St. Louis-born writer/director James Gunn got his start at age 12 with an 8mm camera and was soon filming his brother Sean (now an actor on the "Gilmore Girls") being killed by zombies. While in college, he got a job with famed B-movie studio Troma Entertainment where he graduated from filing papers to writing scripts. During his tenure at Troma, he scripted the cult-fave Tromeo and Juliet, which recently had a tenth-anniversary DVD release.

Since leaving Troma, Gunn has gone on to script The Specials, starring Jamie Kennedy and Rob Lowe, and box office smashes like Scooby-Doo, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed and the reimagined version of Dawn of the Dead. He has also penned the critically-acclaimed novel "The Toy Collector," as well as the memoir "All I Need to Know about Filmmaking I Learned from the Toxic Avenger," with Troma head honcho Lloyd Kaufman.

In 2006, the comedy-horror film SLiTHER hit theaters. The movie featured Nathan Fillion, Elizabeth Banks, Michael Rooker and Gregg Henry in a tale of alien slugs that try to take over the small town of Wheelsy, SC. Not only did Gunn write the script, but he stepped behind the camera to direct.

In honor of the DVD release of the film on October 24, the multi-talented writer/director/actor was kind enough to sequester himself away to answer a few questions for us.

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BellaOnline: You interest in film started early, according to your bio. But I'm wondering, what was the defining moment in your life where you decided this is what you wanted to do with your life?

James Gunn: Probably my first day on set filming Tromeo and Juliet. I felt more at home there than anywhere else. Since then, I felt like directing was essentially my thing.

BellaOnline: You put in time at Troma early in your career -- other than a paycheck, what did you get out of the experience?

James Gunn: I got many lifelong friends out of the process -- Lloyd (Kaufman), Stevie Blackeheart, Jane Jensen, Debbie Rochon.... And I learned every single facet of the practical side of filmmaking, from development through putting a film out on DVD. There's nowhere else on the planet where you can get such a complete education.

BellaOnline: Do you find it odd that you're at a point in your career where people are asking you for advice?

James Gunn: Well, I guess I've been doing this professionally for over ten years, and making a good living at it for over eight, so it makes sense people would ask me for advice. The statistics are against anyone making a living in the entertainment industry, especially doing what you love, which I do.

BellaOnline: You pulled double duty with both writing and directing SLiTHER. Did you find it easy to direct your own script? Or is it better to be able to hand off the script to another director?

James Gunn: It's much better to direct my own script. Having someone else direct your script is like a mother having to give up her baby to another family. Sometimes necessary, but never pleasurable.

BellaOnline: Did you find yourself adapting the script to your directorial style, or adapting your directing to fit the script?

James Gunn: I didn't originally write the script to direct, so I had to, to some degree, adapt it to my directing style. And my directing style had to adapt to the budget.

BellaOnline: What was the hardest part about filming SLiTHER? What was the easiest?

James Gunn: The hardest part were the effects in general. I'd say actually filming the puppets was a huge pain in the ass. But the CGI effects weren't a walk in the park either. The easiest was dealing with the actors. In many cases -- especially Nathan -- I thought they exceeded what I thought they were capable of.

BellaOnline: Speaking of the effects, one thing that interested me was that when making SLiTHER, it seems you used more physical elements in your special effects, such as "goo" and latex, versus computer-generated effects (a.k.a. CGI). Why the decision? And does actor Michael Rooker deserve a special award for becoming the creature feature, or what?

James Gunn: I wanted a return to the gritty, real feel of the horror films of the '80's. It was less important to me that things looked "real" than that they looked interesting. Todd Masters' prosthetic effects are essentially little works of art each on their own. Rooker was in a tremendous amount of pain while shooting the scenes with the heavier makeup effects. He went through it because he believed in the movie, and I am tremendously indebted to him. He keeps reminding me of this, or course, and wants to star in every movie I do from now till my death.

BellaOnline: Having seen the finished product, which scene is your favorite from Slither?

James Gunn: The scene where Brenda explodes is my favorite, probably. But I also like the scene in the police station where Jack (the mayor) is yelling at (Sherrif) Bill Pardy, and he claims the monster is simply someone with lyme disease. Oh - and I like the Brenda-rape (by the alien who impregnates her) montage quite a bit.

BellaOnline: In this age of dvd extras, did you ever catch yourself thinking "this has got to go on the dvd"...or even consciously shooting stuff with the dvd in mind?

James Gunn: No. Our budget and our time was so limited I wanted to make sure everything we shot ended up on-screen. So I shot the movie to be a hard R. However, Elizabeth Banks is giggly by nature -- she ruined a shitload of shots because of it -- and I knew a lot of her stuff belonged on the gag reel on the DVD.

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Want to read more of my interview with James Gunn? Click here to go to part 2.

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