We Got This Covered: So you already went the remake route with Silent Night, but if you were given the chance to remake any horror film, what would your dream directorial remake be?
Steven C. Miller: I’d probably do Gremlins, to be honest. That’s just because I feel like in anybody else’s hands, they’d just have CGI gremlins running around, but I’d keep it grounded with the whole practical thing, getting back to the puppet aspect – that stuff was so great! If I had any choice, that would be my first. That would be fun, man.
We Got This Covered: So I keep mentioning Twitter because you’re very active on the social media tool and you are always interacting with your fans, so do you think using Twitter is something more filmmakers should do? How do you take advantage of it?
Steven C. Miller: Filmmakers should be doing it every day. It helps build your fanbase, it helps you see what people like and don’t like – I can search any one of my movies and find people that don’t like it or like it, and I can see why. It’s a great tool for a filmmaker to learn what’s working and what’s not working, along with universally what’s working and not. It helps in the growing process of learning your craft, and how you build that into your next film. You hope people who didn’t like something about your last movie, well, you’re trying to get them to start liking something in your next one. I think it’s a huge tool, and filmmakers especially should be all over it. Some filmmakers actually are really great at it, like Adam Green, and those guys are fantastic at getting their fanbase to support them. That’s a big thing for us indie filmmakers, because without that kind of stuff, the movies themselves don’t get the word of mouth they need – nowadays especially. To have people clicking and watching right away is important.
We Got This Covered: I’m really glad you mentioned that because you’re one of the only filmmakers who Re-Tweets negative reviews along with the positive ones, and I love that. So you view them as learning experiences?
Steven C. Miller: I make movies for people to see. I don’t make movies for a select group of people who like them. I make a movie for everyone to see, and that’s who I want watching my movies. There are always going to be people who don’t like them, and I respect those people’s opinions – as long as it’s not a two word sentence like “Steven sucks” or something. If it’s a legitimate review about how it didn’t work for someone – I get it. I don’t like some movies myself, but I completely respect what they do. I think even though the negative reviews are helping people make decisions, some people can read someone else’s negative and say “But I like that!” It’s just one of those things.
We Got This Covered: I like that perspective a lot. So let’s talk about what’s coming next for you since Granny is too far away for now – what’s your next film?
Steven C. Miller: Next is a thriller that’s going to be a very big departure for me because it’s not horror. It’s a thriller in the vein of Taken and Buried, that kind of a mix. It’s about kids in a limo, the limo goes off of a cliff into the ocean, so it takes place underwater in a limo and they’re trying to get out. It’s a very cool, high-concept kind of movie with some Quentin Tarantino type flashback stuff going on. It’s just a really fun concept I get to dive into.
We Got This Covered: I also heard you’re working on some crazy, over-the-top action film. Is that true?
Steven C. Miller: Yeah, I’m working on something like that, but nothing I can say exactly what it is yet. But yeah, it’ll be a completely over-the-top, crazy-cool action, martial arts type thing. It’s just something I’ve always wanted to do to see if I could even do it. [Laughs] It’s in the works, we’re just trying to figure out how it fits in.
I’d like to thank Steven C. Miller for granting us this interview, and be sure to check out Under The Bed, which is available now! Oh yeah, can we also start a petition to make sure Steven directs the Gremlins remake that’s currently (supposedly) being planned? Please?
