That's Right, I'm Talking About Lady Gaga's Video... And Why You Should Care

How many of you have seen the long version of Lady Gaga's music video for "Telephone"? You know, the ten minute version? I'll find it on Youtube and embed it below, in case you haven't. I have to say, I like the video. It has a grindhouse feel to it, plus a lot of skin and there's a lot of weird shit going on in it. I've watched it a few times, so it's safe to say that it keeps my attention. I know it's not horror, so why am I bringing it up? Well, because this site is as much about the indie horror industry as it is about indie horror... Actually, I'd say it's more so about the indie horror industry, but whatever. Anyhow, what's interesting about the video is that it's really just a short film. In fact, a lot of the short films that I see are shorter than this video. Now, this video, as of two days ago, has over 28 Million views on Youtube, been watched on MTV.com nearly 500,000 times and shared on Facebook and tweeted directly from the pop star's site some 150,000 times. That, my friends, is a lot of views... not only that, she got paid to make the video. No, not like because she's Lady Gaga and her label paid her, but through advertising. Watch the video, there's around ten different advertisers in it. From Miracle Whip to Virgin Mobile to the dating site, PlentyofFish.com. You think they're happy with the how the video has caught on? You're damn straight. So, she's made a shit load of money from all the advertisers, the short film has been watched millions of times and it didn't need TV, a cable company, a theater or a DVD player to do it... it was simply uploaded. And everyone involved is happier than a pig in shit. So, what can we take away from this?

Check out this article on Adage called "Why Long-Form Ads Are the Wave of the Future". It starts out by using this Lady Gaga example, but it gets into other 'long-form ads' and has links to some other examples, which are worth checking out. By the way, that's what they're calling this, a long-form ad, and let's not get too crazy here, it's really just a short film with advertising. Some of these long-form ads originate from the marketer/advertiser level, but some of them come from artists who attract advertisers to get involved. So, how would you get advertisers? Easy, well... easy to explain - get an audience. I'll be honest, if you can get an audience, you can get advertisers. Trust me, I work in advertising. So, are you putting this together yet? Short films, which have always been seen as the stuff of film schools and the little brother to feature films, have come in to their own AND could end up opening a lot of doors for a lot of filmmakers.

Okay, so most of our short horror films aren't going to get millions of views and turn into the next viral hit. However, as long as advertisers, big stars and big products get involved with short films... sorry, long-form ads, the market for short films will continue to develop and grow. Personally, I think the writing's on the wall, short films are going to explode - audiences are into them, the web is perfect for distributing them, advertisers are getting involved with them... How, when and where they explode, I have no idea, but I know it's going to be a good place to be. So, start coming up with your ten minute film ideas and figure out how to wrangle an audience. Until then, check out the Lady Gaga video...

Freddy Wins The Weekend & The Upcoming Week in Horror DVD's

Okay, I'll try to get everything back on track this week... and what better way to do that than by looking at the weekend box office? And it's a weekend where horror ruled. Yup, that's right, the reboot of "A Nightmare on Elm Street" won the weekend by a big margin. Actually, a big, big margin - sorry, "Furry Vengeance". In fact, it's a personal best for old Krueger, it out-grossed the entire runs of the first, second, fifth and seventh films, but that's not in terms of ticket sales. All in all, a good outing financially. Having said that, reviews were somewhat mixed... a lot of negative reviews came from the older camp. That camp, of course, would be the people that grew up on Freddy and loved Robert Englund... my camp. And, really, we're going to be tough to win over. I have a massive Freddy bust on my desk, as well as a couple of framed Freddy pictures. You're going to have a tough time convincing me that Robert Englund isn't Freddy, but the younger demographic barely knows Englund. So, how many young people went to "Nightmare"? A lot. 60% of the audience was 24 years old or younger. 40% were 18 - 24. The original "Nightmare on Elm Street" is currently 26 years old, so... yeah. Do the math - no allegiance to Englund from a lot of that group. In any case, it's good to see horror back on top. Now, let's take a look at the horror that's coming out on DVD this week. As usual, you can go to our Youtube Page to see the trailers or click on the titles and go to the films Amazon page, where you can read more about it and/or buy it.

"Vampegeddon" looks to be a very ambitious micro-budget film, filled with vampires, lesbian goth girls, gore and sex and it just shot to the top of my 'to see' list this week. If you're into the indie horror scene, watch the trailer and just try not to want to watch this. Some micro-budget filmmakers bite off more than they can chew and their film suffers due to it... and some get ambitious and pull it off. This looks to be the latter.

The trailer doesn't really do the film much justice... in fact, I'd go as far as saying that the trailer sucks ass, but "Dark Nature" did become a big underground hit in the UK last year. It's a dark comedy with some shock and blood and that's really what UK filmmakers excel at, so how bad could it be?

I have to credit "Mother's Day Massacre" with one thing - anchoring the film to a holiday. Tying your film to a holiday or specific date makes your film way more marketable. I mean, "Friday the 13th", "Silent Night, Deadly Night", "Halloween", "Prom Night", "My Bloody Valentine", the list goes on... working a holiday or a known date or time into the DNA of your film gives it a selling point. On top of that, the film looks great. Filled with "semi-retarded hillbillies who have a taste for DIY circumcisions and Peterbilt trucks". I heart hillbilly horror.

There is a definite rise in films that justify the first person camera. I think that's the right way to describe these films. You know, "Blair Witch", "Paranormal Activity", etc... "Meadowoods" throws its hat in the ring and, man alive, do they have a great idea here. It's about three college students that decide to keep a video journal to memorialize a savage and merciless murder that they're plotting... you know, because they're bored and want to do something that leaves a mark. I love the idea, great work.

"Slasher" is a German film and the trailer that I found doesn't have subtitles, but I'm assuming that film will... and, quite frankly, you don't need the subtitles to figure out what the films about. A group of college kids head up for a relaxing weekend in the woods, when... right, the film is called "Slasher". To work this plot, you gotta be over the top, as the story is tired. However, the last 15 seconds of the trailer really piqued my interest. Could be worth checking out.

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that "Gatekeeper: Unlock Your Worst Fears" is, in fact, an 8 minute short film. I found a trailer and it looks awesome, but do they really think that people will pay $18 for a short? Wouldn't they be better off just trying to sell it through iTunes for a few bucks or something? I could be missing something here and I'd love to hear the rationale behind this, but... there you go. Either way, the film looks great and I'd love to check it out. Not sure I'd pay $18, though.

What Would You Sacrifice For Art?

If you've sent me an email and haven't heard back or are wondering why I haven't posted anything since Monday, it's because it's been a hellacious and stressful week. Now, it's not due to anything that bad. I'm not sick, nor are any family members and I'm not teetering on personal disaster. It's all, as a friend of mine says, 'First World Problems'. Problems that the vast majority of the world would gladly take in trade for their current issues. Anyhow, there's been sleepless nights and lots of over thinking... and in that over thinking, I thought about my career path and how I got to where I am. Much like most of you, I have some friends who border on the poverty line... and I have some friends who live in sprawling mansions. Me? I fall somewhere in between. Every once in a while I think, how did one get to one place and one get to the other? Sure, I know some trust fund guys and people from wealthy families who've never had to worry, but I'll leave them out. They're anomalies. The truth is, when I look at my friends who are on the lower end of the spectrum, they almost always have picked a career that's arts related or is based on following some sort of dream. The other end of the spectrum? Stock brokers, finance guys, accountants, lawyers... and for a lot of them, their careers are a means to an end, when can I retire? Yes, I have friends that love jobs that I would consider menial and yes, I have friends who have earned great success in following their dreams, but they're also anomolies. As for me, as usual, I tried to balance risk and reward and went somewhere in between. So, what's the right thing to do? If you could go back in time, what would you do? What would you tell your kids to do?

You've heard it a thousand times. Find out what you love to do and do it, the money will follow. Well, I got news for you, that doesn't always happen. I knew from a very early age that I loved media, movies in particular. However, as I grew up and learned more, I just fell in love with the whole thing. Movies, TV, Marketing, Advertising, all of it. I love the creative aspects and I love the business aspects. Having said that, when I went to film school, I specialized in screenwriting. I LOVE writing a story. I love creating something, pulling something out of nowhere and making it something tangible. So, I figured that I would stick to media jobs where I could explore all the difference facets of the business, while allowing me the time to write on the side. I could learn the business, while pursuing my passion. Now, on paper, I have a good job and have built up enough of a resume to make me an asset to any media company and I still write on the side. However, I can't help but wonder... what if I had given up one of the two? What if I had said, "Fuck it, I'm taking part time jobs and odd jobs and putting every waking hour into writing..." OR "Fuck it, I'm giving up the writing and I'm going to go balls out on my career"? Then where would I be?

Like I said earlier, it's not that I'm in a bad position. I'm not, I'm doing just fine and don't feel sorry for me. Not by any means. My stress and issues are from problems that a lot of people would long to have. However, in times of stress, my brain starts clicking... especially when I try to sleep. Like any artsy guy, I get over-dramatic, I over-analyze and I think in third person... I'm just wondering if any of this stuff has crossed your mind and what do you think? In any case, I apologize for not having any real new indie-horror related material up over the last few days and I can't promise that I'll get back to regular posting next week, but I'll try.... and only because I love it.

"Kick Ass" and "The Losers" beat up by "Dragon" and a look at the week in horror on DVD

Even though "Kick-Ass" eked out the box office win last week, it fell off a cliff this last weekend and "How To Train Your Dragon" took its top spot back. "The Losers", which I would classify as in a similar sub-genre as "Kick-Ass", was, much like "Kick-Ass", a financial disappointment... Also, it should be duly noted that both of these films were heavily marketed. The second and third spot went to "The Back-Up Plan" and "Date Night", which are both girly, date movies... really. Fourth place went to "The Losers" and "Kick-Ass" was fifth. Now, even though I try to on a consistant basis, I can't speak for the masses... BUT, I thought "Kick-Ass" was pretty good. So, why didn't it do well? I don't really know, my guess is that demographic just doesn't go to the theaters any more, unless it's for something huge. Good kids movies are always profitable for various reasons; kids like to see movies multiple times, they take their parents, a lot of these films are for kids, but cast a wider net... Further, as long as teenagers don't want to talk to each other while they're on their awkward dates, the date movie will continue to pack them in on Friday and Saturday nights. Now, what does that say for "Nightmare on Elm Street", which comes out this Friday? Will horror transcend this action-comedy trap and prove that it's still a viable genre at the box office? I think so. I think it'll take top spot and I think it'll do it easy. Anyhow, the other news is, not only did "Avatar" prove that there's a way to make money on huge budget films, it proved that the DVD/Blu-ray market is more than just alive when it shattered the sales record held by "The Dark Knight". Is that because there's a bigger home entertainment audience these days or is it because "Avatar" is such a juggernaut film? That's a good question and I can't answer it. Since we're on the home entertainment market, let's check out all the horror that's coming out on DVD this week. As usual, you can head over to our Youtube Page and see all the trailers and you can click on the title to be taken to the films Amazon page, where you can read more and/or buy it.

Should I really be giving "Transylmania" any time here? Probably not. If you think entertaining action-comedies do poorly at the box office, how do you think crappy horror-farces do? Piss poor. This is actually the sequel to the 2006 film, "National Lampoon's Dorm Daze 2" and, quite frankly, it sucks... no pun intended. What sucks even worse is the fact that you could probably have made over ten low-budget features on the budget they had for this. Anyhow, next...

"Sympathy" is a low-budget horror film and it absolutely lit up the indie horror film festival circuit. Unfortunately for me, this is the first that I've heard of it and I'll definitely be checking this one out as soon as possible. From what I've read and seen, this looks like one of the films you need to look up to and emulate. There's only a few actors, they keep the locations to a minimum and they take a typical, run of the mill story-line and turn it on its head. Indie horror filmmakers, this your film to check out this week. I don't know what's up with the trailer that I found, but it's the only one I could find.

"Marked" is the first of three films released by Night Light Films this week. The others are "The Fear Chamber" and "Passed the Door of Darkness". All three have notable actors and a bit of budget behind them, plus they all look pretty good. "Marked" is a creepy looking paranormal film, "The Fear Chamber" is about serial killer that steals organs and "Passed the Door of Darkness" looks like it takes the serial killer genre to a whole new level... and they all look fairly gruesome. Now, what's REALLY interesting is how cheap they are. They're $6.99 each. I'm wondering if these guys are testing the waters on new price points, trying to open the market up. In any case, all the films look worth watching and, at that price, it's just a bit more than renting them. Also, I'm going to look further into this Night Light Films business...

"Spirit" looks to be a micro-cinema film and, unfortunately for them, they picked the same title as the big-budget film, "The Spirit". So, I can't find much about it and I don't have the time to do serious digging. Lesson: if you don't have a big budget for marketing and making your film stand out, you probably want to pick a title that stands out a bit more. Something that's easy to find. Try to do a search for "Spirit", then do a search for the afore mentioned "Passed the Door of Darkness" and note the differences.

Horrorfind, Scarefest, HP Lovecraft Film Fest and news from my camp...

A bit of good news from my camp... I officially finished the first draft of my latest script. Now, it's not in any condition to show anyone, but it's done - 109 pages of raw, unpolished screenplay. I'm going to take a few days off from it, then take a few passes through it and fix it up a bit. Then, it'll go off to a few trusted sources and I'll take it from there. When I first conceived of the idea, which was basically a modern take on "Taxi Driver" with a bit of Lovecraftian angle, I had the whole story plotted out in my head... then, you know how it goes. I wrote out the treatment and promptly dumped my Lovecraftian angle. Then, as I'm writing, a few more changes, add a character here, change the ending a bit, move this, alter that and, guess what? The whole thing is completely different than what I originally conceived. I don't know if this happens to you, but, to quote Indiana Jones, "it happens to me all the time". Anyhow, I'm pretty happy with it... at least until I get feedback. Now that I'm taking a short break from that, I can try to tackle my inbox and, quite frankly, that's a far scarier place than anything I can come up with. In keeping with last week, I'm going to pass on some new information from the festival world.

So, Horrorfind Weekend is coming up in September, it takes places over the 3rd-5th in Gettysburg, PA. Horrorfind is a great mix of everything, they have a film festival, they'll have celebrities, events, seminars and parties. According to their site, the best way to describe the weekend is like this, "P.T. Barnum had "The Greatest Show On Earth" with his circus, Horrorfind has "The Spookiest Show On Earth" with the Horrorfind Weekend". If you live on the East Coast, it looks to be a great one to attend. In fact, it's not too far from my parents place... I may have to plan a visit around then.

Scarefest is a ways away, but they've already wrangled up some pretty big stars. The horror & paranormal convention takes place in Lexington, Kentucky from November 5th to 7th and, already, they've got George Romero, Adrienne Barbeau, Amelia Kinkade and Tom Atkins swinging by. The cool thing about this festival is the fact that it's also a paranormal convention, so they have psychics, ghost hunters and demonoligists there, as well. They actually don't do a film festival, so to speak, but they do have screenings... I think.

The H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival & CthulhuCon has a couple things going on. They have the annual festival in October in Portland, Oregon, as well as their first film festival in L.A. in September. I like the fact that they're specialized, all submissions have to be influenced by or related to Lovecraftian themes or stories. Having said that, don't feel shunned... you'd be surprised how far reaching Lovecraftian themes and ideas can go. I mean, he's one of the godfather's of modern horror, after all.

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

Having An Idea Ripped Off... ever happen to you?

I was thinking about all this, this morning and I was just wondering what you guys thought and wanted to know if there's any horror stories out there...

So, I've been reading "The Writer Got Screwed (but didn't have to)" by Brooke A. Wharton... I just started it, really. The first chapter is called "Why Do My Ideas Always End Up In Someone Elses Script?" - it's all about copyright and protecting yourself. After reading it, it's pretty amazing when you realize the myths that persist around copyright, such as registering your idea with the WGA is an effective copyright (it's not), mailing your script to yourself can prove ownership through the postage dates (it doesn't) or that you can sue someone if they steal your idea (you can't). Truth is, there is absolutely nothing stopping anyone from stealing your idea. This is why you always see movies with similar premises, this is why The Asylum is allowed to make films like "Snakes on a Train", "Pirates of Treasure Island" and "AVH: Alien vs Hunter". You can copyright an original piece of work, but an idea? A premise? A thought? No. There are ways to protect yourself, but an idea is just an idea. Now, having said that...

I was listening to a podcast from The Advertising Show this morning, where they were interviewing a guy named Scott Belsky. He authored a book called "Making Ideas Happen" and founded a company called Behance, which develops products and services for the creative industries. He was talking about how a lot, if not most, of the creative ideas in the world either just die or fizzle out because they're never executed properly. The reason being is that most creative types don't thrive in corporate environments and they hate to actually share their ideas. He says that we need to share, we need to discuss and we need to write these things down and create action steps around them. We need to create an infrastructure that nurtures and develops creativity, not hinders it. So, talk about your ideas, put them out there and find people who want to discuss them. The more you do that, the better your ideas become and the better chance there is that they'll actually be executed.

So, it would seem that these two things are a bit contradictory, right? Well, yeah... one is the left brained, legal thing and the other is the right brained, creative thing. So, what to do? Here's the thing... I've talked with SO many people who won't disclose their ideas and they hold them tight. "This idea is so great, I just can't tell anyone about it". I can't think of the last time that any one of those people actually made anything... The truth is, most people won't steal your idea. The studios only steal successful ideas and if your idea is successful, you're already sipping mai-tai's on the beach, so don't worry about it. However, let's go worst case scenario, you're pitching an idea and you get turned down, only to see your idea on the screen a few years later and the guy you pitched to is involved. Well, there are ways to prevent that from happening (you'll have to read "The Writer Got Screwed"), but it does happen. But, is that a reason to continue to hold your ideas tight? I mean, if you just hold on to all your ideas, they may never get out. If you look at risk vs reward... Personally, I would risk having an idea stolen for the potential reward of furthering my career and having one of my concepts come to fruition. Maybe I haven't been screwed over enough, maybe I think that most people are honest and trustworthy, I don't know. At the end of the day, I'm going to keep throwing my ideas out there in the hopes that one of them catches. If it gets stolen in the meantime, at least I tried.

What do you think? Are there any horror stories out there? Just interested to hear what other think about this...

"Kick Ass" Gets Pummelled and The Upcoming Week in Horror On DVD

So much for that experiment... "Kick Ass" fell flat at the box office, losing out to "How To Train Your Dragon", which has been in the theaters for a few weeks now. Now, as usual, there's a lesson to be learned here. They're calling this sub-genre a superhero-comedy and this particular sub-genre does not do well when it's not geared for a very young audience. The most successful film in this sub-genre and, really, the only successful film out of this sub-genre, is the animated film, "The Incredibles". If you expand the sub-genre, you could make a case for "Watchmen" to be in there, as it's not exactly your typical superhero film, either. It wasn't a comedy, but it did step outside the comfort zone of a standard superhero film. Regardless, it ALSO underperformed. So, what can we learn? Well, for screenwriters... stay away from the superhero genre all together. I certainly wouldn't be pitching it. Audiences haven't been flocking to spoofs, comedies or any other type of sub-genre that steps out of the typical superhero framework and that means that the studios won't exactly be clamoring over each other to get at another one, especially one that's on spec. However, I think this may open up an opportunity if you're in the indie or micro-budget film scene, as I do think we may be ripe for a new take on the superhero genre and it's going to have to come out of the low-budget world. This is an arena where risks can be taken and I'd love to see a low-budget superhero horror or something that really turns the genre upside down. Something can be done here and it's got my brain going... if you're an indie-horror or micro-budget filmmaker that's looking for an idea and this got your wheels spinning, shoot me an email - I've got a few ideas. Anyhow, let's take a look at the horror that's coming out on DVD this week. As usual, head over to our Youtube Page by clicking HERE and you can see all the trailers. You can also click on the film's title and be taken to its page on Amazon, where you can read more and/or buy it.

So, I really liked "The Lovely Bones". It's not a slasher film, it's not gory and it's not really that scary, to be honest. However, there are definitely some thriller-type moments, the film deals with death and purgatory and, well, there's a serial killer in it. The film had a budget of $65Million, which is quite low by Jackson's standards, and it only grossed just over $93Million worldwide, which makes it a bit of a dud, money-wise. Although it gets a bit preachy and sappy, it's worth seeing, especially if you're a fan of Jackson's earlier, non-gory work like "Heavenly Creatures". Also, I have to say, I'm always a sucker for any film that explores the after-life, I just like seeing people's interpretations...

This is the first that I've heard of the film "Homecoming", but it does star Mischa Barton and it was directed by Morgan J. Freeman, not the Morgan Freeman that you're thinking about, Danny Dufraine, but the guy who made "Hurricane Streets" and won three awards at Sundance in 1997 with it. Freeman also did "Desert Blue", some of "Dawson's Creek", "American Psycho 2" and was a producer on "Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County". The film is about a former small-town golden boy and his new girlfriend that come home to discover that his high school sweetheart, played by Barton, has an unhealthy obsession with him.

"Fraternity Massacre at Hell Island" is written and directed by Mark Jones and he's doing some interesting stuff here... sure, you have the typical fraternity tom-foolery surrounding a killer clown that's escaped from a mental home, but you also have the main character battling homophobia. Jones has made a few gay-themed projects, including a web-based soap opera called "The Edge of Happiness" and another feature called "Eli Parker Is Getting Married?". To be honest, the inclusion of gay themes in your film almost guarantees you exposure at festivals and in the media, as well as distribution. It's an interesting angle to take, whether or not you're actually gay... may help you get financing, too. Just some thoughts.

"Knife Edge" is a British film that came out in 2009. It's about a successful Wall Street trader that returns to Britain with her family to find that her new home in the countryside contains a disturbing secret. The film is directed by Anthony Hickox and it's a return to horror for him. His first film was "Waxwork" in 1988, then he went on to do such films as "Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth" and "Warlock: The Armegeddon" before getting into more mainstream straight to DVD stuff like a few Dolph Lundgren and Stephen Seagal movies in the late nineties and early two thousands. Welcome back, Anthony, let's hope that Dolph and Stevie don't miss you too much.

"Braincell" is a micro-budget film from Alex Birrell and it's about a wave of violence that spreads due to the strange experiments of Dr. Joseph Cornwall. The film has a great cast of micro-budget and low-budget horror stars, including Raine Brown, Joe Zaso and friend of Dead Harvey, Billy Garberina. Top of my list for the week, for sure.

There are two films from Khavn De La Cruz coming out this week; "Vampire Of Quezon City" and "The Family That Eats Soil". He's done a ton of films, they're all messed up, and he's the outspoken, experimental filmmaker that's considered to be the father of Philippine digital filmmaking. In the late nineties, he owned and managed Oracafe, which was a cultural hub for Philippine writers, musicians, filmmakers and other artists and went on to make twenty three features and over seventy short films. Very interesting guy and I want to check out a bunch of his films now.

Is It Happy Hour Yet? Well, until it is, here's some info on some film festivals...

Summer must be right around the corner... I really want to sit on a patio and drink cold beers imported from Mexico that are served in icy buckets, all the marketing campaigns for all the Hollywood tent pole films are gearing up and my inbox is filled with emails about upcoming indie film festivals. It's a good time to be alive. Then again... I guess it's always a good time to be alive and I'm not really willing to entertain the alternative. Anyhow, as you know, I think that the indie film festival scene is one of the most important facets of the indie horror industry and we all need to submit our films, submit our screenplays, attend the festivals and, generally, do whatever we can to support them. There are major shifts coming in the industry, but the festivals will always be the backbone. So, if you're involved with a festival and I'm not already signed up, please sign me up for your newsletter or send me an email and I'll keep pushing your information out to our readers. I used to dedicate every Friday to talking about the festivals and I'll do it again, as long as the emails keep coming in. So, here's some information on some of our favorites, click on the links to be taken to their homepages...

The FrightNight Film Fest is coming up this July 30 - August 1st and the deadline for submissions is June 21st, still plenty of time! It takes place in Louisville, KY and they give you a full meal deal. You can submit feature length films, short films, screenplays and even trailers. They also do piles of events and have lots of guests. This year, they have the living legend, Roger Corman, plus a "Night of the Creeps" and "Fright Night" reunion and a lot more. Frightnight is a staple in the festival scene and they accept a LOT of films, so... this is definitely one of the festivals to take a closer look at.

Shriekfest is now open for submissions, deadline is May 22 and late deadline is July 10th... hmmm, I wonder if I can have my script done for it? I'll keep you posted on that. Anyhow, they've added two new categories, so check this out... you can submit features, shorts, documentaries, music videos, screenplays and now webisodes and original songs. How about that? This is their 10th year and they do a real bang-up job. It takes place in L.A. and it's one of the ones that you want to be involved with, for sure.

Dark Carnival is also now open for submissions and they accept shorts, features, trailers and NOW, screenplays. To be honest, their festival isn't for a while, it's in November, but they've just passed on that they're now accepting screenplays, so I thought I'd mention them. From what I hear, they're a helluva lot of fun and do a week-long celebration of all things horror, including art exhibits, live entertainment, merchandise vendors, special guests and, of course, the festival itself. It's held in Bloomington, Indiana.

Have a great weekend everyone and enjoy a few buckets of beer!

Short Films and an Interview with Andrew Newall, the Writer/Director of "Someone Else"

Just a few days ago, I had yet another conversation about how hard it is to break into this industry as a creative type... They happen occasionally and people who haven't "broken in" are, obviously, far more prone to them. What's interesting to note is that everyone that I went to film school with that concentrated on something more technical, say... camera or sound, has done very well for themselves. In fact, one of my good friends from film school, the guy who shot all of my films, went on to shoot reality TV. He's great at networking and has subsequently travelled the world as a cameraman and is now directing a reality show for MTV. On the other side of the coin, I know of no huge success stories of people that concentrated on just the creative stuff like writing or directing or filmmaking, as a whole. Is there a moral here? I don't know, but then again, it all depends on your definition of success... and I'd like to think that our stories aren't over yet. In fact, I'd like to think we're still in the first act.

Anyhow, the debate rages on in our little circles, usually after far too much booze. Someone got a nibble from a studio, someone has a literary agent reading their material, someone just finished a script, someone just had their indie film distributed, yet... here we all are. Waiting around for success to come knocking. What's the best route to take? Should you write spec scripts? Should you make low-budget features? Should you make short films? Or should you just take a job in the industry, somewhere, then pursue your filmmaking and writing on the side and wait for the two worlds to merge? If you're looking for an answer, I don't have it. All I can say for sure is, you're not going to succeed if you don't keep trying and nothing happens overnight, so you might as well be doing one of the above mentioned things. Myself, I'm concentrating on writing, but I do think the world of short filmmaking is going to explode and it's going to be a great place to be.

Let me just say that if you've made a short film, I encourage you to send it over to me. Usually it doesn't cost anything, just post it online and I'll watch it. It's for completely selfish reasons, too. Due to how people consume media now and where things are going, I think short films are going to become more and more marketable and are going to be getting more and more respect and I like checking them out. Whether we know it or not, we're watching more and more short films all the time through Youtube, on Facebook and other sites, not to mention all the festivals that are popping up. Anyhow, I just recently saw another great short film, this one called "Someone Else", from Andrew Newall and I spoke with him about the film. Technically, the film was great. It was acted well, shot well and it looked fantastic. However, for me, where it excelled was in how it was all put together. The film really opened this little window into this horrifying world and told a complete story. He could've flushed it out, but he didn't. It was quick, it was concise, I mean it was only four minutes long, but the story you get is so much longer. In fact, I was left thinking about it for a lot longer than four minutes. Anyhow, we had the pleasure of discussing the film with Newall...

So, tell us about your short film, “Someone Else”.

It’s a 4 minute film about a young woman who lives on her own, who frequently finds things have been moved out of place here and there. This has been going on for a while and she’s not sure if she’s done it herself or if there’s someone else somewhere in the house. The young woman is played by Karen Bartke.

If you don’t mind us asking, what was the budget?

The budget was around £200 (approx $300). Most of that went on hiring the office location for a day. Cast and crew all worked for nothing, which was fantastic.

I love horror films that are based around fears and anxiety revolving around what happens when you sleep. Really, it’s when we’re at our most vulnerable. So, where did you get the idea from?

I wanted to write something that would scare an adult, so I thought the best thing to do was ask an adult what scares them and go from there. Psychological fear seemed to be a common theme, and I was looking to do something more psychologically scary than gory anyway - not that I don’t like blood and guts. I make time for zombies and vampires.

The film is only 4 minutes long, but you did a great job of telling a full story. The antagonist doesn’t say a word, yet… with just a few actions, in just a few seconds, I completely get her character. Talk about how you flushed out the idea and developed the characters.

The antagonist (played by Sharon Osdin) never had any lines from the beginning. I felt her scene didn’t need any. The actions would hopefully explain themselves. From the start, I knew it was going to be a real person hidden in the house. A real threat gave it a more eerie feeling. The trickiest part in the character development was making it feasible that another person could be in the house, unnoticed. How did they get in and why were they there? Writing a quick character bio helped, even though her background isn‘t mentioned. She became a stalker taken to the extreme. She monitors the house owner’s actions/reactions, mannerisms, day-to-day patterns, until she decides she wants to take her place. I’m glad it came across as a full story, and not a couple of minutes taken out of a longer film.

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

The interest in film was there from a young age, but the idea of being seriously involved just seemed away up in the clouds. I used to work beside Simon Ross, who co-produced Someone Else. He was doing film production at college and I talked to him about it all. He suggested I get a book on screenwriting as a start, so I did, and started pouring out ideas on to scripts. Mark Boggis, the DoP on Someone Else, was a filmmaker friend of his and I helped them out on a couple of their early projects, running for them, storyboarding, etc. I saw every project we worked on was bigger than the last, and in 2002, we wrote and produced Cool Blue, which Mark directed. It got shown at a film festival in Glasgow and I saw my name on the big screen as a writer and producer. That was a buzz, and I thought if I could do it with that one, I could do it again.

As far as influences go, I get most inspiration from reading interviews with writers/filmmakers, and watching their DVD commentaries. That way, I’m hearing about what they do in their own words, whether they’re from here in Scotland or wherever. I like what I’ve seen of Christopher Nolan’s films. His Batman films have been good, but I really liked Insomnia. I think he could direct a good horror. I also like some of Brian De Palma’s work. I’ve seen some smooth camera movements in his films and that’s what I was looking for in Someone Else. In Scotland, the first names that pop into my head would be Peter Mullan and Lynne Ramsay.

Film school: yes or no?

Can’t answer that one as I haven’t been to any but it sounds like a sensible start.

What’s your goals for “Someone Else”? Are you looking to enter into festivals and get some accolades? Are you just using it as a calling card and are looking to open some doors? Talk about why you made the film and what your goals with it are. Have you accomplished those goals?

I made it to enter into Zone Horror’s film competition in 2009. As it happened, we missed the deadline but it was too long anyway (Zone Horror’s film has to be 2 mins max). We had two scripts to choose from: one was a horror comedy and the other was this one. My immediate goal is to get it into festivals, not to go looking for accolades but just to see how it holds its own in competition, and to see if people get scared!

Have you entered it into any festivals? If so, how did it do? Is the festival scene something that you would recommend to other filmmakers? Why or why not?

I’ve submitted it to some but so far, it hasn’t played. It had a screening in Manchester in February. Even if it didn’t play at all, I’ll promote it other ways. Reviews so far have been fairly positive, I’m happy to say. I’d recommend the festival scene because you’re getting it promoted and it’s being seen by an unbiased audience. One thing you’d maybe want to watch for is the entry fees can mount up if you’re targeting the major ones all the time.

Did you learn anything through the process of getting the film made that you could pass on to other filmmakers who are looking to go out and make a short film?

The biggest lesson I learned from the whole production was to be as organised as possible before the shoot.

Talk about the indie horror scene, where do you think it is now and where do you see it going?

I think we’ve been seeing more psychological horror in film in recent years, as opposed to mainly gore or “jump” scares. Using an example from short films, Kasting was good. It won the 2008 Zone Horror competition and I thought it was very well done, very atmospheric and kept tension building. It made perfect use of their 2 minute rule. El Orfanato (The Orphanage) was a Spanish feature from 2007 which I enjoyed. I liked how it used the children’s game near the end. Where do I see the indie horror scene going? Well zombies and vampires don’t look like they’re going away any time soon…

Where can people check out “Someone Else”?

Nowhere at the minute, unless I send them a DVD copy! Hopefully at a festival soon. After I’ve taken it as far as I can, I’ll upload it to you tube. Cool Blue, our other short, is on there.

What’s next for you?

We’re determined to film another short this year. We have a few scripts we’re looking at. Personally, I’m hungry to do another one. I had a short story I wrote make it to the finals in a competition in the U.S. I think it would make a good short.

News From The Box Office and The Upcoming Week in Horror

So, comedy beat out action at the box office... kind of. Really, there was no clear winner, as "Date Night", "Clash of the Titans" and "How to Train Your Dragon" all came in within a couple million dollars of each other, which is nothing. What's a couple million dollars? However, they did come in, in that order. "Clash" dropped big time and "Dragon" held in there a lot better than people expected. Not much to report, really, so I'll just look to next week. This coming Friday has two big movies coming out, "Death at a Funeral" and "Kick Ass". Let's just say that I won't be seeing "Death at a Funeral" and leave it at that. However, I'm really interested in "Kick Ass", as, to be honest, it's really unique and I want to see how it does. It's based on a comic book of the same name, although the rights to the film version were sold before the first issue was even published. It's about a teenager that wants to become a superhero, then gets caught up in a bigger fight when he meets Big Daddy, a former cop that's training his eleven year old girl to be a ruthless vigilante. I'm interested in it because it really seems to be going for a younger demographic (an eleven year old antagonist, a teenager that wants to be a superhero, a flashy soundtrack), HOWEVER, it's been called "jaw-droppingly violent", "relentlessly violent" and has an eleven year old girl that is more vulgar than a bus load of drunken sailors on their way to a whore house. The budget wasn't that big, by Hollywood standards, only $28Million, so I guess the risk is low for Lionsgate... but it's an interesting angle and I do want to check it out and see how it does. Anyhow, on to the horror that's coming out on DVD this week. As usual, you can go to our Youtube Page and check out the trailers and you can click on the titles, where you can go to their Amazon Page and read more and/or buy the film.

The new Platinum Dunes reinvisioning of "A Nightmare on Elm Street" hits the screens in a couple weeks, so we're getting some rereleases of the original. Quite honestly, I still think of the original as a classic. I grew up on Freddy and I heart him, what can I say? An antagonist with the personality and look of Freddy Krueger that comes after you in your dreams is simply f'ing ingenious. When do people watch horror movies? At night. What do they do after the movie is over? Generally, go to bed. When does Freddy get you? When you go to sleep. From a writing perspective, it's just damned smart. Your nightmares are real, now go to bed. Damn. Anyhow, you can now get the original "A Nightmare on Elm Street" on Blu-ray and get the entire "Nightmare on Elm Street Collection" on regular DVD.

"Creature of Darkness", written and directed by Mark Stouffer, is about four young couples that head off to do some off-roading, but end up being attacked by 'The Catcher', an alien (or human or thing... I don't know) that's "a skilled and brutal hunter of human specimens for alien science". Reviews aren't that great, but it does look like it's got a bit of budget behind it. The trailer's very strange, as it has an official trailer at the front end, but then it cuts to this choppy sequence of events that I can't really figure out. I'm not going to lie to you, I really don't know what's going on here. Next.

Aliens are big this week, as you also get "Infection: The Invasion Begins". The title sounds a bit low-budget, but it's got a decent cast of people that you'd recognize and it's directed by Howard Wexler. This is the first real film of this kind that Wexler's directed, but he's spent a long time in the camera department, both as a cinematographer and camera operator, splitting his time between making straight-to-DVD horror and porn. Granted, it's been mostly horror for the last decade or so... but a career in porn will linger like the smell that filming a porn leaves behind... not that I know. I'm just guessing. Really. Anyhow, the plot is fairly interesting, as it's about a small town that WAS attacked on September 9th, 2009 and the film takes place sixty years later with the last survivor recounting the details of what the government calls 'the start of the modern plague'. Interesting angle, I like that.

"Daisy Chain" comes out of Ireland and it's directed by Aisling Walsh. It was nominated for best achievement in production and best actress for Samantha Morton at the British Independent Film Awards. You've got a classic horror backdrop, where an emotional fragile family moves to a remote village following the tragic death of their baby daughter, which sets up them taking in a disturbed and orphaned autistic girl called Daisy. One thing leads to another and, as you would expect, Daisy is not what she seems... in fact, she may be something far more malevolent.

Around seven years ago, Sean Tretta brought us "The Great American Snuff Film" and it went on to become a bit of a cult classic. Now, we get "The Greatest American Snuff Film", which in long form, is called "The Greatest American Snuff Film - Directors Cut Special Edition". Now, I don't know if this is a remake or reinvisioning of the original, but if you haven't seen the first, it'll be worth picking up. What's great about these films, and what I love about them, is the fact that he's justifying using an extremely low-budget medium. Yes, it looks low-budget. Yes, it's gritty. Yes, anyone could put this together... but that's the point. You want to know how to make a no-budget film marketable? Look at what Tretta's done with these two films.

"Mental Scars" was actually already released... and not that long ago, just back in December. I'm pretty sure what I said then is still valid: "Mental Scars" is from Mischa Perez and it's got one of the creepiest looking killers I've seen in a while. However, I feel that he should've been taller... maybe move a bit slower. That could be just me, though. In any case, he goes by the name David Taggart, but his ancient Native American tribe refers to him as "the Protector" - a dark figure in the night who scavenges the grounds in search of human flesh... and he's got his work cut out for him here, when a bunch of investors try to turn a dilapidated old junk yard that sits on top of a Native burial ground into a profitable parking lot.