With his latest film release Slasher.com hitting major retailers and on to big VOD names, Boster is making a name for himself as a man that understands the business end of the film industry, which in our ever growing independent world is an increasingly rare talent. 28-years of experience in film, music and entertainment, 9 of which in LA, a true renaissance Missouri boy, Adam has run the gamut and now as a dot connecting local producer, builds his Midwest studio Boster Castle. This good ‘ol boy’s talents don’t end there. More than a triple hitter, filmmakers have utilized him as an actor, editor, musician . . . and (well kept secret weapon) . . . yes . . . stuntman. “Everyone loves when big films with money come knocking, but guerrilla film fighters with a dream, who have already raised enough cash to get rolling and just need that extra boost . . .” exclaims Boster, “those guys get my gears rolling! And then we make a great team.”
Boster Castle Studios bring to the table many assets that surely come in handy for these local crews and big city filmmaker’s looking to stretch their dollar, like a 40-acre back lot, studio space, production offices, prop & costume shops, 4k editing suites with the color team and DCP delivery. They’ve got the local hook up on grip, electric, drones and RED cameras with experienced crews & even own their own 14 passenger van, car hauler & camera car. Along with good ol’ boys and corn, the film is becoming the next Midwest staple, homegrown by Boster and his Castle team.
Our writer, Matthew Owen, had the incredible opportunity of interviewing Adam Boster for Occhi Magazine. Check out the interview below.
Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to speak with me today! I have several questions I want to ask you, but before we get started, could you briefly explain to my readership who you are and what you’re currently doing?
Movies are becoming the next Midwest crop as Boster Castle begins to harvest the seeds of 12 films, planted over the past few years, 2 currently in pre-production and numerous are in development. A relatively off the grid operation, we’ve been incredibly busy and very happy with our results. Now more people seem to be discovering our presence as all of our projects start to roll out! Slasher.com just came off DVD shelves and hit Amazon Prime. I’m so excited that Kenneth Chamitoff and I finished Money Fight this year and just held our “secret” LA screening with one of our film partners who is raising funds for the theatrical release!! Darkness Reigns just screened in Jefferson City, MO so that film is headed to market as well. I’m most excited that we’re about to graduate though, using a very strategic approach as we prepare to shoot Lost Treasure of Jesse James this coming summer. This film is going to harness all the strengths of our studio and bring a much-needed message of unity to audiences around the world. All this crammed into a totally fun action adventure film! I’m really stoked to get back in the director seat and capture this adventure film. And I’m going to enjoy shooting with my son Jace Boster at my side. That’s a dream come true for me. My wife, Angela Boster, is taking up an active producing role as well, so it’s becoming a family project and that really excites me!
You’ve made a significant splash with several of your business ventures. Tell me a bit about your objective in opening Boster Castle Studios, and the many services you’re offering to indie productions.
The Castle’s focus is to master this filmmaking model which is repeatable, duplicate-able, and self-fund-able to build a series based production industry in Missouri. Meaning we’ll work constantly, pumping out affordable, attractive entertainment. One day soon, one of these new alternative distribution model, video on demand type companies is going to come across us and realize we are their solution for quality affordable on-going content.
There’s a good group of locals here who are constantly making content which is great because they are keeping their chops up but it doesn’t fit in that, “hey the world is ready to buy that!” box.
We are here to gather our local resources and focus them on building a sustainable Midwest entertainment economy. We’ve graduated from pumping out art projects to building an entertainment business with a product that people are willing to buy. Because the product has to turn a profit and that is no different for the film business. It has to be voted into a market by customers wanting to buy it or it dies. People still buy “Dazed and Confused, The X Files and now The Walking Dead.
Besides overseeing the many facets of indie film, you’ve produced quite a few yourself. Most recently, we saw Slasher.com and Darkness Reigns, both horror films. As a horror fan myself, I’m very interested in the challenges of creating effective horror. What is, in your opinion, the most difficult aspect of crafting a good horror story?
Chip Gubera and Chelsea Andes who created Slasher.com and Andrew P. Jones of Darkness Reigns all did a fabulous job crafting good horror stories, creating unique approaches to your classic horror tales. I am definitely not a horror writer! I think it takes a special kind of something and I take zero credit there. I actually have to wear my “I’m not responsible” sign for whatever comes out of watching Slasher.com! Chip and Chelsea really make audiences squirm. Ok, more than squirm. I mean at moments it puts you in this strange place inside, which I don’t want to spoil here by blurting it out. But Slasher.com is packed full of twists and the whole spoon thing . . . it just makes my body cringe, nose curl, and gross factor wig out. You know the bottom line trick though, is the same with every genre, crafting a story that will sell for more than it took to make the film.
Besides horror, you dipped into the word of martial arts in Money Fight. Having worked as a stuntman, I can imagine you have a certain affinity for action. How does your history with stunt work impact how you approach an action film?
Martial arts was still old school style when I earned my black belt in high school, so you had to literally take on your instructor to get it. Well, he was a 250-pound ex-cop and I was a 155-pound scrawny high school kid. I guess I held in there because I walked away with a deviated septum and my black belt! After that, in college at William Jewell, my professors really encouraged me to fly. My senior thesis was the rock musical film “War” and then there was this other feature film “Psilence”, both chock full of action, stunts and fight scenes and I wrote, produced, directed. I got to create from concept to completion for the first time which was so invigorating and scary because you’re putting every piece of yourself out there on display. I think I fell back on the combat and stunts because I was naturally good at it. This is another reason I am excited to shoot Lost Treasure of Jesse James.
In stunts, I often work with Kevin Purvis who is a veteran real-life action hero! We can be choreographing a fight scene to look sweet and Kevin will say, “well what’s usually happened to me in this situation is my attacker came for me like this . . .” and you can watch every eye on set open up like “What did he just say?”
Safety first is the rule. We’re working on the film 57 Seconds. Kevin and I read the script and both go “DANG! That move would break my back!!” So we brainstorm how we can make that moment be intense and still maintain safety. With stunt work, it’s a vicious cycle. The more stunts I do the more I want to do stunts!
You’ve worked in the industry for a long time, and your talent has been used in a variety of positions. From cult hits like, Dazed and Confused to the massive amount of indie work you’ve done, I imagine you have countless entertaining stories. Of those, is there a stand out moment during your career that you’d care to share?
Oh yeah. I’ll never forget that moon tower party in Dazed and Confused which actually turned into a real party. Shooting style was almost more documentary than set up. The camera’s rolling on one of these go-with-the-flow scenes. Ben Affleck unexpectedly cuts in front of me at the beer keg line, stares at me like I’m supposed to say something, pauses and I spurt out a deadpan . . . “Woah”. Didn’t make the final cut, but I’m watching the deleted scenes years later and bam! There it is. So I guess someone else got a kick out of it too.
Stunt-wise there’s the time I’m coaching Gregory Sporleder on how to beat the crap out of Ford Fanter with a baseball bat on the set of Brian Maurer’s film In the Wake of Ire. Those two were just super fun to work with and they totally got into the beating. HA!
Watching Chip Gubera’s eyes in the Slasher.com editing room as he digested my many suggestions; which often meant shooting more crazy crap. But man he was always up for the challenge to enhance the film. And he did. I love that about his directing style!
I grew up in the 90’s, so Bill Nye: The Science Guy was a treat during science class. Not only have you appeared on the show, but you also composed a song for an episode. Additionally, you have composition credits in Money Fight. As a musician, I’d love to hear about your creative process during composition.
Music is my real language which I prefer to speak. And thanks to friends like Robert W Evans, I’ve written and recorded with talents like Wyshmaster and Chingy. I love and crave songwriting. Music exists on a whole other plane of art. The moment a song kicks in we are transformed to an entirely different set of feelings. This form of magic gives a filmmaker the tools to pull their audience along the journey so deeply, experience the story so completely. To me, it’s the number one most powerful tool in the workshop of building movies. Boster Castle has some serious plans in this area for Lost Treasure of Jesse James.
Photos by Leah VanHoose
Completely unrelated to film, but very related to your roots; Missouri. I don’t mean to start an existential crisis here, but what’s better; dry or wet style BBQ?
Oh, dry rub wins out over wet style BBQ. Without a doubt.
What’s your favorite place to eat in your home state?
Definitely D’Rowes in Columbia, MO! Best smoked wings I’ve ever had and I’m a world traveler type. My wife Angela and I love to frequent and we always bring our friends to try them. Those smoked wings have never disappointed our guests yet.
I alluded earlier to the pure variety of work you’ve done within the film industry, and it’s pretty impressive. Having played so many roles in the creation of a film, what’s your favorite? I too enjoy the spotlight, but love working behind the scenes. What position have you found the most rewarding or enjoyable?
Man, that is a really tough one. As a kid I used to be so enamored with musicals where actors would dance, sing, do their own stunts and comedy and I always wanted to be those guys. Then Star Wars pulled me to the creative side. Directing my own stories is SO fulfilling, but I think the business end grows more appealing to me the older I get as I work to build a sustainable film business here in Missouri.
I’ll always want to keep acting. Add in the music and you’ve got this renaissance creative type who just eats up the whole process.
Have you ever thought about working in the video game industry? Recently, I’ve seen a lot of overlap between professionals in both industries. Has this ever come up?
Due to the next generation, my son Jace Boster, yes! Jace was out in LA competing in the gaming circuit and I called him one day and said “Son you gotta come help me on these three films I’m working on!! I need an assistant editor and more!” Well, the kid is super sharp, a creative artist and he’s a competitive gamer . . . which being my generation, took me a while to grasp.
We were working together in the editing bay on a great Tom Green and Les Stroud comedy called Interview A Monster made by Thomas Smugala, which I think the world is really gonna enjoy this film, and we had so much fun working together. He is so insightful, creates games. We even built a trading card game together called Way of the Guardian, which also has a feature film script. Anyway, it’s only a matter of time before we get immersed into the film aspect of the video game world. Especially as the interactive film evolves.
Once again, thanks for taking the time to participate in this interview. As we wrap up, can you tell my readers a bit more about when and where they can check out your recent works?
Slasher.com is now available on DVD and Amazon Prime.
Money Fight is still to be released, which get ready because it’s got a heavy heartfelt punch to it that needs to be heard in today’s challenging world!
Interview A Monster is available for purchase at www.interviewamonster.com
Darkness Reigns is about to be released.
In the Wake of Ire, Most Dangerous Game, and 57 Seconds are just hitting the festival circuit.
Rob In the Hood is currently seeking VOD distribution.
Fugue is in the post right now.
Much like Dazed and Confused launched numerous actors from unknown to superstar, there’s some charismatic new talent emerging out of Lost Treasure of Jesse James. You’re gonna like these Missouri grown actors with the chemistry of Tera Eckerle & Skully Shemwell who both just came off Interview a Monster. Adam L. Flowers, Corey Thouviner & Richard L. Ulrich who have all been strong players in the St Louis film scene. Add in the honed character craft of Mike Ketcher and the warmth of Tommy Kramer. Then some young fresh new talent just got cast out of our partnership with Boys and Girls Club here in Columbia, MO. They work very hard to find ways to inspire the kids there, and when Cheryl Dozier, our casting associate got the word over there we were casting this film, those kids lit up!! And two fresh natural young actors are coming out of that group! Soon to be announced.
Once we complete Lost Treasure of Jesse James this year, we are making plans with SNM Global Holdings to seriously expand Missouri film by launching our next episode based project I-70 Knights and a coming of age 80’s feature currently titled Small Town Love.
“After working with Adam in our joint venture involving his movie “Money Fight”, it was apparent the professionalism and talent Adam and his production company displayed, so naturally we would be excited to be involved in other movies as well as music projects with him,” stated SNM Global Holdings CEO Troy Lowman, ” in fact, we are currently in talks to fund and develop several ventures.”
Connect with Adam:
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2819700/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adammusician/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adamboster/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamboster
Web: http://adamboster.weebly.com/
Connect with Booster Castle Studios:
Web: http://www.bostercastlestudios.com/
Check out Lost Treasure of Jesse James on IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8042080/
Featured Image Credit: Adam Boster on set of Money Fight. Photo by Brice Spencer.
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