Snow Shark: Ancient Snow Beast, the feature film debut of 25-year-old writer/director Sam Qualiana, has wrapped production in Lockport, New York, outside Buffalo.
Qualiana originally made a Snow Shark short seven years ago, when he and his brothers attached a shark fin to their dog. After winning the Buffalo Screams Horror Film Festival’s “Filmmaker to Watch” award for his short crime drama No Road Out, he decided to remake the Snow Shark short using the skills he had developed in the intervening years. Reaction to the project was so positive he turned it into a feature instead and started shooting on weekends, before the script was completed, to beat the spring thaw.
“After a scientist (Michael O’Hear) discovers the titular creature is feasting on the local residents of a small Western New York town, the mayor (Robert Bozek) hires cryptozoologists and a shark hunter (Andrew Elias, Kathy Murphy, Andy Taylor) to help the sheriff (C.J. Qualiana, the director’s father) track down the beast. At the same time a former snow shark attack survivor (director Qualiana) makes plans of his own to stop the creature. Jackey Hall (Chainsaw Cheerleaders) plays a woman who demands answers when her husband disappears.”
The production eschewed CGI in favor of practical creature effects. John Renna, who also plays a victim, built a full-size shark head to eat himself and the other actors, and Arick Szymecki and Andrew Lavin of Anomaly FX created a miniature shark and landscapes.
The filmmakers hope to complete the film by early fall, in time for the film festival season, when the search for distribution will begin.
Check out a pretty hilarious and awesome teaser below, with a second inside.
