FAQ

Approxiately $10,000 US, but most of that came from the cost of the production van which doubled as the News Van in the film, including the cost of computer equipment to edit it and the digital video camera to film it.

It was pretty much a one man operation from start to finish. There were a couple of people who were on the cast who may have operated the camera or held a piece of equipment, but from script to finish edit and everything in between, it was the director only.

The only reason for this was because there wasn't enough people he knew that was willing to do it at the time. The director played the Coroner, the Sheriff, a zombie detective and a SWAT officer.

This is due to the distributor mass-producing the compressed DVD screener instead of using the master Mini-DV tapes and also it may be due to there not being a seperate sound recording done at the time of filming.

Several reasons. One, it had a no to low budget. Second, it was a one-man crew. Third, it was the director's first film which is considered more of a student film since he was learning as he went with no former training. And fourth, sometimes B-Movies are better than polished Hollywood Blockbusters anyday.

Even Hollywood Blockbusters have their bloopers. Be it continuity errors or what not, it happens. For example, the character of Evans played by Mike "Joe Joe Little" Jones has earrings in his ears in one scene in one angle, but the very next angle he doesn't and then back again! The characters of Lucas and Dawn have different hair lengths in different scenes. This is due to the sequence being film separately at different times. Also, you may notice the sign on the side of the News Van disappear in one shot.

As mentioned in the movie, the Coroner was having renovations done and therefore additional office space had to temporarily be converted to autopsies. In reality it was because there was limited filming locations used and there was no place to film a convincing morgue location, so this was explained in the movie to give it more credibility.

Mike Berube who played Neil was going to move to Utah and he figured we could film the rest of his part within two weeks which was near impossible. So, instead of recasting his role, the script was rewritten to have him removed in a certain fashion and then replaced by a brand new character named Evans, played by Mike "Joe Joe Little" Jones who resumed the speaking role originally meant for Mike (Neil) throughout the rest of the movie.

It was filmed entirely in Licking County, Ohio, USA. The house surrounded by the police in the beginning was Mr. Hughes' parents' home. The exterior shot of the morgue was filmed at a building in a small village called Jersey in Ohio. The interior shots were filmed in the Director's parents' home basement. The exterior shots of the church were filmed at a small country church nearby. The interior shots of the church and basement were filmed in Mr. Hughes' parents' home basement. The country road in several shots as they arrive at the church were Mr. Hughes' parents' driveway and in addition, prior to, the Director's Brother's driveway! The country road were they meet Evans played by Mike "Joe Joe Little" Jones was filmed at the Director's Uncle's land.

A Canon GL1 digital video camera which retailed for $2500. (Interesting bit of trivia: According to the Apple store employee where this camera was purchased, this open box previously purchased camera that was returned to the store was bought by Harry Connick Jr.)

At first, an Apple G4, but when iMovie was upgraded an entire year's worth of movie timeline was lost. Soon after, a Sony Viao was purchased and Adobe Premiere Pro was used to edit the movie. The movie was finally edited even though APP continued to crash on occasion.

A used Chevy Astro white van was used for both the production van and as the News Van seen in the film. In its previous life, it was a Lite Beer commerical van because you could still see the word 'Lite' on the side if you looked at it at a certain angle. Also the van always smelled of beer in its interior.

This is part one of a planned trilogy. This one is considered the 'student picture', the sequel currently being filmed as of 2009 is the 'samurai picture' which is now in the editing stage, the last one is the 'western picture'. Part two is called 'Rebirth: The Dead Live 2'. Part three has no set title as of yet and may be an American Anime style animated film!

It is considered a side story to a planned book trilogy. Part one came out in print in 2001 from iUniverse.com. It is no longer in print there, but copies may still be available online. The book title is, 'Project Phoenix: Dead Rising'. Book two has a scene in it in flashback where a cop is at a police station where a 911 operator receives a phone call from a woman about an attack. In this movie, Alex the field reporter played by Emily Hughes, made that phone call to the operator.

He is currently editing part two of 'The Dead Live' as of 2009. He previously filmed a horror short for the contest, 'The Fangoria Blood Drive 2'. The short is 13 minutes long and is entitled, 'The Doorway'. (It may be available online in the future.)

Why does a 'student film' have to a short and not movie-length? If it existed in a limited capacity, not everyone can experience it, good or bad. The Director doesn't feel that film school has to be a 'requirement' to make movies. Sure, it helps, a lot, but if one doesn't have the means to attend, you make due if you have a vision. Even though that vision may be limited in scope due to budget concerns, at least a movie was made and distributed and a dream has begun. It can only get better from here. To be self-taught or learned from other means, one can accomplish what one really wants.

Remember, just because someone goes to a school doesn't mean they can make something that much better. You have to have a passion and a diploma isn't it. It is just a piece of paper.

I don't recall actually saying that headshots kill zombies in this particular movie. Just because it is an unwritten rule in others, it doesn't mean it applies here. (If compared with the book in which this is a side story to, headshots work at first, but after the zombie progression continues, you can cut off body parts and they still function and headshots may not be as reliable as they once were!)