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He was eight years old when he first saw it, and absolutely awestruck.
Several decades later, the Fairfax native is preparing for the premier of his third feature film, "For Sale," which will debut Wednesday, May 3 at Arlington Cinema and Drafthouse.
"Ever since I was a really little kid I’ve been into film, especially scary movies," Schrack said. "I was four or five years old and really into Halloween and scary movies, always trying to get my mom to let me rent horror movies back when Blockbuster was a thing."
Schrack went on to study film theory at James Madison University and, sometime before co-founding a production company in Washington DC, spent time working at a car dealership.
The employees he met there are who inspired the characters in "For Sale," Schrack said.
A horror-comedy, "For Sale" follows a shady salesman who has to sell a haunted house (click here to watch the movie trailer).
"Working with salespeople, I found their personalities to be unique and pretty entertaining," Schrack said. "The main character in the film, Mason McGinness (Andrew Roth), is inspired by salesmen I've worked with over the years. He has a drive that takes precedent over anything else."
A need to be number one, the filmmaker noted. The best. The most incredible salesman in the business.
"It's amusing to see that from a distance," Schrack said.
And so, he incorporated the character into "For Sale."
Schrack began co-writing the film with Jordan Friedberg in Fall 2020. He'd already made a short film during the pandemic, "Scribbler," which had run on the festival circuit, but felt there was more to be done.
This one would be low pressure and low budget and, for Schrack, it was simply about having fun.
"I just wanted to make a movie that was fun and not trying to say anything deep," said Schrack, who did all of the filming, editing, and sound-recording himself.
"It's something that ticks all the boxes of what I find fun from a movie: Funny, scary, and hopefully has an engaging story line and memorable characters."
As for the eight-year-old boy who hoped of being a filmmaker?
"I feel like I’m on the path to fulfilling his dreams," Schrack said, speaking of his younger self. "I don’t think I’ve quite reached my destination yet but I’m driving on the road, and I’m happy about that."
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