JT Petty's The Burrowers had a great reception at the fest this year, and with S&Man (his notorious MM debut feature) finally getting a DVD release, things continue to look promising for the director.
Currently on his plate, is the adaptation of a Japanese IP which has both been novelized and gotten the manga treatment: Goth.
Goth stories the exploits of two highschool social misfits who use and abuse their detective skills, toying with a handful of serial killers.
I got a line on JT, and asked him a couple questions:
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Darryl:
Talk to me about Goth!
JT Petty:
Goth felt like a remarkably honest way to do a coming of age / teen romance picture, you cancel out all the maudlin and excessively cute dross that usually clogs those kind of movies with a good dose of sociopaths and serial killers. I've never known a teenage boy who wasn't at least a little bit of a sociopath.
D:
For Goth's cast... Anyone attached or in mind yet?
JT:
Goth is some ways off; the only thing I'd say of casting now is that I'd hope to god I'm able to actually cast teenagers. So hard to really accept a movie about high school where your leads look thirty.
D:
Where did The Burrowers come from?
JT:
Burrowers started from me wanting to make a western; the more I researched the more natural it seemed to make it a horror story, and specifically a monster story. The Old West was such a frightening place, and so alien to the settlers trying to survive there. Once I had a general direction I started coming up with the rules of the monster (always been a big fan of people being buried alive) and worked backwards from there.
D:
What was the major victory that decided S&Man's DVD release?
JT:
S&Man's basically made it into the world through fan demand overriding the legal hassle of getting it releasable. Hopefully it'll be on shelves within six months.
D:
Splinter Cell... You pick the question!
JT:
No idea about the Splinter Cell movie. I was hired to write an adaptation when Peter Berg was on as the director a few years back, but it fell apart when he went on to make The Kingdom instead. Would love to be involved, but who knows.
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There you have it! Fan support DOES produce results.