Eric Steele
He is the filmmaker of Stationary Bike Dollar Baby Film.
SKSM: Tell us about yourself, who is Eric Steele and what do you do or have you done?
Eric Steele: I have written, produced and directed three feature films. “Boy #5” is a vampire film set in my home town of Manchester England, was nominated for the International Rising Star award at Frightfest UK. The film is now distributed internationally. My second feature “Day of the Clones” was a postapocalyptic film shot entirely during the pandemic lockdown and is also about to be distributed. My third feature is the alternate history World War II film “Forty-Two” coming soon!
SKSM: When did you know that shooting films was your mission?
Eric Steele: I have always loved the movies ever since seeing “Flash Gordon” in the cinema. But as a kid growing up in Manchester, UK in the 1970s it seemed impossible to ever get involved in making movies. Hollywood was light years away. Thanks to the internet, I finally started sending screenplays to the USA, which led to my first feature film screenplay sale, “Clone Hunter”, followed by “The Student” to the same company that made Stephen King’s “Creepshow”. Now there’s a coincidence!
SKSM: When did you make Stationary Bike? Can you tell me a little about the production? How much did it cost? How long did it take to film it?
Eric Steele: “Stationary Bike” is unusual because it was made for a non-profit social enterprise in Oldham, England, called “Hack Oldham”. It is a community project, so most of the people working on it had never done anything like this before. We made the film for around £300. Most of that went into buying the exercise bicycle! We shot the film over four days in December 2023.
SKSM: How come you picked Stationary bike to develop into a movie?
Eric Steele: I had read “Stationary Bike” years ago and I was looking for a community project that anyone could get involved in. I thought it could be made on a low budget with a very small cast and crew. There were some challenges, such as when the picture Richard paints comes alive. But our community space has lots of projectors and projector screens so we rigged these up instead. Now instead of paintings, Richard sees an image on a projector screen start to move.
SKSM: Why do you think people like this story so much?
Eric Steele: I personally like the idea of the main character not knowing what is reality and what is a hallucination. I also think Stephen King has a fantastic writing style that gets you into the mind of the characters. That was one of the biggest challenges we faced when writing he screenplay. How do you show what is going on inside someone’s own imagination? Hopefully we do that.
SKSM: You are the director, writer, producer and the editor, how did you experience that?
Eric Steele: I never set out to be a director. I was always a writer first and foremost. I just sort of fell into directing when nobody else in our film group wanted to do it. I never believed that one day I’d be directing feature films. It seemed so impossible to me when I was younger. But being both the writer and director is great in a way, because you can rewrite things on the spot if they aren’t working. And being a director also helps me understand what cannot be done so easily when I am writing. Being a producer can be hard because you are also having to deal with all the problems on set and coordinating the whole production. Being a filmmaker is the best job ever. Seeing your ideas become reality is incredible. I love doing it, but it can be very exhausting!
SKSM: Can you tell us about your experience on this Dollar Baby film?
Eric Steele: We filmed “Stationary Bike” over Christmas 2023, which was a really stupid thing to do, because we had short days, very little light and terrible weather. We had to put up a tent to protect the camera one day while we were shooting outdoors, but then we had to use four of the crew just to hold the tent down to stop it from getting blown away by the wind! Editing the film was the toughest part, because we were up against a tight deadline. I think we finished the film with about 24 hours to go!
SKSM: Was everything planned ahead or did some things change during filming?
Eric Steele: The weather for one thing, ha ha. The rain and wind almost destroyed our exterior shoot. Also our lead actor was really poorly one day. Unfortunately, this was the same day he had to ride the exercise bike for hours! But he persevered and gave us a truly great performance.
SKSM: Were there unexpected moments or difficulties during the making of the film that have become a new point of view?
Eric Steele: Because of the problems we had on the exterior shoot we had to keep everything very minimal. I think it gives the outdoor scenes a dreamlike quality, so that helps the story. The fact that we couldn’t get the van that chases him to actually chase him (again due to the weather) also works in our favour. We used the sound design to convey this instead. It feels like we are inside Richard’s head – that this is not entirely real.
SKSM: Can you share with us any significant moment or memories that happened on set?
Eric Steele: There are so many, ha ha. The gory special effects are all practical. At the last minute we used a packet of sausage meat and some pork ribs for one memorable scene! We also struggled with sound levels in one noisy room where we couldn’t turn off an air conditioning system that was very noisy. So now that noise is part of the story. Richard tells his daughter to turn off the washing machine as he can’t think, and it becomes a point of argument between them! You have to turn lemons into lemonade sometimes.
SKSM: Did you make any important changes from the original story?
Eric Steele: The ending is the main change. I felt that it needed a powerful moment. I also like the idea that Richard is someone who is unravelling mentally. In the short story the death of Richard’s wife is mentioned, but it’s just a side note. We made that a more central part of the story. We also introduced his daughter, Theo, to give him someone to talk to – again, so we can understand what is going on in his mind.
SKSM: Are there any Easter Eggs in the film you can talk about or do you prefer to keep it a surprise for the audience?
Eric Steele: Yes! If you look on the coffee table in Richard’s apartment, you will see a copy of “Just After Sunset”, the book that contains the short story “Stationary Bike”.
SKSM: What are you thinking of the end result of the film?
Eric Steele: I like the story. I think the actors did a fantastic job. There are some genuinely funny moments in it, like with the landlady on the staircase. As a story it holds up. I wish we had had more time to edit the picture, especially the sound design. But we were up against the clock. When you consider that this was done by a community group for very little money in very difficult conditions, it is easy to forgive its imperfections.
SKSM: Were any movie fragments cut out that you now miss?
Eric Steele: The only thing we didn’t get to film was a TV advertisement for Joe Saturn, the famous hypnotist. But he does appear on a book cover!
SKSM: How did you find out that King sold the movie rights to some of his stories for just $1? Was it just a wild guess or did you know it before you sent him the check?
Eric Steele: I have been reading Stephen King novels for decades, so I was already aware of the Dollar Baby scheme as it is mentioned in some of his other books.
SKSM: What “good or bad” reviews have you received on your film?
Eric Steele: It’s been well-received by several festivals. I have yet to get official feedback from the public. A trailer is being put together now, so we will see!
SKSM: Do you plan to screen the movie at a particular festival?
Eric Steele: The film has already been screened at the Scares That Care film festival in Virginia USA and in the Bloody Horror International Film Festival in Quebec, Canada. We’ve entered it in some others as well, so maybe it will get shown at a few more festivals. The trailer will end up online.
SKSM: Are you a Stephen King fan? If so, which are your favorite works and adaptations?
Eric Steele: I devoured Stephen King books when I was in my teens and later. I adored his first short story collection “Night Shift”. This is an unpopular opinion, but my favourite film adaptation is actually the 1979 TV version of “‘Salem’s Lot” with David Soul. It scared the heck out of me when I watched it as a kid. I will never forget that creepy floating vampire child. I also think the original version of “Carrie” is a masterpiece.
SKSM: Do you have any plans for making more movies based on Stephen King’s stories? If you could pick -at least- one story to shoot, which one would it be and why?
Eric Steele: I would love to film “The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon”. I found it to be one of King’s most moving books. And it could be done on a very low budget as there is really only one main character!
SKSM: What are you working on nowadays?
Eric Steele: I am editing my latest feature film “Forty -Two” an alternate history film set in World War II thriller that features some terrific acting by an incredibly talented cast of local actors. The film was shot in just 8 days in an abandoned church that looked amazing. I’m hoping it will be finished very soon.
SKSM: What is in the top 5 on your bucket list? (Everything is possible and nothing is too strange)
Eric Steele: I don’t really have a bucket list. I like to travel. I love making films and writing stories. I don’t think I will ever be finished, so for me the journey is more important than the goal.
SKSM: What one thing people would be surprised to know about you?
Eric Steele: I wasn’t always a writer, ha ha. I had a pretty eventful career as a police sergeant. But that is another story…
SKSM: Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. Is there anything you want to say to the fans that read this interview?
Eric Steele: Keep reading horror!
SKSM: Would you like to add anything else?
Eric Steele: Thank you for this interview and for promoting these short films. Horror is still the most interesting genre, and there are many great new filmmakers out there waiting to be discovered. So thank you for helping to keep short horror films alive!
