Interview: Christopher Bickel

Christopher Bickel — director, co-writer, editor, co-cinematographer, do-it-aller for the new underground, drug-fueled road rager Bad Girls — made a bit of a name for himself in the indie horror scene with his debut feature, the psychedelic head-fuck exploitation throwback The Theta Girl (2017). His follow-up threads a similar pattern, following three very bad girls on an acid-burned road trip through an urban hell of drugs, crime, and ultra-violence. Christopher was kind enough to speak with us about his work.

COC: First off, congrats on Bad Girls. I had a lot of fun with it and it’s always wonderful to see such passionate filmmaking in the indie ranks. Your debut, The Theta Girl, made quite a bit of noise on release. How did the experience of making and promoting that, and the subsequent feedback, shape your approach to Bad Girls?

CHRISTOPHER BICKEL: I had no idea what I was doing on Theta Girl. So it was making a film by trial and error. Bad Girls was a little easier because I knew a lot of what not to do. With Theta, we definitely wasted too much time doing festivals and trying to "find a distributor." I came out of punk rock and playing in bands and self-releasing records. I should have just gone with what I know. I'm doing that now with Bad Girls. No wasting time with a lot of festival dates or trying to find someone to "put it out." This is work I can do myself more efficiently, productively, and certainly quicker. Within a week of being certain that the movie was "done," I had it in front of people's eyeballs. There's nothing dumber than playing a festival, getting a great response, and getting a little bit of press from that response and then you have nothing to sell. There's no "buy" button to click. Ironically, a lot of festivals won’t accept you if your movie is already in the marketplace. Why do I want to have a showing of a movie no one can own for themselves? With Theta Girl, we had a year's worth of great press that was totally forgotten by the time we had a Blu-ray to put into people's hands.

What was the most rewarding part of production on Bad Girls?

Finishing is always the most rewarding part. It's truly a miracle when any feature film gets completed — especially when working on a practically non-existent budget. I enjoy doing the post-production work probably more than anything. It's like putting together the world's most difficult puzzle and some of the pieces are missing.

You leveraged a successful Indiegogo campaign to fund the post-production. How did that go and how do you feel about the increased dependence on crowdfunding for independent genre films?

The Indiegogo campaign went incredibly well. Initially, we were trying to raise $4,000 to cover the cost of a Blu-ray pressing, but ultimately we raised enough money to pay off my own investment in the film. So the movie begins its first day of life completely out of debt. Crowdfunding is harder to do now than it was in the past, simply because so many people have gotten burned giving money away to projects that never see the light of day. You have to prove to people that you will be able to deliver the goods, so to speak. Also, I think it's important to deliver those goods at a reasonable price. I see some weird crowdfunding campaigns where people want $50 for a DVD and I'm just like, “I would never pay $50 for a DVD.” I think you have to provide value. I hate having to rely on crowdfunding, but I work in a record store — I have no money. I'm happy there are people willing to take a chance on my films. The people that support these campaigns are the best because they usually tend to help promote the movies once they are finished. They are emotionally invested in the film succeeding.

How did the COVID-19 pandemic affect production?

Luckily, not much. We wrapped shooting like a week before the lockdown started. So I was able to do all of the editing in lockdown. I ended up getting COVID in December, but most of the post work was already finished. The only thing that's been a drag is the fact that this mess is still going on and I can't responsibly have a theatrical premiere for the movie. I want to be able to sit in a theater with people and watch it and see the reactions in real time.

Val sort of steals the show. How did you come across Morgan Shaley Renew?

I'm very proud of her as well as the work of the other actors. I did most of my casting notices via Facebook posts. It was suggested to Morgan to audition by a mutual friend. All the initial auditions were done via video submissions. I tend to only cast locals because we are just shooting on weekends spread out over a few months — we all have day jobs. I want people nearby in case I need to do reshoots.

As an underground, indie filmmaker, you’re often forced to take on multiple roles during the process. What’s your favorite role and which most draws your ire?

I enjoy doing pretty much all of it. Not that I think I'm necessarily good at any of these things, but I enjoy lighting and filming and directing actors. I love all of the hats I wear in post. I guess my least favorite part of the process is people-wrangling — fighting with people's schedules and their needs. Kind of "line production" type stuff. I don't think that part is very fun.

You’re obviously inspired by many filmmakers from the grindhouse period. How were you introduced to these sorts of films?

I was into horror from like age 3 when I saw Frankenstein on a local TV "Creature Feature" show. Then I got really into slasher movies when I saw Friday the 13th on HBO, which was either in 1980 or 1981. I was too young to have been watching it, but it really hooked me. So all through high school, I was renting every horror movie imaginable. I ended up renting Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS out of the horror section and that movie completely blew me away and it took me down the path of seeking out a lot of sleaze and exploitation. Around that same time, I ended up finding books like The Psychotronic Encyclopedia and Incredibly Strange Films and those really took me on a deep dive. This was before the internet made finding this stuff easy. I have always gravitated to low-budget trash even before I really understood what it was.

Do you have a particular filmmaking manifesto, so to speak?

"Follow your own artistic instincts and make the thing you want to see, but never forget that there's a pair of eyes on the other end that expects to be entertained." That's pretty much it. Also, "work below your monetary means but try to work beyond your experience level."

If you had unlimited budget, what sort of film would you make?

I honestly don't think I'd enjoy working on a million-dollar spectacle. I'd like to have a little bit more money to pay my actors and crew better. It'd be cool to blow up some cars. Some real sets and costumes would be cool. All I want to make are genre movies that have a bit of an artsy-fartsy spin here and there. If I had the budget of a single Marvel movie, I'd divide it up and make a movie every year for the rest of my life and have enough left over to be able to hire someone to cut my grass.

What’s next for you?

Doing promo on Bad Girls for a couple of months and then writing a horror movie. Bad Girls is a "Road Movie." Do you know how hard it is to sell a Road Movie? Horror is an easy sell.

Bad Girls is still available for digital viewing and on Blu-ray via the Indiegogo campaign. Follow updates on the film via its Facebook page.