How long had you be toying with the story, as writer was it an idea or manuscript you've had for some time?

I wanted to do a movie for a very long time so I had always been writing in hopes of finding the right opportunity. I actually only had 7 pages written for Bong Of The Dead before I decided to cast and crew up. I knew that if I shot a small sequence to show people that I was trying to recruit then it would have more impact than just a script. There is no guarantee that anyone would read the script. However a visual 5 minute sequence is a lot more powerful to get commitment right away.

If I hadn't known I wouldn't have guessed you only had one camera, it was seamless, did that mean you had to re-shoot scenes several times? I could imagine the storyboarding was complex?

yes I only had one camera and I knew it would be a challenge capturing footage as if I had multiple cameras. I had to reshoot each scene switching from wides to close ups etc. The reason I was able to pull it off was because I took the time to story board every shot. This helped me visualize where my actors had to be and where the camera needed to be. At the end of the day it was nice having one small camera to control instead of multiple. Since I was also my own camera operator it made sense to go with one. I didn't want to waste anytime explaining to a second operator how to move the camera when I could just do it myself.

There are some pretty ingenious contraptions in the film, the zombie power shower and the truck for two. Was it hard to reproduce them from paper into action?

Building the things that I had imagined was not too difficult because I had brought on the right people to make it happen. I had a great FX company ( Brant FX) who were able to build me whatever I wanted in order to allow me to display my vision. Having the right crew is really important because it allows you to work together without any bumps which could sacrifice the final project.

I was impressed by the quantity and quality of the special effects makeup. I can't imagine there were any budgetary cuts there. was it difficult to get the balance right between budget and quality?

I think zombie fans judge zombie films mainly by how real the makeup looks and how cool the zombie death scenes are. I was lucky enough to have my close friend Mike Fields jump on board as Co-Producer and in charge of ALL the make up and gore. He has an incredibly rich resume filled with big films and TV shows from Narnia to Fringe. His work is admired by many fans and peers all over the world. Once more having someone like Mike on my side allowed me to basically run wild with my imagination. The makeup although estimated at 200 thousand dollars for crew and supplies was also FREE!

If you had an open purse for your next feature, what sort of movie would you shoot? and who would star?

I believe I have proven that you do not need a big budget or expensive equipment in order to do a movie and do it well. However if I did have a bigger budget I would jump right into my Western Horror script called DEADSVILLE! Aside from bringing back my original cast members to be involved I would also have some veteran actors and some new up and comers. I would really like the opportunity to work with some of my favorites but the list is way to big to write!

Thank very Much for the interview Thomas. I wish you the very best for the future, I don't think it will be long before you'll be doing more!!!