by Jessica Del Curto
Daily Lobo
The mob of Girl Scouts passed around the saw, preparing to slice the zombie.
"Duey, we get a merit badge if we bring back a head," 12-year-old Danna Derrick said.
Then the director yelled cut.
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CR Productions is a local film company in the process of filming "Necroville."
"It's a fictional town in New Mexico that very much resembles Albuquerque," said Andie Rigler, second assistant director. "The town has been overrun with zombies, werewolves and chupacabras."
The young actresses in the scene being shot across from UNM on Harvard Drive were real Girl Scouts. Rigler, who did the casting for "Necroville," said she called local Girl Scout troops asking for volunteer extras.
"I got some very understanding moms to allow them to be in a movie they are probably too young to see," she said.
She said one troop leader called her and was enthusiastic about the project.
Director Billy Garberina said "Necroville" is the second movie he has directed. It took him and Adam Brown, who is also co-starring in the film, three weeks to write the script.
"We've been planning to write it for six years," Brown said.
He said he and cameraman Richard Griffin have a slew of monster movies to bring to Albuquerque stores.
'There is a niche for low-budget horror," he said. "They are definitely not your daughter's slaughter movies."
Garberina said filmmaking is what he wants to do with his life, and he hopes this movie takes off.
"If not, it's another drop in the bucket, and we will make more movies," he said.
Monday was the crew's second day of filming, he said, and it will take 13 days to shoot. They shot scenes all over Albuquerque, but only some places gave them permission to film.
"It's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission," he said.
Working with a cast of Girl Scouts was easy for Garberina.
"They are just smaller humans," he said. "You just have to be respectful but set good boundaries."
He said he will cast extras on Saturday at Sol Arts Performance Space. The work is voluntary, he said, but extras get to play zombies and be mowed down by a giant lumberjack with a chainsaw.
Maddie Woodall is a seven-year-old who played a Girl Scout. She said the movie won't be scary.
"Really it's supposed to be a comedy," she said.
She said her favorite part of the filming experience was passing the saw around.
Tobey Woodall, Maddie's mom, said she allowed her daughter to be part of the film, because it is a good experience.
But she hasn't decided if she will let Maddie see the finished product.
"I'd have to watch it first," she said. "I'll save her a copy for when she turns 18."
