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 Fests, Catching Up With Old Friends and Drinking Monkies...

It's Friday and to quote Homer Simpson, "All right, brain, I don't like you and you don't like me - so let's just do this and I'll get back to killing you with beer."

There's a few deadlines and things for some of the horror festivals, but I also wanted to bring your attention to some things going on with a few films. I'll mention that after I quickly mention these festivals... and don't forget that the remake of "Last House on the Left" comes out today AND it's Friday the 13th, again. ...and we're a few short hours away from killing some brain cells.

Dragon*Con, which takes place in Atlanta, GA, is one of the biggest conventions of the year. In fact, they boast that they're the largest multi-media, pop culture convention focusing on sci fi, gaming, comics, literature, art, music and film in the US. I'm buying, but only because I have nothing to retort with. The festival is a ways away, 174 days away, according to their site - it's Sept 4-7, this year. Anyhow, they do a Dragon*Con Independent Short Film Festival and their earlybird deadline, April 15, is approaching. Click on that link up there for more info.

Zompire: The Undead Film Festival, which takes place in Portland, OR, and who's website appears to be down at the time of this writing, has their late deadline today. So... I don't know if they're just updating it or not, but it's www.zompire.com, if you're interested. Either way, if you don't get to it today, you're kinda hooped. But you can still go check out the films and all that... I think it takes place in May.

I'm slightly confused, but the San Francisco Independent Film Festival just happened on Feb 5-22, but now they're saying that Another Hole in the Head: Two Weeks of Fantasy, Sci Fi and Horror has their earlybird deadline tomorrow, on March 14. I'm confused because when you search for Another Hole in the Head, it keeps pushing you back to the SF Indie Film Fest site. It looks like Another Hole in the Head is June 5-22 and you can go to their Withoutabox.com site to enter there... can't tell you much more, though. I don't know, maybe I'm way to sober to understand what's going on there.

Now, I usually use Amazon.com to see what's coming out every week, but I know that a lot of indie filmmakers don't use Amazon, for one reason or the other. I get some info through Myspace and email newsletters, but, just a side-note, if you want me to promote your film and put it out there, just email me. Anyhow, just catching up with some Dead Harvey buddies, here's what's going on out there...

Last summer, we interviewed Joaquin Montalvan about his film "M O B I U S", which, at the time, was not available to the public. However, the times, they are, uh, becoming quite different. As of now, "M O B I U S" IS available to the public and you can click HERE to get yourself a copy through CreateSpace. Even if you don't want to buy it, check it out and see how CreateSpace works, could be an option for you. Also, if you want to read the interview again, here's a link to that.

One of our favorite indie filmmakers, Bill Zebub, has finally got a couple of his films available on Netflix. So, if you're a Netflix user or you just want to take a look, click on the titles to be taken to their Netflix page - "Worst Horror Movie" and "Assmonster". If you haven't seen Bill Zebub films, these are two classics. They were deemed "too offensive" by Netflix, but they're finally available. We interviewed Zebub not too long ago and you can check that out here.

Not too long ago, when we last talked to Chris Penney, he was pushing his film, "Return of the Curse" and he's already back with another film, which blows his last film out of the water... This film, "The Ba3em3nt", is now available through Caachi Films and you can find it here. Once again, you may just be interested in heading over there and seeing how Caachi Films works, as it may work for you. If you'd like to check out the interview that we did with Penney, you can find that here.

Film Fest Updates - PAGE Screenwriting Awards, Dragon*Con and The Spooky Movie Film Festival

Well, another drunken weekend passes and it's time to sober up and get to work... so, here's a screenwriting competition, a convention and a film festival to consider.

PAGE International Screenwriting Awards - I've mentioned these guys before, mainly because I think they're one of the better screenwriting contests out there, and, to really quickly tell you a bit about them, there's plenty of success stories, you get to have pro's give you feedback on your script and they have winners in all categories... so, it's a pretty good deal. There are a lot of iffy screenwriting competitions out there, but this isn't one of them. Also, I like stuff like this because filmmaking is a collaborative effort, you're out there with a bunch of people and you're making something. Screenwriting, a lot of the time, is done by yourself in a dark, dingy room and you're drunk. Well, I'm usually drunk when I write, but the 'alone' and 'in the dark' is usually true for everyone. So, to actually get feedback, feel like you're part of something and to enter a contest can be gratifying. Also, knowing there's a deadline for something can actually light a fire under your ass and get you writing. ANYHOW, PAGE just announced their semi-finalists for their 2008 awards, here's a link to the list. You can't enter for the 2009 competition yet, but you can start writing for it... they'll accept entries in December. ..and don't worry, Dead Harvey will keep you posted.

Dragon*Con - Everyone's probably hung over from Comic-Con in San Diego still, but let's not forget about Dragon*Con, which is coming up real soon. Here's a link to the Dragon*Con site. You see, where as Comic-Con gets all the press, Dragon*Con is actually the largest multi-media, popular culture convention focusing on Sci-Fi and Fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music and film in the U.S. It's held Labor Day weekend (August 29 - Sept 1) in Atlanta, Georgia.

Spooky Movie Film Festival - Well, I covered a screenwriting contest and a convention... so, I better mention a film festival. Actually, October's rolling around fairly soon and that's when you get piles of horror festivals, including Shriekfest, Eerie Horror Fest, Hollywood Horror, Sci-Fi and Fantasy Fest, among others. All of which are outlined in our "horror film festivals" section, feel free to check that out. However, I'm going to mention the Spooky Movie Film Festival that takes place in Fairfax, Virginia October 16 - 19, only because I just came across it. You can currently submit your film and they accept all shorts to features. They are currently a non-competitive festival, but they're partnered with FCC-TV, Artomatic and others, so you'll get a lot of exposure. Here's a link to their site.

Alright, now go get something done this week...