Unsigned518 - Episode 233 - Frank Palangi

[00:00:01] Speaker A: He was born on a Saturday in 73 he loves punk rock music fighting [00:00:06] Speaker B: the 13 cabin in the dazzle jazz rocking out on the beat Guitar with a short with radio bass his motherfucking envy scrolling look at motherfucker cuz here he comes Andy sculling wearing his orange hat welcome to unsigned 518. I am here with. With Frank Polanji. And, you know, before we get started, I just want to kind of go back to the. The history of Frank and I. We met doing this podcast. He came on, I believe it was, for his music. We started talking movies and horror movies and, you know, found a camaraderie there. And long story short, I now have nine IMDb credits, thanks to Frank Polangi. So we're here to, I believe, talk mostly movies, maybe some music, but. What's up, Frank? How are you, man? [00:01:05] Speaker A: Hello, Andy. What's up, everybody? [00:01:08] Speaker B: And, you know, we can, like I said, talk about, you know, because I know you have new music out, but I kind of want to maybe start the conversation at least with some film stuff because I've been, I believe, more than dipping my toes into getting into this film. Yeah, mostly with you, actually. All with you under your tutelage, I guess. So what's going on in your world as far as movies go? [00:01:41] Speaker A: A lot lately. Say Cheese 2 and Farmhouse. Just released this year. Actually, four movies released was Psychopath and Warren county and say Cheese. Original. So we have actually five movies. We have five movies out now in one year. [00:01:57] Speaker B: Yeah. And I think I at least have a bit part in all of them. Right. [00:02:02] Speaker A: I think so. You're actually. Yes. [00:02:04] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. [00:02:06] Speaker A: Yes. Psychopath was your first one. [00:02:09] Speaker B: Psychopath was the first. And that was again, you know, like, I was surprised at, like. Like, and, you know, not like to toot my own horn, but, like, I was like, wow. You know, I actually, like, semi looked like I knew what I was doing. And when, like, you know, my friends were being like, how did you. How did you do that? And I was like, well, I just did what Frank told me to do. And then, you know, if. If I, you know, you'd be like, all right, now try it this way. Now do more of this. Say this. And I was like, oh, okay. And it really. It really made me feel like the power of what a director does. But you're not only the director. You do everything right. Like, everything. [00:02:48] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. Handle the music, the editing, the lighting, the writing, everything, you know, pretty much. And it's also a director's supposed to do. I mean, I'VE been on movies and stuff where nobody gives you any direction at all. And you're like, okay, like, what am I supposed to do? You know what I mean? And you always. I always want to get the best that you guys can because I see something that you guys don't. And it's. It's hard for me to describe sometimes, but I. Once I see it, once that comes out, I'm like, that's it. Like, you as the killer record producer in Warren county, you know, you're like, am I ever going to probably, you know, play a serial killer? Probably not. But, you know, you're like, let's go for it. [00:03:34] Speaker B: Yeah. And, you know, and it's funny, too, because, like, watching say Cheese, too. And I didn't get to tell you, like, fantastic, by the way. I watched it the day after we spoke about it. But, like, my. My part in that, seeing how it came together, because I just remember, like, shooting it and, you know, and obviously it's shot in the dazzle then. Cause, you know, you can see the dazzle dead neon in it. But, like, I just remember being like, I have no idea what the hell is going on or, like, what. The words that I'm saying, I have no context to any. You know what I mean? No context to anything at all. I'm just saying these words with the emotion that you're telling me, and just like, I have no idea what it means. No idea. And then to see the movie and then watch the scene with context is really, like, a cool. A cool experience, you know, to. [00:04:30] Speaker A: Well, you started it all. And it's very important because you play Mr. Omar in the movie and you have a history. That character has a history in my mythos, you know, all the way from my first little, you know, original short films and stuff on YouTube. And the next movie I'm developing is another movie based on Mr. Omar, but it's about a killer lamp. So it's continuing that. I don't know what you call it, that legacy of these cursed objects and stuff. [00:05:05] Speaker B: And again, not knowing context, but I believe I'm shooting some scenes for that this coming up in the next week or two. Yeah. [00:05:13] Speaker A: Yes. Yes. Because we have to see the human Omar as well. I play your dead ghost Omar. [00:05:20] Speaker B: Nice. And I love that Lonnie plays young me. [00:05:24] Speaker A: Yeah, it works perfect. [00:05:26] Speaker B: Like, it's so. It is so funny because, like, I was again, like, I'm like, that's ridiculous. Lonnie's, like, four years younger than me. I'm like, there's no way it's gonna be. You know, it's not gonna play. And then when I saw it, I was like, huh? You know what? Like, it plays like. I get it, you know. It does, yeah. [00:05:45] Speaker A: Again, I have to say, like, our other movie, Farmhouse, that we worked on is in Scream magazine now. It issues all over the world. [00:05:53] Speaker B: That's. That's amazing. So, yeah, let's talk. Let's talk about that. Like, how that came together, because I. I don't know, like, how you normally work. But the way that. The speed in which that came together was unreal to me. Totally different because basically that was more [00:06:15] Speaker A: like a. I don't know. I don't want to say how they make real movies, but we just did it so fast. We did it in a month. [00:06:23] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. And. And we. We, you know, secured a location, and it was your first on location shooting, and we had acres and acres to. To shoot on. You know, he had this, like, whole enormous. And like, the. The shots that you. Some of those shots that you got, dude, are so great. Like, and I remember. What did somebody say? And somebody, like, asked if one of the shots was a miniature. Like, there's that shot of, like, the house through the trees. Like, you know which one I'm talking about the house, like, you know, that's like a mile away. And I can't remember who it was, but someone was like, is that like a. You know, that's a really cool thing. Is that like a model and a miniature? And I'm like, no, that's like an actual shot. [00:07:08] Speaker A: We should say. [00:07:09] Speaker B: Yes. Yes, it is. Yeah, we constructed this miniature. But, yeah, like, the shots we got were good. And fun fact about that is everybody, like, on location. You know, I mean, obviously you've worked with Aaron Lambert and Kat McKenzie before, but all of us on location, like, at the quote, unquote, Farmhouse, it was basically all of shortwave radio band and family. You know, it was Ryan's son, Owen and Jolie Wells, who you've worked with several times since then. Yeah, we'll talk about that. Like, she's a great, great actress, but we were. None of us had any experience doing that. And we were all, like, on. On site. And we shot from, what, Friday, 5:00pm until Sunday, about 5 or 6. And we only napped in between. Like, we stayed right there on location, you know, slept. [00:08:12] Speaker A: You. You napped in between? [00:08:14] Speaker B: Yeah, that's true. Yeah. You didn't really nap. [00:08:17] Speaker A: I shot from 11 to 2am yeah. [00:08:22] Speaker B: And like, I just remember that. That final, like, at the End when we're doing the. The like, chase scene where I'm. I'm chasing Abby's character and I. And you know, we were like exhausted and it was 2:30 in the morning and like, we were cold and had been doing it for so long. And you were like, all right, so in this scene, you know, like, you act like you're like, you know, scared and you're like on the verge of tears and you want to, like, cry. And she was like, I do want to cry. Like, that's gonna be easy to pull up. It's like, it was great. Like, it was like, still. And you know, what I realized too is just a couple days ago was the one year of shooting that movie. [00:09:07] Speaker A: Yes. Yeah. And it took a year to come out too. Well, I mean, it came out on Amazon in July, and then now it's getting out on Pl and it'll be on Tubi and Fossum TV pretty soon as well. [00:09:20] Speaker B: And so another thing that I don't think people. Well, maybe they do, but you. When I say do everything, like, the hustle of getting the movie picked up and getting distribution and the negotiating with studio heads and this and that, that's all you as well, right? [00:09:40] Speaker A: Yeah. Yep, yep. And no managers, no nothing. [00:09:44] Speaker B: Yeah. And you just go. [00:09:45] Speaker A: Everything you see, like when you watch the movie, besides the actors in it. Right. Everything you see in here is me. I mean, I use. I do use some stock footage and some stock music and I make my own music. And, you know, I got sound effects in there. I have some. I created some I didn't create. You know, it's. I can only. Man, if I had to do everything, it would. It would take me a lot longer. So, you know, I have to use some of the. Which. Which they all use these effects warehouses and stuff, which are. Which are nice, right? You know, all royalty free stock stuff you need, you know, glass breaking or whatever. You know, it would be a long process to do that everything individually to [00:10:28] Speaker B: make it sound right. But, you know, I will say, and what I really love is that, that, that sound, it's almost like that Texas Chainsaw iconic sound that you have in Farmhouse. Like, I remember, like, like we captured that, me, you and Lonnie with a microphone. And like, that's like an organic thing, you know, camera. Yeah, yeah. [00:10:52] Speaker A: I actually have to take that, isolate it so I can actually have that sound alone out of the movie. [00:10:57] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:10:57] Speaker A: Because I actually don't right now. [00:10:59] Speaker B: And it was just the gate. The, you know, the gate in between the. The Property and the field. And when you opened it. Yeah, yeah, like this, like, you know, creepy. And we were. I remember like both me and you looked at each other and we're like, oh my God, let's get that sound. [00:11:18] Speaker A: And then the trailer too. I made the trailer. [00:11:21] Speaker B: It just sounds so good. So good. I love that. [00:11:25] Speaker A: And people, I. I did another interview the other day and they asked if there's going to be a sequel. And I go, you know, I have like a quarter of a sequel written for it because originally I was gonna put it end of the first movie, but I don't know if it would be a Farmhouse 2 sequel. Like, I'm kind of going for like the big Warren county where all the serial killers get together. [00:11:50] Speaker B: Right. [00:11:50] Speaker A: I mean your guys in it and it's farmhouse based. But there's other. [00:11:54] Speaker B: Right. But it won't be the farm, you know, because the reason that was farmhouse is because it was filmed at an actual farmhouse. And if it's. [00:12:00] Speaker A: Yeah, this would be in Warren county. Anywhere else that we could. Yeah, we can. [00:12:03] Speaker B: And I like that. And I like that idea too, is having like, you know, perhaps the same killer being connected, but like not having it be location based. Because I think that that trope gets. Gets a little played where it's like everything is just one location. But I like that. Well, you know, this. [00:12:23] Speaker A: All this stuff will be going on, you know, and there might be little familiar locations from the other movies, but it's like, you know, all these. All these killers and how would those killers react together? Are they killing, you know, like together really close and then do they meet and then, you know, all that kind of stuff. [00:12:38] Speaker B: So it's almost like you're. You're Marvel Cinematic, you know, it's the Warren County Cinematic universe. My Avengers, the wccu. [00:12:49] Speaker A: I got enough characters, I could tell your character be in it. The psychopath dude, the pumpkin head guy. You know, I think there was a. There was another one in between there, but you know, at least four. [00:13:01] Speaker B: I figured, dude, how fucking cool would that be to do a movie with all. [00:13:05] Speaker A: The problem is I play all four. [00:13:09] Speaker B: You know, you'd have to have like some stuntman stand in for. For certain things. But yeah, yeah. [00:13:17] Speaker A: And you know, the music stuff is. The vampire EP is out now. [00:13:23] Speaker B: Oh, right. [00:13:24] Speaker A: With the video that's influenced from the horror stuff that I've been doing. I call it a concept ep because some people are like, well, the first and the third song are really short. And I go, you've never heard of an intro and an interlude. [00:13:36] Speaker B: Right. [00:13:37] Speaker A: You know, and it's just an ep. It doesn't have to be, you know, [00:13:41] Speaker B: I mean, it's mostly centered around vampire pretty much. Right. [00:13:44] Speaker A: Like, yes. I just. That's a clear idea. I just wanted to throw that out there and then. But you're becoming different things. The first song, you're a vampire. The second song, you're a zombie. Then the third one, you're like the hunter. [00:13:57] Speaker B: You know, you're the Van Helsing. [00:14:01] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. Which is kind of in the music video. The music video. I did them backwards, though. I. I was the hunter first, and the hunter became the vampire. And then I haven't been able to do one for Radioactive, but the vampire would become a zombie if I did one. [00:14:18] Speaker B: Yeah. And so how did you, like, you know, all the, like, film festival accolades and stuff happening with that and the. The visuals accompanying it, like, how's that. How you handling that? Because that's a lot like. Wasn't it, like. [00:14:33] Speaker A: That's 14 film festivals. [00:14:35] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:14:36] Speaker A: Yeah. Plus the at. Door. Desk door stuff's in a few festivals, too. [00:14:41] Speaker B: Oh, I didn't realize. [00:14:43] Speaker A: It's. I don't know. I mean, I kind of deal with it in my spare time with some of this. But luckily they do a lot of it. They just want the files and then they screen it. And obviously, I can't go to all of them. If I went to all of them, I'd be. So I'd be. Forget it. [00:14:58] Speaker B: Right. You wouldn't have time to make anything else, but, you know. [00:15:01] Speaker A: Yeah, there was one I wish I could have went to. But even four hours away, you figure four hours away and you got to be there and blah. But that's. That's a whole day or day and a half, and it's like, sometimes you just can't do that. But I. I guess by the time this comes out, I officially say that I will be a filmmaker guest at the Fish Kill Horror Fest this year in New York. [00:15:24] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:15:25] Speaker A: So I will. It's the first. I was always like, andy, I go, can you imagine? We had a table here one time. [00:15:32] Speaker B: Yeah. Because that's the same one that we went to last year, right? [00:15:35] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. But I was like, it's funny because we just went to that con in Connecticut, and I was like, can you imagine that we get our own table here someday? Like, I'm actually promoting our film. [00:15:46] Speaker B: But I knew that you would. You know what I mean? Like, that's the thing with you is when you're like, oh, that'd Be cool to do this. I'd like, right in my head when you said that, I'm like, oh, he's absolutely gonna do that. You know what I mean? Like, some people say, oh, that'd be cool. I'm like, but, you know, like. And I feel like that's kind of why, like, we get. Get along, you know, is we're both like, oh, yeah, let's do it. Like, let's go do it, and then we do it. [00:16:10] Speaker A: Y. [00:16:11] Speaker B: What were you saying about Brimstone? [00:16:13] Speaker A: Brimstone, the famous wrestler there. He's going to be a guest there as well. So I was like, he was in say Cheese too. So we get to finally meet and stuff like that there. [00:16:22] Speaker B: So that's cool. I met him. I told you that, like, when I was the. I hosted at the Nightmare Expo at Proctors last year. I did, like, the interview with Stephanie Harlow, the true crime podcaster. But I actually met Brimstone very briefly when he was entering the building. It was freezing cold. He was entering the building with all his bags and all his rollaway bags and carts and everything to set up, and I held the door open for him and introduced myself and shook his hand and. And. And that was. That was it. [00:16:56] Speaker A: But you had no idea that he was going to be in one of our. [00:16:59] Speaker B: I did. Yeah. Again. And that was when I was screening Farmhouse for the. [00:17:04] Speaker A: He must have seen it because he reached out to me. I. I never contacted him. [00:17:09] Speaker B: No way. [00:17:09] Speaker A: So he was. [00:17:10] Speaker B: He was. [00:17:10] Speaker A: Yeah, he was the. He was the one to reach out. And I go, yeah, man. I go, I'd love to have you a part of something. It'd be great. [00:17:16] Speaker B: That's wild. I didn't realize that, like, because I was literally just about to say, like, what made you reach out to him? And then. Really cool. [00:17:23] Speaker A: This. This new movie, I have to say, Sandy Johnson from the original Halloween, that played Judith Myers. She's gonna be in my next movie. [00:17:31] Speaker B: Yeah. And we got to meet her. Yeah. [00:17:35] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. Yeah. She's really nice. [00:17:37] Speaker B: Really super. Yeah, like, super. And it was just wild, like, watching, you know, because, like, since we went to that con, whatever it was a couple weeks ago, like, I've watched Halloween and Halloween two, like, probably two times a piece, like, in anticipation for the Halloween game, which I've already got, like, you know, 60 hours into, like, he's already beat it. Oh, I. I mean, yeah, I've already beat it. Yeah. No, but, like, I. I haven't beaten on boogeyman mode. [00:18:06] Speaker A: I was gonna try that. [00:18:07] Speaker B: Yeah. I Haven't done that. I'm now going and like getting achievements. But I've also been playing the multiplayer a lot. [00:18:12] Speaker A: Like, yeah, I got to play that. I think twice so far. It's just pretty good. I like the single player stuff a little better. I think they could add on to it if they want to. [00:18:24] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, you know what we should do is. Is because. What, your PlayStation? Yeah, yeah, we should. We should match up. Like, we'll do a private. Yeah, we'll do a private match where one of us will be Michael Myers, one of us will be, you know, a townsperson. It'll just be me and you in the match with the NPCs and we'll do it. We should do that. [00:18:45] Speaker A: I think we could do both victims too. We're trying. [00:18:49] Speaker B: No, not when it's a private match. Yeah, because you can do a private match by yourself and you're just Michael Myers going through the town killing everybody. Which is fun. [00:18:59] Speaker A: Cool. [00:19:00] Speaker B: Like super fun. It's like super fun. Yeah. [00:19:03] Speaker A: But you know what? It's funny because we're talking about Halloween and stuff and people are asking when you're gonna do a fan film again. Like I. I might do a Michael Myers fan film may sometime next year just to satisfy that kind of audience. [00:19:18] Speaker B: Yeah, dude, that would be great. Yeah, I can't. [00:19:22] Speaker A: I can't decide what the hell. What mass to use though. [00:19:28] Speaker B: So many. So many choices. All right, so as you know, before we wrap it up, like we've got Farmhouse available. Actually tell us everything new available, like music and, and movies. [00:19:46] Speaker A: So music Is Vampire EP available? All streaming platforms out there. I do have a band camp if you guys want to go over there and support. I'm on all social medias with Frank Polangi, Frank Pengi music or Plany films. And then the movies. We got like say cheese. CG2, we got farmhouse, American Psychopath. We have Warren County. Primarily they're all out on to be Fossum tv, but some like Farmhouses on Amazon. If you guys want to own it, you can own it, you can download it. And then eventually by Halloween, I believe they'll be on more platforms as well. They keep like. See, people don't understand. In the movies there's one release, right? It's to the movie theater. This isn't like this. It's like, oh, it just released a Fossum. Like it's exciting and let's get it out there. And then, oh, there's another movie release. It's on Tubi. It's on Like At Death's Door is actually on DirecTV now. [00:20:47] Speaker B: Oh, no, I don't have. But I was like, nobody does it. [00:20:52] Speaker A: You know, I was like, it's got to go to Spectrum so I can announce that. You know what I mean? So you just never know. [00:20:59] Speaker B: Right. And wasn't there, like, talk of farmhouse getting released on something physical at one point? [00:21:07] Speaker A: Yeah, and somebody else asked me that too. And I go, you know, I, I probably wouldn't do it as a standalone movie. I'd probably put like two movies or something on. On a Blu Ray. But I'd have to look into that because I don't think it's. I don't think that cheap to make Blu Rays and stuff now. So I have to. I gotta see. CDs are still cheaper than. Obviously, people aren't buying CDs as much. [00:21:29] Speaker B: No, definitely not. Definitely, no. [00:21:32] Speaker A: But the Blu Rays, yeah. You know, you never know. I have to look them up. [00:21:36] Speaker B: Yeah. All right, well, sweet. So a lot of stuff happening. Lots more coming up, like, in the future that, like, we're not talking about on this show, but, you know, in another couple months we'll have more stuff to talk about. Yes. [00:21:50] Speaker A: And this. And I, you know, I stay really busy. I. Guitar lessons are on hold because I just moved. I usually do that. I do other editing stuff and, and filming country shows and events. [00:22:01] Speaker B: You do everything, man. Yeah, absolutely everything. Well, a pleasure to talk to you as always. And again, we'll. We'll be in touch super soon because we're going to be doing some. Some stuff together again coming up, which I'm excited for. So I'm actually just gonna. I'll sign off and, and like they say in radio, stay on the line, Frank. [00:22:23] Speaker A: But also. [00:22:24] Speaker B: So he is Frank Polangi. I am Andy scullin. This is unsigned 518. I'll see you on the road. Unsigned 518 is produced and hosted by me, Andy Scullin. New episodes are available every week wherever you stream podcasts. If you'd like to help support the show, please like and subscribe wherever you are listening. Or you could buy me a [email protected] unsigned 518. If you would like to advertise on the show, send me an email at unsigned518mail.com and to be a guest on the show, reach out to me through Instagram. Signed 518 take care of one another and I'll see you next week.