Actor Nathan Faudree has woken up from a catatonic state to witness the personification of the apocalypse that he unleashed into the world during his last expedition a decade ago. In his anticipated new horror movie, ‘Site 13,’ the performer’s character, Nathan Marsh, must find the weak spot in reality that he caused to prevent something bad from happening as a result of that personification of evil.

The Lovecraftian horror film is a found footage feature in the vein of ‘The Blair Witch Project.’ It includes footage taken over 17 years that fuses together a story that’s set over the course of those years.

The present-day portion of ‘Site 13’ was shot over the course of a week in the Syracuse, New York area with a group of regional theater talent. The crew from WatchWorks Studios, led by cinematographer Christopher Steinberger and Megan Piechowicz, also worked on the drama.

In addition to starring in ‘Site 13,’ Faudree also wrote, directed and produced the present-day storyline that’s included in the feature. Katie Gibson and Leila Dean also star in the movie. Tony Urban scribed and helmed the original flashback sequences that were shot 20 years ago, in 2003.

Terror Films is releasing ‘Site 13’ today, July 28 on digital platforms. In honor of the drama’s distribution, Faudree generously took the time last week to talk about penning, directing, starring in and producing the feature during an exclusive interview over Zoom.

Film Factual (FF): You wrote and directed the present-day storyline for the new found footage horror movie, ‘Site 13,’ which your fellow filmmaker, Tony Urban began production on two decades ago, in 2003. What inspired you to take on finishing the drama? What was the experience of securing the rights from Tony?

Nathan Faudree (NF): I came onto the project as an actor back in 2003. I worked with Tony on a couple different indie horror films before that, including (his last feature, 200\’s) ‘Kottentail,’ a killer Easter bunny movie. So we already had a good rapport.

He then had an idea to do a found footage film. So we got together and came up with the storyline. He had the whole outline of the plot, and I worked on a bunch of the character details.

Then we got together and filmed it over the course of a weekend. It was all improv, so there was no script, so we were just making it up.

Then a couple of months after we finished filming it, Tony ended up retiring from filmmaking. He ended up switching over to become a novelist and photographer. He’s an accomplished novelist now, and has several books out.

So the movie just sort of disappeared. After a few years, I just couldn’t stop thinking and talking about it with some of the other actors who were also in it. I’d say, “I think we did some really good stuff in ‘Site 13.’ Too bad there’s nothing to do with it anymore, and it’ll never come out.”

Then at a certain point, I was doing a play and needed a next project to work on. So I thought of this idea of using the old footage as a flashback and also write the new present-day material.

So I called Tony and said, “Hey, this is my idea.” He said, “Great. It’s on a hard drive somewhere. I will find it.” So I sat down and started writing the present-day script that we used as the framing device for the found footage parts of it. It then went from there.

FF: Once Tony gave you the greenlight to finish making the movie, how did you create the modern-day plotline, and intertwine it with the material that was already shot?

NF: Originally, we had this found footage idea that had to do with a Devil’s Circle. The stuff that I was coming up with was very H.P. Lovecraft-based. So when it came to the present-day material, a lot of the ideas that I had were influenced by a lot of Lovecraft’s short stories.

The way he tells them is by having two people come together. One guy will tell the other, “Oh, this one time I did this thing and came across this ancient evil God.” So it’s always this guy telling a story about what happened.

So I thought that would be an interesting way to use that framework in the present day for ‘Site 13.’ Instead of the characters just sitting around, talking about the story, they would use the filmed footage as that story that they would talk about. So it became a little bit along those lines.

The funny thing is that I ended up writing it before I got to see the footage that Tony shot. So I was writing it from what I remembered the footage to be. So there were a lot of things that I had to end up correcting later on in the post-production.

Once we filmed it and started editing it during the post-production, that’s where a lot of the story solidified. There are a lot of ides in it, so when you get to the editing, that’s when we really made sure those two stories really intertwined.

It ended up being a really long process in the post-production because when I first came up with the idea, I thought, I’m getting around the system here. I’m going to be able to make a movie and I’m only going to have to shoot half of it. So I thought, this is great – less work for me!

But I didn’t even think about the fact that I would then have to edit essentially three movies. I had to edit the old footage and then the new footage, and then we had to combine those two together to make something that essentially made sense. So it took awhile

FF: Besides scribing the story for the present-day story, you also served as the director for the contemporary segment. How did you approach helming your portion of ‘Site 13?’ How did you balance paying tribute to Tony’s storyline, while also crafting your own helming style during the production of your storyline?

NF: I have directed several short films and some theater before. But I come from an acting background, so I know how to talk to actors, and that helped with this project.

As far as directing a film, it was very much learning as I went. I had a bunch of talented friends who I worked with on films before, and was very lucky that I was able to call in favors from them. So I had great producers, a great cinematographer and great overall crew that I was able to lean on, so that I could talk to the actors about their parts. That part I knew how to do.

All of the other stuff I didn’t really know how to do. So I was figuring that out as I went along. I was open to what people were saying, as far as ideas.

I’ve spent a lot of time on set. But there’s a big difference between being an actor and being a director on set, especially when you’re also an actor in the film.

I think I’ve learned my lesson, as far as that goes. I probably won’t do that again. (Faudree laughs.) There were many days where I was like, ‘Okay guys, that’s great, take five.’ Then I went into the bathroom and go, “What am I doing?!?” So it was incredibly stressful on set.

Once we got into the post-production, we were really able to start to see the vision start to come together. We also started to see it get better. That was the biggest thing that I learned – to really listen to, and trust, the people who I’m working with. If they have ideas, let’s try them. So the movie ended up being way better than I actually anticipated, because I had the input of all of these wonderful, amazing people who I was working with.

FF: Besides you, the film also stars an ensemble cast that includes Katie Gibson and Leila Dean. How did you cast the other actors for the modern-day footage that you shot as the director?

NF: The cool thing was that all of the people who I worked with on the original shoot are friends of mine. I’ve also worked with them on other movies, so that was amazing.

The people who I had for the present-day portion were people who I’ve already worked with, or had wanted to work with. I had just done a production of ‘Macbeth’ right before the movie’s shoot. That was the project where I thought, if I don’t have something cool to do after playing Macbeth, I’m going to go into a crushing depression.

So I came up with the idea for the film. The woman who played Lady Macbeth, Katie Gibson, actually plays Catherine in the movie. So I had just come off stage with her, and have worked with her before on other projects. I always love working with Katie.

That’s the cool thing about developing the process – I was able to put people in there who I wanted to work with. I was also able to write parts for people.

The fun thing is that Sister Margaret, the nun, was played by Leila Quinn. Leila’s not at all like the character; she’s very much a rock-n-roll chick, and has been in several bands. She’s an amazing singer and performer.

So I thought it would be really fun to cast her as the nun! I’ve always wanted to work with her, so I told her, “You have to play the nun, as you would bring something to that character that someone else would not. I think that makes her more of an interesting character.

The beauty of working with people I already knew or wanted to work with allowed me to not have to hold auditions. The luxury of independent filmmaking is that you want to get a group of people together who are your friends, as you want to make cool stuff with your friends. I happen to have a bunch of friends who happen to be good filmmakers and actors.

So when I was putting this film together, I was putting it together for people that I had already known and wanted to work with. That’s one of the things that helps keep the budget low.

Putting the locations together that we easily had access to also helped keep the budget low. We were able to get the locations with the help of the people I know.

FF: Like you mentioned earlier, the cast was encouraged to improv most of their dialogue. What was the experience like of collaborating with your co-stars while you were improvising your lines together on set?

NF: So I wrote the script for the present-day story, and for the most part, we stuck to the script. There were a couple of portions that we improvised on set. When you’re writing, you try to make the language as natural as possible.

Sometimes the way I would say something is the way I would write it. But sometimes the way I would say something is not the way that the other actors feel comfortable saying it.

So I wasn’t a stickler with telling the actors that they had to say things exactly how I wrote them. I’ve had directors give me direction like that, and it’s really annoying! So I wanted to let the actors bring what they could to their roles, including changing some of the words if they needed to. I’m like, “You get the sentiment of what we’re going for here.”

There’s a big monologue that Katie has, and she was having a hard time memorizing it. So I was like, “You know what it says. I’m not Shakespeare, so you don’t have to get the exact iambic pentameter right. So just say what’s supposed to be said.” It was a beautiful thing when she was able to use her own words to say it. So I’m the first one to chuck my words out the window. (Faudree laughs.)

FF: You also mentioned the ‘Site 13’s shooting locations earlier. The present-day portion was filmed over the course of a week in the Syracuse, New York area. What was the experience like of filming the drama in Upstate New York?

NF: The funny thing was that all of the houses were just friends’ houses. But our prime location, the mental institution, came from my job, when I was working at a spa in that building. I happened to know the owner of the building.

So I said, “Hey, we need to film this one scene in one room, and it’s basically just two people talking.” She said, “Yeah, sure,” and then she went on vacation for a week. So then we filmed all over the place! (Faudree laughs.)

The funny thing is that the outside of the building in the movie is actually comprised of four different buildings in real life. There were two different buildings in Syracuse, New York and two different buildings in Paterson, New Jersey that we used. They’re all the same type of building, so we were able to make the building look a lot more impressive in the film than it probably would have been if we hadn’t used all of the buildings. (Faudree laughs.)

FF: Like you also mentioned earlier, ‘Site 13’ was shot in the found footage style. What was your approach to working with your cinematographer, Christopher Steinberger, to capture the footage for the modern-day story?

NF: As far as the cinematography and found footage, that was all Tony. He had the first digital video camera, and it was the Sony XL1. It was the camera that everybody wanted in 2002 and 2003, as it was the top of the line.

We had that camera, and I think they were using it to shoot ‘The Real World’ on MTV at the time. So we were like, “Oh my God, we’re using professional cameras.” Tony literally threw that camera on his shoulder and ran around and followed us the entire time.

Then when it came to the present day, it was amazing how that top-of-the-line footage from 2003 really did not look good when it was stacked against HD 1080P.

I had this amazing cinematographer, Christopher Steinberger. I had actually acted in a movie of his, so when it came time to do this, I brought the script to him.

I told him, “I’m thinking I might want to make a movie, and this is the idea.” So he read through the script and said, “Cool, let’s do it.” So it went from me saying, “I have a theoretical idea” to him saying, “Let’s go.”

Katie only had one week available to shoot this, however. So we were like, “Okay, that’s when we’re shooting.” So it happened really fast.

But Christopher’s such an amazing filmmaker and has such a great eye. So we were able to work really fast, and shoot everything in that one week. So we were running around, and everything went really fast.

I’ve been on plenty of sets as an actor where you sit around and wait. So my whole thing was, we’re not going to have the actors wait. So we had two crews going. One crew would set up the next shot while we were filming another one, so we could easily go onto the next thing.

We didn’t have time to go, “Let’s make sure we have perfect lighting.” I told Christopher, “This is the amount of time we’ve got,” and he said, “I’ve got you,” and luckily he did! (Faudree  laughs.)

FF: Besides penning and helming the modern-day portion of the film, and also serving as one of the overall movie’s lead actors, you also served as a producer. Why did you also decide to produce the film? How did you balance your producing, directorial and acting duties on the set?

NF: I was a producer on it mainly because it was my idea. That’s the thing – the term producer can be a catch-all thing. Either you have a lot of money and put that in, or you helped organize the shoot. I just pretty much did whatever needed to be done.

I think that’s ultimately what a producer does – do whatever it takes to get the film made, including taking the TV out of my apartment and bringing it to set to use it as a prop. So I couldn’t watch movies at the end of the day for a week because my TV was on set, as were most of my lamps and several other things.

But I was like, well, I’m the producer on this, so I’ve got to keep going. So that was it – I was the first one in and the last one out, in terms of producing.

FF: Terror Films is set to release ‘Site 13’ on digital platforms (today,) July 28. Why do you feel a digital release is beneficial for this type of horror movie?

NF: It’s still surreal. Every step along the way of making this has been great, but also came with challenges. When we finished filming, I was like, “Wow, we’re almost done.” But then four years later, we finished the edit of the movie, and again, I was like, “Wow, we’re almost done.” There’s always another step…so now I’m almost hesitant to say, “Wow, we’re almost done” again.

This is a digital North American release, so we’re starting on VOD. Then we’re going to other streaming services. So just like making the movie, it’s going to take a long time to come out, as well.

It’s just so strange because it’s been a part of my life for so long. I’ve been talking about it for so long that half the people I know are sick of it already, and they haven’t even seen it yet. (Faudree laughs.)

So it’s very exciting, but also very strange and surreal. That’s especially true since a lot of the film festivals we got into and the movie ran in were in 2020 and 2021, so they were all digital.

I actually only got to see the movie screen in a theater once, which was the last film festival that we were in, which happened last December. That was the first time I got to see it in a theater with an audience.

Up until then, it was like, it’s available digitally, and then I’d have to wait two hours. Then phone calls would come in from people who would say, “Oh, we loved it” or whatever.

So it’s just been a strange experience, especially since I made it. I keep forgetting that it’s a movie, and I’ll go back and watch parts of it and go, “Oh yes, this is a movie!” So it’s kind of exciting!