There are all kinds of zombie movies – from zom-coms (or zombie comedies) to stark dramas like TV’s “The Walking Dead.” Now, there’s one being made about zombies in the frozen landscape of Northern Michigan. Director David Marek already has three zombie films to his credit. These are 1 to 2-minute shorts made to promote Traverse City’s annual Zombie Run.
Marek says, “And we were kind of amazed by the support we had and so we had the idea, ‘Why don’t we do a short film?’”
That short film became “Thaw of the Dead” which features zombies in the cold Northern Michigan winter.
Cat Muncey is producer of the film.
Muncey says, “So you’ll see our zombies are a little bit more darkened and grayed and blackened to simulate what frostbite would be like.”
The filmmakers used the crowd-funding web site Indiegogo. They’re making “Thaw of the Dead” on a shoestring budget of about $13,000. And some contributors got more than a movie poster or a signed postcard.
By donating money, they bought roles in the film. Marek says depending on the size of your donation, you could become a background zombie or a featured zombie.
Marek says, “It wasn’t like a casting process where we had them audition. It was community-driven where those who were our rabid fans became zombies.”
Like most zombie movies, “Thaw of the Dead” is about what happens to the people who haven’t yet been killed by zombies.
Marek says, “The basic idea is that there is a group of survivors living in the Boardman dam and they’ve been holed up in there for a year. They don’t go outside anymore because they lost more people going outside to look for food than if they did inside. When the film starts they’re actually drawing lots to see who in the group they’re going to eat next.”
The film was shot in March and April. Marek is still working on a rough cut to show to the cast and crew. He has 549 separate video clips to edit into the finished film.
Marek has quite a bit of experience. His production company Treefort Collective made the “colorbook” trailer for the State Theatre and bumpers for the Traverese City Film Festival.
“Thaw of the Dead” stars Heather Fairbanks who has appeared on AMC-TV’s series “Low Winter Sun” and Benjamin Busch who played the cop with the Marine haircut on HBO’s “The Wire.” In “Thaw of the Dead,” Busch plays Wane who runs into problems when he’s out looking for food.
Marek says, “And he actually gets tied up on the dock at Fishtown and left to freeze or be eaten by zombies.”
There will be a panel discussion about “Thaw of the Dead” during this weekend’s Cherry Capital Comic-Con. Marek, crew members and Benjamin Busch will provide an inside look at the filming of Northern Michigan’s zombie apocalypse.