Trigger Happy: Jurassic Part scripter David Koepp takes aim with The Trigger Effect

This article appeared in the September/October 1996 issue of Cinescape magazine.

To someone whose screenwriting credits include the effects extravaganzas Mission: Impossible, Jurassic Park and the upcoming Jurassic Park sequel The Lost World, the low-budget thriller The Trigger Effect might seem like small potatoes. But scribe David Koepp hopes that the $8 million Gramercy release, his first directing effort, will deliver the kind of human-scale drama and suspense that Spielbergian fare overwhelms.

The Love Bugs: With the help of 50,000 cockroaches, Jerry O’Connell gets the girl

This article appeared in the July 1996 issue of Cinescape magazine. I remember that after I reached out to the PR people, Jerry O’Connell called me personally. I didn’t believe it was him at first, and when I finally realized it was, I had to put him on hold so I could squee a bit – and control my heart rate, so that I could actually do the interview. 🙂

Anyone who’s ever lived in an urban area knows that cockroaches are just another annoying fact of life. But John Payson, who wrote and directed Joe’s Apartment for Geffen Pictures, had a different reaction to the six-legged critters: He found them inspirational.

“I was sitting in my apartment feeling sorry for myself,” Payson says, explaining how he got the idea for his roach flick while watching the bugs overrun his New York City home. His only cheery thought at the time, he says, was that “it could be worse–cockroaches could talk.”

Crafty Characters: A coven of bewitching teenage girls takes possession of a supernatural thriller

This article appeared in the May 1996 issue of Cinescape magazine.

Adolescence is a busy time for girls, what with the demands of family, school, dating and social competition. But the four young women depicted in the upcoming Columbia/TriStar release The Craft have found an unusual hobby to help them get through those angst-filled years–witchcraft.

In The Craft, a supernatural thriller directed by Andrew Fleming, Robin Tunney plays Sarah, a troubled 17-year-old who transfers to St. Benedict’s Academy in Los Angeles and becomes involved with a black-lipstick-wearing clique of would-be witches.”Ever since she can remember, she’s been able to make things happen by just thinking about them, wishing them,” Tunney says. “She starts at this new school and meets these three girls [who have] a witchcraft circle…basically, they make things happen together.”