A guest on a previous spotlight, I'm pleased to welcome back Josephina Sykes to talk about her work on the upcoming film "Transylvania Tapes" and other projects for Nightfall Pictures.
Me: 1. Hello, and thank you for returning to this! Since last we've spoke, you’ve been involved in numerous projects, including the upcoming “Transylvania Tapes.” What can you tell us about the film?
Josephina Sykes: Hi, Don. Thanks for having me back. Last time we spoke, I was sending “Hi-Fear,” the last chapter from our horror trilogy, into the world. I have been busy with lots of BTS documentaries for the releases and re-releases of our movies.
But more importantly, since the fall of 2024, we focused our attention on writing “Transylvania Tapes”, preparing the production, and shooting it on location in Romania in April 2025, where we did principal photography. We also filmed a couple of scenes in Los Angeles last summer. “Transylvania Tapes” is a dream come true for me and Brad, my partner. It’s the most personal movie we’ve ever made! We always wanted to make a movie in Romania, where we first met. I even wrote two different scripts over the last 20 years, but it was impossible to raise the money.
A couple of years ago, our friend, director Jeff Burr, passed away. He was Brad’s mentor who brought him to Romania to work on “Phantom Town,” the movie we met on, so we owe him our marriage and our creative partnership. Jeff was supportive of us, and it was hard to comprehend that he’s not around anymore. It also puts things into perspective for us because you realize that your creative time is running out. We had a few talks, Brad asked me to produce a movie for him in Romania as of right now, and we had to figure out how we could make it with the resources we had in our hands. We got tired of trying to get big budgets, the waiting game, we were hearing Jeff’s voice in our heads, encouraging us to do it, so we started to make a plan. There was no turning back.
We decided to make “Transylvania Tapes” as a horror found footage documentary, with a strong concept, a loose story, and a journey of self-discovery in Romania. The action takes place in my hometown of Bucharest and Sighisoara, a picturesque small town in Transylvania that we fell in love with during a trip a couple of years ago, Dracula’s birthplace. “Transylvania Tapes” is the return story of Mara Enescu to her native land. She brings along a cameraman friend from Los Angeles, Dylan, who documents the search for her mom, actress Silvia Enescu, who disappeared in 1997 on her visit to recover family properties, taken away by the Communist regime. All Silvia left behind are some Hi-8 tapes she filmed during her stay that Mara has discovered recently, tapes that ruled her decision to come back.
Me: Being involved with the film, not just as a producer but also writing it with Brad, what was the collaboration process like? How did you approach the story with this one?
JS: I previously wrote two scripts that were meant to be produced in Romania, a less cliched, more unusual vampire story and another found footage horror set mainly in a remote village. But we decided to leave those scripts in the drawer, not even give them a read, and start fresh, with a new story and new characters. A new set of circumstances, new visual rules, new locations, a different tone, set for the present times. We didn’t want to “reheat” the old scripts since we both have changed in the meantime, as people and artists, and we want our work to reflect that. But I am a producer even when I write a story because I always have the budget in my mind, what you can and can’t afford. In this case, we knew we had a small one, but we like to push the envelope and use our knowledge of places and local resources, and go beyond that. Limitations can be good, forcing you to stretch your creative muscles!
As usual, Brad and I start with characters and create the story together, in detail. Then, he writes a draft, and we go from there. I developed the characters more, came up with locations since it’s my home turf, and even wrote some dialogue in Romanian. This script might be the most collaborative we have ever done. Brad came up with some subtle references to Euro-Horror movies and with suspenseful, spooky sequences, but I also contributed to them, giving them a particular Romanian twist and flair. Don’t want to reveal much. I also brought a few ideas that I used in the previous scripts, ideas that stayed with me, some horrific things that happened to Romanians during a totalitarian regime. Bits and pieces of history and events that I wanted to share, but not done in a didactic way.
Me: Was there anything while writing the characters that you were surprised by in telling the story?
JS: I have to admit that I poured into Mara some personal struggles, traits, experiences as a foreigner, an immigrant living in a faraway land, dealing with the past, memories, your accent, among many daily challenges and changes you have to adapt to. It’s also hard to feel where you belong. Is it the place where you were born? Or the place you have been living for a while? You question who you are, and I am sure I am not the only one who wonders about that. So, bits of myself could be traced in Mara.
Other characters were written with some actors and friends in our minds, people who inspired us for these characters, and we were hoping we would be able to cast them in those roles. They aren’t your typical horror movie characters, some prototypes, because these characters needed to be authentic, realistic as Romanians, they also had to help move the story along and introduce new elements in Mara’s quest.
We’ve also done something we never did before, meaning we rewrote scenes once we got on location in Bucharest. During our scouts, we noticed a few locations have changed since our last visit, but we also got inspired while strolling the streets of the city and came up with a few more scenes, and added a bit more dialogue. We usually have the script locked before the shoot, but this time around, we had to change our ways and adapt to the world of “Transylvania Tapes.” Locations are quintessential and help to tell the actual story!
Me: With the film being shot in Romania, what was it like working in the country? How much involvement did you have with the rest of the production team in bringing it to life?
JS: You know, some movies can’t exist without you? “Transylvania Tapes” couldn’t have happened without me, without my involvement. Because the story is a part of me, of who I am and where I am from! And it wouldn’t have happened without a director like Brad, who contributed to the story, knew the place well, got the way people are over there, and had a strong vision for the movie. We were on the same page.
As usual, I wore many, many hats, even got involved in the lighting of some scenes, which I don’t usually do; I was the DIT, and so on. I was wondering what it’d be like to make a movie in Romania, the country where I started my cinematic journey. I know from friends who work in the film industry over there that things have changed. I always stayed attuned to it, but I didn’t know how it would be to make a low-budget horror over there. I took a chance, not knowing what to expect.
I challenged myself in the past with the horror anthologies: “Hi-8,” “Hi-Death,” “Hi-Fear,” to produce and do work long-distance. This time, the long-distance went beyond the USA, crossed the Atlantic, and into Europe, since I had to do pre-production and some casting from afar. We brought as much equipment with us as we could, and I continued preparation after landing in Bucharest: location scouting, casting. It is different for me, because I like to have everything locked ahead of time, so it was nerve-wracking. I also had to plan a location shoot in Sighisoara, which was weather-dependent. It snowed in Transylvania even in April, which is unusual. Luckily, the weather has improved after we started shooting. I had 2 days to plan for transportation and accommodation while also filming in Bucharest. We had to be very flexible to make this movie. Have a plan, a plan B, and be willing to change them!
I also have good friends over there who started their production companies and began producing, so we used their offices for filming, used some of their equipment, and crew. We also recorded sound in their facilities, some ADR, since they also run sound studios. My film school friends, who are seasoned professionals behind the camera, jumped in to help, sometimes as a crew member for a day, or to play a small part, or to record a voiceover. Everyone was nice, open, cool, lending us a hand; it was more like an intimate family cast and crew affair! Grateful to everyone who helped us, from friends and family to cast and crew, and all the local people. “Transylvania Tapes” couldn’t be a more independent film, and it might be one with the lowest budget shot in the country!
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?
JS: Our main concerns were casting the actress who will play the lead, Mara Enescu, because the role is challenging and requires a lot of skills. She had to speak English very well (so it wouldn’t be a problem for US audiences to understand her), she also had to speak Romanian, be based in Bucharest, have a great voice (lots of voiceover recording), be cool with our fast way of filming, short schedule, and be available during that time. Pretty big order to fill! I placed an ad on a European casting site and got many good submissions. Valeria Badiuc saw the ad and contacted me via our Instagram. Because of the age bracket, she couldn’t submit via the site, which is too rigid in my opinion. It’s in our interest to see many people. I liked that she went around them to contact me because we are independents and try to go around the system. It showed initiative on her part and interest in the project. This was our first time doing online auditions. Valeria was the best; her English was amazing, she could be fun and outgoing, but also convey the horror of her character. We weren’t nervous that she had no film experience, because she had trained in London. But I was nervous because she doesn’t live in Bucharest, but in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, the neighboring country. She was going to fly in. But, as Brad joked, we weren’t located in Bucharest either, so why worry? We did have video calls to prepare for the movie with Valeria; she was very responsive and present. We met in Bucharest for the rehearsal and started to work together really well immediately. We were hoping to also become friends with the actress who will play Mara because we were going to spend a lot of time together filming, having meals, traveling, be on location together. Luckily, that was the case. Valeria is nice, a real movie geek, well-read and well-traveled, fun to be around and chat with! We were so lucky to have had her in the movie. She was extremely prepared (she always took the challenge of doing a 3-page, single-take scene in a heartbeat), talented, calm, collected, patient, and willing to go the extra mile to make the movie as good as possible. She was also flexible, focused, and had good improvisational skills. We knew she got Mara on every facet, and she embraced the fast-paced way of working!
For the other parts, we were hoping to get actors and friends we knew. Like in the case of Mihai Stoica’s role, there was no one better than Ion Haiduc, a legendary stage Romanian actor who you might know as Lt. Marin in the “Subspecies” series, “Trancers,” and many Full Moon-produced movies in Romania. Ion Haiduc is the first Romanian actor Brad saw on screen and ended up meeting on the first day of shooting “Phantom Town” when Ion made an entrance showing up on a horse. On our visits back, we would run into him; he became a friend and invited us to see him on stage. I called him when we got there, and he said “Yes” before reading anything. We dropped him the script at the theater and arranged the filming at his house, where Brad noticed on the wall the poster for “Bloodstone: Subspecies II,” the same one he had in his room in high school. It was very emotional to shoot the scene, a pleasure to work with Ion, who got the character immediately. Ion is always a wonderful host and a great chef, so we got to hang out some more after we wrapped up a nicely cooked Romanian dinner!
Jeff Burr loved Romanian actors; he started Gabriel Spahiu’s career and kept working with him and Ion, and Gabi calls him “my American director.” We also met Gabi Spahiu on the set of “Phantom Town,” it’s his first movie, mine also, and I remember helping him with his English dialogue. We wanted to work with him, saw him in person while visiting, and in movies (he acted in over 100 movies; you might have seen him in “High Tension” or Radu Jude’s “Dracula”). I contacted him before leaving LA and continued our dialogue in Bucharest. He plays a historian in the movie. It’s the last scene we shot in Romania, had a nice reunion with Gabi, and glad we finally worked together again.
I cast actress Maria Teslaru in my student shorts and became friends. I wrote parts for her in the previous versions of the movie. She did a lot of theater work in Romania, movies, and TV, but I feel like her talent wasn’t explored enough. Unfortunately, she passed away in 2019, but her daughter, Maglina Filimon, allowed us to use photos of Maria from her personal archive. This way, Maria “plays” Silvia Enescu, Mara’s mother, and we were able to bring Maria’s talent and beauty again on the screen. Maglina also played a part in the movie as a theater manager. She inherited her mother’s talent, and it was a joy to work with her! We dedicated the movie to Maria Teslaru, her husband, actor Alexandru Georgescu, who passed away while we were filming, and to Jeff Burr, because he made this journey possible for us in so many ways!
Me: With this being the first time you’ve shot in a feature-length found-footage style, did that aspect bring a different approach to the filming than you expected?
JS: We had to write the story around the found footage format, but we couldn’t be that rigid and had to create our own style for this movie. It is an innovative genre, and we wanted to contribute to its structure and form. At the same time, because of the rules you created, you know exactly how you will shoot a scene from the script phase. There are many “can” and “can’t” type of rules you need to adhere to to preserve the reality of your story, but you have to change things so it won’t be boring visually. You still need to surprise the audience. We did some long one-shot sequences, which we enjoyed, very Antonioni-like, but we also did more improvisational shots, had more flexibility to create Terrence Malick-like sequences, or a travel vlog style scenes. We tried to have fun with it! It is different than anything else we have done, but that’s what we like to create something new each time out. Every movie has its own rhythm, structure, and feel, and I hope that will transpire in “Transylvania Tapes”!
Me: What was the set like while shooting the film? How did the cast and crew react to the type of film being made?
JS: Funny question! We asked everyone on set if they knew what a found footage horror film is, but only Valeria knew about it in terms of aesthetic, vibe, and she also watched some. But other than another friend, a film journalist, no one knew the genre. We had lots of explaining to do for the style we were trying to achieve. I think they’ll get it more once they see the movie.
Me: Do you recall having any odd or funny on-set stories about yourself or any of the other cast/crew members?
JS: Brad and I knew that we would be shooting “Transylvania Tapes” in major touristy areas of Bucharest and Sighisoara with no permits. Usually, the city is empty around Easter, which is why I planned to shoot then. This time around, there were lots and lots of tourists everywhere, and we heard more Italian, English, and Spanish than Romanian spoken where we were filming! We just had to wait it out for people to pass, be patient, and do more takes. We even shot an Easter religious procession we stumbled onto, one of those happy accidents!
I was prepared to get kicked out of locations and deal with it. During our first day of shooting in Bucharest, we did a company move to some cool, hidden stairs. Now, we noticed they were renovating next door, and it was very noisy. I went to talk to them, and they offered to take their lunch break and give us time to film our short scene. I paid them in coffee LOL.
In Sighisoara, we were shooting around a house that no one lived in. A neighbor offered to call the owner and open it for us to film inside. We didn’t need that, but I was surprised by how nice he was. I was expecting to be kicked out and start negotiations. One morning, we were starting to film in the same area, and Teo, the owner of a B&B next door, came to talk to me. Once I told him we were shooting a touristy piece about Romania (that was the official version I was telling everyone on the streets), he invited us inside. I asked Valeria and Brad to come along, not knowing what to expect. Teo showed us the place he recovered from Communists (like in our script), an old family house he renovated and turned into a B&B. He took us to his cellar, where he makes his own plum brandy, and gathered a few medals for that! Like a magic trick, he poured sour cherry brandy in shot glasses for us, and we had to drink them (it’s impolite to refuse in Romania) at 10 am! Honestly, it was the best sour cherry brandy I have ever had. Needless to say, we don’t drink alcohol while we work, but when in Romania… Not only did we not get kicked out, we actually got a nice slice of Romanian hospitality!
Me: What are you most looking forward to with its upcoming release?
JS: “Transylvania Tapes” has been a very immersive experience from the beginning. The post-production process has been very challenging because the movie has many layers, and it’s set in two different time periods, which we wanted to re-create as well as possible. In some cases, it was just Brad and me who knew what Bucharest looked like and sounded like in the 90’s, so we did a lot of heavy lifting alongside our editor, Tony Catanese, who was very patient and dedicated to the complicated process. At the moment, we are doing the final touches on the movie. We’ll start the festival circuit in a few months because “Transylvania Tapes” is a festival movie. It’s been selected already for a few festivals; it will have its UK Premiere at Southend-on-Sea Film Festival on June 6th, and it will also play in Pittsburgh at GrossFest this summer. More announcements to come, we’ll keep everyone posted on our social media pages and our official site! We’ll find distribution later, someone who will get the movie and support it! We hope everyone will enjoy this unique, personal movie, which is a love letter to places, genres, and people that we always carry in our hearts. We’re looking forward to watching the movie alongside an audience!
Me: In addition to the film, you’ve also helped Brad re-release several of his older films, including “Dreams of the Dead” and “Violent Streets.” What was it like getting to see these available for a new audience? What went into getting the films into proper condition to be released?
JS: Before filming “Transylvania Tapes,” we had worked on restorations for Brad’s early movies, “Dreams of the Dead” and “Violent Streets,” bringing them into the HD world, having original scores created for them, some sound work, and credits replacements. Nothing crazy editing-wise because we wanted to preserve the spirit of the movies and the SOV feel. We are doing in-house Nightfall Pictures VHS limited releases for these runs, and that’s been going well. I have produced and directed behind-the-scenes documentaries for upcoming Blu-Ray releases for both movies.
The package for “Dreams of the Dead” is finished and delivered; we are waiting for the release date from the distributor to announce it. We’ll start editing the documentaries for “Violent Streets” soon, since we have wrapped the filming! We also shot a comparative filming locations documentary in Boston last fall for “Violent Streets”, with Brad guiding the tour!
Me: What else are you working on that you'd like to share with our readers?
JS: After launching “Transylvania Tapes” into the world, we’ll move on to the development of our next feature, our next adventure we’re getting ready to embark on. We’re also working on restoring Nightfall Pictures’ first two features: “Within the Woods” aka “Camp Blood 3” and “Mutation” for Blu-Ray releases. We have finished fun documentary packages for both movies, so we’ll have lots of announcements in the near future.
Me: Lastly, being that this is our Women in Horror Movement, 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!
JS: First of all, I’d like to Thank You! For celebrating “Women in Horror Movement” again and supporting indie filmmakers like myself! I hope to see more unity between women working in horror in front and behind the camera. I’d also encourage anyone to take the plunge and start whatever you’d like right now! It’s easier to take the risk than live with regrets.
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