Indie
Festival Pleaser American Mary to Tour the UK with Frightfest
If you call yourself a horror fan and you haven’t yet caught wind of the incomparable Jen and Sylvia Soska and their fetishistic feminist horror hit American Mary then, quite frankly- you’re doing something wrong.
The twins, who are experts at self promotion, have been shamelessly generating all kinds of internet hype about their second feature, in which Katherine Isabelle (Ginger Snaps) shines as a broke medical student whose lust for revenge sets her on a dark and dangerous road into illegal underground surgery. Jen and Sylvia Soska have been showing up like tornadoes at festival after festival since the films debut at UK’s Frightfest and they’ve been sure to leave their mark on every one of them. Critics, bloggers, geeks and fangirls have all become equally enamoured by the twosome and their haunting yet beautiful tale of revenge. And now the Soska Sisters have a new trick up their sleeve.
Frightfest Presents will be distributing the film to major cities across the UK in a one of a kind tour that will have the directors AND the star in attendance at every venue for a post-show Q&A. Already set for a UK DVD/Blu-ray release from Universal in late January and courted by the likes of Anchor Bay and Monster Pictures for distribution in Canada and Australia (respectively), American Mary will be the first film to be taken on by Frightfest’s new distribution arm and boy are they doing it in style! American Mary has become one of the most talked about horror hits of 2012 and is widely being heralded as the year’s most original and impressive piece of work. With the opportunity to meet the irrepressible Twisted Twins and Katherine Isabelle herself, this tour should be an unmissable event for UK genre fans up and down the country.
Full details of the tour, which kicks off in London on January the 11th can be found here and readers elsewhere should keep their ears to the ground for other festival screenings before international DVD release dates are announced.
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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