Having a trusted creative partner is of the utmost importance when making a feature film. James Wan has that in Leigh Whannell, and now he’s looking to pay it forward by offering that same support to first-time feature director Patrick Wilson.

Wilson gets behind the lens as director for the very first time on Insidious: The Red Door, the new installment of the long-running horror franchise that brings back the entire Lambert family for the first time since 2013’s Insidious: Chapter 2. At the end of that film, Dalton (Ty Simpkins) and Josh (Wilson) have their memories suppressed to forget The Further and their ability to astral project. While it has kept them safe from evil entities on the other side for a period of time, the barrier is starting to break leaving both Dalton and Josh exposed to evils with no memory of what they are or how to escape them.

With Insidious: The Red Door making its way into theaters nationwide on July 7th, I got the chance to chat with Wan and Blum about making the film and about their approach to continuing franchises in general. You can catch the full conversation in the video at the top of this article or in transcript form below:

Image via Sony

PERRI NEMIROFF: Both of you have obviously accomplished so much in this genre, but even with all that experience, while you’re watching Insidious: The Red Door, is there any particular scene, visual or tiny detail that makes even you guys go, “Damn, I cannot believe we made that happen?”

JASON BLUM: The MRI/CAT scan scene for me is definitely pretty cool. That was actually Leigh [Whannell]’s idea. It was a great idea.

JAMES WAN: I would say the most exciting thing for me was seeing Patrick pull the entire family unit back together. That was the most exciting part for me because I worked with Patrick as an actor in the first two films, and so I got to fall in love with the Lambert family and with Patrick’s character, with Rose [Byrne]’s character and all the kids, and so it was really good to see them now all grown up. That, for me, was the most exciting part, just seeing Patrick exploring more of his family’s character dynamic and seeing where it kind of takes them now in this new chapter.

As someone who’s been a diehard fan of this franchise since 2010, that was a major winning element for me as well.

I was just talking to Patrick and he was singing your praises in terms of how well-supported you both made him feel. Can you give me an example of something seemingly small you did for him, something other producers could possibly overlook, that is actually really important and could make a big difference for other first-time feature directors out there?

BLUM: We allowed for a more generous schedule. James will tell you, the system is so screwed up because the more experience you have and the more successful you are as a director, the longer a schedule you need, and actually, the people who need a longer schedule are first-time directors because they don’t know what they’re doing. They don’t know what’s gonna wind up in the movie and not. They need time to experiment. Experienced directors, they know. So I think one of the small things that we did is allow for a longer schedule for him to have because he was a first-time director.

WAN: Yeah, and for me, it was really just being there for Patrick as a sounding board. He would just text me at all hours of the day with ideas and thoughts and stuff like that, and I would just kind of respond to him. I would get back to him with like, “Oh, yeah, that’s cool. What about this? What about that?” And we would just sort of bounce ideas back and forth. That was the kind of collaboration I had with Leigh and I wanted to kind of afford Patrick that as well. Whether it was the script or the story or designing of the demons or the craft of camerawork and all that stuff, I just wanted to be there for him so that he felt like he could pretty much ask me anything if he needs anything.

Image via Sony

I’ll wrap with a big franchise-type question for both of you because you both have a significant amount of experience with continuing franchises. Can you each give me one “do” and one “do not” you apply when considering whether to add another installment to a long-running franchise?

BLUM: [Laughs]

WAN: Dos or don’t, jeez!

BLUM: Clearly, I mean, if the last movie didn’t work, don’t make another one. That’s a don’t! [Laughs]

[Laughs] Fair enough!

WAN: I would say the dos, if you have something else to tell, I think that’s very important. If you believe that you have the next chapter and you have an interesting, unique story, that’s really the main thing for me.