Narrating A New Approach To Found Footage: My Interview With "They're Inside" Director John-Paul Panelli

Writer, Director and Producer, John-Paul Panelli is out to create interesting narrative stories. With an affinity for the found footage subgenre, John-Paul seeks to explore new ground and shed some much needed light on the over-done film style. Things like, plausibility, continuity of filming in the face of extreme danger, are just a few argument points that can be made about found footage. John-Paul Panelli is interested in addressing those issues.

His feature film debut, a found footage film titled "They're Inside", will hopefully clear some things up for both fans of the subgenre, as well as nay sayers. The film is co-written with Schuyler Brumley and tells the story of sisters, isolated, and seeking to film a personal project, trapped in a deadly passion project from Intruders. I had an opportunity to ask Panelli a few questions about the film. Read my interview with the director below.

ASOUTHERNLIFE: What was the inspiration for They're Inside?
JOHN-PAUL PANELLI: To make a found-footage film that answered 2 questions: Who edited this film? Why are
they still filming when in danger?

ASOUTHERNLIFE: What was it like working with Schuyler Brumley?
JOHN-PAUL: Great. He’s a terrific writer and collaborator. He came up with this story, did the heavy lifting on the drafts… but he was also open for my take on it and things that I wanted to
get in the film.

ASOUTHERNLIFE: What was the main objective or driving force behind such a creative, blended medium? Sort of a
story invaded by a darker story. And what do you hope horror fans take away from watching the
film?
JOHN-PAUL: We had never seen a film done this way before and we wanted to take an ambitious shot at doing our version of a home invasion film. We hope they feel it was something they haven’t seen before and it is worth watching a 2nd time.

ASOUTHERNLIFE: As a director, how hard was it blending the film's two concepts, in making sure the film captured the story without complicating the final product?
JOHN-PAUL: Impossibly hard. It’s a complicated story, with multiple timelines and moving parts. I
didn’t really find the right balance until our Editor, Rich Gilliam, was able to weave it in a way that made more sense.

ASOUTHERNLIFE: They're Inside focuses on a passion project that "collides" with another passion project, so on a personal level, was this a passion project?
JOHN-PAUL: It was a passion project in the sense that it was my first feature, so that was added pressure. But it wasn’t a story I had been marinating on, for a decade, waiting to make. I was just tired of hearing about others making films and me only watching them.

ASOUTHERNLIFE: What can horror fans expect from you next, both as a writer and as a director?
JOHN-PAUL: Darker and more scary. They’re Inside really is just a fucked up family drama to me… I want to make something that shakes people to their core.

ASOUTHERNLIFE:  Who are some of the directors who inspired you, and what films of theirs got your attention?
JOHN-PAUL:
a. Mike Flanagan - Oculus: Origins of Evil
b. Adam Wingard - The Guest
c. Ruben Östlund - Force Majeure
d. James Wan - Saw
e. Karyn Kusama - The Invitation
f. Andrés Muschietti - It: Chapter 1 (and soon to be Chapter 2)
g. Ari Aster - Hereditary