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Interview with Rick West |
| Lara Hanneman is one of those individuals who you see a lot around Knott's Halloween Haunt, but you may not know exactly what her role is. She's relatively quiet, seems to prefer watching what's going on from the shadows, and doesn't at all relish the spotlight. However, Lara is one of the most influential and important figures behind Knott's Scary Farm; as Director of Entertainment Tech & Production, Halloween Haunt is her job - her show, from top to bottom. Lara handles everything from talent auditions to what mazes and attractions come and go each year. To say that she has a lot on her plate would be the understatement of the decade. Thankfully, Theme Park Adventure was able to catch up to Lara at Knott's to give our readers a unique and exclusive look into who she is and what she's all about... |
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Rick West: Before talking about the present, take us into the past. When was your first trip to Knott's Halloween Haunt, and what are some of your favorite early memories of the event? Lara Hanneman: I actually came with my church youth group when I was 16. It was a great, safe “date” night; you'd stand in line getting to know people, and then of course, getting “scared” with them can be an innocently intimate experience. I always loved walking through Ghost Town not knowing what lie ahead. |
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West:
As with most Haunt folks, there comes a time
when you realize that you have to be more than just a fan; you want to
actually "cross over" and become part of Halloween Haunt. When, and how
did that happen for you? Hanneman: Abel Zeballos was my professor at Cal State Fullerton, and taught me how to make prosthetics. He was working as head of make-up for Knott’s Scary Farm at the time. Knowing that my true love was set design, he made a call, and I got hired as an Assistant Scene Designer in 1994. It was a seasonal summer job that lasted almost 17 years! West: In the years that you've been part of the Scary Farm's team, what are the positions you've held, and tell us some of the projects you've worked on to date. Hanneman: Assistant Scene Designer (1994-1995); I helped with Cavern of Carnage elevations mostly, and painted. Design Specialist (1996-1998; 2001-2003); I worked on Dominion of the Dead, Ghost Town Dead and Breakfast, Camp Gonnagetcha, Inquisition, Blood Bayou, Curse of the Werewolf, Red Moon Massacre, The Hanging (for several years), Ed Alonzo’s Halloween Party and probably more, but those are the ones I remember! I became Manager Entertainment Tech & Production (2003-2007); at that point, I coordinated build and tech of all Haunt attractions. Finally, I became Director of Entertainment Tech & Production (2007-present); I coordinate design, build and tech, as well as Haunt Operations. |
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West: Did you have a favorite
maze or project that you've been part of? Hanneman: Every maze has it’s unique personality complete with pros and cons. |
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West: Over the years, what has
been the most challenging thing you've worked on, and why was it
difficult? Hanneman: The Hanging, hands down, is always a challenge due to its nature. Function comes first, and then you have to figure out how to make it look. It always takes a lot of work to put up, and is an enormous challenge we can be proud of when we do. I remember sewing a lot of puppets one year... |
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West: We've seen a very
definite evolution of not just Knott's Halloween Haunt, but its monster
talent as well as guests over the decades. Obviously, Haunt has become
more sophisticated than simply throwing up a few mazes and giving masked
monsters shaker cans. How have you witnessed the changes both internally
at Knott's and in the demands or expectations of your guests each year?
And how do you change the strategy of Halloween Haunt to meet those
growth demands each year? Hanneman: High quality has become an expectation, not a goal. With more companies independently putting up haunted attractions, our competition is growing. We have increased the number of attractions to 13, which allows more people to view our hard work. I think it’s a good marketing number, and we will continue to change out mazes every year. The production team is full of talented folks that come up with creative solutions, and who know how to be efficient in their execution. I asked the street monsters to create "characters", which allows them to be more creative with their scares. I am proud of their diligence, energy and enthusiasm to be the best. Our main goal is to entertain guests, and the only way to scare the guests is to do something they don’t expect. West: Disneyland has become very aggressive now with its Halloween offerings for families, and Universal Studios Hollywood puts down a very impressive amount of firepower when it comes to an adult scare event each year. In addition to the theme park competition, you also have several large-scale private haunts in Orange County and Los Angeles County also competing for your customers such as Sinister Pointe in Brea, and Ghost Ship, the new haunted attraction in Newport Beach from Ten Thirty One Productions, who are also the owners of the Los Angeles Haunted Hayride. As the dark industry grows by leaps and bounds each season, the battle for visitors certainly has to become more intense. How does Knott's counter these surrounding attractions when you guys map out your corporate strategy? Do you take these other attractions into account each year, or do you simply do what you do, and believe that if you build it, guests will come? Hanneman: We are constantly thinking how to raise the bar, and push forward with new ideas and technology. We’ve learned what works for us over the past 38 years, and I think our biggest competition should be ourselves. We have the advantage by being bigger, offering theme park rides, and an atmosphere that is hard to mimic. Having other Halloween attractions in surrounding areas just brings more people out. If they go to another event, it doesn’t mean they won’t come here, too. West: Speaking of Disneyland and family-friendly offerings during October, is there a consensus on a corporate level at Knott's that Camp Spooky is enough, or are you and the team eyeballing possible expansion of the daytime, less spooky operations to perhaps increase your share of the season's business in Orange County? Hanneman: We are looking to expand the daytime family-friendly offerings. We are in the planning stages, and hope to release it next year for the 40th anniversary of Halloween Haunt. West: There has been a shift in the past couple of years now in the way your monster talent is hired. We've seen a lot of fantastic talent emerge onto the streets of Haunt as a result, and have also become aware that perhaps there are still some execution issues when it comes to returning Haunt veterans or people perhaps having an off day not making the final cut for whatever reason. Obviously, you can't please everyone all of the time. But any situation has room for growth and improvement. What are the ways the management team has reshaped the hiring process and what are, in your opinion, some of the bigger challenges these changes have created for you and the rest of the team? And down the line, do you see even more changes coming regarding the hire and re-hire process for Haunt? |
| Hanneman:
Haunt can be a great place to work, with many
activities after hours that are fun and build teamwork. It was my
challenge to get our team to remember that it is also a job. The guests’
experience is important, and what we are here for. It’s an enormous team
effort to get Haunt up and running, and that team effort needs to
continue throughout the run. A maze can look great and creepy, but it is
nothing without all the elements, including the monsters, who really
bring it to life. One monster can ruin someone’s experience by not being
in character. This is a huge interactive “show production”, and I need
to know everyone has the right energy and dedication to make it a
success.
There is always room for improvement in any process, and we are always willing to try new things. Just because it’s how we’ve always done it, doesn’t mean it’s the best way. Simple changes in standing policy, like allowing the talent to have days off, has improved the operation and morale of our employees. It allows us to call in people if there are too many “call outs”, which is nice. The best thing is, our people can actually come to Haunt on a night off, and experience it as guests, and see Haunt as a whole, not just their assigned areas. Auditions have helped gage how far people are willing to go to be a part of this team. Constant monitoring by management for quality control is necessary to see if they can follow through. I think at one time, we let anyone be a monster, and now, we can reserve the right to demand more. Scare School has allowed us to communicate our expectations to the talent, coach them, and listen to any ideas they may have. Management is here to support them, so they can be the best performers they can be. |
| West: Approximately how many monsters is Knott's hiring for this year's event? And of those people, how many auditions for street talent, etc. will you and your team judge? |
| Hanneman: About 1,000. A quarter of those are street talent. We reserve the positions for those who were outstanding last year, and will audition as many as it takes to fill the rest with creative and energetic people. |
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What maze or Haunt attraction in the past is your favorite, and why? Hanneman: That’s like asking which of my children is my favorite! They all have something about them I can appreciate. Industrial Evil ’94 was great because of its length and pyro show. Dominion of the Dead was one of my favorites, though. Kathryn White had a great concept, and I was able to participate in the design. I am an "execu-goth", after all! West: Looking into the future, to this October, what new Haunt attraction or offering are you personally most excited about, and why? Hanneman: This year, I sat down with a group of my trusted production team members and went through every maze, discussing ideas and changes that may improve them. Some mazes have little needed, and others warrant a pretty big make over. I’m looking forward to Endgames. I wasn’t crazy about another “post-apocalyptic” maze until Brooke Walters started sharing her vision of this steampunk/gladiator world. I think it will be very different than what we’ve done in the past, and we are trying something new with “live streaming” video, which is very cool. West: There is a new scare zone at Halloween Haunt this year; Gypsy Camp, which will feature gypsies of course, and werewolves. People seem to be really stoked about this, and at the same time, the questions instantly come up about Ghost Town Streets, which has been home to some of Halloween Haunt's most iconic lycanthropes over the decades, such as Spike, the White Wolf, and Lucifer. Fans come from far and wide each season, intentionally looking for their favorite Haunt monsters. How will Gypsy Camp affect the werewolves of Ghost Town? Will they have free reign to travel between Ghost Town and Gypsy Camp, or are they going to be migrating to their new home this season exclusively? And while we're on the subject, why was it deemed necessary to add a whole new street zone with a new theme to the GhostRider area, rather than simply keep it as an extended Ghost Town area? Give us some insight into the thinking behind that decision. Hanneman: Marketing likes to call it a new scare zone, but really, it’s taking the backstage area one step further with theming. Werewolves are pretty hot right now, but there wasn’t really a maze opportunity this year for that. The thought was, if we move the Fortune Tellers backstage, the area can become the Gypsy Camp on the outskirts of town. Look forward to not only Fortune Tellers, but special effects, lighting, scenery and a belly dancing show to create the atmosphere. The lore of the gypsy-cursed werewolves gave us more opportunity to add more scares. I’m sure you’ll see familiar Calico monsters as well as werewolves on Ghost Town streets and “outside of town”; it's not intended to be restricted to just the lycanthropes, either. West: The new area at Haunt last season, Necropolis, was met with mixed reviews. Themed as a steampunked vampire area, I found that those fans who knew what it was, really seemed to like it. Guests that weren't necessarily in the know... Necropolis was kind of lost on them. As with any aspect of Halloween Haunt in its infancy, are there any new elements or a more focused effort this year to continue fine-tuning the area along with its designer, Brooke Walters, to make it very apparent to guests what Necropolis is all about? Hanneman: With every new zone and maze, we have the opportunity to build and add the following years; we certainly aren’t stopping now. And Endgames being located in a new Camp Snoopy area will only add to the theme of Necropolis. |
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West: There are a lot of
first-time Haunt employees coming aboard this year, and absolutely, more
younger fans thinking about joining the ranks of the Scary Farm in 2012
or perhaps later. What advice do you have for all of them in navigating
the fog-choked alleys of their own Haunt job prospects? Hanneman: Move fast, be creative, keep your energy up, and drink lots of water. Most of all, have fun doing it! West: Lara, thank you so much for taking the time to give us some insight to your work and how it relates to Knott's Halloween Haunt. See you in the dark this October! |
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