INTERVIEW: This ‘Sinphony’ is killer
Image courtesy of Dark Sky Films / Provided by Sapkar PR with permission.
Horror anthologies continue to be all the rage for genre fans. There’s the V/H/S series and its newest installment, V/H/S/99, plus the long-awaited theatrical release of Trick ‘r Treat. Who could forget the classics like Creepshow, Trilogy of Terror, Tales of Terror, Black Sabbath and Ghost Stories. And now there’s a new cinematic kid on the block, and it’s leaving quite a mark in the horror community.
Sinphony: A Clubhouse Horror Anthology, as the subtitle suggests, was born of the Clubhouse social media platform, a place for friends and like-minded individuals to chat. The movie features several short films from a variety of filmmakers, both established and soon-to-be-established. One of the films is Do Us Part?, written and directed by Kimberley Elizabeth, co-host of the successful horror podcast Nightmare on Film Street, with Jonathan DeHaan.
Here’s how an official press release describes Do Us Part?: “A recently separated couple comes to terms with the fact that one of them is a ghost.” Recently Elizabeth exchanged emails with Hollywood Soapbox on all things scary. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
How did you get attached to the anthology film Sinphony?
Sinphony was the result of one late night on the social media app Clubhouse, when a whole bunch of us were chatting about horror movies, something we’d all bonded over remotely on the platform during the Covid lockdown. Sebastien [Bazile], one of the executive producers on the film with his company Screen Anthology, pitched the idea of a horror anthology — and what resulted was a whirlwind of dreams and ideas coming to fruition because of a group of ambitious and determined filmmakers.
After we landed on the concept of theming each piece around an ‘infectious’ song, I was off to the races, writing my script Do Us Part? specifically for the project. Being a first-time director, and during the height of a Covid lockdown here in Canada, I specifically tailored my segment to something contained and simplistic, but (hopefully) wholly original and unlike anything you’ve ever seen before — toeing the lines between horror, comedy … and even romance.
Why do you think horror anthologies work so well?
There’s something for everybody! Horror is such a unique genre in that it doesn’t need a huge budget, name actors or existing i.p. Horror is a grassroots, word-of-mouth kind of community. The films with the most heart and originality tend to rise to the surface, glitter and glitz be damned. Some of our most beloved films, like Paranormal Activity, The Blair Witch Project, and recently Barbarian and Terrifier 2, have found their audiences organically. There’s an appreciation for all of the work and effort behind the camera and in the storymaking process as well as in front.
Anthologies are a way to deliver those independant, bitesize morsels in thematic packages, hopefully giving each short film within it a better shot at an audience as a feature film than a stand-alone short film.
How would you describe your short film entry?
Knowing I was writing my short to be included in a horror anthology with an amazing team of filmmakers who were surely going to pull off some major scares, I really pushed myself to try and do something unique that I hadn’t seen in an anthology before. So, I took a bit of an atypical tone and opted for more of a whimsical, comedic piece — one that I hope brings some levity to Sinphony overall.
Do Us Part? is an unconventional haunted house story, and though it’s light on the surface, it explores heavy themes like love and loss. One of our characters is a ghost, and one of them isn’t. They’ve been separated by death, but that isn’t the end of their story.
Are you delighted with the success of the podcast so far? What’s the future hold?
When my husband Jonathan and I started Nightmare on Film Street in 2016, we always set out to treat it like a business — a business we could be fired from if we weren’t reliable, star employees. Never being late for an episode release, posting on social media and interacting every day if not several times a day, and just constantly hustling to build a brand around a passion we both shared — horror movies. We sacrificed a lot to start Nightmare, and even more to keep the dream alive, so not being successful was never an option, haha. We worked around full-time jobs, ran side hustles, and threw every single dollar we made outside of NOFS back into it, wanting to build a community that wasn’t just a job … but a weird little home for everyone that climbed aboard our little community.
I’ve always seen Nightmare on Film Street as my unofficial film school, and I’ve been studying now for six years, meanwhile, screenwriting in my free time and building up my arsenal of spooky screenplays in the chance that one day I’d be able to add my own films to the genre I love so much. Being able to write and direct a piece in Sinphony has been such an honor, and I’ve definitely caught the directing bug.
When did you first fall in love with horror?
I was always an oddball growing up, obsessed with Halloween, ghosts and any and every spooky thing I could get my hands on. Horror was just the natural fit, the only place where weirdos like me with a macabre sensibility could find a home. As I grew up, I traded RL Stine and Tim Burton for John Carpenter and Wes Craven, finding even more sinister content to satiate my spooky little soul.
What’s the most exciting horror project of 2022? Except for Sinphony, of course!
Seeing Sinphony get its release has been such a milestone, but a whirlwind of promotion and travelling to gear up for release. I’m ready to hibernate a little bit after this and catch up on all of the amazing stuff that’s come out this month I haven’t yet had the opportunity to see. As a Christopher Pike fan, I’m really excited to binge through The Midnight Club that just landed on Netflix, the new Boulet Brothers series that just landed on Shudder, and having just been to New York City for the first time to celebrate the world premiere of Sinphony at the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, American Horror Story: NYC has me super intrigued!
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Sinphony, from Dark Sky Films, is now available on VOD and digital platforms. Click here for more information.
