Petaluma based filmmaker Mitchell Altieri has been making films for nearly three decades. His latest effort as part of his creative partnership with Phil Flores (named “The Butcher Brothers”), Consumed, starring cult film icon Devon Sawa, hits theaters and video-on-demand Friday, Aug. 16.
It was December 1997, in this publication, where a much younger Altieri made his presence known as a Sonoma County filmmaker. He had just moved to Petaluma, having grown up in South San Francisco alongside his then filmmaking partners, Phil Flores and Jerry Moore, in the nascent American White Horse Pictures. Altieri was preparing to co-direct (alongside Flores) his first feature film, The Long Cut.
The article serves as a time-capsule of sorts, before Altieri endured the many ups and downs of most indie filmmakers. His exuberant quote was, “We could shoot it now,” (referring to The Long Cut), “but we’re still looking for investors. Obviously, the more money we raise, the better the film will look.”
While much has changed since that article was published, that quote remains all too relevant.
There’s been a seeming increase in Sonoma County filmmaking of late, with filmmakers like Occidental based George Dondero (2023’s War of the Wills), Santa Rosa born and bred Austin Smagalski (2024’s To Die Alone) and the Bohemian’s own editor Daedalus Howell (2024’s Werewolf Serenade), but Altieri would appear to be the longest standing, working indie filmmaker in Sonoma County.
When asked why he chooses Sonoma County, or more accurately, Petaluma, as his home base, Altieri said, “I can say I experienced LA from its fanciest, being wined and dined in Beverly Hills with a hefty per diem you can’t spend all in one day, to working out of someone’s house in the Valley mid-summer and no AC.”
But as soon as those projects wrapped, “I’d race back to Petaluma, and it felt like I could plug myself into some magical NorCal charging system,” he continued. “I think it really comes down to—I couldn’t think in LA. Too many distractions, ideas, temptations. Here, I can focus on one project and see it through. I think that’s what’s helped me most in my career.”
While the aforementioned Long Cut film never saw completion, he and Flores kept plugging away. First they made the solid coming-of-age comedy-drama Lurking in Suburbia, which was completed in 2006. That film was written and directed by Altieri and saw some festival play before being picked up by an indie film distribution label. While Flores was deeply involved in Lurking in Suburbia, it was the duo’s next film, their first as co-directors, that put them on the map.
The Hamiltons (2006) was written by Altieri, Flores and fellow Petaluman Adam Weis. The film is a strange, dark comedy about a family of vampires trying to get by in this modern world. It was shot entirely in Petaluma.
Almost out of nowhere, it was chosen to be distributed by Lionsgate under a project called “8 Films to Die For,” which saw eight indie films released into theaters across America. Mileage varied on each film, but The Hamiltons was a definite standout. This was due to both the clever nature of the film and because the duo branded themselves with the catchy name, “The Butcher Brothers.”
The Hamiltons opened a ton of doors. Soon, the filmmakers were off to North Carolina to film a reboot of the 1986 cult horror classic, April Fools Day. While the shoot came in on time and on budget, Altieri doesn’t much like to talk about his first major foray into the studio system, as the film was not well received.
After that, The Butcher Brothers dusted themselves off and wrote the supernatural biker flick, The Violent Kind (co-produced by this writer), which was filmed entirely in Petaluma, with a few scenes in neighboring Penngrove. Said Altieri, “The film was meant to be a homage to 1970s films that we grew up liking.”
The filmmakers included elements of several different genres, such as biker and horror films, with some serious David Lynch vibes. That film scored a debut at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and also marked their first collaboration with longtime partner, Jeffrey Allard, who made waves as producer of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, a 2006 reboot of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise.
Since then, Altieri has worked steadily. “I have shot films in Europe, Mexico, Canada and all over the U.S. Projects where we had to deal with live snakes or deal with the worst winter in Maryland’s recent history while shooting a movie about vampiric clowns,” he recalled with a laugh. When Allard sent him the script for Consumed, Altieri said he immediately connected with the material, written by David Calbert.
“I fell in love with the project because it wasn’t just a horror film. David had been dealing with a parent battling cancer. His script, even though our main character battles a creature, in the film, it’s her battle with cancer. I lost my father to cancer,” he explained.
Altieri said the shoot was rather grueling, lasting seven weeks. “The first four weeks were in the woods or the ‘New Jersey Wilds,’ as we came to call them. Mind you, there were no cover sets. So, every day was lugging gear deep into the woods, fighting off mosquitoes, constant run-ins with black bears and thunderstorms.”
Having done a few different projects, Altieri said he was excited to get back to shooting horror. “It’s been fun these past few years, as I’ve been hired a few times now to write big-budget war scripts, as well as directing dramas and thrillers for the TV and streamers. So, returning to horror was really nice,” he noted. “But it wasn’t being a creature feature that lured me in, as most think. It was the personal battle of the main character and what it meant to a lot of us. That’s really what this film is about.”
In rereading the Bohemian article on him from 1997 and offering some reflection, the professionalism of 30 years behind the lens shined through. “The wonderful thing about filmmaking is that you don’t have to grow up. Peter Pan, right?” he said with a chuckle. “So I look at the article and see some bright-eyed kids ready to take on the world with their art, talent and passion. And all that remains.” He paused before adding, “With a new film coming out, that same fire remains.”
When asked what people can expect when Consumed hits screens, Altieri said, “a fun, thrilling creature feature. But to get the most out of it is to experience what it is really about—cosmic horror. Is any of it even real?” Without missing a beat, he added, “I know, I know, you give The Butcher Brothers a straightforward script, and somehow it always ends up trying to bend space and time.”
