Made for a mere $9,000, the fourth film by director Glenn Andreiev is an action film featuring police chases, a helicopter search and an entire building on fire. The story of Sharp and Sudden concerns a fashion model, Kate Pullman, and a social worker, Robert Grill, who are accused of the same crime. With the police, the FBI and bounty hunters after them, they have no choice but to run-and to try to find out what's going on. Principal photography for the digital movie began in early October 2000 and the advantages of shooting in digital video allowed for the twenty shooting days to be far more relaxed than a conventional film shoot.

GC: Well, let's start at the beginning…

GLENN: I started making films in Super 8mm in High School. While attending film school at School Of Visual Arts, I worked on Street Trash. I'm also in it, as a murder victim. I've worked in all aspects of film and video. I am also fascinated by film history. Sharp and Sudden is my forth feature film.

GC: What influences your filmmaking?

GLENN: Let's say it's a Pandora's Box of everything. A lot of suspense films. I watched Akira Kurosawa's High and Low a few times during pre-production on Sharp and Sudden. My every-day surroundings. I lived in Jacksonville, Fla. for a few years. The place has two hi-decibel characteristics- loud infants in stores and nosy waitresses. Both make appearances in Sharp and Sudden. Also, alot of Eisenstein and Murnau. I love silent movies.

GC: Who is your favorite director?

GLENN: Alfred Hitchcock. He experimented wildly with film, but was still highly concerned with keeping an audience entertained. Also, if a prop was important to the plot (i.e the lighter in Strangers on a Train, the hold-up note in The Wrong Man) he'd photograph that prop as if it was the star of the movie.

GC: Why did you decide to do an action movie rather than another horror movie?

GLENN: My two favorite film genres are horror and suspense. After making two vampire films and a Revolutionary War thriller that was filmed like a monster movie, I wanted to try something in the suspense genre.

GC: How did you cast your actors? Tell us a bit about them?

GLENN: Rosemary Gore, who plays Kate, the lead in Sharp and Sudden, was picked out of 400+ submitted headshots, and about 30 auditioned actresses. She was the only actress who applied quirky humor to the role. And yes, she is a distant cousin of Al Gore. Frank Franconeri, who played Robert, was in my last feature, Mad Wolf. I instantly cast him.

GC: How long did it take to shoot and edit the movie?

GLENN: Principal photography started in early October 2000, and went into early November. We decided stretching it over just weekends was only asking for delays and trouble. Editing took about four months.

GC: You have some really good production values for such a low-budget movie, such as the police cars and helicopter shots. How did you manage to get all this?

GLENN: Police cars are incredibly easy to get. I simply spoke to an officer at the Public Relations Department at Suffolk County's (Long Island) Police Department. Their major concerns were that my script didn't "bash" cops, and that I could take only a couple of hours to shoot. The cops and I had a lot of fun with it. Vernon Gravdal, the co-producer in the film (who also acted in it) is a helicopter pilot. There again, we assured Vernon's employers, that we could be done in a little over an hour. We shot with three cameras, which quickened our need for the helicopter.

GC: Were there any difficulties when making Sharp and Sudden?

GLENN: Almost none, maybe minor weather delays. It was a dream cast and crew, very nice. No attitudes or egos. When we filmed in Manhattan, we got of share of gawkers, people passing by, giving a brain-dead zombie stare at Rosemary and the camera.

GC: How do you think the independent filmmaking scene is different on the East Coast than on the West (it seems as if most independent filmmakers are in the NYC area)?

GLENN: In LA, the studios are all over the place. LA Film-makers are trying to "scale the studio wall" and secure a "big studio deal" with their proposed films that would cost at least a million. New York is the home of the sidewalk vendor. New Yorkers are surrounded by people who scrap together a working business from bare resources. They really have a "just do it!" outlook.

GC: What is your next project?

GLENN: It looks like it's going to be something called Plutomar. It something of a gangster film blender-mixed with a monster movie. I'm going for some real unique monster attacks here. A 100% popcorn movie!