Podtalk: Director Jacob Gentry on ‘Broadcast Signal Intrusion’

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CHICAGO – In 1987, one of the oddest incidents in broadcast history took place in Chicago, when a local news sports segment and an episode of “Dr. Who” on PBS was interrupted by a bizarre video sequence featuring a man in a Max Headroom mask. This infamous event was the inspiration for the new film “Broadcast Signal Intrusion” – directed by Jacob Gentry – which was release to theaters and through Video-On-Demand on October 22nd, 2021, after playing at the 57th Chicago International Film Festival.

Director Jacob Gentry of ‘Broadcast Signal Intrusion’
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

“Broadcast Signal Intrusion“ reframes the Max Headroom event as a thriller narrative, in which James (Harry Shum Jr.) becomes obsessed about the interruptions, looking for messages within them that could reveal some secrets. Kelley Mack portrays Alice, who James brings into his obsession. The script by Phil Drinkwater and Tim Woodall and the direction of Jacob Gentry – in his fourth feature film – creates a chilling bit of psychological horror, mainly about the mystery of how people are motivated to live in atmospheres of their own paranoia, and how that results in the strange hacks of consciousness.

In a Podtalk with Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com, Jacob Gentry talks about the real incident that inspired the film, and themes therein …

For an interview with the lead actors of “Broadcast Signal Intrusion,” Harry Shum Jr. and Kelley Mack, by Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com, click HARRY & KELLEY.

By PATRICK McDONALD Editor and Film Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com