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Interview 03

Hi John,

I am not at liberty to answer some of your questions as they remain confidential but I have answered below your question where I can. Hope it helps.

DarkWolff wrote:

> Phillip,
>
> Sorry it took this long to get them to you. I was trying to get more then a
> few. Thanks again for this. And now...here they are!
>
> 1. Where did you come up with the idea for Nightmare and Atmosfear (the
> video, the board, gameplay system, etc.)?

Brett Clements and I had already created a number of successful board-games, Oz Quiz, DARE & The Idiot Box. We also had a television production company called A Couple 'A Cowboys and wanted to make films. We discussed making a horror film and Brett came up with the idea of combining our game creation skills with our production skills and that is where it came from, the production of the video tape with a traditional board game. It then took about a year to fully develop, make it work, make it random and ensure the game finished as close to an hour as is possible.

> 2. According to Claudia Boland, the entire series was filmed in Australia,
> even the international versions (actors were flown to Australia and such).
> Why exactly was this?

Production costs in Australia are generally cheaper than most other places in the world, also it is our home and we wanted to keep most of the money in Aust. We had to cast internationally because we did not have the breadth of actors required to play the roles in Australia to fulfill our international partners requirements. So we cast overseas and bought the actors to Australia where we had the studio and all the crew set up and we could complete a number of tapes in various languages over the course of a week or two. It was much more convenient and cheaper this way. We still had to clear all the actors through the actors union in Aust which proved quite tricky. You will notice in the Harbingers and Soul Rangers that you cannot see the actors mouth. We had learnt by this time and now we could use the same visuals and simply replace the voice overs. Claudia traveled internationally to record the voice overs.

> 3. Why was it decided that the format for the Soul Rangers video was changed
> (ie. the time showed up only once in a while, Dr. Mastiff was a bit annoying,
> etc.). Was the action going on between Mastiff's appearances meant to
> represent the carnage in the provinces because of the Gatekeeper's
> imprisonment?

Like anything you need to change things to keep them interesting. Mastiff may have been boring to you but others found him quite exciting. Mastiff also represented another side of the Other side so it was important to show that we weren't simply stuck in the Gatekeepers domain.

> 4. Will there be more music videos with Baron Samedi?

No. While the game was hot we convinced Sony to release a song. We had a number of incredibly successful Dance Parties taking place in Aust and the song was part of this. Mainly though it was added value for our loyal Nightmare/Atmosfear followers.

> 5. About the DVD...What characters will it involves? Will the Gatekeeper be
> the host? Will Mastiff play any part in it? What about the game board? This
> is by far the most requested bit of information I've been asked.

I am finalizing a deal as we speak and do not know what form it will take. Most likely The Gatekeeper will make a return and we will keep it in a similar vein to the Original Video Board game but this time it will be truly interactive. But at this stage I can't really tell you any more than that except that I doubt you'll see Mastiff.

> 6. Will we seeing the original actors again?

Again, it's hard to tell. The actor who plays the Gatekeeper now lives in Poland but he would happily return to do it again and personally I think he is perfect. The actress who played Anne & Elizabeth now resides in Australia so she too may make a reappearance. BUT it is hard to say without knowing exactly what we are doing with the DVD version.

> 7. Why wasn't Nightmare 4 released in the USA? Did it have anything to do
> with the strict USA censorship laws?

We had problems with the States. Our first distributor fell through before the game had a chance to really take off so it didn't work as strongly as it should have. It really needed heavy marketing bucks spent that just didn't happen. We didn't assign another distributor until The Harbingers at which stage all the original games were no longer valid. It didn't have anything to do with censorship, the only country this was a concern was in Greece. The Germans also had some issues with it.

> 8. Will we ever see the other characters as hosts? I for one was looking
> forward to Gevauden hosting.

It is unlikely. But these characters may appear in the Feature Film which is currently being written.

> 9. Why wasn't Nightmare 5 released?

It was time to move on. Sequentially, as we expected, the sales decreased on the add-ons and it was time to ramp the game up again, hence the reasons that The Harbingers made its appearance.

> 10. Have the actors made any other appearances? A few people in the USA
> have been curious about this. Do you maintain any other contacts with them?

I remain friends with many of them. The Gatekeeper is making films in Poland, The actress made certain television programs in Aust but has had a child so this is keeping her out of the loop for a while. Some of the international actors, particularly the Spanish Gatekeeper are well known and highly regarded actors in their countries. They liked the game and wanted the trip to Aust.

> 11. For the DVD, will there be much publicity? I remember only seeing
> advertisements for the first Nightmare & Atmosfear, while I heard there were
> advertisements for Nightmare 5.

There were no adverts for 5, although at the end of 4 we had a board that announced it. Again I cannot tell you about the marketing campaign for the DVD version yet. In Australia we had, television, cinema, video release and print campaigns. In the states it was mainly television. No doubt you'll know about it when it happens.

> 12. If you decide to re-release the previous Nightmare games on DVD, will
> you advertise this too? And will the sequels come with the main set?

It is unlikely the games will simply be released on DVD. The main reason to put them on DVD is to make them truly interactive.

> 13. Will any of the DVDs have behind the scenes footage?

Probably. I have a lot of it. Again it depends on cost.

> 14. What price range are any of the new games be in?

No idea, probably similar to the last games I suspect.

> 15. Are there any plans on expanded the Nightmare/Atmosfear series into any
> other formats? (RPGs, computer games, etc.)

Yes but I can't give you any details at present.

> 16. Are you planning a new series for the DVD? If so, what exactly will it
> be like?

To early to tell.

> 17. Will the DVD make us speak to the gatekeeper (like the original series)?

Probably cause it was fun, but I suspect that it will have more to do with the remote so the Gatekeeper know exactly who he is talking to, it won't be quite as general.

> 18. Do you have any scheduled release dates (whether you're willing the
> state them here or not)?

I hope next year, but I have no idea in the States.

> 19. What kind of backing are you expected on any new releases?

Again it is too early to tell

> 20. Is/will there be a website anytime soon for Nightmare or Atmosfear?

No doubt when we start production we will also set up a website, as the people involved are an interactive company.

> 21. How many people do you have on the team? Are there any other projects
> you are planning?

Cowboys is me at present as Brett has moved into different fields. Cowboys is a sideline for me as well. Once we start production it will have between 5 to 10 full time and up to 30 during production.

> 22. And finally, if you don't plan on releasing Gevauden, Khufu, or Hellin,
> would you considering licensing them out to someone else?

Unlikely. We need to retain control over the characters.

> OK, that's all of them! Most of these questions were submitted by other
> people on my Nightmare/Atmosfear mailing list. Thanks again for answering
> these.

> John a.k.a. DarkWolff
> www.nightmareatmosfear.org

Hope this helps John. I really appreciate your ongoing interest in our game.

Kind regards,

Phillip Tanner.