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First Look at Documentary ‘Pennywise: The Story of IT’
The doc includes 2 HOURS of never before seen footage from the set.
From Dead Mouse Productions Ltd and Cult Screenings UK Ltd, makers of Leviathan: The Story of Hellraiser and Hellbound: Hellraiser II and You’re so cool, Brewster! The Story of Fright Night, comes a fully independent retrospective into the making of Stephen King’s IT and its cultural impact over the last 28 years. Titled Pennywise: The Story of IT, the upcoming documentary is being directed by Chris Griffiths, and it’s set to “tell a story heard by few and showcase a wealth of behind-the-scenes footage and photos seen by even fewer.”
From exploring the historical and cultural phenomenon of coulrophobia (the fear of clowns) to Tim Curry’s magical portrayal of Pennywise the Clown (and yes, Curry himself is involved!) to the impact Vancouver (aka “Hollywood North”) had on the 1990 made-for-TV miniseries, The Story of IT will dig deeper into the Pennywise phenomenon than anything ever has before, and we’ve just been provided with our first sneak peek courtesy of the doc’s fundraising campaign.
You can help make Pennywise: The Story of IT a reality over on Indiegogo, where the project has already raised nearly half its budget in less than 24 hours. Perks include posters, t-shirts and producer credits, as well as pre-orders of the FOUR-HOUR documentary on DVD and/or Blu-ray.
But why wait? Check out your first look below!
All of us here at Bloody Disgusting are deeply saddened to learn that George A. Romero Foundation Founder and President Suzanne Desrocher-Romero has passed away.
GARF shared in a statement on socials, “It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of Suzanne Desrocher Romero. Suzanne passed away of natural causes on June 24 at her home in Toronto after a prolonged illness.”
The statement continues, “Suzanne was the fierce leader of the George A. Romero Estate and The George A. Romero Foundation. She worked tirelessly to preserve George’s legacy. Her work at the foundation will continue to inspire and live on for generations to come. The family asks for privacy at this time.”
Desrocher-Romero founded GARF in 2018, after her late husband’s passing in 2017, and has been a fierce advocate for his legacy and the arts. It was her mission to “strengthen horror as a serious field of global study,” and she was a tremendous fighter on behalf of Romero’s works and supporting new filmmakers inspired by his legacy.
It was Desrocher-Romero who spearheaded the recovery and restoration of The Amusement Park, and, as the person in charge of the George A. Romero estate, worked closely with author Daniel Kraus on completing unfinished novels like Pay the Piper and The Living Dead. She most recently celebrated the restoration of her favorite of Romero’s zombie films, Day of the Dead, and was hard at work producing the upcoming film Twilight of the Dead.
That passionate advocacy led to Suzanne Desrocher-Romero becoming family to Bloody Disgusting as well.
2023 marked the start of an ongoing partnership between Bloody FM and GARF on The Dead, a scripted audio series spanning multiple seasons that saw Desrocher-Romero working closely with the Bloody FM team and mentoring the series’s contributing writers with GARF. To say her loss will be felt internally is an understatement.
“Anytime George Romero is mentioned is good, because what we are doing is to provide a healthy legacy. We’re uplifting his legacy, we’re supporting the archive, and we’re also supporting the Horror Study Center. So, all of these three things are what the Foundation is striving to do. As far as I’m concerned, the more we say George Romero’s name, the better it is,” Desrocher-Romero recently told BD.
It’s the perfect encapsulation of her unwavering enthusiasm for supporting Romero’s legacy and the horror genre, and just a glimpse at how much she contributed to preserving it. She is, in short, an inspiration.
We send our deepest condolences to Suzanne Desrocher-Romero’s family, friends, and GARF.
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