Nick Simon talks 'The Girl in the Photographs' at TIFF 2015

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‘The Girl in the Photographs’: Nick Simon Remembers Wes Craven at TIFF 2015

By Perri Nemiroff

Published Sep 22, 2015

Simon recalls how Craven helped him get the movie off the ground and how he guided and supported him throughout the entire filmmaking process.

We lost Wes Craven a few weeks ago, but his effect on the film industry was as prominent and powerful as ever at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival courtesy of Midnight Madness selection, The Girl in the Photographs. Craven served as an executive producer on Nick Simon’s latest which centers on a young woman named Colleen (Claudia Lee) who keeps finding disturbing photographs of murder victims. When a well-known Los Angeles-based photographer (Kal Penn) hears about them, he opts to take a trip to the small town to investigate and possibly exploit the situation and get inspiration in the process.

Not only does Simon credit Craven with getting The Girl in the Photographs off the ground, but Craven has also served as a longtime mentor for the up-and-coming horror filmmaker. Shortly after the Girl in the Photographs world premiere, I got the opportunity to talk to Simon about his relationship with Craven and the support and guidance he gave him while making this film. Check out what he told me about working with the legendary horror director in the video interview below.

Nick Simon:

00:04 - Coming up with the idea for the film.
01:12 - Is American Apparel aware that their ads inspired the idea for this film?
01:35 - Did he ever consider taking the demonic approach instead of making this a slasher film?
02:01 - Wes Craven was key to getting this film off the ground.
03:12 - How Simon first met Craven.
04:38 - Which Wes Craven movies influenced The Girl in the Photographs?
05:18 - Craven’s involvement through pre-production, production and post.
06:00 - Getting to work with Craven and legendary cinematographer Dean Cundey.
06:19 - Developing the visual language with Cundey
07:04 - Choosing to shoot the movie on an Alexa.
07:38 - The short shooting schedule and finding the primary location.
08:29 - Coming up with the final photograph featured in the movie.
08:58 - Casting the villains, Tom and Gerry.
11:02 - Figuring out how much exposition to include.
12:07 - Advice Simon got from Craven that he’ll take with him to future movies.
12:48 - Finding the right masks for the killers.
13:58 - They didn’t test screen; they first started shooting the movie on April 15th of this year.
15:36 - Craven’s reaction to the finished film.
16:21 - A Wes Craven Easter egg to keep an eye out for.
16:45 - Simon on his experience working on The Pyramid at Fox.
18:10 - His experience at TIFF.