![]() “For me, I really love watching a kid become an adult, because that's where it's all is right now. “I think it was a couple inspirations,” says John. So what was the inspiration for Hellbender? “I'm definitely trying to like create some shorts on my own and music videos on my own, and trying to discover other like roles in filmmaking that I really like,” she says. I mention that I’ve recently noticed Zelda breaking out into other roles as well, and that that I enjoyed her work in John Law’s The Hatred in 2018. “And I think that’s the best thing to do because we're working as a family.” “Yeah, I definitely think that we try to do with deal with the theme of family,” Toby adds. And, you know, our opinion of what it means.” But I think we love the whole family dynamic and exploring and talking about it. And then we obviously add either horror or drama or things to make it more of a film. So this is our sixth or seventh movie and each one of them deals with parents and kids at that age and their relationship. “I think one of the things that we're having fun with is that we always write our movies around where we are as a family. “I think the answer is absolutely,” says John. Has that driven that narratives that they've chosen? It's been interesting seeing the stories can change as Zelda has got older and been in different kinds of roles, I note. The kids were six and 11 at the time, and we just learned the ropes, shooting our first film, Rumblestrips, and we were hooked.” We bought an old RV and by 2010, we just set out in this RV for a year. And John kept saying, ‘You know what? We should write our own scripts and make our own films.’ He had been working on a reality TV show and it kind of got his juices flowing, being in that setting. And when I moved to LA and hit my forties, things started to wane. “Well, in 2008 we were living in Los Angeles, and we moved there from New York City,” says Toby. Ahead of its screening at the 2021 Fantasia International Film Festival, I met up with them to discuss the making of the film and how their unusual approach to working in the industry first developed. Set in atmospheric woodland and played mostly as a two-hander, Hellbender is the latest work from filmmaking family Toby Poser, John Adams and Zelda Adams. The VFX and postproduction are planned to be done in Serbia.It’s the story of a mother with a secret and a daughter on the brink of adulthood, just discovering her power – along with the darker side of her personality. The shooting started on the Rtanj Mountains in Serbia on 22 December 2022 and is expected to wrap by 28 January 2023. The film will apply for the Serbian cash rebates. ![]() Red Production is also handling the local services. No budget details have been disclosed so far. Miljan Gogić, Ivana Panić and Marc Windon are associate producers. The producers are: Seager Dixon, Justin Martell, Matt Manjourides, Miloš Đukelić, Ksenija Tomović Đukelić,Vladimir Đukelić. The film continues the co-operation between Miloš Đukelić and Vladimir Đukelić from the Serbian Red Production and Justin Martell and Matt Manjouriedes from zero liability LLC (USA). The cast includes American and Serbian actors: Toby Poser, John Adams, Max Portham, Olivera Peruničić, Aleksandar Trmčić, Petar Arsić, Bruno Veljanovski, Marko Vučković, Joana Knežević and Ivan Đorđević. John Adams and Toby Poser penned the script. With the crew trapped on the mountain and questioning who to trust, the monster runs rampant searching for a new perfect host. The discovery by a fracking crew of a living French soldier from the campaigns of Napoleon in an isolated valley leads to misunderstandings that unleash a dormant monster in the French host.
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