MALCOLMMcDOWELL.US Chats One-On-One with Chris Gabriel – Writer/Director of the upcoming movie -- FIRST PLATOON -- starring Malcolm McDowell

Malcolm McDowell fans…

…zombie fans…

It’s time to unite!

FIRST PLATOON is a non-stop Laugh-Out-Loud adventure that no movie-lover will soon forget. Writer/Director Chris Gabriel created a story that has it all-- jumps, twists, hilarity, all-around fun and an ending that’s destined for a spot in the zombie Hall of Fame! If you’re looking for one heck of a ride—FIRST PLATOON is the movie for you!

The below one-on-one interview (summary) with Chris Gabriel was conducted by MALCOLMMcDOWELL.US Creator/Webmaster Jenny Clark. MALCOLMMcDOWELL.US sends a huge thanks to Chris Gabriel and Michela Angelini (First Earth Films, LLC) for making this interview happen!

Jenny: We’re here with the highly talented Chris Gabriel, the writer and director of the upcoming awesome zombie-comedy FIRST PLATOON. As everyone knows-- FIRST PLATOON stars the one and only Malcolm McDowell. So, Chris – thank you again for being here with us on MalcolmMcDowell.US – how are you?

Chris: I am wonderful. Thank you very much for asking!

Jenny: Well great! Now Chris, I know the story, you obviously know the story better than anyone, but the fans out there reading this may not. In your own words, tell us what FIRST PLATOON is all about.

Chris: Well, I’m trying to think of how much I can actually divulge…because I’ve been threatened with bodily injury if I give away any spoilers! Basically, the main story takes place 2 years after the zombie apocalypse. The zombies have taken over the world, and the last few survivors have banned together in different little towns and groups. The main characters are the last few survivors of their [Army] company and they basically go from town to town working as zombie slayers in exchange for food, for supplies, and things like that......and they’re running out of zombies.

Jenny: And that’s a problem.

Chris: Yeah, they have to resort to padding their numbers – they shoot a couple and they tell everyone they shot 20 so everybody’s more impressed. I don’t know how much more I can give away other than that...

Jenny: That’s okay. I don’t want you to have to say anything that will cause you bodily harm. Remember, you have to direct the movie—we want you in good shape! Keeping that in mind, I’m guessing you probably can’t talk about Malcolm’s character?

Chris: Oh, I wish I could!

Jenny: Whatever his part may be, when you were writing the script, did you have Malcolm in mind? Or, if not, how did Malcolm become involved with the project?

Chris: That is actually a fantastic story, because I did not have him in mind. We hit on the idea of trying to get a certain individual to play the mayor of one of the towns—and I can’t say who, because we haven’t heard back from him yet, and it would really be a huge spoiler. But, we were trying to get someone to play the mayor of one of these towns, and we sent the script to [this person’s] Manager, who also happens to manage Malcolm McDowell. [After we sent the script], we got a call back in a day or so and he said, "Hey, do you have this role cast? Do you think you could use Malcolm McDowell?"...And I’ve never been asked that before! After 30 seconds of trying to get my heart started again I was like—absolutely! And it was just perfect. The role is very quirky and very strange. Really, as soon as he said it, it was just instantaneous. I could see [Malcolm] in it and it was perfect.

Jenny: You sound like you’re a big fan of Malcolm.

Chris: Oh yeah! I mean who isn’t?? A friend of mine described him as a ‘play the shark in Jaws actor.’ Malcolm McDowell could play the shark in Jaws and he would still play it believably!

Jenny: Well I definitely agree with that. Have you met him yet?

Chris: No. I have not had the chance to yet.

Jenny: Well it’ll be a real treat-- he’s a really sweet guy, and I don’t have to tell you how talented he is. You’ll have a lot of fun working with him.

Chris: I am really, really looking forward to it.

Jenny: Oh, it’ll be fun. He brings so much – he brings 200% to every single role that he does. Now, I must ask, besides FIRST PLATOON (obviously)...what’s your favorite Malcolm movie?

Chris: I’m going to get in trouble for saying this but... actually... one of my favorite movies that he was in was Tank Girl. I love it! I know the right answer should be A Clockwork Orange, but… I [also] really liked him in Star Trek: Generations.

Jenny: When you sat down to write FIRST PLATOON, what was the initial inspiration for the story?

Chris: The first draft of the story was – the main characters were general monster hunters – zombies and werewolves and other things like that. They were sort of Monster Exterminators. Part of the gag was that... I wanted to use every movie cliché. Originally, the story started off with two people camped out in the woods – a guy and a girl, and they were starting to make out and there’s a zombie coming through the woods at them. Just before [the zombie] gets to them, a guy jumps out with an automatic weapon and blows its head off. And the girl looks up and says, "Well, you took long enough, didn’t you?" And it turns out they were just trying to bait the monsters in by making out in the woods.

Jenny: That’s always a good trick. Kind of like running randomly into a dark house!

Chris: Exactly! Saying – "I’ll be right back" -- going off to an abandoned summer camp. Things like that. I love horror movies, but the clichés start to... you know, it’s like – okay, can we find a better way to do this? That’s one of the reasons why I like the movie Scream so much. It was really self-aware – if you do these things, you’re going to die.

Jenny: I love horror movies too, and when you’re watching movies like Scream, it’s great! They’re clever and they pay tribute to the rest of the genre in a fun way.

Chris: One of the other things that really got me thinking about it was the Max Brooks series-- the Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z, which I think is just an absolutely inspired book. It really got me thinking about—okay, what would life be like after this horrible thing happened? How would life have to change?

Jenny: How did you break into the business?

Chris: I was doing a radio show here in Las Vegas – an internet radio show called: The Father Joey Sin City Confessional Hour, which was actually a highly effective internet radio show! It was very tongue-in-cheek and sort of this odd little thing. Some guys in Memphis used to listen to the show and they were putting together this horror movie-anthology kind of thing. [They] asked me to come out and be, what they called, a mix of Elvira and the Crypt Keeper....which was really a weird combination, but anyway.... So, I went out and did this movie, and it was actually a terrible experience, and the end product was dreadful, but it was inspiring because it was the first time I had really gotten to be around film. I thought – wow, I really wanna do this! I started doing some Extra work and started taking it a little more seriously and got into some acting. I did another movie called One Long Day where I played this very bizarre mob enforcer-type character. Great fun, great experience and [I] also got the ‘directing bug’ [by] being on set all the time and being a part of it. [I started] looking at things as to how I would do it.

Jenny: So you’re an actor, a writer and a director—if you had to pick one of the three, what do you consider yourself to be? Do you consider yourself more of a writer, an actor or a director?

Chris: I enjoy acting, but I’m not an actor. I think that the combination of writer-director works really well. I have directed someone else’s work. The last movie we did called, Devotion, was written by a friend of mine, Will Edwards. It was a really good experience and he was very flexible with what I wanted to do with his material. But I would rather direct my own material, and I would rather write my own, because then there’s really nobody else to mess with it at that point. You don’t have to worry about arguments about it, or-- "Yeah, but I meant this." Now I’m just having those arguments with myself!

Jenny: What’s your favorite part of the process? Do you like working with the actors? Do you like the technical aspects—the cameras, the lighting? What’s the best part of what you do?

(Pause)

Jenny: Or, you can say everything!

Chris: Well, I’m trying to think exactly how to frame that because it really is everything. It’s the magic of it. It’s this beautiful process. The lights and the camera, the technical aspects of it are amazing to me--because that’s not my thing (the technical aspects), but I know how to find people who can do it. Watching those people do their thing, and watching it come from out of my head to right there in front of me is... this amazing, spiritual experience. I can’t imagine not doing it now. It really is everything. Hearing an actor... hearing your character’s voice come out of an actor’s mouth is an amazing thing. I get lost in it. It’s horribly corny but—

Jenny: No, of course! Those are your words and it’s your vision, and it’s coming to life. It doesn’t get better than that. Before we sign off, is there anything else you would like to say to the readers of MalcolmMcDowell.US – why should Malcolm McDowell fans stay tuned for news and updates on FIRST PLATOON?

Chris: They will never forget this role! That much I can guarantee. I hope this will be the most fun that they’ve ever had with zombies....and I think it will be the best Malcolm McDowell movie involving zombies ever!

MALCOLM FANS – you heard Chris! You’re never going to forget this role! Stay tuned to www.MalcolmMcDowell.US for news and updates on FIRST PLATOON, starring Malcolm McDowell!

MALCOLMMcDOWELL.US wishes Chris the very best on all of his current and future endeavors.

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