Movies & TV / Columns
Scott W. Perry On His New Film Follower, Talks Working With Debbie Rochon & Lance Henriksen
Image Credit: Hilltop Studios
The 411 Interview: Scott W. Perry
Scott W. Perry is a writer, director, and producer who, according to his IMDb page, has been working in the entertainment space since at least 2006. Perry has directed such short films as Something Just (2010), Once, When I Was Dead (2014), and Upon Arrival (2019), as well as the series In Fear Of (2012). Perry’s latest short film as a director is Follower, which is now available to watch for free on the Slick Devil Entertainment YouTube page (you can check out the short film here). In this interview, Perry talks with this writer about making Follower, working in the horror/thriller genre, upcoming projects, and more.
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Bryan Kristopowitz: Why did you want Follower to be your latest short film as a director?
Scott W. Perry: Follower came about as an idea due an interest I’ve had with cults and the fascination on how one can be manipulated to join one. As a child of the 1980s and a teen in the 1990s, I remember vividly the horrors of the Branch-Davidian cult and its leader David Koresh, and the aftermath of what happened. In recent years, reading about the horrors of the NXIVM cult terrified me. There was a slight personal connection to it as a screenwriting partner of mine, years before we worked together, sold a script in the late 1990s for Showtime, and the film starred Allison Mack before she went on to Smallville (2001). There was a documentary on the cult that aired on HBO and the details of how they were able to operate were just astounding to me. Cults, and being willed to do things you don’t want to do due to the power of manipulation and gas lighting, probably scares me more than monsters, so to make it a film was an easy decision.
I also wanted to make a film that focused primarily on dialogue and interaction. I was interested in seeing if a compelling story can be told with minimal effects, actors, and locations as possible. Add to that having the two leads as good friends who were looking to act in a project together, making Follower at the time was the best decision to go as a director.
BK: Where was Follower filmed?
SWP: Follower was filmed on Long Island in Melville, NY at a production facility, once the home of local station TV-55, now it’s the home of The Donna Drake Show and studios. They were in the process of renovating, and we needed a room that looked like an interrogation room for one day. Since they knew the ins and outs of production well, it was a great collaboration. We had the space until 5pm and we locked the doors at 4:59pm.
BK: How did you cast Follower? What was it like working with both Heather Drew and Patrick Devaney?
SWP: The film was written specifically for the two actors, Heather and Patrick. I have known both for years on the NY/NJ indie horror circuit. Heather and I had worked together on several projects, but this was the first time working with Patrick in any capacity. Patrick is also a terrific writer/director and had finished a science fiction film called Identity Check (2020), about a near future where you can purchase another’s identity, in which Heather starred in. When both told me they wanted to act together, that was where the genesis of Follower began.
Heather Drew is one of the best actors and hardest working talents I’ve ever known. We’ve been friends for over a decade and she has been a part of every film I’ve directed since. She does a fantastic job of understanding characters and on set is focused and prepared. She was recently on the ABC show What Would You Do? and I would admit that if it wasn’t for her resolve and support, the last few films wouldn’t have been made.
Patrick was a delight to work with as Detective Crawford and understood the levity and the message behind the film, and with his background as a writer and director, understood exactly what we were going with. Patrick has played a lot of detectives, and has appeared on Law & Order, so he understands the film logic of police procedurals. Add in another element to his performance that had to be convincing, and we went through a lot to make sure that moment was impactful.
BK: What was the hardest part of making Follower for you as a director? What was the easiest?
SWP: The hardest part was convincing everyone involved with the film not to reveal anything about it until we finished, and I mean when the film was completed, post and all. The reason was because I wanted to surprise people on its release and not have any pressure associated with it. Sometimes you can put a lot of pressure, unwanted pressure, on yourself as a filmmaker, especially when posting on social media endlessly about a project that may never see the light of day. I know a week before we were filming, Patrick was a panelist at a festival and wanted to mention filming Follower, and I asked him not to. In hindsight, it was a smart decision because those we knew were very surprised by the result.
The easiest was filming. We shot the entire film in 5 hours but we were very prepared to get what we needed. We had a small crew and a great location, plus we had rehearsed all to the point that we knew the material up and down. We gave ourselves a luxury that a lot of indie projects don’t get, because of lives and schedules, and we all made sure we found a balance to make this as good as possible but not sacrificing life in the process.
BK: How long did it take to make Follower, from completing the script to finishing post-production?
SWP: From the initial conception of Follower to completion, I would say just under a year. The idea had been in my head, though, for many years prior, and one that came to the forefront when Heather and Patrick were looking to act together in a project.
I presented Heather and Patrick with the script in January 2022. Immediately, we went through a long rehearsal process that consisted of the three of us, plus producer and cinematographer Stolis Hadjicharalmabous, and we went through all the bases. Heather and Patrick even arranged Zoom meetings on their own time to go over the script and suggest to me dialogue changes which overall made the film better. They were good within two months, but rehearsal isn’t just for actors. Now we had to consider how we were going to film it.
In May 2022, we all got together at my house and filmed the entire script like a play, each time doing a different angle. Through that, Stolis edited a cut where we were able to determine what shots worked best and at what points. Since we only had a day to shoot on a 16 page script, we had to be ready. So we had four plans in place in case of any mishaps or unforeseen discrepancies. Of course, those happened so we had to go to our Plan B, which was a two-camera set up. Initially we were going to go with one camera but we quickly found that the two-camera setup made the performances more organic in the final cut.
Post-production was probably the easiest process I’ve ever had in any of my projects. By October 2022 we were done. Barbara J Weber, who scored the film, is a regular collaborator and what I love about working with her is she gets an instant sense of mood, atmosphere, and tone just by watching the cut. All the elements were in play within 3 months. We missed the Halloween festivals so we waited until spring 2023 to begin our festival run. Even then we kept the project a secret.
BK: How many film festivals did Follower participate in? Do you consider its festival run successful?
SWP: Overall, we played around 30 from 2023 to 2025, the first being the Big Apple Film Festival in New York City in May. I know from July 2023-October 2023 we played in about 20 because every weekend it was a new festival to go to. It’s the first film I have done where it was accepted to more festivals than rejected. I do consider it to be a huge success. What was funny is that I had planned not to submit to festivals in 2025 but we were asked to on a few occasions. I like that we began our run in New York City and ended it this past December at the Scared for Your LIIFE Film Festival roughly 5 miles from where we filmed it.
I am very proud of the festival run and the awards we won: three Best Short Film awards, two for screenwriting, two Best Actor wins for Patrick, two Best Actress wins for Heather, and one festival gave us a special award for the film’s ending. I was especially proud of the Best Short Film win at the Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival (now Amazing Fantasy Film Festival). I arrived a day late, but I heard the screening went phenomenally well the night before. The only reason I missed it was because Follower was playing at another festival in Cleveland, so Heather and Patrick represented Buffalo, as I had been to Buffalo several times and felt they would be welcomed with open arms there.
Buffalo is a great center of independent talent and a lot of great films have come out of there. Gregory Lamberson has been a great supporter and whenever I finish a film, Buffalo is one of the first places I look for in submitting. Another highlight was screening at the SmodCastle Film Festival in New Jersey and playing in Kevin Smith’s own theater. As a fan of Smith’s, it was a tremendous honor.
BK: According to your IMDb page, you’ve directed a number of short films in your career. What do you like about the short film format?
SWP: For a lot of indie filmmakers who have full time jobs and commitments, short films are usually easier to assemble, as most times it requires a weekend shoot (or two) as opposed to a full schedule of a feature. It can be used for a variety of ways; a calling card to showcase your talents, a proof of concept for a possible feature, or just a great story that can be told that way. For me, each film I’ve done has been made for all of those reasons.
As a writer, I like a challenge of telling a cohesive story in less time. Whereas a feature can be 80-120 pages normally, a short film can be anywhere from 1-60 pages. There is a little more freedom with that, and that part of it does appeal to me.
BK: It also seems as though a good chunk of your work as a director is in the horror/thriller genre. Why does that genre appeal to you?
SWP: I am a native of Amityville, New York. Growing up a child in the 1980s, when the movie franchise was at its peak, the mention of Amityville meant the word horror. I wouldn’t go anywhere mentioning my hometown without horror associated with it. Fun fact is we had a movie theater in town that closed in 1986 but they refused to play any of the Amityville movies. The other reason is that my mother, who passed away in 2020, loved horror and used me and my older brother as the reasons why we would go to the movies to see some horror classics. At 7 years old, my mom took me to see Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) and successfully argued with the theater manager that it was okay for me to see the film. What my mom did for me I would recommend for any parent. I wanted to watch a Friday the 13th movie, but she wouldn’t let me watch any slasher film until I watched another video first. That was Tom Savini’s Scream Greats (1986). She wanted to let me know it was all fake and that we were watching purely a show for entertainment purposes. I became so enthralled with the effects that I would watch these movies and rewind and play back to see how the effect was done. Doing it at home with an older brother who collected Fangoria is awesome. Bringing in a VHS copy of Day of the Dead (1985) in fifth grade and rewinding the zombie scenes in a town notorious for a mass murder meant a lot of visits to the guidance office. But I have always been a fan of the horror genre and felt I grew up in the right time for it. Jason, Freddy, Leatherface, it was the second coming of the “Universal Monsters” in a sense.
And in case you were wondering, yes, I have been inside the actual “Amityville Horror” house. It’s just that. A house. Whenever I’ve shot at my home, I get asked to see the house. Since the owners are private and don’t want to be bothered, I usually take them to a spot that is safe where they can take pictures of the house and not disturb anyone.
With all of that said, Follower is my first thriller and it’s a genre I’m looking more into. As a writer, I’ve written everything from comedy to drama to science fiction, but horror has been the main genre I’ve written. I do love a good action thriller, though. When I went to college, everyone wanted to be Pulp Fiction (1994) while I gravitated more towards the films of John Woo, Wes Craven, James Cameron, and Takashi Miike.
BK: Your 2019 short film Upon Arrival is fantastic. What is it like making that short film? What was it like directing the voice of modern indie horror legend Debbie Rochon?
SWP: Thank you for saying that. Upon Arrival was a way to get back into the filmmaking fold after a few years out. The idea came along when I was with friends in New York City one night at a restaurant and outside I saw an ambulance across the street with the sirens on for about an hour. My mind was racing with thoughts, and one came to me, “What if they’re at a murder scene and are waiting for police to come?” EMTs are always the first to respond and they have to wait for forensics to come, and not touch anything. So I thought “What if the body didn’t want to cooperate?” And that night I wrote Upon Arrival. I remember sending it to Heather the next day and she sent me a text telling me, “This is your next film.” We shot that in a day as well and that was a lot of fun. It’s basically a simple exercise in tension and fright, and it was good to be on set again.
Debbie Rochon has been a friend for a very long time and we have worked together on a few projects. In fact, Debbie and I co-directed a short film, “Glossophobia,” which was part of my In Fear Of web series from 2012-2014. Working with Debbie is always a delight, and she knows what to bring to the table. In co-directing, which we had to do as she was filming Model Hunger (2016) at the same time, we had a great time collaborating and working together. With Upon Arrival, it was a process that took maybe an hour, but I wanted her involved at some point. She used to live near me in New York City but now she lives in Canada, but she is a surefire legend.
BK: You also worked with modern indie horror legend Tiffany Shepis on your 2014 short film Once, When I Was Dead. What was that experience like?
SWP: Tiffany Shepis, to me, is the definition of professional. Tiffany was someone I had wanted to work with for quite a while and worked on Once thanks to a referral from Debbie. At the time I was setting it up, Debbie and I were working together on “Glossophobia,” and Debbie herself was in post-production on Model Hunger. I had seen some early cuts of the film and while I always liked Tiffany as an actor, there was a moment in that film that amazed me. When I had the chance to film Once, When I Was Dead, I asked her to be a part of the film as Lucy, and I was happy when she agreed. The film has a great cast. Gabrielle Stone, Kiva Dawson, Kaylee Williams, just everyone gave tremendous performances.
There were some issues crew wise and some things beyond my control, but it brought some valuable lessons that stand with me today. That was the most difficult shoot for many reasons, the majority of them out of my control, but I did have a bit of a struggle seeing something so personally within me unfold before my eyes. It affected me in a way I didn’t think it would. Tiffany did see that and would ask me, as with Gabrielle, if I was okay in seeing these things unfold. Sometimes I wasn’t and it did bring back a lot of painful memories on set. I do feel the film exorcized those demons, though. One of the reasons the film works as well as it does is because of Tiffany. She really held the film together in more ways than one, both in performance, on set, and afterwards.
BK: What was it like working on the upcoming horror movie Awaken the Reaper, which features Lance Henriksen and Louis Gossett, Jr.?
SWP: I worked as an assistant director for 4 shooting days on Awaken the Reaper, primarily on the days that Lance worked, and during pre-production. Dave Campfield, the writer/director/producer/co-star of the film, has been a friend for a while and this was a passion project of his to do. The film is a horror/thriller about a troubled man who has to enter a court assigned rehab with a group of misfits. He falls for a woman in his group, and then he turns to concern when she vanishes after a weekend excursion. Soon, others in his rehab group start dying one by one under very mysterious circumstances. Lance plays the priest assigned to mentor the rehab group, and Louis Gossett, Jr plays a therapist. Robin Curtis, who played Saavik in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) andStar Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), is also in the film as a therapist, as is Paul Ehlers, who played Madman Marz in the classic slasher Madman (1981). There are a lot of good themes about family, loyalty, trust, and death within this film.
It was a challenge for sure as there were a lot of tangibles, working with unions and, at the time, we still had COVID restrictions when we filmed, so we had to make sure everything was in order. Working with Lance was an education, and it was a thrill to work with one of my favorite all-time actors. We had moments where I helped him with his lines and I believe we developed a good rapport working together. If anything, I am more than thankful to get that chance to work with him.
I didn’t get a chance to work with Louis Gossett, Jr. as his scenes were filmed in Atlanta and I opted to stay in New York. It is a regret, yes, but I have seen his performance in the film and it is a fitting final performance from such an icon. When I think of icons and legends, I think of those two, so to have my name on the same film as them, it’s an honor. I think horror fans will really enjoy the film when it is released, which I hope will be soon.
BK: Any moviemaking heroes?
SWP: There’s a lot for sure but I’ll go to the ones that made me want to make movies. From a filmmaking perspective, I don’t think it gets any better than Martin Scorsese. From Goodfellas (1990) to Taxi Driver (1976) which to me is a horror movie, to The Wolf Of Wall Street (2013), which is still one of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen. He’s known primarily for gangster movies, but his resume is so eclectic that he can step into any genre and deliver. John Carpenter is another. I’m glad to see him finally get the respect he deserved at his peak. James Cameron is a favorite as well. I remember the first time I saw The Terminator (1984) and being amazed at its style. Then came Aliens (1986) and I was floored. That, to me, is one of the perfect movies. Of course, the giants will always be considered heroes. I also consider John Woo to be a terrific filmmaker. For horror, Clive Barker was a huge inspiration, especially when seeing Hellraiser (1987) for the first time. There’s so many to mention that I know I’ll forget someone but there was one actor I always admired who passed away recently, and in 2010 I had a chance to interview him and talk films for an hour, and that was Robert Duvall. I got more of an education out of that conversation than any film school could grant you.
For Follower, one filmmaker I turned to for inspiration when making it was the late, great Jonathan Demme, who helmed one of the greatest films ever made, The Silence Of The Lambs (1991). A lot of the conversation between Sarah and Detective Crawford was influenced in tone and style by Demme. Before he passed away, I had a chance to meet him in 2008 when his film Rachel Getting Married was released and got to tell him how much his films and style meant to me.
BK: Any upcoming projects you can tell us about?
SWP: Yes, quite a few. In addition to Awaken the Reaper, which will be coming out soon, there are a couple of features that are currently in the funding stages.
The first is a horror anthology feature called The Fear Collector that serves as the spiritual successor of my web series In Fear Of, which ran online for a couple of years from 2012-2015. The film is about a therapist who, over the course of a night, discovers her patients’ deep seeded fears are manifesting in severe ways, only to find out the cause is from her own fear that has returned. It’s four stories telling one overall story and has something for every horror fan. I can say that an extremely legendary cast is attached along with an awesome crew. Jennifer Blanc-Biehn (the TV show Dark Angel, 2011’s The Victim), Lukas Hassel (the TV show The Blacklist, the 2025 movie House Of Abraham), Anne Bobby (Clive Barker’s Nightbreed), Melanie Kinnaman (Friday The 13th Part V: A New Beginning), and Alan Rowe Kelly (The Blood Shed) are all involved. Right now we have about 25% of the film funded and are looking to secure the rest.
Also in the funding stages is an action thriller called D.O.T, which is about a disgraced female cop assigned to traffic monitoring and ends up witnessing the murder of a prominent official on a traffic camera. She then launches her own investigation when the video evidence is erased and uncovers a vast conspiracy within. The film is based on my years working for a traffic channel closely with the NYPD and news media. As with The Fear Collector, Jennifer Blanc-Biehn is involved as the lead as the script and role were written with her in mind. The film is in the style of Enemy of the State (1998) and The Conversation (1974), and is a techno thriller in a sense we haven’t seen before: media control, corporate takeovers, hostile environments, corruption, betrayal, you name it. Heather will also be involved in the film. Again, this has some funding and I am hoping we get completion funds to film this soon. D.O.T. as a screenplay has charted high in some festivals and script competitions as well.
A third feature that I have in the works is a passion project of mine, a fantasy-drama called The Vintage, about a lonely owner of a prestigious movie theater famous for filming a B-movie science fiction picture in the 1950s, and his connection with an actress who starred in that picture but disappeared shortly thereafter, who appears only to him inside this theater. It’s a love letter to the theater going experience and it has done extremely well at festivals in screenplay competitions. In 2024 it read at the Phoenixville Film Festival in Phoenixville, PA at the Colonial Theater, the same theater where the original The Blob (1958) was filmed (the famous movie theater scene where the patrons run out of the theater with the blob close behind). It was a cathartic moment of life imitating art, and it’s probably the closest to a love story I’ll ever write. Movie theaters are evaporating before our eyes, and the majestic feeling of seeing a dynamic film on a giant screen is one that should never be taken away or forgotten.
One film I wrote that will be in production at the end of this year is Xmas ’91, a home invasion horror-comedy that takes place on Christmas Eve, 1991. Christopher Fox, who did the indie film Rub (2023) and recently worked on the theatrical release Dolly (2025) is directing and producing. It’s a wild, batshit ride that will make you squirm when you least expect it, and make you laugh when you least expect it. This will be a fun one when done.
Finally, a film I worked on as assistant director that was just released is the independent romantic comedy Wait List: A Love-Ish Story (2025), written and directed by Debra Markowitz. The film is a look at a May-December romance between a middle-aged woman that forms a relationship with the friend of one of her sons. It stars Bec Fordyce and Travis Grant and the cast features Robert Clohessy and Abigail Hawk from Blue Bloods (2010), Lukas Hassel of House of Abraham, and Kim Director of Spike Lee’s Inside Man (2006) and Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000). You can view the film online here:
https://www.intentionfilmsandmedia.com/wait-list-a-love-ish-story/
BK: What do you hope audiences get out of Follower?
SWP: I hope people watch it and enjoy it as a solid thriller that really questions how we can easily be manipulated by words and how desperation can lead people to some dangerous places. I hope that for 14 minutes people are engaged in the conversation and don’t instantly judge it as “Two people in a room talking.” The reaction at screenings and festivals has been overwhelmingly positive. Now that it’s online and available to everyone to view at their own time and discretion, we’ll see how it turns out. I am overly optimistic that it will be looked at fondly.
BK: Will there/could there ever be a Follower 2?
SWP: I don’t know how it could be accomplished, and it is something I haven’t thought of, to be honest. I have been asked if the short would lead to a feature version which is an interesting idea but ultimately I think it would lose the dynamic of what the short film has achieved. I could be wrong and I hope I’m wrong about that.
BK: Would you ever consider starting up your own cult, and if you did what would you call the cult?
SWP: That thought never crossed my mind, either, but if I did have a cult, it’d be the laziest, most useless cult in existence. I’d probably call it “Worship what you want, just leave everyone else alone.”
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A very special thanks to Scott W. Perry for agreeing to participate in this interview.
Watch the full Follower short film here!
Check out my review of Follower here!
Check out the Slick Devil Entertainment YouTube page here!
Check out Scott W. Perry’s Facebook page here!
