Kyra Elise Gardner Writer/Director/Editor of "Living with Chucky" Talks With Macabre Daily
Kyra Elise Gardner
Of all the dead horses I tend to beat, the one I keep coming back to is this: It’s really hard to make a movie. ANY movie, let alone a feature documentary, which is what Kyra Elise Gardner has done with her first feature, “Living with Chucky.” The film is both a love letter to and exploration of the “Chucky” franchise. Gardner’s father, special effects wizard Tony Gardner, joined the series with the fifth entry, “Seed of Chucky,” and his experiences were one of several inspirations for her to make a documentary about the doll who won’t die and everyone who keeps him running in his Good Guy sneakers. Gardner was kind enough to sit down with us to discuss making the film, her inspirations, and how cool Brad Dourif is.
MacabreDaily: Documentaries are ever-changing creatures. How did your initial vision evolve over time from start to finish?
Kyra Elise Gardner: That’s a good question. I knew the familial aspect of the franchise was a very important thread. It was a matter of figuring out where and when to introduce that in the documentary. I had a rough cut around 3 hours long, and as soon as I had some idea of a foundation and what worked and didn’t work, I could start figuring out the pieces. I originally introduced myself as the filmmaker in the beginning, which I did when I had a short film version of this with “The Dollhouse.”
MD: On the “Cult of Chucky” blu-ray.
KG: And I had to with that one because I had 7 minutes [Laughs]. There was no time. With this film, I played around with that aspect. I decided to go through the movies chronologically, because that made the most sense in the beginning. If my dad was Kevin Yagher, that would’ve made the most sense, but my dad didn’t come on until “Seed of Chucky.” So it felt weird to seem involved as a filmmaker since the beginning [with the original “Child’s Play], when we didn’t get to “Seed" until 45 minutes into the film. It felt random, and I didn’t want to take away from my dad’s entrance into the franchise, either, because he started with “Seed” and that section was really about him. It was a continuous puzzle and the pieces were changing. I don’t consider myself an editor, but it’s one of my main lines of work now [Laughs].
MD: Now, with a documentary, for sure.
KG: It was really hard to figure out, because like you mentioned, there’s so much more that goes into documentary filmmaking than narratives. It’s a different beast.
It’s so nice of Gardner to make a movie about the guy who killed her dad.
MD: Considering how the franchise is so family-oriented, I was surprised you hadn’t met Brad Dourif before. Were there any other surprises during production?
KG: I didn’t realize how similar Brad and Fiona’s relationship was to my relationship with my dad. Obviously, there was the “Chucky” aspect, but just being “the daughter” and getting into the film industry, and how we both got involved in the franchise. So there were aspects I wouldn’t have thought of going into it. After that interview, I thought I could really find some parallels here and in the edit. Meeting Brad Dourif was so amazing. He flew out from New York just for that interview, which was really sweet of him to do. I was a little intimidated at first! He’s such an icon.
MD: What made you decide to tell this story as a documentary?
KG: It made the most sense to me. As a horror nerd, myself, I love the behind-the-scenes features about how things are made. My dad just happened to work on a lot of my own favorite movies, so one of my favorite pastimes is bugging him about how they did certain things on movies he did. I also have a lot of “Chucky” fans asking me questions in the years after I made “The Dollhouse” and I realized there are interviews about the films scattered over the internet, but there’s never been a “one-stop-shop” for them and I thought a film would make the most sense.
Solid state media, baby! Coming April 18th, 2023
Interview edited for length and clarity. “LIving with Chucky” is available on Amazon, Apple, Google Play, VUDU, Hoopla, Xbox, SCREAMBOX and more. (SCREAMBOX is available to stream on iOS, Android, Prime Video, YouTube TV, Comcast, Cox and screambox.com).
The LIVING WITH CHUCKY Collector’s Edition Blu-ray will also be released on April 18 and available in the US & Canada. Special features include: Exclusive artwork by Creepy Duck, Candid Conversations, Favorite Death Scenes, Strange Families and Director’s Commentary.
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