Have you been with the production from the begining? How did you get involved?

Kevin Wheatley (Writer/Co-Director/Actor) and I had been dating about 3 months when he told me he was writing a screenplay and wanted to cast me in it. We had a lot of discussions during the two weeks he was writing it about the story etc. and once the elements started falling into place he asked me if I would help Produce it, I replied, "What does a Producer do?" he said "I don't know, just figure it out." Famous last words because that is what I have had to do the whole time. When I was putting my first "budget" together I had 4 independent film Producing books in my lap and read and studied and tried to absorb everything I could. We went to NY for 3 weeks of Pre-Pro, secured $5000, had a read through of the script and started buying plane tickets to Pensacola. Now almost 4 years later we are opening in theatres through National Lampoon. Crazy!

Did you have any input to the story?

Kevin would talk to me about ideas but I did not want to touch anything that was going on in his head because I think he is so brilliant. We did have countless discussion about the back-stories of the characters. It gets us both really excited when we start thinking of the expansion of this world and these characters. I had some input in post and during the editing process. We have a really respectful team and once Cameron Pearce (Cinematographer/Editor) and Kevin would get to a point they felt good about they would bring Scott Wheatley (Co-Producer/Production Designer), and myself in to watch and discuss.

Were films like Mad Max used as inspiration or were the directors looking for something totally new?

Kevin really wanted to create something new. Most of the inspiration came from the location, his hometown of Pensacola, FL. He was inspired by the white beaches and Fort Pickens civil war fort. He was also inspired by his friends, whom he cast and wrote parts for. I think they really helped shape the dialouge he was writing because he knew their style of acting so intimately from school. The all attended North Carolina School of the Arts together. He also wanted the world to resemble a world out of Shakespeare times. Mad Max, The Coen Brothers, Sam Rami, Robert Rodriquez were all major inspirations and the path they carved helped enable us to make the epic film we did.

As well as producing you also play a Cannibal in the film. What’s she like?

She is fantastic! I love her, she is so different than me, she's not affected by much, she's really independent and relies on her instincts for everything.

Was it a fun role? Did anything inspire the character?

It was so much fun. No one knows where she came from, except for me, so that gave me a lot of creative freedom in creating her. My directors were fantastic.Kevin directed me to play her like a bored teenager and yet she is this mythical character, so most of my actions had to be really subtle and my emotions had to come through my eyes, instead of big movements. Jonny Gillette (Director) kept me focused on the animal she really is. I got to create her costume, with the help of our brilliant costume designer Tara Tona, so that helped me find her as well. Producing and helping fund an independent feature didn't hurt either. I recommend that to any up and coming independent film producer, be cast as a Cannibal, you can get a lot of your aggressions and stress out chasing people though the desert. My main inspiration came from the research I did on coyotes and Native American spirit animals, as well as the Wheatley's dog Coby.

How long was the film in production, and how long were you on set? Was it a fun time?

We shot all of the exteriors during the summer of 2004 in Pensacola, Fl. Now that I look back it was the best time of my life but at the time I was a stress ball. My actors and crew were in 115 degree heat everyday. Storms came through almost everyday, we had a prop truck hit by a drunk driver, which almost killed the youngest Wheatley brother Nick. I helped run my new boyfriend's parents out of their home because they had 45 crew members sleeping on their floors and in their beds, my crew was traipsing through the sand carrying 12K lights and props and tents, money was flying out of my hands and I had no idea how we were going to have money or resources to shoot all of our interiors. We came home, edited down 100 hours of footage to create a 15 minute sneak preview, which we used to secure more money and some "names" Tony Hale, Richard Reihle, Daniel Baldwin and the wonderful Jane Seymour all blessed us with their talents and their names. We shot all of the interiors in Los Angeles in the summer of 05. We completed the 1st pass of the film to submit it to Sundance in Nov 05. We did not get into Sundance, we did not get into SXSW which crushed us, but we DID get into the Los Angeles Film Festival which was a perfect home for us and it gave us the time to realize that our ending sucked so 2 months before we were to premiere at LAFF, we shot a whole new epic ending. Each time we did not have the money or the resources to make it work but we did.

Oh man, people should go see this movie because it's great. No, really, it is a collaboration of so many talented and undiscovered people. It is literally the blood, sweat and tears of fantastic artists who believed in a project and stuck with it at all costs. It is an epic independent film, it tells a story that has never been touched before, it creates characters you love, where no one is good or evil, they are all just crazy, and it will have you quoting it for months, even years! Where other movies that touch on the apocalypse always focus on the negative and the destruction, this one explores the hope and what is possible after America has met it's match. It is funny, it can be touching if you listen to the speaches of the President, King Remington and Tex Kennedy, it is bloody, it is EPIC and it was made completely independently and without compromise. I just want it to help launch some very deserving careers and I really think it can if people see it, talk about it, play the games, spread the word...and I promise that they will have fun doing it.

I imagine you are all quite pleased that the film is now getting a nationwide distribution? How many cinemas will we see it in?

We are really happy. It's going to be awesome to know that people across the country are going to have an opportunity to see it in a theater. We will be showing in 30 cities. We would love a bigger release but as it goes, exhibitors can't bet on us to make them any money so it's been tough. That does not surprise me though, this project has been tough from the beginning. I know that the people who were meant to see this movie will and they will love it and they will tell all their friends and tons of people will buy the DVD when it comes out and then so many people will love it that it will be re-released and everyone who worked on the film will get everything they deserve and everyone will be happy. I have high hopes and just want all of these filmmakers to get a chance to do what they do best and that is make, act in, score, animate, design, shoot, direct, and edit great films!

Are there any plans for distribution outside the US?

Not yet, we have to see how the Domestic Market does. National Lampoon is taking it to AFM coming up. When we played in LEEDS the audience ate it up and we got fantastic comments on our Myspace page. The U.K would dig it. I think the Asian Market would be interesting as well. Hopefully they will get to see it.

Many thanks to Jamie for taking the time to talk to us. The film is released in the US on October 19th.