Indie
AFM ’09: Hostage Manipulation in ‘Daylight’
We got our hands on the full synopsis and sales art for Cinemavault’s Daylight, which was an official selection of Cinevegas. Directed by David Barker and starring Alexandra Meierhans, Ivan Martin, Michael Godere and Aidan Redmond, two kidnappers begin to turn on each other as their hostage manipulates them into allowing her to escape.
“Irene and Daniel are an upwardly mobile couple that is a few weeks away from the birth of their first child and a bad business deal closer to financial collapse. When a family wedding (and a personal loan from Irene’s wealthy father) draw them out of Manhattan to venture upstate, they lose their way on unfamiliar wooded roads. What was supposed to be a regular drive alters their lives forever when they pick up a hitchhiker.
In spite of its simple plot, the intelligence that permeates David Barker’s Rigorous and personal re-imagining of the genre film is striking and terrifying. With its tense interiors, insistent blend of suspense and drama, rich character detail and minimalist aesthetic, Daylight feels unlike other works that make up the American film landscape. Alternately infuriating and harrowing, Daylight is a potent piece of shock cinema that thrives on making the audience uncomfortable. The slow boil of this genre piece nonetheless deftly evades falling into genre traps. Such filmmaking decisions imbue with the action a depth of character that enhances the terror to alarming effect. Featuring bold and riveting performances by the entire cast, Barker’s film keeps you completely involved emotionally from moment to excruciating moment.”
Her House of Horrors, the horror division of Independent Production House WOMXNOGRAPHY, has launched its Bite Size Short Grant Program, ahead of its film festival Dollhouse of Horror, which will take place in March 2025 in Los Angeles, CA.
The Bite Size Short Grant Program awards $2,000 film grants to female-identifying and queer horror filmmakers. Shorts must be able to be made for $2,000, with a minimum runtime of 8 minutes. Submissions are now open on Filmfreeway, and are being judged by a panel of horror lovers and content creators.
The 2024 Bite Size Short Grant Program judge lineup is as follows:
“James H. Carter II- A documentary director, film producer, podcaster, marketing specialist, and writer. James is the founder and co-owner of Creepy Kingdom. Creepy Kingdom was founded in 2011 and is a multimedia website, and production studio specializing in creepy content. Their primary focus lies at the intersection of childlike fantasy and the macabre, covering horror films, theme parks, haunts, and much more. Beyond their extensive media coverage, Creepy Kingdom hosts events, offers original merchandise, and engages in film production under the Creepy Kingdom Studios brand producing original films like “Foolish Mortals”, exploring Disney’s “Haunted Mansion” fan culture, and “Georgie”, featuring Tony Dakota from the original “It” miniseries.
“In addition to founding Creepy Kingdom, James has won awards for his documentary work, including the award-winning “Foolish Mortals,” which has earned him recognition. He has been featured on Freeform’s 31 Nights of Halloween special.
“Ashleeta Beauchamp is the editor-in-chief of Peek-A-Boo! Magazine, a cheeky horror magazine created to uplift marginalized writers, artists, models and other creators within the horror community. She also runs The Halloween Coalition, a community group to provide support and marketing for horror and Halloween events around the Southern California area.
“Titeanya Rodríguez is a multi-hyphenate creative, and the founder and owner of HER HOUSE OF HORRORS, home of DOLLHOUSE OF HORROR and the horror division of WOMXNOGRAPHY. As a fellow storyteller and a self-proclaimed artivist, Titeanya’s mission is to create opportunities for women of color and queer women, across film, tv, sports, music, and beyond. She is also the creator of the BITE SIZE SHORT grant program.”
Winners will have a one-night theatrical screening at Regal Cinemas. Submissions Close April 8 at Midnight. Winners will be announced on May 27, 2024. Shorts must be shot and through post-production by June 30, 2024. The screening will take place on July 8, 2024, in Los Angeles, CA.
WOMXNOGRAPHY, HER HOUSE OF HORRORS, and Rodriguez are represented by Azhar PR, Granderson Des Rochers, and Kinsella Holley Iser Kump Steinsapir.
To submit your short to the Bite Size Short Grant Program, go to the FilmFreeway link here.
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