CEO and co-founder of Rogue Luna Entertainment, Deanna Kenway:
To start, please introduce yourself:
HI! I’m Deanna Kenway, CEO and co-founder of Rogue Luna Entertainment! I am a wife, mother, and total nerd. I’ve always known I would be in entertainment ever since I was a kid. I told my mom when I was four years old that I was going to be an actress or work in movies/theater. I’m pretty sure she thought it was a phase, but I worked my whole life in preparation for that goal. I took acting, singing, and music lessons my whole life. I was in choir, band, and drama in school and even went to Stephens College for Performing Arts. So, you could say I’ve basically dedicated my life to entertaining others.
What is horror to you, what makes a work of art one in the horror genre?
For being a genre that people as a whole feel is very narrow, I believe horror has many sub-genres. There’s psychological horror, macabre entertainment, jump-scare horror, gore-based horror, and so many more that I’m not going to list here. What separates good horror from bad horror is the attention to detail. Regardless of the sub-genre of horror, the ones that really stand out take the time to do the little details that many would overlook but it really adds to the work as a whole. Take The Haunting of Hill House on Netflix for example. It’s based on an early 60’s horror film (that was subsequently remade in the 90’s) called “The Haunting” where a group of people go and live in an old house that’s said to be haunted. The dev team, in an effort to really make viewers feel uncomfortable the entire series, every take that’s in the house, they hid ghosts or faces in the background, and also little details like a statue facing one way then watching the character on the screen in the very next shot. The reason? So, the audience felt uncomfortable and like they were being watched while watching the show. Freaking brilliant.
What made you want to work in horror?
Honestly, I kinda fell into it. I got offered to work as a paid actor in a nationally ranked haunted house while I was in college to make a little extra cash. While I liked some horror movies and most of the supernatural/macabre genre, it was my first real “in” to the horror entertainment genre. It was a lot of fun and it just whet my appetite to continue.
Where do you get your inspiration?
Real stories, mythology, and psychological studies. So much of horror does have to do with how we perceive trauma, phobias, and even the unknown. Fear is a powerful thing. How we process that fear is very dependent on our history with trauma, relationships and experiences. It shines a light on areas most of us are aware of but may not want to see all the time.
What would you like your legacy to be in the genre (or elsewhere)?
I would love to influence the way women are perceived in horror. So many people keep the trope that women characters are either the wimpy, screaming, slutty character, or the trauma-backed, rage-filled psychopath. There are so many different layers to the horror genre and how different women would react. I would love to explore that a bit.
What are you currently working on that you can tell us about?
I’m currently co-producing and voice acting in the role of “Paula” in a horror audio drama called “The Occurrence in River Oaks” You can listen to the first half of the show on the major podcast platforms. The episodes come out every other week and it’s something we’re extremely proud of! You can also listen to it via our website https://roguelunaent.com/the-occurrence
Also, We are currently working on a few secret film scripts that we are hoping to finish by the end of the year and get produced in the future. So stay tuned!
Thank you so much for letting me be on the show! I’m so grateful.