In a new interview on Blazing Minds, I got a chance to ask writer-director Pat Higgins a few questions about the Kickstarter campaign for the new horror-musical Powertool Cheerleaders vs The Boyband of the Screeching Dead.

You have a new Kickstarter campaign for the Powertool Cheerleaders vs The Boyband of the Screeching Dead. Can you tell me a little bit about how you came up with the idea for the film and what we can expect? 

It’s always the titles that get me into trouble. I come up with a daft idea for a title and start mentioning it, and then someone else asks to read the script and I end up writing it, and then it becomes a movie. This happened years back with Strippers vs Werewolves (2012), and it happened again with this one. I’d started messing around with a few rough ideas for a boy gang vs girl gang musical, then decided ‘nah’ and opted to ditch it with only a few pages written. I mentioned this on Twitter, at which point the amazing Charlie Bond seized on the title and encouraged me to keep working. Now, two years or so later, she’s the producer and lead cast member and I’m writer/director of what has, so far, been a brilliant project.

Why did you decide to make it a musical? 

Because musicals rock. I’d always wanted to make a third Death Tales movie (after Bordello Death Tales (2009) and the oft-retitled Battlefield Death Tales) as a musical, but the rest of the team weren’t necessarily so keen. The idea refused to go away, though. It’s probably my love of Little Shop of Horrors and the musical Buffy episode showing through.

You collaborated with Phil Sheldon for the songs in the film. What was the process for you working together on the songs? 

Phil can play every instrument under the sun and is a musical genius, whereas I can play about four chords on a guitar and that’s about it. When we were doing the fake songs for The Devil’s Music, I’d create a horrible demo and Phil would turn it into beautiful actual music. That working relationship worked extremely well, so there really wasn’t anybody else I’d have considered working with on this project. He’s a goddamn genius.

What were some of your influences for the songs in the film? 

All of my shitty acoustic demos sound the same as each other (like I said: four chords) so I sent them over to Phil with a Spotify list of other influences that he might be able to bring to the production of each song. So, something like ‘Intros to Death Scenes’ has got some Queen or My Chemical Romance influences whereas something like the title song (‘Powertool Cheerleaders vs the Boyband of the Screeching Dead’) is much more Ramones and punky. The specific influences of individual musicals is pretty clear to hear as well, I imagine.

Powertool Cheerleaders had continued support from the launch and is already recognised as the most popular kickstarter in the world. Were you surprised at the level of support the film has received? 

We’ve been amazed by the enthusiasm of the fanbase, and for us to hit ‘Most Popular Kickstarter Film in the World’ on the first weekend of the campaign was pretty mindblowing. I think it crosses over a lot of different audiences. Many of the cast have their own followings, who have all been getting onboard. Plus, I think the hook is pretty cool and people certainly seem to have been responding to that. The amazing combo of Charlie Bond and James Hamer-Morton means that our campaign has had structure and fun stuff throughout. Those guys have been incredible.

You have a brilliant selection of rewards included in the kickstarter, but what are some of your favourites? 

I love the idea of naming our lead character’s chainsaw, which went pretty early on. We’ve given someone the opportunity to be the first person in the world (outside, inevitably, of a couple of senior production staff) to see the film’s poster, which is being designed by the incredible Chris Barnes over at Brutal Posters. People can record their groans and get them added to the zombie mix. They can get polaroids from the set. Or they can join a tiny online class for my ‘Write a Movie in 30 Days’ class, which will probably be the only sessions of that class I’ll be doing this year. They’re a really fun bunch of perks.

One of the driving forces behind the campaign is Charlie Bond who in addition to acting in the film is also producing. How important has Charlie been in bringing the concept of the film to life? 

Yup, it’s been Charlie all the way, since that first tweet. I designed the car, but it’s been Charlie driving it and that’s what’s got us where we are. She’s enthusiastic, focused, incredibly talented and one of the best producers I’ve ever worked with. Plus, she’s actually thoughtful to the cast and crew and very hands-on about how things get done. She’s a million miles from the kind of producer who just cashes the cheques and screws up the movie whilst hurling insults from the side-lines.

Can you tell me a bit about some of the cast members who have already been announced? 

We got to work with several of them on the promo shoot, and I’m blown away by what a genuinely awesome bunch of human beings they are. If I start naming people it feels like I’ll never stop! James Hamer-Morton as Hunter (the lead singer of the boyband) is just brilliant, and he’s been deeply involved with all of the pre-production stuff as well. Megan Rose Buxton is an extremely talented singer as well as a really charismatic actor; she had a new single out a couple of weeks back which has done brilliantly. Liz Soutar, who plays our Gamer girl Ashley, has a really wonderful quirkiness in her performance and is great fun to have on set. She’s gonna be brilliant in this movie. Faith Elizabeth is a like a force of nature, with incredible screen presence.  Carrie Thompson as Brianna is massively endearing with awesome comic timing. We’re so, so lucky to have all of them. Then you start throwing other favourites like my old mate Cy Henty and scream princess Dani Thompson into the mix, and the whole cast is just going to be phenomenal.

Do you have anything else which you are working? 

Always working on a million things at once. My book version of ‘Write a Movie in 30 Days’ was getting close to complete before I got caught up in the Powertool Cheerleaders whirlwind. I’ve still got projects like Your Lying Eyes, which is a much more serious horror-thriller, and Chainsaw Fairytale which, uh, isn’t. They’re all lined up to go too!

If someone isn’t sure whether they want to contribute to the kickstarter, what would you like to say to them? 

Join us. We’re awesome. If you throw a few bucks our way you become part of something genuinely fun and different. It’s powertool-wielding cheerleaders vs a demonic boyband. With songs. C’mon, if you’re not into that I don’t know what to tell you.

Philip Rogers

Published in various websites, Philip is a reviewer who is best known for his interviews and media coverage of independent projects including; films, books, theatre and live events. Always on the lookout for something different to cover!