Stewart St. John has written, produced, edited and partially scored the independent sci fi drama THE CHRONICLES OF HOLLOW EARTH: THE NEXT RACE, which is available on DVD this week. The story centers on two worlds (above and below ground) and the class conflict between humans and a new superior breed called the “ghen.” The ghen dictator enlists his brother to help push for the eradication of the human race and the story goes from there. The film is a prequel to Stewart’s planned CREATION WARS SAGA, a trilogy of films exploring the unique, though-provoking universe and themes introduced here. You can find out more about the film at http://www.thenextrace.com.

St. John took time to answer some questions for AICN.

[Elston Gunn]: What was the inspiration for the concept of THE CHRONICLES OF HOLLOW EARTH: THE NEXT RACE?

[Stewart St. John]: First, I've always loved sci-fi and comic books. Always been a dreamer. Second, I've long been fascinated by the human condition, how people interact and treat each other. And why. As a guy growing up in a very diverse family -- different races, different religions and beliefs -- I've had a very unique opportunity to really get to know all sorts of people, and hear many, many different stories. My dad's an ex-Marine, my mom burns crops circles in the front yard, my sister is in a mixed marriage, and so on - and I've seen people judged on their race, their sexual orientation, their spiritual beliefs - and I've always had a hard time with that. Why would anyone treat someone with intolerance? And I guess science fiction allows me to go there, to explore those themes and ideas... and from that, this whole world started to develop in my head - a world where I could explore all the scenarios and questions that I was thinking about. In HOLLOW EARTH, the "ghen" judge people based on something they can't even see - DNA - and my point is, isn't that ridiculous? We don't like you because something we can't see makes you "less than". And the humans hate the ghen in return because they fear what they are not. So, I get to explore all those intriguing human experience questions on screen. Basically, I married my questions about humanity and religion with my love of science fiction, and thus THE CHRONICLES OF HOLLOW EARTH was born.

[EG]: Science fiction often serves as a metaphor for contemporary issues and ideas. You're dealing with themes of prejudice, totalitarianism, class structure. What other themes do you find interesting that you want to work into the franchise?

[SSJ]: Oh, I'm not done with the first ones yet! I really want to continue mining those themes because I feel like there's so much left to say. And I want to explore them from both sides - the ghen, as well as the human (us) - because I'm fascinated by the concept that whatever side you're fighting on/for thinks they're in the right - and presenting both sides and exploring WHY they think they're right is great material for a writer. It's like in STAR WARS - the Sith were totally convinced they were doing the right thing, even though the Jedi perceived them as evil. To the Sith, the Jedi's were the bad guys. Isn't that perspective wild? And somewhere in between is the truth. And that's where I come in!!

It's even more complicated in THE CHRONICLES OF HOLLOW EARTH because the main character has convinced himself that he's doing the right thing, when he knows he's really not. And it's only going to get worse for him later.

But in future films I'll deal with betrayal, brotherhood, family bloodlines, religion vs. spirituality.

[EG]: Did the idea of the character of "The Channeler" come from your experience with The Law of Attraction?

[SSJ]: There was always a spiritual element that I wanted to explore in the film. I do it in a lot of my work, actually. I've been attracted to and studying spirituality since I was a kid, and have had some truly unbelievable experiences in my life. My Channeler character represents my own spiritual journey - in this film, she's at the beginning stages of discovery as the Kalendoah make contact with her - but she learns much more about who she is, and who the Kalendoah she communicates with are as the film franchise goes on. The Channeler is one of the most intriguing characters I've ever created. Personally, I'm still on my spiritual journey as well. I don't think it ever ends, honestly. Just when you think you've got it all figured out, it goes deeper. I know everything, I know nothing. Ahhh, bliss.

[EG]: I have to know. How did the people living underground get their furniture?

[SSJ]: They stole it from the stinkin' humans and had it shipped UPS to Hollow Earth!! Come on, Elston, isn't that obvious?? The truth is, you know, there are some humans who've been brought down from above ground, emotionally shelled and serving as house servants to ghen families. They're the ones making all that furniture down there!! In fact, we had a scene that was deleted where Rielle (the love interest of Pryme brother Aiden) tells a small congregation listening to Crecilious preach that she's fired all her house servants because "they can't be trusted. When your back is turned, their eyes are watching you..." Paranoia at its best. I love it.

[EG]: What other science fiction movies did you look to for guidance/reference?

[SSJ]: I was influenced visually by METROPOLIS. Huge stark sets, class structure, even eye liner. (Hey, the Egyptians wore eye-liner!) METROPOLIS remains one of my favorite films of all time. I recently learned that after what, 80 years or something, they've unearthed lost footage that will complete the film! Can't wait to see that!

[EG]: Is the trilogy already written and waiting for financing? What is the plan?

[SSJ]: The trilogy is heavily outlined. I actually do have a master plan, and a clear vision how to approach the next three films. There was initially a bigger budgeted script -- with lots of action and ships and chase sequences - and some of that stuff will make it into the next one if I get the opportunity to make a next one! But yeah, it's there, and so is a television series. I've got about 300 years of story to cover in this franchise, and a LOT happens. And it's all connected together.

My company StewdioMedia is releasing the film on DVD which you can buy now at http://www.thenextrace.com What are you waiting for? Go. Buy it!

[EG]: How are the Weinsteins involved?

[SSJ]: A very, very good friend of mine, Cathy Fry, is currently an executive at The Weinstein Co. And when I say good friend, I mean a lifer. Someone I'll know forever. And someone I trust implicitly. Ten years ago I sat her down and told her about HOLLOW EARTH, and how I wanted to make this movie. At the time, she was working with Richard Gladstein at Live, I think, then she went to Miramax and was there when Tarantino/RESERVOIR DOGS took off; anyway, she has been my cheerleader ever since. She even got Lawrence Bender to write a letter supporting the bigger budgeted version of the script. She was trying to get QT to do an intro thing for the film, but he's just been too crazy. So, that's the Weinstein connection. I'm doing other projects with them unrelated to HOLLOW EART. Maybe they'll be involved in a sequel!

[EG]: You've said you shot this for peanuts. It looks pretty good for "peanuts."

[SSJ]: Thank you, Elston. I'm very proud of the end result -- but it couldn't have been done without the expertise of everyone involved. This was a film that benefited from many talented people coming together to make something incredible for the dollars available. Seamus Tierney, my DP, did an amazing job lighting this thing the way I saw it in my head. We only had 18 days to shoot, and to get the visual quality we walked away with is just an amazing testament to the man's talent. I've always operated my own camera, so doing this one was a bit different, and I'm glad because Seamus really did an incredible job. You know, we built most of the sets from scratch in a 10,000 square foot warehouse in Santa Clarita. Again, a space that was donated to us. The one house we shot at is a 7 million dollar home that we were given access to -- so, these things contribute to the film's value and look. Honestly, no one else could make this movie for less than one to two million dollars.

[EG]: What did you learn producing and directing your own independent sci fi drama?

[SSJ]: 1) It will consume at least 2 years of your life. No kidding. 2) Ask for more money. Seriously. It's always going to cost more than you think. 3) Make sure you have some sort of recognizable name in the cast. It helps in the end. 4) Make sure you've budgeted properly for post -- that includes the mix and the score. Those guys and what they contribute get so overlooked, especially by indie filmmakers, and they shouldn't. I mixed my film at Universal, and if it wasn't for Joe and Rob over there - wow. They worked tirelessly to get this film to sound PERFECT. I mean, they gave me a sound package that was 10 times what I had available, because they believed in the film. And in turn, I am already working with them again.

[EG]: What practical advice would you give aspiring filmmakers who want to do the same?

[SSJ]: First, don't give up. Second, align yourself with people who truly know what they're doing. They will save your life in the end.

[EG]: What are you hoping to accomplish with THE NEXT RACE and THE CREATION WARS saga?

[SSJ]: I hope that people are surprised by the film. Pleasantly surprised. I hope they think "BAH! INDEPENDENT SCIENCE FICTION! BAH!!" and then they find themselves entertained, and really get into the story, and maybe see some of the parallels to history, even to what's happening today. And I hope they think about the film long after they've seen it because there's a lot to chew on. I'd also like to see the film establish itself as a franchise, and do more of them so I can really explore the story as I conceived it. I swear the next one is heavy on action!! Lastly, I hope to move closer toward my goal of directing studio super hero and children's films… because it's totally in my wheelhouse.

You know, another intriguing element to this story is the way we are really pushing the boundaries of indie filmmaking by not only producing the film on our own, but taking on distribution as well - even though we've had offers to distribute this one. Honestly, filmmakers like myself can build a film concept and brand, and recoup costs to put toward bigger films. This can create a consumer following and proof of concept that the studios may need before picking up an indie film WITH the original writer/director attached.

My goal is that we build a following and a brand through unconventional distribution, creating a foundation and reducing the risks for a studio to finance and distribute the big budget high concept films that are the future of THE CHRONICLES OF HOLLOW EARTH.

[EG]: While you were writing and preparing THE NEXT RACE you worked on THE SPOT, America's "first cell phone soap," as well as CALIFORNIA HEAVEN, the "first scripted TV series exclusively for broadband." Are you going to continue to produce for new mediums and where do you see it going in the next decade or so?

[SSJ]: I'm a multi-platform creator. Give me a platform, and I'll create for it. My mind just thinks that way - it thinks in terms of creating Universe's... for instance, when I was a kid drawing comic books, I didn't just come up with one character - no, I had a whole company line of characters. (Some of which are still viable today!) And I would do cross-overs with those characters. And when my little sister decided to create her own comic book company and draw her own comic character? Well, I did the ol' DC AND MARVEL team up thing between our "companies". Big event in our house. I was like 9 years old, and I thought I was DC or something. Wow. I'm getting excited talking about this. Total geek moment. What the hell, I've embraced it. I so wanted to write comics growing up. What am I saying, I still do. Why haven't I? DC, MARVEL - do you hear me??

Anyway, I like the creative freedom that producing for new mediums gives me. That's what got me started doing web stuff - it was new and fresh and freeing. I had already had some experience working in television - starting with Mr. Barbera who gave me my first job at Hanna-Barbera - but the web was enticing because I could have TOTAL freedom.

I think what we were doing on THE SPOT (in '96 and again when we brought it back in 2003) and also on CALIFORNIA HEAVEN - crossing stories and fans from online to mobile - was pretty groundbreaking. My partner Todd Fisher and I were the guys figuring out how it all worked. We were blurring reality, shooting on the streets of Santa Monica with a bunch of actors who were essentially role-playing wherever they went. We even staged fan parties where the characters would interact with real fans as the story-lines played out in real time!

That's where I think we're headed in the next 10 years: real-time, blurred-reality, interactive story-lines!!! So Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark knocks on my door and just as I am peeing in my pants and he is asking for a rum ‘n’ coke, The Mandarin sends his footsoldiers to attack Mr. Stark who suddenly excuses himself and dons the red and gold armor... I watch as a fight breaks out in front of my house.

Sorry. My mind wanders.

[EG]: Talk about your music background. You wrote, directed, edited the film but you also composed some of the music, which has happened before, but isn't common.

[SSJ]: Music has always been a hobby, but I've fallen back in love with composing now. I first sat down at a piano as a kid and started playing. I dabbled in it, but never could sit still long enough for a formal piano lesson. I had comics to draw, an empire to keep afloat! But I did compose a song that won a philharmonic contest for original compositions (a friend of mine's mother was a music teacher and she helped him help me put the notes on paper to submit). Later, I played the song for Liberace. At the time I had no idea who he was. I was sitting there thinking about how Tremendous Man was going to deal with Sandie Nowell acquiring her own "tremendous" abilities... GASP.

But last year an amazing thing happened. Esther and Jerry Hicks, the duo behind the whole Law of Attraction phenomenon, heard some of my music that I had been dabbling in, and they asked me to score their series of children's audio books. So I said yes, and ended up scoring 11 cds, released by Hay House. I still don't read a lick of music, but I feel it. I just sit down at the keyboard and play. And they loved it. So that guided me to do my own album of inspirational music, which I just released this month. Called CLOUDWALKING, the CD is available at my web site: http://www.stewartstjohn.com and on iTunes and Amazon. Composing music has brought me some of the most inspired, connected moments that I've ever experienced. And I also just finished writing and composing an entire musical. Combining music with directing a film has got to be the ultimate experience for me.

[EG]: What else are you working on?

[SSJ]: SO many things. I'm a maniac. I love it. I love this business - the business itself as well as the art of it. I love being alive in this incredible moment in history when everything is so available to creators. I've got an indie production company based at Universal, I'm handling some Weinstein film titles over there, while pushing my own projects. I have a children's fantasy musical I want to direct, a sequel to THE CHRONICLES OF HOLLOW EARTH I'd like to get financed, a half dozen TV shows to pitch, a gothic web soap I'm looking for advertisers for, 2 books I'm writing, and working on a new album of music. I don't stop... I just keep going.

Elston Gunn
elstongunn@hotmail.com