A Chat With Mark Kines

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A month ago, I interviewed Marc Wade, my mentor at StarTrek.com, about his editing work for "Serial Slayer". Now, you get to read an interview with Mark Tapio Kines, the director of "Serial Slayer". "Serial Slayer" is now out on DVD from Lions Gate.

Mark Kines was once the art director of StarTrek.com, and he recently worked on interactive games which will be included on the upcoming "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" DVDs. Now, Mark devotes his energies to making full-length features. His first movie was the well-received "Foreign Correspondents", starring Melanie Lynskey of "Heavenly Creatures"-fame.

On a personal note, I want to congratulate Mark on getting married in August. :-)

Eddie Feng: You were able to get a major actress, Melanie Lynskey, to star in both of your movies. Did you contact her thinking that you had nothing to lose anyway?
Mark Kines: You bet. It wasn't that big a risk anyway. At the time, Mel had only made one movie "Heavenly Creatures" and was just a normal college student in New Zealand when I first contacted her to star in "Foreign Correspondents".

Eddie Feng: Do you think that Melanie Lynskey agreed to appear in "Foreign Correspondents" because she was impressed by your initiative in contacting her out of the blue?
Mark Kines: I wouldn't say that. Simply put, she was eager to act again, and she liked my script.

Eddie Feng: Did Melanie Lynskey agree to appear in "Serial Slayer" after reading the script, or did she simply want to work with you again after "Foreign Correspondents"?
Mark Kines: After "Foreign Correspondents," Mel and I stayed friends for the following five years - even though she didn't live in LA during much of that time. She was living in town full-time by the time I wrote "Claustrophobia" (aka "Serial Slayer") and basically thought it would be fun to work with me again.

Eddie Feng: How did you come up with the idea for "Serial Slayer"? What was your inspiration for setting the story during daytime rather than at night when it's easier for killers to commit foul deeds?
Mark Kines: I had a nightmare back when I was a teenager that my family and I were at home on a sunny Saturday afternoon when suddenly I saw a shadow on the ground outside and realized that a man was on our roof and was going to kill us. (Then I woke up!) The creepy memory of that dream stayed with me, and was the seed for the script.

As for setting it during the day, I wanted my film to stand apart from the ordinary horror films, not so much for marketing purposes as it was just a need to do something different, something that played against audience's expectations for a "slasher" film.

Eddie Feng: Originally, the movie was called "Claustrophobia". Did Lions Gate ask you for input concerning an alternate title?
Mark Kines: Alas, no! If they had, I guarantee you the film would not have wound up being called "Serial Slayer"!

Eddie Feng: I felt that the dialogue was the movie's strongest attribute. Did you pull bits of real-life conversations into the movie, or was everything that the characters said entirely created by you?
Mark Kines: Well, most of the time actors will paraphrase a line here and there, but generally speaking, everybody stuck to the script. We didn't have one of those rehearsal periods where the cast starts coming up with their own way of saying things. We didn't have the time and the actresses weren't that interested in working that way. There is a small bit of improvisation in the scene where Melanie Lynskey and Sheeri Rappaport are shouting obscenities out the back door.

Eddie Feng: You weren't able to get your first movie, "Foreign Correspondents", wide distribution or a major home-video deal. How were you able to sell this movie to Lions Gate, the biggest independent movie company in North America?
Mark Kines: I'm sure the fact that "Serial Slayer" was easy to market as a horror movie made the big difference. "Foreign Correspondents" is a romantic drama, and when you make that kind of a film independently, and you don't have big-name actors or serious festival accolades to help boost its recognition in the marketplace, it's nearly impossible to sell. I wish I knew that at the time!

Eddie Feng: How were you able to create a 5.1 audio mix rather than simply a two-channel stereo mix for a low-budget feature?
Mark Kines: I'm going to sound really stupid here, but the truth is, I can't tell whether our mixing studio - Serafine Sound - gave it the 5.1 mix, or if filmnic (the film's actual distributor, also known as Silver Nitrate, who made a deal with Lions Gate to release the film) did it. That's the downside of my disinterest in the technical side of things. I can't answer questions like this very well.

Eddie Feng: What is the most difficult aspect of making movies without a lot of financing?
Mark Kines: I think you just answered your own question! With little money, the hard part is paying for everything. In the case of this film, the budget was microscopic, but I managed to get everything I needed for a film - cast, crew, music, locations, what have you. And everybody got paid a little something, except for the handful of volunteers (like editor Marc Wade) who got involved just for the thrill of it, I guess. If I had more money, I'd have a bit more time, the film would look a little slicker, but mainly I'd just be paying people a higher salary for the same work.

Eddie Feng: What has been the most rewarding aspect of making "Foreign Correspondents" and "Serial Slayer"?
Mark Kines: Well, it's always great - relieving, really - to hear from a total stranger via e-mail who says, "I loved your movie!". Most of the time, outside of private screenings where mostly friends and relations show up, I rarely have any idea how many people are seeing my work, who they are, and what they think of it.

Eddie Feng: You write, produce, and direct. Have you thought about wearing other hats such as the editor's or the cinematographer's?
Mark Kines: I love editing. For both of my films, I was essentially sitting right next to my editor 100% of the time. But I don't like the idea of editing on my own. It's much more creative to be able to bounce ideas off of somebody else - especially if they're more technically inclined than you are. As for cinematography - ha! No way. I can't even figure out how to focus a camera.

Eddie Feng: What are you doing now "between projects"?
Mark Kines: I finished a new script, called "Dial 9 to Get Out", which will hopefully be the next film. So that's not exactly "between". I'm also a freelance artist, and recently, I designed some of the interactive games for the "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" DVD.

Eddie Feng: Have you talked to Lions Gate about financing some of your other scripts?
Mark Kines: Again, filmnic is the actual stateside distributor for "Serial Slayer." I don't have a relationship with Lions Gate and I'm sure I stand no better a chance of getting them to finance anything than I would if I was just some Average Joe off the street. Maybe if my movie had made the studio a few million dollars, I'd be whistling a different tune!

Eddie Feng: Well, I'm out of questions, Mark. Thanks for your time!
Mark Kines: No problem. Fun questions!

For more information about Mark Kines's and his projects, please visit www.cassavafilms.com.

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Be sure to check out the full details under related releases.

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