Filmmakers Remarks The production of FEED ME began during the summer of 2008 when producer J.R. Lipartito and director / writer Norman England decided the time was right to make a film together, the two having known each other since a meeting at a Godzilla event at the Taro Okamoto Museum in Kawasaki in 2002. The first thing agreed on was that they should do something in the horror genre, if only because it was summer, which is the high-fright season in Japan. The second was that it should cost as close to nothing as possible. (When all was said and done, the production came in at around 100,000 yen ($1,000). A communications major at the Japan campus of Temple University, J.R. suggested that the production acquire actors and crew from the ranks of the school's students. Additionally, much of the equipment used on FEED ME was loaned out by the school or donated by friends. To play the part of Misaru, the ghost girl, Norman enlisted Mari Naka, the two having met at the 2008 Yubari Film Festival. Assuming the position of Director of Photography was Rob Moreno. And creating the look of the ghost Misaru was Yukiko Arai. Shooting commenced on July 19, 2008 and totaled six-days scattered over the next several weeks. Editing began immediately. Handling the optical effects was Mike Olson, and Rob continued his involvement by working on FEED ME's color correction. For the music score, Norman turned the task to Giuseppe Strano. FEED ME was completed in March of 2009. Director's Message Making FEED ME was a lot of fun. While it had the lowest budget of any film I've ever worked on, I welcomed the challenge. Filmmaking is like anything: a creation made from scraps and parts. I was eager to hone my ingenuity and curious to see what J.R. and I could make with next to nothing. My inspiration for the FEED ME script came from my experience writing for Fangoria magazine, the world's greatest horror movie magazine. I've put in many exciting days on the sets of Japanese horror films and have followed the initial enchantment and eventual tiring of the genre by Western fans. In this way, I thought it would be fun to juxtapose elements of both cultures and maybe even chide the two a bit. I love both approaches and feel each has their own strengths and weaknesses. Ultimately, FEED ME is a tongue in cheek film, both serious and silly at the same time. The shooting was - as shooting always is - tough. Mostly, this was due to the dripping, humid Japanese summer. Working at night was of little relief and introduced me to a whole range of insects I never knew existed in Japan. Among them were palm-sized jumping spiders and one-inch long beetles that let out a puff of stink when touched. And then there was the night we were dive bombed by swarms of cicada fed up with the lights and the racket made by our biggest budget expense: a gas powered generator. It was as if we were not making a film but were instead reenacting the plot from a 70s bugs-conquer-the-world exploitation film. The cast and staff were real champions. I had originally planned to do the night location shooting in two-days. That turned into four. And even though the time was doubled, we were still constrained with having to get a shot in the can every 8 minutes just to stay on target. It was a situation with me yelling, "Go! Go! Go!" every other minute. I'm surprised no one punched me by the end of the shoot. All in all, FEED ME was a great experience. I hope that those who watch it can appreciate what we did with so little. - Norman England