I recently sat down with Jason Armstrong, writer/director of Inspiration. We were both at our computers, but all the while maintaining eye contact. He was in Ontario, me in British Columbia. It was my first Skype interview. We really wanted to hear about Jason’s latest project, so technology made it happen.
Jason lives in a small town in Southern Ontario called Norwich, population approximately 2500. Not exactly a hub for indie filmmakers, but Jason states that finding talent for his films has never been a problem.
Jason’s company, Skeleton Key Films’ recent project is Inspiration, a psychological thriller. As they describe it: “When her marriage falls apart, a young author heads to a secluded town to return to her horror roots. Violence quickly finds its way from fiction to reality, with mayhem and murder erupting all around her. Is a dark force at work or is she simply going mad?”
This film boasts an incredible indie cast including Chris Carnel (The Crazies, My Bloody Valentine), Andrew Roth (Extraction Day, My Name is Paul), Ry Barrett (The Drownsman, The Demolisher) and, playing the lead role, Emily Alatalo (Neverlost, The Scarehouse, Route of Acceptance).
The idea for the film came to Jason while visiting some friends on an isolated acreage in Northern Ontario. They merely offered Jason their property for any future films. The writer in Jason immediately started filing through ideas and concepts until Inspiration had hatched.
Pre-production consisted of three months. Now, time to shoot it.
