JC: Oh man… I think Brandon and I have been tossing ideas down on paper together for almost 10 years.
Q: How did Isle of the Dead come about?
BT: I had the germ of an idea knocking around the back of my head for a while: a group of people deliberately drop themselves into an island infested with zombies. I liked the idea of people going into that situation fully prepared, then getting their asses kicked anyway. It was barely a premise – one of those concepts that needed a catalyst to turn it into an actual story.
JC: Brandon and I co-wrote a college comedy titled “Alpha House”, which starred DC Douglas. We all got along really well on set and found that we all had a love for zombies and horror films. Since DC was the voice of Albert Wesker in the “Resident Evil” video games, we decided it would be an awesome idea to put together some ideas for some zombie films and pitch them to The Asylum… the production company that produced “Alpha House”.
BT: DC pointed out to us that “Resident Evil†fans would often tell him how they wanted a good, suspenseful horror zombie movie … ideally starring him. He brought to the story-breaking process a fantastic amount of insight into what fans of the zombie genre were hungry for.
JC: A few weeks after that spark hit, we had some ideas that we felt would stoke the flames of the “Resident Evil” fan base, pitched them and ended up getting the go ahead to move forward with developing “Isle of the Dead”. A few treatment drafts later we were writing the script, and ultimately shooting the film. Overall, the entire process from pitching the idea, to writing, to shooting, and to the upcoming premiere on Thursday was pretty fast…
Q: Any interesting anecdotes to share about the process of writing Isle?
JC: Hmm… Well, Brandon and I bounced the drafts back and forth a lot as we don’t live in the same city — I live in Greenwich, CT and Brandon lives in Detroit, MI. We’ve been writing material this way for years, so it’s a pretty normal process for us.
BT: Writing an Asylum movie is always interesting, because their productions move so fast!
JC: We did have a great time talking with DC about the “Resident Evil†universe and the fans. We really wanted to create a film that they would like.
Q: What kind of audience were you writing Isle for?
JC: Horror fans, zombie fans, and most importantly “Resident Evil” fans.
BT: Jake and I have kind of a twisted sense of humor. Several bits of “Isle of the Dead†made us laugh like crazy. We hope the audience does, too.
Q: Thoughts on the finished film?
JC: I think the film is a really fun romp that “Resident Evil” and horror fans will enjoy.
BT: As Joey Lawrence himself might say, “Whoa!”
