How did you first break into the industry?
I wouldn’t say it was breaking into the industry, but it was a road that I went down doing something that I really love. I was always into movies and got into horror when I was probably too young to really know what I was seeing. I remember watching IT for the first time at 7 or 8 and was afraid to sit on the toilet if the AC turned on and I heard it come through the vents, films like Monster Squad and Tales from Crypt and staying up past bedtime to watch MonsterVision and USA Up All Night. I worked in a movie store in high school and watched every movie in the store. My first camera I used to make skateboard videos of me and friends and eventually film my bands when we had a show, and first mixer and recorder to record the band on a four track. I stayed working in A/V throughout college making corporate videos for my families business, recording conferences and setting up the AV, and when I was not sure what I wanted to do after studying Philosophy in college I kept going down the creative path with music, engineering and studio recording. I’d been working in a few local Philly studios (Bradford Sound, Sigma Sound, Dobbs Studio) and I honestly wasn’t working the genre of music I really wanted to be recording. It got me to think how I could continue working creatively as an Audio Engineer and make a living while doing what I love and I bought my first mobile recording setup to help on a small indy project, and that was it, Haven’t looked back. It’s such a rewarding job, working with fellow creative people from all sorts of backgrounds that really just want to make something that others can enjoy, every crew is different but when you are in the field your coworkers become like a family and great friends, you miss them when the job is over and can’t wait to see each other on the next one.
Who/What inspires you to be a filmmaker?
What inspires me is a filmmaker is to unleash creativity and show the world different ideas and create lots of emotions, getting a strong reaction out of people is what it's all about good or bad. As story tellers a film maker can do nearly anything with the tools at our disposal, whether its playing with audio or special fx, getting an actor to convey extreme emotion or sharing a heartfelt moment or experience in a documentary. When we capture these things on camera and get to share them with the world someone may see them and decide to be different, or are not afraid to be themselves, or find what scares them or what excites them. We can also be real weird and I think that is great, people are so weird and I think its good to embrace that, all the best characters have qualities that we see in ourselves and can identify with even if its something bizarre or just boring. Some of my favorites that have inspired me are Kubrick, Darren Arnofsky, Guillermo del Toro, Jason Blum, Sam Riami
What was your best set moment on a Fear Crypt short?
For me one of the parts of film making that I enjoy the most is the teamwork, and honestly every short film that I’ve worked on with Fear Crypt has been done with collaboration of creatives that are open to all ideas on set. When we did Grade A, which was the first Fear Crypt project I was involved with, everyone really worked together great. It was really clear that the team was going to work well and it would be a fun time. Things took a bit longer than expected as things normally go on a tight shoot day, but everyone was there to make going late into the night to make sure we got it.
What sort of person is going to love the Fear Crypt shorts you have worked on?
Fear Crypt’s short horror films are perfect for the horror fan that wants a little daily dose of horror that they can consume on the go or in the bathroom or just take a break from work and have a scare.
What advice would you give aspiring filmmakers?
Aspiring filmmakers should know that this is the best industry in the world, and its worth all of the hard work that it takes to find your way to whether its a career or hobby. Stick with it, make friends, don’t be afraid to make mistakes and learn from them. Also never treat people poorly in this business, you never know who will be your next boss, collaborator, coworker.
Contact b.z.kall@gmail.com and www.soundkall.com for collaboration or to hire me on a project!
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