Interview: Scott Leberecht Talks Midnight Son

Interview: Scott Leberecht Talks Midnight Son, Written by: Karen Benardello People often wish to seek solace and comfort in others around them, particularly in times of distress and need. But when they fail to make these connections, even during circumstances they can’t control, their will to live quickly declines. That’s certainly the case with the main character, Jacob, in the new horror-drama ‘Midnight Son,’ which is now available on DVD. ‘Midnight Son’ follows Jacob (played by Zak Kilberg), a young man with a rare skin disorder that forces him to avoid exposure to the sun. His mental and physical health begin to deteriorate as his symptoms worsen, which leads him to drink human blood. Jacob falls in love with Mary (portrayed by Maya Parish), who is just as damaged as he is. But his hope worsens even further when local police begin to suspect he’s involved with a series of grisly murders. The horror-drama’s scribe and helmer, Scott Leberecht, who made his feature film feature film writing and directing debut with ‘Midnight Son,’ generously took the time recently to speak with us over the phone about the movie. Among other things, he spoke about where he came up with the inspiration for the script, the casting process for Kilberg and Parish and how working as the visual effects art director on several films helped in the transition to becoming a screenwriter and director. ShockYa (SY): ‘Midnight Son’ is your feature film directorial debut, after helming such short films as ‘Under Dog’ and ‘Natural Selection.’ What was the transition process like, going from short films to feature films? Scott Leberecht (SL): Well, I would say that mainly it’s about stamina, and the ability to keep the concentration and energy for 28 days, rather than four or five. With the short films, it isn’t very long. With a feature, it’s very intense and long. I would say stamina, for one thing. The other thing is, keeping the story in my head the whole time. It was a little more difficult to remember that what we’re shooting today is going to be the result of a seed that was maybe planted in an earlier scene, that we’re not shooting for another 10 days. So having a bigger story was a challenge that I hadn’t experienced before. I had to explain to everybody why we were doing things the way we were doing them, and keeping them in my head. SY: Like you said, you were used to only having four or five days to shoot your short films, as opposed to having the 28-day period for ‘Midnight Son.’ Did having only a month provide you with enough time to shoot everything you wanted to include in the movie? SL: Yeah, absolutely. We did end up shooting a little bit over that 28 days. We had to have everybody come back a year later, after I had a chance to edit. It was a little nerve-racking, because everybody had lost a lot of weight after the original shoot. A year later, I was saying, let’s all get together again for a week and do some more shots and a little bit more. We got a lot, and I thought we had gotten everything we needed. But once you get into the editing room, you realize there are little bits and pieces that would tell the story better. If you can, you have to go get those. To continue reading this interview, please click here.