Jacob Cooney's "Rocco" - Man vs Muppet

Jacob Cooney, friend of Dead Harvey, sent us a link of his most recent project to share. It's a short called "Rocco" and revolves around the relationship of a man and his muppet who aren't on such good terms. Several friends of the main character, muppeteer Nathan Danforth are revealed slain in the beginning, then Danforth opens a small treasure box and "Reading Rainbow" style sparkling lights fly around psychotically and transform into the vicious muppet Rocco.

This is a fun short played deadpan and the results are very effective. The muppetry and music are fantastic as well. You can check it below...

ROCCO - a short film from Jacob Cooney on Vimeo.

For more information on filmmaker Jacob Cooney and his work, visit his website at: www.jacobcooney.com.

Also worth mentioning again is a short entitled "The Frolic" and we interviewed Cooney about it. It is further proof of Cooney's talent as a filmmaker and features some very impressive acting and directing.  You can listen to that interview by clicking here.

"The Frolic" Now Available Via Online Download!

The horror DVD's of the week are going to have to wait until tomorrow, as we wanted to make sure we posted this today - Jacob Cooney's fantastic short film, "The Frolic", is now available via online download. Dead Harvey had the opportunity to interview Cooney about the film and you can access that here. It's an audio interview, so just sit back, relax, and click the links to listen to the soothing sounds of Brad drinking while interviewing Jacob.

If you want to know more about the new release of "The Frolic" and hear what Cooney's been up to, here's the press release...

THE FROLIC AVAILABLE VIA ONLINE DOWNLOAD!!!

THE FROLIC, Thomas Ligotti’s iconic horror short story turned short film, is now available via online download at both FILMBABY.COM and AMAZON.COM.

Directed by Jacob Cooney and Produced by Jane Kelly Kosek (Wonder Entertainment), THE FROLIC follows the story of Dr. David Munck, a prison psychologist, who uncovers a deadly supernatural force in one of his inmate patients, which ultimately leads him to his breaking point.

Starring Maury Sterling (John Doe), Michael Reilly Burke (Dr. Munck), Jennifer Aspen (Leslie Munck) and Kailey Swanson (Colleen Munck), this short film has played in numerous film festivals including the Cannes Film Festival, Los Angeles International Short Films Festival, Dead by Dawn Film Festival, Shriekfest and Dances with Films and has frighten audiences across the world.

According to Stephen Jones (World Fantasy Award-winning author), “Jacob Cooney's film version of THE FROLIC, from a script co-written by Ligotti himself, is a masterful slice of psychological horror given a creepy supernatural twist. This is a little gem of twisted terror.”

THE FROLIC is available for download at the following locations. Hope you enjoy.

Filmbaby.com

Amazon.com

Cooney's got a lot of other great things going on as well. He describes all the cool projects he's currently juggling below. We can't wait to see them. Keep up the great work Jacob!

JC: "I recently co-wrote, directed and exec produced the television comedy pilot REHAB FOR REJECTS starring Maury Sterling (A-Team, Smokin' Aces, The Frolic), Adam Edgar (Chasing Midnight, Me and Her), April Billingsley (Andre the Butcher, Hellphone), Evan Arnold (Chasing the Clown, West Wing), and Richard Reihle (Office Space). It is about a young man who is court ordered to attend a rehab facility that specializes in odd addictions. You can check out the official pilot on funnyordie.com

Cooney's also finished the first draft of a script for State Street Pictures (Faster, Barbershop, Men of Honor) called WANT.

JC: "It is basically the re-envisioning of Indecent Proposal with more of a thriller edge."

He's also attached to direct a film titled GRASS LAKE

JC: "This film is an indie thriller about a group of four friends in their 30’s who go on a fishing trip. But when they find a package of marijuana and one hundred fifty thousand dollars cash, they discover that even lifelong friendships have their limits. We are currently going out to cast and also searching for potential investors for the project."

For more info on the film, here is the link to the film's facebook page

Cooney's also in development on a drama he co-wrote titled FAREWELL TO THE NIGHT, a werewolf horror film titled WOLF'S DEN, a horror comedy titled EXTRA DELIVERY, as well as a newly brainstormed untitled low budget psychological horror film about "a socially awkward shut-in who befriends an odd membrane/organism that's growing out of his bathtub drain. Some fantastic ideas and great things happening here. If anyone would like to invest in "Grass Lake" check out Cooney's short. He can be contacted via facebook. He's most certainly got the filmmaking chops for the job.

EXCLUSIVE DEAD HARVEY INTERVIEW with JACOB COONEY, director of "The Frolic"

"The Frolic" is based on the Tom Ligotti short story of the same name. It's a supernatural thriller about a prison psychologist who uncovers a deadly supernatural force in one of his inmate patients, the child loving murderer, John Doe.

Dead Harvey had the pleasure of downing some beers with Jacob Cooney, the director of "The Frolic" as he filled us in on how he got his first directing gig roughly three months after receiving his B.A. As the ale flowed, he talked about the process of adapting the short story from the great Tom Ligotti and how he secured the actors and other necessary elements to make such a well executed flick. Cooney is down to earth, well spoken, intelligent and down-right inspiring. The performance he gets out of the villain, (Maury Sterling) will send a brutal chill down your spine. And with the reverence he gives to the author's material, I hope Hollywood gives this guy a shot at a big budget adaptation. Dead Harvey hopes you enjoy the interview as much as we did.

Clip 1 - Adapting A Short Story
Clip 2 - A Supernatural Vibe
Clip 3 - Adapting On A Budget
Clip 4 - Adapting On A Budget II
Clip 5 - Ligotti's Opinion Of Frolic
Clip 6 - How The Frolic Got Financed
Clip 7 - The Road To Directing
Clip 8 - Film School: Yes or No
Clip 9 - Making It
Clip 10 - Film School: Yes or No II
Clip 11 - Shawshank Was The Clincher
Clip 12 - 1st Big Break
Clip 13 - The Casting Process
Clip 14 - A SAG Agreement
Clip 15 - What Was It Shot On?
Clip 16 - The Look
Clip 17 - The Locations
Clip 18 - Directing Style
Clip 19 - Approaching The Actors

For more information on Jacob Cooney and "The Frolic", you go to Myspace page here. To buy a copy of The Frolic, you can get it off the Wonder Entertainment site here.