DoomsdayDVD has been covering the ongoing production of the upcoming horror masterpiece,Syn-Jin Smyth. Recently, Doomsday has had the opportunity to speak with the director, Ethan Dettenmaier.

What originally gave you the desire to make movies?
I'm not sure where that 'disfunction' comes from...an overworked imagination I guess...But film making has always been a blast to do. (Ethan made his first film in junior high school about a Soviet attack over the Berlin Wall and a platoon of multi-national NATO survivors who have to stop it) It wasn't until about 2000/2001 that I decided to make it my business. So I took the only job I could get inside the industry as a studio messenger and then made it my business to get established!

Are there any horror or gothic writings that inspire you when you write a script?
I like the work of Washington Irving (Sleepy Hollow) Robert Louis Stevenson, Richard Matheson, (Rod) Serling...if those names qualify!

Did you foresee yourself in the director's chair when you first wrote the script?
No. But eventually I had to pull it together to protect the work...When we first went to the studio to make the film, they admitted they liked the script (There were four offers to buy the property but Ethan refused) but they wanted to stuff the project into their standard framework, the framework they use to market material to an audience and that meant re-cutting the film for a wider teen-age audience into a PG-13 format---which was out of the question based on the material we were dealing with, (SIN-JIN SMYTH being a hard R)--- and they wanted to work in a love story so the studio could run down their 'female demographic', approve the cast and also make us subject to 'product placement' and production notes from corperate America on how their products were to be portrayed in the film...And I just wasn't interested in making a commercial or a film with Senate approval, so to speak, where details are changed so the special interest can suck more dollars out of an already cash-strapped American public at the expense of the film. So we had to make the film independently...

Many film makers set out to make a certain film when they are writing the script. Later, whether it be due to great opportunities or setbacks, the film takes on a different shape from the original script. How close to the original script is Sin-Jin Smyth turning out?
Pretty close actually...it has been re-worked and improved and then improved even more with work and collaboration of the production unit and cast (once production started) but the story hasn't shifted away from it's original message...

What has been the most satisfying moment during the production of Sin-Jin Smyth?
I'm not satified with the current status of the film and probably won't be until an audience signs off on it...But it was rewarding to launch a production despite the studios trying to cruch you in to submission! And regardless of what the future holds, I'm very proud of the effort, that the cast and crew made in defiance of studio support to make the best film possible with what ever means were avail. to us at the time. And if we are fortunate enough to have any sort of success with this film...then credit for that is due much more to them, the cast and crew, than to me.

What surprised you most during the production of the film?
How a professional cast and crew operates to solve just about any problem you could have...that was an impressive surprise because on a limited budget you're going to hit the wall once in a while so it was inspiring to watch a group of expirenced professionals work through each problem to acclomplish what was on the schedule that particular day.

Which do you find to be more of a challenge - > directing a cast of actors and people connected to the production of a film or overcoming technical problems?
Financial and technical problems were the most challenging....the cast was easy to work with, very professional---I still have a lot to learn both as a director and as a person---and they were very patient with me and always prepared to invent, giving the material on the page an extra dimension---without all the self-absorbed/seflish suggestions some actors in this town can make in an effort to center the script around them---here it was all about the over all story and I have a lot of respect for their professionalism.

Is there anything that you plan to do differently the next time you make a film?
I'd like to work with more resources next time....

Any talks of a sequel?
There is pressure to do a sequel and a script exists which starts in Hitler's bunker in the last days of World War Two, with Sin-jin Smyth standing there in his SS uniform, then it cuts to what is present day America---in the year 2015---as the story moves through a nuclear winter with The United States in a modern-day civil war. But I'll only be involved with it if it's something the fans want...I'm not interested in doing it just to make a buck!

What is your next project?
(Ethan passed on two 'studio sponsored' romantic comodies because he felt he wasn't right for the material) There's the possibility of a western (About Confederate Raiders who refuse to surrender at the end of The Civil War) another horror film entitled RESPECT THE DEAD which follows a New Orleans based grave robbing racket that operates on the edge of the Bayou. (Rumor has it that the film is about much more than just that, centering on a National Guard patrol boat lost in the swamps that makes a series of haunting/disturbing discoveries starting with a burnt-our house boat)...

Also KNIGHTFEVER, a 1970's cop sattire about a special police force assembled out of SWAT, Vice and The Bomb Squad who had to stop a renegade platoon of GI's who traffic opium back to the (United) States in the bodies of dead GI's...

Also a project on the FRENCH FOREIGN LEGION, a film about CIA Advisors in the Middle East and some work around World War Two. (Ethan is set to go to Africa next year to shoot SOLDIERS OF DESTRUCTION, a film about the German Afrika Korps in their last days of World War Two)...

There is also the possibility of adapating some popular Japanese animation and a film about Scotland Yard and their detective work during the turn of the century...

I haven't committed to anything yet and I most likely won't until we put a lid on this (Sin-jin Smyth) film!

What would be your dream project?
To retire and do a large amout of charity work----Ah! You mean film project---I have two properties in development...OVERLOARD and BRIGADE (For more information on this check www.snapkickproductions.com in June) I would like to tackle those films...

What do you see for the future of the horror genre?
Depends on who's running the show. I'm hoping someone will come along and revolutionize it. That may be you Ralph! Thank you for taking the time to talk to me...

No problem, Ethan! Stay Tuned for new developments on director Ethan Dettenmaier's Sin-Jin Smyth!