Adrian Tofei Talks the Early Success of Found Footage Standout ‘Be My Cat: A Film for Anne’

If you’ve yet to see Be My Cat: A Film for Anne (here’s our review), there’s still a found footage masterpiece awaiting your discovery. If you have seen the flick, you know it’s an inventive piece fueled by an absolutely chilling performance and a very disconcerting concept.

Adrian Tofei is the evil genius (for the record, Adrian doesn’t actually seem to be evil, just motivated and quite clearly gifted) responsible for this jarring slice of cinema, and folks like me – constantly on the hunt for a legitimately riveting found footage flick – are already up in arms over the man’s promise. There’s plenty of time to see where Tofei’s career goes, but a lot of us have him pegged as a future standout after seeing the amazing Be My Cat.

Adrian’s extremely busy promoting his unsuspecting gem, but he’s also a cool enough gent to reserve a few minute to sit down and answer our questions. We appreciate that greatly, and we’re going to continue championing for Be My Cat: A Film for Anne, because it’s one of those rare horror films that captivates from first to last minute.

Fight the good fight along with us, and take a brief trek into Adrian’s mind before you gear up to support this amazing picture (you can rent or purchase the film right here)!

Addicted to Horror Movies: When you set out to make Be My Cat, what was your goal? Did you aim to create a terrifying film, or did you aim to create a terrifying film that would indeed find its way to Anne Hathaway?

Adrian Tofei: My goal was to make the ultimate found footage film with the most realistic acting performances, according to the principles in my Found Footage Manifesto.

ATHM: Why Anne Hathaway? Is that a career respect that you have for the woman? Are you pushing for a chance to potentially collaborate with Hathaway on a film in the future?

AT: Multiple reasons. First, my character in the movie was inspired from a character I played in my one-man-show The Monster. That guy was obsessed with a real actress and had some issues with cats, so, when making the transition to my character in Be My Cat, I had to find an internationally known actress that people can relate to and has something to do with cats (Anne Hathaway playing Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises clicked immediately in my mind). Second, I loved Anne Hathaway’s performance in Les Miserables. It was important to have an actress that I appreciate a lot in real life, so that it will be easier for me as an actor to assume my character’s obsession.

ATHM: At this point, have you received any word from Anne? Any indicator that she’s seen the film, and if so, have you heard any input from her, or her reps?

AT: Nope, nothing so far.

ATHM: Tell me about the entire shoot. How long did it take to shoot the film, and what kind of challenges did you run into during the process?

AT: The shooting didn’t take long – 20 days – but preparing the circumstances for the shoring took over one year. Because it had to be improvisation, but a perfectly controlled one. There were huge creative challenges, but I was happy to deal with them. What didn’t make me happy was the interference of some drunk rednecks when we were shooting on the streets and the father of one of the actresses coming from 150 miles to save his daughter after he saw a picture with a police car on the movie’s Facebook page. I guess the realism was too much for him, ha ha.

ATHM: Given the very warm response to the flick, do you think this is going to end up being the major early career boost that so many young filmmakers hope to create?

AT: I hope the movie is already halfway to becoming just that!

ATHM: As a serious fan of the film, I’m pulling for you in a major way. Have you found that other media outlets have been very supportive and assisting in regards to strong promotion with follow up articles, features, interviews, etc.?

AT: Thanks a lot! Yes, a lot of media and critics have been very supportive! Lots of news articles, over 50 praising reviews so far and a lot of media following up with interviews and top horror films lists.

ATHM: Be honest with me, how often did you leave your female co-stars disturbed? Even knowing that this is a film, it has such a grimy realism that it’s hard to imagine that trio of women feeling completely comfortable during the filming process. In short, how many times did your mind-bending performance scare the shit out of your co-stars?

AT: Only the first actress Sonia Teodoriu felt a little bit uncomfortable because she was alone with me a lot of the times during shootings, but not disturbed because she knew the filmmaking concept and accepted the potential psychological discomfort in advance. The other two actresses Florentina Hariton and Alexandra Stroe had a wonderful time, felt like in a vacation and actually wished they return one day to Rădăuți, lol.

ATHM: Any message for Anne Hathaway, or the fans who are going to get the chance to check out a legitimately unique found footage film?

AT: For Anne Hathaway: Please consider watching the movie! Me and hundreds of early Be My Cat fans are so curious of what you’ll think of it!

For every found footage and psychological horror fan out there: This movie is made for you!

ATHM: Thanks Adrian. Again, you have my full support. The movie is great. You’re a great performer, and to come out, and create a successful picture while using the found footage approach, which I truly believe is one of the most challenging cinematic styles in existence, is worthy of major admiration and support. Best of luck to you, brother!!

AT: Thank you so much for the support, Matt! All the best to you too!