With 2015 steadfast behind us sailing into history, we here at We Are Indie Horror are celebrating our first year’s anniversary. The first week of January 2015, we started as a Facebook community page and over the course of one year, we have grown into what you see today. Before we start featuring any FearMakers for the new year, We Are Indie Horror wants to take a look back at all the FearMakers that kept The Fear Alive since we began. Every day this week, we will release a list of ten or so FearMakers and their project which we’ve featured over the last year. How many do you remember?
1/5/15 Tony Wash – The Muck
Tony Wash was born in the Chicagoland area where he has spent most of his life. After receiving an undergraduate degree in communications and art, Wash decided to tighten his focus on the film industry by attending Tom Savini’s Special FX School in Monessen, PA. Wash also hoped to give his production company, Scotchworthy Productions the diversity it would need to be successful in the independent arena. Showcasing award-winning video production and practical special FX design, Scotchworthy Productions has become a Midwestern staple for quality, independent, genre-specific projects.
1/12/15 Gene Blalock – Visions
Award-winning Los Angeles-based Director, Gene Blalock, is known for his touching, heart-warming films as much as his eccentric short horror vignettes. Bringing a decidedly human perspective to each of his works, Gene’s works reflect our common humanity back, as if from a mirror of compassion, for us to examine and consider. Regardless of genre, Gene’s work rings true in a thought-provoking way. Gene Blalock heads the production company Seraph Films which is a creative, dynamic independent film production company, driven by passion for original, meaningful, and frequently quirky films. Located in Los Angeles, the heart of the movie and entertainment industry, Seraph Films strives to make unique film and media while pursuing the love of story-telling and film-making creativity.
1/19/15 Ray Sullivan – Self-Assembly
Ray Sullivan is a director of short horror films based in Dublin, Ireland. In 2012 he decided to retire from working as a freelance VFX artist to pursue directing full-time. Since then he’s directed three short films, culminating in his latest and greatest work Self-Assembly. Last year he formed a new production company named Monolith Pictures. The company’s aim is to undertake lower budget projects that are reliant on VFX. In 2015 Ray planned to begin working on his first feature film.
1/26/15 Tim Wolak – Mastication
Tim Wolak was born in Hammond, Indiana. He attended Tribeca Flashpoint Academy in Chicago, where he focused in Screenwriting. After graduating from Tribeca, he continued writing original screenplays. 2015 saw Tim complete production on his latest film Ku Klux Klowns, a horror comedy inspired by the grind house, exploitation and midnight movies of the 1970’s and 1980’s in which he grew up watching. Tim’s passion is horror, sci-fi, and fantasy and he hopes to have his work seen by as many people as possible. Tim’s short film titled Mastication, is to be featured in the upcoming horror compilation, World of Death. Other than the art of filmmaking, he does effects make-up, traditional painting, and prop building.
2/2/15 William & Melanie Coleman – Night Terror
William and Melanie Coleman are husband and wife filmmakers from Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. They have been creating music videos and short films since 2009 under their multimedia production company, 3 Demon Entertainment. In 2012, the duo shot and released their first short horror/comedy Frankencock. The filmmakers continued 2013 with creating a proof of concept trailer called The Reaper and their controversial short Memory. William and Melanie released their short Night Terror in late 2014. Also part of the World of Death Horror Anthology, the Coleman’s will be showcasing Memory when the compilation is released.
2/9/15 Bo Mathorne – The Backwater Gospel
Bo Mathorne, creator of The Backwater Gospel, graduated from the Animation Workshop in Denmark, where he made The Backwater Gospel for his Bachelors project back in 2011. Bo is currently working in the gaming world, but the Animation Workshop is still in full swing.
2/16/15 Emmett Loverde – Curtains
“Curtainswas an idea I had long before I had access to a camera or the means to shoot it. Once it was in my grasp to bring the movie to life, I began shooting it on weekends with friends and had a ball. Some folks have seen the trailer and actually want me to make the full feature, so maybe that is in the cards for the future.” -Emmett Loverde
2/23/15 Thom Newell – In Defense Of Traditional Marriage
Thom Newell is a Director and Editor living in Los Angeles, by way of the Midwest. He was a relative late-comer to the horror genre, only sinking his teeth into the classics once he moved to boarding school at 16 years of age. Some of his early favorites that hold up would be Craven’s A Nightmare On Elm Street, Scream, Cronenberg’sThe Fly, Carpenter’sThe Thing, & The Bride of Frankenstein by James Whale. These films have helped guide Thom’s desire to make great genre cinema. He has been lucky enough to crew up on films like You’re Next, V/H/S/2, & and the underground cult hit Faults, as well as a host of scary shorts and web content. His passion drives him to continue to work on great projects, and to continue to find the next great scare.
3/2/15 Ace Marrero – Roadside
Ace Marrero is an American actor who was chosen as one of 6 male actors across Los Angeles, to participate in the industry renowned, ABC Diversity Showcase, which led to roles on Law & Order: Los Angeles and a recurring spot as Dr. Miles Hart on ABC’sBody of Proof. He since has also had roles on 2 Broke Girls, Scorpion and Criminal Minds. In the horror genre, Ace has acted in several projects, but also has produced several feature films under his banner, Swim With the Fish Productions. Some of his companies’ titles include; Madison County, Roadside, For Blood or Justice and various short films, including Happy Birthday, as part of Fun Size Horror
3/9/15 Matt Stuertz and Adam Hartley – RWD
RWD is a film that was made by two artists: Matt Stuertz and Adam Hartley. Matt and Adam have previously collaborated on several projects including the Sixty Second Slashers anthology series on YouTube and the short film Mindless, which is part of the World of Death Compilation. Matt Stuertz has directed and edited a variety of short films, which are available online on the Flavored Shampoo YouTube channel, and co-directed the award winning 48 hour film The Contractors (Best Director, 48 Hour Film STL).
Come back tomorrow for Part II of our Feartured FearMaker recap.
