Sean C. Morgan
LB Productions is planning to make the streets of central Linn County run red with blood and gore.
Some 150 zombies from around the county, including Sweet Home, are set to converge on Brownsville as former Sweet Home resident Debbie Jensen, Scott Smith and Tony Miller are beginning production on an hour-long zombie movie called “Contagious.”
Miller, a graduate of Central Linn High School, wrote the screenplay. While looking for gear to make his movie, he got in touch with Jensen and Smith, who own and operate LB Productions, and they signed on.
Smith and Jensen made a short movie, “Affecting the Lives of Millions,” about a viral outbreak, a couple of years ago to enter in a film contest. Since then, they have provided video and photography services as well as tape-to-DVD transfers, opening a storefront at 128 Spaulding in Brownsville last year.
“I went down to see ‘Project X,’” Miller said. In the Gateway Mall parking lot in Springfield, “we saw all these empty cars. There were no people to be found.”
It was eerie, he said, and that inspired him to write his own zombie story, especially after participating in another indie zombie film a year ago in Brownsville. That project has yet to be completed.
Miller was going to do his own film, he said, but he went to LB Productions to rent some gear and began talking with Jensen and Smith.
“We had a casting call, and over 200 people showed up,” Miller said. Whole families came from Salem. A couple came from Chicago, and others came from Washington.
About 15 people from Sweet Home are involved in the project. TDS Enterprises, a partnership among Jensen, Smith and Terri Spier of Sweet Home, is helping finance the picture.
Miller and Smith are serving as co-directors. Jensen is executive producer.
Zombie films always start out with some kind of virus, Miller said. This story will start with a mystery as a veteran returns from Iraq to find his small hometown deserted as zombies infest the West Coast. His protagonist begins exploring, learning more as he travels to more towns and more and more blood flows.
“This is what people want to see,” Miller said. “We’re going to go all out.”
A cast of seven main characters soon begin searching for a military treatment center, Miller said. The movie has a couple of comedic moments, but the tone is serious dramatic horror.
Miller, 19, is from Denver. He moved to the area at age 14. While in elementary school, he was involved in plays, but his creativity is not limited to drama. He also has written many songs.
The movie will involve a lot of work with green screens and practical special effects with 150 zombies, Smith said. Shooting will take place April 27-29 in Brownsville, starting with the hungry zombie horde feeding, followed by shots in Halsey and Shedd from May 4-6.
The crew includes about 10 people, Smith said. “We’ve got a lot of volunteers, people saying they will help.”
And he will be training people in various positions, he said.
Opportunities to get involved remain, he said, and anyone interested in being a zombie or other job can contact Smith at (541) 466-0931.
They also welcome photos and information from people interested in future projects.
The film will be uploaded in teasers to YouTube, he said, and he’ll be looking for a buyer for the low-budget, no-budget effort.
“If people want to watch it – if we can make a good enough production, we’ve done our job,” Miller said.
For more information on “Contagious” and LB Productions, visit http://www.lbprods.net.