Interviews

The first interview is with Stefan Avkast who played Steven Avkast in the film:

A. What do you think is the best scene in the film?

My favorite montage is the stuff leading up to the found tape. We call it the "ghosts caught on tape" scene. It immediately precedes the footage of the guys getting killed. I like the death of Michelle Monarch a lot. We were trying to come close to the intensity of Hitchcock's strangulation scene in "Frenzy" and we think we came close.

B. What did you set out to achieve in this film?

Something that would be mildly scary and also make a point about media perception by surprising/pissing off the audience when it shifted from documentary to narrative. That was something that happened to me in film school with a movie called "David Holzman's Diary". I never forgot how pissed I got with that movie. I loved it because it "got me".

C. Do you think you achieved your goals that you set yourself?

I think we came close. Of course there are things that we would change now, but essentially that movie came closer to what I envisioned than anything I've done in the past.

D. What was the hardest scene to film?

It was VERY VERY cold when we shot in the forest and it took two solid nights of filming. The death scene wasn't easy because it was a long day on a hard wooden floor and everything had to be choreographed and planned very closely.


E. What was the most enjoyable scene to film?

The crane shot stuff in the Pine Barrens was fun because we knew it was looking good. The weather was perfect that day for shooting, lighting-wise.

F. What do you think is the key scene in The Last Broadcast?

Tough question. I think the tape when the guys get killed is pretty
important. I also think when it goes from documentary to narrative is pretty important. Tough question.

G. How did you come up with the idea for The Last Broadcast?

We wanted to make a movie for no money. The Jersey Devil is local folklore, so we thought about using that as a jump off point. We didn't want to make another "teens get killed in the woods" flick. We looked at the equipment we had and said, "What if we don't hide the fact that we're using cheap home video cameras?" From there we looked at where equipment like this gets used. Public Access Cable came to mind pretty quickly and
it evolved from there.

H. Were you a little pissed off that The Blair Witch Project sort of stole
some of your ideas and that it was so much more popular when you had the
original idea for this type of film?

Yes.

I. Does the Jersey Devil really exist?

The Legend sure exists for real. A lot of people have seen either the Devil or traces of him. I can't say that I have, though the Pine Barrens is a creepy place to be, especially after dark. Who knows ...

J. And, lastly, is David Beard as evil as David Leigh is in the film?

Yes. No, just kidding. Dave is actually a great guy and really funny. He's also a kind of strange genius. He's got several patents on kinetic energy machinery. I do think he may try to rule the world one day.

And now here is another interview with AD Roso. He is the website programmer, music director for the film and also played the lead investigator:

A. What do you think is the best scene in the film?

My personal favorite has always been the very last scene where the character David Leigh keeps messing up his lines as it fades to black. It finalizes the storyline as far as the movie is concerned, but keeps the story going in your mind. There are a lot of good scenes in the film,
though.

B. What did you set out to achieve in this film?

When I was approached by Stefan to assist in the production of The Last Broadcast, I was excited because I always wanted to do something in film. I really didn't care what my role was, I was just going to do the best job I could. When it came time to shoot my scenes, I realized it was a much bigger project than I originally thought and offered my help in other areas, such as music and audio editing. I allocated as much of my free
time as I could to getting done whatever was asked of me. Shooting my scenes was the easy part when I compare it to all the post work that needed to be done. There were a lot of nights where Stefan and I were up until 4:00 AM putting music pieces together and other audio tidbits. I'm quite proud of the work I did, even though there are a few things I
could've done better with my acting, the audio and soundtracks, and the website.

C. Do you think you achieved your goals that you set yourself?

Yes, I do. In fact, I think I exceeded them. The work didn't end when the film was finished either. There was music that needed to be redone and I had the laborious task of putting a website together on very short notice. At the time, I really didn't think about the number of hours I was putting in. This was a big deal to me, and I wanted to make sure everything was done to everybody's satisfaction, including my own.

D. What was the hardest scene to film?

There's a scene where I'm being interviewed out in the woods and it's supposed to be a cold December night in New Jersey. Well, it was a hot August evening when we shot the scene, and I'm standing there wearing a winter jacket and sweating profusely. Moreover, we needed a wintery frosty-breath look, so I went through a pack of cigarettes in about an hour trying to achieve that. I have a lot more respect now for the actor
who plays "Smoking Man" on The X Files.

E. What was the most enjoyable scene to film?

I guess my "interview" scenes, since I was merely given an outline of my character and was allowed to say and do what I wanted. Every once in a while, we would script something in particular if it needed to match a specific element of the storyline, but for the most part I just did what I thought my character would naturally say and do.

F. What do you think is the key scene in The Last Broadcast?

Hmmm ... that's a tough one. There are so many clues littered throughout,  it's not easy to pinpoint any one scene and say, "Okay, here's the revelation". One could make the argument that all scenes are key, since every scene ultimately impacts the outcome of the storyline. I guess my best answer would be, "Watch the movie and you tell me".

G. Were you a little pissed off that The Blair Witch Project sort of stole
some of your ideas and that it was so much more popular when you had the
original idea for this type of film?

There was a movie released in 1979 called Cannibal Holocaust that's supposed to be the precursor to both The Last Broadcast (TLB) and The Blair Witch Project (TBWP), so the debate goes on just how original TLB was. Also, there are some who say TBWP was the best thing that could've ever happened to TLB since it's entirely possible that TLB would've existed in relative obscurity without the controversy. However, rumors 
have been circulated that one of the producers of TBWP had enough pull to get TLB dropped from the 1998 Sundance Film Festival, but there's never been any proof to that allegation. We have seen websites pop up here and there both for and against us, but we don't mind the attention. Lastly, even if TLB was shown at Sundance and TBWP never existed, there's no 
guarantee that we would've netted that $150 million. It's like being one number off in a big lottery, though.

H. Does the Jersey Devil really exist?

The legend of the Jersey Devil certainly does, enough so that they
nicknamed their professional hockey team after it. There are stories that have been passed down through generations about it, and like many tales there may be some factual basis to it. But I don't believe there are any weird, mutant creatures living in New Jersey, with the exception of some politicians. Consider it to be a local version of Bigfoot.

I. Is David Beard as evil as David Leigh is in the film?

I checked David Beard's head to see if there were three 6's and didn't find any. Seriously, David is fun guy to hang out with. He's witty and not the least bit intimidating. He did a great job with his character in the movie, so much so that it appears to have prompted a question such as this.

J. Is there anything else that you would like to add in closing?

It's been a lot of fun seeing how much attention has been given to The Last Broadcast, and I've enjoyed the ride. This is a tough business, so I don't know if I'll ever again have the good fortune of being part of a project like this. I'd like to stay involved in film, but there are literally millions of people to compete with for a spot in the industry. The business is going to change a heck of a lot in the next few years, though. Very fast PC's and audio/video hardware is almost free nowadays, and the software will only get better, cheaper, and easier to use. Just about anyone with some creativity will be able to put out a powerful film, and this is a good thing (though there will be a lot of junk too). I think a lot of independent films get squashed by the present system, but new distribution methods, such as those used by The Last Broadcast, will open things up for people with great ideas but very little money.

There are lots more interviews all over the internet, so if any of the questions that you wanted to know about weren't here then I am sure that you can find the answers somewhere else.

These interviews are exclusive to this site, so if you want to copy them, then please mail me first. Thanks!

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