Sam Suchmann and Mattie Zufelt have been best friends for ten years, ever since they first met at the Special Olympics. With a close friendship like this comes shared interests. When Suchmann started to develop an idea for a movie, Zufelt jumped on.
When the 19-year-olds approached Sam's brother Jesse about their new film venture, Jesse assumed it was just another hobby. But when Sam kept bringing up the movie and showing his notes and illustrations, Jesse started to realize it was something more. The Suchmann brothers and Mattie created more material for and started to work to bring it to life.
Tentatively titled "Sam and Mattie: Teen Zombie Movie," the movie tells the story of two half-brothers battling zombies after a demon murders their mothers.
"This movie is about facing fears," Sam told Today. "I faced my fear of the dark. I faced my fear of heights. Now I am facing my fear of the devil and it is really big."
After Jesse connected with his TV producer friend Suzy Beck, a Kickstarter for the film was made with a goal of raising $50,000. They surpassed that goal and went on to collect $68,000. They started filming in July in Providence, Rhode Island. Additional donations started to come in, including $70,000 in camera equipment from Panavision and $100,000 in special effects from Silver Scream FX Lab.
"The point is to not give up trying," Sam said. "[If] you put your mind, your heart to something, you can do it. And it's really cool."
Photography by: Small Frye
