Today we’d like to introduce you to Sigurd Culhane.

Sigurd, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I had always wanted to tell stories when I was young and managed to make a few videos in high school with a friend that had his own camera. But my mother and I didn’t have much money when I was growing up, so the thought of film school, or the industry in general, seemed out of reach. Yet it all started for me when I was in college at a small state school in Upstate New York. I landed an internship at a production company here in LA, called Scott Free. That was the foot in the door, but it wasn’t until the production life took me to South Africa for a season of production, and finally grad school at the Newhouse School at Syracuse University that I was able to actually walk through that door.

Once permanently in LA, I started working in commercial production, all while making my own projects on the side. The first film was a kickstarter fundraised short film called ARTFUL GAMBIT. This was my first attempt at making a ‘real’ film. I was lucky enough to have some very talented friends, from a feature film I had recently interned on, who volunteered to come help me build this surreal world of teleporting vignettes. I took a bit of a break from narrative after this, trying to make promotional content, hoping to segue into directing commercials. But unable to really fund these things on a PA salary, I looked back into what I wanted to get into from the beginning, shooting narrative shorts with the goal of features. So I started shooting projects with my DP, and close friend, while taking the need for money out of the picture, using whatever resources we had.

Some years later, I had moved up to being a production coordinator, which had given me the ability to put more resources into filming, but I was lacking something to actually shoot. This sparked the idea of the ’30 Challenges’ with my DP. We made thirty challenges for each other, shuffled them up, and paired them randomly. These included challenges such as I would have to direct a fight scene, and he could only shoot through reflective surfaces. We sent a few of these challenges out to some writers for scripts to shoot within the confines of being not location-specific, could be shot in a maximum of one day, and can’t cost us more money than feeding the friends that come to help. Out of this challenge, my most recent film GREEN COBRA was born. The writer and I pooled our resources together, asked favors, and enlisted friends in the industry to come help us make this wonderful short film. What a wild ride that was, even giving us the opportunity to visit and work at the Skywalker Ranch. Unfortunately, just as we were heating up with festivals and awards, COVID hit, and all were postponed or canceled.

So now I spend the COVID days reading feature scripts, and writing my own, looking to come out the gate ready for the next project!

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It definitely has not been a smooth road. The struggle with filmmaking always seems to be money, and for much of my career, I was a production assistant, which leaves you little money to do things other than just maintain your week-to-week life. Even moving up past that level, it was hard to balance life and financing this pursuit, knowing that each project is a gamble. You don’t know if it will turn out how you wanted it to, or if people will see, and like, the film you’ve poured your heart and soul into. All while spending the majority of my time making other directors projects happen for a living!

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
As a director, my style was once just described as ‘sexy.’ Whether that is true or not, I will take it! I am definitely known for using unconventional narrative styles and techniques to keep the audience on their toes, and ideally feeling uncomfortable by the end (in a good way). None of my projects have done this so well as my most recent film, GREEN COBRA, which invokes the most visceral response I have seen from audiences. It’s unlike any other film you will see at a festival!

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
I know it’s probably cliche to say persistence, but that is most-definitely the most important characteristic. The ability to constantly combat the negativity, rejections, and judgments, not only from outside influences, but the ones from within as well. Those from within are the hardest to push aside and not succumb to. Staying true to your ideas and seeing them through to the end, because at the end of it all is the best reward of all, a finished project, and that alone is a success.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sigurdculhane.com
• Email: sigurdculhane@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sigculhane/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/sigculhane
• Other: https://thegreencobra.com/

Image Credit:
Photographer – Michael Dunker

Article Link: Voyage LA - Sigurd Interview

There’s not a single job in the world that women could not do just as effectively as men, even murdering people. In Sigurd Culhane’s Green Cobra, we get to see the lethal assassin at work, all for a documentary for her assassins’ school.

Green Cobra opens with two Russian goons, dragging a man in a chair (Patrick Tamisiea) wrapped in cellophane across the floor of an abandoned warehouse. He’s there because he made out with the mob boss’ fiancé on the day of his wedding. In turn, the boss has special plans for the man’s demise, and it comes in the form of the Green Cobra!!!

In comes a mysterious woman, known as Green Cobra (Colleen Foy). As she prepares her tools, she’s on a headset with her friend talking about all the toxic people in her life. We soon cut to Green Cobra sitting for a talking head interview with a documentary crew about “Tony’s”—the school where she learned to torture.

“…the boss has special plans for the man’s demise, and it comes in the form of the Green Cobra!!!”

As a short film, Green Cobra is a lot of fun. It’s not exactly the funniest short you’ll ever watch, and the excessive amounts of jump-cuts are annoying, but there is a lot to love in this thirteen-minute film.

Colleen Foy as Green Cobra herself is perfect as the film’s lead. Her constant stream of consciousness is hard to follow at the start but then locks it in once you know it’s a documentary. She goes on about the benefits of freelance murder, like setting your own hours and racking up generous reviews. Her choice of torture is a unique twist on the genre. Patrick Tamisiea is also good as the victim, selling every punch, stab, and gunshot. It’s easy just to sell his torture as a comedy bit, but he plays it seriously.

Both the violence and gore are good, and a lot of the off-screen cringey moments are left up to our imagination. I also love the visual style with dark green lighting with a wonderful murder-room set design. It all looks creepy and really a horrible place to die.

Article Link: Film Threat - Green Cobra Review

We hear his indignant protests first before we see him. Patrick Tamisiea, the hostage, is being dragged into a warehouse by two Russian thugs. As the thick green filter fills our screen we get the visuals and the hint – this is not going to be easy on the eyes. Director Sigurd Culhane Green Cobra is about a woman and her ahem, professionalism in a not so women-dominated field. Colleen Foy remains the highlight of the film throughout. She is the woman in question on whom a documentary is being filmed as she takes us and the documentary filmmaking crew into her world.

Foy who plays Green Cobra, the assassin, is a delight to watch. Just like Tamisiea’s entry, Foy’s too is punctuated with her voice, first. As she cheerfully carries on a conversation with her friend, the hostage, bound and gagged is dreadfully bidding his time in the background. The film although a gory display of varying levels of masochistic torture scenes is heavily pinned with deadpan humour, back and forth narrative and goofy scenes. Culhane is wise enough to know that an outré concept as this one can only be taken seriously if presented with an in-your-face humour and that’s what Green Cobra does and it does it well.

As Leland Cox’s music plays along, we see the full range of Green Cobra’s beastly spectrum. In comes the ex-boyfriends and heartaches, the sadistic pleasure of watching her victims wince in pain as she extols the virtues of her profession to the interviewer (Colin Willkie). The only glitch (perhaps!) in the film lies in its editing by Paul Alderman which although neat, considering the filming of the short using wide-lens in entirety and cut-to the interviewing scenes couldn’t have been any easy, however, could have done better to trim the back and forth narrative to a shorter runtime for better effect. Andrew Aiello’s cinematography captures the dimly lit warehouse and lingers on the cross lines of horror and delight.

The entire cast is convincing. Although Tamisiea remains gagged for most of his screen time, he is convincing. It’s to his credit that his character doesn’t get reduced to a caricature. And, Foy, well, she is a marvel. Right from the opening scene until the last shot where she leaves the two thugs with a fitting question, Foy owns each scene she appears in. The story is outlandish, no doubt, but to Culhane’s credit, Green Cobra is funny, goofy to the point of being awkward and yet engaging. When the groom messes with his boss’s fiancé, he doesn’t really know what he has gotten himself into – until he is handed over to a thorough professional, aka, the Green Cobra!

Review Link: Indie Shorts Mag - Green Cobra Review

T2IR

GREEN COBRA is the genre-bending story of a hit-man (aka Life Ending Technician) who details, to a documentary film crew, her rise in a mostly male dominated field. She is being filmed on the backdrop of a typical day on the job; which consists of Russian mob clients, disturbing methods of torture – and maybe one too many bad ex-boyfriends.

Sigurd Culhane’s film opens with a simple, yet stunning, visual with his choice of set location – along with a look and feel to the film that encompasses a wonderful green tone.

Two Russian goons are dragging a man (Patrick Tamisiea) tied up in a chair – via cellophane wrap – into an abandoned warehouse. It seems Tamisiea has had sex with a bride at her wedding – and he was not the groom – a new mob boss was.

Now comes the payback. Enter Green Cobra (Colleen Foy) a slightly psychotic woman who has thought of every career path – including selling drugs – until deciding to choose a predominately male held position as a hit-man.

Foy gives an intriguing and powerful performance as she enters the story in high heels while on her headset – speaking about toxic relationships. Almost numb from the torture she is about to embark on, her driving force is that she replaces the victim for the ex-boyfriend who did her wrong. Even as she asks Tamisiea if he loves her – when he finally says he does – it’s too little – too late. She’s taking back control of her life through a sick and twisted game of cat and mouse – and she loves every minute of it.

While torturing her victim, Green Cobra multi tasks with giving an interview for a documentary. We see our victim in the background of the interview as she shoots a nail into him with a nail gun – in between answering questions on camera. One of the benefits she states of this job is that it’s “freelance”.

Tamisiea gives a wonderful performance as the victim. He makes you feel every moment of his captivity and pain.

Listed as a comedy, this film lacks a sense of laugh out loud humor you would expect. The violence is disturbing which makes you forget that this is a comedy at all.

Lighting, cinematography (Andrew Aiello), score (Leland Cox) and set location in the film are all top notch.

This film confirms the saying “hell hath no fury as a woman scorned”.

Article Link: Take 2 Review - Green Cobra Review

Directed by: Sigurd Culhane Written by: Chris Valdez, Patrick Tamisiea Genre: Comedy Connect: iMDB Facebook InstaGram Twitter Website NEED A REVIEW? Click here to get one.

Green Cobra Leave it to Chris Valdez and Patrick Tamisiea to make grotesque torture so damn amusing. It really takes a crew of special people to make you smile as you watch acid being poured into the face of a man taped to a chair, wearing a cutout face of someone else. Green Cobra manages just that as our hero wearing a zip-up work uniform, with a cobra on the back goes to work doing what she loves. Yup, I did say she and yes, her job is that of a hit man... woman. This under 15 minute short film starts with a man being drug in bound to a chair by 2 goons, and ends with the green cobra herself finishing the job, after having some fun with the victim. With the use of some tools of the trade, and some visual aids, this woman seems to love her job. And why not? She mainly executes scum bags and loves her job. Directed by Sigurd Culhane, Green Cobra isn't your typical comedy. It's also a documentary film. As the Green Cobra is going about her work, the audience is treated to cut-in style segments where she is being interviewed by a documentary crew. Answering questions about herself and her work may seem an odd decision for such a film, but the transitions are done well and it adds a little something extra to the film. A unique spin? You betcha. As our hero, or anti-hero if you will, the green cobra is played by Colleen Foy to near perfection. It's my opinion that she takes what would be an OK piece of work and elevates it. She really does fit the part and it doesn't take a massive leap to believe she loves what she does. As a matter of fact? Everyone does a great job, including the supporting cast of goons and even the boss himself. This could be a real documentary crew filming a real crime scene. A new take on the classic snuff film. Definitely one to watch out for. If the comedy worked into such a gruesome idea doesn't keep a smile on your face while you clench your fists in perceived agony, you are not human. A solid short film no doubt. My favorite... rather the scene that had me groaning in agony was by far the twisting of a steel bar as it went... Never mind, watch for yourself.

Article Link: Reel Romp - Green Cobra Review

Green Cobra is a genre-bending story of a hit-man or ‘Life Ending Technician’ who, during a day on the job, details to a documentary film crew her rise to the top of a mostly male-dominated profession. Here is our review of director Sigurd Culhane’s new short Green Cobra.

Beginning as a simple exercise for each other DP Andrew Aiello challenged his director Sigurd Culhane to film a death scene while Culhane challenged Aiello to film it using only the widest lens he owned. Writer Chris Valdez also got in on the act as he was asked by both to come up with a short script that could be shot in a day for no money. What we get is Green Cobra a hugely enjoyable hybrid of comedy, horror, and thriller whose 14 minutes zips along at a great pace.

Filmed completely with wide lenses using a thick green filter throughout its run time, the short opens with a hostage tied to a chair and being dragged across a warehouse floor by two Russian goons. We are immediately thrown into the Green Cobra’s wacky yet entertaining universe. A blend of Tarantino-esque deadpan humour, outlandish plot, a seemingly invincible victim who manages to survive all sorts of slapstick violence mixed with the gloomy visuals of David Fincher. Green Cobra is a delightfully goofy self-aware film that knows it’s a film.

Punctuated by an amusingly powerful performance by lead actor Colleen Foy as the aforementioned Green Cobra there is a lot to enjoy here. The Green Cobra is a professional hit-man who is amusingly labeled ‘a Life Ending Technician’. She insists that she is very professional but she has allowed a documentary crew to come in and film everything about her during a day in her job so I’m not sure she can be classed as too professional.

Anyway, back to the hostage in the chair; Cobra does seem to know him, we are party to some very nasty torture techniques that she performs on him, all the while affectionately talking to him. Some are amusing while others are more vicious, it’s an interesting juxtaposition because sometimes we laugh at the torture on show, while other times we are cringing through our fingers.

The poor chap is possibly an ex-boyfriend but that doesn’t matter as he could be anyone mainly because Cobra has in stock a number of paper masks with all of her ex-boyfriends’ faces on that she makes him wear at different times while performs unspeakably evil acts. All she seems to want is for each of them to have loved her but unfortunately by torturing and killing she is going about it in the wrong way.

Foy performs the lead role with absolute relish you can see the actual pleasure in her face every time she stabs or gouges at her prey. Immediately after a violent act she will then switch and chat with the documentary crew with such sweetness and light that you half expect her to be baking cookies for them. Patrick Tamisiea as the victim is also strong; he doesn’t have to do a great deal other than painfully scream, shout and groan but he performs each reaction admirably and is unfairly rewarded with the credited name of ‘Man In Chair’. The supporting cast is suitably Russian, mean, and moody with the two goons at the end getting some of the best lines and a big laugh.

In the end, we are left with a fun film filled with fun performances made by a group of people having a lot of fun and while sometimes this doesn’t always translate on-screen thankfully the audience will have a lot of fun too.

4 / 5 stars

Review Link: Screencritix - Green Cobra Review