An accomplished writer, director, producer, and actor among other notable talents, Calvin Morie McCarthy has crafted a solid career on the indie scene with a slew of titles to his credit. Now, in honor of his latest release Beware the Boogeyman, I talk with him about his early interest in the industry, some of his past projects, and the new film.
Me: Hello and thank you for taking the time to do this. First off, when did you get into horror in general?
Calvin Morie McCarthy: Oh man, I have been a horror fan my whole life. I sorta blame most of it on my parents. My dad is a graphic designer and worked at OMSI for several years, so some of my earliest memories are of hanging out in an animatronic dinosaur exhibit. From there I was introduced to old dinosaur movies and Godzilla flix. There’s a natural progression to these types of films, and before you know it I was getting VHS copies of “The Evil Dead” and “IT” for my 8th birthday. (true story there is video proof). I was interested in genre films and stories, and both of my parents were probably just eager to shut me up. “Sure Calvin, even though you're seven years old you CAN rent Night of the Living Dead. Just get take the movie, and go away.”
Me: What films specifically got you into watching horror movies?
CMM: Night of the Living Dead had a big impact on me. I was definitely too young to see the movie when I did. It really distressed me for a few years. At 7 the concept of the world ending isn’t something you think about much. Anywho, that is the one that really got the ball rolling. BIG shout out to the Showa Godzilla movies for laying the groundwork too.
Me: When did you first discover a passion for filmmaking? Were you always interested in the creative arts growing up?
CMM: As I said, we had a pretty Artsy household. And I’ve always been a project-oriented person. But It wasn’t until I was 16 that I ever thought I could do it FOR REAL. My friends and I always made little films, but they were mostly just something fun to do.
Me: Having worked on various aspects of film production, do you have any particular preference for working on any?
CMM: I do really like Acting...It’s probably what I enjoy the most. That being said, There really isn't an aspect of filmmaking that I dislike. As long as I’m not just sitting around or getting coffee, I’m having a blast doing whatever.
Me: With plenty of short films and music video shoots early in your career, what tools and skills do you acquire working on those that transferred to feature-film projects?
CMM: Practice. Everyone needs practice. My dad says “You’ll paint 100 shitty paintings before you ever paint anything worth a damn, so you might as well get those 100 paintings out of the way as quick as possible.”
Me: When planning a new project, what's the one fall-back tactic that you're always able to draw inspiration from?
CMM: The 7th Street Productions crew. I can rely on them to catch my fall. They are an extremely talented, and battle-tested group of filmmakers.
Me: Looking back on your career from your first film to now, what have you noticed as the biggest change to your skillset over that time?
CMM: Biggest growth for me has been my cinematography skills. It’s also the one that has some tangible proof to it. You can actually see the progress from film to film which is really fun and encouraging.
Me: That brings us to your latest project, "Beyond the Boogeyman." What can you tell us about the film?
CMM: Monster movies are the best! If you’re a fan of something fun and colorful I think you’d really like it. Who doesn’t wanna see people getting munched on by a monster from the closet.
Me: Where did the inspiration for the film come from? Were there any unique stories about its conception?
CMM: This was a concept I had for a while: an anthology framing device centered around a psychologist in a center for the criminally insane. A few of the short stories were also ideas that had been floating around for some time. It wasn’t until we decided upon the boogeyman being the antagonist that all the pieces came together.
Me: With the anthology approach to the project, was it always considered to be taken that way? How did the other directors come to be involved with the film?
CMM: All the other directors are core members of 7th Street Productions. So, this wasn’t THAT different from our other film shoots.
Me: With a cast of experienced and talented indie actors, how'd you settle on the cast getting involved in the film? What characteristics did you look for with each performer that they brought to the table that helped bring the production to light?
CMM: If you've seen even a couple of our movies, you’ll notice that we really like working with actors that we’ve worked with before. It adds to the comradery of the group, which is extremely important to such low-budget filmmaking. We had the pleasure of working with Elissa Dowling on this one as well! Elissa and I had worked together twice before previously on other projects.
Me: Being involved in multiple areas of production, does it still challenge you to be involved in various capacities at once on a project like this? How do you balance those priorities during a shoot?
CMM: We have to all be a little bit of a utility knife on these sets. We are only a crew of about seven people sometimes. There haven't been very many productions where I haven't been doing twenty things at once. It sounds stressful, but it sorta becomes a strange controlled chaos as the production gets rolling.
Me: What was the set like while shooting the film? How did the cast and crew react to the type of film being made?
CMM: It is extremely long hours and hard hard work. Amazingly though we laugh through the whole thing. We’ve come to jokingly refer to ourselves as a platoon of soldiers. That’s how it feels sometimes, like you’re doing a tour through NAM.
Me: Do you recall having any odd or funny on-set stories about yourself or any of the other cast/crew members?
CMM: Yeah, we always end up staying on set together and bunking together, so it’s really like summer camp. We always have a beer together at the end of the night (which sometimes ends up being 4 or 5 AM), and we just kinda laugh together. We have a very close bond on this crew, so hanging out and laughing our asses off is a daily occurrence with us.
Me: Lastly, what else are you working on that you'd like to share with our readers? Thank you again for your time!
CMM: You can film all of our feature films on TUBI, AMAZON, and VUDU. You can also follow us on Facebook, Youtube, and Instagram, or check out 7thstreetfilms.com
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