How Jesse Korman Made A $150K Horror Feature In 12 Days For Joe Swanberg

In this episode, I'm joined by Jesse Korman, director of Yellow Eyes, the possession horror feature now streaming on Screambox. Jesse has produced over 30 films, directed a long list of music videos, and fronts the band The Number Twelve Looks Like You.

Yellow Eyes is his feature directorial debut, made as part of Joe Swanberg's five-film horror slate shot back to back in Chicago, all on the same budget.Jesse got the offer right before leaving on tour, which left him about six weeks to build a script from scratch with writer Mickey Solis (often over the phone between soundchecks) and get to set.

Instead of writing first and budgeting later, they reverse engineered the story from the money and the schedule: one location, minimal cast, and spending concentrated on the moments that would really land on screen. The result was a 12-day shoot that never fell behind schedule.

Throughout the episode we dig into the prep that made that possible, from shot listing and timing every scene with his DP to pre-rigging the entire house so every room was camera ready the moment they walked in.

Topics covered include:

How Jesse landed a spot on Joe Swanberg's five-film Chicago horror slateWriting and prepping a feature in six weeks while on tourWhy a crew rolling from one film to the next becomes a well-oiled machineLetting the budget and schedule dictate the script, not the other way aroundShot listing and timing every scene to never fall behindPre-rigging a single location so every room is always litLighting through windows and a last-minute day-for-night pivotWhy a two-person art department moves faster than a 50-person crewWhat a $10M set taught him about wasted time and moneyCasting non-SAG actors and why the union label doesn't matter to audiencesLanding distribution through Cineverse and ScreamboxWhat Joe Swanberg told him on the last night of the shootMuch More!Links from the show:

Watch Yellow Eyes on Screambox

Jesse Korman on Instagram

The Number Twelve Looks Like You on Instagram

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