A talented writer and producer on various projects and genres over the years, Joshua Sonny Harris has crafted a strong resume involving some strong aspects that are helping him craft his legacy. Now, with the screening of his latest film, "Dooba Dooba," at the 2025 edition of the Screamfest LA Film Festival, I talk with him about his early interest in filmmaking, being a producer, and the film itself.
Me: Hello and thank you for taking the time to do this. First off, when did you get into horror in general? What films specifically got you into watching horror movies?
Joshua Sonny Harris: My favorite author as a kid was Roald Dahl; I must have watched Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory a hundred times. Which, if you look back on it critically, is a slasher movie about using the promise of candy to horribly maim children.
My earliest memory of being truly scared at the movies was watching Oogie Boogie in The Nightmare Before Christmas, torturing Santa Claus in his casino-themed dungeon. I’m not sure anything is quite so disturbing as an animated entangled horde of neon creepy crawlies in a burlap sack. I have a mug of Oogie Boogie on my desk as I’m responding here. I think I keep him there as exposure therapy.
I’m drawn primarily to comedy by nature, but my taste pivoted hard toward horror in my twenties. Some of that was the influence of my wife, Allie, who’s a lifelong horror junkie, and some of that is just how my psychology has evolved. I do tend to think that the predominant genre at any given time tells you a lot about that time. The 1950s were the era of the Western world – America was deeply concerned about ethics, good and evil, the principles of how to be a good person. And sometime recently, I believe we exited the era of the superhero, and entered a horrible time.
Me: When did you first discover a passion for filmmaking? Were you always interested in the creative arts growing up?
JSH: I must have been around ten years old, watching the Fairly Odd Parents when I pointed up at the screen and decided: Whatever that is, I want to do that.
Though I come from a theatre background first. In fact, Ehrland and I were part of the same high school drama program and were the co-captains of S.H.I.T. – The Saratoga High Improv Team. But since he captained the blue team and I captained the red team, we were rarely in scenes together. A good bit of friendly rivalry between us, which carried on…
Years later, we were roommates in NYC – he was in undergrad at NYU Tisch, I was in the Columbia Screenwriting MFA… and both of us were trying to get films off the ground. I wrote and directed a musical horror short called “Take 5” toward the end of my time there, but Ehrland had the gall to go out and make his first feature, the home-invasion western Homestead. What I’ve always admired most about Ehrland is that he’s a self-starter – he just goes out and does the thing. Which, perhaps always, but especially now, are the filmmakers who get stuff done.
Me: Having worked on various aspects of film production, do you have any particular preference for working on any?
JSH: I like crafting stories and helping other folks craft theirs – which happens at the script stage, live on the day of the shoot, in the edit room. I like to be a sounding board and sparring partner, a creative producer who helps a director find the best way of telling a story within the limited resources they’ve got.
I love writing most, but every mother’s son has a screenplay, and many of them are good ones… but there are fewer folks who go out and make the damn thing, the way Ehrland always has.
So hell, I’ll embrace the unsexy parts of producing in lockstep, like, I don’t necessarily like sending a million emails. But fortunately, I’m pretty good at sending a million emails. And you need someone on your team who is willing and able to send a million emails. I no longer wish for that someone to be someone else, because now I’ve forged relationships with festivals, programmers, distributors, and horror journalists – you don’t need a “guy” if you can learn to be your film’s guy.
Me: When working on a new project, do you prefer to be involved from the beginning or work later on once it's been started?
JSH: I prefer to be involved from the beginning, but I wasn’t on Dooba Dooba. Maybe technically I was – Ehrland sent me the original script for notes, I sent him feedback, and he largely ignored it.
I properly joined during the edit and have been involved with leading the efforts on festivals and distribution ever since. And I’ll say, we’ve had a pretty great festival run and we secured distribution with genre-favorite Dark Sky, so I’m chalking that up as a big win.
Earnestly, the film started long before I hopped on, though our big run of success started at Nightmares Film Festival. I thought they could be an ideal fit for the film – and fortunately, they not only chose to take on Dooba Dooba as a world premiere, but we ended up winning Best Film at their festival last October, and it’s been a whirlwind ever since.
We are still so grateful to Nightmares for what they did to advocate for us and our movie, and what they do for the genre filmmaker community in general. Can’t recommend the experience there highly enough – and if this piece comes out in time and you’re in the area, go! They’re having their 10th Anniversary festival in Columbus, OH, this Oct. 16-19.
Me: That brings us to your latest film, “Dooba Dooba.” What can you tell us about the project?
JSH: Very little. I’ve been sworn to secrecy. I do think this is a movie that plays better if you go in as blind as possible. Here are some things I will say: in the storied tradition of horror movies like Halloween and House of the Devil, bad things happen to the babysitter. I’ll also say this: Dooba Dooba means “drowning” in Urdu. This is entirely accidental.
Me: How did you become involved with the film? What specifically drew you to want to help produce it?
JSH: So I got a call from Ehrland when he was working on the edit, asking for a second pair of eyes – so he stayed on my couch in Venice Beach for a week, as we went through the film’s edit beat-by-beat. It’s interesting, joining a movie at such a late stage because, mostly speaking, everything that’s going to be is already there, in some form. It’s moving the puzzle pieces around, trying to close the cognitive gap between the filmmaker’s intent and the audience’s experience. Or to be crass about it, figuring out why doesn’t the fucking thing work the way you want it to? So, we talked and talked, and he cut and cut. We argued plenty, but ultimately made some critical discoveries about how to reimagine the sequencing, how to bring in public domain footage to widen the scope of the world, and how to bring in more of the vocabulary of YouTube analog horror, like Blue Channel: Thalasin. We went through our periods of dorcelessness, but by the end, I think we came out on the other side pretty loric.
Me: What did you want to accomplish with the film to set it apart from the other genre films that have recently come out?
JSH: So I’m sure some found-footage junky is going to blast me in the comments for saying this, but we were pretty convinced no one had yet tried to do this before: to make a found footage movie from the perspective of CCTV home-surveillance cameras. Yes, I know, Paranormal Activity 2 technically exists within the same aesthetics – but while we’re watching CCTV, it’s not really dramaturgically from the security camera’s point of view. It’s how the story is told, but not so much “part of the story.”
I think the best found footage films do a really clear and consistent job of justifying the POV of the footage, and keep reminding you of that subjective perspective, without undermining the narrative reality of what you’re watching. That belief builds and builds, never breaks.
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?
JSH: That’s an Ehrland question. But the short answer, Amna, is Ehrland’s very talented actress ex-girlfriend. And to be clear, they were broken up before they made the movie. I don’t get how they do it, ask them.
And Betsy Sligh, who delivers that fantastic performance as Monroe, was the star of Ehrland’s first feature, Homestead, and her mom, Michelle, was instrumental as an on-set producer of the film.
Me: With the focus of the film being accomplished through found-footage cameras, were there any concessions during that process that altered how the film was made?
JSH: The surveillance camera footage style of the film was always baked into the cake, always at the center of the plan. This was an experiment to make a movie in this unconventional way. And we’re so thrilled with the way it seems like folks are really responding to it.
Me: What was the set like while shooting the film? How did the cast and crew react to the type of film being made?
JSH: Sounds like it was nice. Got plenty of FOMO about it, but wasn’t able to be there because of a family matter. Next time, I’ll be producing on set, if Ehrland lets me.
Me: Do you recall any odd or funny on-set stories about yourself or any of the other cast/crew?
JSH: Nope. Nothing funny happened at all on set without me, and don’t tell me otherwise or else I’ll have terrible FOMO. I’m serious.
Me: What are you most looking forward to with its upcoming release?
JSH: So there’s this very heartwarming thing that happens at festivals after Dooba Dooba screens, where when folks see Ehrland, they scream out to him: “Dooba Dooba.” And he responds back “Dooba Dooba”, then them again, and he… You get the picture. A never-ending chorus of Doobas, until all of us sound like morons.
It’s a lovely thing, when strangers appreciate your movie and take it on as their own – it’s the reason to make movies. Which is why I’m looking forward to the moment in the future, I don’t know when, but when we find ourselves out in public in a random place and Ehrland gets that first unexpected Dooba Dooba. And he says Dooba Dooba, and then… well, you get the picture.
Me: Lastly, what else are you working on that you'd like to share with our readers? Thank you again for your time!
JSH: Ehrland and I have a bunch of ideas for what’s next. We’d love to make our Murder Santa movie.
We’ve been working on a horror/adventure script called “Rat-Sized Rats” that takes at face value how terrifying the premise of “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” really is. I don’t know if I’m supposed to admit it, but Ehrland’s been hard at work writing the sequel. But he won’t show it all to me yet. Maybe he’s worried I’ll have notes.
Personally, I feel like I could be a decent Ambassador to Belgium. As I understand it, anyone is qualified to do that now. So I figured I’d throw my hat in the ring. Dooba Dooba.
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