Film
BORN OF EARTH
WHAT IF THE EARTHIS OLDER —AND STRANGER —THAN WE UNDERSTAND?
Directed by Tommy Brunswick
BORN OF EARTH / BEHIND THE CAMERA
Creatures you could stand next to.
Tommy directing Born of Earth. Creature effects by Precinct 13 Special Effects.
The idea. The production. The creatures.
What’s beneath our feet?
What if the Earth is older — and stranger — than we understand? That possibility fascinated me. Not another world. This one, with things we haven’t figured out yet.
A bigger production. More to learn.
I directed Born of Earth on one of my larger productions. Working with experienced professionals meant I could keep learning while bringing this strange, physical world to life.
Creatures you could stand next to.
Precinct 13 Special Effects, Robert Kurtzman’s company, worked on the film, with Gary Jones leading special effects there. The practical creature suits were a real strength. There’s something about a creature that actually occupies the room.
I learned filmmaking by making films.
No traditional route. I made films, solved problems, hired talented people I could learn from, and got better with every production.
Start with Born of Earth. Then rewind to the relationships — and the family — that helped me get there.
On set / Learning by making
Little Red Devil
COLD SET. WARM MEMORIES.
Michigan winter.
Great cast.
Questionable body temperature.
The people are what stay.
The people are what stay.
A fun film about a down-on-his-luck man, and another of my larger productions. We shot through a brutally cold Michigan winter with a wonderful cast and crew.
A friendship beyond the film.
This was where I first met Dee Wallace in person. We clicked. What began on a film became an important friendship and mentorship — one of the things I’m most grateful to have taken from it.
Michigan winter. Great cast. Questionable body temperature.
2006
EARLY DAYS
DAD = MR. JINGLES
Mr. Jingles
WE WERE
FIGURING IT OUT
AS WE WENT.
Apparently that included casting my dad as a killer clown.
It started with a cackle.
Apparently, we were casting my dad.
At a read-through, my father, Dr. Rudy Hatfield, started doing these memorable cackles. He’d always wanted to play a Wolf Man-type character. I cast him as Mr. Jingles.
We learned by doing.
Friends offered locations. My parents backed us. We made it quickly, figuring things out as we went, and it became an important early distribution milestone. But the part that stays with me is simpler: my dad is always there, as Mr. Jingles.
One person. Many worlds.
Different tools. Different worlds. Same instinct.