Exclusive Interview: Christopher Mitchell (An Awful Thing Has Gone And Happened)
What can you tell us about the plot for AN AWFUL THING THING HAS GONE AND HAPPENED without giving anything away?
It’s a dark comedy about a woman who goes back to her small, mountain hometown when her brother is murdered and her father has gone missing. As she hunts for the truth, the killer is on the hunt for her.
We’ve made an effort to unfold the story by building up the drama, then breaking it with the comedy of real life moments.
Looking over your credits on IMDB, you are credited for Directing quite a few episodes of various TV series. When making AN AWFUL THING HAS GONE AND HAPPENED, what difference (if any) did you find going from making a TV show to a feature film?
Most of our crew are people I work with day in and day out on those same TV shows. Much of the shooting process had a very familiar feel, but we spent a little more time on each scene. We didn’t have a ton of time, but did try to give ourselves a little more time than we get at our “day job.” In that same vein, it was a longer, more tiring shoot schedule.
I think the biggest difference, though was getting the opportunity to look at cuts and have creative control in the edit. That’s something I don’t normally get to do on the TV shows.
What crime/thriller films or perhaps true stories inspired you to make AN AWFUL THING HAS GONE AND HAPPENED?
I would say, the Coen brothers are my biggest influence.
When making a TV show or film that deals with the crime/thriller genre what do you find hardest personally to bring to the screen?
With any genre, if you’re doing it right, you automatically end up putting a lot of yourself into the final product. That’s probably the hardest part, being open to sharing parts of yourself.
Do you have any input from perhaps former police officers or spend time with them to research police procedures to make sure you portray the police the correct way on screen?
We had two retired police officers we worked with intimately as a part of the cast and crew on this film. We consulted with them, both in the scripting phase, and while we were filming, to make sure the procedures were as accurate as possible. Then, we also took some liberties imagining our own, procedures in a fictional town to help with some moments of tension or humor.
You have done a mixture of things in your filmmaking career but when it comes to filmmaking what is your favourite part of the process?
I love having the creative control to take the words on the page and turn them into visuals. Putting that together into a story people can connect with is really rewarding.
On the flipside of the previous question, what do you find the hardest or at least is more of a struggle when it comes to filmmaking?
Watching the finished product with other people. It’s impossible for me.
What are your Top 3 crime/thriller films from any decade?
Fargo (1996)
Heat (1995)
The Friends Of Eddie Coyle (1973)
For any budding filmmakers out there, what is the best piece of advice that you could give them?
Story is king. Do your absolute best to tell a good story. Other things can be forgiven, but if it’s not a good story, it’s hard to keep watching. Work on your skills anywhere you can before attempting a feature. I’ve been very fortunate to get a lot of practice working on television shows.
Finally, what projects do you have coming up?
We have another dark comedy in the works. My wife, Deborah, has a Sci-Fi script in the refining stages, and I’m working on a horror screenplay. So we may be taking a stab at horror soon as well.
You can stay up to date with An Awful Thing Has Gone And Happened and Christopher Mitchell via the social media links below:
Instagram: An Awful Thing Has Gone And Happened @an_awful_thing_movie
Instagram: Christopher Mitchell @directorchristopher
Interview by Peter ‘Witchfinder‘ Hopkins
An Awful Thing Has Gone And Happened is out now on Blu-ray (Region Free) in the USA from BayView Entertainment.
An Awful Thing Has Gone And Happened is also available to rent/buy on Amazon Prime Video in the UK and Amazon Prime Video in the USA.
Available to order on Blu-ray (Region FREE) at: