RF: I had answered an ad in the trades looking for a writer about a year before we made ALIEN FORCE. I got the job of writing new scenes to pad out a 40 minute karate short called BLAZING FORCE. I liked the people I worked with making that film, so I continued working with them with the intention of becoming a director. A year later I got the chance to make a companion film for BLAZING FORCE; a karate movie with aliens. I put in a lot of humor so that the movie wouldn't be too ridiculous and the rest, as they say, is history.

 

2. What's in the works now for Ron Ford?

 

RF: I have created a horror movie hosting TV show for the new B-Movie Channel called "Blackie's Widow," which is 99.9% for sure to go. It stars Stephanie Beaton and is sort of a cross between "Elvira" and "Soupy Sales. Check out the website, if you dare, at http://www.stephaniebeaton.com/blackieswidow/ Also I am writing three scripts, some on spec for various producers, two on spec and one for hire. I'm not really at liberty to discuss them, but suffice it to say that they are all genre pieces on a larger scale than I have worked before. Also I just did make-up effects - which mostly consisted of pumping blood and other gore effects - for a 3-D picture called HUNTING SEASON. I also play an abusive husband in the movie.

 

3. Do you think that, perhaps even 20 years from now, you'll still be getting cameos/featured performances out of Tim Sullivan, Tim Murphy, Randal Malone, Larry Richards, and the rest of the gang?

 

RF: Sorry guys, but I hope not! In twenty years, if I'm still breathing, I hope I'll be making movies on a much larger scale and for much larger stakes; pictures that of course will be cast with professional, union actors, not just my talented friends.

 

4. What was it like playing a statue in that KILLER TOMATOES flick?

 

RF: Cold, but fun. I got to chat with Marc Price while I was getting painted with body make-up and we had a lot of fun clowning around. He liked my sense of humor. And it was great fun working with John Astin, who is as friendly and kind as he is talented. In fact, everybody was great on that shoot. It was just so damn cold there in San Diego where it was shot, and I was standing under a fountain of cold water in a thin body suit all day long!

 

5. Any advice on how to avoid the pitfalls of making a low-budget film?

 

RF: Plan out everything that you are going to do before you get to the set, and then be flexible enough on the set to alter those ideas if something doesn't work or somebody has a better idea. But always go prepared! Use the best actors you can, go to community theaters and college theaters to recruit actors. Bad acting is the most common and glaring problem in most micro budget productions. Design your project around things that you have. Don't try to make Star Wars for $500, because it will look cheesy. Instead make a movie about a slasher in the woods or something more appropriate to your budget. Most important, though, is to just get off your ass and do it! Too many people talk and talk and never pick up a camera.