All New Tony Giglio Interview

I was into Horror as a kid. I loved the Friday the 13th movies. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Night of the Living Dead. I, of course, loved Star Wars, Empire & Return of the Jedi. Raiders of the lost Ark was the first action film I really truly loved. The blending of action and the supernatural was genius and inspiring. Also, anything by John Carpenter. That guy’s a genius. Escape from NY, The Thing & Halloween were my holy Trinity of awesome films. I dressed as Snake Plisken for Halloween in 3 straight years!

I also really loved Beverly Hills Cop. That film is a masterpiece. And despite the Herbie Hancock synthesizer score, it holds up to this day. 48 Hours, Top Gun were also some masterclass of action filmmaking I loved. THE TERMINATOR & ALIENS were massive influences on me (and millions of others) as well. And then DIE HARD came along and changed the game again.

But ultimately, when I started thinking seriously about making film my job/career/life, I went back to my horror roots. I saw Evil Dead 2 in the theater when I was 15(?). It was the most fun I had ever had watching a film. This was the first time I asked, “Who made that movie and how did they do it?” Suddenly, the idea of “making” a movie crept into my brain.

My friends and I used to say that Medford was where “Boring” happened because nothing exciting ever did. Our town had nothing. There was a mall (that was pretty lame). We didn’t have a movie theater. No arcade. Medford was where fun went to die. Don’t get me wrong, it was a fine place to grow up. Great friends, safe community. But I think it was because it was so boring, it motivated me to develop my imagination.

I really liked going to Revere or Somerville, neighboring towns, because they had a movie multi-plexes. If I had my way, I’d spend all day at the movies. My friends stopped asking me what I wanted to do after a while b/c it was always the same answer, “The movies”.

I even got a job as an usher at the Revere cinema when I was in high school. I loved it, although it was not very glamorous. The best was on Thursday nights, the projectionist tested the prints of the new releases that were opening on Friday. So the staff was allowed to watch the new movies the night before, for free, and you got free popcorn too. One of the (few) perks. It made wearing the horrible blue plaid uniforms tolerable.

The Sam Raimi experience… I still can’t believe that happened. Talk about a miracle? Sam was everything I hoped he’d be. Smart, funny, intelligent, passionate… and so fucking kind. That was a big film for him. And yet he was very gracious allowing me access he didn’t have to. I learned 90% of everything I know about on-set filmmaking from working on THE QUICK & THE DEAD. Preparation, passion, how to inspire cast and crew.

Sam made sure to say good night to every crew member at the end of the day. I do this too. It’s a small gesture, but it goes a long way. That crew would’ve jumped in front of a train for Sam.  Believe me that wasn’t the case for every director I worked for as a PA. The crew loved Sam.

I had the remarkable good fortune to work on set with Sam Raimi, James Cameron, Michael Mann, Noah Baumbach, and John Carpenter among others. In the opening of this interview, I talked about these guys as the guys I grew up watching who inspired me and here I was WORKING ALONGSIDE THEM. Helping them (in a small way) realize their vision.

James Cameron can only be described as pure energy. The guy was a force. While Sam was loved, Cameron was feared. Intensity personified. He was the 1st director I worked for that used a walkie to speak to every department. And he was in control of every aspect of the set. And I loved it. He yelled constantly, but I never witnessed a time he yelled where it wasn’t warranted. Well, maybe once or twice 😉

Jim (as he liked to be called) surrounded himself with one of the best crew’s in film. It’s not that they needed to be yelled at. They were some of the best at their job. I learned this was his process.

John Carpenter was so kind and always had a smile. He loved making movies. He loved his actors and his crew. You couldn’t help but want to work hard to make John smile. This was a tough movie. ESCAPE FROM LA. It was 70 production days all at night. Nights really wear on you. Nothing worse than waking up Friday afternoon, get in your car, sit in traffic, heading to work and seeing people going home to start their weekend. Ugh.

Michael Mann was probably the most closed off and least sharing of the group. But that was his process. I respected that. But I learned focus and drive from Michael. We’d shoot an 18 hour day and as the crew and cast were all exhausted, ready for bed, Michael would go out shooting with a helicopter unit to get aerials. His drive for perfection was unreal.

I worked with many other directors and I think I took a little bit of things from every one of them. Even if it was something “not” to do. I used this period as my Grad Film School. I was learning how to make real films and getting paid. Not much, but it was better than any film school IMO.

I realized at this time that they don’t hire directors in the want ads. If I wanted to be a director I had 2 paths: (1) Make a film (or short film) or (2) write a script everyone wants and attach myself to direct. I believe these are still the 2 best ways to get a directing job. I didn’t have money to make a film or short film, so I taught myself to write. I started by taking the scripts of the films I worked on, and watching those films. I’d see what scenes made it, which ones got deleted, trying to figure out why, etc. I then just started writing. Every weekend, I dedicated 10 hours to writing. Being a P.A., you work 13-15 hours a day. You’re exhausted when you come home. So, I had to sacrifice weekends. But again, I was in my 20’s. You’re supposed to struggle and pay your dues in your 20’s. I wasn’t worried about anything other than becoming a filmmaker. I didn’t mind the struggle. I was poor. It was fine. I embraced it. I had my eye on the prize.

When you are on a writing assignment, the hours are great 🙂 Writing is stressful but much less stressful than directing/production. You can go to the gym, go out with friends, etc. You pace yourself. You’re usually given a decent amount of time – and I’ve never had a producer or executive balk at you asking for a week (or two) longer. Better to ask for a few more days than hand in something you don’t think is “ready”.

Developing the script is the cheapest part of the entire process. There’s only 1 person working. YOU. Once the film moves into preproduction, that’s when the studio/financier starts spending real money and suddenly there’s pressure.

Money dictates EVERYTHING.

Directing is (for the most part) more satisfying. When you are just the writer, you lose control once it goes to another director. Film is a director’s medium. You know this going in. If the director wants something changed, they change it. And I never mind if I’m involved. But it’s when they hire someone else or they do it themselves that it gets irritating.

I mean, just because you can talk, doesn’t mean you can write. Right?

An actor would never think about rebuilding the dolly track platform, but they won’t blink an eye about changing a line. I don’t know about other writers, but I stress over every line. I’ve written something a certain way because it pays off later. It relates to the plot or the character. So that bugs me. I’d prefer if they gave me the note: “We don’t like this, we want to change it to something like this.” That’s fine. The writer is the best person to make this change because we have the entire story in our heads at all times. We know you can’t just change Scene X without adjusting Scenes Y & Z. Make sense?

There’s nothing worse than reading a review of something you’ve written where the Critic will call you out for bad dialogue and then they use a line YOU didn’t write as an example. I’ll take the hit if I deserve it, but that bugs me.

When directing, YOU get back this control you had to hand over as a writer. But the director has a ton more responsibility. You have to stay on budget, keep a studio, crew and cast all happy and still manage to keep your sanity. It’s the hardest, best, most frustrating, fun, stressful, enjoyable, horrible job you can ever have. And I love it. I can’t envision doing anything else.

Now, I don’t get the big films… Yet 😉 Most of the stuff I do is low budget. This adds to your stress level. Money doesn’t guarantee a hit film, but money can help ease the stress on your budget. As a PA, on those big studio films I worked on, we’d usually shoot may 1 1/2 pages-2 pages a day. On most of my films, I’m shooting 6-8 pages a day. Time is the thing that money buys and time is so valuable.

Some of your readers may ask why is that a big deal? If you’re shooting 1 or 2 scenes in a day, you get more time for rehearsals, with the crew and cast. You get more time for more coverage (meaning more camera angles with which to use in editorial). When you have to shoot 6-8 scenes, you are pretty much locked into a MASTER, then some close ups. Style suffers. Performance suffers. The DP gets less lights and less time to light, so your picture quality suffers.

Not always. There are some beautiful low budget films with epic performances, but when you also have a ton of stunts… that’s where it gets tough.

Soccer Dog was a 26 year old kid who thought he was “ready”. I wasn’t. You never are. Still, that film finished on time and on budget on a budget of $500K, shot in 24 days, non-union, with kids, dogs, and during El Nino. The studio loved it. It made a lot of money for them (not me – my deal stunk).

I felt comfortable on set of Soccer Dog, but where the learning came in was post. Editing is a completely different animal and I had no experience. My first editor really had to hold my hand through it. What you look for early in post is “do you have a movie”. That sounds odd, but it’s the truth. Do you have a beginning, middle and end? If you do, then you’re 75% of the way there. I vomited after I saw the assembly of Soccer Dog. It was NOTHING like I thought it would be. But the editor gave me great guidance. He’s like, “This isn’t the film. This is just the scenes assembled. We now work to make your film.” And then we work on the director’s cut.

By the end of the process, I felt better. But there’s so many tricks I learned.

One story: so after the dog scores his first goal. In the script it said the dog shoots, scores and the crowd cheers. So we cut it like that. But it seemed odd that people just cheered. I was like, “a dog just scored and no one’s acting like it’s weird or special or anything.” So the editor and I went through all the footage. We stole “pre-roll” shots of all the actors, moments before I would yell “action”, where they’re just staring dumb founded. We cut together a series of these put that right after the dog scores, then cut to the ref yelling “Goal” and then the crowd cheers. It gave us that moment that was missing. And that was a scene that didn’t exist, not only in the script, but I never shot it. We just created it in the editing room.

IN ENEMY HANDS taught me how to direct stars and I learned everything about that from William H. Macy. Along with Sam Raimi, I credit Bill Macy with my career. He’s the most generous, gracious, and kind men you’ll ever meet. That was a loaded cast. Macy, Til Schweiger, Thomas Kretchsmann, Jeremy Sisto, Ian Somerhalder, Clark Gregg, Scott Caan, Lauren Holley, Xander Berkeley and Gavin Hood. Just incredible cast for a $4M film. Bill would side with me on every debate. All the actors fell in line. So what I really learned was win over your main star, and the others will follow – especially if they’re someone as respected as Macy 🙂

Quick story: I was a little intimidated the first couple days. Macy’s not intimidating but he was William H. Macy and I was me. He did a take. He came back and saw that I looked unhappy. He asked what was wrong. I was hesitant, but I was in the moment and I said, “You came off like a coward just then.” He gave it a thought and said, “okay, got it.” He went and did another take and it was perfect. The lesson I learned was the simplest direction is the most effective. Direct the emotion, not the action. Actors hate, “Faster” or “More feeling”. Direction should be tied to the emotion the character is feeling in that moment.

I also learned to never give 10 different people dialogue in a small submarine room 😉

IN ENEMY HANDS was like a family. All the actors revered Macy and that led to a very easy shoot, despite some rather bad men who were our financiers.

Yeah, I saw a couple of those Wrong Turn 3 posters. So lame of the local distributors to do that, but again – out of my control.

I always try and have fun. I was looking forward to finally getting a crack at horror. Dan Kay penned a great script and I did a rewrite. It was meant to be more intense, but over the course of making the film, there was this dark humor that kept pushing through, I couldn’t ignore it. So we went with it and I think it helped.

One of my favorite moments was the opening scene. We got a hold of the only super techno crane in Eastern Europe (we shot the film entirely in Romania). I wanted an uninterrupted shot that started on one of the victims and ended on the other in the other room. Romania allowed us financial flexibility. We built the cabin out on location but then bulilt all the interiors of the cabin on a sound stage, so I the ability to move walls, etc.

So we get the crane and it’s a very complicated shot. The camera is on a rotating head, it starts close, spins as it raises and then cranes into another room, down a chain and into a close up on the second victim.

We did it in 1 take.

We did a couple more for safety but we ended up using that first take.

I loved Romania. One of the great perks of this job is traveling. We shot in the mountains of Transylvania. It was amazing. Over the course of my career I’ve worked in Vancouver (twice), Toronto, London (for 9 months), Italy, Netherlands, and most recently Bulgaria.

The most fun sequence to shoot in TIMBER FALLS was that crazy 3rd act. Killing Clyde and Ida, having Sheryl face off against Deacon, the rain, at night, just fun stuff.

One of my proudest career moments was screening TIMBER FALLS at Screamfest. A horror festival here in LA. A packed audience at the Mann’s Chinese theater. They loved it. The film played much better with a large crowd than on TV/video.

And with Timber Falls I finally got my theatrical release. It was limited, but we opened in 50 theaters across LA.

I mentioned EXTRACTION earlier as one of my favorite films. I loved THE RAID and I pitched a “THE RAID-like” idea to a producer I knew. He set up the meeting at Crackle. I pitched it there and they bought the pitch in the room. An actress friend I know named Natassia Malthe (she was in CHAOS) turned me onto Jon. I met with him and I thought he was great. Crackle wanted stars. I didn’t think a “star” could do all the fighting/stunts themselves and not kill themselves in our tiny 18 day schedule. So they let me have Jon as the lead if I put stars in the supporting parts – a very reasonable request from the studio.

After IN ENEMY HANDS, CHAOS & TIMBER FALLS, I was actively searching for a studio. I was tired of the indy film whirlwind. I wanted studio interference! Kidding. I simply wanted to know that (1) the films had money and (2) a distribution plan in place.

Immediately after TIMBER FALLS is when I starting writing Death Race 2 for Universal. I also directed 2nd unit for Sony Screen Gems on RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE. I didn’t have to worry about getting paid or what’s going to happen with the film. I could just worry about the work.

Danny Glover was a sweetheart. A true gentleman. He had some issues with the military dialogue. You’d never know thanks to my amazing editor (Peter Mergus – who’s done 4 of my films). But all the emotional, non-military dialogue, Danny killed. He was exactly the way you think he would be.

Unfortunately, so was Vinnie Jones. Kidding. Vinnie brings to the table something only Vinnie can bring. And he does bring it. It was a weird request made by the studio to cast him in that role. He was supposed to be Chechen. But Vinnie wasn’t bout to do a Chechen accent. So we reworked the script for him. And he loved it.

I really loved that film. No money. No time. But everyone really worked hard. Such a group effort. And I do believe we are the first ever feature film produced for a digital streamer. Something that I think is cool.

I really wasn’t involved with the production of ARENA and can’t speak of it too intelligently. It’s one of those projects you write, sell, and you have no control. My draft was called FURY, but Sam Jackson made them change it so folks wouldn’t think it was based on his character in the Marvel films. The director is a friend of mine, Jonah Loop. He was my VFX supervisor on 2 films and even came to help me on EXTRACTION when we ran out of money. So, I was rooting for him and ARENA.

I was the sole screenwriter for DEATH RACE 2 & 3. I shared writing duties on DEATH RACE: BEYOND ANARCHY (the 4th in the series).

The formula for the was Paul W.S. Anderson comes up with the “pitch”. Then together, we flush out the story. And then I write the script. And this was a really successful formula, for myself and Universal.

Death Race 2 was a huge success. And I loved writing these films. Writing a Death Race film is like therapy. You can literally write anything. These films are an escape. And being made for Home Entertainment, you don’t have the restraints that films released theatrically have. They had over the top action, wild chases, insane fights, gorgeous women, wild, wild fun stuff.

Originally I was asked to write and direct Death Race 2. As I was writing the script, Paul WS Anderson and I developed a friendship. He was about to go shoot RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE. I met Paul and his partner, Jeremy Bolt, a few years earlier when I interviewed to direct RESIDENT EVIL: EXTINCTION. I had 4 interviews for that. I did storyboards, set concept drawings, etc. I really wanted that movie. The studio ultimately wanted someone with more VFX experience.

But Paul and Jeremy remembered me and brought me onto Death Race 2.

While I was writing, Paul asked me if I’d like to direct 2nd unit on AFTERLIFE. I jumped at the chance even though it took me out of the running to direct DR2.

Universal hired Roel and he was the right choice. He did a great job. Again, it turned out differently than I envisioned, but that’s the deal. Roel did a great job on Death Race 3, which got an immediate green-light after DR2’s release. Roel’s gone on to have a great career, now doing BIG TV shows.

The truth is I always want to direct everything I write, but that doesn’t always happen. I really loved writing all the Death Races. They’ve been great for me creatively, financially, and they cemented my relationship with Universal. I’ve now written 5 films for Universal and directed 1 film.

A couple of things… I NEVER slash a budget. I’m usually offered films that need $10-15M but the financier/studio only has $4M (or less) to make the film. I beg for more, but rarely get it. Also, over the course of 7 features, I believe I have had a grand total of 7 total reshoot days. I make films with the assumption I won’t get any reshoot days.

On a side note: Reshoot or additional photography is a very standard practice in filmmaking. For some reason, people hear “reshoot” and they think something bad has happened. More often times than not, it’s a good thing. The studio sees the potential in the film so they spend MORE. If a studio didn’t like a film, or didn’t see potential in it, believe me, they won’t spend more on it.

I’m the guy that gets hired b/c I have been able to work within the confines on the budget. I give the studio back a film that’s on time, on budget, and while maybe not perfect, it’s good and they make money off it. I’ve also shown I can deal with insanity quickly. I also like to think I’m easy to work with. Well, not “easy”. I’ll fight to make the film the best it can be and if you are too, then we’ll get along. If you just want to put your fingers on the film for your own vanity, I’ll come after you and beat you up. If I was difficult to work with, believe me, I wouldn’t work. People tolerate James Cameron’s screaming b/c he’s James Cameron and makes iconic, amazing, highly profitable films. I’m not James Cameron. I’m easily replaceable.

Making a film is extremely difficult. And that’s under great circumstances. Needless, selfish drama only makes things worse.

I also have had the great pleasure of working with some legendary and outstanding talent. Studios want to make certain actors will respect the director. Working with Macy, Statham, Jovovich, etc. makes actors feel comfortable with me.

I understand when to fight and when not to fight. You have to realize, on low budget films, it’s impossible to get EVERYTHING you want. Know this going in. If you fight for EVERYTHING, you will end up alienating the studio and producers. I’m passionate. I treat every film with respect. I respect the audience. I don’t like talking down to them. I fight for the audience b/c at the end of the day, they’re what matter.

No film is “a walk in the park” but I definitely found this odd niche lately. And the “contained” premise is more budget related than anything. Low budget films can’t afford scope. You can’t have 1000 extras in a scene, or do shots in downtown traffic. So the budget on these films dictated the film’s premise. It’s backwards.

The more you direct, the more experiences you have. I can look at a script and know what’s possible based on my experience. When I first read SWAT, I was brutally honest with the producers, I said, “This film as written can’t be done for the budget.” The script had 20 major action beats, hundreds of locations, and a helicopter rooftop decapitation. So if they wanted to proceed, at least with me, we had to make changes.

My philosophy making low budget films is we CAN’T compete with $200M Marvel, Fast & Furious event epic theatrical films. We just can’t. So we have to make our story work. We have to pick and choose our moments to flex our creative muscles. If you try to out epic the epic films, you’ll fail.

I recently watched Michael Bay’s 6 UNDERGROUND. I can, without hyperbole, say that they probably spent more on the opening chase scene of that film, then the combined budgets of all 7 films I’ve directed.

I went in on a general meeting with Jonas Barnes of Original Films. He had been developing this SWAT film for a few years. I was told they had a director, but I read it anyway. We ended up talking at length about many things, films, life, etc. He’s a cool guy. We then discuss SWAT. This is the guy I told it couldn’t be done for the money. I told him how’d I’d change it. And then wrapped up.

I was walking my dog the next morning when he called me directly on my cell. He said he wanted me to come in that afternoon to meet the studio. He wanted me to direct. So I did. I met with a Sony executive. Told him the same stuff I told Jonas. By the end of the week, I had an offer. We were in pre-production about 4 weeks later.

We were in post-production when I heard about the TV show getting started. So, we were first by a little.

The big draw for me to SWAT was Neal Moritz. I won’t lie. He’s arguably one of the most successful producers in Hollywood. I wanted to be in his family. That said, I’ve actually never met him. Haha. But Jonas has become a good friend. I also loved shooting in Vancouver. My 2nd time there. And unlike the first time it wasn’t “chaos” 😉

I had always wanted to work with Adrianne Palicki, so that was a huge plus. She’s amazing. Gorgeous, funny, and can kick ass. A force to be reckoned with. I hired a bunch of actors that worked with me on CHAOS as well.

The film didn’t turn out exactly as I hoped. I felt I made “Training Day”-light. My director’s cut had a darker/moodier tone. But the studio “brightened” things up. That happens sometimes.

That’s the difference between some projects. Sometimes you make a movie with a studio partner, sometimes you make a movie for a studio. SWAT was the latter.

DOOM was the former.

My relationship with Universal has been the best working relationship of my career. In the world of low budget filmmaking, they are the best. They care. They are very filmmaker friendly and, if they trust you, they give you a long leash.

Universal 1440 makes films based on IP they own. So after having written 4 films for Universal, I pitched my version of a DOOM film. The previous DOOM film disappointed financially and with fans/critics. I pitched a more faithful adaptation. Being a fan of the game, this was a dream project.

This was one of the most challenging films I’ve ever made. Low budget, 1000 VFX shots, tons of stunts, make up FX, and a rabid fan base. The film’s not perfect, but it was made with love of the source material. The studio loved it and it’s exceeded sales expectations. I’m very proud of it.

But you (and fans) have to realize, for DOOM or SWAT to be available to be produced at the budget levels we’re talking about, helmed by a director at my level, it’s that the theatrical divisions of these studios didn’t want it. I heard a lot of chatter online about Universal only making Doom as a “cash grab to retain the rights”. The truth could not be further from the truth. I pitched this to them. This was not on their development slate. And they were reluctant at first based on the previous film’s failures. I pushed them. Me. So blame me.

I have hopes for a trilogy with DOOM and then have it become a TV series. So, stay tuned 😉

I think there’s too much VFX/CGI in films. VFX should be used to support the story, not be part of the story. Filmmakers used to use all kinds of awesome practical tricks, now they rely on VFX to do it. That’s not to diminish the talented VFX artists we have. But they’re being put front and center when they should be there to support.

When the helicopter goes UNDER the bridge in T2 chase… that was real. And when you’re watching it, you know that. You FEEL it. The actors can feel it and it comes through in their performance.

There’s a disconnect now. You can tell someone’s just standing on a green screen. You can tell they’re in a mock up with a crane holding the chopper or they’re not really on the edge of a cliff.

The best action films also put character and story first. DIE HARD is a classic b/c you wanted John McClane to survive/win/and reunite with Holly.

MY DINNER WITH ANDRE would have 200 VFX shots if made today. VFX are part of filmmaking as much as color and sound now. But we can’t lose sight as to what makes movies special: character, story, drama.

I love possessed object horror films. Can’t get enough of them. ANNABELLE, OCULUS, CHRISTINE, etc. I have a haunted typewriter script that I’d love to do called CIPHER. It’s in the vein of that old story “The Monkeys Paw”.

I have a sci-fi action thriller called ILLUMINATION that’s part THE FUGITIVE, part TOTAL RECALL that is super dark and one of my favorite scripts.

But my absolute favorite is a script I co-wrote with a friend called DEATH OF A TYRANT, which covers 17 days in April 1865. It opens with the end of the Civil War, takes us through the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and then the manhunt & death of John Wilkes Booth. It’s more of a thriller than bio-pic. And Booth is the lead character. It’s his story.

Thank you for the chat and all the kind words! Your support of my work means more than you can imagine.