Interview: Trevor Macy (The Bye Bye Man)

Trevor Macy is an incredible Producer. He has been involved with such films as: “Safe House,” “The Strangers,” and more. He spoke with me for a Horrornews.net Exclusive!

Hi Trevor, How are you?

Trevor- I’m fine thanks!

I watched “The Bye Bye Man” Blu-ray and it was amazing! Lot of horror, suspense and great scenes. How did you become involved with the film?

Trevor- Which cut did you see? The Blu-ray/DVD or theatrical cut?

I watched the Blu-Ray cut version.

Trevor- Oh great! So I got involved because the short story kind of came across my desk a few years ago now. Probably eight or nine years ago and I thought the idea was super compelling of a sort of something that was human and now is something more and he can kind of see inside you and pervert your worst fears or best intentions and use them against you. I found that very relatable and compelling. It took a bit of time to get the script to where I felt it should be. I bought Stacy Title on to direct and Jonathan Penner on to write and worked hard on it for a few years. I think it is the idea that kind of whenever I do a scary movie I ask myself what differentiates this from someone else, from another movie. In this case, I think it’s the heavy because I think the idea of him is very cool.

You were also involved in one of the scariest films and it is one of my favorite films, “The Strangers.” I sort of felt a few vibes like when you are on the edge of your seat. Why do you feel people are scarier than the “monsters” of the world like a Jason or a Freddy?

Trevor-First of all it is the kind of stuff that I respond to. Don’t get me wrong, I love Freddy and Jason but the more chilling, relatable human scary stuff is the stuff that stays with you. You can absolutely enjoy many different versions of a scary movie in the theater but “The Strangers” was kind of formative for me in that sense because it’s very relatable. That movie works because you were home is the fundamental thing that connects it to people. If you can place yourself in the protagonist shoes we’ve done our jobs as filmmakers and hopefully that will scare the hell out you. I think that happens in “The Bye Bye Man,” especially in the Blu-Ray cut.

I agree. Now do you think there may be a sequel to “The Bye Bye Man?”

Trevor- I don’t know. Let’s see how the home-entertainment does. We would love to continue playing in this world. People vote with their pocket books and we’ll see. You cannot postulate a villain.

The cast was amazing including: Doug Jones, Douglas Smith, Lucien Laviscount, Cressida Bonas, Michael Trucco, Jenna Kanell, Erica Tremblay, Marisa Echeverria, Cleo King, Faye Dunaway, Carrie-Anne Moss and Leigh Whannell. Did anything crazy happen while shooting?

Trevor- I think the set is the sum of unexpected events. It was a very fun set. There is a little secret about horror movies is I always joke that horror sets are super fun and comedy sets are super scary. We had a great time making it. We made it in Ohio in the fall of 2015 and it was a very collegial environment. I cannot think of anything unexpected that surprised us but we had a blast making it.

What do you want to say to the fans that will be watching “The Bye Bye Man” Blu-Ray /DVD?

Trevor- I am particularly excited for people to see the Blu-Ray cut because it was how the movie was originally designed. There’s a bunch of scenes in there that I feel kind of wrapped it up the tension and the scares, the effect of “The Bye Bye Man” in a way that the theatrical cut didn’t so it is fun to be able to present something that is meaningful different than the theatrical cut. I’m excited for that cut to be out there in the universe.

What are you working on next Trevor?

Trevor-Sure, I am finishing up a Stephen King adaptation called, “Gerald’s Game” with Mike Flanagan for Netflix which I am not sure quite yet when it will come out but soon. I had a great time with that. Then it looks like we are starting a movie called “Eli” which is a haunted house movie about a kid with an autoimmune disorder with Ciaran Foy directing. There are a bunch of things in the works.

One of the scenes I wanted to ask you about without spoilers but there is a train involved and it is so creepy but beautiful the way it was shot. What can you tell us about it?

Trevor- Well thank you! The history of “The Bye Bye Man” which is sort of teased but not explained fully in the movie has a lot to do with trains. You don’t see scenes like that too often so it was fun for us and we felt like that kind of made it stand out. But it also is intrinsic to the mythology of our villain. You sort of see in the opening the sound of a train is kind of a harbinger of him approaching and the underlying short story there’s more to that than we kind of reveal in the movie. He kind of gets around on trains as he comes to you. At least that is one way he gets around so we felt like putting something like that in the movie was very intrinsic to the mythology and something we hadn’t seen before.

Did you always love horror movies growing up?

Trevor- I was late to the party on horror movies. The horror movies that I saw back to back were, “The Changeling,” the George C. Scott version which I still love till this day. It’s one of my favorites and “The Thing.” I know everybody says, “The Exorcist,” “The Shining,” and “Rosemary’s Baby” but I kind of came in a different way than most people but I love those types of movies. I like them more and I respond to them personally more than I do then “Texas Chainsaw.” I love and appreciate “Texas Chainsaw” but the movie didn’t speak to me the same way as those two. There are types of things that I work on now whether they are supernatural or not, I like them more chilling and relatable and things that stay with you type of horror and yeah I have always liked that.

Tell us a little about Doug’s process of being The Bye Bye Man. He is such a brilliant actor. What was his thought process?

Trevor- I should start by saying Doug Jones has more acting ability in his little finger than many actors do in their whole body. He is the most amazingly collaborative person. To answer your question when we were developing the make-up look with Bob Kurtzman who is excellent or the costume with Leah Butler who is excellent, Doug was there the whole time. The thing about Doug Jones is not is his movement is extraordinary, his ability to sell scary. He just knows it so well. I have worked with him twice now and I can’t wait for the third time. I am trying to find something that I have an excuse to put him in. Every time he comes up with an idea it feels fresh and it feel intrinsic to the character. He was instrumental in bringing it to life from a design point of view and obviously from a performance point of view.

How did you feel about Stacy’s directing?

Trevor- Oh for sure. Stacy is an old friend and I have been wanting to do a movie with her for some time. I have to say the professional collaboration was as fun as the personal relationship.

I loved when she directed “Let the Devil Wear Black.”

Trevor- I love the idea that the majority women. I loved having a female voice behind the camera. I think that’s great. I think there should be more of that.

Did you have a favorite scene out of the Blu-Ray version?

Trevor- The two that jump to mind. I loved the opening scene with Leigh Whannell, the single shot which isn’t in the theatrical cut but is on the Blu-Ray. I love a movie opener that sort of grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go. I think we may have achieved that on this movie but audiences will decide but that’s one of my favorites. Then the climactic scene where you are dealing with multiple hallucinations from multiple parties and like I feel like that scene especially as we conceived of it and executed it in the Blu-Ray really delivers on that concept.

My Mother is an artist and she actually watched the film and said, it was like an incredible piece of art. She is not a TV/Movie person but felt it was very well shot and the locations were insane. What can you tell us about the house and the locations?

Trevor- We were all on location and the house was the same house for the interior and exterior. I think we lucked out. I think if you can achieve that everything kind of feels more grounded and real. So we were lucky finding that house. An interesting thing about that house but you can’t see it really because we framed it out very carefully, there is a big piece of that house that you can’t see so oddly we only used probably three-quarters of the house as you see it in the movie is very carefully framed so there is a big part of it that you can’t see. We were lucky to find the house.

What advice would you offer to filmmakers, actors etc. who may be scared to start a project?

Trevor- There is no substitute for doing it! You have to get out there and do it!

Thank you Trevor.

THE BYE BYE MAN

AVAILABLE ON DIGITAL HD ON MARCH 28, 2017

AND ON BLU-RAY^™ AND DVD ON APRIL 11, 2017

IMDB THE BYE BYE MAN