Interview with Filmmaker Jed Brian

It’s been a long road for filmmaker Jed Brian and his first movie, “Unlisted Owner.” However the movie is now available, and has been a hit especially on Amazon. We got the opportunity to talk to Jed about his film, how it was made, and how he helped push it into the top 10 on Amazon…

-PH: Lets start with your film “Unlisted Owner.” What’s it about?

-Jed: “Unlisted Owner” is a 74 min. found footage horror film. The movie revolves around a house that has been vacant for several years because of its very dark history and with the recent series of murders it has been taken to the next level. A family who had just moved was murdered causing the curiosity of a group of friends to get the best of them. Deciding to break in and investigate with hand held cameras, would be the worst decision of their fun filled night. The film has been edited as crime scene evidence from the Lawford County Sheriffs Dept.

-PH: So it’s a found footage film. Why did you decide to shot it that way as opposed to the more traditional route?

-Jed: The main reason I decided to make a found footage film was funding. Don’t get me wrong, I love found footage films but all my pervious scripts were written in the traditional format. I really did know that if I were to make a movie at that time it would have to be low budget since I was funding it myself. After brain storming and knowing the resources I would have available I decided to make the plunge and try my hand at found footage and came up with “Unlisted Owner”. 

-PH: What was the biggest challenge in shooting it as a found footage film?

-Jed: I would say trying to do special effects scenes is one of the hardest things to do in a found footage film. See in traditional films you are able to jump back and forth between camera angles to do the effects more easily. The problem with found footage is you are only looking through one point of view this makes it almost impossible to do those shots. For the special effects in Unlisted Owner we did blend edits to make the scene seem seamless such as the attic space scene. You may wonder why we did effects for that scene well our problem was there was no attic space in the house and had to build a set to look like the real room to make the house seem like it had the attic space inside when it didn’t at all. You really have to think outside the box to do those type of shots in found footage.

-PH: Talk a little bit about the cast and their performances.

-Jed: For “Unlisted Owner” being my debut film I couldn’t of asked for a better cast then the one I had. In the movie I had basically cast some of my best friends to play many of the major roles which was an awesome experience to be able to make a movie with your best friends. I was so lucky to have surrounded myself with people who were as dedicated to the project as I was and their acting for being 1st timers in a movie was so believable it’s crazy! In a found footage film almost the entire film rides on your actors on how realistic they make their characters and I fell that everyone hit a home run in this film hands down.

-PH: It’s been a long road for “Unlisted Owner.” It started in 2013, and finally recently hit Amazon. Why the long wait?

-Jed: After we finished filming “Unlisted Owner” in 2013 we decided to try the film festival route in late 13’-14’ and were not accepted into one. Which was a little disheartening since everything I had read was to get a distribution deal for your film you need to get into the festivals. Well in late 14’ I took a trip to LA where I learned about the American Film Market (AFM) after looking more into AFM I found out that it was the following week and had missed the deadline. So I waited an entire year and prepped to go in November of 15’. After having a lot of interest from AFM by mid 2016 we had narrowed it down to three distribution companies and signed with Summer Hill Films/ Tom Cat Films in October of 16’. By January 2017 we found out from our Distributor’s Quality Check Report that we needed an M&E track for the film which is all the background sound separated from the dialogue which we did not have since all the audio recorded was what get documented on the camera. So from February-July of 17’ we had to recreate every sound effect for the film, which is a lot of work for a found footage film since there is no musical score to take away from all the footsteps and floor creeks. After that we finally had a release date of November 14th 2017. That is the short version of why it took so long but it was a learning experience and well worth the wait!

-PH: Well it was obviously worth the wait because the film made it into the top ten of horror movie releases on Amazon. What did that mean to you?

-Jed: It was a dream come true! I remember the night I found out we were on the top 100 list at #14 after being made available for pre-orders for one day! I couldn’t believe the support surrounding the film! I was so pumped then to see the film reach the number 9 spot was a milestone for me for sure then on top of that “Unlisted Owner” stayed on the top 100 list for 15 weeks! Another thing I thought was crazy was we were on the list during one of the toughest times for competition for a horror film in September/ October and we were only in the pre-sale stage at that time!

-PH: You directed, wrote, and acted in the film. What was that like? After that experience, which role would you prefer in the future?

-Jed: When you’re wearing all these hats while making a movie, it is extremely challenging to say the least. Instead of being focused on one thing you have to be thinking about everything to do with the film at once. With that being said when you’re an Indie Filmmaker with a low budget looking to get your film out there you have to do what you have to do to get the movie made. It was a learning experience for sure and I believe that will really help me in my future projects. As far as what job I like the most I would say writing, directing, producing or acting those are my favorites for sure just sound is not for me. Haha after doing all those sound effects for the full film that is an aspect I think I will let someone else handle next time.

-PH: Not only did you perform all those roles, it looks like you are lead marketer for the film. You’ve been all over social media, and horror sites promoting the film, which we definitely respect. Talk a little about that experience, your strategy with it, and how much it has helped the film.

-Jed: I think three things have helped out with the films continued success and that’s the film was shot in my home town of Sumner IL. using all local talent, so from the very beginning there has been a huge amount of community support behind “Unlisted Owner”. Another thing I think that has helped is everyone likes to see someone out there chasing their dream and going for what they want to do in life. I think it’s really easy to get behind something that has a feel of someone being an under dog in an industry full of major players. Most important in my view are the fans of horror especially ones with horror news sites and podcasts, I feel so grateful for all the love and support sites such as Promote Horror have shown “Unlisted Owner” people who are willing to share press releases they see or information they get. I can’t imagine where “Unlisted Owner” would be if it weren’t for the horror community being behind me 110%!

-PH: Final two questions… Why horror? When did your love for horror begin?

-Jed: Ever since I was young I have always loved horror! When I was a kid I had Vincent Prices “House on Haunted Hill” on VHS along with the monster movie King Kong Vs Godzilla. With being able to watch those great films and my parents taking my brother Jake and I to haunted houses when we were younger helped me gain my love for horror. I didn’t really think about making films until I saw Eli Roth’s Hostel, that film opened my eyes to real life horror. To see something not super natural and be that scary opened my eyes to a all new way to think about horror. If you notice in “Unlisted Owner” the original family of five are call the “Roth family” named in his honor!

-PH: Here’s your chance to promote anything we haven’t talked about. Lets us know something more about your film that wasn’t mention, where people can find it, future projects, and/or anything else you would like to mention.

-Jed: I want to take this time to thank Promote Horror for all the support it has shown not only “Unlisted Owner” but also myself as a writer/ director and I feel honored to have all the support Promote Horror has given. I would like to say that we are doing our 2nd in store DVD signing at Barnes & Noble in Greenwood IN. which is right outside of Indianapolis IN. the signing will take place on Saturday April 7th at 1:00 PM EST. We will have DVD’s for sale and will be signing them at no extra cost. We also will have our 6 ft tell movie poster you can take selfies in front of and tag us in. If you want to find out more information about “Unlisted Owner” you can visit our website at www.unlistedowner.com you can also catch us on social media at:

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/UnlistedOwnerMovie/

Twitter @UnlistedOwner

Instagram @mr.jed_brian

If you haven’t seen Unlisted Owner it is Available on DVD at
Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Unlisted-Owner-Jed-Brian/dp/B075RC469T

Barnes & Noble https://m.barnesandnoble.com/w/dvd-unlisted-owner-jed-brian/27001193?ean=0822928051199

Fye https://www.fye.com/unlisted-owner-amg_video.v592305.html

If you would like to stream the film you can at

Amazon https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B077JJXS16/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1516137310&sr=8-1&pi=PI_PJPrime-Sash-Extra-Large-2017,TopLeft,0,0_AC_SX118_SY170_QL70&keywords=unlisted+owner&dpPl=1&dpID=51D3%2Bdma0aL&ref=plSrch

Google Play https://play.google.com/store/movies/details?id=F1-rkGwlGzo

YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1-rkGwlGzo

Microsoft Store so you can get it on your Xbox https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/p/unlisted-owner/8d6kgwxl3cvz/0001  and iTunes! Thanks again for taking the time to speak with me and all the continued support! Love the Promote Horror Shirt!

And we would like to thank Jed for taking the time to talk with us as well. Hopefully you got to learn about his film and how it was made. Don’t forget to check out the film and support it at any of the links above!

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