MTV'S DEATH VALLEY - TRAILER, EXCLUSIVE IMAGE, & DREW DAYWALT INTERVIEW

ON TV: 'MTV'S "DEATH VALLEY"'

MTV set to ramp up cable scare factor with original monster series

One year ago... Vampires, Werewolves and Zombies appeared in the San Fernando Valley. These are the stories of the cops that capture the monsters, and the camera crew that captures the cops.

A year after AMC hit a strong chord with horror aficionados with their apocalyptic zombie series The Walking Dead, cable pioneer/pop icon MTV is set to also enter the fray with their own original series DEATH VALLEY, a horror-comedy venture that is set to premiere on August 29th on the network that helped kill the radio star. The scripted drama series centers on the efforts of the Undead Task Force (UTF), an elite LAPD unit tasked with "eradicating or containing" the monster-infected San Fernando Valley of zombies, vampires and werewolves as the scientific community seeks answers to the dire dilemma. The unit's work, and supernatural happenings, are documented by an embedded news crew that offers the series a documentary/reality television visual convention that is ripe for some very varied gore and giggle possibilities. The series stars an ensemble cast including Caity Lotz (Mad Men), Tania Raymonde (Lost) and Charlie Sanders (Funny or Die's The Big Dog), among others.

And while LATIN HORROR was extremely excited when the news broke about The Walking Dead, and we strongly endorsed the Frank Darabont-driven program as a good sign of things to come for horror fans, this time around it's personal. Among the young crop of directors tapped to helm episodes for the series is short horror film guru Drew Daywalt, a prolific writer/director with an innate sense of the genre, who, lucky for us, scored three episodes. Avid LH readers may recall that yours truly was fortunate enough to direct a short written by Daywalt earlier this year entitled The Talisman that is scheduled to begin its public run during the 2011 Halloween season. We encourage horror fans and filmmakers to read Drew's School of Fear column on FearNet for some indispensable advice for those working in the genre.

We caught up with Drew Daywalt during a short break in his busy schedule and he revealed a few exclusive behind-the-scene insights, and provided LH with a first look of himself on the set of Death Valley -

LH: Having started out in Hollywood feature films, then switching genres to indie horror shorts, how does it feel to work in episodic horror with the kind infrastructure in place that a company like MTV can provide?

DD: "Well the interesting thing about going from indie horror shorts where you wear many hats to a TV series where you are only expected to direct - is that I was able to fully concentrate on the content from the perspective of tone, flow and story. I could really focus on the directorial components of the process - dialogue, story, character, mood, and I didn't have to worry about minutia that I do when I'm shooting short films and I'm the DP, production designer, propmaster and craft services guy. It was a real treat and very liberating. And the good part was, as difficult as all productions are, the Death Valley shoot felt more like play than work. And I think that joy of creation came from the head down - Austin and Julie Reading, Eric Weinberg, Tim Healy and Spider One. When the fun and positive energy starts at the top, it trickles down in the best possible way."

EXCLUSIVE Image: Writer/director Drew Daywalt on set of Death Valley with one of his zombies.

LH: As a writer/director who has worked on his own material for the last few years, how did the process of working off another writer's work impact your creative process? Would you welcome doing it again, or would you prefer to tackle your own material the next time around?

DD: "The scripts for Death Valley were incredibly funny when I came on board. We had some awesome writers. They concentrated on the funny though, and my big question for the producers and the network, coming in, was "How much horror do you want?" And "Do you want me to get really scary?" And the answer was for me to go for it. They really wanted the funny stuff to be funny and the scary stuff to be scary as hell. And I think we got it. It's an elusive alchemical mix, horror and comedy, but I really think we got it."

Also leaving an imprint on the series is Eric Appel of Funny or Die fame.

Horror legend Wes Craven will host a panel at this year's San Diego Comic-Con on Friday, July 22nd (7:30pm-8:30pm / Room 5AB ) featuring the cast and crew from the series. Fans will be shown the world premiere of Death Valley, along with a few teases of what they should expect during the first season. In addition to Caity, Tania, and Charlie, other participating ensemble members include Bryan Callen (The Hangover), Bryce Johnson (Sleeping Dogs Lie), and Texas Battle (Final Destination 3), along with showrunner/executive producer Eric Weinberg (Californication, Scrubs), director Drew Daywalt (Bedfellows), executive producer/director Austin Reading (FEARnet), executive producer Julie Kellman Reading and co- executive producer Spider One.

Did we mention that we're excited about this series?

Visit the series' official page: www.mtv.com/shows/death_valley/series.jhtml

Become friends with Death Valley at

Edwin Pagán, LH

7/19/2011