Indie filmmaker and Horror-on-Sea favourite Pat Higgins returns to the festival with his latest interactive show Pat Higgins Masterclass: Write a Bloody Movie in 30 Days. An essential talk for indie filmmakers who are wondering where to start when it comes to writing that horror script.

Q. You will be returning to Horror-on-Sea in 2020 with your latest Pat Higgins Masterclass: Write a Bloody Movie in 30 Days. What can people expect from the talk?

It’s a whole blizzard of information, tips and tricks about how to write a horror movie really quickly without compromising in terms of character development and whatnot. It’s a really fun talk that I’ve been enjoying giving all over the country (although a lot of more squeamish venues get the non-horror version)! Even if people aren’t particularly interested in screenwriting, there’s plenty of stuff which they’ll enjoy as long as they care about horror. 

Q. It offers something different from the marathon of films which are playing at Horror-on-Sea, but how did the idea to perform a talk at Horror-on-Sea come about? 

I gave my first ever full-length talk (‘Fake Blood on the Lens’) at the Southend festival a decade or so ago. When, a couple of years later, the mighty Paul Cotgrove (who organises the Southend Festival) decided to start up a horror festival too, he asked me if I’d do a talk for that as well. I really enjoyed doing the ones for the Southend Festival so I said yes, and I’ve done one every year since. For a couple of years we even had an interactive horror host called The Scissors Man popping up to contribute on the TV behind me. It’s something very different.

Q. The talk will last for approximately 80 minutes. How difficult is it to cram so much information into such a short time frame and still keep the audience connected throughout? 

I could probably talk about each of the subjects that we cover for at least a couple of hours each. I generally start with longer versions of how to tackle each topic (which I get to test out when I lecture at colleges or universities, or when I do full-day masterclasses) and then I whittle them down to the tightest essentials for talks like this one. I used to really enjoy rambling in the early shows, but nowadays I have a laptop with prompts to keep me on schedule because otherwise I’d end up spending all 80 minutes on one topic.  At the end of the day, I LOVE talking about this stuff and I think that comes across.  

Q. Having seen your shows before I have always found them both engaging and informative, but have you ever had any negative reactions?

Not really. People are generally really engaged, and I encourage people to get in touch with me on Twitter or whatever afterwards. I’ve had negative reviews for movies I’ve written, obviously, and I’ve had some angry responses to stuff I’ve written online because, well, everyone gets that! But the live talks have usually had a lovely response.

Q. For those who can’t attend the live shows I know you have been working on a new book, Write a  Movie in 30 Days. Do you know when we can expect this to be released?

I don’t want to curse myself to fall behind schedule but I REALLY want to get it out before Halloween. I fully intended to get it out last year, but time just got away from me. The book expands on a lot of the techniques from the live show, plus it’s got a lot of more in-depth screenwriting stuff that people might not have previously thought about. It’s also got a few jokes along the way, of course, because I still don’t seem to be able to write without jokes. It’s like a compulsion.

Q. Another project you are working on which has got people excited is your film Powertool Cheerleaders vs the Boyband of the Screeching Dead… Not only is it already one of my favourite film  titles, but it is a horror musical. Can you tell us a little bit about the film and when you are looking to start production?

Ah, man. That one’s going to rock. The vibe is kinda Little Shop of Horrors (1986) through a fuzz guitar overdrive pedal. We’re going into production in the summer. It’s set on a TV talent show, and we’re pitting a chainsaw-wielding cheerleading squad against a cursed boyband with bits falling off them. We’re signing up an awesome cast, and even though we haven’t announced them you can probably work a few of them out if you keep an eye on my Twitter feed. All falling into place very nicely, and I’m seriously proud of the script. We’ve also written 11 full-on songs, although not all of them will make the final cut. What I’d really, really love to do is to get the final movie out to those pop-up Drive-Ins you see nowadays, accompanied by a live show with live music, cheerleaders, appearances from the cast and stuff. No idea whether we’ll be able to get that side of things to fall into place, but how awesome would that be?

Q. Do you have any other projects which you are working on? 

The final cut of The House on the Witchpit, the experimental horror that we premiered in 2016 and then destroyed onstage, will be locked over the next few weeks and should be hitting festivals before the end of the year. That one’s been a fascinating journey and the final cut is darker and scarier than either of the previous incarnations. Along with Powertool Cheerleaders and the screenwriting book, I’m also finishing up work on a children’s novel called Tessa and the Dreamcrash which I started writing to entertain my kids but I think will probably find its way out to the public. Writing something for children has been a fantastic change of pace, after over 15 years of writing nothing but horror.

Q. If someone was looking to direct their own movie what advice would you give them?

Just do it. Make a bad film and get better. Make a better film and get good. Make a good film and get hired to make a bigger good film. The average person carries far better technology in their goddamn pocket every single day than people were using to shoot commercially released films a few years ago. Prove you can do it, because an idea and a dream is nowhere near enough. There’s no use in being all gun and no trigger. So go and do it, because it’s absolutely brilliant fun and life is short.

Go follow me on Twitter @zcarstheme and check out my homepage at pathiggins.me.uk for live dates and blogs.

You can watch Pat Higgins Masterclass: Write a Bloody Movie in 30 Days at Horror-on-Sea on Saturday 18th January at 15:00 hrs

You can find out more about Horror-on-Sea and purchase tickets for the festival here:

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!