10 Questions with Ian Holt
1. How did it come about you and Dacre Stoker writing a sequel to Bram Stoker’s Dracula?
When I graduated NYU, I was working on a screenplay about the historical Dracula based on the 1973 non-fiction best-seller by Prof. Radu Florescu and Raymond McNally, In Search Of Dracula. I wound up traveling around the world with the professors’ lecture tour and even went to visit Transylvania in Romania and spent the night in the ruins of the historical Dracula’s Castle in Poenari. The professors became my mentors and I became, as they called me, a “Dracula Historian.” I soon found myself giving lectures on both the historical and fictional vampire Dracula and their influence on our society and culture around the world.
I was asked to speak at Dracula ’95 in LA, the 100tth anniversary of the release of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. I was standing in the bookstore and saw at least 50 sequels to Dracula and none of them were successful or had any connection to the Stoker family. I had the idea. I knew that Bram’s widow had a hand in crafting the 1931 Bela Lugosi Dracula film and that she was frozen out by the studio when it came to the failed sequel. I started to wonder what the Stoker family had in mind for continuing Dracula’s story.
Years later, through a mutual friend, Prof. Elizabeth Miller (a Bram Stoker historian), I was introduced to Dacre Stoker, Bram’s great grand nephew. Since I am a filmmaker, I approached Dacre about writing a screenplay together. Dacre suggested that to honor his ancestor, Bram, we write a novel instead. We began researching and speaking to elder Stoker family members. It was like two police detectives piecing together clues to a century old cold case. Eventually, we discovered Bram left behind many hints on characters and even his actual handwritten notes on story threads that never appeared in the original novel. Dacre and I did our best to fill in the gaps and came up with the story. It was almost like we were writing it with Bram.
Thus, began an exhaustive almost three-year book writing and historical research process that ended with the publishing of, Dracula, The Un-Dead.
2. Who has been your biggest influence as a writer?
Here’s where I get into trouble with literary purists. I ask everyone to remember I am a screenwriter first and foremost.
My biggest writing influence is screenwriter, Shane Black. I have always loved genre films and novels: horror, sci-fi and action. Up until Shane wrote Lethal Weapon all character and story development ended with the beginning of the action scene. What Shane did for me that was so revolutionary and groundbreaking was allowing the characters and story to develop in the midst of the action. This made for a much more exciting screenplay read and ultimately, highly enjoyable films.
I tried to bring this bubbling cauldron mixture of action, character and story developing all at once (along with the horror) to writing Dracula, The Un-Dead.
3. Can you describe the writing process between yourself and Dacre Stoker when you wrote Dracula the Un-dead?
Dacre was in South Carolina and I was in New York for most of the years we spent writing. Once we finished all our initial research and settled on the story, we started by exhaustingly discussing and then outlining and finally bullet-pointing every scene and chapter. That became our road map. Then, we broke the story up into character threads and chapters that went together and split up the writing duties.
We talked constantly on the phone as we wrote separately over the next couple of years.
When we each did our historical and period research and finished our threads/chapters, we switched and re-wrote each other’s work.
For the final push, we hooked up face to face again over a few weeks, merged the threads, smoothed the rough edges and pushed out a first draft together.
As I write it, this sounds a lot simpler than the climbing of Everest it actually was. Trust me.
4. What current writing projects are you working on?
I am proud to announce the formation of my new genre film production company, Alt House Productions, with producers, Michael Kuciak (Freezer, Blood Shy, Killer Party) and Michael Alden (The Hours, Just Cause, Kissing Jessica Stein).
We are currently in pre-production on our first feature, a supernatural thriller, Unhinged, which I wrote and will shoot early next year. Unhinged is co-produced by Archstone Pictures and will be distributed worldwide by Archstone Distribution.
We’re also getting ready to shoot our first feature documentary, From Roosevelt To Reagan: The Rise Of Public Enemy – the never before revealed true story of the formative years of music superstars Chuck D and The Bomb Squad's Keith Shocklee, founding members of the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame rap group, Public Enemy.
5. Was it a daunting task to write a sequel to one of the most well-known horror novels ever written?
Extremely daunting! That’s because Dracula fans are broken into many factions. First, those that love the original novel. Second, those that haven’t read the novel and only know the movies. Third, those that love the novel and the movies. Fourth, those that disregard the novel and movies and are only concerned about the real-life, historical Dracula. And, even these factions can be broken down into subsets like those that like the more sexual, scary and violent vampires as opposed to those that like the tamer more Twilight-like vampires or as I call them, veggie-vamps.
As George Lucas said when writing the prequels to his own Star Wars trilogy, the biggest hurdle is that the millions upon millions who have seen, or in our case, read the original has in their imagination their own ideas for what should happen in any continuation of the story.
The daunting part of writing Dracula, The Un-Dead was trying to hit that sweet spot that would give all Dracula/vampire loving fan factions and subsets something we hoped they would enjoy.
What pleases me most is the overwhelmingly positive reaction from the fans who made the novel such an amazingly popular success around the world.
6. Is there any subject that is off limits for you as a writer?
Considering I’ve been working on a horror screenplay based upon a true story about the ultimate taboo, necrophilia… I would say no. There is no subject off limits to me as a writer. All I care about is if the characters are interesting and the story is compelling.
I mean who would have thought a horror movie about a flesh eating virus (Cabin Fever) or a demented scientist that wants to stitch people together into a human centipede (The Human Centipede) would be huge hits?
A writer, and a horror writer especially, should have only one mantra: NO FEAR!
7. Out of all of the film adaptations of Dracula, which do you think is the best?
This one is complicated. The one thing that always bothered me about Bram’s Dracula novel is the outdated belief that evil must fall just by good people opposing it. If only that were really true. Dracula is supposed to be so powerful and evil, yet he really doesn’t put up much of a fight at the end. Dacre and I believe Bram thought this too, but was hamstrung by the niceties of the time. That could be why the publisher and Bram changed the definitive ending of the early draft of the novel and left the door open to a sequel.
So, that is just a long-winded way of me saying that my own personal favorite Dracula film, although flawed, is the 1979 Frank Langella version. In that film, Dracula puts up a good fight and even kills Van Helsing. Dracula’s as scary, dangerous and powerful as he’s set up to be. Can you tell I always root for Dracula?
But, if you’re asking me what is the best film version of Bram’s novel, I have to say hands down is the BBC 1977 mini-series version, Count Dracula, starring Louis Jourdan. It is the only filmed version that includes the complete text of Bram’s novel pretty much as written. I highly recommend it if you haven’t seen it.
8. What has your experience been like writing and producing “Episode 50”?
Although I am very proud of Episode 50 and it was a huge international success that has opened many doors for me financially and professionally, I have to say that so far none of the films I wrote wound up on screen anything close to what I originally intended.
That is the biggest experience from Episode 50. I had to learn that even as a writer/producer, you might have more say than just as the lowly writer, but the truth is: he who controls the money controls what ultimately ends up on screen.
That was what I loved most about writing Dracula, The Un-Dead. With a novel the writers are in total control. The story Dacre and I intended to tell is exactly what wound up on the page.
This is why I decided to go into business for myself with my partners at Alt House Productions and finance our own films. No matter what happens from here on out, as Dracula might say, “It must be better to rule in Hell than serve in Heaven.”
9. What has drawn you to the character Dracula?
In some form or another, everyone at some point in their life wishes they were Dracula. It was no different for me. You like a girl, just give her a little bit of that Bela Lugosi wrist and finger action, hypnotize her and she’s yours. No awkward first dates or fear of rejection. Some big kid messes with you, Dracula has the strength of twenty men – the bully is dead meat. Before you can drive, Dracula can turn into a bat and fly off whenever and wherever he wants. No more waiting for busses or your parents to drive you. Why go to school or work if you’re Dracula? If you need money, just rob a bank. No prison can hold him. Just turn to mist and slither away through the bars.
Like the poster for the movie The Lost Boys says, “Sleep all day. Party all night. Never grow old. Never die. It’s fun to be a vampire.”
10. What form of writing do you prefer, writing novels or screen plays?
I have a photographic memory. So, while most novelists I would guess see words, I see images or the story playing out like a movie in my brain. It’s the same way Beethoven is said to have seen his music. That’s why many people consider Beethoven the first film score or soundtrack artist. This was documented really well in the excellent film about Beethoven’s life, Immortal Beloved.
It’s naturally harder for me to interpret the images I see into a novel, than to describe the images I see in a screenplay. Therefore, I have to say I enjoy writing screenplays much more than writing novels.
When I graduated NYU, I was working on a screenplay about the historical Dracula based on the 1973 non-fiction best-seller by Prof. Radu Florescu and Raymond McNally, In Search Of Dracula. I wound up traveling around the world with the professors’ lecture tour and even went to visit Transylvania in Romania and spent the night in the ruins of the historical Dracula’s Castle in Poenari. The professors became my mentors and I became, as they called me, a “Dracula Historian.” I soon found myself giving lectures on both the historical and fictional vampire Dracula and their influence on our society and culture around the world.
I was asked to speak at Dracula ’95 in LA, the 100tth anniversary of the release of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. I was standing in the bookstore and saw at least 50 sequels to Dracula and none of them were successful or had any connection to the Stoker family. I had the idea. I knew that Bram’s widow had a hand in crafting the 1931 Bela Lugosi Dracula film and that she was frozen out by the studio when it came to the failed sequel. I started to wonder what the Stoker family had in mind for continuing Dracula’s story.
Years later, through a mutual friend, Prof. Elizabeth Miller (a Bram Stoker historian), I was introduced to Dacre Stoker, Bram’s great grand nephew. Since I am a filmmaker, I approached Dacre about writing a screenplay together. Dacre suggested that to honor his ancestor, Bram, we write a novel instead. We began researching and speaking to elder Stoker family members. It was like two police detectives piecing together clues to a century old cold case. Eventually, we discovered Bram left behind many hints on characters and even his actual handwritten notes on story threads that never appeared in the original novel. Dacre and I did our best to fill in the gaps and came up with the story. It was almost like we were writing it with Bram.
Thus, began an exhaustive almost three-year book writing and historical research process that ended with the publishing of, Dracula, The Un-Dead.
2. Who has been your biggest influence as a writer?
Here’s where I get into trouble with literary purists. I ask everyone to remember I am a screenwriter first and foremost.
My biggest writing influence is screenwriter, Shane Black. I have always loved genre films and novels: horror, sci-fi and action. Up until Shane wrote Lethal Weapon all character and story development ended with the beginning of the action scene. What Shane did for me that was so revolutionary and groundbreaking was allowing the characters and story to develop in the midst of the action. This made for a much more exciting screenplay read and ultimately, highly enjoyable films.
I tried to bring this bubbling cauldron mixture of action, character and story developing all at once (along with the horror) to writing Dracula, The Un-Dead.
3. Can you describe the writing process between yourself and Dacre Stoker when you wrote Dracula the Un-dead?
Dacre was in South Carolina and I was in New York for most of the years we spent writing. Once we finished all our initial research and settled on the story, we started by exhaustingly discussing and then outlining and finally bullet-pointing every scene and chapter. That became our road map. Then, we broke the story up into character threads and chapters that went together and split up the writing duties.
We talked constantly on the phone as we wrote separately over the next couple of years.
When we each did our historical and period research and finished our threads/chapters, we switched and re-wrote each other’s work.
For the final push, we hooked up face to face again over a few weeks, merged the threads, smoothed the rough edges and pushed out a first draft together.
As I write it, this sounds a lot simpler than the climbing of Everest it actually was. Trust me.
4. What current writing projects are you working on?
I am proud to announce the formation of my new genre film production company, Alt House Productions, with producers, Michael Kuciak (Freezer, Blood Shy, Killer Party) and Michael Alden (The Hours, Just Cause, Kissing Jessica Stein).
We are currently in pre-production on our first feature, a supernatural thriller, Unhinged, which I wrote and will shoot early next year. Unhinged is co-produced by Archstone Pictures and will be distributed worldwide by Archstone Distribution.
We’re also getting ready to shoot our first feature documentary, From Roosevelt To Reagan: The Rise Of Public Enemy – the never before revealed true story of the formative years of music superstars Chuck D and The Bomb Squad's Keith Shocklee, founding members of the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame rap group, Public Enemy.
5. Was it a daunting task to write a sequel to one of the most well-known horror novels ever written?
Extremely daunting! That’s because Dracula fans are broken into many factions. First, those that love the original novel. Second, those that haven’t read the novel and only know the movies. Third, those that love the novel and the movies. Fourth, those that disregard the novel and movies and are only concerned about the real-life, historical Dracula. And, even these factions can be broken down into subsets like those that like the more sexual, scary and violent vampires as opposed to those that like the tamer more Twilight-like vampires or as I call them, veggie-vamps.
As George Lucas said when writing the prequels to his own Star Wars trilogy, the biggest hurdle is that the millions upon millions who have seen, or in our case, read the original has in their imagination their own ideas for what should happen in any continuation of the story.
The daunting part of writing Dracula, The Un-Dead was trying to hit that sweet spot that would give all Dracula/vampire loving fan factions and subsets something we hoped they would enjoy.
What pleases me most is the overwhelmingly positive reaction from the fans who made the novel such an amazingly popular success around the world.
6. Is there any subject that is off limits for you as a writer?
Considering I’ve been working on a horror screenplay based upon a true story about the ultimate taboo, necrophilia… I would say no. There is no subject off limits to me as a writer. All I care about is if the characters are interesting and the story is compelling.
I mean who would have thought a horror movie about a flesh eating virus (Cabin Fever) or a demented scientist that wants to stitch people together into a human centipede (The Human Centipede) would be huge hits?
A writer, and a horror writer especially, should have only one mantra: NO FEAR!
7. Out of all of the film adaptations of Dracula, which do you think is the best?
This one is complicated. The one thing that always bothered me about Bram’s Dracula novel is the outdated belief that evil must fall just by good people opposing it. If only that were really true. Dracula is supposed to be so powerful and evil, yet he really doesn’t put up much of a fight at the end. Dacre and I believe Bram thought this too, but was hamstrung by the niceties of the time. That could be why the publisher and Bram changed the definitive ending of the early draft of the novel and left the door open to a sequel.
So, that is just a long-winded way of me saying that my own personal favorite Dracula film, although flawed, is the 1979 Frank Langella version. In that film, Dracula puts up a good fight and even kills Van Helsing. Dracula’s as scary, dangerous and powerful as he’s set up to be. Can you tell I always root for Dracula?
But, if you’re asking me what is the best film version of Bram’s novel, I have to say hands down is the BBC 1977 mini-series version, Count Dracula, starring Louis Jourdan. It is the only filmed version that includes the complete text of Bram’s novel pretty much as written. I highly recommend it if you haven’t seen it.
8. What has your experience been like writing and producing “Episode 50”?
Although I am very proud of Episode 50 and it was a huge international success that has opened many doors for me financially and professionally, I have to say that so far none of the films I wrote wound up on screen anything close to what I originally intended.
That is the biggest experience from Episode 50. I had to learn that even as a writer/producer, you might have more say than just as the lowly writer, but the truth is: he who controls the money controls what ultimately ends up on screen.
That was what I loved most about writing Dracula, The Un-Dead. With a novel the writers are in total control. The story Dacre and I intended to tell is exactly what wound up on the page.
This is why I decided to go into business for myself with my partners at Alt House Productions and finance our own films. No matter what happens from here on out, as Dracula might say, “It must be better to rule in Hell than serve in Heaven.”
9. What has drawn you to the character Dracula?
In some form or another, everyone at some point in their life wishes they were Dracula. It was no different for me. You like a girl, just give her a little bit of that Bela Lugosi wrist and finger action, hypnotize her and she’s yours. No awkward first dates or fear of rejection. Some big kid messes with you, Dracula has the strength of twenty men – the bully is dead meat. Before you can drive, Dracula can turn into a bat and fly off whenever and wherever he wants. No more waiting for busses or your parents to drive you. Why go to school or work if you’re Dracula? If you need money, just rob a bank. No prison can hold him. Just turn to mist and slither away through the bars.
Like the poster for the movie The Lost Boys says, “Sleep all day. Party all night. Never grow old. Never die. It’s fun to be a vampire.”
10. What form of writing do you prefer, writing novels or screen plays?
I have a photographic memory. So, while most novelists I would guess see words, I see images or the story playing out like a movie in my brain. It’s the same way Beethoven is said to have seen his music. That’s why many people consider Beethoven the first film score or soundtrack artist. This was documented really well in the excellent film about Beethoven’s life, Immortal Beloved.
It’s naturally harder for me to interpret the images I see into a novel, than to describe the images I see in a screenplay. Therefore, I have to say I enjoy writing screenplays much more than writing novels.
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