‘BEAUTY IS A BITCH’ IN THE NEW PARANORMAL HORROR FILM STAY
By Amy Sahar
“It’s a thin line between what is fashionable and what is horrific,” says director Brandon Walker about his debut film, STAY. “I wanted to use ambition gone wrong as a gateway to the supernatural.”
Synopsis:
In the city that never sleeps, Olivia is taking the modeling world by storm. A cover girl in the making, Olivia is booking big clients and bringing her YouTube audience along for the ride. With newly earned cash, she moves into a fashionable loft apartment. Its glossy facade, however, conceals a sinister secret born years before. Suddenly overwrought, her tenuous grip on reality begins to slip away. Beautiful, yet increasingly unstable, Olivia makes a shocking choice that leads to a battle for her soul.
FW: What movies influenced your approach to STAY?
BW: On the surface, STAY is America’s Next Top Model meets Paranormal Activity. Dig a little deeper and you can find the influence of Black Swan, Annabelle, and even Oliver Stone’s Wall Street. The backstory for this film is largely based on my own experience of moving to NYC to pursue a career in photography.
FW: Coming from a still image background, what motivated you to make a low-budget horror film?
BW: While working in photography, I had the opportunity to write and develop an Emmy Award-winning TV series about the fashion industry. That experience sparked an interest in making narrative films. I watched several of my scripts march toward production before ultimately failing to launch. It took some time to realize that without drastic action, I would never get a movie made. No matter how much film technology evolves, the barriers to entry don’t just magically disappear… you must give yourself permission to be bold and take chances. For my partner Ashley Park and I, that meant greenlighting our own project, STAY.
FW: Does Ashley come from an entertainment background?
BW: Ashley is a former Miss Asia USA and the producer of Surviving Theater 9, a film that premiered at Tribeca Film Festival. After the experience of working on a more traditional shoot, she was craving a project that was smaller in both scale and budget. It also needed to utilize the assets we already had on hand. At the time, we owned a new cell phone and a decent point-and-shoot camera. Instead of waiting for more money or better timing, we just embraced these simple tools and embarked on a hands-on, no-excuses approach. We adopted the motto: “If you wait for the perfect time to make a movie, you will never make one.”
FW: Did the budgetary constraints push you toward the “found footage” subgenre?
BW: It was important to find a story that could be told with low-tech tools. STAY is less a “found footage” movie, and more of a video diary gone wrong. The ability to “go live” from mobile devices keeps things spontaneous and removes a safety net for the audience. We toggle from scenes that have an “edited” look, to first-person POVs during the livestreams.
FW: Who appears in the film?
BW: The project stars our producer, Ashley Park (Rosewood), Jesse LeNoir (Project Runway), and Dre Davis (Pretty Little Liars). Ashley was the obvious choice to play the leading role based on her acting experience and beauty background. Jesse LeNoir was ideal casting for a movie that required an actor who could operate a camera, improvise, and contribute to our experimental process. Dre Davis brought her fresh and off-beat charisma to the role of Mia.
FW: What do you hope audiences will enjoy about the film?
BW: We tried to produce some big scares on a small budget. Particularly in the finale, I think the movie rewards the audience for their commitment.
FW: What projects are on the horizon for you?
BW: We have a slate of four pictures in pre-production at our new company.
FW: Will these films be made in the style of STAY?
BW: They will be in the paranormal subgenre. But visually, they will be quite distinct from each other.
FW: What can you tell us about your new film business?
BW: What started out as a single DIY horror film has turned into a nano-budget movie studio. The experience gained from STAY has become the blueprint for what we feel is an exciting form of filmmaking.
FW: What are the objectives at a nano-budget studio?
At Ghost Machine Pictures, we embrace our limitations as a catalyst for creativity. It means focusing all our energy into essential storytelling and doing most of the jobs ourselves. While making STAY, countless mistakes were made along the way, but we taught ourselves how to direct, edit and complete a feature film.
FW: Do you have any advice for first-time filmmakers?
BW: People are eager to remind you that your movie won’t be good, that you won’t make money… that you will FAIL. Just tune out the naysayers! It’s never too late to learn something new or try something different. Making movies is far better than making excuses.
FW: Where can we watch STAY?
BW: STAY debuts on Amazon Prime, March 26, 2021.
