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Hectic Films: Phantasmagoria Deluxe
Topics: Hectic, hectic Films, Bakersfield, Bakotopia, Rickey Bird, Jason Sanders, independent film, blog, January 2008
Posted by matt Tue Jan 22, 2008 16:08:53 PST
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Hectic Films:
Phantasmagoria Deluxe
The dynamic duo of Rickey Bird and Jason Sanders lead the next wave of Bakersfield’s guerrilla filmmakers



By Matt Muñoz, Bakotopia editor

Guns blasting, flying limbs, insects, crazed kingpins, zombies and gallons of fake blood - just another day in the uncanny world of Bakersfield’s Hectic Films.

Independently directing and producing more than 70 film shorts, the 25-year-old team of Rickey Bird and Jason Sanders is leading the next wave of Bakersfield’s guerrilla filmmakers.

With little to no budget, the two have managed to consistently bring to life some of the most offbeat treats to computer screens, theaters and an occasional downtown wall since 2003 - all without distribution or audience guarantee.

“The more you can get for free, the better,” laughed Sanders during a break from fight choreography practice at Hectic Films studio in Bakersfield, where the team is finishing up their latest project Batman Darkness. “All equipment up until 2005 was borrowed.”

The gear may have been on loan, but not their story.

<<CHECK OUT SOME HECTIC FILMS TRAILERS AT LEFT!

In “True Hollywood Story” fashion, the tale of Bird and Sanders is that of low-budget legend. With personality and style comparable to Tarantino and Rodriguez, the only thing these two don’t share is the same mother.

“Our moms were best friends,” said Sanders of the bond their mothers shared. “They were both pregnant with us at the same time. I came out of the womb a month earlier than Rickey.”

Growing up, the two were inseparable - Cub Scouts, soccer league, even writing their own detective stories complete with story boards and sound effects - just a couple of all-American kids.

(AYSO soccer hooligans: Rickey Bird (left,) and Jason Sanders (right,) at age 10.)

“We hung out everyday, up until the seventh or eighth grade,” Sanders fondly remembered. “Then we didn’t talk to each other for about four years. We each went off into different crowds.”

As students at West High School in Bakersfield, Sanders and Bird developed individual identities on campus - Bird enjoyed hanging with the wild bunch, while Sanders kept it cool. It was also during this period that their friends got the earliest glimpses of the future.

(Stuck on you: Rickey Bird & Jason Sanders of Hectic Films in 2008)

“I used to do a fake radio show at home with a friend, called ‘The Pyro & Stoney Show,’” said Bird. “We used to make fliers - ‘Hectic Records presents…’ All we’d do is talk crap about our show guest, then make tapes and pass them around the campus to friends who thought we were funny.”

Bird’s shock jock venture into entertainment was a 180 degree turn from Sanders, who began experimenting with short films also during high school.

“I was doing little films during my sophomore year,” said Sanders. “Our company was called 3-Blind Mice.”

Bird, who had a child on the way, left high school early to complete his GED and become an electrician, while Sanders went on to graduate from West high in 2001.

The two former friends eventually crossed paths again one hot day in Bakersfield in 2003. Bird now married, was in need of some home repair work to help comfort his newly expectant wife.

Then, during an emergency shopping trip, it happened…

“I went to Home Depot during that summer and it was really hot,” remembered Sanders. “Rickey was there moving fast to get A/C parts.”

That brief reunion managed to restart their friendship - and more.

“I invited Jason over to my house to hang out,” said Bird.” We had a barbecue and ended up talking about making movies all night long.”

Dreaming big with no tools of the trade, their first mission was clear.
“We decided to scheme a way to get a camera,” laughed Sanders.

Not yet ready to become a team, Bird’s adult involvement in film came first.

Cast in an independent short titled “Voodoo Club” in ‘03 with fledgling Wray Productions, the experience also drew Bird behind the camera.

(Some of the Hectic Films extended family lovingly dogpile before someone breaks wind and breaks up the party)

“With ‘Voodoo’ I learned about filming, lighting and the process of making a small movie,” he said. “I thought if those guys could do it, so could I - that’s when our first film ‘Daft’ got started.”

“Daft” was a pet project of Bird and Sanders that began to take shape during Bird’s time as a camera man at New Life Center church (NLC) in Bakersfield. While filming church services, Bird recruited Sanders for help, setting the stage for their first official project.

“It’s about a guy who’s addicted to drugs,” described Bird of ‘Daft.’ “He’s finding himself and comes to a fork in the road. It was kind of like ‘Snatch’ (the Guy Ritchie cult-classic) with different stories that tie together at the end.”

(behind the schemes of the Hectic cover shoot on 1/14)

Filmed in ‘04, the trailer for “Daft” was completed quickly, and Hectic Films the production company was officially born.

“We shot it in a week after we borrowed a camera from Wray Productions,” remembered Bird. “We took the name Hectic Films from my old radio show.”
Homemade sets and props were put together by the two, along with help from friends like Aaron Novak of The Silence Club, who to this day contributes music to all Hectic Films’ soundtracks.

Editing their first foray into semi-serious movie making, the two recruited their wives for fundraising. After all, they had to finish what they started, and film does not grow on trees.

(Charlies Jacques gets a makeover before a blind date)

“Our wives made signs with jars that read, ‘Help Raise Money to Pay For Hectic Films’ Film,’” said Sanders. “Wray Productions was screening a film of theirs, and we stood outside trying to get people to donate as we showed the ‘Daft’ trailer on a portable DVD player powered by a cigarette lighter. We made about 50 bucks.”

“Daft” was also shown to the congregation at NLC, making them instant stars with the young crowd. Soon Hectic Films bumper stickers were everywhere.

(Rod Reed gets a reverse minstrel / Batman makeover)

“We kept everything clean at first,” said Sanders of the projects that would subsequently see the light of day. “Church gave us our first fan base, because we were also making news shows for NLC while working on our own stuff.”

Ready to experiment with the darker and sillier side of life away from church, the two began making shorts on everything from tissue fights - “Pointless Fight” - to “CSI”/”Law & Order” parodies - “The Badge.”


(Ding dong, you're dead: Darren Forthman becomes 'Skip')

Then, along came the Internet and YouTube…

When the filmmakers discovered they didn’t need big studio backing anymore, Hectic broke new ground by starting their own Web site at: www.hecticfilms.com in ‘04, uploading their small catalog of shorts online and making them available for download and viewing by the public.

“We had hardly any visitors, but it didn’t cost us much to run the site - about $12 a month,” said Bird. “We were the first film company in Bakersfield to have a media site like this.”

Then 2005 continued to be another break-out year for Hectic.

YouTube helped make it easier for other crews like Hectic to get discovered and blogging led the way for more fans willing to gab it up.

“Local blogger NL Belardes saw our video of ‘Fly on The Wall,’ and started writing about it a lot in Bakersfield,” said Bird. “It was filmed on our friend (and fellow filmmaker) Matt Kieley’s camera.”

(Killer babe: Sonya Carrillo, star of "Wretched Flesh")

“Fly on The Wall” is exactly how you’d imagine it to be - an unseen voyeur, or fly, inside a room watching a bizarre scene of depravity play out. A far cry from their NLC film days, the “Fly” series continued into later episodes. Weird stuff…

But the biggest advance that year happened when Hectic acquired their first camera via online auction Web site Ebay.

“Our first camera was a used Canon XL-1 Digital, that used mini-DV tapes for $2,000,” said Sanders.

Looking to get an even better deal, Sanders saw another offer worth chasing. At the time, Sanders was running a cellular business in Bakersfield, so any extra money came from his pockets.

“I found a better deal that included mics, light gels, etc. for an extra $300,” explained Sanders. “We thought, let’s sell this camera, get the extra money and have even more equipment.”



In agreement they made the transaction, but were victims of a relatively new kind of cyber crime known as “online fraud.” At the time of their transaction online shopping sites like Ebay were not as secure as they are now.

“We got ripped off by some guy in Romania,” explained Sanders and Bird. “The guy who sold it to us picked up our money at a Western Union and disappeared. There was no record of a camera being shipped as we had been notified.”

A blow to their psyche didn’t deter them from making movies - they saw it as a test to make way for another stroke of luck.


(Zombie Bears: www.myspace.com/zbears)

By 2006 they had produced over 20 movies, jumped on the YouTube bandwagon for video hosting and exposure and then scored a sweet deal with Doug DeBerti, owner of California Trucks & Trenz in Bakersfield.

DeBerti, best known for his flashy automotive creations, offered Hectic a chance to become full-time filmmakers by documenting the building of two custom cars by DeBerti at the annual Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) trade show in Las Vegas, Nev.

“We both quit our jobs by July that year and got our van because of DeBerti” said Bird. “We went to Vegas, shot from a helicopter and hung out with the big-name film crews.”

Upon completion of the SEMA project, Sanders and Bird were back to square one, this time with another series of original films already in production.

Shorts for other small festivals including the Bakersfield Independent Film Festival (BIFF), Cinema of The Lords, as well as the popular B.U.N.S newscast, and their latest soon to be released features “Wretched Flesh” and “Batman Darkness.”

“Wretched Flesh,” which began filming in ‘06, has become one of the more ambitious projects Hectic has involved itself in - complete with a cast of 10 and including 60 extras.


(Three's a charm: Hectic Films)

An apocalyptic George Romero-esque nightmare of zombies who’ve taken over the city of Bakersfield, the filming of “Flesh” was a team effort involving the entire Hectic crew - oh yeah, let’s not forget about the Hectic Films film crew of fans, friends and fellow filmmakers.

With a list of names not quite as long as the equipment they’ve borrowed, the Hectic Films production crew is comprised of more than 20 talented individuals committed to seeing each project through until the last take.

“We’re a group of artists that help each other out,” explained Bird of the community they’ve built along with other Bakersfield film groups like Meatydish, Vindictive and Gallow Hills. “They scratch our back, we scratch theirs. We really wouldn’t be able to do any of this without their help.”

During a recent visit to the Hectic Films studio in Southwest Bakersfield, a special meeting was called to discuss and rehearse a sequence for the upcoming “Batman Darkness” fan film.

In the movie, real-life stuntman Jeff Smolek, who doubled for Val Kilmer in “Batman Forever,” has agreed to come aboard to teach the actors the art of stunt fighting.


(That's a wrap...Issue 20: 1/24/08)

Although no release dates have been set for “Wretched,” or “Batman Darkness,” the dynamic duo of Bird and Sanders want to assure fans they will see the light of day soon. So don’t be surprised if you catch members of the Hectic Film crew sneaking around your neck of the woods trying to get a money shot - just mind the fake blood and sense of humor.

“It’s just gratifying to me to see how much we’ve grown,” said Sanders.
Always with a quick comedic return, Bird flies back…

“It makes me feel good, like time well wasted,” he grinned. “I’m just kidding.”

Official website:

Add Hectic Films as a Bakotopia.com friend:
Hectic Films at Bakotopia.com

Originally printed in Bakotopia Magazine issue 20, 1 - 24 - 08

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Comment From: thenovelist

Rick and Jason are two of the funniest and energetic people I've ever met. More people should be as motivated and determined as them to fulfill personal goals. Being in Wretched Flesh was a fun experience...My head still hurts from the axe I received. Comment From: RogerHornback

That was a fun shoot, can't wait to see more films from these guys. Comment From: twinkie

These guys rock. Comment From: joel319

Great to see that you guys are getting such positive recognition! Proud of you guys and I look forward to new and exciting projects. Comment From: AnnieLWhite

All jason needs is a 7 year old son named jason.... Comment From: MaryEdith

The Hectic guys Rock. My man "the bat"(Rod) looks pretty good here too!! Keep up the great work guys!!