Hello Mr. Burril thanks for your time!
My pleasure.
So, the question on everyone’s mind is: Where did the idea for Chainsaw Sally come from?
Sally was a horror hostess April and I created for my show Silver Scream. It’s a horror musical..and it’s pretty cool. The downside is that it’s very hard to get the right audience to come. So, we created Sally to help get the attention of the horror crowd… and it worked. Within a year Sally has far surpassed Silver Scream in every way. So, before you know it, a killer was born.
Where did you draw your influences for Chainsaw Sally from originally?
She is named after Marilyn Burns’ character from the original TCM, Sally Hardesty. It also just has a great ring to it, like Mustang Sally, Long Tall Sally… After the name was there, April and I took a little Tank Girl, a little Elvira, a little Freddy, a lot of Leatherface, and a tad… tad mind you, of Hannibal Lecter. That was the recipe for Sally Diamon.
What is a normal episode of “Chainsaw Sally” like?
The idea was that it was like an episode of the Partridge Family, only at the end of the episode, instead of a song, there was a murder. I also was a huge fan of Married With Children, which had the BEST studio Audience, so I gave the fans the option to hear that with our “Slash-Com.” Cheers and applause for kills and chaos was a nice surreal addition….of course my humor may be on the dark side.
What is the normal budget for one episode of the show?
(Laughs) Budget? We had NO budget for season 1.
How long have you been a filmmaker?
It was an evolution… started with playing music on stage at the age of 13. Then moved to theater at 20… started writing my own shows for stage at 24… wrote 4 musicals with my one time partner, James M. Taylor for a few years… then in 2001, tried making a movie of Silver Scream. I dug it, and here we are.
What directors or actors, if any, have influenced your method and style?
Clint Eastwood, Tarantino, John Waters, Herschell Gordon Lewis, Mel Brooks… many others both for what to do and what not to do. Season 2 is VERY influenced by DEADWOOD.
Like a lot of indie directors, you’ve incorporated family in to your productions. What’s it like working with family and who have you brought aboard to work with you?
I am a family man. I love having my kids and wife, and sister…and friends with me. We have an agreement, that when we are on set, we are director / cast/ crew… and we try not to bring theater home. So far, it’s no effort at all. We have a good time. Some families have game night, we make horror movies. Just a regular, average, red blooded American family…. with a Daddy who thinks up weird shit, and a Mommy who chases people around with a chainsaw.
So… Troma. How happy are you and what does this mean for Sally and the gang?
I was a Troma fan from when I discovered them by accident in the 80s. I think Troma and Sally are a good match, and I think we can help each other move forward and prosper. That’s the bottom line.
What other projects are you working on at the moment that would be of interest to your fans?
Well, Season 2 is now in production. After this we are shooting a film called Bad Kitty, which is a vampire / mob movie with a beautiful quartet of powerful women who fight back against crazy odds. (Yes…all of my movies revolve around powerful women. I must have a fetish, or something.)
What’s down the road for Chainsaw Sally and friends?
Season two has new cast members including Gunnar Hansen, Ed Neal, and Herschell Gordon Lewis, among others. We are also excited about our largest budget EVER for season 2. Small by Hollywood standards I imagine, but enough for us to do pretty much what ever we want… nothing holding us back.
Do you have any advice for aspiring filmmakers looking to start their own show or movie?
If you don’t love it, don’t do it, and if you do love it, don’t stop.
Thanks for your time Mr. Burril!
Thank you!