Exclusive Interview: Director Shawn C. Phillips Talks ‘Lost Media’

An upcoming horror film which should be on your radar is Lost Media, from director Shawn C. Phillips. Phillips previously directed films such as Amityville Karen, Woods Witch, and Desert Fiends, and he wrote the script for Lost Media alongside Ethan Phillips. The film will begin shooting in Las Vegas in April, and an Indiegogo campaign has been launched to help secure the funds needed to bring it to fruition. And the very original plot will focus on maniacs who escape from an institution and force kidnapped actors to star in a horror film where the horrific elements are all too real. Phillips granted Love Horror the following interview about Lost Media, and from what he had to say, it really does sound like this will be a truly unique and creatively unconventional film.

Love Horror: What is Lost Media all about?

Shawn C. Phillips: Lost Media is about a group of actors who are waiting to get picked up from their hotel to get taken to set, only to be kidnapped by a group of crazed lunatics who just escaped from the mental hospital, who take them to an undisclosed location and force them to be in their crazy movie instead of the film they’re supposed to be part of. Twenty years later, one of the actors from that film, who never worked again after the traumatic experience, is now discovered and brought onto a popular talk show, where he reveals what happened to him and about the lost film he was part of. The kidnappers behind the lost film then show up at the filming of the talk show, and the film they made is finally played for the audience, and everyone who watches the lost film then finds themselves part of the next soon to be lost movie.

How did you come up with the idea?

The movie is a collection of a lot of things I’ve done when I was younger. I’ve been making short films since I was in the seventh grade, so this is going to be kind of a tieback to a lot of the things I did when I was very young. When it comes to ideas for me, I just sort of start coming up with concepts that I can’t stop thinking about and then they always turn into a full idea.

Can you talk about the cast?

In the film so far, we have Spencer Breslin, who was the star of the Cat in the Hat and the The Santa Clause 2 and three he was also in our films Desert Fiends and Skate to Hell. We also have Tom Arnold who was the star of True Lies. As well as Robert Romanus, who is from Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and James Debello from Cabin Fever. The movie is also going to be produced by star Nicole Butler Vegas, who has been the producer on my films since Desert Fiends, this will be our fourth project together.

I understand you will be filming in Las Vegas within the next few weeks?

Well, we’re currently crowdfunding for the film over Indiegogo but we’re gonna be shooting from April 17 through to April 30, so we’re pretty much funding up until we start shooting.

Since this is a slasher film, can you discuss the kills and gore which will be on display?

Lost Media is going to have a lot of very old school kills in it. The movie is going to have some very stylish zombie kills. The plan we’re going for is in the style of Day of the Dead. I never like to give away any of the kills specifically, I like to always have things be a surprise. But every movie we’re always trying to kind of top what we did last time and Desert Fiends 2 was definitely the goriest thing I’ve ever done.

What makes Lost Media unique in a crowded marketplace?

In this day and age, I feel like every day there’s something kind of getting forgotten about in the film world or in TV shows. That’s kind of no longer spoken of and the movie is kind of all about that kind of stuff and how things really can become lost. The movie deals with a crazy lost film made by a group of mental patients. They along with their doctor broke out of the mental hospital and kidnapped a group of actors who are going to do a low budget film, and instead forced them to be in their movie.

And can you discuss your other upcoming film, Skate to Hell, which arrives soon?

Shawn C. Phillips: Coming out on March 3, my film Skate to Hell will be releasing on VOD and DVD from Deskpop Entertainment . You can currently pre-order it on iTunes at https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/skate-to-hell/

You can also pre-order the DVD at https://www.amazon.com/Skate-Hell-DVD-Shawn-Phillips/