ADVENTURES OF A B-MOVIE ACTOR-

"Do you know what happens when you're DEAD AND ROTTING???"

It was the beginning October, and I was preparing for Halloween. I had a few things planned, but nothing concrete. I was corresponding with J.R. Bookwalter quite a bit in the past, and I was looking forward to working with him at some point. There had been many times that I was going to work on a project with J.R. and Full Moon, but things fell through for one reason or another.

I was contacted by David Barton for a project entitled "Dead And Rotting". J.R. had recommended me, and Dave wanted to see some of my work. I sent him a reel and was given the role of "Asher", one of the lead characters. It was great to hear that not only was the movie being produced by Full Moon Pictures and Tempe Entertainment, but it also features other genre actors like Trent Haaga (Terror Firmer), Debbie Rochon (American Nightmare), Tom Hoover (Polymorph), Barbara Katz-Norrod (Skinned Alive) and others! It was also set to begin filming right through Halloween. What would be cooler than shooting a horror flick on Halloween? What's better than horror flick set in the fall season?

The following is breakdown of the 8-day shoot. For those interested in seeing pictures from the set, go to my website at: JeffDylanGraham.com

OCTOBER 29TH, 2001- I arrived in Akron, Ohio in the late afternoon. This was the old stomping grounds of J.R. Bookwalter and Tempe! How cool! After settling into my hotel, I was transported to "The Pantry", a restaurant and location in the film. It also served as the location for the production meeting. I was introduced to all of the cast and crew, we did a runthrough of the script, went over costumes, had dinner, etc. When I arrived back at my hotel room, I was very tired from a day of traveling and preparation. We have a 6am call time for the first day of shooting.

DAY 1- Everyone met at "The Pantry" bright and early for the first day of shooting. A conversation between three characters was shot leading up to the introduction of my character and his friend, "Shugi". Then the cast and crew moved to a woodshop location where several scenes were shot including a scuffle, some gore, which were wrapped by nightfall.

DAY 2- HALLOWEEN! My call time wasn't until later in the day. I was picked up by Tammi Sutton (Co-producer and all around amazing woman) and Jeffrey Sisson (the funniest guy on the planet) and brought to the location. This was such a great night for shooting, not only was it Halloween, there was a BLUE MOON! The fog was going and the lighting was perfect! It wasn't hard to get into the atmosphere!

DAY 3- I had this day off. They shot at a bar all day long. By this day, the loss of sleep was definitely catching up to me. I slept most of the day.

DAY 4- My call time was later in the day. The weather was crappy. We shot a scene outside where I have to hit someone over the head with a blunt object and run. It was rather difficult in the rain, but it was all pulled off well.

DAY 5- Another day of endless sleep..... :)

DAY 6- The finale sequences were filmed today. We shot in a basement setting and in an old house. The old house was occupied by the ghost of the woman that used to own the place. I didn't actually see anything, but I heard weird noises. Old houses are so creepy! Anyway, I was also drenched in slime, which ended up being stuck to me all day. We then shot scenes in another home, and a few car scenes.

DAY 7-We shot more car sequences (no, not montages), and an exterior of an old abandoned house in the middle of a cornfield. Pretty creepy. The cops showed up and warned us of a "delusional man" carrying a knife who was running from them. They said to avoid him at all costs. Fortunetly, we never encountered him.

DAY 8- Insert shots........

Overall, I had a great time shooting "Dead and Rotting", I'm excited to see how it turns out!!

DEAD AND ROTTING will see a release on DVD and VHS from Full Moon and Tempe in March/April! It will premiere at Frightvision 2002! Check out Tempe Entertainment or Frightvision for more information!!

Till next time........

Jeff Dylan Graham
www.jeffdylangraham.com

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