Since launching Blue Falcon Productions in 2012, Dan Campbell and Jude Walko have spent much of their time helping others produce movies and web series. But last month on July 31, Blue Falcon released its first feature film to iTunes, Amazon, Family Video and more.
The Incantation stars a young American girl who receives the chance to venture to France and visit her ancestors’ castle, which has been plagued with witchcraft and occult folklore for centuries. While there, the young girl discovers nothing is as it seems and begins to question her place in the family as she learns more about their past.
“It’s kind of a throwback to classic horror films in terms of the mechanics of story and plot,”Campbell said.
The fairytale-esque story explores some classic tropes, with a fish-out-of-water heroine discovering her roots as paranormal activity surrounds her. It’s a tense film, full of twists and turns.
“It’s different than a lot of your mainstream found footage-type films in terms of the genre,” Campbell said.
The idea for The Incantation came to Walko after he met a couple people who own a gothic-style chateau in France.
“We started talking more and decided this would be a great opportunity to base a film around a location, like a classic Hammer film,” Campbell said.
From there, the two went into production mode and started filming in France in 2016, where they shot for 25 days on location.
Filming in France came with a few challenges as the film crew traveled from Great Britain, the U.S., France and Thailand. Campbell added that any time a film is produced outside of the United States, there are challenges between culture and communication.
“Just working in a foreign land was a challenge, but we were fortunate we had film professionals from France and England,” he said. “This is what we do for other people, help produce films, so when it came to our own film, it was a good (experience) to have.”
Blue Falcon Productions received a few awards for the film, including at the Calcutta International Cult Film Festival, where it won Best Narrative Feature Film and was nominated for the Golden Fox Award. Campbell said it felt great to receive the awards and recognize everyone involved in the film.
“It’s nice to have your peers in the industry praise your work. Even if we didn’t win anything, just to get a selection at a film festival is pretty cool, especially with our first film out of the gate,” Campbell said.
He has been in the film business for almost a decade and Walko has been in the business about 25 years. Campbell and Walko don’t focus on filming one genre.
“Filmmaking is my passion, and whether it’s a horror film, action film, comedy, drama, I’m all about getting it on the screen,” Campbell said.
Campbell and Walko have other films in development and are currently working on their film The Unhollowed Horseman, a contemporary reimagining of Washington Irving’s Sleepy Hollow.
“We’re excited to share our next film, for sure,” Campbell said.
The Incantation will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray, and is available on iTunes and Amazon.
