Exclusive Interview: Adam Weppler Talks ‘Founders Day,’ His Work with Mainframe Pictures, and More

Adam Weppler is an award-winning and versatile storyteller, establishing himself as a dynamic voice in the industry. Whether captivating audiences through his acting, producing, writing, or directing, Adam consistently brings an empathetic and nuanced touch to his characters, infusing originality into the narratives he brings to life. Currently, Adam can be seen in the must-see slasher, Founders Day.

Following a series of ominous killings in the days leading up to a small town’s heated mayoral election, accusations fly, and the threat of a masked killer darkens every street corner. As paranoia grows, the residents must race to uncover the truth before fear consumes the town. Adam not only produced the film but also stars as Deputy Miller.

Pop Culturalist was fortunate enough to speak with Adam about Founders Day, his work with Mainframe Pictures, his ongoing collaboration with Erik and Carson Bloomquist, the thrill of independent filmmaking, and more.

PC: How did your journey as a storyteller begin?
Adam: I’ve always liked to sing, dance, and play pretend with my friends. I’m originally from North Carolina, so I got involved in theater and improv at a really young age. My parents are incredibly supportive. They told me if I wanted to make a career out of it, I should really give it a shot and pursue it.

I moved out to New York in 2008 and went to Marymount Manhattan College on the Upper East Side and started meeting some people and working. About ten years ago, I auditioned for a short film on Backstage, and it ended up being directed and created by Erik Bloomquist. It was called The Cobblestone Corridor.

That ended up being picked up by CPTV (Connecticut Public Television) for the first season. He brought me back to work on that, and we just really connected. We started working on making projects together really closely since then as well as doing a lot of theater and working independently and individually in the city and in Connecticut as well.

PC: Perfect segue to this next question. You, Erik, and Carson [Bloomquist] have been frequent collaborators. Founders Day has been such a passion project for them, and it’s been sixteen years in the making. When did you first hear about this story? When did they approach you about playing the Deputy?
Adam: I’ve actually been hearing about this story for as long as I’ve known Erik and Carson. This has been a passion project for them, as well as She Came from the Woods. These projects were inevitable. We were trying to build to them. After our first couple of projects, we started getting our rhythm and seeing a little more momentum for Mainframe Pictures. We knew She Came from the Woods and Founders Day were on the horizon.

After Woods started post-production in the summer of 2021, we were already trying to keep the momentum going to make another project. It just seemed like a natural progression. We had been working with this concept of a single location. Our first feature was Long Lost, and it takes place in a house. Then we did Ten Minutes to Midnight, which takes place in a radio station, a little bigger. We had a couple of locations within the location. Then we did She Came from the Woods. But that was sprawling. We had bunks. We had different parts of the woods. We had rope courses. We had all of these different places that were still within that location.

For Founders Day, we shot in New Milford, Connecticut. It’s a relatively contained town but within this “single location” mindset. We had a single base camp for most of the shoot days. We were going to the movie theater, the bridge, the police station, and the town hall. It wasn’t a single-location movie, but that’s how we’ve approached everything together.

PC: What this film does so brilliantly is it’s a love letter to the slasher genre while also bringing such a refreshing take. Your character, in particular, is the perfect representation of that, where we’ve seen this archetype in the past but not portrayed in this way. As you were preparing to step into his shoes, how did you want to approach toeing that line? How did that trust that you built with Erik and Carson over time allow you to make the creative decisions that you made throughout the film and take agency over this character?
Adam: That’s a great question. Erik, Carson, and I talked a lot about the role that both my character and Erik’s character play in the town. What we settled on was that we’re in this middle area in the film. We have the high schoolers who are half a generation below us. Then we have the politicians and adults who are half a generation above us.

We talked about how our characters have a certain allegiance to this town. For me stepping into Finn Miller (the deputy), there was this allegiance to William Russ’ character as well as Tyler [James] White’s character and wanting to behave in a responsible way to look out for the town in a weird way. Erik’s character, Oliver, feels that same responsibility.

PC: You’re a multifaceted storyteller. Have you found that the work that you’ve done behind the scenes as a producer and writer has influenced the way you now approach your work on screen and vice versa?
Adam: Each project is unique. I’ve worked on some in smaller roles in larger-scale projects, and it’s definitely more of a machine. I definitely have an appreciation for working with Mainframe where we’re really a tight crew. The production team, in particular, wears a lot of hats. We really understand what goes into every day of making a project and having a company move. It definitely gives you an appreciation for how much effort it actually takes for one of these things to move when you’re not at this huge scale.

PC: As you were saying earlier, because your character is that bridge between generations, you get to star opposite the entire cast. There are so many incredible performances across the board. How much of that is feeding off what your scene partners are giving you? Is there a particular moment that you’re excited for audiences to see now that the film is out in theaters?
Adam: It was really incredible working with everyone in the cast. The cast and crew alike went above and beyond. Everyone was giving a lot. I will probably say my favorite scene is a scene that I have with Andrew [Stewart-Jones], who plays Naomi Grace’s father in the film. He plays Tom Chambers. It’s a little scene outside of the police station that was such a fun moment to explore because there’s so much subtext in that scene. Andrew is such an amazing actor. He’s so locked in with you. He’s a very, very giving guy.

That being said, all of the scenes were a blast. We also had a little scene on the bridge with Catherine Curtin, Jayce [Bartok], Arun [Storrs]. There was really nobody that I didn’t love doing scenes with. One of the hardest things about doing a production at this scale is that sometimes you want to keep doing the scene dozens of times. You want to keep playing and exploring, but you’re given a bit of a constraint with the amount of time and resources that you have.

PC: I feel like Founders Day is going to be such a breakout moment for you and so well-deserved. If people are discovering you for the first time, which of your previous projects in your filmography is the next perfect watch and why?
Adam: [laughs] If people are discovering me for the first time, I’d like to build myself as a relatively versatile actor, and to highlight that, I would recommend going to see She Came from the Woods next. It’s a pretty different character from Deputy Miller. All of the Mainframe projects have been so different. I’ve been very fortunate to be able to explore different characters and really have a lot of fun with each of them. I look forward to doing more.

PC: Speaking of that, what’s next for you? What’s left on your bucket list to tell in front of or behind the camera?
Adam: It’s hard to say. I feel very fortunate to be working and pursuing what I love doing. My real goal would be to continue to make more projects with Mainframe and continue working on this and that. Like I was saying earlier, I like to play pretend, sing, and dance. I’ve definitely been thinking about upping my presence in terms of music performance. I’m also a musician. I don’t do a lot of that outside of theater. So I’ve definitely been thinking about expanding in that regard a bit. It’d be really fun to do a movie musical. But there’s nothing that I wouldn’t love to try.

To keep up with Adam, follow him on Twitter and Instagram. Founders Day is out in theaters now.

Photo Credit: David Apuzzo