Film: Law & Beaver – ‘Pilot Episode
Director: Claude D. Miles
Writer: Claude D. Miles
Starring: Kasper Meltedhair, Roni Jonah, Claude D. Miles
The Castoroides (Beaver) based Law & Order parody you didn’t know you needed but now can’t live without! It’s just like Law & Order but with a cute lil’ Beaver puppet as the Accused. Witness the Drama and Madness that is Law & Beaver!
In a new exclusive interview on Blazing Minds, I got a chance to ask Writer-Director Claude D. Miles a few questions about the Pilot Episode of Law & Beaver, which will have its UK Premiere at Horror-on-Sea on Saturday 24th January at 17:30hrs.
Q. The Pilot Episode of your new series Law & Beaver has been selected to play at the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival. Can you tell us what we can expect?
A. Our story begins with parents murdered in an alley; in front of their only son. Pearls fall to the ground. Who is the mysterious culprit? The mystery has just begun!
Q. What were your inspirations when writing the script?
A. Funny story… I have a friend named Matthew Costa who is a cinematographer. He called me up on a Friday to tell me that LEX Studios had four days the following week where they weren’t booked. And did I have anything we could get in there and shoot? Well, I didn’t have anything written or ready so naturally I said, “Sure.”
I hung up the phone and started contacting actors. Checking to see who would be available for all or any of the four days. Once I had a list of potential cast members I started thinking about what sets they have at LEX Studios. They had at the time: a courtroom, police station, offices, hospital room, etc.. It also happened to be that the wife and I were watching an episode of Law & Order. I thought, “Well I could make that, but they already make that!”
Which is when I saw the Beaver puppet on my desk. It was there from when I shot a segment for my friend Curtis Everett’s film Beaver with a Cleaver (2025) (available on YouTube). By Sunday night I had my third draft of the pilot episode for Law & Beaver done and emailed it to the actors. We filmed the following Wednesday through Saturday. So a script and idea that didn’t exist the previous Friday was wrapped on principal photography the next Saturday. And it was one of my favourite set experiences of all time. Dying to make more!
Q. Did you have any of the cast in mind for the characters when writing the script?
A. Absolutely! I worked backwards from actor availability to write my script! Doesn’t everyone do this?! Ha ha!
Q. What were some of your influences for the look and style of the film?
A. Pretty much just straight up Law & Order (1990) but with a little hint of Gotham City (2014-2019).
Q. Did you make any changes from the original script during filming?
A. Yes! When my buddy Tuck Fard came to be courtroom background we quickly whipped together and added in the Beaver in jail scene.
Q. What were some of your favourite moments during filming?
A. I absolutely loved hearing the closing arguments I had written be brought to life. I giggled like a hyena when I was writing them and seeing them performed so well was truly satisfying.
Q. Did you experience any issues during filming?
A. We lost our child actor at the last moment! Thankfully our Judge Russ Croley was able to quickly call in his grandson Kingston to fill the role.
Q. What makes Law & Beaver stand out as something different in the horror genre?
A. Well, for one it is a parody of an existent IP. Taking the Law & Order Crime Horror to the silliest possible place… Beaverton!
Q. What do you hope people take away after watching the film?
A. I hope they get a good chuckle or two and want to see more!
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are currently working on?
A. Oh so many! One to watch for coming out on worldwide theatrical release in 2026 is Twisted starring Lauren LaVera and Djimon Honsou. We built the makeup special FX for it and it is a real doozy! A couple other big projects I have worked on to watch for are Cipher starring Terrence Howard (Hustle and Flow) and Synthetic starring Charlie Cox (Daredevil).
Q. If someone was looking to write and direct their own film what advice would you give them?
A. Look around you! What do you have for locations and people? Write that, you can afford to make that! Seriously, you can write the biggest most expensive blockbuster script, and it may be epic, a script for the ages; but if you can’t afford to make it how will anyone ever know?! Sure you can spend your time trying to fund it… but now your job is fundraising. Not filmmaking. Want to make films without having to beg for money? Make do with what you have! Easy for me to say right? I had LEX Studios! I know, I know. I lucked out on Law & Beaver but a great majority of mine and even some of my friends films take place at or around my house. Be creative! Use what you have access to already and make that into a story that is compelling enough for people to want to watch. Good luck!
Law & Beaver which will have its UK Premiere at Horror-on-Sea on Saturday 24th January at 17:30hrs.
You can find out more about Law & Beaver and purchase tickets for the film here
Published in various websites, Philip is a reviewer who is best known for his interviews and media coverage of independent projects including; films, books, theatre and live events. Always on the lookout for something different to cover!
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