With Halloween coming up in a couple months, if you’re looking for a movie to get into the spirit but that’s not too scary, look no further than Sung Kang’s directorial debut, Shaky Shivers. It’s a comedy-horror starring Brooke Markham and VyVy Nguyen as best friends Lucy and Karen, who must deal with the consequences when a disgruntled lady of the forest comes into the ice cream shop where they work and curses Lucy to turn into a werewolf.
Although slow in pacing at times, what makes Shaky Shivers a joy to watch is the dynamic between Markham and Nguyen in their scenes together. From dealing with an old bully from high school and performing an impromptu blood transfusion to fending off monsters (and each other), the complementary personalities of the two friends and how they play off each other’s strengths and weaknesses are the heart of the film. From a visual standpoint, the indie film does a lot with its limited budget, particularly in the visual effects department. At a time when CGI is the norm in the movie industry, it’s refreshing to see the handicraft of FX artist Gabe Bartalos, who takes a unique twist on supernatural creatures with physical prosthetics and costuming. Overall, Shaky Shivers strikes a balance between visceral gore and hilarious absurdity, taking viewers on a fun ride that will make them squirm in disgust in one scene and burst out laughing in the next.
Asia Blooming had the opportunity to interview director Sung Kang and leads Brooke Markham and VyVy Nguyen to learn more about how the film came to be and the unexpected hilarity that occurred behind-the-scenes.
Interview
Note: This interview contains spoilers and has been edited for clarity.
Thank you for taking the time to sit down and chat with me today. I had the pleasure of viewing Shaky Shivers a couple weeks ago. It was definitely a fun time, so I’m excited to hear your perspective on some of the questions I’m going to be asking today. My first question, I’ll direct towards Sung. Seeing as this is your directorial debut — congratulations, by the way! — I’m curious to know what drew you to the comedy-horror genre.
Sung Kang: Well, the writers Aaron Strongoni and Andy McAllister were on their way to Austin to get an award for the screenplay. And Aaron Strangoni and I’ve been working on scripts and projects for the years, and I had a little FOMO. I was like, “Aaron, where are you going? What’s up with this Shaky Shivers movie?” Aaron has a love affair with horror movies, and so does his buddy, Andy McAllister. They had done a short documentary about Gabe Bartalos, who actually did all our practical creature effects on Shaky Shivers. And Gabe is a living legend. He’s a disciple of Rick Baker. He’s a lover of the horror genre. When you meet him, this guy is a beacon. He’s a light. That light that shines behind his artistic eye, it’s like it’s infectious. So they wrote Shaky Shivers in honor of him and this dying craft of practical makeup effects.
Also, something that I used as my Northern star was Andy McAllister, who was one of the writers. He had an eight or nine-year-old daughter at the time, and he wanted to share his love for the films that he grew up enjoying in the horror genre. But he didn’t want to scare the bejesus out of her. So he created this wonderful story about the friendship of two characters, Karen and Lucy, and their journey as two friends being comfortable in their skin, not having to be the most popular girl in town. As long as you have that one partner in crime, that one best friend, you’re good. Especially today, with all the pressures of social media, what a wonderful message.
We shot this movie during the pandemic and I thought, being a child of the Sundance Film Festivals, that my first film would have been a coming-of-age drama. But I just wanted to laugh. It was such a dark time for everybody. And when you read Shaky Shivers on paper, the journey that these two doofuses go on in this world of monsters, it’s hilarious. It’s just fun. What a great way to spend time with old friends and new and go make a film together and live your dreams together. To be in Hollywood, to make movies right. And especially during that dark time of the pandemic. So multiple reasons inspired me to have Shaky Shivers as my first film.
What a great way to spend time with old friends and new and go make a film together and live your dreams together. To be in Hollywood, to make movies right. And especially during that dark time of the pandemic.
Sung Kang
I will definitely say I was very impressed by the effects. When VyVy, your character, turned into a zombie, I did not expect it to actually be that gory. So definitely props to Gabe for that.
And Sung, I love how you describe the characters as doofuses. Brooke and VyVy, I think your dynamic on screen is wonderful because it almost feels like I know these characters in real life, like they could be real despite these ridiculous situations they’re in. I wanted to hear you two talk about what it was like working with each other on set and whether there were any parts you improvised.
Brooke Markham: I love working with VyVy. It was really easy. We also lived together for a month while we were shooting, so we were together a lot. It was always just so easy and fun, and playing a lot. The writing was so good and grounded in its comedy. So with that, we were able to then do takes where we did a lot of improv and were able to play, and that was so fun. The things that came out of that were really special. I just loved it.
VyVy Nguyen: As soon as the script showed up, when my agents sent it to me, the dynamic between these two and their friendship made me laugh so hard. And I really wanted to be a part of it. [Brooke and I] have a mutual friend, and so I had met Brooke once before, and I was like, “Oh, my gosh, I have a chemistry [read] with Brooke for this movie. Can you please let her know I’m so excited to get to read with her on this?” When we did, because of the circumstances of the pandemic, we did a Zoom callback, and to have that banter and chemistry through the computer felt so good already. Then when I booked it, to get to do it with her in person was just a dream. Sung set us up for success too because he allowed us to play with the script and to improv when necessary, spice up a scene a little more.
Sung, I’m curious to hear your philosophy. How do you provide enough guidance to your actors while also giving them creative freedom?
Sung Kang: I was taught early on, as an actor, casting is everything. The cast can make or break your movie. Because I knew going in that we had limited resources to put in front of the camera, I had to lean on the actors. Once the right actors are cast in your film, the director’s job becomes very easy. When people ask me, what kind of direction did you give them? I didn’t really do anything because they’re both professionals. I don’t have to teach them how to hit their marks, and I don’t have to worry about them knowing their lines. They come prepared. When you work with professionals, it just elevates everything and it makes my job easier. All I have to do is call action, right? When you have actors that are willing to take chances, have ideas, and are willing to contribute, that’s where the improv becomes fun. They’re smart enough to know the world that we’re in, they know the genre, they know the characters. Brooke and VyVy became Karen and Lucy. Their relationship off camera became, real life, like life imitated art, if you will. Without especially our leads, Shaky Shivers had no chance because we had nothing to actually put in front of the camera. So they made the movie. They brought the characters to life. They are the heartbeat that allows the film to exist.
When you have actors that are willing to take chances and have ideas and are willing to contribute, that’s where the improv becomes fun.
Sung Kang
I agree. Again, [Brooke and VyVy], your dynamic and chemistry on screen is what carried the movie a lot of the times. Seeing as this is a comedy-horror film, there’s definitely a lot of comedic elements, but there are also some serious moments as well. The one that comes to mind is when Brooke discovers that Eric is dead. It took me by surprise because it just contrasted so much with the light hearted humor, and Brooke, you brought so much emotion to that scene. What was it like for you to be acting within these two different extremes and really showing your dynamic range here?
Brooke Markham: Honestly, I think that scene took me by surprise too when we were shooting it. Because remembering back when I was shooting that scene, I was like, “I’m going to play this.” And going back to what Sung was saying, he let us take risks. He really set the stage for us to really try and embody these characters authentically. If a person that is my friend and kind of my lover and obviously somebody that I love very much is dead, then that’s going to be really, really… I just wanted to play that as real as possible. I think Sung and I maybe had discussed that beforehand, but we just kind of decided in the moment to go there and see where that takes us. Let’s do it for a take. And then we decided that that’s what we want that moment to be. And how it transpired and how it wound up in the movie was just playing that [moment] for real, how I would react to somebody who I care about being dead.
Compared to all the “monster” moments, having that scene in there, made it seem even more real. Just that contrast.
Brooke Markham: Yeah. In my experience, a lot of comedies have very tragic moments. And then a lot of very serious dramas sometimes have some of the funniest things you’ve ever seen. So, I think those two worlds complement each other for a reason. You see it a lot.
In my experience, a lot of comedies have very tragic moments. And then a lot of very serious dramas sometimes have some of the funniest things you’ve ever seen. So, I think those two worlds complement each other for a reason.
Brooke Markham
With this being an indie film, I’m sure there were a lot of limitations and difficulties. What was a particularly challenging aspect that you had to overcome as part of this filmmaking process?
Sung Kang: The ice cream. You know, we have no ice cream in the film. There’s an ice cream shop with no ice cream. I asked the set designer. I was like, “Hey, it’s an ice cream shop. Are we going to have a refrigerator? He’s like, you don’t have the money. We can’t do that. And I was like, okay. But are we going to have ice cream when we actually do a close up of the shaky shivers [drink]?” And she actually couldn’t make it. This is how broke this movie was. So we’re on the day that we have to do the close up of the shaky shivers and I had this idea of what it was going to look like. It was going to be ice cream flowing out. It was going to have this frost on the glass and smoke coming out. And the prop master that day was giving me mad attitude. I was like, “What is up with this guy? Why is he so upset?” I kept asking him to see the ice cream and he’s being very evasive with me. Then I was like, “Can we see what it’s going to look like?” And then he puts like, two scoops of ice cream in the glass. I was like, no, it needs to be melting and overflowing, right? It needs to look delicious. It has to be cinematic. And he gives me another scoop. And I’m like, “What is up with this guy? Why is he so stingy with the ice cream?” [Laughs] And finally, I see a little box of cheap, generic ice cream, so I grab it and I start scooping it in there. And I look over and he’s just mad dogging me. He’s like, pissed off. And I went over and I was like, “What is your problem with this ice cream? Why are you being so possessive with the ice cream, man?” And he goes, “We had no money for the ice cream. These are my groceries. I thought I was going to be able to eat this ice cream later.” And I was like, “Oh, this is your groceries?” He’s like, “Yes, we have no money. We have no money for the ice cream.” [Laughs] So I gave him, like, $10, $20 for it. But these are the struggles of independent filmmaking.
Down to the smallest details. I never would have thought, but it was a worthy sacrifice of his groceries for that.
VyVy Nguyen: Because of budgetary reasons, we all stayed in these Airbnbs together. The first night we got there, Brooke and I get to the Airbnb, and there’s no reception in this area. We’re out in the woods, and there’s no Wi-Fi code or anything. We’re cut off from the world, right? How do we find out if our call times got changed or anything? So Brooke and I drive out that night, go winding through the forest in her car, and we find a turn off. We find some reception, and we’re just like, “Hey, guys, we can’t reach anybody. Our Airbnb is isolated from everybody.” [Laughs] So, Brooke and I just had this crazy experience. We were by ourselves in the woods, which really ended up making it a bonding experience. It felt like such a Karen and Lucy moment that we were going through, and it was right before we were about to start shooting. So it really just helped inform what we were about to shoot.
So, Brooke and I just had this crazy experience. We were by ourselves in the woods, which really ended up making it a bonding experience. It felt like such a Karen and Lucy moment that we were going through.
VyVy Nguyen
Brooke Markham: It felt like the first scene of the movie, like it had that energy. I think I said outloud at one point, I was like, “This is the first scene of the movie. It’s literally entering our real lives right now.” And then I had a very existential moment where I was like, “Did Sung plan this?” Because a weird guy popped out in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night. I was like, “Is Sung doing some Blair Witch Project type exercise with us?” But it totally was my anxiety just going through the roof. But yeah, it was great. [Laughs]
Brooke Markham: You know, Sung, I’ve never actually never asked you, was that you? Did you plan on that? [Laughs]
Sung Kang: No, I had no idea where you guys were staying because we were so busy with pre-production. I had no idea any of that even happened. [Laughs]
VyVy Nguyen: There you go. [Laughs]
Brooke Markham: We accidentally rehearsed the first [scene of the] movie before we even shot it. [Laughs]
VyVy Nguyen: That’s why we were ready.
That’s why I love asking this question for indie films. Because there’s always something unexpected that happens.
Sung Kang: Let me share this other story. This is actually a hilarious story. So another big problem we had was what was happening in front of the camera. So there’s an AC (camera assistant). We could not get experienced people to come onto this for multiple reasons. One, we can’t pay them properly. And two, it’s like the height of the pandemic. So, it was very difficult. The most challenging position to fill was the AC, the first AC. And the gentleman that we had in that position was chronically late. He was like 30 minutes to an hour late. And on a small film like this, you are essential. We can’t actually move without him, right? So we have to wait for him. And so the first time, okay… the second time you’re like, okay, now this is a problem. The third time, now we got to figure out what we’re going to do. So we’re already calling for replacements. No one’s available. And we’re trying to figure out why this guy is constantly late. We had limited resources, but every department had cabins, and they would room with each other. And this guy was insistent that he was going to live alone. And we gave him money for a hotel. And he decided he’s going to live in his van, right? And then we started getting complaints at certain houses that the toilets were clogged up, right? And so the first time, you’re like, okay. And then the second house, it’s completely clogged up, right? And it’s like overflowing. Third house, you’re like, okay, now there’s a problem. So we find out that he was waiting. He had the door codes [to the cabins], so he would wait until people would leave for their call time and then he would go in and poop and clog the toilet. That’s why he was late, first of all. And then he was the serial pooper. Because everyone’s trying to figure out “Why is the toilet completely clogged up?” [Laughs] They’re going to all the roommates like, “Come on, man. Just fess up. Was it you?” [The AC] eventually had to get replaced because he was again, like, an hour late. So that was a big problem.
Brooke Markham: Unfortunately, the bathroom for most of the time we were on set was, like, in the same room as we were shooting.
Sung Kang: And he was always in the bathroom. [Laughs]
Brooke Markham: We’d be ready to roll and then we had to wait. I didn’t know that story. I didn’t know that’s why he was always late.
Sung Kang: The serial pooper.
Wow. That’s very crazy. [Laughs] I did not expect that response when I asked the question, but I’m glad you shared it because that is a great answer to end on. Thank you so much for speaking with me today. It was great meeting you, Brooke, Sung, and VyVy, and good luck with the premiere!
