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INTERVIEW WITH CRAIG MCMAHON
Writer and Director of SPORTKILL
Official Site -
SportKill.com -
watch trailer
So how’s your day
going so far Craig?
Its 111 degrees here in Phoenix and I’m hiding
from the sun.
 What
is the premise behind SPORTKILL?
The movie is based on the Milgram experiments of
1961. The experiments confirmed the willingness of a
participant to inflict harm on another. Milgram
found that 64% of participants actually inflicted
fatal voltages simply because they were asked to.
SPORTKILL explores the world of illegal high stakes
betting and what people would do in the situation.
The dark and gritty look of your film reminds
me of Hostel or maybe Saw, were either of these
films an influence for SPORTKILL?
We have been trying out different colors and
filters for the teaser but we are not sure what the
final look will be. I do love the seepy, yellow and
greens of HOSTEL and SAW. The movie has a well lit
exposed-exploited look.
 You
seem to have quite a cast of characters in SPORTKILL.
Can you talk about that?
I love people that are unusual characters, the
stranger, the more interesting. Ivan is sort of a
game show host/Citizen Kane that makes each show an
event. Kevin Moyers plays the character Orville.
Kevin and I had talks about this guy and I wanted to
make sure Kevin was okay with the content that
Orville does. Kevin took Orville to an even sicker
level. The Assassin (Jose Rosete) is a recluse that
never speaks and hides face from the public. He
reveals his face in the SPORTKILL spin off,
"ORVILLE" (another movie we just finished shooting).
I find that the characters in the movie remind me of
comic books. I have great admiration for comic book
characters. The artist's amaze me. Someday I hope to
have such rich colorful characters like in those
pages. I also think gore is most tasty when it's
mixed with humor, that’s just me. Orville, Ivan,
Assassin, and Detective Rhames bring on the hot-cold
effect mixed with females Rachel and Lisa.
What kind of violence can we expect to see in
your film?
During production, we had been discussing gore
and the effect it has on audiences today. The movie
has this, “what if I was the killer”, feel. To see
someone die from your own hands, or because of
something you did. As for Rachel (Dona Wood) in the
movie, she had to make these choices or be the
victim. Combining the voyeuristic tendencies of our
culture and the horror of seeing someone die from
your own hands is where the rough cut is at so far.
What about SPORTKILL are you most looking
forward to audiences experiencing?
The Character of Orville.
 Where
does the film stand at the moment? Any DVD release
date nailed down?
It will be in post for a couple months then we
battle it out with the distributors. The thing about
making movies is, you have this basic idea of how
the movie will be before filming, but you never
really know what it’s going to be, until that final
edit.
Any special features planned for the DVD?
I know there are several reels of behind the
scenes footage, but I haven’t seen any of it yet.
LionsGate never ended up getting any behind the
scenes footage or any extras for the Machined DVD.
With SPORTKILL I want to make sure there are at
least some extras.
Thanks for your time Craig. Any final
comments?
Our last movie “MACHINED” will be out Aug.15th on
Lions Gate. You should check it out. Thanks for the
interview!!
www.machinedthemovie.com
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