20 Years of Dollar Babies
The “arts world” (whatever that really means) is so much more than simply the artists who create the art. Fans and patrons, collectors, gallery workers, theatre employees, and archivists, all play a role. Let’s take Stephen King, for example. He is an artist, because he is an author. Duh. But he wouldn’t be the prolific and accomplished author he is without the countless people who have supported his career along the way (or without a copious amount of cocaine in the 80s). This interview is with Óscar Garrido, who manages the website StephenKingShortMovies.com. Although he isn’t a filmmaker himself, he has played a massive role in supporting the careers and archiving the creations of hundreds (if not thousands) of independent filmmakers. So while you could argue that Óscar himself is not an “artist,” his contribution to this niche section of the film world has been significant. This is a fantastic conversation, and I truly hope you all read through to the very end to appreciate the amount of work that Óscar has poured into his project, over twenty years in the making.
Hi Oscar! Firstly, thank you so much for allowing me to interview you for our website. We met (virtually) when you reached out to interview me for a film I shot several years ago, specifically, my Stephen King Dollar Baby, IN THE DEATHROOM. To readers that aren't familiar with them, Dollar Babies are films based on certain short stories that Stephen King grants filming writes to for one dollar. How did you initially discover the Dollar Baby program?
Hi Ashley! Nice to talk to you again. I was introduced to the Dollar Baby program thanks to 'The Shawshank Redemption: The Shooting Script'. This book is the script of the famous film directed by Frank Darabont and is based on a short novel by Stephen King. In the introduction, Mr. Darabont writes how he managed to film 'The Woman in the Room' thanks to the Dollar Baby deal. I was fascinated with what I was reading.
I live in a small town in the mid-west of Spain, but in 1996, the year was published this book, I was doing military service in Madrid. In those days military service was mandatory in my country and one afternoon I went out for a walk through the city and entered a bookstore where I saw this book. It was an American edition because it was never translated into Spanish, but it caught my attention ‘cause THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION is my favorite movie of all time. It was love at first sight, but I couldn't buy it at the time and I had to wait a while to decide whether to buy it or not because my English wasn't very good -you notice it's still not very good- (Editor’s Note: Oscar, your English is superb!) and I was afraid of wasting my money. After that, I went to the bookstore almost every day to see if the book was still on the shelf and often turned the pages in fascination. That book attracted me just like a magnet attracts to iron. I felt like that book had to be mine but I need to save money to buy it. Less than a month later the book was still there and I had saved the money so I bought it. I did it because it was the script for the film and I had the VHS on the shelf at my home so I could understand every word written without problem.
As I said before, I was fascinated reading the introduction and my next step was to get the NIGHTSHIFT COLLECTION VHS, which includes Frank Darabont's Dollar Baby and Jeff Schiro's The Boogeyman, the first two Dollar Babies ever filmed. Sometimes I think that that year I discovered a treasure.
Years passed and I didn't know anything about the Dollar Baby program again until 2004. At that time I still didn't have Internet at home and I went to my local library where they had several PC with Internet connection. And it happened by chance, I was looking for news about Stephen King I chanced upon Jay Holben's Paranoid, which was available to watch online. I thought the Dollar Baby program didn't exist anymore and there were only a couple of movies, but I was wrong. I looked for more information about it and that's how I found the Stephen King Short Movies website. It was wonderful because the site had download links for several Dollar Baby films. I spent two years as a visitor in the web almost daily and when I finally had Internet at my own home I contacted Bernd, the owner of the site. That's how we met. Every time I found news about a Dollar Baby film that wasn't on his website I told him so. We became virtual friends instantly. I told that in 1996 I found a treasure but I think in 2004 I found the Holy Grail.
Could you please tell our readers about your website, Stephen King Short Movies.com?
SKSM is a Dutch website founded on November 21, 2003 by Bernd Lautenslager, so it has been providing free information about Dollar Baby films almost without interruption for more than 20 years. Only in 2006 was it offline for a short period of time. If you want to know what a Dollar Baby is, you can find information on Wikipedia or on Stephen King Short Movies.
On the website, we do interviews with artists who have something to do with a Dollar Baby film such as filmmakers, actors, producers, scriptwriters, cinematographers, composers, etc. We do this as a hobby and because we are united by a passion: films based on Mr. King's work. At the moment, we publish posts almost daily, we share the trailers and the Original Soundtrack of the films. We also have an application form for reviewing films and invite filmmakers to become part of our website by asking them to write their Director's Vision Statement. … It's been 20 years and our family has grown. I took over the website at the beginning of May 2017, Bernd asked me and I was happy to accept. I have been the co-administrator since then and I wish to continue being part of this family for a long time. This year two new members have joined the website. We are delighted, we share the work and we have a great friendship. They know what they want and have very good ideas. We are a happy family! Stay tuned for upcoming updates.
Did you grow up reading Stephen King?
A screenshot from my own Dollar Baby, IN THE DEATHROOM, because I have permission to use this. The film turned out okay-ish, but has been well supported online thanks to Oscar. :)
Absolutely yes. Stephen King has been a reference in my life. I have been a Constant Reader since I was 12 years old when I started reading his short stories. [As of now], I have read everything he has published, even what was not translated into Spanish. I read ‘Faithful’ with no knowledge of baseball and I will read anything King writes. I love King almost as much as my father. I can’t wait [until] “You Like it Darker” [is] released. I count the days.
I think it is incredible how many young people around the world have had their lives shaped by one man's words. Stephen King, and horror in general, is surprisingly unifying. One of my old colleagues was a decade younger than me, and grew up in China, and yet we both had the same childhood experiences of sneakily reading Stephen King when we were meant to be studying, and renting terrible horror films from the cheap section of the local video store. What was life like for you, growing up in Spain, as a young horror fan?
I studied Administrative and Commercial in my town. When I went to high school, the teacher forced us to read a book every three months, but they were books that I didn't like very much. I remember asking him if I could read three King books instead of the ones on the list he gave us to choose from. He told me no, however he included in the list some books that sparked interest in me, like 'The War of the Worlds', by H.G. Wells or a short stories collection that included the wonderful 'The Monkey's Paw' by W. W. Jacobs.
Oh, the video store. Good times! I also rented movies at the local video club when I was young. Luckily there were several King adaptations but some of them I couldn't rent because I hadn't read the novel yet. PET SEMATARY was the only exception and I regretted having seen the movie before reading the book. Friends who watch the movie told me that the soundtrack was by The Ramones. It was one of my favorite groups and I couldn't resist the temptation.
I also remember that the library in my town had many King books, so for a teenager like me it was heaven. And then there were the fanzines and monthly magazines that were sent to my home and where I could buy books, VHS and cassettes (there were no DVDs yet and CDs were just beginning to be marketed), but my weekly pay was only enough to buy one King book each or two months, so the library was the best option for someone like me.
While I was running the Foggy Isle Film Festival, some of our most (I mean this as politely as possible) disturbing submissions came from Spain. Spain, and Italy, actually. Why do you think horror is so popular in Spain? Do you think there are historical reasons for it?
In my opinion the best horror stories are [from the USA], although it's true that we are curious about other cultures and we are increasingly attracted to European or Japanese cinema, for example. I think audiences like to see horror movies with a different approach or a distinctive visual style. In Japanese cinema, makeup or messy hair is very typical in horror films. Spain has a long tradition of classics of the horror genre, but in my opinion the best are psychological horror films.
Spain, Italy and France are Mediterranean countries with a lot of cultural wealth and highly visited places. I must say that the cinema in these countries has a quite peculiar way of telling their stories and that it has improved a lot over time and not only in the horror genre. The film industry of these countries should be proud of the quality of their films.
Are you a filmmaker yourself? And if so, have you directed your own Dollar Baby?
I'm not a filmmaker. My friend Bernd, who I talked about him before, got permission to adapt 'Mute' and I am credited as Producer of the film. I have several credits on IMDb, but none as a filmmaker.
You have recently lost your hearing. I can only imagine how difficult that was to come to terms with. Has this impacted your work in any unexpected ways?
The year of Covid I lost almost all of my hearing and since then I only understand dialogue from a meter or two away, thanks to my hearing aids. There is no solution. I can't have surgery and at that moment I [need] to accept the bad news. During the first year, the adaptation was complicated because there were days when I recovered part of my hearing, [but then] the next day I [would lose] it again, so I didn't always hear the same. It was a horrible year, I had quite a few days with tinnitus that barely let me sleep for a couple of hours or three at night. Luckily it didn't happen to me every night. In case you've never heard of it, tinnitus is loud, constant ringing in the ears.
I started a new life, my therapy was to look for new hobbies like mountain biking, hiking or running. It worked. Outdoor activities remove a lot of stress and I can confirm this from my own experience. I would like to give advice to all those people who suffer from a disability or psychological problem and that is to go out and try new things that your health allows you to do. Never stay at home. Loneliness is a very treacherous friend.
Yes, it was unexpected and it affected my work. I was the organizer of three editions of the Dollar Baby Festival in Spain and part of the organization of the King On Screen, the Dollar Baby Festival in Argentina in four or five editions. My job was to translate the subtitles into Spanish and synchronize the dialogue times of the films. When I lost my hearing this was impossible for me, it was easier for me to climb Everest than to make subtitles. Due to Covid, the last edition of King On Screen was held online and I couldn't be with my colleagues in the video, so I had to help from the chat. I am very grateful to the organizers of the festival, the guys from Restaurant de la Mente, for having me knowing my hearing problem.
I just heard that the Dollar Baby program is ending... Is this true? What are your thoughts on it?
It's true. The Dollar Baby program has been disbanded because Marsha, Mr King personal assistant, is retiring. The Dollar Baby rules remain the same and filmmakers must continue to honor the contract. I have no words to express my gratitude to all of the filmmakers and especially Stephen King for making this possible. It has been a pleasure to have been part of the Dollar Baby Community.
Your website, and all of your work archiving these special little films, is really incredible. Is there anything else that you would like say to our readers?
It may seem like a cliché but it really is a team effort and we like what we do, which is why we have been online for more than 20 years. I hope this story is far from over and all of you accompany us in each of our steps. Thank you for reading this interview and thank you, Ashley, for making it possible and for your kind words.
Visit StephenKingShortFilms.com
ASHLEY GOOD
Ashley Good is the brains behind Haus of Fog. After directing the Foggy Isle Film Festival, which shone a spotlight on dark/horror indie shorts for the past five years, she decided to launch Haus of Fog to better reach her niche of fellow film weirdos. You can learn more about her work at ashleygood.ca.
Instagram: @ashleyegood | Youtube: @ashleyegood