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lee_sjostrom
Reviews
Haunted (1998)
Not bad for a 'no/lo budget' film...
This is the very first film, besides my own College films, that I did Art Direction for. Most of the decor for 'Haunted' was straight from my apartment, including some of the wardrobe hanging in the dressing room! I did not get paid for working my butt off on this film because it was my first, and I needed the experience to get other jobs. That's the way you do things in Hollywood, work freebies (coined meals and copy) until someone actually thinks that you're worth paying money for.
If they didn't edit me out, I am a special business extra in the restaurant scene, playing guitar. Also, quite a bit of my artwork is hanging on the walls of various sets. Five of the pieces I did especially for the film (the ones in the restaurant) and this past summer, I used them in 'Post Dada Crap' a short video film which I wrote, produced, directed and edited. Yes, I learned a lot from my first experience in Art Direction! I am now a lo/no budget filmmaker.
I did receive a rough cut of 'Haunted', and I was promised the final cut. I contacted the producers, Dennis Devine and Steve Jarvis about that, but they never wrote back to me... By that time, I had moved back to Canada, so I guess they couldn't be bothered to pay the extra postage.
However, I'll be forever grateful to Dennis for 'hiring' me to do the Art Direction for 'Haunted'. I totally enjoyed being on the set at odd hours of the day and night and watch all the actors direct themselves as Dennis concentrated mostly on the Cinematography...
From what I saw and remember of the rough cut, it turned out fairly well, considering the very little money that was actually spent on it. Actually, now that I have almost everything I need as far as equipment and contacts, I can write my own feature and go to work! Reading about 'Haunted' on this site has inspired me! Lee Sjostrom
Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders (1996)
Not the worst ever film since I was involved with it.
My sister and I were credited with 'production design' for this movie so I actually know quite a bit about how and why this movie was made... It took, I think, 5 years to shoot and was totally paid for by Ken Berton. A lot of the furniture and props in the film were from my home or from my prop garage... I had to admire Ken for his tenacity in actually and eventually getting the film in the can. His marriage ended due to his obsession with it and I think that the last letter I got from him mentioned that he'd had to declare bankruptcy. That was in response to my insisting that my sister and I get paid for the work that we had done for the film. We have yet to be paid, and shortly before I moved back to Canada from LA, I stopped bugging him.
The movie must have been cursed because the last day/night of the shoot caused my sister's return to Canada, and her not speaking to me for nearly four years, until I myself returned to Canada. My sister and I went to the premiere together, and we were totally surprised to see Ernest Borgnine telling the story to the little boy. That part of the shoot we hadn't been involved in and Ken told us it was a last minute type decision to cement the different segments of the feature together... After a few years, I finally got a couple of copies of the film, but the memory of the shoot was so painful for me that I have never even opened the shrink wrap to the copies that I have. Neither has my sister. Is it possible that they may be collectors items one day?... I also helped with some of the special effects and with the make-up...
Yes, it was a very, very LOW budget film and I learned a lot from it, and I thank ken for that. I didn't think that it was the worst film ever, since I've seen much worse with much higher budgets.
lee~