‘KING ON SCREEN’ DIRECTOR DAPHNE BAIWIR WILL MAKE YOU FLOAT TOO WITH HER EXPERIENCE MAKING THIS STEPHEN KING DOCUMENTARY
It goes without saying that most of us in the horror community are big, if not huge fans of Stephen King and his work. Either you grew up on his films, read his books, or just enjoyed his contributions to horror movies like ‘Creepshow’. Personally I am a huge fan of all the things the man does. Some of us out there who enjoy writing in the realm of horror hope that we get an ounce of talented and unique ideas to contribute to the horror entertainment we all consume on a daily basis.
Recently, I not only got a chance to be reminded even more of my fandom of Stephen King’s work through my review of the Stephen King film adaption documentary ‘King on Screen’, but I also got a chance to sit down with it’s director Daphne Baiwir. We spent some time talking about her experience making this amazing documentary. It was a lot of fun to get an insight into what went on behind the scenes, what got her into Stephen King’s work and so much more.
MD: This is a fantastic documentary that you put together, and I truly enjoyed it. So, thanks for giving us a chance to review it. How did directing ‘King on Screen’ come about? What was the story behind that?
DB: Well, I discovered Stephen King when I was very young like many King fans. I realized I was 10 when I discovered ‘The Shining’ and since then I read all of his books and watched all the films. In 2019 I wanted to make a documentary about Stephen King and watching what we made, I thought it was a shame his work beyond horror wasn’t talked about more. We talked a lot about the author you know, and a lot about his books but I thought he's the most adapted living author to have his books turned to movies so it could be great to learn more about that.
To have the director's point of view was also great because there are so many and one interesting thing is that there are so many different generations of directors who adapted Stephen King. We got to hear stories from Mike Flanagan, Tom Holland, and Mick Garess, for example. So, I thought yeah that could be great to have their point of view.
MD: You kind of answered my second question about having an all-time favorite Stephen King movie or book. It sounds like ‘The Shining’ was your favorite. If not, what is?
DB: ‘The Shining’ is the one that I started with it's the first one that I discovered, but after that, I was really impressed by others like it. For example, it was the second that I read which is amazing, and also ‘Pet Sematary’. Another one that I that is not always talked about is ‘Gerald’s Game’ and I think that one is very interesting as well. It’s very visual and yeah, that's the one that I really enjoy as well.
MD: I've been a Stephen King fan for many of years, so this documentary kind of hit me in the feels when it came to watching as a fan of his since I was a kid. One of the many things I loved is you mentioned the directors and having them be a part of it by showing their side of making those books be adapted to the big screen. What was your favorite part of interviewing all the people associated with Stephen King movies?
DB: Well, I think it's always great you know meeting directors because they are so passionate about their work. You know that they really love talking about Stephen King and about how they managed to adapt his work on screen. They give you a lot at the end with what you have learned from their experiences. I have something like 40 hours of interviews so it's always about the human encounter. It's always something that I'm so excited about because you are going to meet someone to discover a little bit of the ‘Stephen King Universe’.
Also, a little bit more about who he is really. You know it's always about being able to connect with someone. I think it's so much of a great experience each time and there were a lot of amazing directors not only just the horror aspect but like ‘Green Mile’ and ‘Storm of the Century’, stuff like that. It kind of showed a lot of the books he wrote vs the theatrical movies vs the TV movie series.
MD: Speaking of that aspect, did you have any preference when you watch these as a fan? Either the movies or the made for TV movies or did you just kind of have a healthy mix of that you enjoyed?
DB: I think that I really like both. I mean when I watched a TV series like ‘Mr. Mercedes’ I really like that one for example. I would have loved to have more directors talking about those newer TV series, but it was a little bit complicated because on TV shows these days there are so many different directors working on that, so we try to approach some of the creators, but it was difficult. In the end one film that I really love is ‘The Green Mile’, so I was happy to have included everyone in the documentary. ‘The Green Mile’ is really my favorite one, so it was great having him (director Frank Darabont) in the documentary.
MD: I think that's probably one of my favorite parts, to be honest. Seeing how Michael Clarke Duncan even got a part in the movie. I think Frank Darabont said that Bruce Willis called him only once in his (Frank Darabont’s) career and that was to suggest Michael Clark Duncan to be in the movie. Also, I truly loved how we got to see Tom Hanks's behind-the-scenes footage and truly how he is a treasured actor, as well as a person. I think having Frank be a part of the documentary was amazing. That's one movie that's one movie that doesn’t get as much credit as it deserves.
DB: Yes! It was really important for me as well because I wanted to show the different faces of Stephen King. We all know he's always described as the “Master of Horror” but it's not just that. You know, I know people who told me “No! I don't want to read Stephen King because I don't like horror” and I think it's okay but there is so much more than horror to Stephen King and his work.
There is so much more than just a scary book and when you see films like ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ or ‘The Green Mile’, you can see how Stephen King is a complete artist. In some way, he's able to write about everything and also, he is very good when he is writing numerous things like memorable characters for example. You know he as well has got a great sense of humor. So yeah, I thought it was just as important to talk about the different layers that we have in Stephen King's work in general.
MD: Another one of my favorite things that you did regarding the homage to his work is you got a chance to act in the intro and the scene at the end of the documentary. You got to be on screen with some amazing actors from his films. Do you have any great stories about that or any favorite parts that you enjoyed from that experience?
DB: Well, that was a great journey, actually because we really wanted to give the audience the feeling that they were entering into the “Stephen King Universe” and talking with the producer Sebastian Cruz, he told me “Well you are also an actress and the director of the film, so you should appear in it because it would make sense”. It's like as the director of the movie, you’re going and meeting all those people who are a part of these vast number of experiences because of Stephen King and the movies, why not add a bit of an experience with them?
It's kind of a metaphor about what we were making, and it was so great having all those great names. I mean we shot in Maine in February, which is not the best weather for sure, but it was so great. Being able to work with all of them, having big areas on sets because he's making a cameo in the fictional intro as well and another great anecdote is the fact that Greg Nicotero lent us the ‘Creepshow’ doll. So, we built the ‘Creepshow’ Shop for the intro. We created something out of this empty store that was completely unoccupied. We had a great chance of having the ‘Creepshow’ doll on set. It was crazy, considering it was the real one. So, we put it in the window and yeah, it was an amazing experience.
MD: I got to say like I think I paused and rewound those parts so much just to point out all the amazing easter eggs in the intro/outro. For example, there's Miko Hughes who played Gabe from ‘Pet Sematary’ and stuff like that. With that much attention to detail that was done with the intro/outro, which was fantastic by the way, was that kind of a longer process than the interview process for the documentary or do you feel like setting up everything for the intro/outro was a little bit easier?
DB: Well, that part was a little bit easier in the sense that there was a lot of work. Hmm, that's a tricky question. At the same time, there was so much work that I did with the producer Sebastian Cruz that it was easier because we didn't have to work with too many people but at the same time, that's what makes it more difficult. Sometimes you are like “Okay we want to do this” like going very deeply into it.
Even you mentioned Miko Hughes. In the fictional introduction and even behind him there's like this board we've written on it a strawberry pie. Which is a reference to ‘Thinner’. Even there is the strawberry pie on the counter with like a sugar-free biscuit or something like that. We were trying to put so many references into the intro, it was almost like making a separate short film. We ended up providing more than 300 references at the end, so it was a lot of work. It took a month to do it honestly. Those references were big parts of the book and the movies. Same with shooting those scenes in Maine.
MD: I think the fact that you guys shot ‘King on Screen’ in Maine just adds an extra sense of love for Stephen King’s work. Maine can have some off-and-on weather there. Was there anything that you got to enjoy in Maine during filming?
DB: Oh yeah, absolutely! The fact that the people there were so nice and excited about what we were making was a great addition to our time there. Actually, when we originally approached the shop owner for the ‘Creepshow’ Shop they were like “Sure! You can film here. I'm going to let you use it to film in for free”. We were like “Okay, can we paint it?”. We wanted to paint it because it was all pink, so we thought it did not really have as much of a look we wanted to shine a light on the “Stephen King Universe”. They let us paint it and there were actually people from the town who were helping and volunteering their time. Sometimes they would help the actors. It was amazing at the end because the people there were so friendly. They really helped us with making this film.
MD: That’s amazing and I’m really excited for people to check it out. I’m curious Daphne, what's next for you in your career? Do you have any upcoming projects we should all be looking out for?
DB: Yeah absolutely! I actually just finished another documentary called ‘Le Film pro-nazi d'Hitchcock’ which is about the film's live boards and the fact that it was very controversial when it was released. It's also about the collaboration between Hitchcock and Steinbeck during the making of the film. Steinbeck even asked for his name to be removed from the film. It's a very interesting story behind the film so the documentary is about that, and it will be shown at the Venice International Film Festival in September. So yeah, we are we are thrilled about that one too.
MD: Sounds very interesting and who doesn’t love a look into Hitchcock’s work, right? My last question for you is one I like to personally ask everyone that I interview. Are there any movies that you're excited to watch or you re-watched during the Halloween season? What are your go-to horror movies that you enjoy?
DB: Oh my gosh yes! There are so many that I really love. I'm watching everything I can find streaming these days. I really love Wes Craven’s movies. I also really love George Romero’s films too. I can't say just one from any of them or other great horror movie directors but I'm a big watcher of all things horror from classics to newer ones as well. I tend to check out really anything I can.
‘King on Screen’ from Darkstar Pictures is now available in theaters and will be available for VOD or Blu-Ray on September 8th. Don’t miss out on seeing this fantastic homage to Stephen King and his work before everyone else does. You can also check out the interview on Macabre Daily’s YouTube channel here.
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