MRH     With each film, you've seen shifts in the way technology has reduced the costs and somewhat simplified the myriad levels post-production. In addition to the obvious -- an affordable work station where you can edit, mix, and master a film onto DVD -- what are some of the other major advances or trends that have made it possible for you to further realize a vision, and get it to audiences?

DT : Hmmm... Well, stuff like Avid off-line editing definitely helps. When I went to film school in the late 80s and early 90s, we were all cutting and splicing negatives. I never liked that honestly. It seemed so primitive at the time and I knew something better was on the horizon. The fact that it's all digital now really helps. 

Actually, I think it's the best time ever for a filmmaker to find an audience. The Internet is really the best advance, the best trend. I owe a lot to the information highway. Just do a Google search on my name. From a marketing standpoint, most of the sales of my movies so far have been through the internet, especially Amazon.com. Though with Satan's Playground, Anchor Bay got it out to all the Walmart stores, Blockbusters and many well-known chains, which was great.    

MRH :    The aforementioned post-production workstation -- usually on a Mac - has given filmmakers the freedom to do many things, including scoring and sound designing their films. Has co-scoring Satan's Playground been a positive experience, and were you able to keep a balance between your ideas, and those of Kenneth Lampl ?

DT : Well, I tend to have a very specific way I score and sound design my films. I plan it all here at my home studio... and I create a demo. I have an extensive collection of rare samples, thousands and thousands... and I have a Roland Synthesizer. 

Basically, I assign a sound to a particular keyboard note and I mix and play that way. Sometimes I'll employ natural soundscapes, like earthquakes... volcanoes... avalanches... It gives scare sequences an organic feel, I think. There's just something about the rumbling of an earthquake or the tremors of a landslide... you can feel reverberations of violence, emotional violence. 

For Satan's Playground, Kenneth Lampl supplied some terrific orchestral and synthesizer compositions... and I mixed the pieces where I wanted them, chopped them up, looped them. I also took compositions from other composers and layered them with my own stuff. 

I know it's not the traditional way where one specific composer scores his music to specific scenes. I don't like that. I like to paint with sounds and compositions... and I need a gigantic palette. I don't make comedies or dramas or love stories. They're horror movies. It's all about mood. A real emphasis has to be placed on the sound. I want it to be 3-D-like, like an out-of-body-experience. 

To me, the film's soundscape is 50% of the film's equation. It's half of the movie! I like to have it mostly planned out before I shoot. Of course once the picture is being edited, the demo will change. But at least I will have that soundtrack demo as a kind of a road map. And we can build from it... embellish on it. In the end, this saves money and time during the expensive and crucial sound mixing stage.       

MRH :    Another benefit of having a complete post-production system in the office corner is the time it affords one to refine editorial ideas, but I wonder if you found such a setup can present some unexpected issues, like giving one too much time to fiddle and settle on a final creative choice?

DT : Right. Yes. That sense of immediacy, that sense of urgency... of being with an editor in some expensive editing suite and having a certain amount of time allocated to complete something... It's different now, because I know now I can just go home and tweak and play even further. Once home, I stare at the footage, try to learn every nook and cranny... just let it gestate in my mind. I plan what should be done the next day, but I like to leave it open a bit.

I cherish that director-editor relationship... that chemistry. Although I have a very clear idea of what I want, it's collaborative. I'm not an editor, I respect what a good editor can bring to the table. I am, though, a musician... and I should continuously work on the soundtrack at home, anywhere. I'm much more anal about the sound design.   

MRH :    The most popular fantasies in establishing a film career are selling a million dollar script, making an unforgettable short film, or a trail-blazing feature movie, and while miracles have worked for a few, these aren't the norm in studio and independent film production. What are the most important things you've learned from working your way up?

DT : You can't skip from A to Z. You have to go through the entire alphabet. For example, some kid in film school says with total confidence, "Oh I'll be getting $2 million for my first feature." The kid talks and talks and many years pass and... nothing. So many talkers out there. I hate talking. I hate festivals. I hate the game. I don't want a spotlight on me. I'm a shy person. It's not about instant fame. It's all about the films. With me, this has a been a slow-burn, a real learning process. I've gone from $150, 000 to $250, 000 to $500, 000.        

MRH :    And finally, what personal and professional gains do you hope to realize with your current project, The Ocean?

Well, with all the tools I need, great supportive producers in Kindred Media Group and the most solid script I've ever had thanks to co-writer Michael Gingold, I expect for it to be my best movie. The budget is $1.8 million. That's a giant step up. Also, I have an incredibly loyal creative team that I've been working with for years and we're all set to really deliver on this film... really push the envelope. There's just A LOT of energy, a tremendous amount... like a tsunami wave building. I definitely believe in the power of positive visualization... that's how I've done all of this so far... and I do see a tidal wave... on the horizon. I see it with my eyes closed. I see it with my eyes opened.