Actor. Producer. HARRY SHUM JR does it all and does it all exceedingly well, especially when it comes to his latest film, BROADCAST SIGNAL INTRUSION. I spoke with Harry in this in-depth exclusive interview talking about not only his performance but delving into other cinematic aspects of the project which make this the riveting, edge-of-your-seat spellbinding thriller that it is.
Inspired by actual television interruptions that occurred in Chicago in the late 1980s, BROADCAST SIGNAL INTRUSION is a captivating and terror-filled journey of one man as the lines between fantasy and reality blur with obsession as burgeoning technology of the day may hold the key to a traumatic event in his past and potential danger in his future.
Shum stars as video archivist and editor James working on an archival project logging decades-old TV broadcasts (long before the days of digital archive preservation). During this process, James discovers a surreal and very disturbing broadcast interruption which he believes to be the product of a signal hack. Curious, James starts to track down other similar broadcast signal intrusions. Now obsessed, James lets his mind wander and wonder, assembling clues that make him believe that these interruptions are not only clues to a horrific crime but that whoever is behind them knows that James is close to uncovering the truth,
Directed by Jacob Gentry and written by Phil Drinkwater and Tim Woodall, in addition to Shum, BROADCAST SIGNAL INTERRUPTION stars Kelley Mack, Chris Sullivan, Jennifer Jelsema, Arif Yampolsky, Justin Welborn, Michael B. Woods, and Steve Pringle.
No interruptions here (although during our interview Harry did lose his internet and had to reconnect with me), you can hear the passion and thoughtfulness in Harry’s voice as he talks about the film, his thoughts on the initial script, bringing James to life, learning some old school VHS editing, the physicality of the role, finding his own emotional beats as James goes down the rabbit hole of obsession, experiencing the intrusion videos created by Dan Martin, collaborating with director Jacob Gentry, the importance of cinematography and “analog” score for BROADCAST SIGNAL INTRUSION, rehearsal time, and more.
TAKE A LISTEN. . .
by debbie elias, exclusive interview 10/19/2021
