Meet Cassandra Sechler of Dreams for Dead Cats Productions:
To start, please introduce yourself:
Hi, I’m Cassandra Sechler. I’m a conceptual artist and filmmaker based in San Francisco, California. I co-run a DIY production team called Dreams for Dead Cats Productions with my partner Craig Jacobson. Together, we create original visions with high production value using very, very low budgets. We do all our own practical effects, character makeup, hand-built sets and props, costume design, original set construction, and editing and sound design. When I say DIY I mean it lol. I also make creepy but cute horror skull props and creatures for fun that we like to sell on the side to help fund our projects.
What is horror to you, what makes a work of art one in the horror genre?
Horror is an escape, horror is visceral and empowering, horror is life! I’ve been a horror fan since I was a kid—always wanting to watch scary movies with my dad and eventually I was let loose at video shop to rent whatever movie I wanted to watch (I remember that day well I rented Pumpkin Head and The Unnamable!), and life has never been the same. Horror remains my favorite genre because I love the dark, morbid, uncomfortable and scary places it takes us! For me to consider a horror film to be more than just simple entertainment and become a total work of art , it has to have heart and the blood of that heart should show throughout the movie revealing how much love, care, and passion went into the production of the story.
What made you want to work in horror?
I think the genre just found me. I’ve always had a fascination with the darker, stranger things in life, so I am naturally drawn to the horror genre. The stories that I wish to bring to life are often of a morbid nature where the horror/sci-fi/fantasy genres are the best place for them. I imagine the movies I grew up on like Frankenstein which launched my fear of humans as monsters at an early age had a great deal to do with my love for horror and wanting to make art that spoke to that genre. Also, childhood memory being conjured: I think it really all began when my best friend Erin and I, as youngsters, used to play dress up. And playing “monster” was our favorite. We used our parents’ best eyeshadows, mascara, and lipstick to create different “scary” characters and play out monstrous fantasies. Great times. I think that was what made me want to play forever making monsters/characters from my imagination come to life.
Where do you get your inspiration?
My main inspirations for my art are fueled by my nightmares, fears, and feelings about society and the darkness of humanity, as most of my films serve as a social commentary. The morbid nature of merely being human and the pain of existing definitely feeds into what influences my projects. Inspiration varies from project to project as well and sometimes involves a little research. For example, my inspirations for the Näcken creature in my most recent short was inspired by tumor growths, David Cronenberg’s The Fly, Enya music videos, birds, dinosaurs, and super shredder from TMNT 2—you never know what might inform a character design!
What would you like your legacy to be in the genre (or elsewhere)?
I’d like my legacy to be that I made unique, uncompromising, gut wrenching DIY films and never gave up when things got tough. I believe in sharing techniques, methods, and ideas and building community between artists. I hope that my conceptual expressionistic spirit and DIY techniques inspire other people working with low budgets and high concepts and to keep at their art even if their ideas aren’t “money makers.”
What is Women in Horror Month to you and why is it still important this many years later?
Women in Horror Month has been great for spotlighting and connecting artists with each other hence building community and supporting creativity. If only yearlong it wasn’t such a misogynistic sausage fest out there with female voices getting lost and ignored because of that.
Who are some of the Women in Horror who you look up to and who do you want to bring attention to in your field or others?
Katherine Allen and Lindsay Denniberg are two filmmakers I admire and would love to work with one day. They are both so brilliant and creating bold, unique visions that I greatly admire and appreciate.
What are you currently working on that you can tell us about?
Last year I completed a film I had been working on for over 3 years (in actuality it was in development for much longer!)—The Return of the Näcken. Right now we are finishing up its festival run, and we just released the short on blu-ray! This is a really exciting time for us as that project was such a beast (in the best way). Craig and I are taking a little break between projects but do have another feature film in development. I’m also in the process of writing a super gory, horny, strange short story anthology that one day soon I’d like to have published.
Where can readers keep up with you?
Instagram: @dreamsfordeadcats, @mistress_cassandra
Bluesky: @mistressoftheweird.bsky.social
Websites: dreamsfordeadcats.com, cassandrasechler.com
