Interview: Gitchy Director Tom Norman

By James DePaolo

Tom Norman? I am like a lot of you guys. I never heard his name before. Thirty-three minutes after watching this short called Gitchy, all I can say is trust me fans, you just started to hear about him. I have seen all the clown horror films: the good (Klown Kamp Massacre, 100 Tears, and Killer Klowns From Outer Space) and the bad... everything else. But now, a new category. The strange. A clown who kills people by tickling them to death. After the death of his parents, David has not been the same. Obsessed with the notion a clown killed his parents, he is out to prove that everyone is wrong and this clown exists. This film is so fucking strange that you cannot give it enough credit for being so original. This is more comical than bloody. And, it is so campy fun that if marketed right, this could be a cult fun after midnight film. I think you fans should seek this out, but take it from me, let us talk to the man himself. Here's a little Q&A with Tom Norman.

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1. How did you come up with this premise; a clown tickling people to death?

My main goal was to give people something they haven’t seen before. I know a lot of people that hate clowns. I've always found clowns very creepy, but to me the creepiness of them is very cool. You don't really know the nature of the person behind their makeup and the actions of a clown are completely unpredictable. This is why we love or hate them. As far as tickling goes, I know several people that utterly despise being tickled. Most of them had that uncle or older brother that was just relentless on them in their youth. I wanted to take these two concepts of things that many people hate and combine them into their ultimate monster nightmare. The result was Gitchy...the killer tickling clown.

2. What was the budget on this, and how long did it take you to shoot?

The budget for Gitchy was approx $2000. Most of the film was shot over a two-weekend period that consisted of three twelve hours days. After the main shooting we had about 3 days of evening shoots that we scheduled over the next few weeks…so in total…6 days of filming done over a 3 month time period.

3. Have you ever watched an audience reaction at one of the showings? If so, were you nervous that people would not dig it? Would bad press hurt your feelings?

We submitted to the 2011 Shreikfest. They have not announced their selections yet, but I have been able to see the audience reactions at a few other festivals. At first I really didn't know how people would respond to Gitchy. All I knew was the type of feelings and emotions I wanted them to experience while viewing my film. After seeing some of the audience reactions and reading some of the reviews we've gotten I can pretty much say that I achieved what I was trying to do. I've been lucky not to have any bad press so far. All of the reviews up to this point have been positive. I really don't think there is such a thing as "bad press" anyway. Reading a different perspective just shows you another angle on how your project can be interpreted by someone. I don't see that as a bad thing.

4.What is next on the agenda?

I'm really not sure. There are a couple of horror film projects I'm considering getting involved in but nothing is set in stone.

5.Now, a lot of our readership is into clown horror, so how could they buy or rent Gitchy without going to an event showing?

Right now there are two ways to get Gitchy. On Amazon you can buy the DVD and stream the film on your PC, BUT if you want to get the full DVD with ALL the extras including "The Making of Gitchy" (40 minute extra feature) and both Gitchy trailers go the www.gitchytheclown.com. You can even pick up a Gitchy T-shirt while you're there.