Gary Ugarek, writer/director of the undead opus DEADLANDS: THE RISING, gave Fango the first word on his latest project, a zombie short called TRAPPED. Currently lensing in Maryland, it’s “the story of six strangers stuck inside a movie theater on the night the U.S. government tests a new biological weapon on the residents of a small Maryland city,” according to Ugarek. The filmmaker plans to wrap the first part of the shoot in early December and then take a short winter hiatus, during which editing and other postproduction will begin; he’ll then lens pickup shots next spring.
Playing Dr. Robert Mitchell, head of the scientific project that unleashes the walking dead, is Jim Krut, who was the infamous “helicopter zombie” that loses part of its head in George A. Romero’s classic DAWN OF THE DEAD. “Having been a fan of DAWN since the age of 6 or 7, it was a great experience to work with the man who had the most memorable demise in the film,” Ugarek tells Fango. “In early September, I spoke with Jim about the role; he does live theater performances quite often, so I asked if he was interested in being a part of the movie. He read the script and agreed. On set, I gave Jim this little bit of info: ‘You are playing God.’ He just ran with it, and turned in a great performance.”
Ugarek will premiere TRAPPED next October at the same theater where most of the movie is being shot: the Hagerstown 10 Cineplex in Hagerstown, MD. For more on this and Ugarek’s other projects, see his official website here.
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