We recently talked with Carlos Alazraqui and Jill-Michele Melean about their new zombie horror-comedy Witness Infection. Directed by Andy Palmer, Alazraqui and Melean both wrote and star in the film which sees a town overrun by the mafia…and zombies. Carlos Alazraqui is known for his extensive voice over work, which includes Rocko’s Modern Life (as Rocko), Family Guy, SpongeBob SquarePants, and much more. He also starred on the hit TV show Reno 911! as Deputy James Garcia. Jill-Michele Melean is a gifted comedian who starred on MADtv, had a reoccurring role on Reno 911!, and is known for her stand-up comedy and tours.
Horror Geek Life: You have worked together so many times prior to starring and writing Witness Infection, how did you first start collaborating?
Jill: Carlos and I reconnected on Reno 911!, we just have a very similar type of humor and get along great. It was pretty much like we were brother and sister on camera, and we felt like brother and sister off camera. We started touring together and we both loved mobster movies. We were bouncing around different ideas and then finally at one point, Carlos goes, “You know, we should do mobsters and zombies since we love these two genres so much,” and I was like, “That’s kind of fun, I haven’t seen that before.” We’re huge Shawn of the Dead fans and use that kind of feeling with the script. I have to say, I had so much fun writing with Carlos. There are people who you do not want to write with, but we have such a good time writing together.
Carlos: We met at the Latino Laugh Festival prior to Reno and then after Reno, toured. Jill’s patience with me is really good because I’m an ideas guy, and the idea was pretty raw. She has the structure and all the characters, and I think because of Jill, we have strong female characters. We’re proud of that because even in Shawn of the Dead, which we love, I remember going over this with Jill when we were writing, that Shawn’s girlfriend doesn’t have that much of an arc. She starts out going, “Shawn, you need to grow up,” and at the end of the movie, “You’ve grown up, I can live with you now.” (laughs) We just collaborated really well. We thought of other characters and then what we both did while we were writing this film, and what we’re doing on our next one, is that we write for people that we know. We know Holly Wortell (who plays Mrs. Jordesman) and Robert Peters (who plays Mr. Jordesman). Jill was good friends with Bret Ernst and he was the perfect Dominic. I met Erinn Hayes (who plays Patricia) on Kevin Can Wait when I did the pilot. We wrote to the people that we wanted to cast, and I think that’s what works with the film.
HGL: It’s funny that you mention Shawn of the Dead already, because I have in my film notes, “Shawn of the Dead meets the mafia.” I loved the cast, Tara Strong, Bret Ernst, and Erinn Hayes are always fantastic. What was it like on set having that strong comedic ensemble along with bloodshed and zombies?
Jill: Everybody had such great attitudes because when you’re working on an indie film project, things move really fast so there’s not the glitz and glamour. We’re just like, throw this robe on, and you have blood and guts hanging from you. I really think that shows in the film, how much fun we had. When we heard “cut,” we were all laughing and having such a great time together. There were never any egos, which was so delightful.
Carlos: I think that’s from the top down with Jillian and I, especially Andy Palmer, our director, who was captain of the ship and such an even-keeled guy. I have footage I’ll put on our site, of all the behind-the-scenes stuff. It really defines a low-budget feature film where everybody was just throwing in their weight and having a good time.
HGL: That clearly comes across in the film. I want to also take a moment to talk about the effects. Zombies are almost always gross, but these are just revolting. The boils! What went into the effects and design choices for the zombies?
Carlos: I was lucky enough to know my next-door neighbor for a long time, a guy named Jim Ojala, who won awards for a film called Dead Girl. We’ve done all kinds of projects and originally, Jim wanted to direct but it didn’t work within our budget. So, I said, “Jim, I want you and your entire team to do our special effects makeup,” and I’m so glad I did. Hey, Jill, do you want to tell her about the scene in the bathroom?
Jill: Yeah, you know, because Gina, my character, didn’t get any boils, I got to watch everyone do this amazing makeup. We had to do some pickup scenes and I just went, “Well, why don’t we just use my neck? Why does it have to be Erinn’s neck? Erinn’s working on something, I’m here all the time anyways, let’s do it!” So, I got to get some boils on my legs and on my neck and we cut it in. I love these types of props and prosthetics because it takes an army to make one shot happen. I’m oozing a blister, I had tubes running down my chest into my back, and Carlos was pumping and if he pumped too hard, it could burst. But that’s my favorite part of making horror films. You really need a team of people to make one effect happen. Me and Carlos are used to comedies, you show up and you do your thing. It’s such a cool experience to have all these hands on to make one shot look so amazing and so disgusting. (laughs)
Carlos: Jim loves it, everybody was passionate about it, and that’s what I like about our film. We did have some help with digital effects, and I think we married the two together very well.
HGL: I know a few of the cast members have worked with Andy Palmer previously on his film The Funhouse Massacre, including you, Carlos. Did you have Andy in mind and plugged in for Witness Infection when you were writing it?
Carlos: We did not. In fact, Jill had introduced me to other directors. I met Andy Palmer on a series called Clued-Less written by Renee Dorian and Ben Begley. Ben Begley is our hunter in the beginning who gets killed (laughs) and wrote The Funhouse Massacre. I did a couple of projects with Andy and when we searched, we had one director in mind, and it didn’t work out. So, I said, “Jill, how about Andy Palmer?”
Jill: It’s interesting when you have an idea of a director you want, and then you hear their vision and you’re like…yeah, that’s not it. When we sat down and met with Andy, it was like, oh my god, he totally gets it. He’s so good at horror but he also gets comedy, and he knew what Carlos and I were bringing to the table, a bunch of great comedic actors. It’s almost like you don’t have to touch that, that’s gold, so go for the horror. That’s what we needed because a lot of these other directors we met were strong in comedy, and just taking it to a very cartoon level. We were like, no, we want to keep the horror element. Andy just got it and he was such a delight to work with. Carlos and I are ADHD kids but we get stuff done, and we are idea people. We juggle so many things at once and Andy’s so calm.
Carlos: On The Funhouse Massacre, freezing in Ohio in October at this empty Halloween theme park, working all-night shifts with young actors, I saw firsthand how patient Andy was. We really owe Andy and Jill for all these locations. We had a small budget trying to find locations and he goes, “I’m going to take a trip down to Lake Elsinore,” and in one day, he finds a dog groomer, a restaurant, and a hair salon literally within spitting distance of each other. He said they just wanted a few hundred bucks, so he brought his experience working on Funhouse and Camp Cold Brook. Jill and I were smart to trust Andy and trust Jim. Jim could have directed and done makeup but no, just leave Jim with the makeup, he’s gonna be so over-the-top great. Leave Andy and Filip (Filip Vandewal, cinematography) to do their thing, and it worked.
HGL: The lack of egos, the blood, sweat, and tears going into the film makes me, and most viewers, appreciate it even more. We touched on Ben Begley’s involvement in the film, and his scene as the hunter was one of the highlights for me! It was so funny and set the tone quickly.
Carlos: I’m so glad you like that opening scene just because when we originally wrote it, it was at night. Again, being an indie film and looking at the budget, we found this location and we had to shoot it during the day. The day of that shoot, in the forest, I asked Andy why we can’t do it at night, and he goes, “You can’t afford two cherry pickers to light up the forest at night!” (laughs)
I say thanks to Jill for finding Greg Armstrong, our production designer who built the hunter scene. And there were no lights near the house, so Greg and his partners built streetlamps and erected them on this road the day of the shoot. Greg also let us use his house and just, everything worked.
HGL: I’m glad it all worked out! Picturing that opening scene, and thinking about it at night versus the day, I think the day helps give it an element of surprise. Before we wrap up, I wanted to ask what projects are next for both of you?
Jill: During quarantine, we did utilize our time well. Carlos and I definitely want to do a sequel to Witness Infection, but it will be very different with some similar characters. Then, we wrote a family comedy which really pushed our Latin side because Carlos and I are like the biggest white Latinos you can imagine. (laughs) We’re really excited about it, and it was it was very effortless because we’re both very family-oriented and have comedy, so it was just a lot of fun to write.
HGL: I’m looking forward to checking it out; you both work together so well. Witness Infection was a blast and I’m excited to put my review out soon.
Carlos: Thank you so much, Melissa. I really appreciate that and it’s awesome to hear your feedback. In the voice of Rocko: Thank you, thank you so much!
Witness Infection is now available on cable, satellite, and Digital HD via Freestyle Digital Media.
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