Gary Ugarek

Who are you?:

I am Gary Ugarek, the writer and director of Deadlands: The Rising (2006), Deadlands 2: Trapped (2008) and All in the Game (2011)


1. What are the top two questions you're sick of being asked - and, their answers?

When is Deadlands 3 coming out? I was hoping to make this film and release it this year but it has been super tough trying to raise the films budget. Everyone says do it on the cheap like the last two, but it can't be done on the cheap... I would like to see everyone get paid, the entire crew. Most of the time it is just the FX artist making money and it is minimal money at that.

the 2nd question... Where do you see yourself in 5 years? (channeling Mitch Hedgberg) Celebrating the anniversary of you asking me this question.

2. What's the crappiest movie you've ever seen? What makes it the worst for you?

This is a tough question... I am going to go with Rob Zombie's Halloween remake. I can't even begin to explain how bad this film is, and how much I loathed it. I enjoyed it up until William Forsythe was executed. The guy is a great actor, and he kept the first 15 minutes interesting, but once he was killed off the movie just kept going downhill, from Malcolm McDowell's John Travolta strut into the principals office right up until the end credits.

I remember seeing the 90 second teaser and thinking this film was going to be badass, then went to the theater to view the final product and nearly threw up all my popcorn. I kept saying how can Rob go from a great film like The Devil's Reject and totally destroy Halloween. This is not a film that should have been fucked up, and if he was the huge fan of the original as he claimed, why not be more faithful to the source material.

I appreciated how Carpenter kept Michael vague and mysterious, but Rob had to give him the typical white trash background he is famous for, and it just ruined the mystique of Michael Myers.

3. What song would you consider to be your absolute guiltiest pleasure?

Video Killed The Radio Star by the Buggles

4. Do you think tan lines are sexy?

On a woman, yes. On a man, I try very hard to not even look.

5. Do you sing in the shower/bathroom?

It depends... sometimes you just get in that nice hot shower, and then suddenly it releases stress or frustration and you just wanna sing, or if I wake up in a peppy mood, I will just start belting out a tune.

6. In a song- are the lyrics or is the music more important to you?

I prefer the music. The rhythm of a song is what gets me hooked. I have heard great music in songs, but they get ruined by crappy lyrics. I have been on a hunt for instrumentals for my MP3 collection. Songs that use minor chords are my favorite. I am a huge fan of the song Stayin' Alive by the Bee Gees, that is a song that has the most perfect music arrangement, and then you get to top it off with a great vocal arrangement. It is a classic you can still bop too, and I am not afraid to crank it up if it comes on Sirius' 70's on 7.

7. Someone passes gas in an elevator- do you ignore it, call it out, or claim it?

I can honestly say I have never been in an elevator when that happened, but if I was to be, I would call it out, and if I did I would definitely fess up.

8. Do you roam your house naked?

Only during massive orgies which happen.... well they don't ever happen so the answer is NO

9. Is there an accent that gets on your nerves?

YES, and not to sound rude or racist, but indian accents are the worst for me because I have very hard time understanding the verbiage coming from their mouth, and I am constantly having to ask them to slow down and repeat themselves. I know they are just trying to earn a dollar and a cent in this world, but when you don't have a total grasp of the language, slow down your speech pattern. Sometimes I wanna pull a Chris Tucker but in reverse "I don't understand the words coming out of your mouth"

10. Is there a number or specific time of day that haunts you on a daily basis?:

Yes... alarm wake up time... whatever it needs to be on that particular day.

Shameless self promotion/shout outs/any last words:

Shout Outs: To all the cast and Crew of the Deadlands films: Brian Wright, Michelle Wright, Dave Cooperman, Joe Durbin, Krystian Ramlogan, Ashley Young, Corrine Brush, Tom Touhey, Chris Kiros, Elias Dancey, and J.R. Bookwalter

Shout Outs to the All in the Game Cast & Crew: Micaiah Jones, Chris Clanton, Daniel Ross, Seann Ikon Habib (Habibbles) Awan, Mike McMullin Nelson Irizarry Dylan Hintz Kelvin Page... Thank You Guys for sticking with me on that uber crazy uber low budget ride of gangster violence and mayhem.

Promotion: my newest film, Thug Life: All in the Game is playing at the Fright night Film Fest on June 30th 5pm, in Louisville, KY, and it hits DVD this September.

Last Words: If you're a filmmaker, be proud you have made a film. Even if the film isn't well received, it doesn't matter. What matters is that you saw the project through to the end and it is in the can. Many wannabe filmmakers out there never get passed the script stage, and you have done it all, be proud and fuck what anybody says or thinks of your product.