SLIPKNOT's M. SHAWN CRAHAN On Making 'Officer Downe': 'I Brought A Lot Of Rock And Roll To This Movie'
June 7, 2016Red Carpet Report conducted an interview with SLIPKNOT's M. Shawn Crahan at the world premiere of the movie he directed, "Officer Downe", at the 22nd Los Angeles Film Festival, which was held last week in Culver City. You can now watch the chat below.
"Officer Downe" stars Canadian actor Kim Coates — who is best known for playing Tig Trager on the FX series "Sons Of Anarchy" — as an L.A. supercop who is killed in the line of duty but who is repeatedly resurrected and sent back onto the streets. "Officer Downe" is based on the "Man Of Action" imprint/Image Comics graphic novel written by Joe Casey — who also penned the film's screenplay — and illustrated by Chris Burnham.
The film, which also features Tyler Ross, Lauren Velez, Reno Wilson and Bruno Gunn in the cast, is produced by Man Of Action Entertainment, Skip Williamson, Cole Payne, "Crank" co-director Mark Neveldine and SLIPKNOT manager Cory Brennan.
Speaking about why he got involved with the project, Crahan told Red Carpet Report: "I'm a pretty aggressive person and I'm very saturated. So I was given the graphic novel, and I opened up and there's a very beautiful rendering of sex very differently, portrayed differently. And I just shut the book and said, 'I'm in.' And everybody said, 'Just like that. You know, the chick and you'll just do it for the sex.' And I'm, like, 'Absolutely. I'll do it just for this, but I imagine that everything that is after this is right up my alley as well. If it's like this right from the get-go — beautiful women, beautiful lovemaking, and scenarios, real art, and I can paint that and saturate that and give it a good temperature.' And I knew. And they were, like, 'You need to read the whole thing.' And I'm, like, 'I know I don't, but I'm gonna.' And as every page went, there's another element, and there's another element, and there's another element, and there's another element. You know what I'm saying? So I just fell in love with the comic, 'cause it was aggressive — kind of like what I wanna make — and I felt like everybody on the team wanted to really go for something and stick to the guns. And that's fun and needed in this business, for everyone. Everyone wants to give it a go, and we've gotta cut through a lot of things to make it go."
Regarding his approach to making "Officer Downe", Crahan said: "I brought a lot of rock and roll to this movie, first and foremost. Then, when I was done with the movie, I took a lot of movie to my rock and roll, and they work hand in hand; they absolutely have a marriage, and have a beautiful marriage. And it was an easy transition. However, moviemaking is the hardest work I've ever done in my life. It is the absolute dream come true for a vomitor, and I am a vomitor. Just get me going and just keep me going. Hand me some caffeine, make sure I take my shoes off and take a nap. Believe me, I go and go, 'cause I know how short life is, and I know how very blessed all of us are to be here and how very short it is. So I wanna go. And when they let me go, I go. And it was the hardest work I've ever done artistically."
Back in February, Neveldine declared on "The Movie Crypt" podcast that "Officer Downe" is "better than any Marvel movie or DC movie ever made." And Casey recently told Entertainment Weekly that the film "makes 'Crank' look like 'The English Patient'."
Crahan told The Pulse of Radio a while back that he's been working his way toward directing a feature for a long time. "I've been preparing myself with art my whole life, and preparing myself for directing and scriptwriting, and this is what I've been doing for 10 years, is learning and studying and taking it in," he said. "You know, I honestly believe that, you know, we are gonna create the next 'Clockwork Orange' and I'm gonna die trying because that's my life."
Crahan has directed a number of music videos, concert DVDs and behind-the-scenes featurettes for SLIPKNOT.
He and SLIPKNOT singer Corey Taylor founded a film production company called Living Breathing Films in 2012, although it has yet to release anything.
Taylor made his acting debut in the horror movie "Fear Clinic", which was released on home video in February 2015.
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