How to Make Movies: Low Budget/No Budget Indie Experts Tell All

Here's a post from Brad Paulson - Dead Harvey's resident micro cinema expert...  

I was fortunate enough to be one of the filmmakers interviewed for Kevin Lindenmuth's new book: How to Make Movies: Low Budget/No Budget Indie Experts Tell All. I wrote about making movies from a micro-cinema standpoint, since that's all I've ever had the money to work with.

I did so because number one: I've always been poor and number two: I've heard countless horror stories of people who've sunk every dime they've had into their movies. They've mortgaged their houses and sacrificed nearly everything just to get their films made. Unfortunately, far more often than not, the result has very seldom resulted in a positive financial return.

The media fuels the Cinderella story. Everyone loves to hear about about the one filmmaker out of thousands that makes the next Blair Witch or Paranormal Activity. But, let's not forget. Those movies were nearly ten years apart. It's a big chunk of time before the next phenomenon comes along but every year there are thousands of truly independent films that slip through the cracks. As time goes by, they fade into obscurity. Many never even see the light of day.

What the media hides from us is what happens when an individual with a dream and extremely limited funds actually crosses the line that separates the thought of doing into actually doing. They, much like film school, fail to educate people about the brutal realities that exist when someone graduates and actually tries to make a living at this truly insane career path riddled with sharks, lies and bullshit. It's an absolute war zone. You're going to need adamantium skin and an every stronger sense of humor to survive. There's a reason Adam Sandler yells at that kid in Billy Madison and tells him to stay in school for as long as possible.

What I like so much about Lindenmuth's book is he's complied interviews from people who tell the brutal truth of just how hard it is to survive on the truly independent level. I thought I'd had some rough experiences until I read about what many of the other far more experienced filmmakers have been through. The book does a great job of illustrating how it's not about glamor. It's about doing what makes you happy. And if you're willing to go through hell to do that and live like one of L.A's many homeless and you still want to make another movie after you're done, it's a bittersweet satisfaction that no amount of fame or fortune could ever give you.

I'm happy to see that a book like this is finally available. I wish it was around when I was in film school because I had absolutely no idea what I was about to get myself into when I graduated.

You can pick up a copy here

A kindle version is also available...

My sincerest best wishes to anyone out there making movies on their own. You're fighting Han Solo odds, friends. Bless you all as you fight to keep the dream alive.

Black Peter... The Anti-Santa.

It looks like there's only a couple of notable horror films coming out this week, the big one being the 2011 "Straw Dogs" remake of the 1971 Sam Peckinpah classic film of the same name...  This one is written, produced and directed by Rod Lurie and, well, I haven't seen it yet, so I'll reserve judgement.  Reviews were shitty, though. 

We also get a new Christmas/Slasher flick, "Saint Nick"...  which is actually about "Black Peter", a personal favorite fairy tale.  In fact, I'm a little choked because I've always thought this would be a good idea for a film...  I know what you're thinking, what's the idea?  Well, we all know Santa, right?  However, how many of you know about Zwarte Piet?  He's the guy that rode the white horse Sleipnir and flew through the air as the leader of the Wild Hunt... Don't know him?  Well, those tales came before the whole Christianity thing, let alone Christmas.  Anyhow, the story evolved and, eventually, he became "Black Peter", which is, of course, a translation of "Zwarte Piet" and he's the anti-Santa.  If you were good, Santa brought you gifts.  If you were bad, Black Peter threw you in a bag and beat you with sticks.  It looks like "Saint Nick" twists the story a bit or goes off a slightly different legend, as this opens with Saint Nick and a bunch of Black Peter's on a murderous spree, kidnapping kids, raping and pillaging in 1683AD.  Then, I assume he gets banished and returns in modern time.  Long and short, I've known about old Black Pete for a while and always thought it would make a good Christmas Slasher flick... now, here it is.  It's a Dutch film and it's a bit different from my imagination of it, so there's always room for a North American version.  Maybe we can still get away with making it... hmmm.  Any takers?  Who wants to make this with me?  Anyone?  Buller? 

There was a bit of other news out there that I found interesting...  A New York man was just given one year in prison for being the guy who uploaded the pirated copy of "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" back in 2009.  I watch all this quite closely, as I think that torrent sites are great for indie and micro film.  Obviously, the studios hate the torrent sites, as they think they're stealing money out of their pockets... which I don't necessarily agree with.  I think a lot of people that download movies for free wouldn't pay for them, so they're just additional eyeballs... not lost revenue.  As for indie and micro cinema filmmakers, I think the torrent sites can act as a great marketing vehicle.  How many small films got popular because they're on there?  I can think of a few off hand - "Ink", "Troll Hunter", "A Serbian Film".  Granted, the festivals played a big part for those films, too, but whatever...  I think we should all watch this space closely, as I think the technology could be an integral part of indie film's future. 

The Box Office and the New Horror Out on DVD

Well, it was a very uninspiring weekend at the box office... so, sorry if I didn't jump on reporting on it right away. The top spot went to "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" and the number two spot went to "The Tourist", both were new this last weekend and both drastically underperformed. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1" fell to fourth, but has brought in over $250Million to date. Not too shabby. There were a couple of notable limited releases, including "Black Swan" and "127 Hours". Both are getting a lot of buzz, especially "Black Swan", which graced the cover of Fangoria this month, if you can believe it. I think it's opening wide this Friday, so you should go check it out, if you get the chance. As for new releases on DVD this week, there are a few good films coming out. As usual, you can go to our Youtube Page to see the trailers and you can click on the title to be taken to the films Amazon Page, where you can read more about it and/or buy it.

I was pretty sure that the whole torture porn film craze was done after "Captivity" bombed, but they still seem to be pumping them out. "Slave" looks slick, has great production value, a bunch of good looking girls and appears to be well put together... I'm just not sure if the concept is going to fly, but I haven't seen it. A couple is on vacation in Spain and the girl is taken and becomes the trophy of a psycho named the White Arab... the guy does everything he can to find her. I don't know, it doesn't sound terribly original to me, but whatever. It probably has lots of T&A, maybe some decent violence, who knows?

As much as I'm not really a big fan of the Killjoy the demonic killer clown character itself, I'm a huge fan of Charles Band and his brand of horror-humor. So, with that, I'm proud to announce the release of "Killjoy 3". If you didn't know, Killjoy is actually played by Trent Haaga, who is a Troma Vet and writer of "Deadgirl", "Citizen Toxie" and "Raving Maniacs", among others... I like Trent Haaga... I just don't like the Killjoy character. Sorry to anyone who like it. Anyhow, word is that this is the best of the "Killjoy" trilogy. So, if you haven't check in on these films yet, you might as well start here.

Last up is a micro-cinema film out of the UK called "Tuck Bushman and the Legend of Piddledown Dale". What I like about this micro film is that it obviously doesn't try to take itself too seriously. The wigs, make-up and acting are all over-the-top and the plot is insane. Out of work TV presenter/creature hunter, Tuck Bushman, signs up to collect the reward offered by the mayor of Piddledown Dale, as there's some sort of demon creature on the loose. He gets more than he bargains for when he discovers that there's more brewing in the village than tea and some old wounds. As it's micro-cinema and this is Dead Harvey, we have to endorse it... Can't wait to check it out.

New Horror Out on DVD this Week

Okay, finally... let's get to the new horror that came out on DVD this week. It may not seem like a good week because there's only 9 releases, but there is some good shit coming out. I'll quickly mention the rereleases, as there's only 3 of them... there's the Criterion edition of the classic "The Night of the Hunter", "The Twilight Zone: Season 2" comes out on Blu-ray, as does "Children of the Corn". All are classics... just not sure I'd pay $70 to see season 2 of "The Twilight Zone" on Blu-ray. Anyhow, let's get to the new releases. As usual, you can click on their titles to be taken to their Amazon page, where you can read more and/or buy them, plus you can go to our Youtube Page and watch all the trailers.

Let's start with "Don't Look Back", which is your typical non-new wave French horror. Meaning, it's overly dramatic and brooding. Don't expect "Martyrs" or "Inside" with this one. It's from Marina de Van and it's about an author that seems to descend into madness, questioning everything. Think Lynch or Cronenberg with more moody music, slow moving scenes and French people.

I couldn't find the trailer for "A Lure: Teen Fight Club", but I really wish I could have. This is the craziest mash-up of pop horror films that I've ever heard of. An undercover female detective enters high school, where she tries to blend in, because she's looking in to why a group of high school co-eds have gone missing. It turns out that they've all be lured and imprisoned in a horrifying hideout... where, obviously, they're being forced to fight each other to the death. There's a bit of "Fight Club" in there, some "21 Jumpstreet", a bit of "Hostel", a touch of "My Sweet Psycho 16"... I love it.

Horror legends Sig Haig and Michael Berryman star, or, should I say, are featured, in "Haunted Casino", which also has something to do with Charles Band. Amazon says it's from Wizard Entertainment, but I think the trailer said it was from Full Moon... which would explain the Charles Band connection. Anyhow, the film has Charles Band all over it, with creepy muppets and goofy, gore-filled characters.

I wish I could find out more about "The Box of the Dead", too... which looks to be good-old micro-cinema at its best. Writer/director William E Cheney is quite bold, as he calls it "the most disturbing film of 2010"... and he may be right, I haven't seen it. I do like the tag line, though - "The story of two losers and their horrific deaths". Alright, I'll bite. I want to know more...

"Texas Frightmare Massacre" is another low-budget film that looks awesome. Writer, director and producer Joe Francis actually shot it live during the Texas Frightmare weekend. It's about Max, who goes to a horror convention with his step sister and her jerk boyfriend, who end up colliding with a couple of security guards... dirty jokes, sex and violence ensue. The trailer has piles of sex, so I can only imagine what the feature is like.

Last up is "Exhibit A", which uses everyones favorite shooting style - first person found footage. The film is out of the UK and it was actually quite successful, from what I understand. It's always good to check these out, as first person shooting is so much easier and cost effective that setting up cameras traditionally. You know what they say, watch how people use the style successfully... and then copy it.

Lessons For Indie Filmmakers - Following Up With Christopher DiNunzio

They don't write too many books on the business of indie film... at least none that I can find. I mean, there's a million books on film, lots on the film industry, and more than enough on screenwriting, filmmaking and producing. I'm talking about the gritty in's and out's of the business of indie film. Not "independent film", but true, micro-cinema. Dead Harvey stuff. I'm knee deep in a couple projects right now, but I'm seriously considering writing a book on the micro-cinema world. I've got some ideas on how it should work and I have PLENTY of content, so if you're in the book world and think you can help me out, let me know. Anyhow...

Somewhere in this lack of information is where we try to fit in. We talk to the festival directors, the filmmakers and the distributors and we try to let you in on how this all works. Quite frankly, we've got a long way to go until our heads are around it, so we keep talking to people and asking questions, then posting them for you to read. Today, like I hinted at a few weeks ago, we follow up with Christopher DiNunzio, the writer/director of "Livestock".

We originally spoke with Chris over a year ago, right as he was looking for distribution. You can read the original interview here. So, how did it go? Was he accepted to the festivals? Did he get distribution? Did he make some money? Let's find out...

Let's remind our readers about both you and "Livestock". First off, tell us about the film. What's it about, where did the idea come from, when did you start shooting and when was it released?

The short synopsis is "A mysterious cult and two best friends take a new direction in life and soon dark secrets are revealed when their worlds collide. " The idea started as a film based around online dating but it ended up morphing into this gangster horror film. We shot it in Fall of 2007 and it was released in November 2009.

Now, tell us a bit about yourself. What are your influences and what got you in to indie film?

My influences are Michelangelo Antonioni , Dario Argento, Sergio Leon, Kiyohsi Kurosowa, John Carpenter, Roman Polanski and many more. I've always loved film and I got into filmmaking after seeing Argento's films. That's the first time I saw film as an art and I knew this is they way I wanted to express myself.

Last we checked in with you, you had just submitted the film to the film festivals and didn't have distribution. First off, how did it go with the film festivals? Any lessons learned there?

"Livestock" was accepted into 3 festivals, so I'm pretty happy about that. We didn't apply for too many. Unfortunately the funds weren't there. I'm more aware now of which festivals actually support indie films, rather than catering to studio films. I've learned to make sure that the festival I'm submitting to is going to be a good fit for my film. With all that being said, it can still be a big crap shoot.

Now, let's talk about distribution. If I remember correctly, the film was picked up by R-Squared Films. Talk about the process of finding them and getting a deal.

They actually contacted me through my website, so I sent them a screener and they liked it and picked it up! The process was pretty easy, but you need to be patient. Also, you want to do as much research on them as possible to make sure that you are the right fit. We actually had a few people contact us and I even learned so much from them just from hearing what they had to say.

Looking back at the time from when the film was finished to now. What things did you do right and what things would have done differently?

I wouldn't do anything differently. The whole process was a learning experience and now I feel battled tested. Going through it a second time I feel even more comfortable. I believe that with each film I will improve more and more, becoming more proficient. You just can't be afraid to fail. That's the worst part about filmmaking. You have to overcome your fear of failing.

Let's talk about monetization. You don't have to disclose actual figures, but, generally, has the film been a financial success for you? Is there anything you can pass on to other filmmakers, as far as what they can expect to get back after they finish their film?

It's doing good, but it could be doing better. I would love to see more promotion for the film. But, I can't complain too much because it is widely available. You can purchase it on Amazon, Best Buy and soon on Netflix. My goal for "Livestock" was to just get it out there and prove that I could do it. You can't only expect money in return. You have to look at it as an opportunity to become a visible filmmaker.

Let's talk about the last year... overall, talk about the work that you've continued to do for "Livestock". Have any unexpected things come up?
Anything you could pass on to other filmmakers?

I've had to push the promotion here and there, but not too much.
Mostly I've been trying to move on to new projects. There's not too much you can do once you get picked up other than hope that the distributor does a lot to promote the film. Once you're done with the film you gotta just take a nice look back then move forward.

Have you been working on any other projects over the last year? What's next for you?

Absolutely. I just completed a feature length documentary "Viva!
Saint Agrippina". It takes place in Boston's historical North End and it's about the Saint Agrippina Benefit Society, who have been hosting an annual feast in honor of the martyred Saint since 1914. I loved working on it because its way out of the box for me. Most people who know me know that I'm not religious, but I've had family members involved in this for years. I thought it would be a perfect opportunity for me to try a different style of filmmaking. Overall I really loved the pacing and freedom of working on a documentary and would love to do more in the future. But, for right now I'm itching to do another horror film or a gangster film, but this time I don't want to blend the two. It has to be one or the other this time.

So, has your opinion on the indie film world changed at all and has this process encouraged you or discouraged you to continue making films?

I think my opinion has changed as far as what people expect from an indie film. It's just interesting that sometimes people assume just because you make a low budget horror film it has to be all tits and gore. Don't get me wrong I love all that but I wish people would give horror films more credit that that. It can be a very artistic subject if you want it to be. Horror has many faces. However I'm happy to know that there are a lot of people out there that are very supportive and more than happy to back an independent film. But I'm not discouraged at all. I'm hard-headed, so I won't quit!

Paramount's Micro-Budget Film Division Has A Name

A month or so ago, we wrote a post called "What I Would Say To Adam Goodman, Production Chief of Paramount", in response to hearing that Paramount was planning to open up a micro-budget film division. Well, I'm happy to say, there's been developments...

I would like to add that I actually did reach out to Adam Goodman. I took a wild stab at guessing his email address and I got it right... after a few tries. Then, low and behold, I got a response. It was brief, concise, but he said that, yes, there was going to be a micro-budget filmmaking division and that I should stay tuned. I was quite impressed. Now, I didn't really get the chance to mention all the things that I wanted to in that first email, so I laid them out in my second email... which I didn't get a response to. In any case, I did stay tuned. And I just found out that Paramount's micro-budget division has a name, a site and a leader.

The division is called Insurge Pictures. The tagline is, "Do you want to see more movies that don't conform to the Hollywood mold? Sweet. Us too." I heard that the website, insurgepictures.com, was actually live, but every time I try to go to the site, I'm forwarded to Paramount's main site. Do me a favor, click on that link there and let me know if you get through to it. If you do, I'd love to know what it says, as far as what they're about and all that. As mentioned before, the division does have $1million to finance its slate of films - 10 movies on tap in the first year, budgeted at approximately $100,000 each. The division hasn't been formally announced yet, but it should be soon. In fact, it may have already been announced and I just don't know it. It's going to be headed up by Amy Powell, who's currently the studio's SVP of Interactive Marketing. Interesting choice, obviously they see these micro-budgeted films closely tied to social marketing, the web, mobile, etc. The micro-budget division will also develop an online community to fuel the initiative and they're expected to support their goals with additional elements, yet to be announced. So, that's what I got, so far.

Somewhere on the Insurge site that I can't log on to, you'll find this quote, "Aren't you tired of being fed the same movies wrapped in different paper? We want to find and distribute crazy, unpredictable, and hopefully awesome movies - movies that make you want to line up to see at your local theater with all your friends (and us). Movies that a big studio would never release because they're too risky, too silly, and they don't star Sandra Bullock." Sandy, don't listen to them. "Blind Side" was good, but "Speed", "Demolition Man"? Classics. I also liked that movie where you played a drunk, "28 Days".

Anyhow, the same worries and trepidations that I illustrated in the last post persist. I hope they reach out to the right teams of filmmakers, I hope they involve the micro-budget filmmaking community and I also I hope that they make the right films. However, what I hope most is that their 'difference making' doesn't end at the conclusion of the filmmaking process. You see, they also need to come up with "crazy, unpredictable, and hopefully awesome" ways of distributing these films. Pave the way... please. The fact that they say, "movies that make you want to line up to see at your local theater", makes me weary. When's the last time you saw a micro-budget film at the theater? Okay, besides "Paranormal Activity"? We need new and revolutionary ways to get these films out there. That's the key. And I hope they put as much thought into that as they do in finding and making these films.

In any case, the whole thing can do nothing but good for the rest of us. It shines a spotlight on micro-budget filmmaking and, hopefully, a little bit of that light actually falls on to the micro-budget filmmaking community. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to try and guess Amy Powell's email address and see if she'll get back to me... I've got some things to say, but I'll save them for my second email.

What I Would Say To Adam Goodman, Production Chief of Paramount

There's been a flurry of activity surrounding the indie and micro-cinema world over the last few days and it all started with Paramount announcing that they're going to get into developing and producing micro-budget films. I recently read a post from Mark Stolaroff, the guy behind "No Budget Film School" and a writer for Film Radar, that lit Paramount up. Here's a link to the post. He's 100% right, for sure... however, as an optimist, I'd like to hear what Paramount's game plan is before I lambaste them. As someone who's been involved in indie and micro-budget filmmaking, when I hear that Paramount wants to get involved, I certainly hope that they do it right and doing it right would definitely involve reaching out to the existing micro-cinema community. In fact, I read through every article I could find, trying to find some sort of lead on who I could contact, and the only name mentioned is Adam Goodman, who happens to be Paramount's production chief. So, I guessed at his email address and sent him an email. Will I get a response? Doubt it. But if he did and he asked for help... after asking for some sort of paid position in guiding this micro-cinema initiative, coupled with some sort of signing bonus, this is what I would tell him...

Micro-cinema is a different animal than indie film. Really, there's less of a jump from indie film to studio film than there is from indie film to micro-cinema. When I talk about "indie film", I'm talking about stuff like "The Wrestler" or "Little Miss Sunshine". When I'm talking about micro-cinema, I'm talking about "Paranormal Activity" or "Blair Witch". I'm not going to touch on studio films here, they're put together by armies of lawyers, marketers, writers and producers. For studio films, the story and how the films are shot pales in comparison to what the overall concept is and how marketable the film will be. For example, "Transformers 2" was one of the biggest grossing films of the year... I'm not sure 'story' was high on their list of concerns. In any case, when dealing with indie films, story becomes extremely important. In fact, the film is ALL story. You'll need an impeccable screenplay and you're going to need great actors to bring characters to life, adding to what's on the page and giving them three dimensions. You'll probably want the director to work closely with the writer, if they're not one in the same, and you'll want an editor who's fully on board with the directors vision. In the end, it's all about story. With micro-cinema, you require an equally impeccable story, but micro-cinema filmmakers have to deal with another element that no other filmmaker has to deal with... and that's the medium itself. Micro-cinema, by its own nature, has a distinct look and feel. It's handheld, it's choppy, it's shot on DV, the lighting sucks, the sets are cramped, locations are never ideal... it's called micro-cinema for a reason. Fix all of those things and you're really not a micro-cinema film anymore. So, you have to justify the medium. "Paranormal Activity" and "Blair Witch" were both shot as documentaries. The handheld HD on "Open Water" gave it that 'real' look, like something you'd see on the National Geographic channel. A recent film that I saw, "The Butcher", was shot as a first person snuff film. The list goes on, but the point is that you need to embrace the look and feel and justify it... try to be something you're not and you're going to fail.

So, I agree with Mark when he says, "Good Luck, Paramount", but I'm cautiously optimistic. There's a lot of good micro-cinema filmmakers out there... and they're not all offspring of current Paramount employees, toiling around in L.A.. They're everywhere. Hopefully Paramount realizes this and reaches out. There would be something very cool about a studio reaching down into the micro-cinema community and asking for assistance in lifting this little sub-genre, that we all love so much, out of obscurity. If Paramount wanted to do it right, that's just what they would do. They would reach into the micro-cinema community, find some filmmakers, give them some budget... but also give them the keys to the kingdom. Keep the budgets under $100K, BUT let the filmmakers use the resources that they take for granted... Treat it like a training ground, work with them. Have your team of lawyers, marketers and developers sit in with them every once in a while and everyone can learn from each other. Sounds good, doesn't it? Well, we'll see what happens... at least I know what I'm going to say to Adam Goodman if he gets back to me.

STOP THE PRESSES! This just in...

Well, I was going to comment on the how AOL was spun off from AOL Time Warner and then segue into Comcast buying out NBC Universal from GE. I was going to discuss how NBC Universal came to be, how they're a media and entertainment conglomerate powerhouse that was formed in May of 2004 when GE and Vivendi merged them. Then, I was going to get into my thoughts on what this could mean and how it's a bit of a game changer...

Very quickly, I do want to say that the idea that a huge cable and internet provider now has a huge entertainment studio is pretty crazy. I don't think it'll effect Universal and film that much, but it will really effect TV. It'll effect how TV is delivered, how it's consumed and what TV can do. Think about it, this merger could very will be the catalyst that pushes online entertainment past the tipping point. Comcast's "TV anywhere" and NBC Universal's "Hulu" are now, in effect, one. I think this is going to open a lot of doors for indie content makers... and I'm going to have to discuss my thoughts on that later, as I just read something that stopped me dead in my tracks. So, hold the presses...

I just read on Variety that Paramount, the studio that picked up and distributed the micro-cinema smash, "Paranormal Activity", is launching an initiative that will spend around $1Million annually to develop between 10 and 20 micro-cinema films a year... and no individual project will have a budget over $100,000. Here's a link to the article on Variety. Is this it? Is this the point in time when micro-cinema makes the jump to prime time? I only have one question - how do I get in on this?

I'm definitely going to be looking deeper into this and I hope to have more news for you soon!

New Horror Out On DVD This Week and a warm 'welcome back' to the NFL.

Well, horror got hammered at the box office over the weekend and not in a good way... "Sorority Row" and "Whiteout" both had very disappointing openings, grossing just over $5Million each and coming in at 5th and 6th, respectively. In fact, "The Final Destination" came in 4th, grossing more than either, although barely. Top movie of the week? "Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself". Did anyone see "Sorority Row" or "Whiteout"? I didn't. I kept myself busy on Saturday, as I wanted to free up my Sunday. Why? Well, it was week 1 for the NFL. And that means that Sundays are now occupied for a while, well... at least for another 16 weeks or so. Welcome back NFL.

There's actually a few quality indie horror's coming out on DVD this week, but there's tons of rereleases and Blu-rays. I'll talk about some of the notable new releases, then mention the rereleases and all that. You can check out the trailers for all the new shit by going over to our Youtube page here and you can also click on the titles to go to their pages on Amazon.

"Grace" was written and directed by Paul Solet and it's based on a short film from 2006 that featured Liza Weil and Brian Austin Green. Now, don't hold the fact that David Silver was involved against it, though... they made that short as a way to get funding for the feature, which he is not in. I recently saw the film and, well, it's interesting. Definitely worth checking out. Basically, it's about a woman who's desperate to have a child, but when her and her husband are in a car accident, the husband dies and the doctors tell her the unborn child is dead, too. However, after giving birth to what she thinks is a still born baby, it comes to life... but then develops an unhealthy smell, attracts flies and craves blood. Part "Inside", part "Basketcase", all disturbing.

I'm not sure where "Deadgirl" screened first, but it tore through the horror festival circuit last year, getting fairly good reviews. It's written by Troma vet, Trent Haaga, and was directed by Marcel Sarmiento and Gadi Harel. It's about a couple of high school guys who discover an imprisoned woman in an abandoned mental asylum, who can't die... now, what do you think a couple of high school kids that found an undead hottie would do? Well, that's exactly what they do... and trials, tribulations and life lessons get learned along the way.

Now, for a bit of classic micro-cinema... they're rereleasing "Silo Killer" in a double-pack with its sequel, "Silo Killer 2: The Wrath of Kyle". Now, it's not a double-pack, like you get two DVD's... they're both on the one DVD. If you're aware of "Silo Killer", it's written and directed by Bill Koning and it came out in 2002. I'm not sure if it gained 'cult classic' status, so to speak, but it's pretty f'ing close. As far as micro-cinema and the indie horror world is concerned, it's definitely a classic. You gotta check out the trailer for the sequel over on our Youtube page. Definitely a must-see. I haven't seen the sequel, so it's definitely on my list of things to watch this week.

Talk about ambitious filmmaking... "pvc-1" is based on the true story of a group of terrorists that invade a home, then attached a bomb encased in pvc-1 tubing around a mothers neck and demanded 15Million pesos. Here's the ambitious part, though. It's from Greek/Columbian writer/director Spiro Stathoulopoulos and it's filmed in one unbroken, real-time take. Amazing. All shot on DV, too. We've got the trailer on our Youtube page, check 'er out.

I don't know much about "Spirits Among Us", but it's a micro-cinema horror from writer/director Ray Jenkins. It's 60 mins long and apparently has a bit of a Christian theme.

Also, there's Blu-ray editions of "An American Werewolf in London", "Wrong Turn", "Wrong Turn 2 - Dead End" and "Army of Darkness (Screwhead Edition)". If you didn't catch "Fear Itself" when it was on TV, you can now get "Fear Itself: The Complete First Season". There's some other junk, too... if you want, you can peruse the new horror out by clicking here.

Indie Filmmakers, Check This Out...

I rarely look at the analytics for the site, but I just checked them and it's really interesting to see where our readers come from. Most readers come from North America, with the U.S. being the top and Canada being second... but we do have a fair amount of readers from the UK and abroad. We even have readers in Russia, Poland, Romania... kinda cool. What's really cool is that when you look at the U.S., specifically, there's only two states where not one person has checked out our site: Wyoming and Nebraska and that got me thinking... what the fuck is going on in Wyoming and Nebraska? Actually, that's not what I was thinking. What I was thinking was the fact that half of our U.S. readers come from New York and California, with about a third of the total US visitors coming from California alone. This makes sense, as New York City and Los Angeles both have huge indie film communities, but if you flip it, that means that HALF of our U.S. readers DON'T come from New York or L.A. Now, why does that matter?

Well, imagine you're an athlete from a small town. Imagine you're pretty good and you can beat everyone there at whatever sport it is that you play. What happens when you enter a state-wide tournament? What about a national tournament? An international tournament? Well, chances are, you're not going to be as good as you think you are. Now, if you're an indie filmmaker from a market that doesn't have a big indie film scene, the only real gauge of how good you are will come from entering festivals and watching stuff that gets distributed. There's really not a lot of support from the community, I'm guessing. When you're in a town like LA or New York, you can get into the scene and work with people, see other projects in production, watch other filmmakers films, discuss ideas and prop each other up, gaining success on the backs of each other. In a way, Dead Harvey tries to be just that, a community where we can learn from each other and make each other better... and I realized that we need to show more content. More clips, trailers to indie projects, behind the scenes stuff. I mean, you can read all you want, but film is a visual medium and you need to SEE what other people are doing. You can look at their production values, see how they make that look and learn from it.

Anyhow, that's why I went through my inbox and found a few clips and links that I wanted to pass on. Further, if you've got some clips of a project that you'd like to share, shoot me an email. I'd love to check it out, pass it on to our readers and get some discussion going.

First up, click HERE to be taken to The Vampire Film Festival's Youtube page. Not only do you get to vote on what goes into the festival, you can see the trailers for all the indie films that are entered. Pretty cool... "Thicker Than Water" is in there and it's an indie film that I highly recommend. I just watched it recently, great film. More importantly, though, you can see the quality of the films that are being submitted.

Next up, Gris Grimly, who we've featured a few times, has posted some behind the scenes stuff on his new short film called "Wounded Embark of the Lovesick Mind".

Here's the teaser for the film...



For the behind the scenes stuff, here's Webisode 1, Webisode 2, Webisode 3, Webisode 4 and, finally, Webisode 5. There's some pretty cool stuff in there, I definitely recommend checking them out.

Lastly, because I just got this, this morning... Go HERE to check out the latest on George Romero's new zombie flick. No clips or anything, it's just George Romero's Myspace page.

That's it for this week, have a good one and we'll see you next week!

Interview With Keith Boron, Writer/Director Of "Murder Is Like Sex"

Have you ever been drunk at a bar and an argument over some film breaks out? When they break out, do you ever think to yourself, who the F are you to argue with me on this? I went to film school. I've made films. I've written screenplays. I know this shit... you're a plumber. If an argument about plumbing broke out, I wouldn't question you! So, why the hell is it that people who WATCH the occasional movie think they KNOW movies? I mean, I watch plumbing, but I don't claim to know shit about it. That's actually a stupid scenario and I think you know I'm kidding, but here's my point - there's a reason that plumbers, teachers and every other person out there has an opinion on film, they're passionate about it. And it's easy to be passionate about film, it's part of our lives. It's entertainment. It's modern day storytelling. People get sucked up into the world's that filmmakers create and they feel that they're a part of it. For some people, that passion simply starts and ends with being a viewer. For others, sitting on the couch isn't good enough - they need to create.

If you're reading this, chances are you're in the latter category. Maybe you've just scribbled a few notes and 'plan' on writing your opus... or maybe you've made 20 films. But, whatever you've done to this point, just watching isn't good enough for you. This is why I love the current state of the indie world. With inexpensive, powerful PC's and cheap equipment, almost anyone can get out there and make a film. If not for the money, just for the sake of getting off the couch and creating something. Films driven by passion. I recently had the opportunity to check out "Murder Is Like Sex", from Keith Boron, and it is one of those films. Keith made this feature film over two years on a shoe-string budget, plagued with setbacks. We had the pleasure of discussing the film with Keith and, after reading it, you'll see that he went through a lot of the same trials and tribulations that other micro cinema filmmakers go through, but he also went through some very unique setbacks. The film is definitely worth checking out, as it's a true product of passion and we're very happy to recommend it... and I also hope you take the time to read the interview.

First off, tell us a bit about yourself. What are your influences and what got you into indie horror?

I've always been interested in horror movies, but didn't really watch them until the mid-80's when they became widely available on videotape.

I didn't actually get involved in the production process until my friend Bill Schotten asked me to help out on his first feature, DEAD LIFE. This was back in the summer of 2002. Although my contribution to that film was minimal, I learned a lot by watching.

Film school: yes or no?

No.

Tell us a bit about your film, “Murder Is Like Sex”

The title was inspired by what Dario Argento said in an interview about his movies. He said the murder scenes were like sex, because they start with foreplay (stalking), progress to the main action (attack on the victim), and end in climax (death).

In the case of my movie, it refers to the lead character (Kevin Wright). He hasn't had much success in dating women, which has caused a lot of fear and resentment. He repressed these feelings because they are hard to deal with. But the feelings eventually manifest themselves, and the movie tells us what happens when he has to deal with them.

What was the budget for the film, how long was the shoot and what did you shoot on?

I didn't keep track of the budget, but it was minimal. Other than Robyn Griggs, we got everything else for free.

We could only shoot on weekends. It was over a period of two years, but would have been considerably shorter if two things hadn't happened: first, one actress was almost never available during the early stages, then the other actress decided to quit on her last day of shooting. We wound up having to reshoot her entire part. Fortunately, we got Heather Summers, who did a fantastic job, even though she had never acted before.

We used a Panasonic DVX-100, which was one of the best consumer digital camcorders at that time, in film mode (24 fps).

I really liked the whole story and thought it was drawn out well. Talk about the screenwriting process and how you put the script together

Thanks, I am glad you enjoyed the story.

Although I wrote the screenplay, it was based on a novella that I co-wrote many years ago with my friend, Mike Petrucci. In it, a guy meets a beautiful woman who turns out to be a demon in disguise. She changes into another form near the end of the novella, but I decided not to include that in the movie, because to do it well would require expensive special effects. Also, I came up with the idea about how she was created by reading some literature from Tibet about tulpas, which are entities that can deliberately created by a person's mind. Some American paranormal researchers believe poltergeists are created in a similar way, except that the person responsible is not aware of doing it, like Kevin in the movie.

The film was far more driven by the story than by sex or violence… even though the story could’ve lent itself to having some excessive sex and violence. Was this intentional?

Definitely. The story always comes first - although if we had more money, there probably would have been more sex and violence.

What were your goals when putting the film together? Was this something that you put together for the sake of just getting a feature done or were you always intending to get it distributed?

I was just hoping to get noticed by the indie movie scene. Unfortunately, after shooting, a couple of the members of my crew decided that the movie belonged to them, and took the necessary legal steps to accomplish this. I didn't find out until it was too late, so I lost control of the movie at that time.

How is distribution going? Talk a bit about the process of getting distribution and is there anything you would pass on to other indie filmmakers?

I have no idea. I set up the meeting between the distributor and the members of the company, but I wasn't there when they signed the contract. I noticed that they had never put the movie on IMDB, so I submitted the basic data (title, director, etc) for them. The distributor thanked me, but the company sent me an e-mail saying that they were upset that I had set up the IMDB page without their permission.

My advice is to always be aware of your business and legal status regarding any movie you participate in.

Where can people find out more about “Murder Is Like Sex” or, better yet, buy a copy?

I normally wouldn't promote something that was stolen from me, but since I think J.R. Bookwalter is a good guy, go to the Tempe Video website and buy it there.

What’s next for you? Any more projects in the works?

My Parkinson's Disease, which started back in '96, is so severe now that it really limits what I can do. I have started another screenplay, though.

Also, Tempe Video is releasing "The Brass Ring", which is a documentary on the making of "Dead Life". I'm in that, and one of the extras is "The Man With The Talking Body" , a 2008 short that I wrote and acted in. Check their site for more details.

New Horror Out On DVD This Week...

I'm not going to lie, it's not the best week in new horror releases. In fact, it was a little tough to come up with what I would consider to be 'the big release of the week'... but there is new horror out, so if you're if you're plum out of shit to watch this week and you don't want to go see the new Harry Potter film again, don't fret. You should be able to find something here. Having said that, looking forward... I think next week will be a bit better. Anyhow, feel free to click on the titles to go to their Amazon page, where you can read more about them and/or buy them. Also, head over to our Youtube page to check out the trailers.

I guess that "Messengers 2: The Scarecrow" is the big release of the week, but I'm loathe to say that... as, well, that's just embarassing. I don't want to take anything away from it, but it sucks when the biggest horror release of the week is a straight to DVD release that was filmed in Bulgaria. So, yes, this is the prequel to the Sam Raimi produced, Pang Brothers directed film "The Messengers", which came out in 2007. This one is directed by Martin Barnewitz and the plot revolves around John Rollins, the simple North Dakotan farmer from the first film, who struggles to save his farm and keep his family together. So, he puts a mysterious scarecrow in his field, which comes to life and starts killing everyone who gets in its way. On a postive note, the scarecrow does help save the farm and change the farmers luck.

Bare with me on the names here, they're Finish and all sound the same (only one actually repeats), but... written by Tero Molin and Teemu Molin, directed by Tommi Lepola and Tero Molin, "Skeleton Crew" comes out of Finland and it's one of those horror films about horror films, that references horror films. Basically, a skeleton crew goes into a mental institution to shoot a horror film about the events that took place there, but when they uncover something from the basement... things go awry. Judging from the trailer, it looks like "Saw" meets "Haunted Hill" with lots of references to mainstream horror films. Looks kinda gory, could be good.

Personally, I think Ted Bundy has had enough films done about him, but... if you're aching for more, here's another. Originally called "Bundy: A Legacy of Evil", then "Bundy: An American Icon", the film is now being released as just "Bundy". I like the fact that both Kane Hodder and David DeLuise made it into the film, which is very cool. However, I'm not too cool with the fact that it looks like they're trying to do a bit of an "American Psycho" with the way Bundy's portrayed. There's only one Patrick Bateman and he's fictional... and he's Batman. They drive it home with the tagline, "Charmer. Liar. Serial Killer". I could be wrong with that assumption, but the trailer sure sets it up that way.

I couldn't find the trailer for the indie horror "Skare" on Youtube, which comes out of Britain, directed by Michael J Murphy. However, if you really want to see it, you can go to Sarcophilous Films Releasing's site to check it out, find that here. I believe the film is basically about a lady named Martha Tennant, who serves food to the Skare Valley Country Club during the day and harbors escaped prisoners at night... nudity, gore, low-budget - our kind of film.

"Hollywood Kills", written by Nicholas Brandt and Regan Wynne, directed by Sven Pape, is a torture porn type movie with a Hollywood twist. It's about an insane, reclusive director/producer that terrorizes people who come to Hollywood by twisting their dreams into fiendish torture in his own private "studio". Jesus, isn't Hollywood hell enough?

Last new release of the week is "Ghost Month", written and directed by Danny Draven. It's about a housekeeper that's drawn into a terrifying world of vengeful apparitions... restless spirits come back to mix with the mortals, looking for people to take their places in hell.