by Evelyn Greene
Carrboro Commons Photo Editor

Zombies invaded Carr Mill Mall last week, but don’t be too alarmed. These zombies only exist on paper and as latex creations.

Wootini, a store in the mall, launched an exhibit Friday, Feb. 8, based on the soon-to-be -released movie “Sick and the Dead.”

Brockton McKinney stands in front of the Sick and the Dead Wall at Wootini located in Carr Mill Mall. McKinney, co-director and co-writer of the film holds “Rodney” a mask used in the movie

Photo by Eve Greene

Wootini is known for its art exhibits, and Michael Maher, of Carrboro, N.C., the store’s owner, said that these types of events draw large crowds from all over. “Heck, the last one was so awesome we had people fly here from California and wait four hours for us to open,” Maher said.

The “Sick and the Dead” exhibit is likely to draw more local traffic to the store. “All these pieces are from people who had something to do with the movie,” said Brockton McKinney, of Carrboro, N.C., founding member of Magic Twanger Productions, the company behind the movie. The exhibit includes pen and ink drawings, colorful posters and work by artists such as Chris Moreno of Studio City, Calif.; Bo Fader, of Carrboro, N.C.; and Laurie Shipley, of Chapel Hill, N.C.

Aside from viewing the art, people visiting the gallery can learn about the cast and crew’s ideas and inspiration. Maher asked the crew to create a “behind-the-scenes board to show people how things came to be.” Visitors can also view the trailer and an excerpt from the movie on a television nestled among bloody zombie legs, torsos and even a head fondly nicknamed “Rodney.”

Before “Sick and the Dead,” Magic Twanger Productions had only made short films, so McKinney was thrilled when they were offered the chance to make a full-length movie. They were given the opportunity to make “a low-budget, no-budget kind of indie zombie movie,” McKinney recalled. “It was pretty much a dream come true.”

After three months of writing the script, the team began filming at the end of 2006, thinking they could finish within six months. “We didn’t know what we were getting into,” McKinney said. “We had never shot anything over 20 minutes before.”

“Sick and the Dead” was filmed primarily in Carrboro, Chapel Hill and other Triangle locations. Finding stores and buildings that would allow filming was difficult and caused some on-the-spot rewriting and location changes. Creating sound effects to simulate knives whizzing through the air and zombie skulls being smashed also proved more difficult than the crew expected. Using anything from pumpkins filled with meat to fishing poles, the crew turned McKinney’s front yard into a sound-effects studio. “It’s OK, we’re making a zombie movie,” McKinney recalls yelling at one point to reassure a passing jogger.

“Sick and the Dead” will be submitted April 1 to Last Call Film Festival, an independent film festival held in Louisville, Ky. Brockton McKinney and Jordy Dickens, of Carrboro, N.C., wrote and directed the movie. Bo Fader was the director of cinematography, while Leeko McKinney, of Carrboro, N.C., Nate Boreiko, of Carrboro, N.C., and Dickens star in the film.

Brockton McKinney says that the film will premier on May 28 at the Carolina Theater in Durham, N.C., and he promises there will be regular showings at The Reservoir, a local bar that has been supportive of Magic Twanger Productions since the beginning.

Although “Sick and the Dead” has yet to hit the big screen, Magic Twanger Productions has already begun working on future projects. They start filming “Rodney Cecil” this July and will begin working on “Brainers” in January 2009.

The “Sick and the Dead” exhibit will remain in Wootini until the end of March.