Write On: 'Imaginary' Writer/Director Jeff Wadlow and Co-Writers Greg Erb & Jason Oremland

“The movie in many ways is about creativity. And it's one of the
reasons why I really love it. It's not just about an evil
haunted teddy bear. It's about the power of imagination. There's
a reason why the movie isn't called Chauncey - it's called
Imaginary. It was really fun as screenwriters to just let our
creativity run wild and think of all the different ways we
could explore imagination and creativity through the lens of a
movie,” says Jeff Wadlow, director and co-writer of Blumhouse’s
new film Imaginary. 


 


In this episode, I talk with Wadlow and his co-writers, Greg Erb
and Jason Oremland, about digging into scary tropes and how the
character Chauncey the Bear evolved over four years of
development and numerous script drafts. We also discuss how
movies like Pan’s Labyrinth, Labyrinth, Friday the 13th and Alice
in Wonderland served as inspiration and why horror films should
be a good time. 


 


“I would tell people to make their horror fun. I think those very
grim dirges that can sometimes get made as horror films – while
they certainly are satisfying to a segment of the audience –
they're not my favorite. I think you're going to have a lot more
luck getting your movie made if you capture the fun of horror.
There's no reason why you can't have a good time and be scared.
It should be it should be a roller coaster,” says Jeff. 


 


 To dig deeper into Imaginary, listen to the podcast.