Regular collaborators Joe Estevez and Robert Z’Dar are starring together in “Drawing Blood,” the third feature from Tripod Films, now in production in the west suburbs.
Producer Shaun Fox and his Tripod partners, writer/director Michael Wolinski and writer/AD Jeffrey Wolinski, raised the under-$1 million budget from private financing. Adam Devlin Brown and Houston Upstart Film Festival founder Mel Hose are shooting on 24P DV over weekends for a total of nine days through June.
“It’s a tight shoot, but we’ve all worked together and we’re a bit of a well-oiled machine at this point,” Fox said.
Estevez (“No Code of Conduct”) and Z’Dar (“Tango and Cash”) have appeared together in 15 films since 1990, including the Chicago horror flicks “Unaware” from Selz Films and “A Voice from the Grave” from Windy City Films.
Fox describes “Drawing Blood” as a “Halloween-esque” slasher pic about a killer hiding out in a suburban house picking off his victims one by one.
Estevez plays the police chief trying to keep word of the killer out of the press.? Z’Dar, known for heavy makeup monster roles like “Maniac Cop,” portrays the killer’s father.? “This is a chance for Robert to work a different kind of role, take off the gloves and act a little bit without all the prosthetics,” Fox said.
Fox aims to generate enough revenue from a video deal to produce a sequel, and hopes to find a distributor that will also pick up Tripod’s two prior features, the 16mm comedies “After School Special” (2000) and “My Brother’s Light” (2002).?
“After School Special” won best comedy feature at the Angel City Film Festival and the Bare Bones International Film Festival, and best director and actor awards at the Kissimmee Film Festival.
Reach Tripod Films at 630/781-2097 or tripodfilmsllc@hotmail.com.
– by Ed M. Koziarski, edk@homesickblues.com
