Exclusive Dead Harvey Interview With Roger Scheck, Director of "Nobody Loves Alice"

Exclusive Dead Harvey Interview With Roger Scheck, Director of "Nobody Loves Alice"

When I received a copy of "Nobody Loves Alice" I thought it was just going to be another run of the mill slasher flick that I'd end up fast forwarding after the first half an hour. To my surprise, not only was I drawn into the movie, I was highly impressed. This film has gore, fantastic performances, great directing and a well written script. I was even more impressed when I found out it's director, Roger Schek, made it when he was in school. To say the least, "Nobody Loves Alice" is an outstanding debut that we here at Dead Harvey highly recommend. Keep an eye for Roger Schrek. I have a feeling he's going to be a major talent.

DH: Tell us about yourself. Where are you from and what got you into making movies?

RS: I was born in Kansas and raised in McAlester Oklahoma. In high school I became interested in still photography. Soon after that a friend of mine introduced me to the idea of making movies. He gave me the movie True Romance and told me to watch it. I took it home and watched it
three or four times. That movie really made me think, “I have to do this”. Right after that the same friend gave me The Last House On The Left, I went home and watched that film about four times that night. After that I realized, “I can do this”. That summer I made my first
short film and have never stopped.

DH: Film school: yes or no?

RS: I attended the North Carolina School of the Arts. I learned so much at NCSA. It truly is an incredible program. In my opinion it's the best film program in the country.

DH: What was the inspiration behind, "Nobody Loves Alice"?

RS: I had written several screenplays before Nobody Loves Alice but due to budget I couldn’t make any of them. I set out to write a script I could afford to produce. I was waiting tables at the time when my boss received a phone call from a woman that said she had been in that day
and he was so sweet to her that she had to meet him outside of the restaurant. Having to deal with customer satisfaction he told her that he was glad she had a good experience and to come in and have a drink on the restaurant. He then proceeded to tell her that he had a girlfriend. Not two minutes later the phone rings again and it’s his girlfriend, she said that the previous call was her friend and that she just wanted to see if he would cheat on her. In that instant I know what Nobody Loves Alice was going to be about.

DH: Are there any directors or movies that influenced, "Nobody Loves Alice"? If so, how?

RS: So many films and directors have influenced me. My biggest influence at the time of making Nobody Loves Alice were Asian horror films, especially films by Takashi Miike. I enjoy the slower evolution of the story. After all it’s about the story and characters, not the splatter
and gore. Don’t get me wrong that is part of it, but it’s not the reason I sit down to watch something.

DH: Describe your directing style.

RS: My style is very loose. I give my actors a lot of freedom to meld the character and make them their own. If I like what they do I let them run with it, but I have no problem letting them know something isn’t working. However some of the greatest moments in Nobody Loves Alice
come from the actors being able to just play with the lines and emotions.

DH: "Nobody Loves Alice" was impressively made on such a small budget. How did you pull it off?

It was challenging but we were very strategic where we spent money. The majority of the money had to go to converting Alice’s room and the blood effects. I had a very talented and resourceful crew that was able to make things look great with very little. We only had twelve
days to shoot the film so that also cut down budget.

DH: The performances in the film are outstanding. Describe your casting process and how you selected the leads.

RS: I worked with Nitzan Mager (ALICE) on a short film entitle Motherhood, you can see that film on my myspace. I actually wrote the part of Alice for her. So, knowing what she was capable of I was able to create a great character that I knew she would be great playing. Philip Ward (ALEX) acted in a film that I was Cinematographer on. I also knew his abilities and created that part for him. Phillip was enrolled in the acting program at Elon University at the time so he was able to bring me a lot of the cast from people he had worked with previously. He was sort of the casting director. He had actually been scene partners with Amanda Taylor (Abigail) in school so they already had a relation ship they could play off and bring to the film.

DH: What did you shoot on and how long of a shoot was it?

RS: We shot on the Canon XL2. In my opinion Canon blows it’s competition out of the water. The image the XL2 produces is a big part of why the film looks so good. It’s build to be lit like you’re working with film. It’s competitors at the time were point and shoot idiot proof cameras and their image quality suffered. We shot for twelve days over our winter break from NCSA. We never went over 12 hours during production except for the last day. That was the final fight scene and Dave Martin, the cinematographer and I had to stage the fight scene. That took about 18 hours.

DH: What obstacles did you overcome to get your film made?

RS: There were several obstacles that could have presented themselves. However, the production went very smooth. We planned everything out so meticulously in preproduction that we had very few problems. It was so smooth that on one particular day I was able to get 48 different camera setups.

DH: How did you secure distribution? Any tips for people trying to get their movie out there?

Distribution is a painful process, especially when you don’t have a named star. There are a lot of sharks out there and all they want to do is steal your film. I had a couple of different offers on the table and when I asked around I found out that they all had tricky ways of accounting for income, ways in which they hide profits from filmmakers. In fact I talked to about 100 people all of which have never seen a penny from these companies. Indie-Pictures is a new company that is changing the face of distribution. I have a substantial voice in all the decisions made regarding the distribution of my film from what festivals we enter to designing the artwork to how we spend money on advertising. My advice for those filmmakers seeking distribution is to ask around about the companies interested in your film. Try to put a named actor in your film even if it’s a small part. Get even a C list actor if you can. But, if I knew then what I know, the most important piece of advice I would give to you is skip the sharks and contact Todd Taylor, CEO of Indie-Pictures he is revolutionizing the distribution process for filmmakers. www.indie-pictures.com

DH: What's next? And, last but not least, any plans for a sequel?

RS: I have several projects I am trying to get off the ground in all different budget ranges and genres. As far as a sequel, there are two more installments of Nobody Loves Alice. We are currently working on the scripts and have investors interested. So keep your eyes open for the sequel to Nobody Loves Alice, Somebody Loves Alice.

Our Newest Acquisition 'The Creek'

Indie-Pictures is proud to announce our newest acquisition 'The Creek' by Erik Soulliard

Los Angeles, CA - July 15, 2008 Indie-Pictures is proud to announce their newest acquisition: 'The Creek.' Freshman Director Erik Soulliard has delivered a first-rate horror thriller at one of the most powerful subset genres; “revenge from the dead”. This film has been mesmerizing the domestic film festival circuits for months! Winner Best Horror Feature , Illinois International Film Festival and being the official selection of Atlanta's Horrorfest, Wildwood by the Sea Film Festival just to name a few.

'The Creek' is based upon the fifth anniversary of the death of their friend Billy, six friends are forced backed together by his ghost. Billy's death was officially considered an accident but old suspicions and conflicts return. When people start dying they all must ask themselves if it's his ghost, one of them, or because they returned to 'The Creek?'

The Creek will be release on to DVD Tuesday, October 28, 2008 “The Creek” will hit’ the stores on Tuesday, October 28th, 2008 with pre-orders being accepted now. “The Creek” will have a Suggested Retail Price of $24.95. Retailers may order the DVD by contacting Ryko Distribution at 212-287-6100 or phil.avelli@rykogroup.com. And, individual customers may order the DVD directly at www.Indie-Pictures.com or at any quality independent DVD and music retailers

Moviesmademe.com gives Nobody Loves Alice 10 0ut 10 hit

Moviesmademe.com
Review by MvMMDI
Added: July 01, 2008

NOBODY LOVES ALICE by Roger Scheck

While it may be true that nobody loves Alice, I think that it's safe to say that everyone loves May. That was a film that came along and really brought something fresh and exciting to the world of horror, and even though it found a sizable audience, I feel as though it never got the recognition that it deserved. Now, five years later, a little lady has come along that makes May look positively normal and not at all unlike the girl down the street. May might have had some issues, but Alice is a complete and utter psychopath... and this translates to a film that is just as good if not better than May.

As you could probably guess from the title, Alice (Nitzan Mager) wants nothing more than to find a man who truly loves her. She's an attractive albeit shy woman who has a nice office job and a cozy little apartment, but it seems as though she just doesn't have any luck with the men for some strange reason. So, what's a lady to do in this situation? Why, she finds men that seem to have potential, brings them back to her place, ties them up, and tortures them when they misbehave with the hope that maybe they'll eventually find it in their hearts to love her. If they don't, well... getting dumped has never hurt quite so bad as it does with Alice.

Remember that nice office job that I mentioned a few sentences back? This is where the next piece of the puzzle comes into play, as Alice's coworkers there - Abigail (Amanda Taylor) and Megan (Elyse Rodriguez) - come up with a plan that involves our heroine. You see, all of the signs are pointing towards Abby's boyfriend Alex (Phillip Ward) preparing to propose to her, but before she can accept, Abby wants to find out if the whole "all men will cheat given the opportunity" saying applies to her man. So, with that in mind, the two send Alice out to meet her man and attempt to seduce him in order to see if he'll go along with it. What they don't count on is Alice legitimately falling for him, and when he mysteriously disappears after this little debacle, our two friends must figure out what happened to him, while we at home get to watch Alice slowly go more and more insane while trying to get Alex to finally love her.

Mixing together elements of the aforementioned May along with a splash of Misery, this film had me hooked from the opening scene until the credits rolled thanks to its strong storyline and the great performances by all involved. You may be thinking that there's not much to this plot - a psycho kidnaps and tortures a guy while two other women attempt to figure out what we at home already know - but there's so much more to it than just this. The real story here is the downward spiral that Alice's sanity takes as the film progresses and just how far out of touch with reality she truly is, and watching some of these scenes are downright chilling.

One might take a look at the cover art and the synopsis for this film and think that it's nothing more than just another torture porn flick, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Yes, there are some nasty scenes in here, and yes, the level of violence is fairly high, but the real scares come courtesy of the situation as a whole. Take, for example, one scene in which Alice brutalizes a helpless Alex and then lays down to chat with him as though nothing had happened while he writes in pain. The violence that she unleashed on him was pretty vile, but the conversation that takes place immediately afterward in which she discusses her plans of marrying him and going on their honeymoon left me speechless. This was but one of the scenes that worked out perfectly, so it should go without saying that viewers are in for a treat with this release.

What really helped in this regard was leading lady Nitzan Mager, a woman who may be new to the world of film (according to iMDB) but who carried herself as though she were a seasoned pro. Much like Angela Bettis did with May, Nitzan makes Alice memorable with her flawless portrayal of all the various layers of this character; audiences will sympathize with her, feel pity for her, and be repulsed by her all at the same time. A character of this nature could easily be laughable with a lesser actress in the drivers seat, but Nitzan proved here that she is a name to watch. I can't say much about Phillip Ward as he spends ninety percent of his onscreen time with a piece of duct tape covering his mouth while tied to the bed, but I can say that both Amanda Taylor and Elyse Rodriguez are above average in their roles; however, it's blindingly obvious from the opening moments of the film that Nitzan is the star of the show. Again, keep an eye on her.

Nobody Loves Alice comes with my highest recommendations, and not only that, it's almost guaranteed a top in the upper half of my yearly top ten come January. This is one of those rare films that has it all: strong acting, memorable characters, disturbing violence that will have gorehounds shedding tears of glee, and most importantly, haunting scenes that will stick with you for quite some time. 10/10.

Nobody Loves Alice - Indie Horror Gem

Nobody Loves Alice - Indie Horror Gem
IONCINEMA.com
By Jason Widgington
Tuesday, June 24, 2008 EDT


Leave it up to an indie writer-director to inject some fresh blood into the horror genre. At a time when the entire scene seems mired in a PG-13 slump of remakes and plenty of copycat torture porn flicks, along comes newcomer Roger Scheck with the inspired Nobody Loves Alice, an intense, harrowing film that's sure to leave viewers with something to think about concerning what they just saw.

An extremely low-budget film that doesn't quite feel low-budget, Nobody Loves Alice is the tale of an un-loved young woman who will do anything to capture her ideal fairy tale dream. Caught up in the middle of it is poor Abigail, who, in a moment of weakness, decides to test her fiance Alex's fidelity by asking Alice to pose as an admirer of Alex to see how he reacts.
Wise to Abigail's scheme, Alex plays along, only to get caught up in Alice's web of love, leaving Abigail to try and rescue him - or what's left of him - from Alice's clutches. Pretty much a first-timer for everyone involved, Nobody Loves Alice doesn't suffer for it. Shot over twelve days on digital video, with a suitably bare soundtrack, Nobody Loves Alice features Nitzan Mager in the title role. Awkwardly beautiful and beautifully awkward, her Alice conveys, with a simple look, a character haunted by her past and at odds with reality, frightening and sad all at once. Even in her misguided ways, it's hard not to feel pangs of sympathy for the character. Without using any additional or artificial lighting, writer/director Roger Scheck manages to convey the many moods of the characters, including a humorous yet gruesome scene involving a private investigator's inquisition of Alice at her apartment, proving that one needn't have a huge budget to create great scenes and a great film.

Nobody Loves Alice is being released on DVD today by Indie-Pictures, a company whose goal is to support independent filmmakers, creating opportunities for them to have their films distributed where they might not have had that opportunity before. Nobody Loves Alice is definitely a film that deserves to be seen, at least by the built-in horror audience, and it's refreshing that companies like Indie-Pictures exist to support these types of projects that would sadly not get any exposure otherwise.

Forgiving the Franklins Autographed DVD's

Jay Floyd, Director of FORGIVING THE FRANKLINS has asked us to announce if you purchase your DVD from Indie-Pictures you 'll receive an autographed copy of the film. We only have a few left

Indie-Pictures announces their newest acquisition

"Nobody Love Alice" by Roger Scheck

Los Angeles, CA - October 23, 2007 Indie-Pictures is proud to announce their newest acquisition: "Nobody Loves Alice." Freshman Director Roger Scheck has delivered a first-rate stab at one of the most powerful subset genres; “psycho-thriller chick-flick”. This film has been mesmerizing the international and domestic film festival circuits for months and now it’s available to you!

“Nobody Loves Alice” is a classic tale of an unloved little girl so desperate she will do anything to force people to love her. Now grown into a beautiful young woman, Alice is devoted to punishing those who have refused to return her love. She soon becomes entangled in a psychotic twisted plot with her co-worker Abigail in an effort to test her boyfriend’s fidelity. Unexpectedly, Abigail has given Alice a new victim to ‘love’. Will Alice finally find love? Or will another innocent person fall victim to the horrific carnage that is Alice?

“Nobody Loves Alice” teaches us to think twice about who we partner with in an effort to test one’s commitment. This film helps us all to realize that ex-lovers are not always that bad -bad enough to deserve the wrath of Alice.

Look for “Nobody Loves Alice” in your local video store soon. If you would like to receive updates on when and where to purchase “Nobody Loves Alice” please visit www.nobodylovesalice.com or www.Indie-Pictures.com or email info@indie-pictures.com