Last week, the full-length trailer for “In The Darkness” premiered on Hulu, building momentum for the film’s March 30 release date.
We at IndieFlix have not seen the movie yet, but the anticipation is mounting. The trailer makes the film look more and more like a hybrid of The X-Files Law & Order every day, which, if my daytime TV rerun indulgences could suggest, might be a winning combination.
The film centers on two men who disappeared in the countryside and the group of investigators hired to find them. When the case starts getting hot, lead detectives realize they might be dealing with something far more sinister than they originally thought.
Adding to the creepy and otherworldly nature of the film is the backdrop – the blackened, fire-torn Angeles National Forest, which sits directly outside of Los Angeles. It was the devastation of the area that inspired the film’s storyline.
“When Andrew Robinson saw the location after the fire the idea for the script quickly began to crystallize in his mind. In a very real way the otherworldly feel of the location after the fire was the catalyst for what ‘In The Darkness’ evolved into,” said Jeremy McGovern, Mattoid producer. “It also played an important role in the timeline… once the location was suggested we realized that mother nature was repairing the damage from the fires much faster than we had expected, which was great, but also meant that if we were going to take advantage of the surreal feel of the location we weren’t going to have much time to do it.”
The location also had a resonating impact on Jenna Edwards, the film’s producer.
“I was inspired to go and film in the forest because at the time, everyone was talking about how devastating it was. And it was, believe me,” said Jenna. “I just didn’t want people to give up. I wanted to show that even if all hope seems lost, it isn’t and if you look hard, you can find beauty in the new.”
Jenna and Andrew worked together on “April Showers,” the bestselling drama centered on the heartbreaking realities of a high school shooting. This film, the second venture for both, signifies a new direction for the team.
“April Showers was a movie that, at the time, Andrew and I both needed to tell. There were obvious personal reasons for Andrew wanting to tell the story and there were most certainly personal reasons for me wanting to tell that story, but as a person and producer, you need to follow your bliss,” said Jenna. “Telling a story like April Showers was a really exhausting process, mentally and emotionally.”
She goes on to explain that while she values the lessons she learned through “April Showers,” there was something shifting in what kind of stories the group wanted to tell.
“I needed to have fun again and make movies I would personally watch. I’ve never kept secret that I love popcorn movies. I go to the movies to escape and be entertained,” said Jenna. “I know that may seem strange for a producer who made a movie like April Showers, but we all have many levels to us. I certainly have a serious level to me and I had been living in that for more than enough time. I really needed to go to my ‘fun level.’”
In some ways, the move from drama to suspense was a business tactic, too.
“Our business model is quite new and we decided to build our slate on a variety of genre films, as they tend to have more of an included audience. Generally, dramas seem to rely more on star power and accolades from film festivals and critics to build their momentum,” said Jeremy. “As we knew then, we were not intending to take these films the festival route and were not going to have big names attached, so genre films were the logical way for us to capture as much of an audience as we possibly could right out of the gate.”
Mattoid Entertainment plans to encompass several genres in the upcoming couple years, including thriller, suspense and dark comedy features.
For those of you readers who love to geek out on film equipment, take note that Mattoid used a Canon EOS 7D, a digital still camera with the ability to shoot HD. They take the bullet as the first feature to be shot entirely on this camera. It is the size of a regular SLR camera and captures video directly onto a memory card which allowed for a level of maneuverability in the unsteady terrain. The camera also has a specially rigging system that it can be placed in to give it the weight and girth of a more traditional camera when appropriate. It’s a traditionally still camera that has a sensor, which captures more light. Since 90% of the film was shot outside, the feature was essential to the project.
“The adaptability of the camera proved to be an invaluable asset to our camera team on the shoot,” said Jeremy.
“In The Darkness” premieres for free on Hulu March 30.
