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Interview with "Rowsdower"! (Bruce J. Mitchell)
« Thread Started on Oct 22, 2006, 5:34pm »

This is a transcript of an interview with Bruce J. Mitchell, who played Rowsdower in The Final Sacrifice, conducted by board member bobevanszombie (Corey Neal). Enjoy this great interview!

<<I recently got a hold of Bruce J. Mitchell of "The Final Sacrifice" fame, which was riffed in MST3K episode 910 and is one of my personal favorites. Along with being a fan of the episode I am also a fan of the movie and of the action hero Zap Rowsdower played by Mr. Mitchell.

After finding a way to contact him by means which would make an online stalker proud, Bruce gave me the privilege of a casual email interview. A very enlightening, interesting and amusing experience for me. Let's enjoy...

Q (Corey): Are you a fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) or ever watched the show?

A (Bruce): In Canada we do not get MST3K here so I was not aware of the show except a couple of years ago my son who lives in Texas phoned and the movie was on and there was a guy bashing it and it was real funny so I'm assuming this was the show. I just watched the film clips and I agree it was very funny and now I'm wondering if I can get copies of that series.

Q (Corey): What was your reaction both initial and current towards The Final Sacrifice being used in

MST3K episode 910?

A (Bruce): My initial reaction when got your e-mail was--cool--after I clicked on the site (http://forrestcrow.proboards47.com/index.cgi) I thought it was great.

Q (Corey): Have you worked on any other projects since The Final Sacrifice?

A (Bruce): The Final Sacrifice was made almost 20 years ago since then I did a mini series in Amsterdam, many, many , theatre productions everything from the Lion in the Wizard of Oz to the Steven Truscott story[ that's a true story about a young boy in Canada who was sentenced to die for the rape and murder of a young girl--he was innocent], I've done commercials and some minor parts in movies. I was even a professional clown for children's parties for a time. This fall I will be in a new production of Sherlock Holms

Q (Corey): Could you describe the Rodeo and Julie-Ed production? http://www.canadianshakespeares.ca/multimedia/video/rodeo.cfm

A (Bruce): Rodeo and Julie-Ed was dinner theatre and a spoof of the Hatfield's and McCoy's meets Romeo and Juliet lots of fun singing and dancing and fight scenes.

Q (Corey): How did you become involved in Rodeo and Julie-Ed?

A (Bruce): A producer friend of mine phoned me and said they were looking for someone to sing and dance in this new dinner theatre --I went down, auditioned, and got the part.

Q (Corey): How long did you do that?

A (Bruce): The production ran off and on for approximately one year.

Q (Corey): Do you have any plans to act, write, or produce in the future?

A (Bruce): See number 3

Q's (Corey): If you could reflect on your experience in making The Final Sacrifice...

What was the motivation for making The Final Sacrifice movie? Did you have any grand plans

for the movie? Was it a project between a group of people for the enjoyment?

What was the approximate budget for The Final Sacrifice?

What influences were there for the movie?

Whose brainchild was The Final Sacrifice?

Where did the name Zap Rowsdower come from?

Was there a working title for the movie? Or was it always known during production as Quest

For The Lost City or The Final Sacrifice?

Do you still maintain a relationship with people who were involved with the movie?

Do you have any regrets in making The Final Sacrifice?

Do you, or the movie itself enjoy popularity in Canada?

Did you notice the movie gain in popularity as a result of it being used in MST3K?

A's (Bruce): Southern Alberta Institute of Technology otherwise known as S.A.I.T. has a program for aspiring film makers. One of there projects in order to pass is make a film of there choice. So one day I get a call from a fellow actor who said this guy by the name of Tjardus Greidanus [pronounced jar das gree dan us] was making a film and the was a perfect part for me. Well my friend [his name was Paul] thought I would be good for Piper. Well Tjardas looked at me and said I was perfect for Zap. Anyhow my friend Paul never got any part and maybe he was the lucky one. So now we have a S.A.I.T. student with a budget of approximately $ 1500 bucks, camera equipment borrowed from the school, everyone donating there time with the promise if the movie did good we would get paid--well we all set out to-do this great movie that Tjardas wrote. It's like Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney "Let's get a barn and put on a play and raise money to save the town"--hope that makes sense to you. It was pretty bad at times. Some days there would be no money left over for food, we didn't have a continuity person, bought our own make up and applied it ourselves--yes I know it lists Dave Trainor as make up artist but he only advised one time. We were filming in the country one day--a fight scene and I accidentally got cut from one of the knifes that was supposed to be dull--someone slipped up there--of course no first aid on site--drove into town and got several stitches and Tjardas was upset because my hand was bandaged and I couldn't be in several scenes. Sorry I don't know where Zap's name came from--just something tjardas made up. The working title for the film was the Dawn of Ziox.

I don't see any one from the movie except I ran into Ron {Pipper} last year at a audition--and I heard Tjardas is in California--by the way Tjardas did sell the move, made money, but none of us got paid. I don't have any regrets making the movie because I find, as a actor, anything you do is a learning experience. The movie played here on the movie channel several times but as far as I know it never became popular

Q (Corey): Are you aware of your cult status?

A (Bruce): I love the question about my cult status--never knew I had one but I love it.

Q (Corey): Are there any plans to release The Final Sacrifice onto DVD?

A (Bruce): I will check on the dvd thing and see if copies can be made or whatever.

Q (Corey): Are you aware of the cast listing mistake in The Final Sacrifice listing Zap Rowsdower played by Christian Malcolm and Troy McGreggor played by Bruce J. Mitchell?

A (Bruce): I am aware of the mistake in the cast listing--pointed it out to Tjardas--but he ran out of money and couldn't get it redone.

Q (Corey): What are you working on today?

Q (Corey): What do you do in your spare time?

A (Bruce): I have been a professional singer since age 13 and I play guitar so I guess you could say in my spare time I do that although my wife says I don't do that enough--I also write and I have a regular job as a nurse.

Q (Corey): What is your favorite movie or movies?

Q (Corey): What do you think of the quality of mainstream movies nowadays?

A (Bruce): I don't have a favorite movie and I think movies today, too much is computer generated and not enough acting.

Q (Corey): To hopefully expand on your Internet Movie Database listing at http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0593183/ could you please tell me when you were born and where?

A (Bruce): I was born in Winnipeg Manitoba in 1945---I also lived in Arizona for a while, northern Manitoba and Vancouver.

Q (Corey): Do you plan on becoming more involved in the MST3K community as a result of this interview?

A (Bruce): Yes I'd like to be more involved but don't exactly know how yet.

Q (Corey): Would you be willing to be interviewed again in the future?

A (Bruce): Sure interview anytime.

Q (Corey): Speaking of the future, where do you see yourself in the next 5 or 10 years?

A (Bruce): In 5 to 10 years retire and just act in theatre.

Trivia--My wife Angela is also in the movie--when you look at the dash in the truck there is a picture of her holding a glass of wine.

There you have it. I'd like to thank Mr. Mitchell for taking the time and having the good humor to answer my questions and for not reporting me to the police.

By Corey Neal. >>

Thank you to Corey and Bruce J. Mitchell!

« Last Edit: Oct 22, 2006, 5:37pm by Blurryeye »