A few years ago my friend Terrance Zdunich did an audition for a vampire film in which he had to sing. He recorded a version of the song Istanbul Not Constantinople as a Russian Vampire, only to find out later that the part had been cut completely from the film. But he had this great song and I just didn’t want it to sit on a shelf. So over the course of a few nights at the local bar we concocted a crazy idea to create a fictional Russian character named Count Tarakan, who is so Badass that he just goes around life punching things. I wanted Ice Nymphs, a Yeti and a Dragon, he wanted a cast of villians, a gypsy and to travel in distant worlds. Well we got everything but the dragon for a budget of about $6000! This was one of those projects where all of my friends jumped in to help and we all created a bizarre and crazy music video. To this day i have a full size Gypsy caravan in my backyard. Feast your eyes on one of the most fun projects i have ever directed – Istanbul.
Side note, some actual friends of Terrence had no idea that this was actually him in the video.
Shot on the Red in a bar in Van Nuys (The same bar used in the film The Twilight Zone..and in the world worst green screen stage in downtown Los Angeles.