A: My interest in filmmaking began like most who venture into it. Some neighbor friends of mine would get together, I would sneak out my parent's video camera, and we would make really bad horror movies, music videos, and skits. It was a lot of fun. My main interest at that time was directing. I enjoyed the acting, but didn't quite get into it fully until I started working with Ryan Cavalline of 4th Floor Pictures. I had always been into writing and first played around with the idea of focusing on only that. I attended Penn State and pursued film there. I ended up making some film shorts, doing some theater production, and dabbled a bit in acting class, but still had not yet done anything with Ryan. I went on to do my internship in the home video department at MTV. I learned a lot from that experience. My intentions were to go on making my own flicks, but once I got involved with Ryan Cavalline, I got hooked on the acting part of filmmaking. So, that's really how I got involved in the movie business in a serious way. It was mainly because of Ryan allowing me to be a part of his projects. I'm grateful to him for that. Plus, acting's a lot easier than the crap he has to deal with (laughing).

          A: Well, I basically play a thug by the name of Geno. He's a scum bag who does the dirty work for a human trafficking ring. He goes out and picks out potential victims to bring back to his boss. I saw Geno as a career criminal who's finally found something he can belong to. He has someone who appreciates his work and he's sort of made an art form of it, at least in his own mind anyway. In the end though, he just wants paid like everyone else. I had a blast playing Geno and even though I normally play "bad guys," this time around it felt like I had a chance to develop more.

Q: Knowing how movie reviews may skew the perception of one’s product, give us in your own words what you want people to know about your film, “Stockholm Syndrome.”

          A: If you enjoy horror flicks, "Stockholm Syndrome" will definitely entertain you. I don't have a problem with long movies, but I see a lot today that go on and on, and as a result, distract from the point. Sometimes, there's a lot of shit that could be cut out and still make the intended statement. That's not the case here. "Stockholm" plays out well and is never boring. It sets up the characters without overdoing it. The movie picks up right from the start and you immediately know what you're about to get into without an overdone narrative. Most of all, it succeeds as a horror movie, wether you like indie or big budget. It takes the audience to a dark place that's based in real human emotion and horror. It exposes the ugliness of human nature and shows you a situation in which you would not want to be in yourself. It's a snippet of true crime that occurs in our society, and while on the cinematic journey of "Stockholm" you get to see some graphic gore that will linger with you long after the credits roll.

          A: I think the majority of the cast would probably agree that the "garage shoot" was the most taxing, especially for the scantily clad. It was the location that served as the warehouse/headquarters for the human traffickers. There were no amenities of any kind. I at least had a jacket that my character was wearing from a previous scene, but Todd Humes who played my partner in crime, was less dressed for the occasion. Either way, I think everyone was pretty much freezing. It was an all day shoot, but in the end I think the environment we worked in really added something to the scenes. There was a lot of mention of the cold, but no one complained. Everyone wanted to be there for the love of it and that's what makes it such a pleasant experience in the end. As bad as any shoot can get, it's still something I'd rather be doing than almost anything else.

          A: Everyone, including myself, who was present for the first day of filming thought it was going to be an exciting movie. Once Ryan called action and the scene started unfolding, all present just seemed to get even more motivated than they were before. I think it was the brutality of the scene and the energy of everyone involved that did it. It was a good scene to shoot first. I know a lot of times, the shooting schedule will be based on actor and location availability, but I think Ryan may have planned out the first scene because of the potential effect it would have on the cast and crew. It worked. Normally, it takes me a few tries or scenes to really get it, but this was the first movie in which I felt it on the first day.

          A: We actually met years before we worked together at several underage drinking parties at this camp in the middle of the woods. A mutual friend introduced us a couple of times at these parties because he knew of our similar interests in horror films. I honestly don't remember much of what we talked about then because of being drunk, but it probably was mostly me telling him how much I liked writing horror stories and him trying to find a way to get away from the obnoxious drunk. Then much later, my cousin Adam Berasi was doing some acting for Ryan in the third installment of his Day of the Ax movies (an older run of the series before he redid them). Ryan was told of my interest in taking part and gave me a small role in it. We hit it off with the friendship pretty quickly. It really amazed me that this guy wasn't just all about talk or waiting around for Hollywood to come knocking. He was making movies by any means possible. I was inspired and really wanted to be involved with his projects from that day forth.

          A: I wasn't involved a lot with the shooting of that one. Pretty much, I was present for my one scene and that was it. It was such a quick shoot for that scene, that I don't remember a whole lot of it. I remember driving to one of the other actor's house with Ryan to help out one day and the actor never showed. We knocked on the door and waited outside for some time before giving up. Apparently, he was sleeping inside the entire time. My fondest memories have more to do with the promotion and cons we attended. Also, it was the first real premiere of a 4th Floor Pictures release. I've since come to look forward to all of the premieres.

          A: I'm a big fan of dialogue and my character, J.R. Sorg, is not a man of many words. That being the case, it was a nice lesson in motion acting. It really made me aware of body movements. I'm not a tall guy, so I first questioned Ryan for asking me to do the part. At a con where we showed the movie, a guy approached me afterward and stated that he thought I was much taller and bigger, so I guess Ryan knew what he was doing. The shoot itself seems somewhat of a blur to me now. The most memorable day was the cabin shoot. We did have a lot of fun with that one. Ryan had rented out a cabin at a state park and made a bloody mess of it with fake blood and gut props. We had our victim tied to the table for J.R. and Pluto to carve up when a park ranger entered the cabin. After being explained what was going on, he just reminded us about taking care of our beer cans and cleaning up. He seemed mentally scarred by the moment though.

          A: The majority of that was shot at an abandoned farmhouse that was by a road. We had the interior of that place decorated with blood from top to bottom. There were also two victims we had tied up for a scene. As the scene was being shot, I noticed a jogger outside slow up, look in, then took off running again. Sure enough, she called the cops. She had thought it was all real. When the police officer showed up, Ryan went out to explain everything while all of us in our bloody get ups gathered around to watch. That must have been quite a site. Later that same day, I was to back up to a window upstairs for a scene in which I fall out of it. I threw my body back a bit too hard and impaled my arm on a piece of a glass shard in the already broken window. I drove to the hospital to get stitches then returned to finish shooting.

          A: Thank you. You know, people either hate or love those movies. After watching them, I can totally see why people would hate me in it. I'm very loud and annoying at times in that role. Those films are the ones that I'll probably always hold closest though. "Dead Body Man" was the movie in which Ryan first put me in a lead role. We had so much fun developing that character. I had no idea what I was doing on the first day of that shoot and I remember the moment Willie finally clicked for me. It's a scene in which he's cooking meat and hears the voice of God. The filming on those movies were some of the more relaxed shoots we ever had. There were definitely issues that would come up, but due to the nature of the story they were easier to deal with. Working with Pete Blessel (Evil Ed) is always fun, and his character in that series is one of my favorites next to Dr. Jones played by Ryan himself. It was great to see how everyone involved got on board with it as well. People were asked to do some crazy shit in those movies, but they always did it and were smiling afterwards. As for the character of Willie, I think a lot of him is simply based on Ryan Cavalline. A lot of what comes out of Willie stems from Ryan's sense of humor.

          A: Loose Cannon Productions was something I started as a means to direct my own movies. I shot a short I wrote called "Meat Hook" and a feature written by Robert Brewer called "Dead Summer." "Dead Summer was originally released in a two pack called "Diaries of the Living Dead" from Sub Rosa Underground. We have the rights back and will probably go a different route with that one. As far as Loose Cannon Productions goes, it's kind of dead. I really don't have plans to continue doing my own projects. I'm quite happy acting and taking part in 4th Floor Pictures projects. Who knows, maybe I'll eventually do something with it again but not anytime soon.

          A: I play a psychologist in 4th Floor Pictures newest production "The Killing Fields" which is based on various serial killers compiled into one guy. After that, I'm not a 100% certain what's next, but most likely it will be another 4th Floor project called "Rotting Souls." Hopefully, I'll get to hit up some cons this year. I'll also be helping to write a song with my band for a scene in "The Killing Fields." I recently reconnected with some old band members and we've been jamming again. One of them has his own studio, so that's been something that I've been focusing on lately, especially trying to get my voice back in shape. We're mainly just doing it for fun and to have something to show for it.

          A: Well, there's a project Ryan and I collaborated on that I won't elaborate too much, but I would hope that it would have come to fruition by then. It's a comedy script we wrote together. Other than that, I'm not sure. I'd rather focus on the present.

          A: Joel Coen, Tim Burton or Terry Gilliam. I know that's three, but that's what popped in my head.

          A: Horror, of course! I love doing horror movies, but comedy is also a blast. I'm really not in a situation to go picking my projects, but even if I was, I'm sure it would be a 4th Floor flick. I'm willing to do just about anything though. It's fun to get to be a part of anything that's movie related. I would love to do something a bit more dramatic some day as well.

          A: I'm kind of a shy person around new people. That's why I love acting so much. The dialogue's already written for you.

          A: The last horror movie I saw was a spanish one called "Shiver." As for a horror movie hardly seen, maybe "Dead End," or "Head Trauma." "Dead End" had such great atmosphere to it. It had this sense of foreboding through the entire movie.

          A: No problem. Thank you for your support of independent and low budget horror.