Mike Taylor was inspired to write a psychological thriller after watching his sister grapple with serious illness. The result is a story about Jack, a successful photographer who battles a monster that only he can see. As he tries to heal a broken relationship with his wife, the monster hunts him into something that looks like madness.
In a small way, Taylor hopes this film will lend some visibility to those living with invisible monsters.
Photo courtesy of Mike Taylor
Joey Collins, Ena O'Rourke and Mike Taylor.
“It’s very insular, it’s very solitary. It’s one person suffering through this thing,” Taylor said. “And I’m just hoping just to raise more awareness, that’s all, to not forget about it.”
The film, There is a Monster, is now available for streaming on 20 platforms, including Apple TV and Amazon Prime.
Mike Taylor’s first feature-length film is a local production in every sense of the word. All but one of the actors are from Virginia, Maryland or the District. It was filmed completely in town, with locations including Southside 815 and Bradlee Medical Building, which both allowed Taylor to use their locations free of charge.
Taylor himself is a “Virginia guy” who was born and raised in Alexandria, lived in Arlington and went to school at Virginia Tech. He specialized in commercials for most of his career and started dabbling in film during the pandemic. His first film was a 15-second (the time limit on Instagram videos at the time) sci-fi horror film. His short film, “Love, Covid Style,” was included in five festivals, including the 2021 Alexandria Film Festival, and won best comedy at the Roma Short Film Festival in Italy.
Horror was the genre of choice for Taylor’s first feature film in part for practical reasons. More so than other movie genres, horror films tend to perform well, even on small budgets without big-name talent.
“For me, I mean, it was just another thing to tackle. It's just another thing to learn and to do,” Taylor said about learning to work within the horror genre.
Joey Collins, who plays Jack, is a stage actor by trade. He lived in New York for 25 years, working in various stage productions on and off Broadway before his partner’s job brought his family to Northern Virginia. He just finished an 18-month Broadway tour with To Kill a Mockingbird. When Taylor approached him about the film through an actor listing site, Collins embraced the challenge to transfer his stage skills to portraying a character arc filmed in fragmented, out-of-order scenes.
“The acting is really the same. You just strive to be in the moment and truthful,” Collins said.
The experience of working on a film set taught Collins more about the art of leadership and collaboration. He found that if he took initiative as the lead actor to consult the director of photography, for example, it would open up more collaboration across the set.
“On a film set, everybody is an artist,” Collins said. “You’re seeing them and their creativity and their expertise, and they’re right there with you. You learn how to depend on them.”
Many of the other actors are also locals; Kelly Schwartz is from Arlington and Marcellus Shepard and Jesse Milliner are from Maryland. Supporting actor Ena O’Rourke was the only actor who had to book a hotel to work on the film.
O’Rourke was drawn to the film because of the psychological intensity and relational depth she saw in the script. The film has strong mental health undertones, which also happens to be one of her passions. After a multi-faceted early career in both television and film, O’Rourke took a hiatus from acting and moved to Colorado to care for her son. She owns a yoga studio and specializes in working with PTSD patients. When she read the script, she could tell it was written from the heart.
“It was beautiful, absolutely incredible. The script was incredible,” O’Rourke said. “Mike Taylor is a great director. He’s coming from a place where the story is so personal for him.”
Collins hopes that viewers will be reminded of the importance of compassion.
“You never know what monster might be lurking in their shadow, or in their heart or soul,” Collins said. “We can all be a little kinder to each other."
