Interview: DEAD GIVEAWAY Filmmaker Ian Kimble Shares Ideal Brunch and Horror Comedy Ingredients

When you think about friends who are ride or die, you never really expect the death part to come into play. You’re more likely to think about the good times, like staying out late dancing or waking up early for brunch the next day. However, in Ian Kimble’s debut feature film Dead Giveaway, the characters played by Ruby Modine (Shameless, Happy Death Day) and Mikaela Hoover (James Gunn’s Superman) have to reconcile both parts of the popular phrase when one of them wakes up next to a corpse and has no recollection of how it got in her bed. 

Ahead of the movie’s world premiere at the 34th Philadelphia Film Festival, we spoke with writer/director/producer Kimble about his mysterious horror comedy. The filmmaker discussed how the city of Philadelphia impacted the project and his appreciation of film overall. He also went into the casting process to find his party-powered pair of protagonists, the inspirations behind the characters, and the elements of a well-balanced horror comedy. Plus, if you're looking for some brunch recs after a wild night, we’ve got those too. 

To me, your feature film debut feels like Scott Pilgrim vs. The World by way of Knives Out and Dale & Tucker vs Evil. But what were your inspirations for Dead Giveaway? 

Ian Kimble: Those are three incredible movies. Thank you. That's very cool. I think that when it came to this, probably those were in the back of my head at some point. But with how we shot it, [the film is] very much Ocean's Eleven. [That] was a big one that we watched. Pulp Fiction was a big one, for sure. That we watched a lot. I gave Heathers and Jawbreaker to the girls to watch.

Again, I love those movies that you listed. And it's an honor to be compared to them in any way. I also didn't want to give too much horror comedy to everyone to watch. It was like, “Let's not be just like these because we love them and we are in the same category.” [Instead,] let’s try to be like these other movies so we can give our own flavor and our own tone to things.

Mikaela Hoover’s Lia went from not chopping people up to torture fairly quickly over the course of the film. But she’s also talking about dick prints in Jill's mattress. What are the perfect ingredients to make a balanced horror comedy?

Ian Kimble: The best thing about horror comedy, to me, is keeping people on their toes. When you think about any person, like anybody you know, or you or me, we're all very complex. There's nobody who's just this way all of the time. People are a different level of cranky when they're hungry than others. Some people [who] are very timid behind the desk at work go completely bonkers at a metal show on the weekends. There are so many levels to us. And so focusing on character in that way made the horror comedy elements a little bit easier because it meant that at any moment, I can pull anything out of one of these characters and it develops their character more. But it also keeps the audience guessing. We don't really know these people. You get to meet them for a course of an hour and a half and the characters have a whole life experience that makes them who they are. I think the balance is just as soon as things feel like they're a little bit too steady, let's just throw another little element in there and keep the audience a little bit off balance.

The description for Dead Giveaway in the festival guide mentions iconic film duos like Cher and Dionne from Clueless and Romy and Michelle to introduce Jill & Lia. Those are some pretty big shoes to fill, so what did the casting process entail to get the chemistry just right?

Ian Kimble: My whole focus was always very much on kind people, funny people, and movie lovers. Ruby got tacked on first and she understood the role. She understood the part. She's very much a movie lover, but she's [also] a musician. And so the rhythm, the comedy, the timing, that all translated very well to her. 

Then when I got to speak to Mikaela again, [she’s] super funny off camera. She’s just a hilarious person and incredibly kind. The funny thing about Michaela is most people don't know is that she's a massive horror fan. She's a big horror buff. And so she very much got the script. 

Then the second the two of them were together, before they were even reading together, they were just talking with one another and I was like, “Oh, this is this is going to be a cakewalk.” They just got it. They got the rhythm. They got the timing. They were very malleable and very creative in building these characters and playing with the timing and the cadence of how the dialogue went. It was a lot of fun to watch them work. Made my life easy.

Having your ride or die troll you while you’re getting some real serious shit done feels very authentic to me. They say write what you know, so do you have a Lia to your Jill that would step up for you in a situation like this in this way?

Ian Kimble: Oh yeah! Big time. Both of these girls are very much based off of my two older sisters. When I wrote this, a lot of the times it would be like, “What would one of my sisters say in this situation?” [or] “How would they respond to this?”. Getting trolled in serious situations is a mainstay around my family. A lot of my friends are all the same way. I think that's the kind of people I attract. If we're not making fun of you, it probably means we don't like you, you know? I would point to my sisters first, but then I got a couple of buddies that I could call who would let me know that I screwed up while helping me.

The film is celebrating its world premiere at the Philly Film Festival, but have your sisters seen the movie? How do they feel about being in the DNA of the movie? 

Ian Kimble: They saw something pretty early on [and] were both pretty thrilled with it. They laughed pretty good. They enjoyed it, which was nice. I don't know how much they know because I didn't tell them that I based it on them. I don't know if they picked up on that yet, but after all of these interviews, I'm pretty sure that they're going to figure it out pretty quick.

Because of its connections to the area, Dead Giveaway is being presented as part of the Filmadelphia category in the festival. What role did the city of Philadelphia play in the conception of this film and your overall relationship to the medium?

Ian Kimble: Oh, I mean, it's significant. I grew up in South Jersey, like right over the bridge from Philly. Then I've lived in Philly for the last 15 years. The vibe [and] the rhythm of this place very much contribute to what the movie is. 

The movies that have been based here and made here before, even going back to Mikey and Nicky [or] Blow Out… De Palma is from here, so movies like that pick up on the tone and the grittiness of the area. But you also pick up on the people. That's the thing that I think makes this such a Philly movie. These characters are Philly people. And whenever somebody that's never been here and isn't from around here watches it, they get a kick out of it because they're watching these zany characters. But when somebody from here watches it, they're like, “Oh yeah, I know people just like that.” The city has always been a big influence on me and I hope it is for years to come. I love it here.

Finally, you shout out the amazing brunch at Silk City in the film. But there are a lot of great brunch places out there. So when there’s so much to choose from, what is your go-to brunch order?

Ian Kimble: I'm definitely always an omelet guy. I'm going to go with a good loaded-up omelet, especially with peppers, mushrooms… Like, let's get nuts in there. But I will always guilt someone into good French toast or pancakes on the menu. Like we're gonna split them. You know what I mean? It's not even a guilt thing as much as it's just like, “Hey, I'm also ordering this. You'll have a bite, right?”

If you’re in the Philadelphia area, tickets for Dead Giveaway at the 34th Philadelphia Film Festival can be purchased here.