Remember the film Mainstream on the Fangoria Blood Drive 2 DVD? Well
this is the man who made that film. Adam Barnick is a director/writer and
editor from Hoboken, New Jersey who likes reading, traveling, photography
and you guessed it, HORROR MOVIES!
this is the man who made that film. Adam Barnick is a director/writer and
editor from Hoboken, New Jersey who likes reading, traveling, photography
and you guessed it, HORROR MOVIES!
HF: It's nice to be here talking to you with Adam especially with the time that you
have.
Adam: No problem, thanks for taking the time to interview me!
HF: Who exactly is Adam Barnick?
Adam: Fine, start with the easy questions. Hmm. Adam’s this occasionally funny,
occasionally handsome, mildly eccentric bloke who is happy to be out of step with the
rest of the world and be his own person. I don’t know... He found the thing that
holds him together through film making and will continue going in that direction.
HF: What brought you to film making, how did it come about?
Adam: It started initially with an interest in special makeup effects, which gradually
evolved into wanting and needing to make films as I discovered all the different film
makers who lead and inspire. There the obsession began...that's the short answer.
HF: Lets talk about your short film here for a sec, MAINSTREAM. I’m sure many out
there have seen it, what in your mind made you come up with it?
Adam: It came as a strange vision actually. Like a symbol of something I was going
through in the past.. I worked in a video store, because you're obligated to work in
one if you're an indie filmmaker. And the clientele was where I first noticed this, but
soon saw it everywhere as I got older and saw more of the world... it just seemed
that most people were trapped, like they'd had their spirit burned out of them, they
were desperate not to feel, not to create, stay numb..stay status quo. Not make
waves. Be average, mainstream. Just get on the treadmill and run. If something
challenged the everyday or was too far outside the box, it was a threat. Everyone
had to be like everyone else.. I still see this.
One night I was thinking about people being in this state and how they might have
gotten that way and it literally came out as this surrealistic, symbolic vision where that
process was the operation in the movie. Involving a lot of drugging, numbing, pain,
and restriction that the victim had, to a degree, agreed to.
After the initial idea, I began to analyze the images and found way more in them then
I started with...and I'm happy people have picked up on these other ideas, or come
up with their own theories. Thoughts on drugs, medical procedure and over reliance
on surgery, that kind of thing. I'm humbled that people have written me with their
theories as to what it all meant. I always loved any film that caused debate and
interpretation most of all.
HF: What was your reaction when you found out that your short was going to be a
part of FANGORIA BLOOD DRIVE 2?
Adam: I think my jaw dropped through the floor and injured the people who lived in
the apartment below me. Your previous interviewer, Scott Goldberg, wrote me to
introduce himself and tell me I got in. The email was titled something like “congrats
from a fellow director” or something and my first thought was ‘congrats on what?’ I’d
forgotten that day was the day they announced the winners.
Seriously, it was great news. It was the first short I’d done in a while and pushed,
kind of my return to film making and taking it seriously, so it was great that Fango,
one of the original inspirations, put this compilation out in every video store, on
Netflix, etc. It’s certainly helped get the film out there and I’ve made great contacts
and friends since the release.
HF: What are some of your inspirations and what keeps you going?
Adam: Other driven, hardworking artists inspire me, from the greats who’ve been at
it forever to the up-and-coming heroes I see alongside me in the trenches right now.
People who don’t work on their films or their art when they ‘feel like it’, they do it
because they have to. Seeing good work, in any form of the arts, keeps me going.
People who stick to their goals. Plus I’m at the point now where if I DON’T work on
something, constantly, I feel awful or like something’s missing. I’m too deep in it to
quit..wanting to keep making an impact drives me. Wanting to improve and tell a
story, affect people better.
HF: What's your favorite part about film making?
Adam: I love all aspects, save raising money. I consider myself primarily a director,
but currently it’s editing that is my favorite part. Where you get the final say on the
film. I love finding a story, or enhancing a story or through-line in the editing and
making it appear seamless. Plus editing I can do by myself if I want, with the current
technology. At some point in my career I’m going to do a documentary once I find
the appropriate subject. Editing and writing currently..though I can’t wait to get out
there once again and work with people to bring something exciting to life.
HF: Other than film making what else do you enjoy doing?
Adam: Reading, travel, photography, pondering life’s mysteries, seeing friends..most
of these events sadly get pushed to the back burner because of the time demands
filmmaking takes. Doing my best to do both…though this Spring/Summer I’m going
to be a bit of a hermit in order to get everything done.
HF: Tell me about some of the other projects you are currently working on, what is
Adam Barnick doing today?
Adam: It’s a busy year. I’m rewriting my next film, EVELYN STANDING. This one will
appeal to people who didn’t run with the experimental vibe of Mainstream, I think. It’s
offbeat but has a clearer story. It involves a young imprisoned man who
communicates with his captor through a phone left in the room. The title refers to a
phrase the captor keeps asking the young man..desperate for information about
‘EVELYN’ and the young man’s not going to get out unless he helps. But he’s never
heard of her. The captor may have the wrong man entirely.
It’s not really horror, but it’s going to have a palpable mood and atmosphere like my
other films have had. While Mainstream has one line of dialogue, there’s a lot of
talking in this one. We roll early summer. It’s a tiny film we can complete in a few
days. Bart (The Blood Shed) Mastronardi is shooting it.
I’m planning a more elaborate, bigger budgeted short as well to prepare for my first
feature. Writing whenever I can; and I was hired to do sound design on several films
after Mainstream came out. I’m still pushing the Blood Drive, been getting copies to
producers and filmmakers I admire; things are looking up.
I also just returned from Los Angeles after producing the behind-the-scenes
documentary of Paul Solet’s GRACE, which is a horror film that’s going to turn heads
this fall. It’s original and pulls no punches. I’m about to edit that, and I’ll be doing
some sound design under Jake Hamilton’s (he and Paul did MEANS TO AN END, on the
Fango disc) direction for the actual film. Liza Weil (Gilmore Girls) and Brian Austin
Green (90210) take quite a physical and emotional beating in this film! Stay tuned.
HF: What's your favorite food?
Adam: Currently it’s French Onion soup. It keeps changing though.
HF: If you could meet with any celebrity in the world who would you pick?
Adam: Living or undead? I’d love to spend a day with David Cronenberg discussing
philosophical concepts and analysis of his films. If it’s someone who’s passed on, it’d
probably be an historical figure.
HF: We had a good time watching Mainstream, we thought it was extremely weird
and enjoyable at the same time. There's something about characters going though
nightmarish events especially when it involves needles or surgery that really gets into
the viewers skin. I know you've seen all the other shorts on Blood Drive 2 and I would
love to get your input or opinions on some of the other films featured on here.
Adam: Sure..I enjoyed the other shorts on there..for all different reasons. We All Fall
Down, though I’d seen the story turns before, is probably the best looking/sounding
short horror film you’ll find. Jake’s a very effective director and I’m not surprised he
jumped right into a feature. Steve Daniels’ The Gibbering Horror of Howard Ghormley
actually freaked me out. I like the creepy, effective use of grainy film stock and his
choices of selective sound..the unusual, non-spoonfed narrative was exciting.
Means to an End is just hilarious and sick; it’s the best ‘party tape’ you can have with
your friends over. Paul and Jake have a lot of fun chemistry, if you will., they’re like
the Laurel and Hardy of gore. Disposer is just a nice anarchic slap in the face..it’s the
“good sick.” Funny and nasty and simple. Will Rot’s The Journal of Edmond Deyers,
what really stands out to me is the style. It’s kind of Natural Born Killers meets Floria
Sigismondi, and the fact that he did all the lighting, camera, edits etc. himself is
awesome.
Brad Palmer’s Sawbones is really tight- it’s a cool little idea; and original. And Working
Stiff felt nostalgic to me; it’s got that old-school Tales from the Darkside feeling. Plus
we can all use another reminder that day jobs are hell.
have.
Adam: No problem, thanks for taking the time to interview me!
HF: Who exactly is Adam Barnick?
Adam: Fine, start with the easy questions. Hmm. Adam’s this occasionally funny,
occasionally handsome, mildly eccentric bloke who is happy to be out of step with the
rest of the world and be his own person. I don’t know... He found the thing that
holds him together through film making and will continue going in that direction.
HF: What brought you to film making, how did it come about?
Adam: It started initially with an interest in special makeup effects, which gradually
evolved into wanting and needing to make films as I discovered all the different film
makers who lead and inspire. There the obsession began...that's the short answer.
HF: Lets talk about your short film here for a sec, MAINSTREAM. I’m sure many out
there have seen it, what in your mind made you come up with it?
Adam: It came as a strange vision actually. Like a symbol of something I was going
through in the past.. I worked in a video store, because you're obligated to work in
one if you're an indie filmmaker. And the clientele was where I first noticed this, but
soon saw it everywhere as I got older and saw more of the world... it just seemed
that most people were trapped, like they'd had their spirit burned out of them, they
were desperate not to feel, not to create, stay numb..stay status quo. Not make
waves. Be average, mainstream. Just get on the treadmill and run. If something
challenged the everyday or was too far outside the box, it was a threat. Everyone
had to be like everyone else.. I still see this.
One night I was thinking about people being in this state and how they might have
gotten that way and it literally came out as this surrealistic, symbolic vision where that
process was the operation in the movie. Involving a lot of drugging, numbing, pain,
and restriction that the victim had, to a degree, agreed to.
After the initial idea, I began to analyze the images and found way more in them then
I started with...and I'm happy people have picked up on these other ideas, or come
up with their own theories. Thoughts on drugs, medical procedure and over reliance
on surgery, that kind of thing. I'm humbled that people have written me with their
theories as to what it all meant. I always loved any film that caused debate and
interpretation most of all.
HF: What was your reaction when you found out that your short was going to be a
part of FANGORIA BLOOD DRIVE 2?
Adam: I think my jaw dropped through the floor and injured the people who lived in
the apartment below me. Your previous interviewer, Scott Goldberg, wrote me to
introduce himself and tell me I got in. The email was titled something like “congrats
from a fellow director” or something and my first thought was ‘congrats on what?’ I’d
forgotten that day was the day they announced the winners.
Seriously, it was great news. It was the first short I’d done in a while and pushed,
kind of my return to film making and taking it seriously, so it was great that Fango,
one of the original inspirations, put this compilation out in every video store, on
Netflix, etc. It’s certainly helped get the film out there and I’ve made great contacts
and friends since the release.
HF: What are some of your inspirations and what keeps you going?
Adam: Other driven, hardworking artists inspire me, from the greats who’ve been at
it forever to the up-and-coming heroes I see alongside me in the trenches right now.
People who don’t work on their films or their art when they ‘feel like it’, they do it
because they have to. Seeing good work, in any form of the arts, keeps me going.
People who stick to their goals. Plus I’m at the point now where if I DON’T work on
something, constantly, I feel awful or like something’s missing. I’m too deep in it to
quit..wanting to keep making an impact drives me. Wanting to improve and tell a
story, affect people better.
HF: What's your favorite part about film making?
Adam: I love all aspects, save raising money. I consider myself primarily a director,
but currently it’s editing that is my favorite part. Where you get the final say on the
film. I love finding a story, or enhancing a story or through-line in the editing and
making it appear seamless. Plus editing I can do by myself if I want, with the current
technology. At some point in my career I’m going to do a documentary once I find
the appropriate subject. Editing and writing currently..though I can’t wait to get out
there once again and work with people to bring something exciting to life.
HF: Other than film making what else do you enjoy doing?
Adam: Reading, travel, photography, pondering life’s mysteries, seeing friends..most
of these events sadly get pushed to the back burner because of the time demands
filmmaking takes. Doing my best to do both…though this Spring/Summer I’m going
to be a bit of a hermit in order to get everything done.
HF: Tell me about some of the other projects you are currently working on, what is
Adam Barnick doing today?
Adam: It’s a busy year. I’m rewriting my next film, EVELYN STANDING. This one will
appeal to people who didn’t run with the experimental vibe of Mainstream, I think. It’s
offbeat but has a clearer story. It involves a young imprisoned man who
communicates with his captor through a phone left in the room. The title refers to a
phrase the captor keeps asking the young man..desperate for information about
‘EVELYN’ and the young man’s not going to get out unless he helps. But he’s never
heard of her. The captor may have the wrong man entirely.
It’s not really horror, but it’s going to have a palpable mood and atmosphere like my
other films have had. While Mainstream has one line of dialogue, there’s a lot of
talking in this one. We roll early summer. It’s a tiny film we can complete in a few
days. Bart (The Blood Shed) Mastronardi is shooting it.
I’m planning a more elaborate, bigger budgeted short as well to prepare for my first
feature. Writing whenever I can; and I was hired to do sound design on several films
after Mainstream came out. I’m still pushing the Blood Drive, been getting copies to
producers and filmmakers I admire; things are looking up.
I also just returned from Los Angeles after producing the behind-the-scenes
documentary of Paul Solet’s GRACE, which is a horror film that’s going to turn heads
this fall. It’s original and pulls no punches. I’m about to edit that, and I’ll be doing
some sound design under Jake Hamilton’s (he and Paul did MEANS TO AN END, on the
Fango disc) direction for the actual film. Liza Weil (Gilmore Girls) and Brian Austin
Green (90210) take quite a physical and emotional beating in this film! Stay tuned.
HF: What's your favorite food?
Adam: Currently it’s French Onion soup. It keeps changing though.
HF: If you could meet with any celebrity in the world who would you pick?
Adam: Living or undead? I’d love to spend a day with David Cronenberg discussing
philosophical concepts and analysis of his films. If it’s someone who’s passed on, it’d
probably be an historical figure.
HF: We had a good time watching Mainstream, we thought it was extremely weird
and enjoyable at the same time. There's something about characters going though
nightmarish events especially when it involves needles or surgery that really gets into
the viewers skin. I know you've seen all the other shorts on Blood Drive 2 and I would
love to get your input or opinions on some of the other films featured on here.
Adam: Sure..I enjoyed the other shorts on there..for all different reasons. We All Fall
Down, though I’d seen the story turns before, is probably the best looking/sounding
short horror film you’ll find. Jake’s a very effective director and I’m not surprised he
jumped right into a feature. Steve Daniels’ The Gibbering Horror of Howard Ghormley
actually freaked me out. I like the creepy, effective use of grainy film stock and his
choices of selective sound..the unusual, non-spoonfed narrative was exciting.
Means to an End is just hilarious and sick; it’s the best ‘party tape’ you can have with
your friends over. Paul and Jake have a lot of fun chemistry, if you will., they’re like
the Laurel and Hardy of gore. Disposer is just a nice anarchic slap in the face..it’s the
“good sick.” Funny and nasty and simple. Will Rot’s The Journal of Edmond Deyers,
what really stands out to me is the style. It’s kind of Natural Born Killers meets Floria
Sigismondi, and the fact that he did all the lighting, camera, edits etc. himself is
awesome.
Brad Palmer’s Sawbones is really tight- it’s a cool little idea; and original. And Working
Stiff felt nostalgic to me; it’s got that old-school Tales from the Darkside feeling. Plus
we can all use another reminder that day jobs are hell.
Interview done by:
Danny W.
Danny W.