Josh Heath on ectoplasmic stuff and his 48 Hour Film Project, ‘Pregnant With Fear’

“Girls laugh at me when I talk to them, however I don’t know if that’s at my jokes or my face. Who can tell?”

Every year, LakeFrontRow talks to the filmmakers behind some of our favorite entries from Madison’s 48 Hour Film Project, which challenges teams to write, shoot and cut a short film in the span of one weekend.

The first in our interview series, Josh Heath might also be the most unique. Crafting bizarre oddities with Wil Loper (who reviews films for WISC-TV3)  and Dustee Hardy in Nice Melons Films, he channeled the group’s dadaist humor and playful style in Pregnant With Fear. As Heath’s first 48 Hour Film Project behind the camera, the short is an absurd send-up of thriller and horror tropes that begins with office drone Garth (Heath) getting called into work on a Saturday and culminates in a con job of hilariously petty proportions.

After taking home an Audience Favorite award in this year’s competition, Josh Heath talked to us about comedy, ectoplasmic stuff and the genius of Dale Mitchell.

Your team name was Amish Grandmas Anonymous. Where’d that come from?

Josh: Old women have always been a staple of the Nice Melon-verse, so we had to draw from our past to create the future, you know? Plus, it reduces down very nicely to an abbreviation: AGA. It just rolls off the tongue for when we strike gold in the “’biz,” which is what I like to call show business.

You’ve worked with Nice Melons before, right? How long have you been making movies together?

Josh: I’ve been working with the Melons for getting on six years, now! We’ve done a handful of fake trailers and short skits together years ago, which are all available on the Nice Melons Films YouTube page. Dustin, Wil and I are all good pals. At least I hope so! They hate playing movie trivia games with me.

My experience with filmmaking is minimal as far as a ton of “hands on” directing is concerned. I’ve done a few music videos all back in high school, and I directed a handful of commercials, shorts, and one two episode miniseries at the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater. I did major in Electronic Media and Film Studies, a major which I had to create myself actually. Some pieces I’ve written on filmmaking and film analysis won University Writing Awards so people up there did kind of refer to me as the “movie” guy. I’m still quite the amateur with a long way to go, but the only way to get better is to keep trying, right?

Comedy is weird for me to tell you the truth. I refer to myself as a “comedian,” with quotes, because that way I feel like I don’t get anybody’s hopes up. I’ve always been a writer,and was known for my goofy short stories which I’d read aloud in classes and make other kids laugh. I was in the seventh grade talent show and did three pop culture spoof skits which made 11-year-olds laugh so that was cool. A teacher in middle school took me under her wing and made me a de facto leader of the kid’s improvisational comedy club. I did my first stand-up set when I was 17 and I’ve never “bombed’ so to speak because I can make people giggle even when I’m not funny. I have a few recorded sets on my personal YouTube page for viewing. Girls laugh at me when I talk to them, however I don’t know if that’s at my jokes or my face. Who can tell?

You mentioned in your screening that this was your first time directing a 48 Hour Film Project. How was that experience?

Josh: It was a great experience! Directing large projects on my own before, it was nice to have second opinions from informed individuals, especially ones I respect and wholeheartedly believe are so much more talented and skilled than I am. Without Wil and Dustee this movie definitely wouldn’t have been anything like the finished product. That’s the thing I love the most about this competition, actually, is the fact that it really emphasizes teamwork and ego control. It’s about the project, not the individual.

I love Dale Mitchell in whatever he does, but he is a perfect fit for this character. Did you have him on board ahead of time?

Josh: Actually I take back that “not about the individual” thing! Dale was the key to this movie’s success. His energy carried the second half of the film across the finish line, back home, and it even tucked the movie in nice and tight. Dale pledged his allegiance to the team a week or two before the festival, but boy was his phone blowing up as the date drew nearer and nearer. Dale is Madison’s hottest acting property right now!

What’s with the ghost’s squishy walking?

Josh: You know that ectoplasmic slime stuff from Ghostbusters 2? We just imagined the ghost would be covered in that stuff. I mean, Bill Murray got slimed, didn’t he? That’s what it would sound like if, you know, a ghost was walking around a carpeted office building clumsily.

I love the elaborate con. Whose idea was that?

Josh: That came up in writing when the three of us were trying to tie all of the strange occurrences together somehow. We actually got to talking about it and there seems to be a trend in Nice Melons Films films that they seem to end this way all the time anyway, with the dramatic wrap-up at the end. It was also supposed to be a send up of a genre trope. There’s always the bad guy who yells at the protagonist something along the lines of “You just don’t get it, do ya?!” and after that there can only be a long-winded explanation after that, you know? It worked out so well!

You’re drawing on comedy, heists and horror in this. What was your genre again?

Josh: Oh boy, don’t worry we were asking ourselves the same question while writing. We were a horror film this year, which we tried to make apparent with the first bit featuring Wil getting all bloodied up. Dustin constantly referred to having “Saw-like” music playing throughout the film to establish the tone, which I believe worked, especially during the wrap-up sequence. Oh man, when Garth removes his wig to show us his real scalp, it was chilling wasn’t it? I guess we played up the thriller aspect, as well. But the comedy was expected! When the three of us get together, the jokes just form out of thin air.