Mickey Liddell, a Norman native, graduated from OU in the mid-‘80s with a degree in communications. His directorial debut, “The Haunting of Molly Hartley,” hits theaters today.

After graduating from OU, Liddell moved to New York, where he received a graduate degree from the Parsons School of Design. He then moved to Los Angeles, where he’s produced films such as “The Broken Hearts Club,” starring Zach Braff, “Go,” starring Katie Holmes, and television shows such as “Everwood.”

Liddell talked with The Daily’s Dusty Somers about the film, the Hollywood biz and horror movies.

What made you decide to direct “The Haunting of Molly Hartley” as your first film?

A couple years ago, I decided I’d worked with enough directors through television and I really wanted to direct a feature. I kind of went off on my own and decided to do it, and that’s how I got [to] “The Haunting of Molly Hartley.” [It started as] an idea about a girl that was haunted and people were coming for her on her 18th birthday, and I loved that idea. I thought it was really scary. We fleshed out the script and kept adding to it and it finally got to a place where I was really happy with it. It was definitely a process.

What was the transition from producing to directing like?

It was really difficult jumping from producing to directing, and I didn’t think it would be. I thought, “Well, I’ve produced so long, this won’t be hard.” Producing is kind of like being president of a company – you’re watching everything. You’re always staying ahead of yourself trying to do that. Directing is sort of the opposite. You have to be very present. Every take, you just have to be there completely and not worry about what happened yesterday. Whatever the next scene is, you can’t be thinking about that. That first day, I didn’t know what I was doing, but halfway through, I finally felt like I was getting the hang of it.

Are you a big fan of horror movies?

I love that genre. I love that experience when you go to a theater and everyone’s scared. When I was growing up, I loved all those movies like “The Shining,” “Carrie” and “Rosemary’s Baby.” It didn’t feel like anybody was making those kinds of movies anymore, so I decided that this would be a perfect time for it. So many of the horror movies now are the R-rated “Saws” and “Hostels” and all that. To me, it was [always] really fun to be scared from movies that were more psychological and supernatural.

What do you think of the torture-porn movies, like the “Saw” franchise, that seem to have taken over the horror genre?

I just don’t like those as well. I’ve seen all of them and they were fine, but with those movies, I’m not scared in the same way. I understand that it’s gross and it’s kind of like, “Can you sit through it?” but it doesn’t get me in the same way where I come home at night and think, “Oh gosh, is there somebody in my closet?”

With “The Haunting of Molly Hartley,” I tried to keep it as real as possible. Even though it does get into a little bit of the supernatural, we tried to keep it like this could actually happen to you. I really like the types of movies where you really care about the character and I think that’s what happens with Molly from the very beginning.

Do you maintain much of a connection with Oklahoma?

I do. My entire family all still lives in Norman and Oklahoma City, so I go back a lot and go to the football games. I love being from Oklahoma and I love that I went to OU. It was a great place to grow up and it was a great place to go to school. I always felt really safe going there and I felt like I could do whatever I wanted to do. It gave me a lot of confidence.

— Dusty Somers is a journalism junior.