Thank you for your interest, please read the below information, as we have several qualifiers for your haunt to be actively considered for filming:
Do you own a Haunt ? – Interested in us filming your attraction for a future episode?
First, please note that we don’t rate or review your haunt. Our job is simply to tell your story in an engaging and entertaining way. The size of the haunt is not necessarily a factor; it’s more about the people! For us, the back story and personal narratives of owners and staff are more interesting and entertaining than props or theatrics — although we do need a good deal of those, too!
We favor haunts with both inside and outside public spaces, structures, or entrainment areas. These are preferable because they offer a lot of contrast in the way the episode is edited together.
We try to focus each episode on a single haunt. However, on occasion, we might need to bundle one or more haunts into a single show or segment.
Requirements:
- For any shoot to be effective or considered appropriate for a quality commercial program/broadcast, we need a minimum of 20 actor interviews (both in and out of character), plus owners and crew.
- We also require a detailed guided on-camera walk-through of your establishment by a qualified delegate.
- We will capture tons of b-roll of your props (owners/staff don’t need to be present for all of this). We’ll edit it in a way that won’t ruin your scares.
- The owner or a qualified delegate will provide a number of onscreen interviews during shooting days and should be comfortable on camera. We need to focus the show on the owners, the actors, the crew, and their stories, including how and why you got started and what makes your haunt special — your passion, drive, and creativity when it comes to horror and props, and those of the people who work for you. Television requires a substantive narrative and good storytelling, so this long-form doc is driven primarily by the interviews we conduct. Don’t worry too much, as we have a way of getting what we need 🙂
- For audience reaction segments, 15 to 20 patron interviews will be conducted.
Releases
- Owners are required to sign a location and trademark release, allowing us to film on your premises and releasing your establishment’s trademark for use in TV/film distribution.
- Anyone appearing on camera and “speaking” is required to sign an industry-standard release form.
- If they will be speaking on camera, minors under the age of 18 must have a parent or guardian sign a minor release form. Generally, if parents are unavailable, the haunt owner will suffice when it comes to guardianship for minors working at your establishment.
- We also need to post a general statement (posters) about notification of filming at ticket booth/entrance gates. This informs the public that their images, likenesses, and voices might appear in media, film broadcasts, etc.
- Unfortunately, there are no exceptions to these rules. If we don’t obtain a release form for someone, that person will not appear in any edit of the “broadcast”-version final release.
Goals: To produce an exceptional 60-minute documentary/reality-style show for the series “Spooky Kisses Haunts.”
The show’s narrative is presented by an on-screen host/comedian (Spooky Kisses). We will edit the episode in a way that is heartfelt and present your haunt and business in the best possible light. It’s about you, your work, the stories you tell, and the actors and crew who work for you. It’s not all horror; there is a lot of light-heartedness and comedic content that offers a balance, thereby appealing to a more mainstream audience. Part of our objective is to expose your haunt and the haunt industry at large to a much wider audience and increase the haunts’ overall market base.
We don’t give away any secrets, we won’t film anything you don’t want us to film, and we are sensitive to any edits that, as a haunt owner, you might not be comfortable with. We prefer to have the haunt owner review the final edit to check for errors before it goes public and we will make changes (within reason) at our discretion if requested. We do retain all rights to the footage, which is the industry standard.
What to expect while we are filming at your attraction:
Because the Halloween season generally runs only about six weeks, we are shooting three and sometimes four days a week (depending on logistics). We will plan to be on location at your haunt for two (2) full days, and during that time will normally gather 10 to 12 hours of footage. This is then edited down to a 40- to 60-minute show. Occasionally, we need more filming opportunities and can make additional arrangements if we don’t get enough footage during our planned shooting schedule. It is also preferable to shoot one (1) day when your attraction is not open to the public, i.e., either a rehearsal day/night or an “off” day. Some haunts have opened for us during “off nights” and even brought in actors. We travel with a small, discreet crew and won’t interfere in your operations, as we understand you have a business to run.
The following itinerary lays out a rough schedule for a typical two-day shoot.
Day1
12:00 PM – Arrival (1 hour set up cameras).
1:00 PM – Filming/walking around/b-roll/drone, etc. – Haunt owners or a qualified delegate to provide interview/commentary for what will drive some of the main narrative of the episode.
4:00 PM – Actor Interviews (as they are arriving and getting setup, b-roll, etc.) – We like to get actors in and out of character for the contrast.
5:45 PM – Spooky Kisses’ walkthrough (minimum of three walkthroughs over the two days we are shooting).
7:00 PM – Patron interviews, b-roll, done footage if (viable).
Day2
2:00 PM – Arrival (depending on what was shot the prior day, we may arrive earlier for additional work).
2:30 PM – Haunt b-Roll, shooting anything (props, etc.) missed on the first day.
4:00 PM – Actor Interviews (as some actors may not work both nights).
5:45 PM – Spooky Kisses’ second or third walkthrough.
7:00 PM – Close, patron interviews, b-roll, done footage if (viable).
Please reach out to me below with any questions.
Thank you and Happy Halloween!
Rich Perry
—————
Producer,
MadLab Entertainment Group, LLC
www.madlabent.com
www.linkedin.com/in/madlabent
