F I L M F E S T I VA L S
SLEDGE, A LOW BUDGET SUCCESS STORY
An Interview With Filmmaker Kristian Hanson
by Joseph D. Becker
Where did you come up with the idea of Sledge?
Sledge came from my wife to be honest. We were driving home from my brothers wedding and she told me to sit down and write a script that we could go film in Potsdam, NY where my Co-Director John is from. I sat down and in two days I had finished the script for SLEDGE and two months later, we began filming the film.
This is a Horror/ Comedy, something that’s been done. What makes Sledge different?
Sledge is different because it knows it is a movie. In a scene where somebody gets killed, one of our characters comes back to the campground and when he is asked where the character is, he explains how he was just killed, but he wasn't there to witness it. It is meant to be fun and different. Yes, there are a lot of horror/slashers out there, but Sledge is self aware of it being a Bhorror film, and that is what makes it so fun.
You did this with almost no budget. Tell us what inspired you to try this on your own?
We did this on our own because we didn't have a lot of choice to be honest. We didn't have a big fan base at this time, and we knew if we wanted to make a film, we would have to do it on our own. We put out an ad for people to audition and only had a few people show up. One person became our lead actress in Stephanie Tupper. The other lead actor Dustin Bowman, found out about the film in the local newspaper. We always joke and say Dustin is an Angel because who reads the local paper anymore. Also, without him, the character of Alex wouldn't be as great as he is. This really would not have happened without all of the help of everyone in the cast who ended up also being the crew.
What’s different about Adam Lynch?
Adam Lynch is just psychotic. There isn't a rhyme or reason for why he does what he does. Jason kills people because he was drown in the lake and his mother was killed. Freddy is the bastard son of 100 maniacs. Adam Lynch kills people because...well...he is psychotic. Some people have asked me why he snapped and that there has to be a reason for why he snapped. Honestly, there isn't. Maybe he had a chemical imbalance in his head, or he was on a bad medication that gave him an erection for longer than 4 hours causing him to go to the doctor and get a needle in his crank. That would make me go insane. Hey, maybe that'll be the story of why he went nuts and believes he is in a movie and video game. To
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