Terminator Salvation Finally Hits The Theaters, Revenge Of The Nerds and more...

It's not summer yet, technically... however, I feel like we're getting deep into the Summer tent-pole movies already. We've already seen "Star Trek", "Wolverine" and "Angels and Demons", but now comes the film that I, personally, have been waiting for - "Terminator Salvation". It's going head to head with "Night At The Museum 2" and as far as audiences are concerned, I don't think there's too much overlap. I'm just prepping myself for the fact that Ben Stiller could beat out John Connor, but it would only be due to the fact that "Night At The Museum 2" is a kids movie... Anyhow, I think a lot of horror fans of my generation credit the original Terminator as a major influence, although it's not really a horror. It was definitely unlike anything I had ever seen at the time and it didn't hold back on the violence... it WAS rated R. If I remember correctly, I first saw Terminator around 1986, two years after its theatrical release. I was in 6th grade and, at the time, I do remember longing for another Terminator film that took place entirely in the future. Well, a great number of years later, they followed it up with "T2" and, later still, "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines", which, for the record, I thought was very underrated. Finally, now, my wishes come to fruition. I finally get the film that takes place entirely in the future... and, depending on how well it does at the box office, I should be getting a couple more. McG directs and I think it's a bit of an odd choice, considering he's best known for making "Charlie's Angels" and "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle", however people seem to think he did alright here. The budget was around $200Million and I think it's definitely going to be worth checking out... it'll drag me out to the theaters.

Now, on to some festival shit...

I just noticed that the Arizona Underground Film Festival is now open for submissions... and I'm not sure if we've covered them before. I'm losing track and haven't updated my festivals page in a while. I've been busier than a two-peckered gopher (as my old football coach used to say) and I really need a day to just clean everything up, but I digress. The Arizona Underground Film Fest is a fest that showcases the work of filmmakers with defiantly independent visions and they want to represent every genre of film from across the world... which is a bold goal. It's not that much to enter, early bird deadline (June 20) is only $20. I think these festivals are great to enter, especially as a networking opportunity. On top of that, you stand a far better chance of getting accepted...

Next, one of our favorite nerd fests of the year has a deadline coming up, as well. May 25 is the regular deadline for Dragon*Con Independent Short Film Fest. Dragon*Con is the largest multi-media, pop culture convention focusing on sci-fi and fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music and film in the U.S. Yeah, it's one of those ones where nerds dress up as their favorite characters and nerdy girls, usually not known for gearing down, get all sexed up in Princess Leia outfits. Seriously, I put that pic to the left in as a sample, but click here and go to any of those fan photo galleries. Crazy shit. Anyhow, the whole thing takes place at the end of the summer in Atlanta, Georgia and attracts over 35,000 people. Their film festival, which you can find out more about here, showcases short films across all genres of the imagination. Really, if you get accepted here, you gotta go. Even if you don't submit a film, you should go. I'll dress up as 'Creepy the Clown'.

Lastly, let's look at a screenwriting festival. Like I've said many a time, the screenwriting festivals are a bit of a tough one. Some are sketchy, others really are trying, but can fall short and there are a few that are the real deal and those are the ones that are wicked opportunities for up and coming screenwriters. I gotta say, though, I think half the reason that people don't trust screenwriting festivals is because they pick the shittiest names. Script PIMP? Seriously? I know it stands for Pipeline Into Motion Pictures, but... come on. And this one's not much better, ScriptShark Insider. Scary. Also, it doesn't help that their website is down at the time I type this... However, it is legitimate and it is one of the ones that you should be entering. If you're interested, they also do screenwriting evaluation, coverage and submission services. For the contest, there are cash prizes, plus the winner gets a trip for two to L.A. to take a few meetings with industry professionals and gets a private pitch-honing session. If you've got a script ready to go... or about to go, June 1st is their late deadline.

That's all I've got for this week, have a great weekend!

Film Fest Updates - Shockfest, Shock It To Me, Arizona Underground Film Festival, Festivus Film Festival and the Amberg Horror Fest

I feel that I'm always mentioning festivals that are closed for submissions, so I made a point of finding some that are currently open for submissions. Granted, not ALL of these are open for submissions, but I tried... either way, check these out.

It sounds SO familiar, but I don't think I've ever covered Shockfest (or Shock Film Festival, as it's been called). This is their first year and they are currently looking for documentaries, narratives, music videos that are horrifying, absurd, disturbing and/or controversial. Well, that covers almost everything I've seen in 2008, so far. It takes place in Hollywood this October 24 - 26. Click here to find out how to submit your film (try right click and "save as", it's a pdf) or click here to go to their homepage.

Shock It To Me! grabbed my attention, I had to look into it just because of the title... Now that I have, I can tell you that they're not a competition festival, they just screen old movies. However, they do have a massive dealers and vendors area, which is something I should comment on... Now, take note: just because you can't screen your film at one of these things doesn't mean you can't get involved. Take this festival, for example... you can't screen your film, but you can get a small booth at the festival where you can network, but, more importantly, promote your upcoming films and try to sell your existing films and merchandise (by the way, people at these things are in the mood to buy - you'll probably make more than your money back with a stack of DVD's). Also, who says you can't show people what you're doing? Bring in a little LCD TV and a DVD player and play your films, trailers and other promo footage. Not only that, you also get festival passes to all the films, you get your name on the dealers page (remember, it's about marketing - get your name out there) and you get a link on their webpage, so everyone that checks it out can find you. So, really, if you're in the area of one of these shows, they're worth going to and getting involved with. This one's in San Fran and it runs October 17-18.

That last fest may not be accepting submissions, but Arizona Underground Film Festival IS, although they're only accepting them until September 15th. The festival runs October 17th - 19th in Tucson and they showcase the work of filmmakers with "defiantly independent visions"... and, yes, that includes horror. In fact, they give out a 'best horror feature' and a 'best horror short' award. The entry form can be found here and the homepage can be found here.

Festivus Film Festival takes place in Denver during the second week of January and it truly is the festival for the rest of us! It's really not a horror festival, but I liked the name, they're accepting submissions right now and they're looking for "awesomely badass, truly independent film". So, it kinda fits the bill. I went through last years films and there's not a lot of horror in there, but that doesn't mean they won't accept it. Further to that, they seem like pretty cool guys, you could probably email them and tell them about your film to see if it's something they're interested in. Click here for information on submissions.

Through my unrivaled google skills, I dug up some info on the Amberg Horror Fest, a fest that I've never heard about. However, only ONE page on the web told me something about the Amberg Horror Fest and it certainly wasn't their homepage. Their homepage can be found here, click on that and tell me if it EVER loads. Otherwise, here's the criptic information that I uncovered... It's an international horror film festival that takes place in... well, I'm assuming in Amberg, but I don't really know where that is, so excuse my stupidity. I refuse to look on a map and figure it out. However, it does take place at the Amberg Park Theatre & Ring Theatre and it takes place this October 30th through Nov 2nd.

*a brief correction/update - the site DOES load, it just wasn't working from the computer I was on at the time... it's a very information heavy site, so it may take a while to load, but it's actually a really cool site. Also, Amberg's in Germany, if you were wondering.