WIHM Special - Nicole Jones-Dion

An emerging screenwriter in the business, Nicole Jones-Dion has not only touched on the genre but other styles in her career that has also included work in several other professions. Now, in honor of Women in Horror Month, I talk with her about her start in writing, working on several of her previous shorts and feature films as well as other upcoming projects.



Me: Hello and thank you for taking the time to do this. First off, how did you get into horror in general?
Nicole Jones-Dion: My family had a lot of weird, unexplained experiences with the supernatural. I grew up in an old haunted house in Wilmington, North Carolina but I was the only one who never actually saw the ghost. Everyone else had some sort of an encounter with it (even the cat!). After we moved out, the new owner had a brain aneurysm and died in his 30s. I think that house might actually be cursed... there were a lot of deaths there.

Me: Were you into genre films growing up? What films specifically got you into watching horror movies?
NJD: Growing up in the middle of the Bible Belt during the height of the Satanic Panic, we were convinced there were demons and cultists everywhere. So, of course, I had to learn more, LOL.

At the time, Wilmington was becoming a film production mecca - David Lynch shot BLUE VELVET at one of my neighbor's houses, and there were a bunch of Stephen King movies made during that time - FIRESTARTER, SILVER BULLET, MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE. I think FIRESTARTER was the one that had the biggest impact on me when I was a kid. But the original THE OMEN is probably my all-time favorite.

Me: What was the starting point to become a writer? Where you always into writing growing up?
NJD: Oh yeah, I’ve always been a storyteller. I used to write and put on silly plays and puppet shows for the younger kids at school. I would write and illustrate little books and do storytime in the library. And I would make up bedtime stories for my brothers. I'm related to J.M. Barrie (author of PETER PAN) so maybe it runs in the family...?

Me: Was your constant traveling as a kid a large part of your writing process?
NJD: Having a non-traditional childhood definitely factors into my writer's life. There are pros and cons to growing up as an Army brat… you get to live in a lot of interesting places and immerse yourself in a variety of different cultures… but you also don’t have a lasting circle of friends that you grow up with. In some ways, it’s similar to working on a film set — you spend 12-14 hours a day together, everyone bonds and becomes best friends, then you all move on to the next project.

Me: When you entered Duke University for your studies, what else beyond films did you study? While doing film studies, was there a push towards a specific style or format?
NJD: I actually didn’t study film at Duke (I don’t think that was even an option at the time). Even though I won a scholarship in creative writing, what I really wanted to do was genetic engineering. I was part of a trial program in high school where we got to splice genes and recombine DNA and grow diseases in petri dishes. I was totally hooked! Who wouldn't want to be a mad scientist? But then I failed Chemistry my first semester freshman year… which put my scholarship in jeopardy… so I had to pull my GPA up in a hurry. I ended up switching to English with an emphasis on Creative Writing, with a double major in History (my second love), and a minor in Theology (everything goes back to the Satanic Panic). But I still get to play mad scientist in my scripts, HAHA.

Me: With plenty of short films early in your career, what tools and skills did you acquire working on those that transferred to future film-projects?
NJD: When I first decided to transition from screenwriter to director, without having gone to film school, I had no idea where to even begin. I put it out into the Universe that this is what I wanted to do… and less than a month later, I met Sean Cunningham (creator of FRIDAY THE 13th). I was working with him on rewrites for one of his features and I mentioned that I was interested in directing. Sean graciously took me under his wing as a mentor… and the rest is history.

Me: When writing a new project, what's the one fall-back tactic that you're always able to draw inspiration from?
NJD: I usually start with the “big idea” and then work from there. I love weird news, old obscure myths, urban legends, conspiracy theories… so I tend to mine those for story ideas. My Twitter feed actually started as a way for me to store all my weird story prompts in one place. So if you’re a fan of that sort of thing, you should follow me @novaris

Me: Your first full-length feature was the film Dracula: The Dark Prince. How did that come about?
NJD: Well technically… my first feature was a small indie thriller called PRIVACY that screened in a few festivals that no one saw. DRACULA came about through one of my writing partners, Pearry Teo. When he was hired to direct DRACULA, he brought me on to help with the script. Fun Fact - DRACULA was originally supposed to be an adaptation of the video game CASTLEVANIA, but the producer lost the rights. We all loved the idea of Dracula in the Middle Ages, so we kept that setting and crafted a different story around it.

Me: As well, you also wrote the film They Found Hell for the SyFy Channel. What was the experience like writing that?
NJD: I was introduced to Cinetel (the producers of THEY FOUND HELL) through Mark Lester (who directed FIRESTARTER… funny how these things go full circle). TFH was a writing assignment with a very specific premise - they wanted a movie about a group of kids who accidentally open a portal to Hell (this was around the time a bunch of mysterious sinkholes were popping up around Siberia). That was the starting point, then the challenge was to come up with a way for the kids to escape Hell and figure out all the various adventures they would encounter along the way.

Me: With the religious connotations involved with the project, did your background in Theology help make the process easier?
NJD: It was definitely helpful, although I also pulled heavily from Greek and Roman mythology and Dante’s INFERNO for classic literary journeys through the Underworld. Each of the characters in TFH represented one of the Seven Deadly Sins (you could tell which sin was assigned to each kid by the first letter of their name — Peter was Pride, Lucia was Lust, etc.) The exception was Trish - she represented innocence, she was my Beatrice.

Me: Were there any special concessions that were made to fit the film onto a broadcast TV format?
NJD: Because I was hired to write the script specifically for SyFy, the format had to follow very strict guidelines to allow for commercial breaks, etc. A normal theatrical film screenplay has 3 (or 4) acts. TV movies have 8. And you can’t fudge the page counts… you have to hit those marks. But since it was for SyFy, honestly the biggest challenge was coming up with different monsters that hadn’t already been done before and were still feasible on a low budget.

Me: More recently, you wrote and directed Stasis. Where did you get the inspiration for that one?
NJD: STASIS was another writing assignment. For that one, Pearry had this idea of a troubled teenage girl who sneaks out to go partying with her friends, ODs, and when she returns home she finds she’s already asleep in her own bed. I pitched a couple of different scenarios in which she could be a “ghost” with someone else “possessing” her body. The concept the producers liked was "body-swapping time travelers from the future" … which was later used in the TV series TRAVELERS. I came up with the conceit for STASIS first but it just goes to show how different people can independently develop the exact same idea.

Me: Do you have any other writing projects at the moment?
NJD: I probably have a dozen scripts in various stages of Development Hell right now. They range from true-life ghost stories to Creepypastas to historical period dramas and everything in-between. I just finished adapting a Stephen King short story called IN THE DEATHROOM which is currently in the festival circuit (shameless plug - we just won “Best Horror Short” at the Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival). I’m also working on an anthology of horror shorts called MYSTERY BOX while trying to raise money for my next feature. So yeah, I’ve got a bunch of irons in the fire right now. Waiting to see which one hits first!

Me: Lastly, being that this is Women in Horror Month, what special message do you have for any women out there looking to join in the industry in any capacity as you are one yourself? Thank you again for your time!
NJD: Find your tribe. I’m a total introvert. If I had my druthers, I’d just sit in my dark writer’s cave all day and never talk to anyone. But this is a relationship-based industry. All of my films came about through referrals, so don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. If you’re worried about failure or rejection, you have to realize that it’s part of the job. There’s an old samurai saying that goes, “Fall down seven times, get up eight.” Don’t give up. Everyone’s path to success is different, so keep trying until you find yours.

This interview ran as part of our month-long Women in Horror Month celebrations. Click the banner below to check out all of our interviews and reviews we've conducted for the event: