Exclusive Interview with the Cast of DUDE BRO PARTY MASSACRE III

Today, 5 Second Films’ feature movie debut, Dude Bro Party Massacre III, will be released on both iTunes and via the film’s official site. The throwback slasher comedy recently premiered during the 2015 Los Angeles Film Fest and Daily Dead had the opportunity to catch up with the three of the cast members from Dude Bro Party Massacre III: Alec Owen, Paul Prado and Olivia Taylor Dudley.

During our interview, we spoke to the trio about their experiences working together on Dude Bro Party Massacre III, including the shorthand the entire cast and crew shared while collaborating on the film due to their work at 5 Second Films over the years. They also discussed the importance of fans and giving back to them as well as keeping their characters grounded, regardless of how ridiculously over-the-top things got in their zany horror comedy.

For more information on Dude Bro Party Massacre III and its release this week, be sure to check out http://www.dudebropartymassacre3.com/ for all the details. And for those of you attending the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con this week, DBPMIII will also be screening for free at the Gaslamp Theater (701 5^th Avenue) on Friday, July 10th at 8:30pm, so be sure to check it out if you have some time that night.

Congrats on the film guys - it has a great energy to it and was a lot of fun. I'm curious how much of what we see was actually in the script and how much of that was you guys just riffing during the shoot. Was it a hugely collaborative experience?

Paul: The truest statement that we could say about the percentage of the final performances in the film versus what was actually writing is easiestly summed up by saying that each person made one-sixteenth of the contribution, because it's a sixteen-member team. The whole film is just a combination of all seven years that we've been doing this, so whether someone was a writer, or a shooter who had an idea for a line, or even the PA's who were smoking cigarettes on the side like, "What if Paul did this and he ended like this?” Everyone was involved and we were changing things up constantly.

Oliva: I think that’s the best way to explain the culture of our group, since we've been working together and making movies together for so many years now. Everyone at 5 Second Films were all working on the film and we were all involved in various capacities. It was a group effort.

Was the biggest challenge for you guys making Dude Bro to make sure that you were still able to anchor these characters so that they weren’t just caricatures, despite the fact that they keep finding themselves in these ridiculous situations?

Paul: I think we really balance each other out well on that. I can tell you that my tendency is always to try to make everything as funny as I possibly can and I had the guy Michael Rousselet in my ear, who's like, "It's about the character, make it about the character, Paul." I'm not saying that I put in an incredible amount of character or anything, but for a guy like Turbeaux, he was a character driven by all these threads of different ongoing jokes so I just tried to have fun with that.

Olivia: I have to do a lot of mask acting, so that's what I was focused on. It's actually really hard to have a mask on for a whole movie and try to do anything beyond that, but it was fun too, especially since there’s a lot of physicality to "Mother Face."

Also, we had a famous line on set - where once we got through with our takes, one of the directors would then say, "Okay, now give me the Five Second Film version," which would be completely crazy.

Alec: For me, the anchor was like what Olivia just said. It's so weird. It just keeps coming back to the seven years we’ve been working together and taking risks, but at the same time it was also seven years of safety. Safety and trust were the real anchors for all of us because everyone could take chances on this.

You guys just sort of touched on this a little bit but I wanted to ask - is the fact that you guys have been working together for so many years and have that kind of built-in support there already, does that make the creative environment better for you then as actors because you’ve already established a back and forth and everything?

Olivia: It's like home.

Paul: Imagine your own relationship with your family members, and all the intricacies and complexities that come with those different relationships. You all have your good days and bad days, but in your heart there's no possibility that you're going to leave your family ever or turn your back on them. So yes, punches may be thrown, but we're going to keep going because that’s the way it is. We know that we all play a huge role and it’s very much a team effort.

One last thing I wanted to ask before I go - what would you say is the biggest thing that you guys have taken away from this whole experience? From starting 5 Second Films to the whole Kickstarter campaign, and now here you all are now, talking about your feature film at a festival.

Alec: For me, it's just always been about the support of the fans. It's the kind of thing where once we did the Kickstarter, my mom was like, "Oh! Now I see what you guys have been doing over at that place every weekend" [laughs]. And it's very touching and inspiring to me to see all seven minutes of Kickstarter names in the final credits who were part of this and I just feel incredibly lucky. That's all.

Olivia: Yes. We have our good days and our bad days but I know the one thing that brings us back is the support of our fans. They're always there, so we made this movie for them.

Paul: I'm personally connected with two or three high school-aged fans who first contacted me when they were sophomores and now they're seniors. I literally give them my phone number and my personal email. If somebody finds me, I’m always going to be willing to talk to them. It’s important.

I deleted my Facebook but there was a point in time during those years when I did have it where I’d have a fan or two who would reach out, and a lot of times they’d say something like, "Paul, you really speak to me." So it was up to me to be open and respond to them.

There’s this saying about the hand that gives is the hand that gathers and to me, the more we give to each other, the more we get out of each other. And so, the more we gave to the fans, the more we got out of the fans too and that may be a piece of ancient wisdom, but it’s so, so true.