THE INNKEEPERS will be available on-demand December 30th and In theatres starting February 3rd.
WELCOME TO THE YANKEE PEDLAR INN
Welcome to The Yankee Pedlar Inn of Torrington, Connecticut, where gracious hospitality and homegrown warmth are the cornerstones of a history that dates back to 1891.
The Yankee Pedlar offers 60 individual rooms with private baths, each adorned with stenciled walls and period furniture and restored with the most modern of conveniences.
Relax, drink and dine in The Yankee Pedlar’s tavern and restaurant, each of which is appointed with a crackling fireplace and rustic décor. Or simply take a stroll through the lovingly preserved lobby and allow the style and charm of yesterday to sweep over you.
Just be sure to do it all now, because The Yankee Pedlar Inn is closing down for good in less than a week.
Oh, and so you know, The Yankee Pedlar Inn has a reputation for being haunted.
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
The origins of THE INNKEEPERS can be traced back to the production of Ti West’s previous film, The House of the Devil, shot in the spring of 2008, primarily in and around the town of Lime Rock, Connecticut. During the production, the cast and crew of the film--including West, producers Larry Fessenden, Peter Phok, Derek Curl, cinematographer Eliot Rockett, production designer Jade Healy, and line producer Jacob Jakffe—resided at The Yankee Pedlar Inn in the nearby town of Torrington, Connecticut.
“We were staying there because it was the closest place to the location. When I first showed up there, I thought it was a goofy place,” remembers West. “But it was kind of charming; you usually stay at some Best Western on the side of the highway because you’re trying to stay at the cheapest place possible.”
It wasn’t too long before West and company learned of the Yankee Pedlar’s years-long reputation of being a “haunted hotel,” an opinion held by many of the hotel’s employees and residents of the town of Torrington. And that was a feeling that began to grow in the minds of the House of the Devil company during their nearly two-month stay at the hotel.
“It was one of those things: We’re shooting a movie for twelve hours a day about the devil just forty minutes away from this hotel,” says West. “Making a movie is such a strange, traumatic adventure, and when you get back to where you’re staying after a long shooting day, it’s usually a pretty bland, straight-ahead experience. You get ready for the next day and then you crash.”
But the Yankee Pedlar ain’t no Best Western, as West quickly discovered. While staying in his room on the top level of the three-story Yankee Pedlar, he experienced a handful of moments that could certainly be interpreted as classic “haunted hotel” motifs, led by light bulbs that would burn out with alarming frequency (the replacement bulbs, as well) and a television that would turn off and on by itself. But as West remembers, there was more…
“It was really an overall vibe—like someone was in the room with me. Yeah, there were nights when I was in my room and it would just feel like somebody was in there with me, near me,” West recalls of his overnights at the Yankee Pedlar during the House of the Devil shoot. “It may sound bogus and I’m a skeptic as it is, but I don’t ever feel that way in my life. Ever.”
Skeptic or not, West was busy making a film and his daily “weird vibe” would have to take a back seat during the production. But not for too long…
As finishing touches were being put on The House of the Devil, and the movie was being readied for its festival rollout in the spring of 2009 and subsequent theatrical release in the fall, West began shifting his focus toward another movie that he was developing. But his experience at The Yankee Pedlar proved itself to be too strong to let go, particularly as it was so fresh in his mind.
By the fall of 2009, just as The House of the Devil was beginning its acclaimed theatrical run, Ti West’s idea about a film focusing on a haunted hotel in Northern Connecticut began to take root. What if a couple of hotel employees—generally slacker-type nine-to-fivers who begin to fancy themselves ghost hunters—set out on the eve of the hotel’s closing to prove that the hotel is genuinely haunted? Utilizing one of the employee’s knowledge of computer technology and the other’s overall enthusiasm and reality TV-inspired spunk, they could surely prove the mystery of the hundred-year old hotel. And what starts off as a slacker-styled search for proof of ghosts in a supposedly haunted hotel slowly transforms into something truly horrific? What if, indeed….
And so, The Innkeepers was born...
“Ti knew if he could present the project in a doable way, he would have something. And by proposing we shoot in the same hotel we stayed in when we made House of the Devil, that was definitely something,” says producer Larry Fessenden. “And Ti wrote this very sweet script...”
Ironically (or not, depending on your point of view), West’s idea for THE INNKEEPERS wholly revolved around shooting at The Yankee Pedlar Inn.
“I knew that if The Yankee Pedlar would agree to let us make the movie there, then we could make it right away,” says West. “But if not, if they didn’t want us to shoot there, then there would be no movie. It’s not a movie that could have been made anywhere else.”
West completed his script and he headed out to Sundance in January 2010 to meet with MPI and pitch it. Dark Sky Films was immediately excited about West’s script, giving it a thumbs-up and approving the budget, contingent on The Yankee Pedlar agreeing to have the film shot on their premises. That left the producers with the task of approaching The Yankee Pedlar about shooting the film on location in the hotel.
“Our biggest goal was to get it greenlit, that was the first thing,” says producer Peter Phok. “Connecticut has a good tax incentive for filmmaking, so that certainly helped. I know Ti writes for location—when we’re locked in, he’ll do a re-write to make it more specific—but for THE INNKEEPERS, it was all about the location.”
What could have been a major stumbling block proved to be just the opposite.
“I couldn’t believe I was making the call, to use The Yankee Pedlar for the film,” remembers Phok. “But they were very agreeable to the idea—they remembered us from when we stayed there during House of the Devil, of course—and we made the deal.” “Then it was a matter of scheduling the shoot and a race for getting into the hotel quickly.”
The Set...
THE INNKEEPERS shoot was scheduled for 18 days in April 2010 and, in the great tradition of independent filmmaking, the fast-approaching shoot allowed for little more than two weeks for pre-production.
“It was a bit nerve racking going into something without a proper prep window. However Peter, Derek and myself were going into our fourth movie together in under two years, so by that point we had hit a rhythm and were operating at another level of efficiency,” says line producer Jacob Jaffke. “This being my second movie with Ti, I knew what to expect and knew what he would be needing for this film, so I was able to anticipate this a bit better than we had on Devil.”
As West wrote THE INNKEEPERS specifically to be shot at The Yankee Pedlar (which retains its name in the film), the hotel was to more-or-less remain in its original condition for the production. When he and his production team arrived at the Pedlar eight days before shooting was scheduled to commence, the prepping of the hotel proper was relegated to “a matter of tweaking things here and there.”
A production office was set up in the Pedlar’s basement and arranged for equipment, while set dressing was stored in the hotel’s banquet room. For the crew, returning to The Yankee Pedlar smacked of nostalgia.
“The Yankee Pedlar staff remembered us and they liked us—we were a rowdier bunch when we were there for House of the Devil, but we’d all grown up a bit,” laughs Phok. “My team had lived there for two months for Devil, and we knew the hotel, we knew the town and we knew the vendors. That’s how we stayed on schedule.”
Arriving in Torrington for pre-production, production designer Jade Healy (whose work on West’s The House of the Devil represented first-ever feature production designer credit), set out to turn West’s Yankee Pedlar “tweaking” into an on-camera reality for THE INNKEEPERS.
“Originally, we thought there wouldn’t be that much to do, but as we moved through preproduction and began to shoot, we realized that there was a lot to be done,” says Healy. “And we had to deal with the time element and budgetary restraints.”
Much of Healy and her team’s work went into some specific “antique-ing” of The Yankee Pedlar with various props that she found in antique stores and online. Older, worn-out couches and chairs, a vintage front desk bell, a drab carpet—all and more were added to the lobby and various rooms to replace more modern pieces to realize West’s vision of The Yankee Pedlar. One of Healy’s best add-ons was a mounted deer head, which proudly reigned over The Yankee Pedlar lobby. Healy found the deer head on Craig’s List; it now hangs in West’s apartment.
Perhaps the biggest physical “change” made to The Yankee Pedlar was the necessary creation of a large bookshelf for one of the lobby walls, which was used to wholly cover up the entrance to the attached hotel bar next door.
In re-crafting The Yankee Pedlar’s austere interior, Healy and her team painted over the walls of the lobby and several rooms used in the production, in addition to re-wallpapering several others. All of it jived with West’s color palette specifications, which he carried with him on a list in his pocket.
Challenges came in the form of dealing with the logistics of shooting in a 100-year-old hotel. Having to work within the confines of the Pedlar’s rooms (that weren’t all that big) and hallways (which weren’t all that wide), Cinematographer Eliot Rockett spent his pre-production days being both challenged and energized by the task of preparing the look and feel that West was looking for in his film in/about The Yankee Pedlar.
“What was really interesting about The Yankee Pedlar is that over the years, it’s been added on to and remodeled, but in its own, unique way,” says Rockett. “It’s not like Hollywood rustic—it looks like a place that was once old and grand and that people tried to restore to its grandeur, but the people did it in a slipshod way.”
Among some of the anachronistic, stranger elements were several hallways that were renovated at some point with modern drop ceilings and old woodwork that had been repainted with a bright, white finish. Additionally, the walls that lined traditional-looking interior hallways were unaligned and off-center.
“It adds to the creepiness in a way that you can’t put your finger on completely,” nods Rockett. “But this hotel is crooked and weird and not quite right—it’s a more off-kilter kind of place. And as the story of the movie goes on, what was initially kooky then becomes more foreboding.”
The Casting...
Three very different stories accompany the casting of the three leading players in THE INNKEEPERS.
The first and arguably easiest casting coup came in the form of Pat Healy, who portrays The Yankee Pedlar’s technologically literate loner, Luke. Healy was making the rounds of the festival circuit as the star of the film Great Wall of Sound several years back when he first met West, who was on the road with his film Trigger Man.
“We met briefly, shook hands and that was pretty much it,” remembers Healy. “He was a nice guy.”
At the time, Healy was taking a step back from his acting career for a few years to concentrate on his screenwriting (which has since yielded Healy a handful of writing credits on the HBO series In Treatment). After seeing The House of the Devil, though, Healy wanted to get in touch with West to express his admiration for the picture. But West beat him to it with an email…
“Pat was someone I’d known for a little while after meeting him at one of the festivals and I shot him an email to see if he was interested in THE INNKEEPERS,” says West. “He works a lot and I enjoy watching him on screen, so I approached him early immediately.
“Ti got in touch with me and asked me if I wanted to do the part and I didn’t even have to read the script,” recalls Healy.
“There’s so much attention paid to paranormal events these days and that’s what attracted me to THE INNKEEPERS —it’s about the people who get into that area,” says Healy of his initial interest in the script. “What makes them want to do that kind of thing? Are you seeing ghosts or are you losing your mind?”
Casting for the role of The Yankee Pedlar’s enthusiastic minimum wage ghost hunter Claire took a bit longer.
After considering a number of twenty-something actresses for the role, Paxton’s name came up. The one-time child performer had just appeared in the remake of the seminal Seventies shocker The Last House on the Left and was currently in New York shooting the horror entry Enter Nowhere, which co-starred Katherine Waterston, a friend of Ti West.
West called Waterston to get the lowdown on Paxton to see if she might be right for the role of Claire and to find out what she was like.
“She told me that Sara was the greatest, so I followed up with her agent,” West remembers. “Then I got on the phone with Sara and decided she was the one.”
“My manager called me to tell me that a guy named Ti West wanted to talk to me and read a script,” Ms. Paxton remembers of initially hearing about THE INNKEEPERS “Then I’m in New York and my friend Katherine Waterston tells me that Ti was contacting her about me and I’m, like, ‘Okay, this is weird--I’m hearing about this Ti from all sides!’”
Though she was looking to take a little time off, Ms. Paxton spoke with West on the phone, read the script and then met with him when she returned to L.A. the next week.
“I liked the script—I liked the idea that a huge chunk of the movie just asks a simple question: ‘Are there ghosts?’” says Ms. Paxton. “What attracted me to my character in THE INNKEEPERS is that she’s very likable. She’s just an ordinary girl living in any town being scared in a hotel.”
A few weeks later—on the night of her 22nd birthday, in fact—Ms. Paxton was on a red-eye flight to Torrington, Connecticut. And a couple of days and wardrobe fittings after that, she was portraying Claire in the first day of shooting on THE INNKEEPERS.
“You want someone who’s talented, yes, and someone who likes the material, but you also want someone you’re going to like as a person,” says West. “You need a group of like-minded people and you want to have a kind of shorthand when you have a short shooting schedule. Sara and I got along really well. She seemed super-cool and she was definitely excited about the movie. “
Just as computer and digital technology plays a major role in determining if The Yankee Pedlar Hotel is haunted in THE INNKEEPERS, so does it also factor into the casting of the accomplished Kelly McGillis as Leanne Rease-Jones, a TV actress turned psychic who checks into The Yankee Pedlar during its final week of operation and gives the resident innkeepers a lot of potentially terrifying things to think about.
Ms. McGillis was suggested for the role of Leanne relatively late in the game by the film’s producers, who had recently worked with her when she starred in Stake Land. At the time her name was brought up in the spring of 2010, Ms. McGillis was in London starring in a UK tour of Terrence McNally’s play Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, and West and THE INNKEEPERS team were in the midst of pre-production in Connecticut.
“We set up a Skype video chat with Kelly in London while I was at the Pedlar,” West recalls. “We told her what THE INNKEEPERS was all about and she asked a lot about it and why it would be good for her.”
“I liked what I read and Leanne seemed like a fun and kooky character,” says Ms. McGillis. “I also liked the challenge of working with someone who’s written the piece as well—they always have a very strong visual idea of what they want.”
Having worked with producers Phok, Fessenden and Derek Curl just several months earlier, Ms. McGillis knew what she was getting into when she returned to the U.S. following her tour and made her way to Torrington for THE INNKEEPERS.
“I haven’t actually seen a horror film since I was a kid, and that’s no offense to Ti and others who make those kind of movies,” Ms. McGillis laughs. “But speaking to Ti when I was considering THE INNKEEPERS, I liked the kind of interesting, fresh perspective he seemed to be bringing to the genre.”
The Shoot...
The shoot for THE INNKEEPERS was scheduled for 18 days in April 2010, but it didn’t come in exactly on time: the film was shot in 17 days, with principal photography wrapping one day earlier than planned. The fact that the cast and crew of nearly 40 worked and lived in The Yankee Pedlar for the entire shoot certainly helped.
“We rented out the entire hotel and moved everyone in, though there were a couple of weddings and guests already pre-booked at the hotel that couldn’t be changed,” says Phok. “But it wasn’t really a problem; we just adjusted our schedule and made it work.”
The cast and crew primarily lived in the upper floors of The Yankee Pedlar, while the shoot utilized several of the lower rooms and hallways, the lobby and the basement. The principal crew members all agree that shooting and living on location kept the production on schedule—and often ahead of it.
“We were actually getting a little too far ahead of the production at times. Sometimes the next scenes on the schedule weren’t even set up yet,” remembers Rockett. “There’s no time lost when you’re living on location—you can walk up or down the stairs to any location you want, you can always find out what’s going on and you’re always just right there.”
“The biggest saving grace was that we were in the same location for 17 days. We worked, ate, and slept in that hotel,” agrees Jaffke. “There was one day that required us to go outside of the hotel to another location and everybody got a little kooky. You know when you would go on a field trip to the museum as a kid and how everybody just went a little extra crazy? It was like that.”
Comparing a tight film shoot to a summer camp or family trip is nothing new, but in the case of THE INNKEEPERS being within shouting distance of each other 24/7 only helped to bring everyone closer to each, particularly the cast members.
“Everyone being under the same roof was a great way to get to know one another, particularly since Sara and I met in the make-up chair for the first time right before we began shooting,” says Healy. “It was a great way to make the movie. When there’s not a lot of time, you’ve got to be good at what you do and you’ve got to get along.”
Ms. McGillis also got a charge out of the experience of “living where I work.”
“Maybe it’s because I was only there for 10 days, but it reminded me of that whole Sixties theater thing, like I was part of an ensemble in college,” she says. “It sparked that huge romantic ideal for me about the theater and being close with your collaborators in the creative process.”
Only the L.A.-born Sara Paxton was thrown (just a bit) by the overall working space/living space experience. Much of that was due to the general size of The Yankee Pedlar rooms (“Tiny!”), the overall creepiness she felt when was alone (“Definitely a strange feeling…”) and the dreams she experienced over the course of the shoot.
“Every night, every night, I would wake up in the middle of some vivid, weird dream! And I wasn’t the only one—so many others were having them, too,” says Paxton.
Ah, yes, the dreams. Just as Ti West and the House of the Devil team had their own dreams and paranormal pangs during their stay at The Yankee Pedlar two years earlier, so did the cast and crew of THE INNKEEPERS while on the premises. (For some of their comments, see the attached Making Movies in a Haunted Hotel page.)
But if anything, The Yankee Pedlar experience seems to have inspired the team to bring in West’s ghost story with a contemporary twist without a single a hitch.
What writer/director Ti West is most excited about is that his latest film is, well, a Ti West film that wholly retains his original vision. (That it came in on time and on budget doesn’t hurt either.)
“We’re a rag-tag group of people who know how to do what we know how to do,” says West. “Whenever it’s time to do that, don’t mess it up, just let us do it. When we’re left to our own devices, we do it very well together.”
Ultimately, West is extremely happy with THE INNKEEPERS, a nifty, darkly humorous horror piece about a possibly haunted hotel that grew out of his own experiences staying in a possibly haunted hotel while making an earlier horror film.
“It’s very different from The House of the Devil, and it’s very different from what I’m going to do next, but you can still tell THE INNKEEPERS was made by me,” concludes West. “It will be very interesting to see how it’s received. There’s enough of it that feels familiar to understand what you’re getting, but it’s not what people are going to expect.”
Making Movies in a Haunted Hotel…
Writer/director Ti West: I’m a skeptic as it is, but I had some weird electric things in my room. The light bulbs would burn out all the time and the TV would turn off and on by itself. It was really just a vibe—it felt like someone was in the room with you. It may sound bogus and just like what everyone else says, but I don’t ever feel that way in my life. Ever.”
Producer Derek Curl: I felt a ghost—I didn’t see a ghost. But I’m also very sensitive to them. I was sitting in bed and actually jumped off because I felt something push up against me….I think the ghosts here really have a bathroom fetish, because they love screwing with people’s bathrooms, whether it’s the water coming on, the lights flickering, doors shutting…
Actress Sara Paxton: It was unsettling living in that inn! One night I was in my bed reading a book after dinner; the windows were closed and suddenly the bathroom door slams and the light flicks on! It freaked me out—I was frozen. It must have been a breeze, I thought, but how could there a breeze when the windows are closed?
Cinematographer Eliot Rockett: I’m the old guy—practically everyone else on the shoot was 30 or under. The whole haunted hotel thing, whatever, I didn’t experience any of that. But this hotel is crooked and weird and not quite right.
Producer Peter Phok: I remember hearing the stories of The Yankee Pedlar being haunted from Luke, the night watchman, when we were here making The House Of The Devil. Personally, I’m not a superstitious person—I’ve got to see it before I believe it. That said, there’s definitely a creepy vibe at this hotel.
Actor Pat Healy: I’m not a believer in ghosts, but I did experience the weird atmosphere of that place, that town. And there were times when we were shooting those “scare moments” when I really felt it.
Line Producer Jacob Jaffke: Everyone had really crazy dreams. The same thing happened when we were making The House of the Devil and staying at the very same hotel. It kind of felt like you were watching Videodrome on acid in the rain...that is the only way I can describe the feeling you would have when you woke up with after a night's sleep in the Pedlar.
Actress Kelly McGillis: I never had any experiences of being “haunted” when I was there. The Yankee Pedlar was a little creepy, yes, but it also had an interesting charm to it.
ABOUT THE CAST
SARA PAXTON (Claire)
An accomplished young actress who has worked in feature films, television shows and music over the past decade, Sara Paxton continues to demonstrate her versatility starring as one of the titular clerks with a jones for ghost hunting at The Yankee Pedlar Hotel in Ti West’s THE INNKEEPERS.
A Los Angeles native who began working in musical theater and television commercials as a child, Ms. Paxton’s first major role was in the teen comedy “Sleepover.” She was subsequently cast in a recurring role on the WB television show “Summerland” and then as the star of the Discovery Kids television series “Darcy’s Wild Life,” for which she received an Emmy nomination. The show also featured Ms. Paxton’s music track “Take a Walk,” one of several of her songs that have been released on the soundtracks for “Darcy’s Wild Life” and “Summerland.”
The last decade has seen Ms. Paxton appearing in a number of TV shows (among them, “Will & Grace,” “Malcolm in the Middle,” “Wizards of Waverly Place” and “CSI: Miami”) and, more recently, a slew of movies films. The past few years have seen Sara star in the thriller The Last House on the Left, a remake of the Seventies cult favorite, and the comedies Superhero Movie and Sydney White starring Amanda Bynes.
PAT HEALY (Luke)
A respected character actor/leading man whose resume boasts nearly fifteen years of movie and television credits, Pat Healy stars as a low-key, computer-savvy employee of The Yankee Pedlar Inn who’s curious about his place of employment’s supposedly haunted history in THE INNKEEPERS
Hailing from the suburbs of Chicago, Healy first appeared on the big screen in a bit part in Home Alone 3, the third entry in the beloved Chicago-based film series. Since then, he’s appeared in featured roles in dozens of films and television, including Magnolia, Ghost World, Pearl Harbor, Rescue Dawn, Great World of Sound and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and the TV shows “Charmed,” “NYPD Blue,” “CSI,” “The Shield,” “Cold Case” and “Grey’s Anatomy.”
As a writer, Healy has written or co-written three installments of the acclaimed HBO series “In Treatment,” while also writing, directing, and starring in his own short film, Mullit, which played at the Sundance Film Festival.
Healy has also appeared in a quartet of stage productions mounted by Chicago’s highly regarded Steppenwolf Theatre Company, including A Clockwork Orange and The Libertine.
KELLY MCGILLIS (Leanne Rease-Jones)
A respected screen, stage and television actor for the past twenty-five years, Kelly McGillis follows up her recent appearance in the highly regarded Stake Land with a star turn a fading TV actress turned psychic in Ti West’s THE INNKEEPERS.
Ms. McGillis has appeared in many popular films in her career, including Peter Weir’s Witness with Harrison Ford, Tony Scott’s Top Gun opposite Tom Cruise, Jonathan Kaplan’s The Accused opposite Jodie Foster and Alan Rudolph’s Made in Heaven with Timothy Hutton. She has also appeared in numerous television shows and mini-series, most notably in a guest-star arc on the Showtime series “The L Word.”
A graduate of Juilliard School’s Drama Division, Ms. McGillis has also worked extensively in the theater, where she has performed in classics by Chekov, Shaw, Ibsen, Shakespeare and O’Neill. She has regularly appeared in starring roles with the prestigious Shakespeare Theatre of Washington, DC and also in a national tour of the stage play, The Graduate as Mrs. Robinson. Additional credit include starring roles in the California revival of Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes and the UK tour of Terrence McNally’s Frankie and Johnny in The Claire de Lune.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS
TI WEST (Director, Screenwriter, Editor and Producer)
One of the most exciting and original filmmakers on the independent scene today, Ti West directs, edits and co-produces his original screenplay about two employees of a soon-to-be-closed hotel, who get more than they bargained for when they set out to prove that the hotel is as haunted as its reputation, in THE INNKEEPERS.
Hailing from Wilmington, Delaware, West attended New York’s School of the Visual Arts (SVA), where he met producer Larry Fessenden through one of his teachers (filmmaker Kelly Reichardt). Upon graduating from SVA, Fessenden executive produced writer/director/editor West’s first feature film, The Roost. Released in 2005, the Seventies-style horror entry about a group of young people who finds themselves stranded on a mysterious farm overrun by vampire bats and zombies was well-received by critics and on the festival circuit. Shortly after its premiere at the SXSW film festival it was sold in a mid six figure deal to Showtime. West, who had penned the screenplay in three weeks, was immediately singled out for his uniquely atmospheric and independent-minded approach to horror filmmaking genre, which was at once wholly original and that also mindfully embraced the genre’s glorious past.
West’s next film, 2007’s Trigger Man, was a horror-tinged thriller about three friends from Manhattan who set out on an ill-fated weekend hunting trip in rural Delaware. West added on cinematography to his roster of duties for Trigger Man, in addition to the film’s writing, editing and direction. Like The Roost, Trigger Man was well-received on the festival circuit and by critics and was released by the prestigious art-house label Kino international.
In 2008 West directed The The House Of The Devil. Set in the Eighties and concerning a babysitter who discovers that her eccentric clients are plotting to use her as part of a Satanic ritual, The The House Of The Devil received nearly unanimous praise, a successful theatrical run and an outstanding response upon its DVD release in 2010. Additionally, the film was honored with awards at the Birmingham Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival and Screamfest in 2009.
Prior to beginning production on The Innkeepers, West wrote, produced and directed the online series Dead & Lonely in 2009 for IFC Films, concerning a awkward first date between a newly single young man and a shapely but shy female vampire.
West was recently invited by The Criterion Collection to provide a video appreciation for the home entertainment release of Nobuhiko Obayashi’s House (1977). Other filmmakers who have recorded appreciations for Criterion include Terry Gilliam, Sidney Lumet, Peter Bogdanovich, Paul Thomas Anderson.
JADE HEALY (Production Designer)
Having worked with Ti West as a production designer on The House Of The Devil, Jade Healy now brings her talents to West’s latest film, THE INNKEEPERS.
Most recently, Jade served as art director on Lena Dunham’s critically acclaimed Tiny Furniture. Prior to that, she took on various production and art department positions in a number of acclaimed independent productions, including Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Undead, Hell Ride, Edmond with William H. Macy, As Good As Dead with Andie MacDowell and Cary Elwes and Asia Argento’s The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things.
ELISABETH VASTOLA (Costume Designer)
Having worked with Glass Eye Pix on three of their previous films, Elisabeth Vastola brings her experience with designing for horror to West's THE INNKEEPERS. Vastola most recently worked in both the art and costume departments of the Oscar nominated film 127 Hours. She has designed Bitter Feast, Stake Land, and Gun Hill Road (Official Selection 2011 Sundance Film Festival), among other titles. She is also the costume designer for the on-going critically acclaimed Off-Broadway production of Angelina Ballerina the Musical.
ELIOT ROCKETT (Cinematographer)
A veteran cinematographer with nearly twenty feature films to his credit, Eliot Rockett continues his collaboration with Ti West on THE INNKEEPERS.
Rockett previously served as cinematographer on West’s films The House Of The Devil and Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever. Prior to that, he shot such features as the superhero comedy The Specials, the Nightstalker, Dirty, Rampage: The Hillside Strangler Murders, Liberty Kid, and the straight-to-video cult favorite Crocodile, directed by Tobe Hooper.
BRIAN SPEARS (Special Effects Make-Up)
Brian Spears is a special effects make-up artist who has been providing zombies, vampires, and all around gore for the past ten years to projects up and down the east coast. Brian has supplied effects to several feature films, award winning shorts and countless music videos. After working on I Sell the Dead he’s had the opportunity to work on several projects with the emerging production company Glass Eye Pix. He’s contributed plenty of nastiness to many of their new slew of pictures such as Bitter Feast, Stake Land and Hypothermia. Other credits include Plague Town, Burning Inside, Sleepaway Camp IV, Shadow of Dead Riot. Spears enjoys long walks on the beach with a fine wine and a good book but relishes the chance to dismember, disfigure and pour gallons of blood on a film set.
GRAHAM RAZNICK (2nd Unit Director / Sound Designer)
Graham Reznick is a director and sound designer, originally from Delaware and currently based in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. He recently directed the critically acclaimed feature film I Can See You and the award-winning 3D short film The Viewer. He created sound design for Ti West's THE INNKEEPERS., as well as The House of the Devil, The Roost and Trigger Man; Jim Mickle's Stakeland; Glenn McQuaid's I Sell the Dead; James McKenney's Automatons; and Joe Maggio's Bitter Feast, among others. He has also collaborated with his colleagues at Waverly Films, editing numerous music videos for them (LCD Soundsystem's "North American Scum") and Ron Winter (Jimmy Eat World's "My Best Theory"). Graham is currently developing The Teleport, a 3D science fiction thriller, in association with Glass Eye Pix.
JEFF GRACE (composer)
Jeff Grace is an award winning composer who has scored films with appearances at the Toronto, Sundance, Venice, TriBeCa, and South by Southwest film festivals. Jeff’s recent projects include Kelly Reichardt’s Meek’s Cutoff (starring Michelle Williams), Jim Mickle’s Stake Land (winner of the People’s Choice Award in the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival’s 2010 Midnight Madness section), and Ti West’s acclaimed The House of the Devil. Active as a composer for concert and stage, Jeff was selected for American Opera Projects’ Composers and the Voice Series where he was awarded the Tobias Picker Chair, entailing a mentorship with the celebrated composer. Jeff is also active as an orchestrator and arranger with credits including Lady Gaga, Lucia Micarelli (HBO’s “Treme”), Fredrick Doci, and numerous films. From 2001-2004 Jeff worked as an assistant to Academy Award® winning composer Howard Shore on such projects as Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and Martin Scorsese’s The Gangs of New York. In the years prior, Jeff worked as an assistant to legendary jazz
composer/producer/arranger Gil Goldstein working on projects for artists such as Pat Metheny and Roy Hargrove. 1998 marked the beginning of Jeff’s film and music career working as a composer and producer at the New York music house Ruggieri Music where he also worked with composer Robert Ruggieri on several of his scores for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre.
PETER PHOK (Producer)
Peter Phok has produced a number of films for Glass Eye Pix and its Scareflix banner, his latest being Ti West’s THE INNKEEPERS..
A graduate of New York’s School of Visual Arts, Phok’s first film was fellow SVA classmate Ti West’s The Roost, where he served as production manager and associate producer. Two years later, he co-produced West’s Trigger Man, along with Larry Fessenden and West.
Since then, Phok has produced eight other Glass Eye Pix films, including I Can See You, I Sell the Dead, West’s The The House Of The Devil and James McKenney’s upcoming Hypothermia.
Additionally, Phok was the production manager on the independent features Sans Pertinence and Bittersweet Place, and the first assistant director of the films Fortune and Bristol Boys.
LARRY FESSENDEN (Producer)
One of the most respected and influential figures on the New York independent film scene today, producer/writer/director/actor Larry Fessenden brings his unique and fiercely independent vision and style to the production, THE INNKEEPERS.
As a writer, director and occasional leading man, Fessenden has put his inimitable stamp on a series of atmospheric, environmentally conscious, critically lauded horror films including Habit, Wendigo and The Last Winter. He is also the writer, with Guillermo del Toro of the script for the remake of del Toro’s Spanish hit The Orphange.
Fessenden has acted in numerous movies, including Neil Jordan’s The Brave One, Jim Jarmusch’s Broken Flowers, Martin Scorsese's Bringing Out of Dead, Steve Buscemi's Animal Factory, Brad Anderson's Vanishing on 7th Street and Session 9 and Glenn McQuaid's I Sell the Dead, A Glass Eye production for which he received a special Jury mention for best performance at the 2009 Slamdance Film Festival.
In November, 2010, Fessenden was honored with his first retrospective festival, “Larry Fessenden: 25 Years of Glass Eye Pix” at Brooklyn’s ReRun Gastropub Theater..
DEREK CURL (Producer)
A senior producer at Dark Sky Films who cut his teeth producing music videos, Derek Curl is one of the architects that yielded Ti West’s THE INNKEEPERS.
Curl is the producer of such Dark Sky projects as the 2008 mutant children favorite Plague Town, Ti West’s The The House Of The Devil, Bitter Feast, Stake Land, Hatchet II and James McKenney’s upcoming Hypothermia.
JACOB JAFFKE (Line Producer)
Jacob Jaffke has been involved with various productions over the past several years, most recently serving as co-producer on James McKenney’s Hypothermia before his involvement with Ti West on THE INNKEEPERS.
Jaffke began his association with Ti West when he was the production manager on West’s The House of the Devil. Other films on which he has worked in various production capacities include I Sell the Dead (production coordinator), and Bitter Feast (line producer). 
