Giant albino spiders will invade Baton Rouge on Saturday with the debut of the Syfy channel original movie “Arachnoquake.”
Set in Southern Louisiana, the film features actors such as Tracy Gold of “Growing Pains,” Edward Furlong, who played John Connor in “Terminator 2,” and Brandon “Bug” Hall, who played Alfalfa in the 1994 film “Little Rascals.” The cast will have to fight off giant spiders emerging from the ground after a New Orleans earthquake opens up massive fissures, exposing this dormant species of ferocious arachnids.
Director Griff Furst of Active Entertainment described the film as an action-adventure sci-fi comedy.
“We’re kind of coming to learn that the Syfy – they’re really the only people that do that original concept – they do these kind of throw back, campy features,” Furst said. “The demographic is so widespread. If you appreciate a little humor and a lot of action, it’s right up your alley.
Furst explained Active Entertainment moved its offices to Louisiana in 2008 largely because of the emergence of tax incentives for film production in the state. He said the company has since made about 20 films in South Louisiana. While Furst directed several films in this region, Arachnoquake will be the first entirely filmed in Baton Rouge, which Furst explained made the filming process more efficient.
“We started to transition toward Baton Rouge because a lot of our crew lives in Baton Rouge,” Furst explained. “It was kind of natural for us to migrate and set up a permanent shop eventually in Baton Rouge. Baton Rouge is such a great central location, and everybody can go to work and then go home to their families.”
Besides more convenient housing and accommodations, the crew’s knowledge of the area helped better move the filming process along, explained Producer and University alumnus Daniel Lewis.
“You can pull in a crew, reach out to different vendors – it provides a lot of conveniences and a lot of efficiencies,” Lewis explained. “Our company’s been in Louisiana since 2008 so everybody has really picked up a lot of experience and a lot of knowledge of Baton Rouge, Lafayette and the whole state.”
Furst also noted the film’s cast made filming particularly enjoyable and less stressful. Furst, a full time actor himself, explained the cast’s cohesiveness helped give the movie a proper tone.
“All the characters formed tight bonds really quickly, and they were like a little family,” Furst said. “Right away we all got on the same page. We’re playing this movie for real, there’s really spiders, you’re really terrified, you’re really trying to save the day. But at the same time, there’s an inkling that everyone is aware of the kind of movie it is – they didn’t take it too seriously, they had fun with it.”
Arachnoquake won’t mark the first film Furst and Lewis have made together. After graduating from the University in psychology, Lewis worked at JP Morgan Chase Bank, where some of his clients who opened up a production company offered to have him to handle the business’ finances. He then used this opportunity to learn about film production. He has since made more than a dozen films with Furst in Louisiana.
“We have a great relationship because he’s is an expert on things I’m not and vice versa,” Furst said.
Lewis said Arachnoquake will prove one of Active Entertainment’s biggest productions yet.
“It definitely rivals with a lot of the biggest ones we’ve done. It’s got a lot of action, a lot of CGI,” he explained. “We had almost 300 visual effects shot in the movie.”
And Lewis said Active Entertainment hopes to continue growing, making bigger productions for more channels, such as Hallmark.
“We’re in a growth phase,” he said. “You’ll start seeing bigger stuff come out of us.”
 
____ Contact Austen Krantz at [email protected]