30 Days of Night
I'll always have a soft spot for this film; not only because I loved the movie itself, but also because I had such an amazing experience working on it.
I was already a big fan of the book, so I was really excited when I got the call to come in and meet with the director, David Slade. I was already well aware of David's work: his debut, an amazing independent film called Hard Candy, (if you haven't already seen it- STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING AND GO WATCH IT NOW), made a huge splash and really left an impression. It's the only movie I've ever seen where multiple theatergoers passed out at every screening I saw. (You'll know where when you see it...) It's also Ellen Page's first feature- and she's just... just see the movie, and prepare to get freaked out... but I digress.
On the way to my interview, I got into a fender bender and was almost an hour and a half late! Fortunately, David and I hit it off famously and I got the gig.
After about a month working on 'boards here in LA, I was fortunate enough to to have the opportunity to go to Auckland, New Zealand for the summer, (or winter, as the case may be when you're in NZ), to work on site during preproduction. New Zealand was just amazing. I also got to spend some real time in Wellington, at the WETA Workshop, It was just mind blowing.
I love the finished film, (although I'd love to see a "Director's Cut' released one day...), and it was the first 'big' movie I had worked on, so to have that kind of experience was just fantastic. Such a great time.
