Posted in: Exclusive, Horror, Interview, Movies | Tagged: Buffalo 8, Christie Griffin, exclusive, interview, Jared Allmond, the hive, Timothy Haug

The Hive Director & Star on Creating Opportunities in Sci-Fi Thriller

Actor Timothy Haug and director Jared Allmond speak to Bleeding Cool about their latest supernatural thriller, The Hive from Buffalo 8.

Timothy Haug was tired of waiting on Hollywood to give him his big break. So he did what any determined artist would do: create his opportunities as an actor and partner with Jared Allmond, who's looking to take that major leap into directing his first feature film, The Hive from Buffalo 8. The supernatural horror thriller follows Albie (Haug) and Penny (Christie Griffin), a young couple with a failing marriage, who try to rekindle the fire by having a night out alone. To make matters worse, the couple returns home to armed strangers. With no help from their neighbors or law enforcement, they attempt to get evidence of the intrusion. They're captured by the intruders and tortured for information. There's no hope until Albie escapes and saves Penny. So hellbent on revenge, he puts their marriage on the line. Unfortunately, all help has been compromised, and there's nowhere to run. The two spoke to Bleeding Cool, under the SAG-AFTRA interim agreement, about developing the indie sci-fi thriller during the pandemic, Haug and Allmond's journey in wearing multiple hats, and their most challenging sequences.

Creating the Cerebral & Intense Psychology of 'The Hive'

Bleeding Cool: Jared, what inspired 'The Hive?'
Allmond: Inspiration was multiple things. We had a practical inspiration, which was more along the lines of an idea that started in late 2020 when a lot of us were doing nothing, and we were a bit bored and unfulfilled. Tim and I got together and said, "Let's do something we can do within our means and create a feature. That was the impetus of it, and then, since we wanted to do it within our means and with a budget that we could handle ourselves, we decided to go with something more approachable, which would be something based on one location at a house. We went from there, and we thought, "Let's make it about a home intrusion." We wanted to give a little bit more weight, so "Let's add some gravity by making this about a couple that is struggling, they're on the rocks, and we can dive into some elements and themes regarding that so people can relate more to the story."

Tim, what does a project like this like to do as far as exploring your space goes?
Haug: Like Jared said, it all started because of what was happening. We saw an opportunity that this is something we can do ourselves. We can fund this ourselves and make it happen. In the climate then, I had been going out for many big roles, but I kept getting beat out by no names. I was like, "No, we must do something. Let's make something ourselves." Then, I'll be able to play what I want in a plot that I want, and that's kind of how it came to fruition. Is that what you meant in space?

As far as your limited resources are concerned, I imagine there are things that you had to do to stretch the budget and make everything work. What does a project like this allow you to do that you wouldn't be doing?
Since we could fund it ourselves, that was the main thing. We are going to do this idea with the story that we want, and we will be able to make it happen because we're funding it. Jared and I executive produced, he directed, and I took over many of the producer responsibilities and acted in it. We both had dual roles, but we could do what we wanted.

Jared, how do you break down your journey from shorts to your first feature film? Was it more challenging, or was it an extension of what you were already doing?
Allmond: That's a good question. It feels like a seamless step for me. It felt like the right time for me as I've done a bunch of shorts and ad stuff. I do a lot of stuff for Knott's Scary Farm in Southern California, which is a hunt-based theme park attraction, and it involves a lot of scary type of elements. I applied a lot of the same tactics that I would for stuff like that to this movie, and it felt seamless. It was a longer shot.

Timothy, can you break down your rapport with your costars and what it was like filming with them on set?
Haug: This was a special project because it all started with Jared and me. We first worked together a few years ago. He directed a short film, and I was cast in the lead role. From there, our bond grew, and we liked working together. That's what brought this to fruition, but as for the rest of the cast, it was amazing because Jared had already done a lot of stuff, especially in the same genre as Knott's Scary Farm. He already knew most of the actors. He knew who he would cast in every role except for the lead girl. Penny, played by Christie Griffin, was already cast in his mind. Together, we cast the lead role for Penny. It's fantastic because you already had that connection with them, and I enjoyed working with everyone. It was a blast. Both the strange man (Miles Taber) and woman (Julianne Ruck) did an amazing job because it was exactly what we wanted. That's precisely what they were. When someone watches the movie immediately, they will be like, "Who the heck are these people? Like, I have no idea as we approach the plot twist and once things start happening.

Is there a particular sequence or aspect of the film that stood out to you, or was challenging that?
I have one that I immediately thought of. There were a couple of things in the movie that we had to change because of what we could do at a certain time. Initially, there were supposed to be a couple of different scenes, and we had to completely change them. We were originally actually going to have a police officer go to the house instead of that phone call scene.
We would initially have the cop car pull up like they were waiting for them, and we changed it. It's funny because it turned out great, and we love that he's the one who looks like he's part of the police, right? He's the one with the badge. The one with the gun. You're like, "What the heck is going on here?"
Allmond: That was a challenge because the police officer thing dropped out before we went into production. The first thing that came to my mind as a challenge was the ravine at the end; when they went into the ravine, we had a limited amount of time to shoot down there due to hiring a police officer to go down there. We only had him for an hour and a half, and there were a few elements that only lent us a little bit of time to be down there. It was a lot to get shot, but a bunch of shots to get done in about an hour and a half that we had on our permit, but that was a challenge for us.

The Hive is available on digital and on-demand.

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