Curse of the Weredeer
I first met Jimmy Adamson way back in the early 2000s when our bands (him - Sass Dragons; me - Vacation Bible School) were supposed to play a basement show at the Subject House in Elgin, Illinois, but the basement flooded, so he brought the whole show to his house, the slightly less shitty 411 House, in Naperville, Illinois. We hit it off, and our bands played many shows together. He often used my drums. When I left the band Brickfight, he took over the drums. He and his wife (Keri) gave me a copy of The Great Outdoors on VHS as a wedding gift. Jimmy is one of my favorite people, so when he moved to the east coast and started working in the moving pictures business, I couldn’t have been happier for him.
I first met Ben Johnson (pictured to the right; you can tell, because his name is on the photo) just about 2 weeks ago, when I wrote Jimmy (see above) and asked if I could write up his upcoming movie, Curse of the Weredeer, on my fancy new website. Turns out, Ben lives closer to me than most of the people I talk to on a regular basis, so one day we’ll probably get together, have a couple drinks, and talk shit about Jimmy. But until then, he was gracious enough to talk to me about the path that has brought him to where he is today, his production company (ShitHouse Productions), and the new movie.
Curse of the Weredeer is currently in crowdfunding mode over at Indiegogo. As DIY filmmakers, these guys need all the help they can get - we’re talking upper-class genius mixed with lower-middle class budgets. Every dollar helps, and for only $10 you can get a digital copy of the finished movie! Skip your 2nd six-pack of Bud Light this Thursday and help support truly independent filmmaking!!!
Nervousmaker - First off, let’s talk about ShitHouse Productions – who is this powerful legion of doom made up of, and how did you all get together to start making movies? Is this going to be the first Shithouse release (film-wise, not bathroom-wise), or have there already been others? And I can’t help but notice, since I’m a very observant genius, that Curse of the Weredeer has some clear connections to Tromaville; how did you guys find yourselves in cahoots with the toxic waste capital of the world?
ShitHouse Productions (Ben) - ShitHouse was literally born from the chaos that was Troma’s #shakespearesshitstorm. We all lived, ate, slept, and shit for 8 weeks together in a duplex made to house 3 people, but at its most packed we had 17 folks staying there. We called this “production house” the “shit house” as a term of endearment…
From there, a few of us decided we didn’t hate each other near as much as we hated the rest of the cast and crew, and we decided we wanted to keep making things together. Derek “Woody” Johnson (no relation) had a short he wanted to shoot in Missouri in the spring of 2019, and between the two of us we got the band back together to shoot WetWorks, our first ShitHouse short. From that point…we just started doing more.
We brought a few other #shakespearesshitstorm friends into the mix, and we did a 48-hour Film Project entry called Barlympics, and in late 2019 we helped produce Dwayne Steeler’s epic short slasher, Blood Stab. Then last year, Derek came to me with a script for a trailer called Weredeer. The concept was solid, goofy, and the script was mostly there…but it needed the gentle touch of one of the best writers I know, Mr. Jimmy Adamson.
Jimmy stripped it down, caressed the soft bits, and made the story moan with pleasure. From there, we shot a lot of footage…which I cut down to basically nothing, enraging our DP Sam Zhang (editor’s note: DP in this context is Director of Photography; told you I’m a genius!)… Sam is a beautiful man, with a wealth of knowledge, and an exceptional eye for framing… He’ll clearly excel and one day leave us all behind. But in the meantime, we’re gonna squeeze every bit of juice we can from his tight little body.
The trailer wasn’t meant to be anything more than our entry for the 2021 Tromadance film festival. But everyone that saw it said they wanted to see the actual movie. So fuck us, right? Now we had to make this goddamned thing, FOR REAL!
Luckily our Troma ties paid off and our DEER Uncle Lloyd Kaufman (president of Troma Entertainment and the creator of the Toxic Avenger) offered to come onboard as a producer and that made it more real…with some guidance from me, Derek, and Joe Duff (Derek’s long time butt-brother, and co-creator of Weredeer). Jimmy pounded out one of the most beautiful stories about racial injustice, wrongful imprisonment, the long term effects of hunting on the environment (and the hunters), the need for transparency in our relationships, and most importantly…spending time with the fellers.
Now we’re raising funds because come hell or high water, we’re shooting in Tennessee this October!
Nervousmaker - Jimmy, is this the first feature you’ve written (and if not, what else have you worked on)? How did it all come into your head, and how did you go from being a drummer in the legendary, multi-platinum supergroup known as the Sass Dragons to writing a movie about a deer/man combo?
ShitHouse Productions (Jimmy) - Curse of the Weredeer is the first feature I've written that is actually being produced! Ben and I have another adventure/fantasy/comedy script finished, called Florida Man. We'll make that as soon as we sucker someone into giving us a million dollars. I've also written 3 or 4 other scripts that nobody should ever read. The general idea for Weredeer, along with most of the character names, came from the brilliant minds of Derek Johnson and Joe Duff. It is their baby. Those two, along with Ben, were gracious enough to let me kidnap their baby and take it on an absurd, homoerotic joy ride. My goal, first and foremost, was to make myself and our friends laugh. I didn't really think it would get approved by Lloyd Kaufman, so I wrote the most insanely dumb thing I could think up. And had a good time in the process! Our script is gross and stupid and kind of offensive. But the characters are lovable rednecks with a lot of heart, and the audience will hopefully root for them.
At some point I realized that I wanted to branch out a little from getting naked and pouring beer on my dick in punk rock bands. I lucked out when I got involved with Troma and met John Brennan (producer of #shakespearesshitstorm/Music Director of The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs/beloved musician). He took me under his wing and got me on #shakespearesshitstorm, where I met Ben, Derek, and the rest of the lunatics with whom we're making this idiotic movie.
I love Sass Dragons, and I'm fortunate we still get to play together once in a while! Also, Dethwarrant is even writing some music for Curse of the Weredeer, which brings it full circle. And I play drums in John Brennan and the Bigfeet! So I'm not out of the music game just yet. It keeps pulling me back in. Like that Italian guy from Godfather 3!
Nervousmaker - Ben, what else have you worked on in the past? Word on the street is that you’re the ringleader of this ragtag motley crew of indie filmmakers…
ShitHouse Productions (Ben) - As for me…I guess by default I fell into sort of a producer role. I dunno why or how that happened, but the team leans on me to keep these things moving and keep the band together. It’s actually pretty uncomfortable. I’d rather just be along for the ride, but if we all did that, shit wouldn’t get made! It also probably helps that I have some family land, and a laundromat with an empty warehouse space attached…so we can yell, get mad, throw things, and ultimately bugger each other if we want to…for no cost!
I’ve lowkey been involved with Troma since 2000. I was an office boy and my first credits were on the reshoots for the R-rated Blockbuster release of Terror Firmer and then as a post-production assistant on Citizen Toxie. It’s a long story, but for like literally 15 years I did what people say you should do: got a corporate gig, chased insurance and higher paychecks, built a “real” life, and then in 2017 my job was outsourced. I got a severance package, sold a house, and moved back to Tennessee. I think that’s also why I fit the role that I do in ShitHouse… Corporate America taught me time management, how to bend my communication strategies to meet my audiences, and generally how to work with other people, whereas Troma taught me how to be stubborn, overly righteous when there’s no need for it, and how to yell to make a point. I feel I’ve deftly blended the two, and that seems to make things work.
I dunno. This is an uncomfortable question and you shouldn’t have asked it. Ignore all of this and just say that I said, “We’re just homies making movies for homies.” (Editor’s note: Oops…)
Nervousmaker - What can fans look forward to with Curse of the Weredeer? Any cast announcements yet? Will there be blood? Carnage? Gratuitous sex scenes? A good Christian message?
ShitHouse Productions (Ben) - What can people expect from Curse of the Weredeer? I think they should expect the unexpected. This isn’t your standard bland creature feature. We’ve built out something with depth, with a soul, and at the end of the day…a tug-at-your-heartstrings love story. I think they should expect some gore, some over the top violence, some boobs, butts, and wieners… I think our audience should come in with no expectations! They should be blank slates, and they should just give themselves over fully and completely to the experience. We have an amazing cast and crew: Lloyd, Nadia White, Zac Amico, Babette Bombshell, Dixie Gers, Conor McCarthy, Woody Johnson, Jimmy!, me, and so many more…it’s stupid just how dummy thicc our cast is. So fuck it…we’re making a Weredeer movie! Dare I say, the BEST Weredeer movie shot in Tennessee this year! That got a little disjointed. “Expect something,” “expect nothing,” “fuck your expectations”… I trust you’ll figure out how to arrange that as a writer. (Editor’s note: Fuck your expectations, Ben)
Don’t forget to chip in to the Curse of the Weredeer Indiegogo campaign!!! Every dollar helps make the final movie that much better!!! If you can’t chip in, share the link everywhere you can…it costs nothing, but it can help a lot!!!