BTL Radio Show – 03/09/2026 with special guest writer/director PAUL BOYD talking SCARED TO DEATH

I love this week’s BEHIND THE LENS, and my interview with writer/director PAUL BOYD talking about his new film SCARED TO DEATH.  But first, how about a bit of MONARCH: LEGACY OF MONSTERS and a new era of YELLOWSTONE with MARSHALS!

Moving into PAUL BOYD and SCARED TO DEATH, let me say at the outset, Paul is fantastic. He knows his craft, and he knows how to tell a story. He spent about 30 years directing music videos, including 10+ for Shania Twain on her biggest hits, as well as videos for INXS, Tina Turner, Lenny Kravitz, Bryan Adams, the Backstreet Boys, and more, before moving into feature films. Paul has a very distinguished and skilled pedigree. And now, he brings us SCARED TO DEATH.  And I’ll be honest, I had so much fun watching this film.

A simple premise that melds worlds as we meet Jasper, a young filmmaker working as a PA to a bitch for a boss director named Max, who seizes a chance to direct when his cast and crew attend a seance in a haunted abandoned orphanage; a seance Jasper put together. Trapped inside, they’re haunted by ghostly orphans and a sinister force.

A film within a film always bodes for fun, as do haunted houses and a terrific cast. And here we have a cast led by the one and only Lin Shaye (as the bad bitch boss director Max), along with Kurt Deimer as one of the actors known as “The Grog”, Bill Moseley as the weasely realtor/seance medium Felix, Olivier Paris as Jasper, BJ Minor as actor Johnny and Victoria Konefal as “well known actor” Lena.

In this exclusive conversation, Paul dives deep into the making of his horror-comedy SCARED TO DEATH, a self-described “love letter to horror movies” that blends satire, absurdity, and genuine genre reverence. We explore the film’s genesis and how the film uses a haunted-house movie-within-a-movie setup to examine belief, fear, masks people wear, and the absurdities of Hollywood itself. Paul details the personal inspirations behind the story (including buying a supposedly haunted house once owned by Charlie Chaplin), the joyful collaboration with his cast and crew, and the deliberate balance of scares, humor, and emotional undercurrents. The interview also unpacks the film’s visual and sonic language—from its iconic house location and master-shot staging to its rhythmic editing and on-point sound design—before landing on what Boyd ultimately discovered about trusting his instincts and letting a film evolve beyond what’s written on the page.

As you’ll hear, we break down the visual grammar and Paul’s work with cinematographer Steven Poster, whose work all of you are well familiar with – DONNIE DARKO, SOUTHLAND TALES, LIFE STINKS, ROCKY V, NEXT OF KIN, REVENGE OF KITTY GALORE, and more, and how they developed a color palette, lenses used, dutching, angles, POV, etc. And how about Paul’s work with editor Ed Shiers who just happens to also be a drummer with an incredible sense of rhythm, something that comes in handy with editing? Plus, Misha Segal’s score AND Kurt Diemer’s end credit song “Scared to Death”, which is fantastic. And you’ll hear Paul talk about the location house in Altadena where the film was shot. The first home ever built in Altadena, and one of the only homes to survive the Altadena fires last year, and you’ll find out how it lucked out.

And yes, Paul gets the entire show today. That’s how much cinematic exploration we did in this interview, not to mention, he’s a terrific guy, and I love his film! So take a listen, and enjoy, as PAUL BOYD discusses SCARED TO DEATH.

SCARED TO DEATH is in theatres on Friday, March 13, 2026!

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