#85 | Frank Dietz | Cult Horror and Animation

Frank Dietz on cult horror films of the 1980s, years as a screenwriter and animator, and returning to acting full time. Inspired at age 6 by a viewing of Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), Frank Dietz has found success in the film industry as a writer, producer, director, actor and animator. After growing up in Long Island, and then attended the State University at Oswego, where he majored in theatre and art; Frank starred in a series of now-cult low-budget horror films like Zombie Nightmare (1987) , Rock 'n' Roll Nightmare (1987) , Black Roses (1988) and The Jitters (1989) . Bitten by the film bug, Frank then moved to Los Angeles and never looked back. After years being a successful screenwriter and animation artist Frank is now back acting full time and loving every minute of it. To learn more about Frank: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0226328/ Chapters 0:00 Welcome Frank Dietz 2:33 A career sidetracked by Covid 5:07 Watching cars crash at the speedway 7:42 Remembering a film he didn't see for years 10:15 Stop-motion and The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad 12:52 The science fiction club 15:23 The most faithful adaptation of the book 17:56 Meeting actors from Star Trek 20:29 Films on 16mm 23:03 A call from an old friend 25:37 Leslie Nielsen or Adam West 28:13 Spotting a smart young filmmaker 30:48 Straight to VHS 33:22 Ending up on Mystery Science Theater 35:58 Studying the craft of acting 38:31 Seeing what it was really like 41:07 Landing the role in Zombie Nightmare 43:37 Four movies in five years 46:08 Bitten by the screenwriting bug 48:40 Moving to Los Angeles 51:11 An important lesson on set 53:44 His wife's work in casting 56:18 No job back in New York 58:54 A minimalist horror story 1:01:27 What kept him going 1:04:00 Good feelings on a first film 1:06:37 Going to work at Walt Disney 1:09:08 Knowing what the portfolio should look like 1:11:41 Giving animation a try 1:14:15 Pixar versus hand-drawn 1:16:45 A career before Disney 1:19:22 Five straight years of features 1:21:55 Adapting a book for the screen 1:24:28 Directed by the son of the man who said don't quit 1:27:06 Any dark times? 1:29:43 The Walking Dead 1:32:14 KNB EFX 1:34:49 Never fully retiring 1:37:22 A fan with a Black Roses tattoo 1:39:56 Big films take a long time 1:42:30 Audiobooks in the author's voice 1:45:03 He will never stop 1:47:40 So many creative people online 1:50:17 Playing a therapist 1:52:49 Ryan watching AMC in Dubai 1:55:21 Live commentary screenings 1:57:51 Talented people with more to offer The Ryan Pyle Podcast is ad-free by choice. If you enjoy these conversations, you can buy me a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/ryanpyle Ryan's TV series are streaming around the world. Follow the Podcast X: https://x.com/RyanPylePodcast Facebook: https://facebook.com/ryanpylepodcast Follow Ryan Pyle YouTube: https://youtube.com/@ryanjpyle Instagram: https://instagram.com/ryanpyle X: https://x.com/RyanPyle Facebook: https://facebook.com/ryanpyle https://www.ryanpyle.com