Drop Dead Famous with Luke Downing- Questions for the cast and crew of Zomblogalypse

Zomblogalypse is best British Zom-Com we have seen in forever and to celebrate its bloodletting brilliance we bring you a series of exclusive interviews with the cast and crew behind the hilarious horror.

The feature is an expansion of the original web series Zomblogalypse, begun in 2008 when local filmmaking trio Hannah Bungard, Tony Hipwell and Miles Watts teamed up to make something armed only with a laptop, a York flat and a tub of green face paint. The series went on to clock up over a million views across various platforms, collecting legions of international fans along the way, and ran for four seasons before the team used their ‘filmmaking bootcamp’ of the web series to move onto independent features.

The film adaptation of Zomblogalypse was a labour of love for the filmmaking trio, who share producing, writing, directing and acting duties. Development began in 2012 with Hollywood studio involvement before going into hibernation for several years. The idea however, like the zombie menace, refused to stay dead.

Shot in 2018/19 by York-based production company MilesTone Films in association with One&Other Creative, Zomblogalypse built on a long-term relationship with the people and businesses of York, utilising locations, services and the help and goodwill of dozens of Yorkshire based services. Having made several feature films and a web series in the city over the past decade, the filmmakers were able to call upon an army of individuals and organisations to realise their film for a considerably smaller budget than feature films usually allow. The film boldly represents the incredibly strong creative community in York and the surrounding area.

Below Luke Downing (Associate Producer/Camera) takes on our Drop Dead Famous questions:

1. How did you get involved with Zomblogalypse?
I’d always been aware of Tony, Hannah and Miles and their web series but wasn’t lucky enough to be introduced to them properly until 2017 when Miles approached me to help him out with his creative agency, and the filming of the Zomblogalypse Christmas special. So, after being caked in zombie makeup and having a Santa hat slapped on my head, I was brought along for the ride, much like the unwitting “film crew!#in the movie itself.

2. What was the best bit of making the movie?
The friendships on set were my absolute highlight. I started filmmaking because of the fun I had experimenting with film as a child, loving the process above all else. That’s what that summer making Zomblogalypse felt like for me. Yes, it was hard work, but we were all in it together, and every shoot day was a happy (if not a little messy) one.

3. After Zomblogalypse what is your second favourite zombie move?
Zombieland – the perfect combination of sweetness, humour, and guts.

4. What lessons did you learn during lockdown that would help you survive a zombie apocalypse?
Immediately adapting to not having to interact with the outside world was a surprise. As long as I could stay holed up in my house, I!d be absolutely fine.

5. If you had your own blog what would it be about?
I’d have 17 blogs, all about entirely different topics and all unfinished.

6. What is next for you?
I’m currently working as a freelance editor at Channel 4 and run a local literary journal. I’d like to find more time to focus on my own writing, and hopefully work with some of the Zomblog crew again soon on a project of my own.

Check out our review HERE and find out more about the movie on their website https://zomblogalypse.com/

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Alex Humphrey

Alex studied film at the University of Kent and went on to work for Universal Pictures in their Post Room gaining an inside look at the movie industry from the very bottom. Constantly writing reviews in everything from local magazines to Hip Hop sites Alex honed his critical skills even spending a brief period as a restaurant critic. Read more

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