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The New Movie!

Here it is, folks -- the title of my next movie!

I begin shooting this film on Thursday. It's a 90-minute sound horror feature in B&W...

Filmmaker To Watch For

A couple of months ago I was invited to the premier of an indie film written and directed by a microbudget director you should keep an eye on. Shawn Kelley of Ruby Red Films hosted a fairly crowded gathering at his unveiling of Kill Your Television, his latest horror offering. Here's the deal: Shawn likes a genre I generally do not -- the stalk-and-slash variety. Seriously, I don't like this sub-genre of horror, generally. But Shawn's films show such an enjoyable talent with suspense and terror that they are an exception to my rule. Personally, I'd like to see more of what Shawn could do with my favorite category (supernatural horror), but I like what he does already so I recommend you check out Kill Your Television and then his previous film, Black Rose.

In Kill Your Television, a young woman finds herself alone after her boyfriend cancels their date to hang out and watch horror films. Her night grows progressively worse as more than one unwanted guest appears and her night of horror fun becomes far too real and not at all fun.

Check it out:

Kill Your Television

Hell's Bells Premier Event

Don't forget to get your tickets for the premier of Hell's Bells at the Fox in Redlands!

Hell's Bells Premier Event

Pre-Production Day!

This morning I pick up my female lead to determine hairstyle, go over costuming points and discuss the script. I have an acting coach employed on this film: Shaun Brower. At around dawn I woke up and reviewed a portion of an influence film, listening to a director's commentary. Now I'm having some tea, waking up to full speed, and will be heading off to get Maleina.

Maleina Malinskii

 This film started with one title which changed during the writing, but now I'm considering going back to the original. It's not a common word, but it is appropriate and also appropriately intriguing. Since this is a film I will produce more self-indulgently than the last, it's not going to be for the multi-plex ADD crowd. I think you likely know how I feel about that. This one has some very personal themes, though what some will assume is obvious will be off. Once the writing is done, the real fun part begins, and I don't just refer to the shooting. I'm talking about the subtext that bubbles to the surface. This is often kick-started for me by other films; little moments or shots from scenes of influential films that aren't just things I'll copy but more catalysts for my deeper understanding of what is actually going on. Homage as spark plug.

Drawing by Edith Head

So, today will be for dealing with symbolism and archetypal stimulants.

I can't wait to get started...

The Next No Budget Cinema Production Begins Soon!

That's right, I'll be going into production on the next film very soon.

It has been quite a chore getting the next movie off the ground. Not the actual production, which hasn't started yet, but just deciding which damned script to shoot! I wrote two complete screenplays in August, started three others in September, and am finally on the one that will be produced. I have a tentative title, I have the two leads cast, and I know essentially where it will be filmed. Once I finish the script, I cast the remaining roles and then we go into production. It will be a 90 minute feature which I will shoot entirely before my silent film "Hell's Bells" premiers. Those who attend the premier will be the first to see the trailer for this new film -- a horror movie with sound. I'm still deciding if it will be color or B&W.

I will reveal the lead, though:

Maleina Malinskii

 

H.P.Lovecraft Film Festival Report 2012

This past weekend was our second time at the San Pedro gathering of Lovecraft enthusiasts. Once again we stayed at the affordable and convenient Vagabond Inn, just a short walk from the Warner Grand Theater on Pacific. This theater, you will recall from my report last on the LCL blog, is a classic movie palace with amazing inlaid wood work in the ceiling. I highly recommend you take in an event or film there some time.

Me

The gang included my son, filmmaker Austin Bosley of Bury Shelly fame; my nephew, actor Bobby Harkins Jr, who appears in my films; his dad, Bob, who is a major patron of No Budget Cinema events; and Shawn Kelley, director of Kill Your Television and other films. There was much great discussion and raunchy humor, some beer and sodas, plenty of carbs. But we were there for the Lovecraftian entertainment.

Shawn Kelley

Bob, Bobby Jr, and Austin

The first night was a decent intro, featuring the three Cthulhu episodes of South Park, a feature film version of The Thing On The Doorstep submitted to the festival for competition, and (my favorite part of Friday night's offerings) a live vintage radio show performance of The Statement of Randolph Carter, complete with sound effects a la Foley. The South Park stuff I had seen, of course, but it's always fun. The Doorstep film wasn't my favorite. Wasn't crazy about it, lost my interest quick. But we still had Saturday to look forward to and journeyed back to the hotel for hanging out, beer and soda and snacks and making fun of Bobby Harkins Jr (as usual).

We stayed up late that night, slept in Saturday morning, grabbed sandwiches for lunch then lounged around the room until it was time to head to the theater. First up was a Lovecraftian Real Ghostbusters episode, most of which I spent perusing the bazaar. But I must admit the 'Hatecraft' episode of Scooby Doo (which I've always detested) was pretty funny and fit the theme of the event. Some stuff turned me off for a variety of reasons: annoying overuse of filters or ACTORS not simply acting but ACTING, and my favorite bugaboo: gore or anything similar to people getting sick. Thus did I walk out on more films than I expected to. That's just me, though.

Macabre Fantasy Radio Theater

There were about 17 submitted shorts, five of them I really enjoyed. My favorites were Bedtime For Timmy, George Jones and the Giant Squid (which won the judges' award), Doctor Glamour (which was fun and offered some unexpected hilarity), The Captured Bird and The Shunned House which was quite effectively creepy and made me want to see more of it. These films, except for Captured Bird, had direct Lovecraft thematic elements, Bird simply being rather a cool teaser for a bigger film more than a pure Lovecraft short.

Image from the colorful Doctor Glamour

What I think is really cool is that the film which won the audience favorite award is The Music of Jo Hyeja by Korean filmmaker Jihyun Park -- who was on her first ever trip to the USA to attend this festival! That has to be very exciting for her that she won. Her film is a very spooky version of Lovecraft's The Music Of Erich Zann. All this was followed by a rare screening of The Evil Clergyman starring Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton, which was a nice treat.

Clearly amused at something

We all bought some cool tee shirts, chatted with the folks involved with the Portland home version of the festival, and enjoyed a couple of days and nights of nerd heaven for a second year in a row. After Saturday night's screenings, we had ice cream at the after-party and then made our journey back through hundreds of big nasty roaches that infest Gaffey Street after dark -- quite fitting of a Lovecraft weekend, actually.


I will be submitting Hell's Bells to the Portland Lovecraft festival very soon, so stay tuned. I'll announce here whether it is selected for screening. All in all, it was another fun year at an amazing event that filmmaker Aaron Vanek works his butt off to make happen. I highly recommend all Lovecraft fans attend next year. We already can't wait!

Movie In Development In Canada

I don't only make no budget films, I also write, produce and develop other projects on higher budget levels. Check out this project being developed right now in Nova Scotia, adapted from a story I wrote with my sometime writing pal Mike Williamson:

Damnation