THE HIGHWAYMAN, 11min., USA
Directed by Derek Bensonhaver
As a killer indiscriminately stalks the highways of America, he could be any face, any look, anybody, anywhere and you wont know him until it is too late.

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?
- In the USA, a consistent problem here is gun violence, and road rage, and often times those intersect. I've witnessed road rage before, that and unfortunately gun violence are both prevalent where I live in New Mexico. I wanted to tell a story about those issues, but encase it in a serial killer thriller/horror setting. Filmmaking is my passion and I am particularly drawn to darker subject matter, typically making various genres of horror films. This time I wanted to steer the direction of the story more into a thriller category, as that is more realistic in a very real subject matter.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?
- This was a large undertaking and done by an amazing team throughout, even though it was all volunteer, so that puts the project on all of our back burners for swiftly finishing. I wrote the idea about two years ago, then during the strikes revitalized it for myself and started the motions forward finally to make it come to life. Took us five filming days which included a day of just myself and my DP getting plate shots for the killers montage, and then reshooting one single shot to make it just perfect for the final cut. All in all from actually shooting through final product, about six months.

3. How would you describe your film in two words!?
- Actually Possible.

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
- As I mentioned every one of us did this for free, every cent spent where needed was out of my own pocked with no further funding. So the time it took to complete was a little slow, but so worth it. We're all very proud of it. Money always makes things go faster, and I wish I had the funds to pay everyone for their time, and hopefully will be able to make that leap in the next project.

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?
- I was very excited to see it, and quite grateful for the positive feedback! Understandably, I was expecting a little confusion about the ending and why. The film is extremely ciclical, from start to finish. everything is replicated visually or verbally from the first half into the last segment, even down to the victim and the killers final resting positions. I don't want to spoonfeed the audiences, but it does move quickly once the pickup of aggression happens, and thats the actual point; despite there being a serial killer out there, i'm making the point that people lose their cool over nothing, and are quick to react with anger, violence, and even the concept of anothers life means nothing out there on the road. So even our loving happy family can fall apart at nothing, and any other driver out there is just as dangerous as a supposed serial killer right now.

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?
- In high school a friend found an old vhs camera and some blank tapes. we started messing around making 'short films' or whatever you'd like to call those attempts, but man it was fun. Eventually that led us to a local monthly film competition and meeting other people who took it more seriously and that we could learn from working with them. At that point, being involved with the festival and these other filmmakers, I knew that this was what I wanted to do. I've always been a movie fan growing up, but having the chance to actually craft and tell my own stories was, and still is, everything.

7. What film have you seen the most in your life?
- Tough question, and I dont think I can narrow it down to one specifically, but off the top of my head i'd say.... Airheads, Waynes World, Scream, Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th pt. 3 and Evil Alien Conquerors are probably all equal.

8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?
- You all run an interesting thing by offering more than most do, including with the feedback videos. I think if its possible to run a nightvision camera during screenings to capture peoples actual reactions/screams/gasps/cheers etc would be truly amazing and inspiring for every filmmaker, especially as we arent able to attend every screening we have.

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experiences been working on the festival platform site?
- I actually really like the way filmfreeway is laid out, it makes it all pretty simple and easy to find festivals you may not know about to submit, as is I stumbled across your festival initially, but now have it saved for future projects to submit.

10. What is your favorite meal?
- Pizza, i'm always in the mood, especially if its thin and has meatballs on top.

11. What is next for you? A new film?
- The Highwayman is submitted to many festivals, so promoting this is current priority, but i've got one script that is a horror/drama in competition at Monkey Paw to try to secure funding for it to be made, as its just not feasible solely out of my pocket this time. And I've got two other scripts in the early stages right now, one straight horror, and another that is a dramedy. Seeing the Highwayman do well at the festivals currently is definitely motivating to keep plucking away at more ideas and more stories and pre planning, and keeping me excited even more to make them and show them to the world.