Interview with Indy Horror Queen Reyna Young Part 1
Last week at the Sacramento Sci Fi and Horror Convention I met Reyna Young, independent horror film producer. She owns Last Doorway Productions and, with her husband John, has recently produced Welcome to My Darkside, a Documentary of Women in Horror. It seemed really interesting and so I thought I would interview her and put it up on my blog as a break from all the dating advice. I plan to do other interviews in the future as well
Dave: How did you first get into horror movies?
Reyna: When I was a little girl I was never allowed to watch horror films. I woke up my little sister one morning in October, and we snuck into my dad’s VHS collection. I pulled out John Carpenters Halloween and ever since then I became obsessed with Horror. From there I watched The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and A Nightmare on Elm Street and started reading Edgar Allan Poe! I’ve been obsessed with horror ever since and it’s been fun. (Texas Chainsaw Massacre image courtesy of the horror movie t shirt category)
Dave: Do you have any experience in horror movie production?
Reyna: I write, direct, produce, and edit my own horror shorts and features. My husband John Gillette edits and does camera work for me as well. I started my own film company called Last Doorway Productions and since 2006 we have 9 shorts and one feature under our belt and another feature and my shorts on the way. I am also Horror Hostess Miss Misery of The Last Doorway Show show we created to help promote independent artists. We have 60 episodes and more on the way.
Dave: Do you consider yourself more of a horror movie fan, horror movie producer, or documentarian?
Reyna: WOW!! Well I like to think that I’m all three. I am inspired every day to do something new and I learn from everything I do. I am a huge horror fan; always have been and always will be. Yes I produce horror films, help out on sets, and get involved with as much movie stuff that I can. Welcome to My Darkside is my first documentary and yes I want to do more. I want to do one on men in the horror genre and get their aspects on things.
Dave: Who do you see as the biggest influence in horror movie productions today?
Reyna: That’s a hard question because everyone is an influence to me. I give everyone credit who picks up a camera or just gets off their ass and does something. Anyone who does what they love and feels good about doing it. In a world of re-makes right now I must say I have noticed more and more people getting into the world of independent horror and it’s coming up a lot more these days. I have friends who were never into independent horror and now that’s all they watch. Independent horror I think will help influence people to do more original films then just remakes.
Dave: What do you think is the motivation behind all the horror re-makes? Is it a tribute to classic horror or just a lack of creativity in Hollywood?
Reyna: Well, I think that originality is lacking and the only way they keep the money rolling in is if they re-make all these classics. I have heard teens nowadays say that they didn’t know A Nightmare on Elm Street was a re-make. I think that’s pretty bad.
(Continued next post)
