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The Seeding centers on Wyndham Stone (Scott Haze), a hiker who gets lost in the desert and finds himself at the bottom of a canyon. A woman named Alina (Kate Lyn Sheil) may be Stone’s only shot at survival amidst this unforgiving landscape. Haze and Sheil talked to Deepest Dream about this immersive feature from filmmaker Barnaby Clay.
Scott Haze and Kate Lyn Sheil deliver locked in and inspired performances in The Seeding. The location is also a huge draw, as it serves as the backbone for this seemingly sparse narrative. The actors talked about collaborating with director Barnaby Clay on the project and also elaborated on the feature’s eye catching location.
First off, really love the film and it’s a cliche, but sometimes the location can be the star or a big part of the actual project. Can you guys talk about the location and how it pretty much fed this narrative? It’s almost a two hander, but it’s one of those rare two handers that are very thanks to the location. It’s quite expansive.
Kate Lyn Sheil: First of all, thank you for saying nice things about the movie. That’s really nice to hear. Yeah. We shot in a small town called Kanab, Utah in a canyon that really was, like, pretty much exactly how I imagined it when I read the script.
Other than the fact that there was a way to drive in and out, it feels kind of miraculous that they found that location and made our job easier. I would say in terms of the acting, not logistically, but the acting. I would say (it) lent something to the performances. What do you think, Scott?
Scott Haze: Yeah, I think that the minute I walked into that canyon that Barnaby found, I just felt there was a different energy there. You could feel the history. So much has happened on that land.
It’s such a massive natural set piece, if you will. The canyon is definitely one of the largest characters in the movie, in my opinion.
And for both of you physically just going out there in the elements, you’re not actually right by the ocean or a nice hotel. You’re right there in the thick of it. How much did you have to both of you have to physically prepare just to maybe even get through the day.
Kate Lyn Sheil: Yeah. I don’t know that I was physically prepared for how cold it would get at night sometimes. This is nothing to complain about, certainly, but there was no cell phone service in the canyon, so it really was like a world unto itself. Once you drove off of the highway and into this canyon area, you were in the world of the movie.
And there was kind of no going back, or at least it was a pretty big ordeal to go back. But yeah I don’t know that I fully mentally prepared for the elements, I would say. But it all worked out and everyone on set was so lovely and there was such good energy and good camaraderie. So even like, the chilly nights were fine and kind of fun. What do you think?
Scott Haze: There’s a lot of scenes where I was covered in a lot of blood, or I was always sweaty, or I was dirty. It was just very cold. And we had to shoot for summer in the middle of freezing Utah.
And that’s just the beauty of movies and telling stories. You would never know that we were freezing our asses off.
Kate Lyn Sheil: I kind of forgot that Scott was constantly being doused in some liquid or other. So yeah, you had more of a tough situation then I did.
Scott, without giving too much away, there are also some claustrophobic elements regarding your character. Is that movie magic where you’re only there just for a little bit because it was very tough to watch and you’re there. How tough was it to shoot those scenes?
Scott Haze: Everybody says this when they do like press for films that (the movie) was the hardest shoot in the world. This one really was, in my opinion, like one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do in my life.
It was such a crazy, confined space in there – it (felt) claustrophobic. It would rain. You had to take this dirty, muddy road to get in there. We never knew if we would get out at night when it’s raining. It was a whole adventure.
It felt like we were also making some adventure movie. That was the making of the movie, to get to set all the crazy stuff that was happening. But it was definitely difficult. There’s no complaints – Kate and I were both so grateful to be there. So that’s why we’re cool with it.
Check out our review of The Seeding on this week’s CinemAddicts:
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!What makes this movie really unique is you can watch it on a very fun entertainment level if you are a fan of the genre, but then you might want to actually go back to it and pick out, pick apart some of the themes and the underlying stuff. That must be a big reason why both of you wanted to be a part of the project.
Scott Haze: I’ve always known Kate’s work like, and I knew that she was in it and that she was going to be my partner. And I really thought Barnaby wrote a great script and I thought he just did such a good job directing.
When I zoomed with him, I instantly, you know, you never know what’s going to happen in this business. But I just got off that zoom with Barnaby and said, “I really hope I do this movie.” That’s a really special director.
So I’m very fortunate to be part of his first film.
Kate Lyn Sheil: I feel the same way. I had a special feeling about it from the time I read the script, and then finding out that Scott was going to play Stone, it was sort of a no brainer. All of the elements were lining up and Barnaby was, from the beginning, such a wonderful person to work with.
So I felt lucky to be a part of it.
So my final question is a two parter. Can each of you name one of your all time favorite films, and what is it about the specific film that resonates with you? And the second part of that question is from your own resume, from your own body of work. Can you recommend one of your own films or projects that you love, that you feel is a little bit underrated, and you want our listeners to check out? So those two questions and thank you for your time.
Kate Lyn Sheil: I’ll start with a movie of mine that I have a great deal of love and affection for. I’ve collaborated a number of times with a very close friend of mine, Amy Seimetz, and the first feature that we did together. It was called Sun Don’t Shine. We shot it – oh gosh, I think it came out in 2012. We shot it in 2011. But it’s still, to me is one of the movies that I’m most proud of. So I’ll say that.
And then I got to pick a favorite movie of all time. That’s a tough one. But I mean, let’s keep it in the horror genre, I guess. Don’t Look Now, I guess, is a big one for me in terms of creating atmosphere. And I feel like it shares some DNA with what Barnaby is trying to do in creating psychological horror, where you’re not entirely sure if what’s happening is in the person’s head or happening in reality.
How much of the horror is there experience of something versus what is actually happening, I guess?
Scott Haze: I would have to say, movie wise, I was just going to name a movie that I don’t even know if people can find. That (movie) meant a lot to me (but) it’s definitely not the best well-made movie of all time. It’s a documentary, actually, that Al Pacino directed that I watched when I was much younger and wanting to be an actor called Looking for Richard.
It was about a bunch of actors coming together and doing Shakespeare, and it inspired me to move to LA to pursue this dream. And I built my own theater and had that dream come true. Based on that documentary I watched when I was like 15.
The movie that means the most to me isn’t isn’t one I did as an actor. It’s a documentary I directed called Mully, where this man has rescued 30,000 children, and he was an orphan who became a multimillionaire and decided to change his ways. And he said, God spoke to him and he went out and started rescuing endangered women are endangered in Kenya, and there’s orphans and there’s a lot of poverty. And it’s a really hard life in Kenya. And he would rescue these children and he’s gone on to do miraculous things. That’s the project that I’ve seen actually really make a difference in the world. And that that’s cool to see. You can create a piece of art that actually moves people’s hearts. And then they, you know, they go out and try to make the world a better place. I really love the film.
Thank you guys for all the recommendations and take care.
Scott Haze: Thank you.
Kate Lyn Sheil: Thanks for talking to us.
The Seeding hits theaters and On Demand January 26.
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