SURVIVING CINEMA
Confessions Of A Working Director
By Eric Stanze
November 2, 2009
Yesterday, my grandmother passed away quietly in her sleep. Grandma Ruth was my last remaining grandparent. I am now in a world with no grandparents for the first time in my life.
SURVIVING CINEMA
Confessions Of A Working Director
By Eric Stanze
October 31, 2009
This is the best time of the year. Fall colors are in the trees. The hot and humid summer has passed, but the freezing cold has not yet descended. And suddenly, being a horror geek is in fashion. All up and down my street, the usually rather conservative neighbors have strung spider webs over their front windows, planted tombstones around the driveway, hung dead bodies from the tree branches, strategically placed red, blue, and white strobe lights around the house, and allowed a zombie or two to crawl half-way out of the front yard.
There seem to be a thousand things going on here at Wicked Pixel Cinema HQ. First and foremost, I've been making great headway on post-production of Ratline, despite the many distractions that keep popping up.
SURVIVING CINEMA
Confessions Of A Working Director
By Eric Stanze
October 19, 2009
In my last blog, I talked about issue 10 of the great Ultra Violent Magazine. I've been a fan of the 'zine for years, but I brought it up in my blog because issue 10 contains a big honkin' interview with me. Within a week or two of getting my hands on UV Magazine issue 10, I also held in my hands another fine example of ink printed on paper.
A few months ago I was contacted by Film Threat writer Phil Hall. He told me he was writing a book called "The History Of Independent Cinema" and that he wanted each chapter to end with a different top ten list of 'The Most Important Independent Films Of All Time'.
Last weekend, Jeremy Wallace and I made our first ever trip to Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Sci-Fi And Horror Weekend convention was held in downtown Tulsa on Friday and Saturday.
Jeremy and I were asked to be on a Q 'n' A panel about screenplay writing. The convention was fun, we met new people, and we hung out with our friends Chris from VCI Entertainment and Darla Enlow and Dana Pike of Next Monkey Horror Films, creators of the fright flicks The Stitcher and their current production, The Last Trick Or Treater.
The Q 'n' A went very well. We shared the stage with Darla, Dennis McDonald (screenwriter of The Last Trick Or Treater), and Fangoria writer John Wooley.
SURVIVING CINEMA
Confessions Of A Working Director
By Eric Stanze
September 30, 2009
When Deadwood Park post-production was complete, we hired a sales agent to find us the best distribution deal, and to negotiate that deal so that it was as much in our favor as possible. This was the first time we'd ever worked with a sales agent. Maybe, because we were inexperienced in selecting such a specialist, we chose our sales agent poorly. Or perhaps a great many of the sales agents out there are inept. Either way, it was not a decision that led to anything good. My producing partner, Jeremy Wallace has functioned as our sales agent in the past, and from my point of view, he's performed in this position a thousand times better than the "professional" we hired.
When my last film, Deadwood Park was released to DVD, a lot of positive and a lot of negative things hit us. On the positive side, the movie was very well-received critically around the globe. Deadwood Park gathered glowing reviews from U.S. critics at www.PopMatters.com (Bill Gibron), www.AVManiacs.com (Ian Jane), www.Mondo-Digital.com (Nathanial Thompson), and Carl Lyon of this very website, to name just a few. The longest-running horror podcast in the world, www.DeadPit.com named Deadwood Park "the best independent film of the year - by far."
// More: Confessions of a Working Director - Sept 23rd, 2009
This year has been chaotic. We wrapped Ratline and started post-production on that film. Both Jim Wayer (Wicked Illusions) and I have been doing a lot of still photography work. Wicked Pixel Cinema made a big splash at this year's Texas Frightmare Weekend convention. We've formed a working relationship with www.HorrorMerch.com for cool new Wicked Pixel Cinema apparel. I worked on two other features: Aaron Crozier's Venganza Azteca and Jim Mickle's Stake Land. And even though Ratline post still consumes much of my time, we launched a brand new project last month: The Cinema Edge Awards. The grand prize: A distribution deal for your movie.
// More: Confessions of a Working Director - Sept 13th, 2009
From August 24th through September 7th, I worked on the set of STAKE LAND, directed by Jim Mickle (MULBERRY STREET) and produced by Larry Fessenden (HABIT, THE LAST WINTER) and his company, Glass Eye Pix.
A big fan of MULBERRY STREET, I enthusiastically jumped at the chance to be involved in Jim's follow-up film, when friend and STAKE LAND 1st assistant director Aaron Crozier put me in touch with the film's producers. At the beginning of this venture, I had no idea that Glass Eye Pix was producing the project. I am a huge fan of Larry Fessenden, and I really respect what Glass Eye does, so when I later found out that STAKE LAND was a Glass Eye project, my enthusiasm for participating skyrocketed.
Shooting long days and nights on STAKE LAND - about an hour northwest of Philadelphia - I was quick to note the professionalism and skill of every person involved in the shoot. The camera, grip, and electric teams were top-notch, the special effects and art department people were amazing, and even the small army of production assistants were efficient and very hard-working.
// More: Confessions of a Working Director - Sept 10th, 2009
On Saturday morning, Aug 22nd, I drove east, away from St. Louis, and toward Pottstown, Pennsylvania, where the first portion of production on the film Stake Land is taking place. My friend Aaron Crozier put me in communication with the producers making Stake Land, the new movie from director Jim Mickle (Mulberry Street). Aaron is the 1st assistant director on Stake Land.
I am actually a huge fan of MULBERRY STREET, so I was quite happy when the STAKE LAND producers asked me to join in the fun and offered me a tiny cameo part in the movie.
We've been working a lot of extra hours this past couple weeks to make this happen, but the Cinema Edge Awards are now officially launched. Here's the scoop: Wicked Pixel Cinema has teamed up with distributor VCI Entertainment to present the Cinema Edge Awards, a contest for independent filmmakers. The big news is that the winning feature receives a distribution deal with VCI.
// More: Confessions of a Working Director - August 25th, 2009
First, let me reference my last blog. My friend and creative collaborator Tommy Biondo passed away ten years ago this month. My last blog entry was a look back at my experiences making movies with him. Check it out here.
// More: Confessions of a Working Director - August 17th, 2009
