It's Saturday night in Los Angeles and the smell of cheeseburgers and french fries is in the air. I'm in the world famous Jerry's Deli and had the privilege of interviewing Jason R. Miller of ArieScope Pictures. Jason has had his hand in films like Hatchet, Frozen, Hatchet 2 and most recently Chillerama. Being a fan of all of those movies, I wanted to find out how he got involved in horror movies.
During my talk with Jason, I learned about how he made it to Los Angeles from Boston, how he got a job at ArieScope, and why John Landis of An American Werewolf in London fame is his mortal enemy. Sit back and relax, as we recant the blood, guts and duties of answering the phone for Adam Green at ArieScope Pictures.
Jason, what brought you to Hollywood?
Jason R. Miller: Growing up in Boston, I always loved movies. I went to college for visual effects, but honestly, I knew everything they were teaching me, so I decided to quit school and just move to Los Angeles.
Where did you live when you first got here?
Jason R. Miller: When I first got here I had a rental agent who got me a place to live and it was the worst neighborhood I could imagine. I lasted a month before I ended up moving into a nicer area. Don’t get me wrong, the place inside was nice, but there were bums crapping outside of the building. I thought this couldn’t be the best of Hollywood, but I would later find out that Hollywood itself is a lot like that area too.
I feel the same way. There is one strip of nice area by the Chinese Theater and the rest is horrible.
Jason R. Miller: Yeah, I ended up moving within walking distance to the Chinese theater and that is how I told myself the place I lived wasn’t bad. Hell, I could walk to the Chinese theater!
So how did you get the job with ArieScope?
Jason R. Miller: I was introduced to the guys of ArieScope from Will Barratt who loves to talk about everything when it comes to cameras and making movies. I went in for an interview and they kept asking me if I would be alright with picking up Mr. Green’s dry cleaning. They kept asking me that question. So I was thinking: “man, how much dry cleaning does this guy have?” But it was all just a big joke; I never picked up his dry cleaning and Adam was really cool. Honestly, he would help me with errands more then I would help him out.
How did you end up starting to work on movies if you were the guy who was answering phones?
Jason R. Miller: Hatchet was sent to a DI company and they totally screwed it up. I told Adam I would help fix it by match cutting the film so they could do a new DI and I actually helped improve the scene in the movie where the lady gets her head ripped off. I told them that I knew how to edit and use Final Cut Pro. I didn’t know anything about Final Cut Pro, but the best way to learn is by trial and error right?
That’s usually what I say.
Jason R. Miller: So I digitized the film from a DVD screener and began to edit everything. When I was done there was one scene that was different and I needed them to see it. That was the head rip scene [Kristian’s Personal Favorite Victor Crowley Death and Jason’s] so I called Adam into the room and I showed it to him. Instantly Adam went “HOLY F*CK! You fixed it!” I looked at Adam and was like “Huh?” and Adam said that they could never get the transition the way he wanted. I ended up fixing it by adding a little cross dissolve so the shot went smoothly and looked great. From that moment, I was involved in the movies in a more creative position.
Were you involved in the actual Filming of Hatchet and Spiral?
Jason R. Miller: No those were made before I got the job. I just helped with the post editing of Hatchet.
What was the first film you worked on?
Jason R. Miller: The first movie I was on set for was Frozen.
How did that come about?
Jason R. Miller: Adam ran into the office one day and said: “I have an idea. It’s about three people stuck in a chair lift…”
We all look at him and say “and….?”
And Adam says: “I’m not sure yet…”
That’s hilarious.
Jason R. Miller: The one story element I can say that I added to the film is the wolves. Adam didn’t want the girl to die, but needed another element so they were thinking of bears and I said, how about wolves? Everyone asked if there were wolves in New England and I said yes. Many people still say there aren’t, but there are because we did the research!
I remember seeing Frozen at the New Beverly and thought it was fantastic!
Jason R. Miller: Thanks. The film was really tough to make. The day I got on set there was a massive blizzard and the only time we got out of the cold was for lunch. The only thing was… the lodge we had our breaks in was infested with bugs. Everyone else seemed fine, but I just couldn’t focus and eat because bugs are just gross.
After Frozen you ended up moving on to Hatchet 2 right?
Jason R. Miller: Right, that is the first time I got to direct a real actor. Because the movie was so ambitious, as 2nd unit director I had more than just blood to film. I ended up directing all of Cletus' death scene, from him arriving to the boat up until Crowely throws his faceless body away. Ed is one of the kindest people. Second unit directing on Hatchet 2 was definitely a highlight in my career thus far.
I was able to see Hatchet 2 before it was pulled from theaters. Do you think the fact it got pulled helped the sales of Hatchet 2?
Jason R. Miller: I think it did but it was not a publicity stunt like so many people thought it was. We worked really hard on that movie and the fact it was removed after a few days was upsetting.
Hatchet 2 is gory and fun. I couldn’t believe when I went to see Saw 7 how gory and ruthless it was compared to Hatchet 2 and it got an R rating, while Hatchet 2 got an NC-17.
Jason R. Miller: Yeah man I don’t know
Next, you worked on Chillerama?
Jason R. Miller: Yep, that was a great time. I needed a break after Hatchet 2 but when we all came together to make THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANKENSTEIN portion, it was a lot of fun. It was six days of shooting and everyone on set was just having a great time.
I think the entire Joel David Moore part of being Hitler was hilarious.
Jason R. Miller: Yeah, Joel did a great job and it was hilarious. Next we moved on to Wadzilla which took a lot of time. I handled all of the VFX and the CHIODOS BROTHERS brought that creature to life. Then we were supposed to start Joe Lynch’s Zom-B-Movie but the producers called him to do Knights of Badassdom so he had to leave. When he left we had to do all the casting by sending him the tapes, and the one question he wanted asked was: “What is your second favorite movie?”
What is yours?
Jason R. Miller: It changes all the time, what’s yours?
Jaws.
Jason R. Miller: See that may be my all time second favorite now.
My favorite is An American Werewolf in London.
Jason R. Miller: I hate that movie.
Why do you hate the movie?
Jason R. Miller: Because John Landis is my mortal enemy. When we were shooting The Road to Frightfest, we were doing The Twilight Zone spoof and asked if he wanted to be a part of it. He said yes but he would only if we filmed it up at his house, so we packed everything and went up there and filmed it. After the shoot, he took us to his garage where he has the place filled with all the action figures from his movies. He ended up opening a box and there were these Blues Brothers action figures and he asked if we liked Blues Brothers. We all said yes, so he started handing them out. Well he got to me and said “You’re just the friend, so you don’t get anything”. So now he is my mortal enemy. Not really though, it’s just a running joke between us all.
That’s hilarious! So Joe came back and you were able to finish Chillerama?
Jason R. Miller: While Joe was gone we filmed I Was A Teenage Werebear and continued to work on Wadzilla. When Joe arrived we filmed his short and then finally finished Wadzilla.
So, it sounds like it took a long time…
Jason R. Miller: Wadzilla took one more day to shoot then Hatchet 2 took to film. So…YEAH.
So what are you up to now?
Jason R. Miller: I have been working on Holliston and I have something in the works, but I can’t talk about it right now.
Any advice for people wanting to make movies or write scripts or move to LA?
Jason R. Miller: Don’t say you are going to do something, just do it. If you make a movie and it sucks, at least you made a movie and you can learn from it.
Thank you for your time Jason.
Jason R. Miller: You are welcome. Thanks for the food.
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