Zombies With A Shotgun Analysis

First of all, let it be known that I am not typically a “zombie” person. That’s right--I do not watch that genre. In fact, I tend to avoid it. So why on earth would I be promoting a project about zombies? Well, as with everything, I approach everything with an open mind, and because of my zeal for promoting indie films (and my connection with Kyle Hester), I noticed this project called “Zombie With a Shotgun.” As I investigated this project in greater detail, I discovered that this was not a customary zombie film. Now I was intrigued. And once I made the decision to support this film, I became quite interested in the person behind this entire project--Hilton Ariel Ruiz. I was elated that he set aside some moments recently to chat with me about
What was your inspiration?

I really liked the idea of zombies--it is kind of catchy and quirky. Add the shotgun part, and people often stop and wonder “What is that?” or “What is it about?” There are so many zombie films and shows out there, but the problem is that they are basically the same. It’s always about the zombies fighting the humans, and the stories get boring really fast. I wanted to do something different.

“Zombie With a Shotgun” is my own interpretation of zombies, a different take on them. One of our catch phrases is “Zombies are humans, too.” In this case, the main character, Aaron, has a disease that may or may not turn him into a zombie. But he’s a human. And he is struggling with a disease that may take over his body or claim his life. And I think we all can relate. We have loved ones who are sick, and all too often, we’re helpless. We can’t stop the illness from taking over. This film is going to touch all areas and show how strong love is. In fact, it is a love story--something very rare or nonexistent when it comes to zombies. In the case of Aaron, he is a human affected by the zombie virus. So he has human intelligence--again something zombie films don’t really ever
Not only did it feature good-looking people, but the storyline was different from the other zombie stories. As our fan base grew (we only did five episodes), people became quite interested in this whole idea. Since we wanted to keep the momentum going, so we decided to consider various possibilities. We are turning this series into a graphic novel. I found a great artist, Simone Guglielmini, who draws the popular “Near Death” comics, and he and I had the same ideas when it came to drawing the characters. It was like this was the perfect marriage of talent and vision that we needed. The graphic novel should be out later this summer. This project has been something I have worked on for four years, but it is a passion of mine. It’s not about the dollar signs--it’s about the art.

Why have you chosen to go the route of crowdfunding? What are the good parts? The bad parts?

Because we feel so passionate about this project, kickstarter was the way to go. We (everyone involved in the project) want to be our own boss and not having someone else telling us what we have to change or to do it their way. In the beginning, it was a little difficult to get our ideas going, but once we had the artwork, it quickly helped us go in the right direction.

Honestly, the bad part of crowdfunding is that just because you have fans, doesn’t mean that everyone will agree to support your project. And you have to promote like crazy. I