Kensie Kiesow
Halloween may be in the rearview, but there’s still plenty of time to beat the dust from your sweaters, heat up a mug of cider, and huddle in front of the TV for an evening of frights and fun! This December, the Guild is thrilled to spotlight another inspired creative from Eau Claire: Steve Dayton. Dayton is a local film producer, writer, and director whose art warns what happens when you go poking about in the shadows of your psyche, where your worst fears come out to play. Despite his busy schedule and early calls to the set, Dayton was kind enough to tell me more about his upcoming movie “gIVE” recently filmed right here in the gorgeous forests of Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
Kensie Kiesow: Have you made other movies, horror or otherwise, before gIVE? Where could someone find them?
Steve Dayton: My first feature that I directed is titled Pop Punk Zombies, and it’s about two friends going to the opening night concert for the first ever zombie punk band. As you can imagine, it doesn't go well. But, as of 2020 we ended our deal with Brain Damage Films, and we’re looking to get it on new platforms in 2021.
KK: Are you producing this movie as well as writing and directing it?
SD: Yes, this is a low budget endeavor that came out of my need to create another feature. I wanted to do something a little different where, instead of having a locked down script, we had a treatment and worked through the scenes as we shot them.
KK: Why did you choose a Wisconsin forest for the setting?
“Low budget movie making is all about using what you have. I had a house, an amazing family and wife, great friends, and a Wisconsin forest, so that’s what I used to make this movie. Plus, I also had five mannequin heads.”
SD: Low budget movie making is all about using what you have. I had a house, an amazing family and wife, great friends, and a Wisconsin forest, so that's what I used to make this movie. Plus, I also had five mannequin heads.
KK: What about the horror genre interests you?
SD: I like the suspense of it all. I love Hitchcock movies and really terrible b- horror films and everything in-between.
KK: What was your first introduction to horror?
SD: I remember watching JAWS at a really young age and loving it. I specifically remember being drawn to the scene where the little boy gets eaten mid-day at the packed beach. The mom running around in the ocean screaming for her son. It's the emotion of that, that I am drawn to. It's funny that you asked that because gIVE has a lot of that type of drama!
KK: Horror movies are often a reflection of what scares us, like communists during the 60’s or diseases now. Does this movie mirror your own fears?
SD: gIVE is a combination of my two greatest fears. As a kid I was afraid that I would be taken away from my parents or they would be taken away from me. I would lay in bed as a kid and think that aliens were going to take me. As an adult, or at least someone who pretends to be an adult, my greatest fear would be to lose a child. My life is my kids, and imagining something happening to them is something I don't even want to think about.
KK: What can you tell me about your movie without giving anything away?
SD: gIVE is about a couple whose daughter goes missing in a mysterious way. After his wife becomes unresponsive to life, Jay, the main character, is left to enter the forest where his daughter was last seen to see if he can put together the pieces to a life that is fractured. giVE explores how humans cope with extreme loss and how to move on when you feel like you are not ready to.
gIVE is currently available for streaming on Amazon. Click here.
For more information about the movie gIVE, visit moviegive.com.
Follow Steve on Facebook and Instagram @give.movie