Exclusive Interview: Gary DeJidas (Night Of The Insolent Vermin)

Exclusive Interview: Gary DeJidas (Night Of The Insolent Vermin)

How did you first get into filmmaking and was your first experience what you dreamed it would be like?

My first collaborative experience with filmmaking, was when I was 13 or 14 years old, in the early 90s. I had an awesome group of friends who let me use them as actors, I had supportive parents, and no mortgage payment. My early experiences with filmmaking were amazing – it was all creativity, freedom and challenges. Splicing Super 8 makes you appreciate NLE systems and what a base level mac can do out of the box.

I’m not sure filmmaking will ever be as magical as it was back then – but there’s still nothing as challenging or rewarding as going through the process with a team you adore.

During your time in the film industry you have worked as a Director, Writer, Editor and Cinematographer on various projects. Which of these roles is your favourite and why?

Without a doubt, editor. Everything else is a necessary evil to get to the edit room. A room where time evaporates, and you get to discover every single error you made during the filming process, discover the shots you forgot, the continuity you broke, and narrative elements you missed. You relive it over and over and over again as you creatively try to make it work. It’s bliss.

A mediocre director can survive as long as they have a great editor. But I honestly can’t fathom directors who don’t edit. Perhaps the same can be said of those who don’t write or at least are heavily involved in a re-write.

You really get three chances to tell a story. During the writing process, during the filming process, and during the edit. You separate the men from the boys in the edit room. Can we still say men from the boys? Maybe I should degender that. I’ll just use a Big Cat metaphor instead. Editing is where you separate the cubs from the cougars. Nothing on earth can make you a battle tested, cougar ready to pounce, quiet like editing a movie.

NIGHT OF THE INSOLENT VERMIN (2021) has recently been released by VIPCO and BayView Entertainment. What can you tell us about this film without giving the movie away?

A diverse group of girlfriends, and a Dominican drifter they snatched from a couple of creeps, decide to hunker down together, to ride out a colossal hurricane rolling through Florida. But this mega storm is no ordinary Category 5 – it has supernatural-like powers. It turns innocent, docile cockroaches into freakishly aggressive roach armies. And it sends Central Florida into Marshall Law. But it’s up to this group of ladies to form a super squad and save Orlando!

What separates NIGHT OF THE INSOLENT VERMIN (2021) from other horror comedy films?

We made silly…sexy. Roaches and dumb lawn guys… scary. That takes some kinda next level skill.

The film features Anna Faith who has a huge following on various social media accounts. Was you familiar with her previous work and how did you get her involved in this project?

Anna Faith is amazing! I met her through a co-producer who worked with her on a prior project. She’s ridiculously smart and clever as an actor – and she’s smokin’ hot. She took a narcissistic, ignorant minded character and made the character fascinating to watch, and hilarious.

As a filmmaker you are tasked with many potential challenges not just on set but throughout the whole filmmaking journey. What for you is the biggest challenge?

Money. Next question.

Seriously though, I love the whole process. I can’t think of a better way to make a buck. Or a more fun way to collaborate with friends and talented artists. But the entire process is a challenge. Every second of it. It’s thousands of decisions, thousands of hours, thousands of dollars burning up in smoke. But, at the end of the day the main challenge is the same – what story do you want to tell and why? And is that a story worth telling? Most aren’t. But filmmaking is as much of a business of egos as it is storytelling, so we get all kinds of garbage. The most talented people aren’t usually the ones who get a shot at telling their stories.

Do you have a specific genre of film that you feel pulled to doing or as a filmmaker do you like to spread your wings and see how far you can take your talent for filmmaking?

I love comedy. The world needs more laughing. I love horror and sci-fi. The world needs more… homicidal killers and alien invaders? But, I love westerns most of all. The world needs more.. ehh bank robberies and bloody shoot-outs?

What are your Top 3 horror comedy films from any decade?

That’s an impossible question to answer. Instead I’ll give you three classics, and three great genre directors anyone can learn from.

Scream. Gremlins. Evil Dead 2 (or Army of Darkness) coin flip on the last two.

John Carpenter – The Thing, They Live, Escape From LA.

Roman Polanski – The Tenant, Replusion, Cul-De-Sac.

Edgar Wright – AN ABSOLUTE HORROR-COMEDY BRITISH BEAST. SO MUCH OF A BEAST WE DON’T EVEN NEED TO NAME HIS FILMS. Edgar Wright, Alfred Hitchcock and Kate Beckinsale – the holy trinity of British Filmmaking.

I also loved Buffy The Vampire Slayer (Sarah Michelle Gellar TV series), Joe Bob Briggs Drive-in Theater TV show, and Tales From The Crypt.

For any budding filmmakers out there, what is the best piece of advice that you could give them?

MAKE YOUR MOVIE. Whether it takes a month, a year, five years, just make it. Tell your story and say what you want to say. Life happens fast. Years go by in a blink. Make whatever sacrifices you have to make and make it happen. Even if it sucks, what eats you up in the end is what you didn’t do – so with enough dedication, anything is possible.

My next best piece of advice is to have something worth saying, not something rehashed based on what you’ve seen. Pull from your own life. No better source material exists.

Lastly, get a good editor.

Finally, what projects do you have coming up?

We actually started production on Chinese Chimichanga – a crypto currency, female heist comedy. Two Broke Girls meets Ocean’s Eleven. I lost my lead and had to stop production. But, we recently started working with a force of nature named Natalia Class (Salina de la Renta in the wrestling world). We now have three projects in development, which Natalia will star in (along with Anna Faith and a few others from Night Of The Insolent Vermin).

In addition to Chinese Chimichanga, we have a Sci Fi-Horror-Comedy about sexy alien invaders titled “Tiny Terrestrials” and a cannibalism-inflation-hedge themed Dark Comedy called “Now Serving”.

Interview by Peter ‘Witchfinder‘ Hopkins

You can stay up to date with Gary DeJidas and Flying Peanut Productions via the social media links below:

Linkedin: Gary-DeJidas

Instagram: @Good_Picture_Taker

Instagram: @FlyingPeanutProductions