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1.) We’re very excited to have some time today with two visionaries in the world of moviemaking today, acclaimed director Gene Blalock and rightly lauded producer extraordinaire B. Harrison Smith; greetings and salutations gents, and welcome to Vents Magazine! Before we meander down the proverbial Q&A celluloid pathway, how is 2025 treating you and yours?
Gene Blalock: Thanks for having us! 2025 has been a year of contradictions and a bit chaotic but oddly charged with possibility. The industry has been in a bit of freefall since 2020… It’s left a lot of wreckage, but in that wreckage, there’s room for stories that don’t need a superhero budget to resonate.
B. Harrison Smith: Aside from the recent stock nonsense and all of that, I guess okay. I’m alive and healthy, and I guess that’s what matters. Working on several projects right now as the entire film industry is in flux and dealing with the incoming AI tsunami. That’s a whole other story. It’s a tough time for independent film, to be sure.
2.) Major kudos and accolades on the freshly-minted new Lionsgate horror anthology motion picture The Night Time World, which is haunting audiences the world over on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, and Google Play! B. Harrison, getting the ball rolling on your side of the fence, can you explain to our ever-inquisitive readers what The Night Time World is about and how this clever and spooky anthology came into being?
B. Harrison Smith: It’s a story all in itself. I can give you some of it. The film came about when the original direction for it took a change and it had to go into an anthology format. We came up with the idea of approaching indie horror filmmakers to see if they had a horror short that needed some better exposure. It had to be vampire-themed. If you look at my IMDb, I am all about meeting new talent and, giving them exposure, and working with them multiple times or as long as we can. I had no wealthy or well-connected industry parents to give me a leg up. I got a silent Super 8mm Kodak camera as a boy and started making movies with my friends, and by 16, I had my own comedy series on local cable. That and a buck will get you a cup of coffee, but you see what I mean? It was about getting out there and doing it. I never went to film school. I went to Penn State for a semester and was “invited not to return” with failing grades, and instead of filmmaking, I majored in the hot cheerleader downstairs in my apartment building.
We scoured the Internet and all platforms and viewed literally dozens of shorts, and we picked these to be part of NTW. Gene’s film stood out. Terrific performances, well shot, we loved it. This should be expanded into a feature. Very proud to have it make up this anthology.
3.) Gene, you directed the Indictmentsegment in The Night Time World feature film; kudos and accolades! Can you talk about what drew you to this story specifically?
Gene Blalock: Thank you. It’s interesting… Indictment began as a spark of creative necessity. Jhan (Harp) and I had just met and wanted to make something together, so it was part experiment, part litmus test for collaboration. The political chaos at the time was at an all-time high, not that it isn’t now… anyway, horror has always been a language for confronting the unspeakable. Vampires, in particular, are perfect metaphors… elegant specters in velvet shadows, thirsting where the light won’t reach. We shot the short in two frantic days… it was a crash course in trust and resourcefulness for Jhan and I. Harrison came across the film online and reached out to me. Including the short in The Night Time World anthology felt like things coming full circle… proof that stories, no matter their scale, can linger far beyond their beginnings.
4.) B. Harrison, along with being a crackerjack producer, you’re also a highly respected writer and director in your own right. Was there ever a moment where you contemplated helming one of the four chapters in The Night Time World?
B. Harrison Smith: I thought about it, but there just wasn’t enough time. Also, this was about giving others a shot at a feature. That’s what I wanted, so I helped with the wraparound script and getting that all set up for Tim. Otherwise, producing was fine because it took a lot of due diligence to finalize the films that went into the anthology.
5.) Gene, getting back to your contribution for The Night Time World, you have such a terrific cast assembled for Indictment including the likes of Derrick Scott, Robert Hugh Starr, Andrew Adams, and Nick Somers. What was it like for you to guide this accomplished ensemble in this film?
Gene Blalock: That’s very kind. Thank you. Nick is family at this point. We’ve collaborated for years, and that shorthand between us is invaluable. I work with him as often as I can. He’s as compelling onscreen as he is sharp behind the camera. If I recall correctly, Andrew, Derrick, and Robert came to us through casting calls, and all have since become recurring collaborators. Andrew, for instance, co-starred in my last two features. When you connect with talent like that, it builds trust… the kind that lets you peel back layers of a character until they feel lived-in, even dangerous in their authenticity.
The cast understood the story’s heartbeat. I love bridging the gap between the page and the performance. I’ll have a vision for a character, but then an actor offers a gesture, a silence, or a flicker of pathos that was never scripted. That’s when the story starts breathing on its own. It’s not just about lines… it’s about unearthing the unspoken truths that make a character real.
6.) B. Harrison, along with the ever-amazing Gene Blalock, The Night Time World also showcases the exemplary and out-of-this-world creative efforts of Brandon Lescure, Sean Brien, Adam Michaels, Chaz Dray Schoenbeck, and Timothy Paul Taylor! Was it difficult to assemble this top-drawer of creative talent? And what was it like collaborating with some of the best voices in horror cinema to bring The Night Time World to vibrant and creepy life?
B. Harrison Smith: I am very proud to have my name on this. I wish I got to work with these folks in person, but all business was conducted through WeTransfer, Dropbox, Google Drive, and telephone. Ah…the new tech film world. However, I met Brandon at a horror convention where I was presenting. He had his film The Backpage competing in the con’s festival, and I LOVED it. I knew when this opportunity came up, we had to get Brandon and the Backpage. While not TECHNICALLY a vampire film, Lilith is a parasite, just a different kind of vamp. It fit just fine, and I love that short film.
When I saw Gene’s piece as well, I knew this would all work. Scarlet was Sean’s baby for a while, and this all came together. Adam and Chaz were patient, trusting, and really stepped up to make this happen for Tim. I enjoyed the working relationship we had to make this all happen. It’s a testament to their work ethic.
7.) Gene, did you draw upon certain personal inspirations or touchstones for the Indictment story in The Night Time World? What ultimately made you connect to this portion of the film?
Gene Blalock: Vampires have always fascinated me. They have an allure to them… a mystery draped in danger… creatures that feed on the margins of society. That metaphor felt like the perfect lens to examine the political turmoil we were steeped in at the time. When Jhan and Rob pitched the concept, it clicked immediately. Their script leaned into duality, and the collaboration moved rather quickly from script to shooting. What hooked me was the narrative pivot… the way the story starts as one thing before unraveling into something far more primal. You think you’re getting a parable about power, then it becomes a visceral reckoning. The fact that what began as a quick two-day shoot, only to later find a second life in The Night Time World, feels a bit poetic.
8.) B. Harrison, horror aficionados can be a picky lot, but The Night Time World seems to really be resounding with audiences everywhere; congratulations! Could you ever envision a sequel to the film in the tradition of Creepshow or Tales from the Crypt?
B. Harrison Smith: I would do anthologies forever. I love the format, and most of all, I love the ability to spread the wealth and bring in new talent. It is energizing, and that’s what art should be. It should allow artists to expand and get their due. If I could pay the bills solely on anthologies, I would do it just because of the great talent it would allow me to meet and learn from.
9.) Gene, what makes Lionsgate the perfect home for a film like The Night Time World, versus the Distinguished Competition such as Blumhouse or New Line?
Gene Blalock: Harrison probably has deeper insight into the business side, but I’ll say this: All those companies have released great films. New Line’s roots are in horror, and Blumhouse is a titan in that space. In this case, what sets Lionsgate apart is their willingness to bet on truly independent films… not the $5 million “indie” label slapped on studio projects, but films made by resourceful filmmakers who create out of pure love, not algorithms. True artists.
I’m grateful Lionsgate took that chance. More studios should. It’s about the passion behind the lens. Strip away the big budgets and star names. That’s where you find stories that stick with you.
10.) Final – SILLY! – Question (for the both of you): Anthology series you would take with you on a deserted island – Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone, One Step Beyond, Thriller, Tales from the Darkside, Monsters, or The Ray Bradbury Theatre?
Gene Blalock: That’s tough… there are a lot of great ones… I grew up watching The Outer Limits, The Twilight Zone, Tales from the Darkside, Perversions of Science, Freddy’s Nightmares, Alfred Hitchcock Presents… I remember watching Electric Dreams for the first time… There are so many good ones. I would probably make a compilation of all the best episodes from each series. Is that cheating?
B. Harrison Smith: I don’t think I was ever asked this before. I would likely say Creepshow. There are many reasons, including a heavy dose of nostalgia, but Romero was at his peak stylistically with that film, and it showed what could happen when you gave him a bit more money and a chance to cut loose. The cast, the production design, the music, it all worked. Seeing it as a teen in theaters made an impact on me. So much so that I went home and wrote a journal entry for my high school English class, as we had to keep a journal all year that year.
Long-winded answer, but there you go!
