wannabees who show up on your productions and movie premire's telling everyone how great they are, and how they are gonna make the next big hit feature film. SMOCKS! They never do. Thay just end up wasting decent  peoples time.  My take on people in general is.......everyone is intresting in their own way.

                                                                     -David Daze, 2010

                                                                     website :   https://film1studio.webs.com/