S2E12: “Buried Bodies”

Wanna know how to break into the move and TV biz? Know where all the bodies are buried. In order to do that, you have to be in on the burying process. If you’re not leading the body-burying op, you must be assisting. In Hollywood, those people – the ones willing to bury the bodies with ya – those are the people you want on your team. In this episode of The How NOT To Make A Movie Podcast, we chat with our friend Ed Tapia (producer of “All American Homecoming” – second highest rated show on the CW). Back in the day, Ed was our assistant on “Tales From The Crypt” and “Demon Knight” and “Bordello Of Blood” and a bunch of other projects. Did Ed know where all the bodies were buried? Yeah – because Ed helped us bury them.

Geeking Out

Ed’s story could be a TV series unto itself. He’s a latter day Alger Hiss (boy, did I just age myself). He’s one of those guys who makes the sum greater than its parts. And, if you want to know how to break into show business (or into anything about which you’re passionate), take Ed’s story to heart. He went from being a great assistant to being a great producer in his own right.

Ed describes himself as a film geek. “American Graffiti” was the film that got under his skin. It compelled him. He’d spend whole days at the movies, buying one ticket and watching three or four. He loved movies. Now, he wanted to make them, too. Ed tells how he found his way to Tales From The Crypt and how joining our team changed his life.

Ed joining Gil and I changed our lives, too. It made our team better. Well, it did until we collectively slammed into “Bordello Of Blood” (or until Bordello slammed into us). However many buried bodies there were up till then? It was nothing compared to the pile making Bordello produced.

We cover a lot of ground in this one and drop some very cool names – everyone from Johnny Carson to Stan Lee to Quentin Tarantino to Timothy Hutton (he’s one of Ed’s idols – and Ed got to work with Tim on “American Crime” and loved the experience). There’s more than just bodies buried here – there’s gold!

Photo 89590408 / Buried Bodies © James Wagstaff | Dreamstime.com