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Director/writer Richard Burgin is celebrating the release and success of his horror thriller “FANG” which can be purchased and streamed on Amazon Prime and Apple TV and has already won 13 awards and 15 nominations at film festivals throughout the US.
The Plot: It’s winter in Chicago and Billy Cochran (Dylan LaRay) can’t stop alienating the people around him. His mother Gina (Lynn Lowry- The Crazies, Shivers, Cat People) is in and out of the hospital and her mind is breaking down, caught between her glory days as a Southern belle and her current state of decay. One night, Billy gets an unexpected visitor: a rat that springs out of his bathroom and bites him. At first, everything seems okay. Billy comes home, drowsy from the tetanus shot, and bonds with Gina’s lovely new caregiver Myra (Jess Paul). Then the rat fur appears. It grows out of Billy’s skin, then goes away like it was never there. The more Billy looks in the mirror and scratches, the more he’s forced to face the unthinkable: he might be turning into a rat. Billy is plunged into a waking nightmare where he slowly discovers the truth about himself as he unleashes the ferocious depths of the human and rodent soul.
I was really looking forward to talking to you because I think it’s so cool what you do. We produce our own films, but we don’t have distribution. So, what made you decide to do this with your life?
I spent a lot of time watching movies as a teenager. Part of the reason why I watched so many movies as a teenager was because at the time my dad started getting sick with Parkinson’s. So when we would spend time together, we weren’t necessarily going out we would stay at home and watch movies . So, it really was a formative experience for me. Before I was a teenager, I mostly watched kids movies. Once I started watching movies that were made for adults, I realized there are so many ways that movies can be, and I wanted to be part of it all. It’s really an art form. I think movies are the art form that kind of combine all of the other art forms if that makes sense. It’s music, writing, acting , set design, costume design and camera work. Everything that goes into it I think is something pretty magical. From that point on I just really wanted to be part of it.
Well, you are really creative. You write, you paint, right you do art also?
Yes I do.
People who are creative usually something in their life changed the trajectory of it. Do you recall a moment in your life that you said WOW you know I’m doing this. The reason maybe?
I just knew I was going to be some sort of artist from a very young age. I never really wanted to do a practical job. Deciding to make movies was a big decision. For me it was a very gradual process. But when I was around 18 or 19 years old, I decided for sure this is what I want to do. I want to make movies. It was difficult to tell my parents because it was kind of a form of insanity to want to make a future in film. But I told my parents this is what I want to do. I want to be a filmmaker in addition to my other art forms. And that was the beginning.
Did they support you?
Sort of. I would say my dad was more into it than my mom. My dad wanted me to make movies based on stories that he wrote. Which I did. I made two short films based on his short stories. My mom is more of a practical minded person. Which is very important. But I would say she is supportive now and she’s very proud of me.
What inspired “Fang”? I saw the trailer you know it’s really cool.
It was inspired by many of my own experiences when I was younger. I was living with my dad and we had a brown recluse spider infestation. It was a very freaky feeling to be in the bathroom and you just see one of these spiders come up. What I was thinking of was that I can’t have Billy get bit by a spider and start turning into a spider because that would be too much like Spider-Man. And I can’t have him get bit by a cockroach and start turning into a cockroach because that would be too much like Costas metamorphosis. Then I started thinking I could have him get bit by a rat and start turning into a rat. That hasn’t really been done so that was how I came up with the idea.
It’s a cool idea. And I didn’t see the movie, but I will. But I love the way you executed the trailer. Will you be doing more horror films or more films in general? What are you going to do next?
Absolutely. I have a bunch of different projects in the works. I’m running an Indiegogo campaign for a movie that a friend of mine is writing called Operation X-I-33. It’s about a man who’s being driven insane by a government experiment. I’m also working on kind of like an experimental sci-fi horror movie called Valsomnia, which is about a guy who is brought back to life kind of like a Frankenstein style experiment. And then he starts being tormented by visions of his past life and that really drives him insane. I have a lot more movies I want to make. “Fang” is only the beginning. I have a variety of other projects in various stages of development too.
So, I want to ask you something. The character in Fang is autistic. Why did you use an autistic character I’m just curious?
Well, I am very high and functioning on the Spectrum myself. So, I took some of my own experiences. The character is more severely autistic, well maybe severely is the wrong word but Billy has serious issues. That’s a good way to put it. And I thought that would be very fitting for “Fang” to show Billy’s alienation from society. “Fang” is about how these different conditions of autism and schizophrenia and Parkinson’s how when you have two people that have these conditions, they could kind of intercept and make things worse than it would be if Billy had a more supportive family. Or if you got the help and encouragement he needed from some people around him. I don’t want Billy and Fang to be a representation of all people with autism. Because there is a saying that when you have met one person with autism you’ve met one person with autism. But I wanted to show that in this psychological horror of mental illness and physical illness.
If you could do anything or if you could ask me anything on the planet what would you ask me?
I’ll have to think on that for a moment. I guess since you said you were in psychology first, I guess I’ll ask you what do you think is the connection between psychology and PR?
Well because most of my clients are creative people and creative people tend to be different than other people. Creative people to me seem to think more deeply. They’re more emotional. They’re more sensitive and vulnerable. I pride myself because I just love dealing with creative people. I mean I am a journalist so I am a creative too but my clients, a lot of them are very famous and they have issues. They have issues that people don’t have. Like regular people you see on the street they just don’t have them. And I think those issues help create. Help make the person more creative. I was actually a psychiatric nurse. So, because I did that I feel I have more of a handle on my clients when I do their PR.
That is a really good answer. I was thinking to that because I’ve done a little marketing work myself and it’s good to understand the psychology of the audience in terms of the people you’re promoting and how to get people watching. I’m always thinking what angle can I use to grow my audience for “Fang”. So, it’s a really fascinating thing to think about.
I’m also going to review this for you. Because people listen to reviews. Let me ask you a question do you ever travel?
I have been to 31 countries now. I like to travel a lot.
I meant to New York. I would love to put you on a tv show there.
Oh yeah, I’ve been there. I would definitely go to New York. It’s not that far from Chicago and I would be happy to go over there. My lead actor in the movie, he lives in New York, so he’ll be able to go on the show also.
Is he autistic in real life?
No. He really did a great job playing the character Dylan. It actually influenced me to make it a more sensitive portrayal of autism then maybe I otherwise would have. So, I’m glad he gave me that feedback.
Let me ask you one more question. And answer it honestly. Are you sick of talking about autism?
I’m happy to answer any questions. I think that’s only one of the themes to say there’s a lot of other things going on. But I’m happy that maybe that it might
inspire other people that are on the spectrum or I’m happy to be used as an example in that sense.
The official website for Richard Burgin may be found at https://www.burginworld.com
Watch the “FANG” official trailer here: