Recently, for HorrorBuzz, I had the honor of interviewing FX wiz Alec Gillis (Starship Toopers, Alien 3, Death Becomes Her), on celebrating Roger Corman for his birthday this Saturday. Gillis, who started his career at Corman’s New World Cinema, working alongside the likes of James Cameron, will host a double feature in honor of Corman for Shout! TV’s double take series.

You can read the interview in full here. I posted some of it below.

Talk about your relationship to Roger Corman and working for New World Cinema.

Alec Gillis: I was very fortunate, at 19 years old, to get an interview to work on a movie called Battle Beyond the Stars. I interviewed with the visual effects department. I brought along a friend that I met a year earlier by the name of James Cameron. This was when he delivered books for the school district. It was that era. Roger was not at that initial meeting, but when we did finally get brought on and hired, we got to meet Roger. He sat behind a giant glass desk. He was a very imperious and intimidating character. He was very tall. He had a booming voice. He was warm enough but there was a wall there. I thought he was really impressive.

I’d then see him around the studio, which was in Venice, California. He bought an old lumber company that went out of business. You’d never know it was a special effects studio. He had prime real estate in Venice Beach. We were all talented up-and-comers that couldn’t believe our luck to be working on a movie, even if it was a knock-off of Star Wars.

Corman is one of the true godfathers of American independent films. He was also known for doing whatever he could to save a buck. Did that prove challenging in terms of the special effects department?

Alec Gillis: I didn’t know any better because I came from my own Super 8 movies in my mother’s garage. This was totally extravagant to me. It was the case for a lot of us. When you’re not in it for the money and you’re excited about any opportunity, it feels like an absolute playground.

Speaking of Roger’s creativity, he was an opportunist. I say that in a positive way. He had a gift for maximizing the assets. I remember once when we were shooting Battle Beyond the Stars we came in and stuff was rearranged on the set. Someone said to us that Roger was here this weekend. He was shooting another movie on the weekend for the Spanish market. He had a whole other movie on the weekends. [Laughs]. I always respected that. I can’t say that every Roger Corman movie was a great, or even a good movie, but there’s something about them. They were fun to work on, and they gave a lot of talented people a foot in the door. That’s part of why he’s so beloved.

What can we expect from your involvement with Shout! TV’s Double Take Series?

Alec Gillis: I chose Battle Beyond the Stars and Galaxy of Terror because those are the two biggest Corman films I worked on. Galaxy of Terror was great. I’d take a quarter off from going to UCLA Film School and then go back to work. That was a great steppingstone for James Cameron as well. I’m going to talk about what it was like back then, what the circumstances were, and specifics about the movies.

What did you apply to later films that you learned on those Corman productions?

Alec Gillis: Battle Beyond the Stars was a great team. Bill Paxton was a carpenter on that film. Gale Anne Hurd was around, though not on that film. James Cameron was there. These are lifelong relationships, and I’m very grateful for that. Galaxy of Terror was my first experience on an exclusively monster-making crew. It taught me that you could literally pull things out of your ear, if you have enough talent, and roll with a lack of time and a lack of resources and not to fear that. That’s a big lesson from Roger. Sometimes, the lack of resources and the parameters are your friend. It can be better than having unlimited time.

What else can we look forward to from you?

Alec Gillis: We have our own Corman-like, indie film called Wellwood. It’s full of practical effects. We shot it on a budget and it’s out in the world now. You can stream it. On Instagram, we’re posting a bunch of behind-the-scenes stuff now.