Max Tzannes, David San Miguel, Jacob Souza Talk FOUND FOOTAGE
- creepykingdom
- Jun 30
- 5 min read
By Shannon McGrew
FOUND FOOTAGE: THE MAKING OF THE PATTERSON PROJECT is a mockumentary horror movie about a budding filmmaker's attempt to produce his first feature, a found footage movie about Bigfoot.
Through the eyes of an esteemed French documentary crew, the story follows his unlikely band of misfits as they struggle to keep the production afloat on a shoestring budget. All the while, mysterious and sinister occurrences begin to unfold behind the scenes, blurring the lines between movie magic and real life.
As the shoot days get longer and scarier, the filmmakers quickly learn that they've stepped into a very real and very terrifying found footage film of their own.
For the release of FOUND FOOTAGE, Creepy Kingdom's Shannon McGrew spoke with director Max Tzannes, co-writer David San Miguel, and editor/cinematographer Jacob Souza. During their chat, they discussed everything from indie filmmaking chaos to Daniel Radcliffe jokes and working with Radio Silence.
Thanks for taking the time to speak with me today. How did the idea of blending a making-of narrative with found footage horror come together?
Max Tzannes: This is actually our second movie. We did another movie called Et Tu, which is coming out next month. We had made a lot of short films before that as a team, which I don't think many people do, and with the same people. We had a shared experience of working on these low-budget shorts and then a feature. The main phenomenon is that everything that can go wrong will go wrong. So, if something was going wrong during a shoot that truly was because of a nefarious presence, shall we say, that was trying to do us harm, we would probably chalk it up to the random chaos of being on set [Laughs]. In horror movies, people sometimes check out if a character in the movie is doing something that they believe they would do differently in that situation; that can be tough for some people. I can genuinely say that if I were in Chase's position and I was this all in on a movie, I think it would be very hard for me to do a location move the last day of set on the last day of our shoot when we already are behind 20 pages no matter what went on [Laughs].
This movie could have been all about the hunt for Bigfoot, but instead, it evolves into a more supernatural story. Was that always what you had planned? How did that come to be?
David San Miguel: We were trying to think of what's a monster that people were familiar with, and that was Bigfoot. Additionally, Jacob is a big fan of Bigfoot and has always wanted to make a movie about it. We thought, 'Okay, we're going to get a Bigfoot movie within the movie and go to the woods, which is a scary place.' As for the supernatural element, that was the second layer beyond the meta. So, you have the Bigfoot thing, and then on top of that, you have the supernatural thing. You're going to set to film this Bigfoot movie, and little do you know, you unleash something, a great evil, onto your set. Conceptually, it worked. You're going to make your movie, like Max was saying, and you're going to do whatever it takes to get the film finished. As soon as actual sinister things start to happen, you ignore those things cause you're making a Bigfoot movie, and it's going to be the best movie anyone's ever seen [Laughs].
The film features a running gag in which the director and the film crew mistakenly believe Daniel Radcliffe will be the main star of their Bigfoot film, only to reveal later that the actor was actually someone named Danielle Radcliffe. Does Daniel Radcliffe know about the existence of the movie?
Max Tzannes: As of right now, his people have watched it. They liked it enough to give it to him, so we are hoping to get it to Daniel so he can know how tragic this miscommunication has been [Laughs]. When we first came up with that joke, we were like, what's the right level? What could be the miscommunication that could take place but also make you think you could see him in this movie?
Found footage films typically exhibit a distinct visual style and editing approach. What was the approach used to make this film feel raw but also cinematic at the same time?
Jacob Souza: That's exactly what the approach was - let's make it feel raw and cinematic, and what does that look like? We used a Multicam with two cameras. One thing that helped was establishing the point of view of the documentary crew, which was a prestigious French documentary crew that had done movies at Cannes and was shooting on film, of course. That helped and was fun to juxtapose against the tape footage from the camcorder. Our gaffer was also our second cam operator, and I kept telling him [the movie] is "The Office" meets "Succession"; that's what we are going for.
I noticed some moments in the film that felt like nods to found footage juggernauts: Paranormal Activity and The Blair Witch Project. Were there other found footage films that you looked to for inspiration?
Max Tzannes: We did a slew of watches before we wrote the movie, and Paranormal Activity was in there. The primary source of inspiration was definitely a Blair Witch vibe.
David San Miguel: There's a movie that we missed called Found Footage 3D, which we know is out, and I'm glad we didn't watch it because I've heard it's similar yet different at the same time. We kept it to movies that were not doing anything meta in some way. The whole point is that we want to take this, then that, and then put them together. We watched all of the Christopher Guest movies and then all the found footage movies to see what it would look like if Christopher Guest made one of those.
How was it working with Radio Silence, and how did they come on as executive producers?
Max Tzannes: We felt really lucky. The way it went down was that we went and made a little movie in the woods, and then we sent the rough cut over to Chad Villella at Radio Silence. He watched it and shared it with the guys, and they all resonated with the whole vibe of it. If you go back to their V/H/S and Southbound days, I think they saw a lot in the movie that they personally had been through. They also appreciated the presentation, as it's set in a real movie. It's extremely humbling, and it makes you feel seen a little bit when somebody you really look up to says, ' This is cool. '
Lastly, do you guys believe in the existence of Bigfoot?
Max Tzannes: I think there probably was, at some point, a Bigfoot, but I am not a believer anymore. I'm going to poo-poo this whole conversation by saying that.
Jacob Souza: I love the idea of Bigfoot. I can't say I'm a believer; I need proof.
David San Miguel: Guys, come on, he's real. He's hiding until the perfect time.
FOUND FOOTAGE: THE MAKING OF THE PATTERSON PROJECT is now in theaters and On Demand.
