Australian director/actor/body double Rody Claude

Compiled by Eddie on 23/10/2015

Profiled and then reviewed on J and E in the recent weeks, Zombie Ninjas vs Black Ops is a locally produced Australian film that deals with the oft overused zombie playbook in a whole new way.

We were fortunate enough to get a chance to ask the films director Rody Claude a few questions about himself and also his film and we encourage all of our readers to track down a copy to watch as it’s always great to support locally made Australian films and one suspects that this wont be the last time we see these Zombie Ninjas on screen heading into the future.

As always, happy reading and happy watching.

Q – First of all Rody could you tell us a bit about yourself and how you got involved in the film making industry?

I was born in Mauritius Africa, but grew up as a kid in Northam Western Australia and later moved to Perth. As a kid I was influenced by cool 80’s stuff like Monkey Magic, AirWolf, the A team and discovering Bruce Lee. I pursued a career in Personal Training but new I had a passion for films and filmmaking in particular. I moved to Sydney in 2002 to explore that dream and landed a few TV commercials and TV gigs as an actor. I also worked on films such as The Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolution as a body double for Laurence Fishburne and had a walk on role opposite Nicolas Cage in the movie Knowing. I made a couple of short films before making my first feature film with my wife Kylie, called Deadtime and soon after that Zombie Ninjas vs Black Ops.

Q – Where did the idea for Zombie Ninjas vs Black Ops originally come from?

Funny, it was originally Swat vs Ninja. But I thought ninjas wouldn’t be a match for heavily armed swat guys so we thought – lets genetically enhance the ninjas, then they’d be a better match for the swat guys. 

Q – Who are some of your influences as a filmmaker, those fellow directors that you’ve grown to love and be inspired by?

I’d say Sergio Leone, Edward Zwick, Tony Scott, Clint Eastwood, Paul Greengrass and Ron Howard. 

Howard and Zwick for their heart and power, Scott and Greengrass for their adrenalin pumping kinetic visual style, Eastwood for his dramatic brilliance and Sergio for just being pure awesome!

Zombie Ninjas star Adam T Perkins having a tough day at the office

Q – Zombie Ninjas is funded independently, what are main the challenges about making a film this way and what drove you to seek this independent funding method?

The main challenge is executing your vision on a zero-like budget, you have to be even more creative to overcome it. The second challenge would be not having enough time. Time for rehearsals with actors and shooting, time for more takes, you have to move fast. We funded the movie privately because we simply don’t fit into the funding bodies’ tidy tick boxes and we didn’t want money to be the difference between taking a shot at a career in film or a pencil pusher telling us no. Plus, I don’t see Screen Australia going for an action movie called Zombie Ninjas vs Black Ops lol.

Q – Your film is full of action, somewhat akin to a video game in many ways. Did you find these many varied action driven scenes tough or did you find yourself getting into a groove to deliver the action thrills?

The action scenes were exciting and a lot of fun for us to shoot. I think we were running on adrenaline most the time. You know, we got to play with fire, guns and martial arts so that was pretty cool and made each night a bit different. They weren’t tough at all as you say, I think the actors and the crew got into a really good groove with us. It all seemed to flow pretty well for all night shoots as well. 

Q – What do you see as your next project? Are you looking to get straight into another film or perhaps take a nice well deserved break?

Lol I don’t think I deserve a break just yet LOL. Although I haven’t yet decided which film to work on next, I do have a few scripts on the go at the moment like, The Dawn of Knight, Contract Killer and a pretty cool action film called Madder. Currently, we are totally focused on the Zombie Ninjas distribution phase and also expanding on the Zombie Ninja comic world. Maybe even a sequel.

Q – Perhaps the most important question of all, can we expect to see another addition to the Zombie Ninja brand in the future?  

We’d love to! Zombie Ninjas vs Black Ops 2 with a good budget so we can take it to a whole new level. Man, I’d love to shoot that! It’d be a tonne of fun! I’d make the Zombie Ninjas much more ferocious and destructive as hell and the Black Ops guys even more tactical and lethal and even enhancing their abilities a bit through some genetic and mechanical engineering. Amourer them up so they can withstand more in the battles! lol cool so maybe, fingers crossed. 

The Movie Guys thank Rody for his time and for all those wanting to catch Zombie Ninjas vs Black Ops, check into the films official website for detailed information on either purchasing a copy or catching a screening on a VOD service near you – http://www.zombieninjasmovie.com/