Fringe Wilmington: Ed Wood and MST3K fans unite

S: I think "replica" might be the best way to describe the film, since we were quite serious in trying to create a bad movie. Most of the people in it had never acted before, so it definitely comes off that way. The genre makes it perfect for a MST3K workover at the Fringe Festival.

D: I'm not sure they ever achieved that suspension of disbelief in the original. In fact, our goal would be to eventually to become a B-movie studio.

Q: What was the plot of the original, and how does this prequel sync up?

S: The original was about the alien plans to alert people of the consequences of nuclear war. We wondered, if the ninth plan was so bad, what about the first eight attempts? It was a movie that just had to be written.

D: The film was very timely for the climate of the '50s. If we were to write one today, it'd be about health care reform.

Q: From what we've read, "Plan 9" is considered by many to be the worst film ever made. So why the homage?

D: Ed Wood has been selected as one of the worst directors ever [posthumously awarded a Golden Turkey Award as Worst Director of All Time in 1980]. Rather than trying to become Coppola or Spielberg, we figured we'd try and make the bottom of the list like Ed Wood.

S: As incompetent as [Wood] was, he was so enthusiastic in that he just wanted to make movies; to hell with great production value and all that.

Q: So, back to the mention of the MST3K format (Mystery Science Theater 3000, for the uninitiated). You plan on having an improv group sit in on the screening to poke fun?

S: Yeah, as of now we're in talks with the Delaware Comedy Theatre about how we'd stage it. It'll depend on the physical set-up of the theater, but we'd like to have them sit in the front row with microphones as the audience listens along.

D: It comes off kind of obnoxious to hear people chattering as you're watching a film, but with people glowing and clicking while texting on their phones during movies these days, we don't think anyone will get too distracted by talking.

Q: Are you worried at all about their improv jokes taking away from your film?

D: Honestly, some of the dialogue you wouldn't want to hear anyway. And the film has plenty of filler scenes where there will be holes for our improvists to jump in and provide commentary.

S: Yes and no. An improv group at the Faux Film Festival in Portland was pretty tasteful when they sat in on it. They weren't talking constantly, and in turn let the film speak for itself. If we have four chatterboxes, well, it could be a different story.

Q: What's the meaning behind the title of your company, Inconsequential Films?

D: Basically, the term "inconsequential" is used a lot in film criticism. For instance, "so-and-so was featured in a number of inconsequential films," and we're big fans of the obscure. I'd say I'm an obscurist artist, and I'd like to consider myself a founder of the obscurist movement, but we wouldn't know, because the whole is based on being unknown.

S: We're all about creating a trilogy of unwatchable movies, unreadable poetry and unlistenable music. Watch "Plan 9" before "Plans 1 to 8," and you'll know exactly what we mean.

DANA SMITH & STEVE ROBERTS

Hometown: Wilmington; Dana currently resides in Orange County, California.

Artistic endeavor: "Plans 1 to 8 From Outer Space," a send-up of the sci-fi B-movies of the '50s, and an unauthorized prequel to Ed Wood's "Plan 9 From Outer Space," a cult classic in its own right. Their company, Inconsequential Films, will be screening the flick at Fringe Wilmington, with plans to have the Delaware Theater Company mock the movie a la another cult classic, Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Background: Dana started working on the film in 2004, with Steve on board as co-producer and co-writer. Both act in the film, along with other inexperienced "actors."

Fringe Wilmington performance: Oct. 1 at 7 p.m., Oct. 3 at 2 p.m., Oct. 4 at noon

Cost: $10, or $75 for an all-access Fringe pass

Web site: www.inconsequentialfilms.com