Dinner with Leatherface: Michael Kallio’s saga to honor Gunnar Hansen

Michael Kallio – Gunnar Hansen 2 – Courtesy of Michael Kallio and Kim Simms

When It Rains, It Pours

1428 Elm: It sounds like the type of experience that would prepare you for anything in the film business. Hatred wasn’t released until February 2002. Were there other problems that cropped up?

MK: Another money flow issue slowed us down for a short time but, when we picked it back up, Bruce and another editor Bruce knew, John Walter, took a crack at an edit that lasted a few months. It was difficult to let someone else cut on my “baby” even if it was Campbell and an editor he trusted.

At the time, we had a few moments where we butted heads about the way certain scenes were cut but, eventually, I got over it and realized he was right. He was just trying to make the best movie we could make. Yet another stall in post-production happened after we locked picture on “Hatred of a Minute” and a lengthy period of post-production sound started with Joel Newport and his assistant, Phil Barrie at a company in Lansing, Michigan called Harvest Music & Sound Design.

Owner, Steve Curran, Bruce and myself worked out a great deal but, unfortunately, we were working with so little money, we only averaged working on the post sound one day a week. There were times when Harvest got very busy and we couldn’t work at all.  All in all, the movie took a long time in post, which made people think I was never going to finish but, I’d rather do it right than rush it… plus I was at the mercy of being low budget.

We worked when we could but, the process took years but it was beyond my financial control. As I mentioned, it was “rough.” Maybe that’s the wrong word. I was and still am very blessed I got to experience the process the way I did. It was a REAL film school.