An Interview With Director Jonathan Patrick Hughes Plus Exclusive Set Photos From (S)aint Nick

May 8, 2016

Written by Kelli Marchman McNeely

Kelli Marchman McNeely is the owner of HorrorFuel.com. She is an Executive Producer of "13 Slays Till Christmas" which is out on Digital and DVD and now streaming on Tubi. She has several other films in the works. Kelli is an animal lover and a true horror addict since the age of 9 when she saw Friday the 13th. Email: horrorfuelinfo@gmail.com

Tonight I spoke with an up-and-coming writer and director Jonathan Patrick Hughes about his latest project, the 20 minute short horror film (S)aint Nick, which is being eyed for a Horror Christmas anthology titled The 12 Slays of Christmas by Body Bag Films . Hughes was kind enough to share never-before-seen behind the scenes photos from the set of (S)aint Nick, which is his first film out of Film school. Hughes graduated from “The Factory”, a program at The Douglas Education Center, the same school where Tom Savini’s School of Make Up Effects is located.

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(S)aint Nick , filmed in Canonsburg, Pittsburgh, stars Leeana Hergenreder, John Seese and Chaise Thompkins and follows a kid named Billy who asks Santa to kill his abusive stepfather.

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KM “How old were you when you realized you wanted to be a director?”

JH “When I was four my mom bought me The Making Of Michael Jackson’s Thriller. By the age of 5, I was carrying around our old video camera. At 8 or 9 I got my first camera.”

 

KM “Where did the inspiration for (S)aint Nick come from?”

JH “I was watching the movie Silent Night, Deadly Night and it just hit me.”

KM “Can you tell us about the people involved with making (S)aint Nick?”

JH “Bec Johnson was the main special effects make up artist. She did an outstanding job. Kyle Rosania was the cinematographer as well as the film editor. I was very well pleased with everything I saw. The film is disgustingly gorgeous. Braden Bixler was sound engineer as well as score composer. Braden designed a score that will make the audience grip the edge of their seats. Mark Yancey & Andy Westfall were my associate producers and I can’t wait to make another film with these 2.”

 

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KM “When will (S)aint Nick be released?”

JH “That depends on distribution, but we will wrap in 2 to 3 week.”

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Besides (S)aint Nick, Hughes also has two other projects in the works, one an untitled full length film in the early stages of development and a children’s horror film titled Bedbugs.

The story of how Bedbugs came to be is touching. Hughes has a young son. He realized one day that it would be a very long time before he could share his horror films with his son, so he wrote Bedbugs just for him. The film, is heavily inspired by the 1980’s children’s classics like The Goonies, Little Monsters and The Monster squad.

The film follows “Liam, a 12 year old boy who loves television and has a very active imagination. He believes that the children of Wexler, Pennsylvania are being kidnapped by 6 foot bugs that live inside mattresses. After his younger brother, Aiden turns up missing, Liam and his four friends form a group called the doom buggies and will stop at nothing to save the town and bring back the children once and for all.”

Keep an eye out for our next updates on Hughes’ projects and be sure to follow him on Facebook.

Photo Credit: Tony Panaro

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