s the owner and
chief creative mind behind the special makeup effects company Almost Human, Rob Hall knows
something about taking ideas off the page and bringing them to extraordinary life on celluloid. For almost a
decade, Hall's fantastic interpretations of other's nightmares have been showcased in projects like Judging
Amy, Angel, "Secretary," "Die Mommy Die" and Firefly. And while he loves creatively shaping
and bringing other people's ideas to life, Rob also has his own stories to share and he recently unveiled his
theatrical directorial debut to the world at the 2004 Philadelphia Film Festival in April. Lightning Bug
written by Rob is a clever, witty coming of age film inspired by his own life story of being a teen in the
rural South dreaming of becoming an effects makeup man in Hollywood. The film drew over 900 people to its
three screenings at the festival - the largest attendance of a single film in the festival's history - and
scored a remarkably strong audience score 4.23 rating out of 5. After triumphantly sharing his new "baby" with
the world, Rob took some time after the screening to tell CoA about the incredibly challenging, but fulfilling
journey bringing his first film to life.
LIGHTS, CAMERA, AUDIENCE!
Lightning Bug, the Movie |
"Lightning Bug" tells the story of teenager "Green" Graves (The O.C.'s Brett Harrison) living a poor existence in Alabama with his needy, alcoholic mother ("Hellraiser's Ashley Laurence), his loving younger brother (Lucas Till) and his mother's violent, close-minded boyfriend (Firefly's Kevin Gage). A talented artist, Green's passion is watching horror films and he spends all his free time renting slasher flicks and spending his meager funds learning about how to become a special effects makeup artist. While most people in his conservative town don't understand his "odd" ways, a few close friends and supportive adults encourage him to pursue his dreams. But it's when he meets and falls for Goth beauty, Angevin Duvet (That 70's Show's Laura Prepon) that the path to his future truly takes shape and he has to battle the greatest challenges of his life to pursue his destiny in Hollywood. Shot on location in the South, Rob weaves an engaging but never cloying story about how everyday life obstacles, prejudices and random violence can be more frightening and limiting to the spirit than any horror film could ever hope to construct. Earthy and engaging, and at times laugh out loud funny, "Lightning Bug" is a mature and well-balanced first film that excels based on the merits of Rob's script and the performances of his eclectic cast, especially Harrison, Laurence, Bob Penny and Till.
The audience obviously agreed considering their enthusiastic response after the second screening of "Lightning Bug" on Saturday, April 10th. When the house lights came back up, the majority of the audience remained in their seats (a rare occurrence at film festival events) and
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"It was so great to see you laughing at the right spots and then passing tissues at the right time!" ~ Rob Hall
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Rob humbly took the stage with producer Lisa Waugh, and cast members, Hal Sparks, Brett Harrison, Ashley Laurence, Shannon Eubanks, and George Faughnan, for a brief Q&A. Rob graciously thanked the audience and looked truly touched sharing, "It was so great to see you laughing at the right spots and then passing tissues at the right time!" When asked about how autobiographical the film truly is, Rob laughed and offered, "Seventy/thirty. I make monsters in Hollywood so I'm the character of "Green," but I don't like to nitpick the film. My mom is alive but I do have a scar on my arm." Explaining how the making of the film came to fruition, Rob details, "I did this film on my hiatus last season from Angel. I did it myself with all my friends, so Buffy and Angel fans will recognize some faces. I knew about 80% of the cast ahead of time from other projects and when I told them about the project they just lined-up. I financed it all myself with my life savings, credit cards and duct tape. It was a 21 day shoot and basically, I wrote the film when I was 25, shot the film when I was 29 and now I'm 30."
Producer Lisa Waugh, also a fellow Southerner, talked a little bit about where they shot the film. "We went to Cullman, Alabama where Rob was raised," she details. "There are about 300 churches there and it's a dry county," she chuckles. "The residents weren't necessarily close-minded but they were kind of suspicious of Rob. They see all of us wearing black at the local Wal-Mart and had no idea what to think!" The cast fielded a few questions about their character inspirations and working with Rob and then the pleased group left the stage to mingle with audience members in the lobby for pictures and more conversation.
A LITTLE ONE-ON-ONE
Rob Hall & Lisa Waugh at the Lightning Bug Premiere |
Rob then gave us some time to give more background on the impetuous to take on a project this daunting. "I did not get into the monsters as a segueway into directing," he explains. "In fact, I didn't want to be a director, but right about the time I was finishing up working with Roger Corman the idea of being a filmmaker started appealing to me. Like I said, I wrote it at 25 and I waited four years and tried to get it in the hands of people who would read it but it's so tough in Hollywood. I eventually said forget it and I did it myself. I didn't want to wait around anymore. I'm in love with the process now and I'd like to make intelligent horror films."
Some might find an autobiographical story a bit too personal to make a first screenwriting or directorial debut but Rob saw it as the exact opposite. "I knew this would be the project to launch me as a director. They say 'write what you know'and this is what I know. The theme of the film is his how real life demons are so much more powerful and strong than fantasy and how hypocritical and judgmental people can be at times. I don't want to be the effects artist turned director who did a monster movie in a cave. They expect me to do that and I think people are really blown away when they find out I did a drama first."
Rob also credits his producing partner and longtime friend, Lisa Waugh as a key collaborator in making the film happen. "I gave [the script] to her for a fresh voice and she helped me tweak it and added some of the funny lines. We also tailored the role a little bit around Laura Prepon to make her a little bit older and a bit more of the aggressor."
And in keeping with the friends and family theme, Rob adds his brother Jason Hall provided some music for the soundtrack. "My brother did the music for the film. He did all the incidental music and one of my favorite bands, "Drivin N Cryin" did eight original songs for it. The stars just aligned for me." Former Buffy actress and fellow independent filmmaker, Amber Benson is another familiar face appearing in the "Thank You" section of the credits. "I talked to Amber and her mom, Diana because they are from Birmingham Al and they were terrific with giving advice since they had done the same thing. I also credited Tim Minear [former Angel executive producer] because I got some directing pointers from him although Tim is so funny, he basically said, 'Get a lot of coverage and don’t f*** up.' Without Tim bringing me into the fold of Angel, I wouldn't be where I am today, and wouldn't have been able to meet a lot of these people and then make the movie."
THE FUTURE SHINES BRIGHT
Rob Hall and Laura Prepon on-set
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The plan for "Lightning Bug" is to get more eyes to see it over the next few months. "We are going to do a lot of film festivals. We are hoping to create some buzz and get a distributor that "gets" it. This was a passion project - the actors made $900 a week - so they didn't do it to make money. We want to get a distributor that will have the same passion as us and get it out there." The film will next be screened in June at festivals in the UK, New York, Oklahoma and Massachusetts. Meanwhile, Rob and his talented crew of makeup artists living the dream in Hollywood have a busy post-Angel future ahead of them. “We just finished the special makeup for the Hallie Berry film, "Lackawanna Blues" for HBO. It was a more subtle age makeup and it was cool. We also just did some dead bodies for The Shield and we have irons in the fire for a few smaller movies this summer." Rob lights up in a victorious smile, channeling some shades of his alter ego Green, when he adds, "Everything is wonderful. I'm doing what I love."
Written by CoA Staff Writer, Tara DiLullo
CityofAngel.com would like to extend gracious thanks to Rob Hall, Lisa Waugh and
Rene Ridinger for their generosity of time and access at the Philadelphia Film Festival.
For more information on Lighting Bug, visit the Official Website at:
LightningBugTheMovie.com
Visit Robert Hall's Almost Human, at their Official Website:
AlmostHuman.net
If you have any comments for CityofAngel.com regarding this Happenings feature, we would love to hear from you. Just email us at: comments@CityofAngel.com
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