Indie
Massive ‘Devil’s Playground’ Synopsis, Early image
Black & Blue Films (Dead Cert) is currently in post-production on yet another horror film, Devil’s Playground, which stars Danny Dyer (Severance), Jaime Murray (“Dexter”), Janet Montgomery (The Hills Run Red, Wrong Turn 3), Craig Fairbrass, Shane Taylor, Craig Conway, Steven Berkoff, Lisa McAllister, Bart Ruspoli, Del Henney and Jack Healy. Directed by Mark McQueen, a hardened killer searches for a cure to the illness causing a zombie apocalypse across the globe, and that is slowly turning him into one. Check out the first still and a long synopsis below.
“London: The not too distant future. Newgen Industries, a leading pharmaceutical company company, is trying to placate a media uproar. Its new “legal performance enhancer”, RAK-295, has met with spectacular failure during testing, causing severe physical and allergic reactions in all 30,000 of its test subjects….
Allergic reactions in all but one user… Angela Mills.
Angela is pregnant and is making arrangements for own leave of absence from a city full of woe and bad memories for her.
With Angela being the only person not to report any type of reaction to Newgen, Dr. Brooke (Head of Newgen) understands that Angela may hold the key to solving this disaster and enlists Cole, the head of security to find her and bring her in for examination.
But Cole, a hardened ex-mercenary, has just handed in his resignation to Peter White, the CEO of the company. Why? He wants out – the undercover violent and murderous job of solving problems ‘off the record’ has started to weigh heavy on his conscience.
…His timing couldn’t be worse. A violent outbreak of a RAK-295 test subject at Newgen’s labs reveals that the drug has far, far more catastrophic consequences then either Brooke, White or Cole could imagine. The drug reacts with extreme volatility in the subject, taking over their physiology and mental faculties, and causing accelerated and highly advanced muscular improvement, where that person becomes incredibly fast, incredibly agile, and incredibly ferocious – effectively that person ceases to be who they once were and instead are now these crazed and enraged beings. What’s more, not only does it make them impervious to pain, the drug carries a vicious contagion – one bite and the victim ‘turns’ too.
The outbreak claims Brooke and Peter White and during the struggle Cole is bitten – his fate sealed.
Or is it?…“
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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