It Was Supposed to be So Easy

Little did we know when we started Return of the Jackalope that it would end up taking a nearly a year to finish, that we’d involve nearly 150 local Atlanta actors, or that we’d have over 40 hours of footage.

At first, the project was supposed to be only a side project – something to keep us busy while we prepped our next feature. We, the Cougars Film Group, had just finished up production on two short films, Burnt Sienna and Spleen. Both were a departure for our group, as both were very dramatic pieces. So, it was time to do something fun.

“Of the projects we've done in the past, I've noticed that we always get a better audience reaction when we do comedy rather than anything else. I think that as a group, we've got a knack for it," says cowriter/ co-director Dave R. Watkins.

Return of the Jackalope takes its origins from two years ago, when we had finished the horror film, Stragglers. During the post-production of that film, an unofficial mascot, of sorts, came to light. The film took place at a cabin and a mounted jackalope seemed to make its way into in nearly every frame.

The idea for Return of the Jackalope grew from there. “Our original idea was to just make an intentionally cheesy horror movie,” says co-writer/co-director Michael D Friedman. “From there, the idea became to make it a mockumentary about a group of people looking for the jackalope. Then, a mockumentary about the making of this horror film – this, of course, was developed like most ideas, over a drunken round of beers.”

This idea languished as an afterthought for a while, but co-writer/codirector Dave R. Watkins, took the idea and ran with it, developing some scenes for the cheesy B-movie. “From almost the first mention of the concept I saw a huge potential in the project and I was eager to get it in the works. In addition, I was yearning for a creative outlet and Jackalope, with its oddball humor and off-the-wall characters, did the trick,” says Watkins.

“I liked the concept of the scenes,” says Friedman, “but I wanted to take it in a different direction. At the time, we wanted to make it as simple as possible, so I wanted to pursue the mockumentary angle some more. It made for an ease of shooting and a more flexible schedule, since you didn’t need a massive crew to make it happen.”

Friedman eventually came up with the concept for the film. He didn’t want it to be the standard “making-of” doc, so he took a different bent. The idea developed into the story of a cast and crew reunion.

“I liked the idea immediately,” says producer Eric Bomba-Ire. “I felt like we could really make something out of it.

How Do You Write Improv?

Return of the Jackalope is an improvisational mockumentary, so how do you credit three writers? Even though the dialogue is improvised, the movie was carefully plotted and outlined. Characters were developed, including massive back stories.

“If the actors don’t know the characters they are playing, there’s no reality, no matter how good the acting,” says Friedman. A 20-page outline was developed, as well as pages and pages of character backgrounds and back story.

In addition, a whole script was developed for the movie-within-a-movie, “Curse of the Jackalope.” This script was written by Dave R. Watkins and was the only scripted dialogue in the film.

The third credited writer, Chris Burns, developed the third major character, Jimmy Ray Johnson. He also contributed heavily to the overall direction of the plot and development of some of the other minor characters.

The "Curse" of Shooting

In much the same as the writing was split, directing chores were divided, as well. Watkins would direct the “Curse of the Jackalope” mini movie, while Friedman would direct the mockumentary scenes.

As the shoot began, producer Eric Bomba-Ire agreed to take on some of the shooting chores, stepping in as director of photography. But to give a different style to the two competing portions of the movie, Bomba-Ire brought in Chris McDaniel to serve as D.P. of the “Curse of the Jackalope” portion of the film.

“From a D.P. point of view,” notes Bomba-Ire, “it was less complicated, the fact that we were filming documentary style, with minimal or no lighting. And I had free will on camera direction.”

Shooting began in the summer of 2004. The first scenes shot took place at Dragon*Con, one of the largest sci-fi and fantasy conventions in the nation. In addition to shooting the initial scenes with Friedman’s character Richard McCovey Jr, fellow Cougar Film Group member Martin Kelley was brought in to play the Ultimate Jackalope Fan.

Dressed in a wonderful costume developed by Chris Burns and costumer Ms. Bea, Kelley seemed to be the hit of the convention. The group managed to get him into the annual convention costume parade, and fans throughout the convention were getting their picture taken with the man in the jackalope costume.

“It was a great omen for the film to get such a positive response so early in the process,” says Kelley. “I think we all realized that something very cool was going to come out of the project.”

“Of all of the people in the cast,” says Watkins, "Martin Kelley, who I'd worked with many times but had never seen act before, was the most delightful surprise. He was a real trooper at Dragon*Con and he created a very sympathetic and loveable character."

Not only did the story begin to develop, but Chris Burns managed to talk many of the celebrities at the show into donating their time, giving interviews based on a movie that they had never seen. Ernie Hudson, Dean Haglund, Garrett Wang, Debi Derryberry, Craig Parker, Sala Baker, Bruce Hopkins and many comic book artists gave great moments to the film from only a brief explanation of the story.

“Burns was in full producer mode at Dragon*Con and he did was he does best,” Watkins recounts. “I was amazed he was able to get any of the celebrities to give an interview much less as many as he did. But he's very persistent.”

It wouldn’t be until later that filming actually began on “Curse of the Jackalope.” Over the course of several weekends, the shoot of the movie-within-a-movie trudged on. Watkins took the lead on the project, starring as Bobby Ray Johnson as Hank Knight. Other Cougars regulars, such as Joel Hunter and Spencer G. Stephens, joined the cast. Auditions were held for additional parts, and Melissa Seitz was eventually cast in the role of Cindy.

“I had a different idea for the character of Cindy, but when Melissa came in and auditioned, she blew me away - she was hilarious. Chris Burns had found some actresses on a modeling website and invited her to the audition, not for the role of Cindy but for the role of a model. After viewing the tapes numerous times I decided to cast her," says Watkins.

Weeks of shooting later, the group had completed a full 40-minute short film. Complete with tons of b-movie horror clichés and, of course, tons of blood.

With the “Curse” short in hand, there was finally a real point of reference for which the improvisational actors could draw from. The shoot of the mockumentary, the meat of the movie, could finally commence.

“It was exhilarating and daunting at the same time,” Kelley says of the improv process, “because you had a license to explore whatever you wanted with the character you were given. But I also felt a tremendous responsibility not to tamper with what the other actors were trying to accomplish, so it's a very fine line to walk.”

As the shoot grew, so did the plot. More characters were added as more people grew interested in the project.

“The movie kind of grew a life of its own,” says Friedman. “There were so many local actors that wanted to get involved, that we had to add extra scenes to work them in. There were some excellent actors in the movie that barely get a line, but it was great to get them involved.”

Joining the cast in some of the larger roles included Karla Droege as Bobby Ray’s wife, Stephen Caudill and fellow Cougar member Muta’Ali Muhammad as the gangsters P. Murda and J-Dawg, and Greg Thompson as Theodore Pawf, the cocky cable-access film critic.

In addition, to build the mythology of the “Curse of the Jackalope,” merchandise and advertising had to be developed. Prop designer Brian Boling came on board to design action figures for the film, while graphic designer J.R. Francis designed the poster for the film and the HorrorScope magazine cover. T-shirts and other merchandise were created for the fan club. The look and feel of the film was coming together.

After several months of scheduling and shooting, principal photography wrapped on February 22, 2005, with the climactic scene at Landmark Theaters in midtown Atlanta. “It was my 31st birthday,” notes Friedman. “It was a great birthday present to finally finish up production.”

A Race to the Post

Post-production actually was in process as the film was shooting. Matt Cornwell joined the production as editor. Cornwell had helped from the beginning, starting with the auditions for the “Curse” mini-movie. An actor by trade, Cornwell also stars as the movie-theater manager.

“When I heard the concept, I thought it was brilliant,” says Cornwell. “I really wanted to be a part of the project. Plus, it was my first opportunity to edit someone else's footage.”

“Due to the heavy production schedule, Matt was very helpful to us,” notes Friedman. “Dave and Eric usually edit our productions, but with their energy focused elsewhere, Matt was able to start on the editing before shooting even wrapped.”

While Watkins had edited the “Curse” short, Cornwell had the unenviable task of going through hours and hours of improvised footage, each take being different from the last. After shooting was completed, Watkins jumped on the editing computer again, cutting together the climatic theater scene.

“Piecing together the scenes was no small task,” notes Cornwell, “because dialogue changed from take to take. However, the power of editing allowed for some creative edits that ultimately added to the comedy.”

Eventually, working along side co-directors Friedman and Watkins, Cornwell whittled the footage down to an admittedly too long two-hour, thirty-minute rough cut. After a viewing by the entire Cougars group, the co-directors and editor took pages of notes back to the computer and cut out an additional thirty minutes.

“It’s so hard to cut this stuff,” says Friedman. “So much of it is genuinely funny. It is actually painful when you have to delete something you laugh at. But the story is more important.”

“To me, the editing was the most difficult part of the project,” says Watkins, “not the initial cut, but when we had to take things out. When we were shooting everything seemed to fall into place, but when we finished editing, everything that seemed clear before became somewhat... fuzzy. It was good that Matt, who had not been involved much with the production of the movie, was able to offer an opinion there. You definitely have to pull yourself away from the project and look at it objectively."

After test screenings, the film was eventually cut down to its current running time of 104 minutes.

“It’s a far cry from the first 2:30 cut,” says Friedman. “I didn’t think we could get it down this far, but here we are. Unfortunately, you have to lose moments and characters that you really enjoy, but that’s the nature of the beast. I feel bad that we lost some actors’ performances. At least we’ll have plenty of great material for the DVD extras.”

"It's Not A Curse, It's A Blessing"

“For something that began as way to screw around on the weekends, Return of the Jackalope ended taking about a year of my life,” Friedman notes. “Although I’m glad we’re finally done, I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

“Overall, looking back, the process was quick and fun for most part, but stressful and painful at times,” says Bomba-Ire. “I like to think and hope that the stress and pain were all in good cause.”