Meet Drew Wayne Roberts

Today we’d like to introduce you to Drew Wayne Roberts.

Hi Drew, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I had the idea of putting together a production team after myself and Madi Lyn worked together on his first horror production: Tunnels. I met Madi met at a horror movie trivia night hosted by my horror trivia group: Ghoul’s Night Out. I and some local filmmakers had been talking about making horror movies for a while and when they met Madi, a special effects artist – we had enough of a team to start the filmmaking process. After successfully producing Tunnels, Madi and Drew decided to team up and start their own production company including live events and horror movies. The live events have helped tremendously with networking and outreach.

In our first year, we successfully produced and premiered 3 horror shorts; Tunnels- written by myself and directed by Brandon Scott, Gorehouse- written by Elijah Ziegler and directed by the endlessly talented Carmen Semenik, and Monster Smash: Bat- written and directed by Andi Lynne Darko; a psychedelic, erotic art piece, unlike anything you’ve ever seen.

Jester’s Palace was awesome enough to reach out to us to premiere both Gorehouse and Tunnels. We combined the premiere with a bloody bordello-style burlesque show where we spotlighted some amazing local performers such as Jezebel Rose, Venus Victrola, Ember Rayne, Siren Sixxxkiller, and Luce.

The event sold out both days and we remain the two most successful nights at Jesters.

Similarly, we premiered Monster Smash: Bat at Lucy’s Shambles and provisions; a quirky speakeasy on hidden on Platte Street. Again, we combined burlesque with the theme of the film and there wasn’t an empty seat in the house!

Andi Lynne is currently editing a new episode of Monster Smash, and I am in the midst of pre-production for my directorial debut; Hermit. Short and about two girls lost in the woods who must rely on the help of a mysterious hermit of the woods to find their way to salvation.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Oh yeah. We’ve hit some bumps. We’ve had trivia venues not work out, leaving us without a home base for months.

Collaborating with so many different artists does come with challenges, occasionally. Last-minute cancellations and sudden rainstorms have delayed shoots. Not to mention the fact that we started coming off the tail end of Covid 19 lockdowns. Finding a location to shoot Hermit outdoors has been a pain since we found out the location we had our hearts set on is set on private property.

Other than that we’ve been pretty lucky so far. You’d be surprised how many people are happy and willing to help when you’re in need!

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
We started as a small trivia team called Ghoul’s Night Out consisting of myself, Brittany Pauletich (AKA Bertknee Sharklover), and Elise Sjostedt. Elise and I write the questions and host while Brittany pretty up the slideshows and keeps score.

GNO specializes in horror movie trivia and will, on occasion, host other nerdy themes. We had a hell of a fun night hosting Rocky Horror Picture Show Trivia and were privileged enough to geek out and quiz Star Wars fans. The winners leave with a bar tab and a collectible relating to the theme.

You can find us at some hidden gems of Denver including the eccentric tiki bar, The Electric Cure located in Edgewater (1st and 3rd Wednesdays), and the haunted Lodo bar Honor farm (2nd and 4th Wednesdays).

We set ourselves apart from the average trivia team by being comedic entertainers and trivia hosts. We always dress in costumes relating to the theme and encourage our events to be a costume. Every day is Halloween, after all! Since our trivia is mainly fill-in-the-blank, we encourage funny answers and give the players a chance to entertain us as well. We strive to be interactive with our audience and make everyone feel safe and included in the fun.

We’ve even scared acted at a wedding!

The ghouls are for hire at any event or venue!

GNO quickly got the attention of horror filmmakers in the Denver community who became regulars, then friends, and eventually collaborators. Madi Lynn, Co-owner of Ghoul’s Night Productions, was one of these regulars.

I had a little filmmaking experience in the past and was excited that all of these artists were happy to have me on set if I was interested. I got to work on writing Tunnels with Madi cranking out the special effects. Madi and I decided to expand the trivia into filmmaking as well.

Our specialty is, of course, horror. Indie horror to be exact. Madi and I want to showcase the local artistic community in our films and show what Denver’s horror hounds have to offer. We give our artists the freedom to express themselves creatively. Filmmaking is a collaborative process and we want the cast and crew to show off their talents.

We are determined to grow the horror community here in Denver and have been pretty successful so far. I think this is what I’m most proud of.

Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
Always be prepared to reschedule at a moment’s notice and sympathetic to the people who are considerate enough to call out when they have tested positive.

Pricing:

• Trivia: $175 to book.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ghoulsnightproductions.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/ghoulsnightproductions; instagram.com/ghoulsnightouttrivia; instagram.com/hermitmythos
• Facebook: facebook.com/ghoulsnightproductions
• Twitter: twitter.com/ghoulsnightprod
• Youtube: youtube.com/@ghoulsnightproductions

Image Credits:
Scott Manka