Indiefilmchat.com: Trout Grass has developed a very passionate following over the past couple of years. Why do you think these films have been so well received?

Andy Royer: Well, I'd like to think that that Trout Grass has been so well received because it is the Best Film Ever. Other than that I imagine the film is well received because it doing the job of a film; it is presenting an evocative story, one which many people, anglers in particular, can relate to. I think people also like a film with a slow pace and wonderful cinematography. 


Indiefilmchat.com: What was you background and career prior to producing Trout Grass?

A.R.: I was just a lowly bamboo guy, supplying bamboo poles to fly-rod makers around the world. Film projects have been very small and none so meaningful as Trout Grass.

Indiefilmchat.com: Can you think of any ways that your background prepared you for producing a film like this? How about ways where it might have made the process more difficult?

A.R.: It made it easier because since I worked with bamboo and makers of fly-rods I knew what I was talking about and I was able to get great talent to help make the film. It made it more difficult because I didn't know what in the hell I was doing when it came to producing a film.

“Let the Right One In” is a Swedish horror film starring Kare Hederbrant and Lina Leandersson, Direct by Tomas Alfredson.

Though “Let the Right One In” is a vampire movie about two adolescents, it should not be mistakenly compared to the “Twilight” franchise. It is a much tougher film that is definitely not for children. Though there is a romantic element to the plot, there is also a blade of cold Scandinavian steel running through it as well, much more in tune with the grim, nihilistic themes of Bergman (or Murnau’s classic “Nosferatu”) than any romanticized, modern Hollywood version.

That said, it is an outstanding, haunting film that works, both as a horror film with some genuine scares and as a painfully accurate portrait of lonely 12 year old boy in desperate need of a relationship-and finds one, however bizarre and dangerous.

From Microcinema International and Provocateur DVD comes a collection of 6 vastly different horror shorts (plus one extra). While the shorts vary in quality and style, overall, the DVD collection is quite effective and highly recommended for horror buffs, as well as fans of experimental short films in particular.

In discussing the shorts presented on this disc, I’ve ranked them in order of personal preference:

Terror! (2007) by Ben Rivers is in actuality a collage of scenes from many horror classics and cult films (with focus primarily on the slasher films of the late 1970s and early 80s). The film is brilliantly edited, recycling through the many clichés of the genre (such as going into the spooky house/cabin/building alone) all the way to a nightmarish explosion of gory climaxes. Even though horror geeks like me will see scenes that they have already seen countless times, the film is so well put together that genuine suspense and scares are built. It is the overall best short on the collection because, while it does show the limitations of the genre, it also shows the genuinely strong emotional power at the core of a well done horror film.
 

State of the art camera techniques literally take the viewer into THE UNDERWATER WORLD OF TROUT in this ground breaking highly acclaimed series. Never before seen footage of trout in their undisturbed natural environment makes these programs essential viewing for fishermen and nature lovers.Discovery is a comprehensive introduction to THE UNDERWATER WORLD OF TROUT exploring behaviors feeding patterns spawning and stream conditions. Indiefilmchat.com recently got a chance to talk to the creator of the DVD series, Ozzie Ozefovich.

Indiefilmchat.com: The Underwater World Of Trout series has developed a very passionate following over the past couple of years. Why do you think these films have been so well received?
 
Ozzie Ozefovich: The films are well received for several reasons.  First, they are unique in that they open up the whole new world of life beneath fast and turbulent water where scuba divers and their cameras cannot hold their position to shoot.  No one has ever obtained film of trout behavior when they are in their natural habitat – moving, feeding, fighting and reproducing.  Also, the camera does not scare the trout, so they behave as if the camera is not there.  The colors of the trout, their environment and the magnification obtained by the camera are astounding to many viewers.  The films open a beautiful and magnificent window on a world few have ever seen and therefore are of interest to more than just anglers.
 
Indiefilmchat.com: You had a rather unique journey to become an independent filmmaker. What was you background and career prior to conceiving these films?
 
Ozzie: I joined the Navy at the age of 18, serving as an electrician’s mate for four years.  Most of that time was spent at sea on destroyers and I never regretted it for a minute.  My 39 year career in instrumentation and control systems in the power generation industry had me working with water all the time.  Generating stations use a tremendous amount of water for cooling purposes.  Part of my responsibility involved the operation of the systems controlling the discharge water returning to the river. It had to be free of pollutants and below the thermal limits that would have a serious impact on fish and other aquatic life forms whose cycle would eventually affect us. So I thought about the health of fish every day.
 
The last 16 years of my power generation career were spent in training course development and as an educator in the corporate field.  I am sure that my work  could never have evolved into film making without this teaching experience.
 
Many years ago, I joined Trout Unlimited whose mission is to conserve, protect and restore our coldwater fisheries and their watersheds.  As a director, I am involved in many projects including the Trout in the Classroom program.  It is an environmental education program in which students in grades K-12, following a TU curriculum, raise brook trout from their egg state to parr over a period of seven months and then release the trout into a state-approved watershed.