Ten years ago, I gained new respect for Peter Lepeniotis.  The Canadian animator was coming off the success of his first independently directed feature, The Nut Job, and he was very candid about the film industry with the audience at TIFF Kids.  He was a great storyteller and a fountain of knowledge.  But despite being a seasoned pro, Lepeniotis is still finding ways to challenge himself;  such as with R.L. Stine’s Zombie Town, the filmmaker’s live-action directorial debut.

AW: As an experienced animator and director of animated movies, Zombie Town is your foray into live-action filmmaking.  Do you still get the jitters when faced with new filmmakng challenges?  What was your favourite part about making a live-action movie?

PL: Great Question. Yes, I was jittery.  Absolutely.  Going from animation to live-action requires a production learning curve.  In live-action, there is more at stake in a shorter amount of time.  The crew number feels the same but, in live-action, everything and everyone is coming at you all at once.  The role of a director in animation spans about 1 – 2 years.  In that time, the director will have many meetings.  In live-action, that exact number of meetings is, literally, squashed into 2 – 3 months.  Stamina is a prerequisite!  Directing Zombie Town was the most challenging task I have ever undertaken.

I would love to do it again though.  The best part of the process was the direct communication with the actors.  That was something that I could do for days.  Collaborating with them to block scenes was the most creatively uplifting experience I could ask for.  I wasn’t expecting to fall in love with actors the way I did.  Directing actors in animation is creative but limited.  On a set, the actor already believes in the world you’ve created.  It’s not just their voice I am recording – it’s their full physical persona and spirit.  It was great!

Addison Wylie: What about the walking dead do you think fascinates so many movie goers? Will young zombie fanatics be satisfied with the ghouls in Zombie Town?

Peter Lepeniotis: Slow moving, brain-eating corpses slowly wandering the hills in search of would-be victims on the run is always an exciting cinematic idea.  And although our zombies “soul suck” and don’t eat brains, the producers and I still consider this project to be “a zombie film”. One of the few zombie films that a young kid can actually watch without peeing their pants. (I put too many peeing jokes into the movie.)

AW: R.L. Stine is a special author for those who grew up with his books but, also, Zombie Town is a later work of his.  How was it adapting Stine’s book?  Did you feel expectations to fulfil nostalgic desires while also considering new fans of his?  With throwbacks to creature features and legendary horror directors, the story arguably has its own nostalgic qualities.

PL: The co-writer Michael Schwartz and I had to make sure the Stine fans would be entertained while trying to tease little kids into the world of scary movies.  In broad strokes, the difficulty was melding nostalgia with the contemporary.  Zombie Town is not meant for adults or teenagers.  Our goal was to make a gateway horror film for kids.  Something they could watch with their parents without having to have nightmares.  The producer John Gillespie and I were very clear with each other about who our audience was.

AW: What horror movies influenced the making of Zombie Town?

PL: Besides the obvious ones, there were a collection of films I used as the creative visual template.  Films like Monster Squad, Invaders From Mars (1986 version), Lifeforce and Dan O’Bannon’s Return of the Living Dead.  Mean Girls and Raiders Of The Lost Ark are on that list too, believe it or not.  If you look close enough, you should be able to see those influences.

AW: Congrats on the film’s Canadian Screen Award nominations, which recognized the make-up and the spooky music (including an original song from Lawrence Gowan).  I think award committees need to acknowledge more genre-oriented flicks.  Horror movies deserve just as much attention as stuffy, award-baiting biopics, darn it!  Do you agree?

PL: Hey!  I’m with you!  Of course.

R.L. Stine’s Zombie Town is now available to watch on Hollywood Suite.
Read Wylie Writes’ review of R.L. Stine’s Zombie Town here!

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