Juliet Landau first stole our hearts (and chilled our blood) with her stellar portrayal of Drusilla, the mad vampire with a deadly romantic streak. Starting with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and moving on to Angel, she has set an impressive bar for other actresses to meet, but still maintains a quiet dignity and enthusiasm for everything she does.
Joining Whedonopolis for the first time at San Diego, Juliet will premiere the teaser trailer for her new project at our screening, as well as visit our booth with her exclusive “first look” item. We sat down with her in advance of Comic-Con to discuss her latest project.
Juliet Landau and Gary Oldman
Q: WHAT ARE YOU PRESENTING AT COMIC-CON THIS YEAR?
A: I am promoting my documentary A PLACE AMONG THE UNDEAD. It is becoming the definitive, comprehensive documentary about vampires in myth and pop culture. We have a stellar group of interviewees, never gathered before together in one film! I can’t wait for people to see who is in the movie so far! We haven’t released the line-up yet. I think people will be excited.
Q: THAT’S A PRETTY BIG GENRE. HOW IN DEPTH DOES THE PROJECT GO?
A: The material is so vast that I have broken the project into two feature length documentaries. A PLACE AMONG THE DEAD covers crime, reality / when people take the fantasy of vampirism too far. A PLACE AMONG THE UNDEAD covers every aspect of vampires in myth and pop culture: movies, TV, art, literature, comics, music, video games and young adult literature. The basic structure of UNDEAD is to explore all the metaphors of vampirism, i.e. sex, loss, disease, addiction, the outsider, etc, as seen through the eyes of their creators. We are illustrating each section with a short film. As with our past documentaries, the movie will be a tapestry, a hybrid, a narrative journey, incorporating the interview footage.
Q: HOW WOULD YOU SAY THE INTERVIEWS DIFFER FROM OTHER DOCS?
A: It’s a real insiders’ view…. People are very relaxed, telling stories never shared before on film. There is a lot of empathizing from one vampire to another! I think everyone has had a lot of fun.
Juliet Landau and Anne Rice
Q: SO IF OUR READERS AND YOUR FANS WANT TO GET THE FIRST LOOK AT THE TEASER TRAILER, WHERE SHOULD THEY GO?
A: On Sunday July 12th at 2:45pm in room 6BCF, I will premiere the teaser, conduct a brief Q & A and then introduce the “Once More With Feeling” musical episode of Buffy. I hope people come and support!
Q: WHAT’S THE NEXT STEP FOR THE PROJECT?
A: My husband, Deverill, and I have been self-funding to this point. The project has grown beyond all measure from what we imagined. We have lot of amazing people that want to be interviewed in all different parts of the world. We’ve met a number of production companies who want to invest, but we want to maintain control and protect the integrity of the project. We are going to launch an Indiegogo campaign. We think it will enable us to serve our interviewees and make the film that fans want to see!! I will keep you posted on that front…
Q: TELL US MORE ABOUT THE INDIEGOGO CAMPAIGN. WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO KICK-OFF FUNDRAISING AT COMIC-CON?
A: I worked with a phenomenal artist, Mike Collins (from Tiki Machine – Visit him during #SDCC “Small Press P-02”) in creating a First Look, Limited Edition 18 x 24 UNDEAD poster, premiering at Comic-Con! We just received them from the printers and we LOVE them! I will personalize them and Mike will also sign them.
And all people who buy them at San Diego will automatically make buyers a partner in the film through IndieGoGo, ensuring a special “Visionaries” credit in the end titles. They’ll also receive the rest of the perks at this level when the perks are fulfilled. These are: 1) Streaming version before it is available for public purchase, and for 90 days after it has been released to the public. 2) Special director’s commentary of movie 3) Wallpaper photos 4) Digital Meme 5) Access to blog including Hang W/ updates from the team as we make the doc.
Once we go active, (when UNDEAD goes live) this signed poster will be a $100 perk and it won’t be personalized, only signed. I am very excited to be personalizing them on Sunday from 10am till 1pm, at the Whedonopolis booth, Exhibitor Table B7.
Q: HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED WITH WHEDONOPOLIS AND HOW THEY ARE HELPING YOU REALIZE YOUR PROJECT?
A: Whedonopolis is amazing! I have been friends with Marsia (Powers) for a long time. Marsia and Tony (Caballero) had the brilliant idea of showing my APATU trailer at their annual “Once More With Feeling” event. The idea of signing and the “Visionary UNDEAD perk” branched from there. I will also be participating in Whedonopolis’ May 2016 event for Fandom Charities. Lots more about that…. But first up… Comic-Con!
For UNDEAD inquiries please contact jointheundead@aplaceamongtheundead.com
About Juliet Landau
Juliet Landau (Director, Producer) co-starred in Tim Burton’s ED WOOD and starred opposite Whoopi Goldberg in THEODORE REX. She created the role of Drusilla on BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, appearing on BUFFY and ANGEL over the course of six seasons. Juliet directed the documentary TAKE FLIGHT about and for Gary Oldman and co-directed DREAM OUT LOUD, which features interviews with Guillermo del Toro, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Rian Johnson. She is currently co-directing A PLACE AMONG THE DEAD. She has starred in close to 20 films, guest starred repeatedly on television and done extensive voiceover work in features, television and video games. Juliet has garnered outstanding reviews and awards for her work in the theater every time out. Three of her favorite leading theater roles are Roberta in DANNY AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA, Blanche in A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE and Hennie in AWAKE AND SING!
