For Immediate Release
Glass Eye Pix Press Releases
10/13/17 TALES FROM BEYOND THE PALE IS BACK! GLASS EYE PIX’s Acclaimed Genre Audio Dramas “TALES FROM BEYOND THE PALE” Presented by Glenn McQuaid and Larry Fessenden Returns With SEASON FOUR, just in time for Halloween
10/30/15 TALES SEASON 3 LAUNCHES NATIONWIDE ON BLACK FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27TH. INDIEWIRE TO HOST EXCLUSIVE FREE STREAMING SESSIONS FOLLOWING THE RELEASE.
6/03/13 ETHAN EMBRY, ERIN CUMMINGS, TOM NOONAN JOIN CAST OF “LAST PHASES”
5/14/12 TRIBECA FILM ACQUIRES NORTH AMERICAN RIGHTS TO THE COMEDY
1/27/12 Borley Rectory – The Most Haunted House in England British Horror outfit Carrion Films set to take the next step in the resurrection of British Horror
1/26/12 THE COMEDY gets Roughed Up: Rough House Pictures to Present Rick Alverson’s THE COMEDY
9/6/11 GLASS EYE PIX RELEASES “TALES FROM BEYOND THE PALE” COMPLETE SEASON ONE BOX SET ON OCTOBER 11, 2011 — JUST IN TIME FOR HALLOWEEN!!
8/9/11 TLA Releasing’s Horror Imprint, Danger After Dark, Acquires US & UK Rights For Award-Winning SATAN HATES YOU
11/8/10 THESE DAYS, EVERYONE LOVES TO READ FOOD AND RESTAURANT REVIEWS—EXCEPT ONE CRAZED CHEF WHO’S JUST BEEN PANNED
10/26/10 GLASS EYE PIX Launches Genre Audio Program “TALES FROM BEYOND THE PALE” Website goes live; first episode & promo video available 26 October. Episode ONE: MAN ON THE LEDGE by Joe Maggio starring Vincent D’Onofrio
6/10/10 GLASS EYE PIX announces launch of genre audio program “TALES FROM BEYOND THE PALE”
2/10/10 MICHAEL ROOKER TO HEADLINE HYPOTHERMIA FROM MPI’s DARK SKY FILMS
1/29/10 MPI MEDIA GROUP INKS DEAL FOR TI WEST’S “The Inn Keepers”
10/26/09 I CAN SEE YOU and THE VIEWER Available on DVD October 27, 2009.
9/23/09 Glass Eye Pix’s I SELL THE DEAD comic is now available through the Comics App by comiXology.
9/2/09 Kelly McGillis joins cast of STAKE LAND
6/5/09 Glass Eye Pix reveals three new on-line Scareflix teaser posters!!
6/2/09 New SATAN HATES YOU trailer and poster!
5/27/09 AUTOMATONS GOES PUBLIC!
5/21/09 KINO JOINS FORCES WITH LARRY FESSENDEN’S GLASS EYE PIX TO RELEASE THE HORROR FILM I CAN SEE YOU (2009) – ALONG WITH THE 3-D SHORT THE VIEWER – ON DVD.
5/11/09 SUBMARINE SELLS WORLDWIDE RIGHTS TO “I SELL THE DEAD”
4/23/09 I CAN SEE YOU opens in NYC – On DVD May 26
9/16/08 Dark Sky Films Announces Production Partnership with Glass Eye Pix
7/22/08 Oscilloscope Pictures to release Kelly Reichardt’s Cannes hit, WENDY AND LUCY
7/18/08 RON PERLMAN Exclusive Interview — THE LAST WINTER on DVD July 22
7/03/08 PRODUCTION WRAPS ON JAMES FELIX MCKENNEY’S SATAN HATES YOU
5/24/08 The Horror of Global Warming Comes to DVD
4/17/08 PRODUCTION WRAPS ON WRITER/DIRECTOR TI WEST’S THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL
2/07/08 DARK SKY FILMS announces THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL from writer/director TI WEST
1/02/08 Post production on Glenn McQuaid’s I SELL THE DEAD commences in New York City; Fall Premier targeted
10/30/07 Halloween Treats from Glass Eye Pix “Scareflix” Label
7/13/07 THE LAST WINTER Opens on Wednesday, September 19 at the IFC Center
7/12/07 AUTOMATONS invade Comic-Con 2007
6/23/07 POSTER BOY FOR L.A. FILM FESTIVAL has projects in all phases.
1/31/07 PERLMAN AND MONAGHAN grapple with the Undead
10/21/04 FESSENDEN’S SCAREFLIX complete and ready for distribution.
3/23/98 HABIT Press Release
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THE COMEDY gets Roughed Up Rough House Pictures to Present Rick Alverson’s THE COMEDY
Park City, UT – January 26, 2012 – Submarine Entertainment announced today from the Sundance Film Festival that Rough House Pictures, the Production Company of Danny McBride, David Gordon Green, Jody Hill, and Matt Reilly, has come on board to present Jagjaguwar’s darkly irreverent and controversial film THE COMEDY, starring Tim Heidecker of The Tim and Eric Awesome Show.
Indifferent even to the prospects of inheriting his father’s estate, Swanson (Tim Heidecker) whiles away his days with a group of aging Brooklyn hipsters, engaging in acts of recreational cruelty and pacified boredom. Desensitized and disenchanted, he strays into a series of reckless situations that may offer the promise of redemption or the threat of retribution. A scathing look at the white male on the verge of collapse, Rick Alverson’s carefully observed portrait provokes and disorients; a cautionary fable for the autumn of the American Era. Featuring Eric Wareheim, James Murphy (LCD Soundsystem), Jeff Jensen, Kate Lyn Sheil, Alexia Rasmussen, and Gregg Turkington (A.K.A. Neil Hamburger). The film is produced in conjunction with Jagjaguwar, Greyshack Films and Glass Eye Pix.
Director Rick Alverson says, “THE COMEDY is meant to be an uncompromising exploration of humor and numbness. There’s a true harmony between David’s lyrical filmmaking and Danny’s darkly comic sensibility that makes Rough House Pictures a perfect partner for our film.”
David Gordon Green says, “THE COMEDY is a totally unique movie-going experience that balances the emotional with the absurd. It’s rare that you discover a project that has a face with a big heart and laughs but such a beautiful melancholy darkness behind the eyes. Alverson’s latest film is an invitation to the flip-side of what we know of Tim and Eric, and that unexpected, unpredictable, personal journey is a wonderful thing.”
Danny McBride adds, “This is Tim Heidecker’s IRON LADY . . . it is not to be missed.”
Submarine Entertainment is currently in discussion with buyers at the Sundance Film Festival, where the film has polarized audiences and stirred controversy due to its unfiltered humor and provocative sensibility.
ABOUT ROUGH HOUSE PICTURES Rough House Pictures is comprised of David Gordon Green, Jody Hill, Danny McBride and Matt Reilly. Combining their creative filmmaking with their strong expertise in producing and financing, ROUGH HOUSE PICTURES seeks to establish itself as a hub for exciting and bold voices. Their hegemony extends from the big studio projects and franchises, to the newest filmmaker with their first movie, with the goal of supporting filmmakers at every level. Jody Hill, David Gordon Green and Danny McBride all went to the North Carolina School of the Arts and lived on the same dormitory floor. McBride saw Green’s first short film called Will You Lather Up My Rough House and that was that in terms of his admiration for Green. McBride was the second unit director on Green’s feature debut George Washington and McBride had a supporting role in Green’s next film All the Real Girls, which won the 2003 Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. McBride first gained industry awareness with this role; however, it was when he returned in 2006 with the Sundance Film Festival smash hit comedy The Foot Fist Way that he became a known name in Hollywood and desired by its top producers and directors. McBride, who starred and co-wrote the film with Jody Hill and Ben Best (Superbad), caught the attention of Will Ferrell and Adam McKay after it debuted at Sundance, under their banner Gary Sanchez Production, and the film was later released by Paramount Vantage. McBride is currently starring in HBO’s East Bound and Down, which he and Hill co-created, co-write and produce together. Hill and Green both direct episodes. The third season for HBO premieres this February. Matt Reilly segued from his post as Vice President of Production at Warner Bros. Pictures in 2010 to join ROUGH HOUSE as President of Production. After buying the pitch for Observe and Report as an executive, he became friends with Jody, Danny and David through shared passion and taste. Alex Plapinger is a senior executive at Rough House who tracked the “The Comedy” and made it a priority for the company to see and get involved in. On the TV front, Rough House has established itself as a force in both cable and network with first look deals at HBO and 20th Century Fox Studios.
ABOUT JAGJAGUWAR Jagjaguwar was founded in 1996 by Darius Van Arman in Charlottesville, Virginia. The independent record label’s initial releases were almost exclusively recordings by Virginia artists, but its roster has become far more geographically diverse, now including such renowned artists as Bon Iver, Dinosaur Jr., Sharon Van Etten, Okkervil River and Black Mountain. In 1999, Van Arman became partners with Chris Swanson, one of the founders of Secretly Canadian, and Jagjaguwar relocated to Bloomington, Indiana. Since then, the Jagjaguwar partnership has grown to include Ben Swanson and Jonathan Cargill. Jagjaguwar gained special renown for releasing Bon Iver “Bon Iver” in June of 2011, an album which debuted at number 2 on the Billboard charts and has garnered four Grammy nominations. Jagjaguwar has also started to release or produce feature-length movies via a special partnership with director Rick Alverson (songwriter for Drunk and Spokane, two Richmond-based bands that Jagjaguwar has released 9 albums between.)
ABOUT GREYSHACK FILMS Greyshack Films is a development and production company committed to creative, thought-provoking, energetic new cinema designed within a low-budget model. Company president Mike S. Ryan is a veteran member of the independent film community who started out in the industry’s 1990’s heyday with films like Ang Lee’s The Ice Storm and Todd Haynes’ Far From Heaven. As a producer, he has been responsible for a remarkable group of films in the last five years, most made for under $3 million.
ABOUT GLASS EYE PIX Glass Eye Pix (“one of the indie scene’s most productive and longest-running companies” —Filmmaker magazine) is the fiercely independent NYC-based production outfit headed by art-horror auteur Larry Fessenden (The Last Winter, Wendigo, Habit, NBC’s Fear Itself) and home to producer Brent Kunkle (“The Comedy”, “Bitter Feast” and “Stake Land”). Fessenden (winner of the 2009 Golden Hammer Award) has operated the company since 1985, with the mission of supporting individual voices in the arts. Glass Eye Pix is designed to exploit hungry new talent and inspire resourceful filmmakers to produce quality work through seat-of-the-pants ingenuity. Lean budgeted auteur-driven pulp pictures that nurture emerging talents in the independent filmmaking. Fessenden’s company has produced numerous critically acclaimed films including 2011’s Stake Land (Jim Mickle), 2010’s The Innkeepers (Ti West), 2009’s Wendy And Lucy (Kelly Reichardt), The House Of The Devil (Ti West), I Sell The Dead (Glenn McQuaid), and 2008’s Liberty Kid (Ilya Chaiken), Trigger Man (Ti West).
ABOUT RICK ALVERSON, DIRECTOR RICK ALVERSON, director, writer, editor – (b. 1971) is a filmmaker and musician from Richmond, Virginia. His previous films include The Builder (2010), an existential character study of an Irish immigrant at odds with the promise of America. New Jerusalem (2011), starring Colm O’Leary (The Builder) and Will Oldham (Matewan, Old Joy), again considered the immigrant experience but this time through the lens of religious ideology. New Jerusalem premiered at the 40th International Film Festival Rotterdam and SXSW in 2011. Also in 2011, he was awarded a Visual Arts Fellowship from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. He also has directed videos for Bonny Prince Billy (New Wonder) and Gregor Samsa (Jeroen Van Aken). Upcoming films include a reconstruction era drama entitled Clement, to be produced in 2012, and Rabbit, both of which continue his collaboration with Colm O’Leary. In addition to his directorial work he has released 9 records on Jagjaguwar, most recently with his band Spokane in 2007.
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THESE DAYS, EVERYONE LOVES TO READ FOOD AND RESTAURANT REVIEWS— EXCEPT ONE CRAZED CHEF WHO’S JUST BEEN PANNED
BITTER FEAST
Acclaimed Indie Director Joe Maggio and Master Fright-Flick Producer Larry Fessenden Unite for the Tastiest Shocker of the Year. Co-starring Celebrity Chef Mario Batali, It Comes to DVD and Video on Demand on January 4, 2011
“Wonderfully wicked” – The Village Voice
“Critic’s Pick – delightfully nasty … zesty fun” – L.A. Weekly
New York, NY (November 8, 2010) – A food critic can dish it out, but can he take it? Pain is on the menu for a writer when his nasty review pushes a chef over the edge in BITTER FEAST, a gut-churning thriller from the creators of the indie sensations Virgil Bliss and Wendy and Lucy. The movie, featuring a performance by superstar chef Mario Batali, will be served up on DVD from Dark Sky Films and MPI Media Group, with an SRP of $24.98, on January 4, 2011. It will also be available the same date on Video on Demand.
Writer-director Joe Maggio (Paper Covers Rock, Virgil Bliss) takes the current media and Internet obsession with chefs-as-stars and puts a darkly comic and scary spin on it. Notorious and influential food blogger J.T. Franks (Joshua Leonard, Humpday, The Blair Witch Project, Hatchet) writes a particularly vicious review that doesn’t sit well at all with its subject, Peter Grey (James LeGros of Zodiac, TV’s Mercy and HBO’s upcoming Mildred Pierce), a chef whose career is already on a down slide and may not survive this latest blow.
So the temperamental, egotistical chef concocts an elaborate and deadly revenge scheme. Grey kidnaps Franks and chains him in a remote cabin in the woods, where he forces him to prepare deceptively simple dishes – from eggs over easy to medium-rare steak – then tortures him sadistically for anything less than perfection. A tense thrill-ride prepared with wicked wit and culinary flare, BITTER FEAST is an exploration of the creative impulse gone tragically and ferociously awry.
BITTER FEAST, which had its world premiere at the 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival, was produced by acclaimed director-producer Larry Fessenden (The Last Winter, House of the Devil, Wendy and Lucy) along with producing partners Peter Phok and Brent Kunkle through their production outfit Glass Eye Pix. Fessenden also co-stars in this tense shocker, along with Mario Batali of “Iron Chef” fame.
Critics have found BITTER FEAST much to their liking. Variety’s John Anderson called the movie “gore for the gourmet” and praised its “first-rate performances.” “Zesty fun for its actors … at once a sly parody of the celebrity-chef culture … and a creepy little chamber piece,” wrote Mark Olsen in L.A. Weekly. HorrorSquad.com called it “Absolutely gripping … [a] highly satisfying chef versus critic showdown.”
BITTER FEAST
Format: DVD
Street Date: January 4, 2011
Pre-Order: November 29, 2010
Running time: 113 minutes
Rating: Not Rated
Genre: Horror / Arthouse
DVD SRP: $24.98
Bonus Features
Feature-length commentary with writer-director Joe Maggio along with producers Larry Fessenden, Peter Phok, Brent Kunkle, and sound designer Graham Reznick.· Making Bitter Feast (making of)
Joe Maggio Interviews Mario Batali
Deleted Scene & Alternate Ending
Teaser
Trailer
Feast Portraits
About Dark Sky Films
Dark Sky Films is dedicated to the discovery, preservation and production of new and classic horror, sci-fi and cult films from around the world. Based in Chicago, Dark Sky Films is a wholly owned subsidiary of The MPI Media Group — one of the largest independent entertainment companies producing and distributing a compelling slate of the world’s most respected cinema, documentaries, performances and television programs. www.darkskyfilms.com / twitter: @darkskyfilms
About MPI Media Group
The MPI Media Group is a leading producer, distributor and licensor of films, home entertainment, historical footage and more. Founded in 1976, Chicago-based MPI Media Group remains one of the largest independent entertainment companies producing and distributing a compelling slate of the world’s most respected cinema, documentaries, performances and television programs. MPI’s wholly owned subsidiaries include MPI Home Entertainment, Dark Sky Films, and the WPA Film Library. www.mpimediagroup.com
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact: Annie Jeeves Annie@fifteenminutes.com 323-556-9700
GLASS EYE PIX Launches Genre Audio Program “TALES FROM BEYOND THE PALE”
Website goes live; first episode & promo video available 26 October
Episode ONE: MAN ON THE LEDGE by Joe Maggio starring Vincent D’Onofrio
Tuesday, 26 October 2010 — From Glass Eye Pix, the maverick production company responsible for recent independent genre movies THE LAST WINTER, I SELL THE DEAD, and THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL, as well as the forthcoming STAKE LAND and THE INNKEEPERS comes a new venture in the macabre.
Inspired by the classic radio shows of Alfred Hitchcock, Boris Karloff , Peter Lorre, and Orson Welles, TALES FROM BEYOND THE PALE is a half hour downloadable audio program featuring notable thespians including Vincent D’Onofrio, Ron Perlman, Angus Scrimm, Shea Wigham, James Le Gros, Joe Swanberg, and Kevin Corrigan.
Hosted by Glass Eye Pix CEO Larry Fessenden, each thirty-minute episode is written and directed by one of today’s horror auteurs including Joe Maggio (BITTER FEAST)¸ JT Petty (THE BURROWERS, SOFT FOR DIGGING), Graham Reznick (I CAN SEE YOU, THE VIEWER), Paul Solet (GRACE), Ashley Thorpe (THE HAIRY HANDS, SCAYRECROW), Simon Rumley (THE LIVING AND THE DEAD, RED WHITE AND BLUE), Jeff Buhler (MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN, INSAINTARIUM), and Sarah Langan (Author of THE KEEPER, THE MISSING).
Conceived during a fog-drenched car ride by Fessenden and frequent collaborator Glenn McQuaid (I SELL THE DEAD, effects supervisor on THE ROOST and THE LAST WINTER), this project continues the mission at Glass Eye Pix to celebrate individual voices in the arts and to reassert the broad palette of moods that comprise the horror story.
Says Fessenden: “We thought it would be a great opportunity to get into production, work with some of our favorite people and meet some new ones with a project that was relatively affordable. I’ve always loved radio and audio books. We wanted to try our hand at the format. I’m amazed at what people came up with. Feels pretty special. Like addicts, we’re already looking to Season two.”
McQuaid adds: “Season One has been a tremendous pleasure to work on. Larry and I wanted to gather stories from all walks of life; let each tale stand on it’s own merits, as well as complement the entire season. Listeners will be transported far and wide, from distant moons to misty moors, by stories told with a wide range of styles and sensibilities. The challenge for Larry and I, and all the filmmakers we reached out to, was to close our eyes, let go of our visual technique and concentrate purely on sound and performance.”
Never one to skimp on fanfare, Glass Eye has commissioned the wildly talented Gary Pullin to design the logo and website and a unique poster for each tale, evocative of illustrated one sheets from the 60’s or pulp comic covers from Marvel and EC. Each Tuesday for ten weeks a new episode will be unleashed, and with it, another Pullin original. All the graphics will be available for collectors through the TALES merch store.
Tuesday, to celebrate the launch of this new Glass Eye Pix venture, a very special video from the notorious animator Voltaire will be released, featuring the TALES theme music by award winning composer Jeff Grace (STAKE LAND, MEEK’S CUTOFF, THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL)
Rushed into release for the Halloween Season, the first episodes of TALES FROM BEYOND THE PALE will only be available through the website ($1.99 by paypal or credit card), but will soon be downloadable from itunes, amazon and other outlets. In December, all of Season One will be presented in a deluxe CD package just in time for Christmas. Plans are ongoing to get the show onto the radio where it belongs, and look for the TALES FROM BEYOND THE PALE i-pad app very soon.
TALES FROM BEYOND THE PALE — SEASON 1
MAN ON THE LEDGE by Joe Maggio (BITTER FEAST) With Vincent D’onofrio (MEN IN BLACK, FULL METAL JACKET)
IS THIS SEAT TAKEN? by Sarah Langan (Author of THE MISSING, and AUDREY’S DOOR) With Joe Swanberg (A HORRIBLE WAY TO DIE)
THIS ORACLE MOON by Jeff Buhler (INSANITARIUM) With Ron Perlman (HELLBOY, I SELL THE DEAD), Doug Jones (PAN’S LABYRINTH, HELLBOY)
THE CONFORMATION by Paul Solet (GRACE)
JOHNNY BOY by JT Petty (THE BURROWERS, S&MAN) With Shea Whigham (BOARDWALK EMPIRE, SPLINTER), Amy Seimetz (A HORRIBLE WAY TO DIE)
THE GRANDFATHER by Graham Reznick (I CAN SEE YOU, THE VIEWER) With Angus Scrimm (PHANTASM, I SELL THE DEAD)
BRITISH AND PROUD by Simon Rumley (RED, WHITE AND BLUE)
THE HOLE DIGGER by Larry Fessenden (THE LAST WINTER, WENDIGO) With James Le Gros (THE LAST WINTER, ZODIAC), Kevin Corrigan (THE LAST WINTER)
TRAWLER by Glenn McQuaid (I Sell the Dead) With AJ Bowen (THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL, A HORRIBLE WAY TO DIE), Larry Fessenden (HABIT, I SELL THE DEAD)
THE DEMON HUNTSMAN by Ashley Thorpe (THE HAIRY HAND) With Michael Cerveris (Sweeny Todd (on Broadway), STAKE LAND, “Fringe”)
For more information and the latest news, please visit www.talesfrombeyondthepale.com Follow on twitter: @talesbeyond
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10 JUNE 2010 — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / CONTACT larry@glasseyepix.com
GLASS EYE PIX announces launch of genre audio program
“TALES FROM BEYOND THE PALE”
curated and hosted by Larry Fessenden and Glenn McQuaid
Conceived during a fog-drenched car ride with nothing out the windshield but an horizon-less void, Larry Fessenden and Glenn McQuaid bring you audio theater inspired by the vintage radio shows of Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre, Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Welles. TALES FROM BEYOND THE PALE will be brought to you by
Fessenden’s production outfit Glass Eye Pix, which is responsible for dozens of celebrated independent films including I SELL THE DEAD, THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL, THE LAST WINTER, WENDY AND LUCY, as well as the forthcoming STAKE LAND and THE INNKEEPERS. TALES FROM BEYOND THE PALE will delve into the twisted minds of new and established horror auteurs to present singular stories of the uncanny; stories that will chill and delight fans of the macabre. Contributors include:
Douglas Buck (CUTTING MOMENTS, SISTERS)
Jeff Buhler (MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN, INSANITARIUM)
Ilya Chaiken (MARGARITA HAPPY HOUR, LIBERTY KID)
Don Coscarelli (PHANTASM, BUBBA HO-TEP)
Larry Fessenden (WENDIGO, THE LAST WINTER)
Ted Geoghegan (SWEATSHOP)
Sarah Langan (“The Keeper”, “TheMissing”)
Joe Maggio (BITTER FEAST)
James Felix McKenney (AUTOMATONS, HYPOTHERMIA)
Glenn McQuaid (I SELL THE DEAD)
Jim Mickle (MULBERRY STREET, STAKE LAND)
JT Petty (SOFT FOR DIGGING, THE BURROWERS)
Graham Reznick (I CAN SEE YOU, THE VIEWER)
Paul Solet (GRACE)
Ashley Thorpe (THE HAIRY HANDS, SCAYRECROW)
Ti West (THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL, THE INNKEEPERS)
Hosted by Larry Fessenden, each thirty-minute episode will transport the listener through sharp scripting and finely honed performances from actors familiar and new to the Glass Eye Pix stable. Also distinguishing these audio plays will be a concentration on the landscape of sound and music that can be taken for granted in the
visual medium of film. Says Fessenden: “Glenn and I wanted to celebrate the written word and the power of sound design in approaching this project. We also found if you cut out cameras and lights, you can tell stories a lot cheaper.” Says McQuaid: “As filmmakers embarking on this project, we are letting go of our visual tricks—
the imagery is suggested, not seen, and so the listener gets to paint their own picture, it’s interactive.”
The accompanying website will feature an original poster for each story by Gary Pullin, the celebrated designer responsible for the look of Rue Morgue Magazine. Visitors to the site will enjoy an intro by the stop-motion animator Voltaire and will find information on all of the show’s collaborators. TALES FROM BEYOND THE PALE will be made available through the website and will be downloadable via i-tunes and Amazon individually or as a series to be enjoyed however and whenever the listener wants: Radio plays for the digital age. Scripts are rolling in; production begins in August, and the first episodes should be available by Halloween. For all the latest news, please visit www.talesfrombeyondthepale.com.
BEYOND THE PALE: Unacceptable; outside agreed standards of decency. This pale is the noun meaning ‘a stake or pointed piece of wood’. It is virtually obsolete now except in this phrase, but is still in use in the associated words paling (as in paling fence) and impale (as in Dracula movies). The paling fence is significant, as the term pale
became to mean the area enclosed by such a fence and later just the figurative meaning of ‘the area that is enclosed and safe’. So, to be ‘beyond the pale’ was to be outside the area accepted as ‘home’. —www.phrases.org
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February 10, 2010
MICHAEL ROOKER TO HEADLINE HYPOTHERMIA FROM MPI’s DARK SKY FILMS>
One of the First Feature Films to be Lensed in 4K
Chicago, IL – Dark Sky Films is pleased to announce this week marks the first week of principal photography and production on James Felix McKenney’s feature HYPOTHERMIA.
HYPOTHERMIA, written and directed by McKenney, stars Michael Rooker, who has had a long career in film that launched with his chilling performance as the titular character in HENRY: THE PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER. HYPOTHERMIA co-stars Blanche Baker who starred in SIXTEEN CANDLES, HBO’s TAKING CHANCE and the horror indie THE GIRL NEXT DOOR. Also in the cast are Greg Finley (THE SECRET LIFE OF THE AMERICAN TEENAGER), and McKenney regulars Don Wood (THE OFF SEASON, AUTOMATONS, SATAN HATES YOU), Ben Forster and Amy Chang. The film will be produced in association with Larry Fessenden’s Glass Eye Pix.
The story takes place in Maine in the dead of winter. Ray Pelletier and his wife Helen have been ice fishing the frozen expanse of Lake Noyade for over two decades but this year something is different: no fish bite. Is it their new neighbors on the ice — Stevie Jr. and his overbearing Dad — with their high-tech gear and over-sized rig that is driving the fish away? Or is it something else? The answer comes in an onslaught of ferocious attacks that unites the two families against a mysterious creature from under the ice.
Producers on the film are 2010 Spirit Award nominee and horror director Larry Fessenden and his partners Peter Phok and Brent Kunkle, along with Dark Sky Films producer Derek Curl (THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL, HATCHET 2). The Co-Producer is Jacob Jaffke (THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL, Bafta nominated short OFF SEASON).
The film is produced in association with Offhollywood Pictures, which brings up-to-the minute technical innovation to the production. HYPOTHERMIA is one of the first feature films to be lensed in 4K on RED ONE digital cinema cameras updated with the new, high-dynamic range Mysterium-X sensor alongside David Fincher ‘s SOCIAL NETWORK and Steven Soderbergh’s KNOCKOUT.
Says Fessenden: “It is very gratifying to have the support of such a cool company as Dark Sky so we can keep making these auteur-driven genre films we call Scareflix. Having Michael Rooker headline the cast in a role like this is especially exciting because it is a different side of Rooker we’ll be exploring. I know the fans will be gratified to spend some real screen time with him in this rugged and sympathetic role.”
The monster has been created by effects veteran Chris Bridges who has lent his talents to such films as DIARY OF THE DEAD, 300, SILENT HILL, SAW III and MAX PAYNE. since his on-set debut on MIMIC. Stunt and movement artist Asa Liebmann will be inside the suit. Gore effects will be handled by Brian Spears (PLAGUETOWN, I SELL THE DEAD, BITTER FEAST, STAKE LAND).
About Dark Sky Films
Dark Sky Films is dedicated to the discovery, preservation and production of new and classic horror, sci-fi and cult films from around the world. Based in Chicago, Dark Sky Films is a wholly owned subsidiary of The MPI Media Group – one of the largest independent entertainment companies producing and distributing a compelling slate of the world’s most respected cinema, documentaries, performances and television programs.
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January 29, 2010
MPI MEDIA GROUP INKS DEAL FOR TI WEST’S “The Inn Keepers”
PARK CITY, Utah – MPI Media Group today announced it has negotiated a production deal for the The Inn Keepers from Writer/Director Ti West. MPI’s Dark Sky Films is producing in association with Larry Fessenden’s Glass Eye Pix. Shooting will begin in Connecticut this spring.
THE LAST WEEKEND is a frightening tale of a failing hotel’s unregistered and unexpected guests.
West’s 2009 success, The House of the Devil, was praised by audiences and critics alike. The New York Times’ Manohla Dargis wrote, “After years of vivisectionist splatter, here is a horror movie with real shivers.”
Greg Newman, EVP of MPI Media Group said, “Ti West is one of the most creative voices in independent film today and we are very happy to be continuing our association with this amazing young filmmaker.”
West’s credits include Trigger Man and The Roost. “I’m excited to have the opportunity to again work with MPI and Glass Eye Pix on what I expect to be a truly terrifying follow up to “The House of the Devil.”
Derek Curl, Larry Fessenden and Peter Phok will produce.
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26 October 2009
I CAN SEE YOU and THE VIEWER Available on DVD October 27, 2009.
Glass Eye Pix is thrilled and chilled to announce the arrival of Graham Reznick’s debut feature film on DVD this October 27, 2009 from Kino International!
Also included in the release is Reznick’s all-new 3D short film THE VIEWER with your very own pair of special 3D glasses!
When the three-man staff of a boutique ad firm trades their Brooklyn home base for a rural backwater campsite, a classic “city slickers in peril” scare-film set-up is reborn. But in I Can See You, Graham Reznick’s “surprising horror debut” (Village Voice), nothing is what it seems for even the blink of an eye.
Lead designer Ben Richards (Ben Dickinson) pairs off with free-spirited hippie girl Summer Day (Heather Robb), as Kimble (Christopher D. Ford) and his girlfriend Sonia (Olivia Villanti) take off into the deep woods, at unctuous Doug’s (Duncan Skiles) urging. Meanwhile, the vintage spokesman (exec producer and horror meister Larry Fessenden — Habit, Wendigo) for the trio’s client reappears like the ghost of marketing past. What begins as a low-pressure brainstorming session becomes a high voltage brain-frying night-mare where the borders between reality and imagination, sanity and madness, are re-drawn and erased completely. As Variety raved, “everyday normality goes grotesque.”
“One of the most intriguing horror films in recent memory” (Fangoria) that “heralds a splendid new filmmaker” (The New York Times), I Can See You is a relentlessly menacing psychedelic kaleidoscope of sound and vision brimming with enigmatic, hallucinatory dread and uncompromising violence. Also included is Reznick’s short film The Viewer, a chilling inward odyssey that uses 3D (glasses included) to burrow into the mind of an accused murdererundergoing telepathic interrogation.
But why wait until the 27th when you can dive right into Reznick’s world this very minute with Ti West interviewing Graham in an all-new podcast!
Chatty Kathies ain’t your bag? Then how about an original rockin’ 1950’s style rock and roll number, featured in the film “I CAN SEE YOU” – a high quality mp3 FREE DOWNLOAD!*
(*while supplies last)
You can order the DVD and find all these goodies over at the official I CAN SEE YOU website, www.icanseeyoumovie.com
And more treats are right around the corner!
The I CAN SEE YOU score will be released on CD, along with the music of Ti West’s HOUSE OF THE DEVIL, from moviescoremedia. Available on iTunes day and date with the DVD or through moviescoremedia.com. Also in stores and from Amazon.com Nov 10.
But wait! There’s still more!
Listen to Graham Reznick on Fangoria Radio with hosts Debbie Rochon and Dee Snider on October 30 with many special Glass Eye Pix guests. Fangoria Radio airs live on Sirius XM Stars satellite radio, Sirius channel 108/XM channel 139, from 10 p.m.-1 a.m. EST, with a repeat immediately thereafter.
There you have it! And all just in time for a mind-bending Halloween celebration from Glass Eye Pix!
http://www.icanseeyoumovie.com
http://www.fangoria.com/fangoria-entertainment/radio.html
https://0f39f0c.netsolhost.com/glasseyepix
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23 September 2009
Attention iPhone and iPod touch users!
Glass Eye Pix’s I SELL THE DEAD comic is now available through the Comics App by comiXology.
This glorious 41 page full color comic, illustrated by Glass Eye Pix regular Brahm Revel (WENDIGO, THE LAST WINTER, WHAT ARE YOU VOTING FOR?), is based on Glenn McQuaid’s award-winning motion picture starring Dominic Monaghan, Larry Fessenden, Angus Scrimm and Ron Perlman.
I SELL THE DEAD follows the misadventures of two infamous 19th century grave robbers, Grimes and Blake, as they bumble their way through a serious of raucous encounters with vampires, zombies and murderous rivals. Condemned for his crimes, Arthur Blake confesses his sins to the peculiar clergyman Father Duffy and explains why you can never – ever – trust a corpse.
The Comics by comiXology App is a digital comic store, library and reader for iPhone and iPod touch with over 250 titles available from twenty popular comic publishers and many independent comic writers. Customized for each individual title, the application scans across the page allowing the reader to experience the comic panels in a customized flow. Wired.com said of the app: “solves the problem of reading comics on the small screen.”
Says Larry Fessenden of Glass Eye Pix: “We are so happy to be able to explore McQuaid’s charming story in these other mediums: The film itself was very influenced by Brahm’s illustrations, and now to see the comic come to life in this groovy application is a great treat. We hope all you techno-nerds will enjoy this digital presentation of I SELL THE DEAD and that you’ll also pick up a copy of the printed comic next month—- just in time for Halloween!”
The printed version of the I SELL THE DEAD comic book will be brought to you by Image comics and includes photos from the film, concept drawings and poster art. Image is a comics and graphic novels publisher formed in 1992 by seven of Marvel Comics’ best-selling artists. Since that time, Image has gone on to become the third largest comics publisher in the United States.
Download I SELL THE DEAD today!
http://www.comixology.com/digital/181/I-Sell-the-Dead-1
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=325835385&mt=8
Also available from comixology is Brahm Revel’s outstanding black and white comic series GUERILLAS:
http://www.comixology.com/digital/12/Guerillas-1-of-9-
The printed I SELL THE DEAD comic book hits stores on October 7. Don’t miss it!
And if you haven’t yet seen the movie, it’s still available on Cable V.O.D. and in select theaters around the country.
https://0f39f0c.netsolhost.com/glasseyepix
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2 September 2009
Kelly McGillis joins cast of STAKE LAND
Dark Sky Films and Glass Eye Pix announced today that Kelly McGillis (Top Gun, Witness, The Accused) has joined the cast of the epic vampire road film Stake Land, currently filming in New York and Pennsylvania.
The film, written by Jim Mickle and Nick Damici and directed by Jim Mickle (Mulberry Street), takes place following a global spread of vampirism. McGillis plays a nun who joins a small team of survivors (including Damici, Danielle Harris of Halloween and Halloween 2 and Conor Paolo of Gossip Girl) as they make a treacherous journey north to safety through the war-torn U.S. McGillis’ character, “Sister,” faces a crisis of faith during the vampire bloodshed, ultimately taking up arms to do battle with her newly formed family unit.
Says Dark Sky’s EVP Greg Newman, “Jim and Nick have written a uniquely intense part for “Sister”, and we are thrilled to see Kelly McGillis in the role. This is a very ambitious project, with a genuinely epic sweep, and we cannot wait to bring it to audiences next year.”
The film is produced by Dark Sky Films and Larry Fessenden’s Glass Eye Pix with producers Derek Curl, Peter Phok, Brent Kunkle, Adam Folk, and Fessenden, who also appears in the film. Says Fessenden, “I have been wanting to work with Jim Mickle since I saw his short films years ago. My enthusiasm for his approach to genre was peaked with Mulberry Street, so when we were putting together the Dark Sky Slate, Mickle was on my short list of directors. I think this one will add legions of fans.”
Glass Eye Pix and MPI recently teamed up to produce Ti West’s House of the Devil, which is slated for a fall release from Magnolia pictures and Bitter Feast, which recently wrapped principal photography.
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5 June 2009
Glass Eye Pix reveals three new on-line Scareflix teaser posters!!
Exiting offerings for fans at the Fangoria’s Weekend of Horrors!
Cast announced for BITTER FEAST!
————————————————————
Glass Eye Pix is very excited to be participating in the upcoming Fangoria’s Weekend of Horrors running June 5-7 at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.
The Glass Eye Pix panel will take place on Saturday at 1:30 pm when producer Larry Fessenden will unveil three new teaser trailers for the upcoming slate of ScareFlix to be co-produced with MPI Media Group.
Fessenden has already produced 6 films under the Scareflix banner, including Ti West’s THE ROOST, James Felix McKenney’s AUTOMATONS, and Glenn McQuaid’s I SELL THE DEAD. This new collaboration with MPI allows for a continuation of the Scareflix agenda. Says Fessenden:
“My producing partners Peter Phok and Brent Kunkle and all of us at Glass Eye Pix are very excited that through this collaboration with MPI we can continue our mission of making auteur-driven genre movies.”
First up and lensing this June is writer/director Joe Maggio’s BITTER FEAST. States Fessenden: “Joe Maggio is a well-respected indie filmmaker known for nuanced story-telling and intense performances. I was so excited to invite Joe to get in touch with his dark side and make a horror film. Turns out he has plenty of demons to draw from.”
Maggio’s affinity with actors has attracted an exciting cast headed by James Le Gros (PHANTASM II, NEAR DARK, THE LAST WINTER, ZODIAC) and Joshua Leonard (THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, PROM NIGHT, HATCHET, HUMP DAY).
BITTER FEAST tells the tale of an over-zealous television chef who kidnaps a powerful and notoriously snarky food critic after a particularly nasty review delivers the final blow to Grey’s already plummeting career. An exploration of the creative impulse gone awry, BITTER FEAST is a horror film for the latent foodie in all of us.
Pre-Production is already in full swing on the second film in the slate: Jim Mickle’s STAKE LAND, co-written with his MULLBERRY STREET partner Nick Damici, it is an epic post-apocalyptic vampire tale that will be told across platforms in the coming months: look for a web presence and a graphic novel.
Third in the slate, James Felix McKenney’s (AUTOMATONS, SATAN HATES YOU) icy creature movie, HYPOTHERMIA will lens in January. Cast is pending, but the monster is being created right now in an undisclosed location.
Also unspooling at the spectacular Glass Eye Pix Fangoria presentation this Saturday will be trailers for upcoming releases, Glenn McQuaid’s I SELL THE DEAD, Ti West’s THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL (also produced with MPI Media Group), Graham Reznick’s I CAN SEE YOU, and the world premiere of the trailer to James Felix McKenney’s long anticipated SATAN HATES YOU.
And Check out Graham Reznick’s 3D short “THE VIEWER” at 6PM.
It’s all going on this weekend at the Javitz Center in Manhattan!!
https://0f39f0c.netsolhost.com/glasseyepix
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2 June 2009
New SATAN HATES YOU trailer and poster!
Released today is the new official poster for SATAN HATES YOU! The image can also be found now at satanhatesyou.com.
But the really big news is that the SATAN HATES YOU trailer is finally ready and waiting to premiere June 6th at FANGORIA’S WEEKEND OF HORRORS in NYC as part of the Glass Eye Pix presentation.
The Glass Eye Pix panel is to take place 1:30 pm on Saturday, June 6 in Hall 1-D at the Jacob Javits Center in Manhattan.
Fangoria reports:
“Sharing the stage with Glass Eye producer/director Larry Fessenden will be directors Glenn McQuaid (I SELL THE DEAD), Graham Reznick (I CAN SEE YOU), James Felix McKenney (SATAN HATES YOU, HYPOTHERMIA), Jim Mickle (MULBERRY STREET, upcoming STAKE LAND) and Joe Maggio (BITTER FEAST), as well as Nick Damici (MULBERRY STREET co-scripter/star and STAKE LAND writer) and composer Jeff Grace (THE ROOST, THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL).”
Also included among the various treats in store for audiences is the debut of the teaser trailer for our upcoming monster flick, HYPOTHERMIA.
Inspired by films from the golden age of religious cinema, SATAN HATES YOU is a graphic horror movie that tells the stories of two individuals and their personal struggles with Lucifer himself. In the film we follow Marc (Don Wood), a homicidal maniac driven by demons buried deep within his soul and Wendy (Christine Spencer), who lives life fast and hard without any thought to the consequences. Their separate paths will eventually cross, but will it be on the road to salvation or the highway to hell?
https://0f39f0c.netsolhost.com/glasseyepix
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27 May 2009
AUTOMATONS goes Public!
WATCH AUTOMATONS FOR FREE AT REEL13.ORG.
Starting today, visitors to New York Public Television station WNET’s Reel 13 website can view Glass Eye Pix’s award-winning film, AUTOMATONS, in its entirety. The film is available to watch streaming for free along with additional AUTOMATONS content, including an exclusive Reel 13 interview with writer-director James Felix McKenney:
http://www.thirteen.org/sites/reel13/indies/indies-watch-automatons-online/714/
Also available is the option to download a high-quality digital copy of the film for anyone who makes a donation to Channel 13.
The Village Voice exclaimed “Robot radness achieved!” and the New York Times said that “the buzzing static and fizzy backlighting recall the glistening surrealism of the filmmaker Guy Maddin… enormously endearing” when AUTOMATONS was first released in theaters in 2007. The film was directed by DYI auteur James Felix McKenney who also directed CANNIBALLISTIC!, THE OFF SEASON and the forth-coming SATAN HATES YOU and HYPOTHERMIA.
Says McKenney, “I’m incredibly excited to have our film be part of Reel 13. I have been a huge fan of Public Television my whole life. In fact, AUTOMATONS is almost entirely inspired by my a large part of childhood spent staring through the snow at a tiny B&W television with a coat hanger for an antenna to watch DOCTOR WHO, THE PRISONER, MATINEE AT THE BIJOU, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and the classic films of Hitchcock as well as Universal horror movies on my local PBS stations in Maine and New Hampshire. I think we’ve found the perfect online home for our little film.”
AUTOMATONS is the third film in Glass Eye Pix’s ScareFlix series and is currently available on DVD from Facets Video. This black & white, retro-science fiction experiment tells the story of a civilization’s lone survivor who continues to fight the robot war that destroyed her people. The film stars Christine Spencer (SATAN HATES YOU), Brenda Cooney (I SELL THE DEAD), Angus Scrimm (PHANTASM), Don Wood (PBS’ COLONIAL HOUSE), producer Larry Fessenden (HABIT) and John Levene (DOCTOR WHO).
http://www.deathtotheautomatons.com
https://0f39f0c.netsolhost.com/glasseyepix
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21 May 2009
KINO JOINS FORCES WITH LARRY FESSENDEN’S GLASS EYE PIX TO RELEASE THE HORROR FILM
I CAN SEE YOU (2009) – ALONG WITH THE 3-D SHORT THE VIEWER – ON DVD.
Continuing its relationship with Larry Fessenden’s Glass Eye Pix, Kino International is proud to announce the acquisition of Graham Reznick’s debut feature I Can See You (along with his unreleased 3D short film The Viewer) for release on DVD and VOD. The deal was negotiated by Kino prexy Donald Krim, producer/filmmaker Larry Fessenden (from Glass Eye Pix) and Ray Privett (from Cinema Purgatorio).
Following the 2008 release of Ilya Chaiken’s Liberty Kid and Ti West’s Trigger Man, also produced by Glass Eye Pix, Kino International is now pleased to distribute the fifth in Larry Fessenden’s low-budget horror ScareFlix anthology.
I Can See You has received outstanding reviews upon its May 09′ theatrical premiere in New York City (handled by Cinema Purgatorio) and introduces a major cinematic talent to North American audiences. Director Graham Reznick has been compared to David Lynch and David Cronenberg, but it is his unique blend of avant-garde and genre cinema, combined with his low-budget aesthetic bravado, that is sure to put him on many directors-to-watch lists at the end of the year.
The New York Times critic Nathan Lee wrote that “I Can See You heralds a splendid new filmmaker with one eye on genre mechanics, one eye on avant-garde conceits and a third eye for transcendental weirdness.” And horror Magazine Fangoria called Reznick’s debut film “one of the most intriguing and well crafted low budget horror films in recent memory.”
Focusing on three young and ambitious ad-men who go on a weekend- wilderness trip to brainstorm for their first major assignment, I Can See You progressively descends into a nightmare of madness and sensory overload.
Assigned with the task of overhauling the image of a once popular cleaning product named Claractix, these three up-and-coming New Yorkers find themselves at odds with each other when a woman called Summer Day (played by Heather Robb, the lead singer of The Spring Standards) disrupts their creative explorations. Moreover, a bored girlfriend who had reluctantly joined them inexplicably disappears and a specter from Claractix past campaigns begins to haunt them in the woods – adding a touch of surrealism to this unique horror-in-the-wilderness film.
The film’s ad-men are played by real-life members of Waverly Films (Ben Dickinson, Duncan Skiles and Chris Ford), a Brooklyn based production company specializing in commercials and music videos. Long-lost Claractix pitchman Mickey Hauser is played by producer Larry Fessenden.
This Kino International DVD release will also bring these companies’ first foray into the world of 3D cinema: The Viewer (2009) a brand new short film also written and directed by Graham Reznick, will be available as a special feature on the DVD for I Can See You – 3D glasses will be included with all DVDs.
Refereed to as “a telepathic interrogation experienced from the perspective of a suspected murderer,” The Viewer was shot using a special two-camera HD rig designed by cinematographer Gordon Arkenberg (I Can See You, The Meaning of Tea). Featuring a multi- dimensional soundscape by Graham Reznick, this unparalleled low- budget 3D film is a psychedelic feast for both the eyes and ears.
As special features, Kino’s I Can See You DVD comes with a behind-the- scenes featurette compiled by Larry Fessenden (titled I Can See you: A Closer Look), a director/actors commentary, a technical commentary for The Viewer, several deleted scenes and outtakes, as well as the film’s trailer and hidden “Easter eggs.”
Reznick is a Glass Eye Pix regular, having sound designed a number of past and current Scareflix releases including The Roost, Trigger Man, Automatons and I Sell The Dead, as well as JT. Petty’s Blood Red Earth and Ti West’s The House of The Devil. I Can See You was produced by fellow ScareFlix veteran Peter Phok.
Cinema Purgatorio, which is hoping to screen Reznick’s debut feature in traditional movie theaters, art centers, and horror movie conventions, will continue to handle the film’s theatrical release. I Can See You should play in five to ten additional theatrical markets before Kino releases its DVD in the Fall of 2009.
———————
Rodrigo Brandao, Director of Publicity
Kino International
333 W. 39th St. #503
NYC, NY 10018
(212) 629-6880, ext. 12
###
May 11th, 2009
SUBMARINE SELLS WORLDWIDE RIGHTS TO THE SLAMDANCE AWARD-WINNING HORROR FILM
“I SELL THE DEAD” STARRING DOMINIC MONAGHAN LARRY FESSENDEN AND RON PERLMAN
IFC Films acquires U.S. rights with a theatrical and on-demand release set for August 2009; Blockbuster secures home entertainment rental exclusive
Anchor Bay Films acquires Canadian, U.K., Australian and New Zealand rights; Screen Media acquires all other international rights
New York (NY) (May 11, 2009) – Submarine has closed deals worldwide for I Sell the Dead, the 2009 Slamdance award-winning horror film directed by Glenn McQuaid. The film co-stars horror-master Larry Fessenden (Wendigo, The Last Winter, Habit) who also produced with Peter Phok (The House of the Devil, Trigger Man, FearNet’s Blood Red Earth) under Fessenden’s New York production outfit Glass Eye Pix.
IFC Films has acquired U.S. distribution rights to I Sell the Dead and will release the film theatrically and on-demand in August 2009; Anchor Bay Films has acquired rights in Canada, the U.K., Australia and New Zealand; and Screen Media has acquired worldwide international rights in all other territories.
I Sell the Dead had its U.S. premiere as the opening night film of the 2009 Slamdance Film Festival, winning multiple awards including Best Cinematography and a Special Jury Mention for Fessenden. The film is having its Los Angeles premiere in June at the Los Angeles Film Festival in the Dark Wave section. In addition to Larry Fessenden, the acclaimed cast of I Sell the Dead includes Dominic Monaghan (Lord of the Rings, Lost), Ron Perlman (Hellboy, The City of Lost Children), and Angus Scrimm (Phantasm, Alias).
The deals for I Sell the Dead were negotiated by Josh Braun from Submarine Entertainment with Arianna Bocco for IFC Films, Susan Carron and Rob Herholtz for Anchor Bay and Rob Lynch and Michael Dwyer for Screen Media.
In I Sell the Dead, 18th century justice has finally caught up with two of the craftiest grave robbers in town. With only a few hours to go before his date with the guillotine, body-snatcher Arthur Blake (Dominic Monaghan) tells his life story to the peculiar Father Francis Duffy (Ron Perlman). Before long, Arthur spills the beans on how he got started in the grim corpse peddling business with seasoned ghoul Willie Grimes (Larry Fessenden). As the whisky flows Arthur’s tales get stranger and stranger. From their graveyard discoveries of vampires and zombies to tales of vicious gang rivalries with the infamous House of Murphy, Arthur’s confessions are the stuff of legend! Whether pillaging in fog drenched grave yards or plotting on blood soaked coast lines, Grimes and Blake leave no graves unturned. Their colorful and peculiar history is one filled with adventure, horror, and mayhem that threaten to drag all involved down into the very graves they’re trying to pilfer.
Said director Glenn McQuaid, “After literally traveling the world on the I Sell the Dead film festival tour, I’m over the moon that we’ve found a home for the movie with IFC Films, Anchor Bay and Screen Media. I’m honored to be teaming up with these pros and very excited that the movie will be getting out there to find new audiences and to live a life all of its own.”
Producer Larry Fessenden says: “We_re very happy to be back with IFC Films. They handled my previous film The Last Winter, also featuring Ron Perlman, and they did a fabulous job, so at this point it feels like family to be back with the same team of people. I want to thank Jonathan Sehring for being such a supporter over the years. We are also very excited to be working with Anchor Bay for our English speaking territories; Anchor Bay is a beloved label to all genre fans.” Co-producer Peter Phok continues: “we are glad to be back working with Screen Media who handled Trigger Man for us in the past. We hope all of these companies will have as much fun and excitement putting out the film as we had making it.”
Reuniting the team from The Last Winter of Larry Fessenden and Ron Perlman, IFC Films will release I Sell the Dead in August 2009 via its IFC in Theaters platform which brings critically-acclaimed independent movies to on-demand viewers at home the same day they premiere in theaters. I Sell the Dead is one of several highly anticipated horror films the company is releasing this spring/summer including Bruce McDonald’s Pontypool, about a town under attack by a deadly flesh eating virus, and Tommy Wirkola’s Dead Snow, a Norwegian Nazi-zombie horror comedy.
Jonathan Sehring, President of IFC Entertainment said, “I Sell the Dead is highly imaginative and a morbidly fun film! We’re thrilled to be working with Larry again, following our successful collaboration on The Last Winter. I Sell the Dead is also a terrific addition to our upcoming slate of Midnight films. Some of the most groundbreaking cinema in the world today is being done in the context of genre filmmaking and IFC Films is firmly committed to bringing American audiences a range of these films.”
I Sell the Dead will also go through IFC Entertainment’s exclusive rental deal with Blockbuster. The agreement enables IFC Films to reach a broader audience for its titles through Blockbuster’s stores, by mail subscription services and digital downloading services at Blockbuster.com.
Keith Leopard, Director of Content for Blockbuster, said, “We are looking forward to bringing ‘I Sell The Dead’ to Blockbuster customers. We had a great success with Larry Fessenden, Ron Perelman and IFC Films with The Last Winter, and I’m confident their latest collaboration with director Glenn McQuaid will be just as popular.”
Anchor Bay will release I Sell the Dead in Canada day and date with the U.S. release. Theatrical release dates in other territories are expected to be announced soon.
After seeing the impact of I Sell the Dead on the audience at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival last October, Anchor Bay Marketing Director Susan Curran championed the cause and brought the film to the attention of the sales and acquisitions team.
“We all fell in love with this movie,” says Rob Herholz, Executive Director of Sales and Acquisitions for Anchor Bay’s Canadian division. “It’s mood and energy is totally infectious. Our U.K and Australian offices felt the same way, and we are thrilled to be involved in a multi territory deal on I Sell the Dead.”
* * * *
About Glass Eye Pix
Glass Eye Pix is the fiercely independent NYC-based production company headed by art-horror auteur Larry Fessenden (THE LAST WINTER, WENDIGO, HABIT, NBC’s Fear Itself). Fessenden’s company has produced numerous critically acclaimed films in and out of the horror genre, including this year’s WENDY AND LUCY (Kelly Reichardt), THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL (Ti West), SATAN HATES YOU (James McKenney), LIBERTY KID (Ilya Chaiken) and most recently, the 3D short THE VIEWER (Graham Reznick). Glass Eye Pix’s low budget horror banner, Scareflix, was designed to exploit hungry new talent and inspire resourceful filmmakers to produce quality work through seat-of-the-pants ingenuity. Low budget drive-in fare for dvd collectors and genre fanatics, these scary movies offer faces both familiar and new in chilling tales that celebrate the diversity of the horror genre. I SELL THE DEAD is the sixth Scareflix in the series that began in 2004, a series already populated with killer bats, warring robots, vengeful ghosts, psychedelic brain melts, sniper rampages, grave robbers and zombies. THE ROOST and TRIGGER MAN by Ti West; THE OFF SEASON and AUTOMATONS by James Felix McKenney, and I CAN SEE YOU by Graham Reznick have all played theatrically and received critical acclaim.
About IFC Entertainment
A leader in the independent film industry, IFC Entertainment consists of multiple brands that are devoted to bringing the best of specialty films to the largest possible audience: IFC Films, Festival Direct, IFC Productions, and the IFC Center. IFC Films is a leading distributor of independent film. Its unique day and date distribution model, ‘IFC In Theaters,’ makes independent films available to a national audience by releasing them simultaneously in theaters as well as on cable’s On Demand platform and through Pay-Per-View, reaching 50 million homes. ‘IFC Festival Direct’ features a wide selection of titles acquired from major international film festivals and offers them exclusively through Video on Demand. IFC Productions is a feature film production company that provides financing for select independent film projects. IFC Center is a three screen, state-of-the-art cinema with luxurious seating and HD digital and 35mm projection that shows art-house films in the heart of New York’s Greenwich Village. IFC Entertainment’s companies are subsidiaries of Rainbow Media Holdings LLC
About Rainbow Media Holdings LLC
Rainbow Media Holdings LLC is a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC). Rainbow Media is a leading producer of targeted, multi-platform content for global distribution, creating and managing some of the world’s most compelling and dynamic entertainment brands, including AMC, IFC, WE tv, Sundance Channel, and VOOM HD Networks. Through IFC Entertainment, Rainbow Media also owns and manages the following: IFC Films, a leading distribution company for independent film; IFC Productions, a feature film production company that provides financing for select independent film projects; and IFC Center, a three screen, state-of-the-art cinema in the heart of New York’s Greenwich Village. Rainbow Media also operates Rainbow Advertising Sales Corporation, its advertising sales company; Rainbow Network Communications, its full service network programming origination and distribution company; and 11 Penn TV, a company that manages Rainbow Media’s NYC studios and post-production facilities.
About Anchor Bay Entertainment Canada
Anchor Bay Entertainment Canada is the home entertainment division of Starz Media, LLC. It includes the Anchor Bay Films and Manga Entertainment brands. It distributes feature films, children’s entertainment, fitness, TV series, documentaries, anime and other filmed entertainment on DVD and Blu-ray formats. Anchor Bay Entertainment has offices Toronto, Troy Michigan, Burbank California as well as the United Kingdom and Australia. Starz Media www.starzmedia.com is a controlled subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation attributed to the Liberty Capital Group.
About Screen Media Films
Screen Media Films acquires the rights to high quality, independent feature films for the US and Canada. Screen Media’s theatrical releases include the critically acclaimed and award-winning Lymelife; Canvas starring Marcia Gay Harden; Trailer Park Boys from Executive Producer Ivan Reitman; and Bustin’ Down the Door narrated by Edward Norton. Since 2001, Screen Media has released more than 100 titles, including Noel, starring Penelope Cruz and Susan Sarandon; Sherrybaby, starring Maggie Gyllenhaal; Kevin Bacon’s directorial debut, Loverboy, starring Kyra Sedgwick and Matt Dillon; and Emmy-nominated Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan. All films are distributed on home video through an exclusive distribution arrangement with Universal Studios Home Entertainment. Screen Media Films, LLC is a wholly owned division of Screen Media Ventures. With a library of over 1000 motion pictures, Screen Media Ventures is one of the largest independent suppliers of high quality motion pictures to U.S. and international broadcast markets, cable networks, home video outlets and new media venues. For more information visit www.screenmediafilms.net.
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April 23rd, 2009
I CAN SEE YOU opens next week – On DVD May 26!
Glass Eye Pix is proud to announce the NYC theatrical run of I CAN SEE YOU and THE VIEWER; a date is set for the DVD release.
I CAN SEE YOU and THE VIEWER to run at NYC’S Kraine Theater April 29th through May 5th, with an additional screening on May 10. DVD to be released on May 26th.
I CAN SEE YOU: A Psychedelic Campfire Tale
I CAN SEE YOU, the fifth in Larry Fessenden’s celebrated low budget horror ScareFlix anthology, is writer/director Graham Reznick’s debut feature film. Graham is a Glass Eye Pix regular, having sound designed many past and current Scareflix releases (The Roost, Trigger Man, Automatons and I Sell The Dead, as well as JT. Petty’s Blood Red Earth and Ti West’s The House of The Devil). I CAN SEE YOU was produced by fellow ScareFlix veteran Peter Phok.
SUMMARY: Three aspiring ad-men take a weekend in the wilderness, brainstorming for their first assignment: to overhaul the image of a once popular cleaning product, Claractix. While in the woods, a girlfriend’s mysterious disappearance sparks a harrowing descent into unreality. Personalities contort into extremes and visits are made by a specter from Claractix campaigns of the past as the film careens towards it’s startling climax.
The film’s ad-men are played by real-life members of Waverly Films (Ben Dickinson, Duncan Skiles and Chris Ford), a Brooklyn based production company specializing in commercials, music videos, and who have an immense cult following with their comedic YouTube shorts. Summer Day, the free spirited temptress destined to drive them apart, is played by Heather Robb (Trigger Man, The House of The Devil, I Sell the Dead), lead singer of popular folk-rock group The Spring Standards. Long-lost ClarActix pitchman Mickey Hauser is played by producer Larry Fessenden, who describes the movie as “1960’s psychedelia by way of David Lynch with dashes of Philip K. Dick and Cronenberg.”
Reznick says: “I CAN SEE YOU is about the experience of being young and ambitious in New York City, but blind to any sense of responsibility or stakes. When the naïve lead ad designer in I CAN SEE YOU takes his ill-fated trip into the woods and is faced with an impossible situation, his mind malfunctions. He doesn’t know how to cope with something outside of his safe, easy existence, and we experience his world shattering breakdown along with him. I love watching films that show the world through the tinted perspective of another person – and in I CAN SEE YOU we watch the world through the eyes of someone who is quickly losing his grasp on reality.”THE VIEWER: A Telepathic Interrogation in Three Dimensions
In addition to the feature, Glass Eye Pix enters the world of Stereoscopic 3D cinema with “The Viewer,” a brand new short film also written and directed by Graham Reznick.
SUMMARY: “The Viewer” is a telepathic interrogation experienced from the perspective of a suspected murderer. Telepathic Viewing doesn’t come without a price, however; as the suspect resists the mind-reader’s tactics, the “viewing” intensity is increased… dissolving the fragile boundaries between memory, identity and reality.
“The Viewer” was shot using a specialized two camera HD rig designed by cinematographer Gordon Arkenberg (I Can See You, The Meaning of Tea). Featuring a multi-dimensional 5.1 soundscape designed by Graham Reznick, “The Viewer” is a psychedelic feast for both the eyes and ears. Starring Mick Lauer as “The Viewer” and Lindsay Burdge as “The Victim.” Written and directed by Graham Reznick.THE VENUE
I CAN SEE YOU and THE VIEWER screen at the Kraine Theatre, within a custom, high-definition, full-surround, 3D system, maintained by distribution and exhibition company Cinema Purgatorio. Founded by former Pioneer Theater chief Ray Privett, Cinema Purgatorio installed the system at the Kraine for the four-month-long release of CHRISTMAS ON MARS, a science fiction film made by rock band the Flaming Lips. Together, Glass Eye and Cinema Purgatorio are adding the 3D capabilities for the screenings of I CAN SEE YOU and THE VIEWER.
Says Ray Privett: “I founded Cinema Purgatorio to work on extraordinarily creative film projects that deserve and reward extra special attention. I CAN SEE YOU is a great match. I’ve been lucky to work with Glass Eye and Scareflix many times elsewhere in the past, and I’m honored to work with them again.”
-I CAN SEE YOU will be preceeded by THE VIEWER during it’s theatrical run, from April 29th to May 5th at the Kraine Theater in NYC. Tickets are available through CinemaPurgatorio.com.
-The DVD of I CAN SEE YOU will contain THE VIEWER (along with special Glass Eye Pix 3D glasses) as a special feature. The special limited edition DVD set will also include a behind-the-scenes featurette, actor/director commentary, trailer, and promotional materials. The DVD will be available on May 26th through CinemaPurgatorio.com and Amazon.com.
– Hi-res press stills can be found at www.icanseeyoumovie.com/press_stills and hi-res posters can be found at www.icanseeyoumovie.com/poster/
http://www.icanseeyoumovie.com
http://www.cinemapurgatorio.com
https://0f39f0c.netsolhost.com/glasseyepix
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September 15th, 2008
Dark Sky Films Announces Production Partnership with Glass Eye Pix
Dark Sky Films announced today that a partnership has been struck with the fiercely independent NYC-based production company, Glass Eye Pix. Headed by art-horror auteur Larry Fessenden (The Last Winter, Wendigo, Habit, NBC’s Fear Itself), Glass Eye Pix has produced critically acclaimed films like Wendy and Lucy (Kelly reichardt), Liberty Kid (Ilya Chaiken) and the forthcoming House of the Devil by Ti West.
Larry Fessenden said, “My producing partners Peter Phok and Brent Kunkle and all of us at Glass Eye Pix are very excited to able to continue our mission of making auteur-driven genre movies with this collaboration with Dark Sky films. We’ve had a great dialogue ramping into it with Greg Newman, Marie-Therese Guirgis and Senior Producer Derek Curl and we all see eye to eye on what these movies are going to be like. I think the fans are going to be especially excited. We’ve got great talent creating original material; a little bit pulpy, a little bit high-brow. Can’t wait to get started.”
The collaboration between Glass Eye Pix and Dark Sky Films will ramp up immediately with a Fall project from JT Petty (The Burrowers), a psychological horror tale There’s No Place Like Home and a winter project from James Felix McKenney (Automatons, Satan Hates You) – a creature-feature entitled Hypothermia. These projects will be followed by features from Ti West and Larry Fessenden, and more films to be announced soon. With a roster of well-known independent directors with proven talent, Glass Eye Pix “will be able to make the movies they want to make”, said Dark Sky’s VP of Acquisitions and Development Greg Newman. “Dark Sky Films and Glass Eye Pix compliment each other well, and we have likeminded goals for the types of films we’ll make. We couldn’t be more excited about this partnership.”
Dark Sky Films is a wholly owned subsidiary of the MPI Media Group. For more information on Dark Sky Films and Glass Eye Pix, check out www.DarkSkyFilms.com and www.GlassEyePix.com .
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Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Oscilloscope Pictures to release Kelly Reichardt’s Cannes hit, WENDY AND LUCY
Michelle Williams starrer will open in theaters in December 2008
New York, NY (July 22nd, 2008) – Oscilloscope Pictures announced today that it has acquired North American rights to Kelly Reichardt’s poetic road drama WENDY AND LUCY. The film, which stars Academy Award nominee Michelle Williams, premiered to great acclaim in Un Certain Regard at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. It will be released at the Film Forum in New York City on Dec. 10, followed by a national expansion in early 2009.
In the film, Wendy Carroll (Williams) is driving to Ketchikan, Alaska, in hopes of a summer of lucrative work at the Northwestern Fish cannery, and the start of a new life with her dog, Lucy. When her car breaks down in Oregon, however, the thin fabric of her financial situation comes apart, and she confronts a series of increasingly dire economic decisions, with far-ranging repercussions for herself and her dog.
WENDY AND LUCY addresses issues of sympathy and generosity at the edges of American life, revealing the limits and depths of people’s duty to each other in tough times. Williams has already garnered critics’ attention for her haunting performance, as she conveys “an inexorable sense of longing for something more than life has given her” (Scott Foundas, Variety).
Reichardt — “one of the few masters now working in American independent film” (Larry Gross, Film Comment) — previously directed OLD JOY (2006) and RIVER OF GRASS (1994), which each premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, with OLD JOY earning the VPRO Tiger Award for Best Film at the International Film Festival Rotterdam.
Now, with WENDY AND LUCY, Reichardt has made “palpably, tragically real what it means to be struggling at the very edge of the economic abyss…with uninflected realism, an attentive camera and no weeping strings” (Manohla Dargis, New York Times).
Based on Jonathan Raymond’s short story Train Choir, WENDY AND LUCY also features Walter Dalton, Will Oldham, Larry Fessenden, John Robinson and Will Patton.
David Fenkel of Oscilloscope Pictures negotiated the acquisition of the film with Tanja Meissner of Memento Films International, Neil Kopp and filmscience’s Anish Savjani, who represented the filmmakers.
About Oscilloscope Laboratories:
Oscilloscope Laboratories is a NYC-based recording studio, film production and distribution company, and post-production facility founded by Adam Yauch. Oscilloscope Pictures’ recently released Yauch’s GUNNIN’ FOR THAT #1 SPOT (June 27th), and their theatrical lineup includes Irena Salina’s FLOW (Sept. 12th) and Caroline Suh’s FRONTRUNNERS (Oct. 15th).
Contact for the film:
George Schmalz, Oscilloscope Pictures: 212.219.4029 x35, george@oscilloscope.net
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Friday, July 18, 2008
RON PERLMAN Exclusive Interview — THE LAST WINTER on DVD July 22
Glass Eye Pix celebrates the July 22 release of Larry Fessenden’s THE LAST WINTER on DVD with an exclusive video interview of HELLBOY star Ron Perlman speaking about becoming an actor.
The video is now available at
This charming visit with Perlman is an excerpt from a series of recorded discussions with cast and crew during the shooting of the THE LAST WINTER in 2005.
Many of these interviews appear on THE LAST WINTER DVD in a feature-length “making of” which tracks Fessenden’s film from conception through postproduction in a candid, informative and often surreal account of making a low budget horror film in the desolate landscape of Iceland. The DVD also includes an interview with Fessenden and a full-length director’s commentary.
Says Fessenden, “I’m glad the film is finally available. It’s been a long road from inception to DVD distribution, and I’m sad to say the issues in the film are more relevant than ever. But I don’t make Propaganda movies. I know I’m not going to change minds. I make movies to express the things I find frightening. The end of the world as we know it qualifies.”
HELLBOY II and PAN’S LABYRINTH director Guillermo Del Toro says: “Fessenden is one of the most original voices to emerge in the horror field and THE LAST WINTER is his most accomplished work to date.”
Also available is THE LAST WINTER soundtrack and the graphic novel for Image Comics available at amazon.com. Posters can be bought for $10 (includes postage) at order@glasseyepix.com
https://0f39f0c.netsolhost.com/glasseyepix
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Thursday, July 3, 2008
PRODUCTION WRAPS ON JAMES FELIX MCKENNEY’S SATAN HATES YOU
FILM STARS DON WOOD, CHRISTINE SPENCER, ANGUS SCRIMM, REGGIE BANNISTER, MICHAEL BERRYMAN,
LARRY FESSENDEN and DEBBIE ROCHON
BROOKLYN, NY, July 3, 2008 – Glass Eye Pix and MonsterPants Movies are proud to announce that principal photography was completed in New York City on Tuesday for SATAN HATES YOU, written and directed by James Felix McKenney.
The film’s cast is led by Don Wood (TV’s COLONIAL HOUSE, IN A FIX) and Christine Spencer (AUTOMATONS) and also includes Angus Scrimm (PHANTASM, TV’s ALIAS), Reggie Bannister (PHANTASM, BUBBA HO-TEP), Michael Berryman (ONE FLEW OVER THE CUKOO’S NEST, THE HILLS HAVE EYES), Debbie Rochon (TROMEO AND JULIET, TERROR FIRMER) and Producer Larry Fessenden (HABIT, THE BRAVE ONE) with appearances by Pauley Perrette (TV’s NCIS, ALMOST FAMOUS), John Levene (TV’s DOCTOR WHO) and author Max Brooks (WORLD WAR Z, THE ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE).
The film is inspired by Christian “scare” cinema of the 1950’s – 70’s and tells the story of two troubled individuals (Wood and Spencer) who find themselves on the fast track to losing their immortal souls.
“This film is significantly larger than anything we’ve done before,” says McKenney. “With a huge cast and multiple locations around New York, Los Angeles and even Hell itself, I went into this shoot fearing I bit off more than I could chew. But our incredible cast and amazing crew made getting this ambitions project in the can a breeze. It was almost too easy.”
SATAN HATES YOU is McKenney’s fourth feature film, following the critically acclaimed AUTOMATONS. The film is produced by Larry Fessenden’s company Glass Eye Pix, along with director McKenney’s MonsterPants movies, Lisa Wisely and Jeremiah Kipp. Eric Branco is the Director of Photography.
Says Fessenden, “It is always very special to team up with the Monsterpants gang. They make films the way I like it: seat of the pants resourceful, lotta heart, lotta love on set. That’s what Glass Eye has always been about and collaborating with McKenney keeps us honest. As for Satan Hates You, I think the title says it all.”
Look for SATAN HATES YOU in early 2009.
Web Links:
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24 May 2008
The Horror of Global Warming Comes to DVD
July 22, 2008 from Genius Products Starring Ron Perlman
“The SCARIEST MOVIE of the YEAR…” – Bob Strauss, L.A. Daily News
“…Socially relevant and genuinely suspenseful…” – Aaron Hillis, Premiere Magazine
SANTA MONICA, CA – Discover the horrifying evil frozen beneath the arctic tundra as Genius Products presents the psychological thriller/ environmental message movie The Last Winter on DVD July 22. Starring Ron Perlman (Hellboy), James LeGros (Vantage Point), Connie Britton (NBC’s “Friday Night Lights”), Zach Gilford (NBC’s “Friday Night Lights”) and Kevin Corrigan (Definitely, Maybe), and directed by Larry Fessenden (The Brave One), The Last Winter will be available to own for $19.95 SRP.
Nominated for a 2007 Gotham Award for Best Ensemble Cast, The Last Winter blends real-life environmental concerns over global warming with the a suspenseful supernatural storyline. Named one of last year’s top movies by many critics including Greg Lamberson of FearZone.com, Bob Brodmerkel of HorrorReview.com and Scott Perry of Colonelscrypt.com, the Environmental Defense Fund called The Last Winter “a stunning wake up call, a bold exploration of the horror of unchecked global warming that is sure to move new audiences to action.”
THE LAST WINTER includes the following special features:
– Making of The Last Winter – a feature-length documentary including deleted scenes and interview with Director Larry Fessenden
– Director Commentary
SYNOPSIS: In the Arctic region of Northern Alaska , an oil company’s advanced team struggles to establish a drilling base that will forever alter the pristine land. After one team member is found naked and dead in the snow, an environmentalist suspects sour gases may have accidentally been released in the area, provoking hallucinations, disorientation and insanity in the group. After a shocking second fatal incident, he convinces their boss to travel with the team to a hospital for examination. However, mysterious events begin taking place, effectively trapping the group in the base as they succumb to an unknown fear.
For more information on the film, including a trailer, photos, and press notes, please visit www.thelastwinter.net.
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17 April 2008
J E R E M Y W A L K E R + A S S O C I A T E S, I N C.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE
CONTACT: Jeremy Walker , 212-595-6161
PRODUCTION WRAPS ON WRITER/DIRECTOR TI WEST’S
THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL
FILM STARS JOCELIN DONAHUE, GRETA GERWIG, TOM NOONAN, MARY WARONOV, AJ BOWEN and DEE WALLACE
LIME ROCK, CT, April 17, 2008 – Principal photography was completed here yesterday on THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL, writer-director Ti West’s new horror-thriller starring Jocelin Donahue (JT Petty’s forthcoming THE BURROWERS), “mumblecore” ingénue Greta Gerwig (BAGHEAD, opening in July), Tom Noonan (SNOW ANGELS, MANHUNTER), Mary Waronov (EATING RAOUL) AJ Bowen (THE SIGNAL) and Dee Wallace (E.T., Rob Zombie’s HALLOWEEN).
Donahue plays Sam, an attractive but broke college sophomore who answers an ad seeking a baby-sitter and ends up trapped in a big scary house and fighting for her life. Noonan and Waronov play Mr. and Mrs. Ulman, the Satanist couple that lures Sam into the house just in time for a lunar eclipse; Gerwig plays Sam’s best friend while Bowen plays the Ulman’s murderous son. Wallace makes a cameo as Sam’s landlady.
THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL is produced by Roger Kass, Josh Braun and horror impresario Larry Fessenden along with Peter Phok. The director of photography is Eliot Rockett. The production designer is Jade Healy. Special effects makeup artist is Ozzy Alvarez. The film is financed by Dark Sky Films, a wholly owned subsidiary of MPI Media Group.
THE HOUSE is West’s fourth feature film following such cult hits as THE ROOST and TRIGGER MAN and the forthcoming Lionsgate release CABIN FEVER 2: SPRING FEVER.
Early plans call for THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL to be completed by late summer.
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7 February 2008
DARK SKY FILMS announces THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL from writer/director TI WEST
Dark Sky Films has partnered with A History of Violence producers Roger Kass and Josh Braun and horror impresario Larry Fessenden’s Glass Eye Pix to produce the original horror-thriller The House of the Devil, written and set to be directed by Ti West. Braun, Kass and Fessenden are producing along with Peter Phok as it was announced today by the MPI Media Group, Dark Sky’s parent company.
The film is in pre-production now in Connecticut, with casting commencing immediately and production anticipated to start in mid March. The House of the Devil was brought to MPI Media Group’s Malik Ali and Greg Newman via Marie-Therese Guirgis.
The House of the Devil tells the tale of a job gone horribly awry when a college girl answers a babysitting ad and gets much more than she expected. The House of the Devil is Ti West’s fourth feature film; his resume boasts the writing and direction of the critically acclaimed films The Roost, Trigger Man, and most recently, Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever.
Larry Fessenden of Glass Eye Pix stated, “I am excited to be working with Ti again, and with this team and a few more resources. Ti’s ability to root his genre films in the rhythms and details of everyday life is what makes them resonant and startling. This one will be a doozy.”
Kass, who is producing through his Studio Bang banner, added, “I’ve wanted to produce a Ti West movie from the moment I saw the bats go rabid in The Roost, and teaming up again with Glass Eye and its aces crew on this one is a great follow-up to the energy we generated together on our last effort, Ilya Chaiken’s Liberty Kid.” Braun added, “This film is a horror classic in the making and we are excited to be working with MPI Media on this and hopefully future projects.”
In addition to steering A History of Violence to the big screen, Kass and Braun set up the graphic novel feature film adaptation of Button Man by John Wagner which is currently in development at DreamWorks.
Glass Eye Pix has been responsible for a slew of genre films, indie dramas and documentaries from such filmmakers as Kelly Reichardt, JT Petty, Ilya Chaiken and Ti West, as well as Fessenden himself (Habit, Wendigo, The Last Winter).
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2 January 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Post production on Glenn McQuaid’s I SELL THE DEAD commences in New York City; Fall Premier targeted
After waiting for Ron Perlman to finish up work on HELLBOY II; THE GOLDEN ARMY, filming of I SELL THE DEAD finally recommenced on December 10th 2007 and officially wrapped on December 19th. The film had begun principal photography May 21st 2007 and shot until June 11th before taking a six month hiatus while Perlman did duties on Guillermo Del Toro’s HELLBOY sequel. The second phase of shooting on I SELL THE DEAD took place during frigid days and cold December nights in Staten Island, NY, doubling for the 18th century British Isles where the film is set.
Ron Perlman plays a priest who transcribes the gallows speech given by Arthur Blake, a puckish street criminal condemned to die by the guillotine for a life robbing graves. Arthur Blake is played by Dominic Monaghan (THE LORD OF THE RINGS) in his first film role since his character perished in the 2007 season finale of J.J. Abram’s LOST TV series. Blake recounts his years stealing corpses with his mentor Willie Grimes, played by Larry Fessenden (HABIT, BROKEN FLOWERS, THE BRAVE ONE), also the film’s producer.
In supporting roles I SELL THE DEAD features Angus Scrimm (PHANTASM), Eileen Colgan (THE SECRET OF ROAN INISH, TARA ROAD) and a cast of character actors plucked from previous Glass Eye Pix productions (John Speredakos, THE ROOST, WENDIGO; Brenda Cooney, AUTOMATONS, THE OFF SEASON; Heather Robb, I CAN SEE YOU, TRIGGER MAN; James Godwin, WENDIGO).
I SELL THE DEAD is a scrappy low-budget extravaganza produced by Fessenden and Peter Phok in 35mm, 16mm and super 8mm. Written and Directed by Glenn McQuaid, it marks the sixth and most expansive of Glass Eye Pix’s Scareflix, a line of auteur-driven horror movies. Says Fessenden, “The idea is that each Scareflick is wholly different from all of the others, and Glenn’s sensibility is unlike anything we’ve done, in fact anything we’ve seen in theaters of late. It will feel familiar and fresh at the same time.”
McQuaid explains “I Sell The Dead is influenced by Hammer Horror and the portmanteau films of Amicus and there is no small amount of Abbott and Costello thrown into the proceedings. Dominic Monaghan and Larry Fessenden have great chemistry as the grave robbing leads and Ron Perlman was fabulous to work with, he is playful and imposing all at once. It was amazing to finally get Ron and Dom on the same set, t heir scenes are very intense, intimate, scary and funny. It’s going to define the whole film. There will be fog, scares, laughs and lots of twists and turns.”
Says producer Peter Phok: “Turning the pages in the ISTD script into a reality on screen in the New York area under a modest budget is a challenge and quite the thrill. This production really demonstrates what a fantastic group of people can pull off when everyone believes in such an exciting script. Every set piece is more amazing then the last and lends a huge hand to bringing the audience into the world McQuaid has created. I’m excited to wrap principal photography and continue the adventure into post production where Glenn’s editorial skills and years of experience in visual effects will bring all this wonderful material together into a truly exceptional movie.”
Post production commences immediately, encompassing a great many visual effects as well as an ambitious score by Glass Eye Pix regular Jeff Grace (THE ROOST, THE LAST WINTER, TRIGGER MAN, LIBERTY KID, I CAN SEE YOU). Also in the offering, there will be a comic book adaptation by Brahm Revel. The film should be completed this summer in preparation for a Fall premiere.
All news and updates can be found at
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30 October 2007
Halloween Treats from Glass Eye Pix “Scareflix” Label
TRIGGER MAN and AUTOMATONS leaving the roost.
HOUSE OF THE DEVIL set to lense.
Oct 31 – Glass Eye Pix is pleased to announce the sale of domestic and foreign rights to Ti West’s sophomore effort, the critically acclaimed TRIGGER MAN.
Domestic distribution will be handled by New York-based Kino International which will capitalize on the outstanding reviews that have evoked such cinema legends as Tarkovsky and Chantal Ackerman. The DVD will be available this spring and will include a commentary by the director and sound designer and a second commentary by the boisterous cast.
Foreign sales will be handled by Screen Media, which will be offering the film at the AFM, beginning appropriately enough on Halloween this year. Prospects are high that this unique genre offering will translate well.
Roger Kass made both sales for Glass Eye Pix, negotiating with Don Krim at Kino and Michael Dwyer and David Fannon at Screen Media Ventures. Kass also dealt world rights to Ti West’s first feature, THE ROOST, to Showtime and Fabrication Film Sales.
TRIGGER MAN takes a naturalistic and wholly existential approach to the story of three friends on a bonding and hunting trip during which things go horribly wrong. Achingly played out in real time, the film is so startling in its pacing and conviction that it has won over critics of all stripes. Blending horror genre conventions with the sensibility of a new generation of indie films dubbed “mumblecore” for its “kitchen sink” realism, Ti West has forged a new type of subtle dread. His third feature, CABIN FEVER 2: SPRING FEVER from Lion’s Gate films is currently in post-production.
TRIGGER MAN is part of a slate of ultra-low budget genre films produced through Larry Fessenden’s production company Glass Eye Pix under the Scareflix banner. Scareflix is a series of no-budget auteur-driven films in the horror and sci-fi genre. Through Scareflix, Ti West wrote and directed his first feature, THE ROOST, celebrated for its pacing and mood, killer bats and zombies.
West’s next feature, HOUSE OF THE DEVIL, is being prepped now for a January start, with Fessenden, Kass, Peter Phok and Josh Braun producing.
Glass Eye Pix is also pleased to announce along with Monsterpants Movies the upcoming release of AUTOMATONS, James Felix McKenney’s extraordinary S8mm b&w apocalyptic robot movie that the New York Times called “enormously endearing” and Wired magazine awarded the “Best shoestring sci-fi of 2006.” AUTOMATONS will be available from Facets Multi Media January 29, 2008. The DVD will include a blow-by-blow account of the making of the film by the resourceful and scrappy Monsterpants crew and will also contain interviews with its star Angus Scrimm (PHANTASM). The deal was handled by Robert Seigel for Glass Eye Pix and Marvin Mason for Facets.
Glass Eye Pix proprietor Larry Fessenden is himself an award-winning director of scary movies including HABIT, WENDIGO and the highly acclaimed THE LAST WINTER, which recently unspooled in theaters from IFC First Take and will be released on DVD this coming winter.
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July 13 2007
THE LAST WINTER Opens on Wednesday, September 19 at the IFC Center
THE LAST WINTER, a gripping psychological thriller from indie-horror maverick Larry Fessenden (WENDIGO, HABIT). The harrowing tale of an Alaskan oil-dredging expedition gone mysteriously awry, the film mines timely, very real fears for classic chills – a grown-up ghost story for our ecologically unstable times. Gorgeously shot on sub-zero Icelandic snowscapes, it stars Ron Perlman (HELLBOY, CITY OF LOST CHILDREN), James LeGros (ZODIAC, DRUGSTORE COWBOY), Connie Britton (Friday Night Lights), Kevin Corrigan (BUFFALO 66, WALKING AND TALKING), and rising star Zach Gilford (Friday Night Lights). Featured at the Toronto and Los Angeles film festivals, THE LAST WINTER will open in New York on Wednesday, September 19 at the IFC Center, followed by a national roll-out.
In one of the most pristine landscapes in the world, a team working to exploit Alaska’s oil reserves begins to encounter troubling delays. Scientist and outside observer Hoffman (LeGros) warns of unseasonably warm temperatures and disruptive atmospheric changes, but gruff team leader Pollack (Perlman) presses on with the mission, even as crewmembers become strangely afflicted. Disdainful of Hoffman, who’s also begun an affair with his ex, Abby (Britton), Pollack moves to have him relocated, but not before a cataclysmic accident leaves the whole crew exposed to the elements. With sanity and survival hanging in the balance, Pollack and Hoffman are forced to journey together for help – racing against darkness and deadly cold, haunted by demons that have risen from within.
Evoking the stark terrain of John Carpenter’s THE THING, Fessenden urgently explores the frightful consequences of man’s disruption of the natural world – mother nature’s coming wrath in the era of global warming. Distinguished from the current glut of splat-pack diversions, THE LAST WINTER is an intense and soulful work of true horror, with unshakable images and compelling performances by its ensemble cast.100 minutes. An IFC First Take release. Not rated.
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July 12 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AUTOMATONS invade Comic-Con 2007
Glass Eye Pix and MonsterPants Movies’ retro ScareFlick AUTOMATONS will be the closing film of the Science Fiction / Fantasy program at the 2007 San Diego Comic-Con International Film Festival! Director James Felix McKenney and Producer Lisa Wisely will be on hand to talk about the film and hand out some very limited quantities of Comic-Con Exclusive Automatons Trading Cards and other goodies. An announcement regarding the DVD release of AUTOMATONS will also be made at the Comic-Con screening. AUTOMATONS is a black & white, low-tech effects film about the horrors of war and robots starring newcomer Christine Spencer, Brenda Cooney (I SELL THE DEAD, THE OFF SEASON) and Angus Scrimm (the PHANTASM films, “Alias”). Also featured are Don Wood (“Colonial House”, CANNIBALLISTIC!), Larry Fessenden (HABIT, SESSION 9) and John Levene (“Doctor Who”, PSYCHOMANIA).The film has enjoyed theatrical runs in New York City and Chicago and has gained some impressive reviews from The New York Times, Village Voice, Wired, New York Post, New York Sun, Film Threat, Shock Cinema and more.Be sure to make time in your busy Comic-Con schedule to check out this uniquely unusual film that Joe Horror called a “Must See!”
AUTOMATONS
Saturday, July 28
4:30 pm
Film Festival – Room 26AB
For more information, contact: mail@monsterpants.net
or visit the official website: deathtotheautomatons.com
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June 23 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
POSTER BOY FOR L.A. FILM FESTIVAL HAS PROJECTS IN ALL PHASES.
Dubbed the unofficial poster-boy of the L.A. Film Festival by L.A. Weekly, filmmaker Larry Fessenden is presenting three movies produced under his New York based production company GLASS EYE PIX at this year’s festival.
Coinciding with the announcement this Friday of IFC’s purchase of Fessenden’s directorial effort, THE LAST WINTER, starring James Le Gros and Ron Perlman, Fessenden unspooled the film as part of the festival’s Summer Previews section. The film hits theaters nation-wide and on V.O.D. September 21.
Also at the festival Glass Eye Pix will be world premiering LIBERTY KID, the sophomore effort from Sundance favorite Ilya Chaiken (MARGARITTA HAPPY HOUR). The film, starring Al Thomson and Kareem Saviñon is the story of two Liberty Island food-service workers whose lives are radically altered after the attacks of 9/11. The film was produced by Fessenden, Michael Ryan (FAY GRIMM, PALINDROMES) and Roger Kass (A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE).
The third Glass Eye Pix entry in the Festival is up-and-coming horror director Ti-West’s minimalist art house thriller TRIGGER MAN. West and Fessenden’s previous collaboration, THE ROOST, made under Glass Eye Pix’s Scareflix banner, was acquired by Showtime at the 2005 L.A. Film Festival. West is currently in post-production on Lion’s Gate Films’ CABIN FEVER 2: SPRING FEVER.
“My mission at Glass Eye Pix is to support the singular voice in movies, both in the horror genre and beyond. Says Fessenden “We’re about getting films made in a true independent spirit, with a community of like-minded artisans. We have shared the same actors, composer (Jeff Grace has scored four of the films) and director of photography. It’s like a theater troupe, and that’s how we can work economically and organically.”
Fessenden’s company is responsible for a slate of independent, auteur-driven films by a group of artisans and veterans of the business. Glass Eye Pix recently finished principal photography on his sixth Scareflick, Glenn McQuaid’s I SELL THE DEAD, produced by Peter Phok, which stars Dominic Monaghan (LOST), Ron Perlman (HELLBOY), Angus Scrimm (PHANTASM).
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01/31/07
For Immediate Release
PERLMAN AND MONAGHAN GRAPPLE WITH THE UNDEAD
In a recent interview with teentelevision.com, Dominic Monaghan, star of “Lost” and Peter Jackson’s LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy, leaked the news that he will be starring in the upcoming Glass Eye Pix production, I SELL THE DEAD, alongside Ron Perlman (HELLBOY, BLADE II) and Larry Fessenden (HABIT, SESSION 9).
Glenn McQuaid directs this latest installment in the Glass Eye ScareFlix Series of low budget auteur-driven genre fare, which includes Ti West’s THE ROOST and James McKenney’s AUTOMATONS as well as the forthcoming TRIGGER MAN, also by West.
I SELL THE DEAD is an extension of McQuaid’s period short film, The RESURRECTION APPRENTICE, in which a pair of graverobbers (here to be played by Monaghan and Fessenden) find themselves digging up the dead… and the not so dead. Perlman appears in the role of the imposing Father Duffy.
Shooting of this supernatural epic begins in May, with a considerably larger budget, cast and overall scope than previous entries in producer Fessenden’s ScareFlix series. Says Fessenden: “we haven’t abandoned our no-budget model, but each scareflick requires a unique approach, and to get the period details right we’ll need a few extra hands on deck. Glenn’s script and the world he’s created will be worth the extra effort, and of course we’re thrilled with the cast”
Fessenden & McQuaid previously worked with Perlman on Fessenden’s THE LAST WINTER, on which McQuaid was Visual Effects Supervisor. McQuaid is also responsible for the bat effects in THE ROOST. Perlman is joined by ScareFlix alumnae Brenda Cooney (AUTOMATONS, THE OFF SEASON), John Speredakos (WENDIGO, THE ROOST), and Daniel Manche (HEADSPACE, THE GIRL NEXT DOOR) as well as another genre veteran or two, to be announced…
Stay tuned to www.glasseyepix.com for updates, and visit the official site www.Isellthedead.com. Going on line today!
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Oct 21 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PLEASE CONTACT: Glass Eye Pix (212) 253-5733
FESSENDEN’S SCAREFLIX COMPLETE AND READY FOR DISTRIBUTION
Preview screenings of THE OFF SEASON and THE ROOST announced.
Angus Scrim and directors James Felix McKenney and Ti West to host.
NEW YORK, October 21, 2004 – Just in time for Halloween, Glass Eye Pix is pleased to announce that the first two films in Executive Producer Larry Fessenden’s ScareFlix series, THE OFF SEASON and THE ROOST, have completed post production.
Larry Fessenden, director of the indie features HABIT and WENDIGO, created the ScareFlix line of low budget horror films in order to inject some new blood into the genre: “ScareFlix came from my celebrating the grass-roots impulse to make movies. I have a romantic attitude towards that, since it’s the world I come from. I hope to carry on that no-budget tradition, which is dying as more people try to make a career out of the film business from the get-go. I’m trying to nurture that first moment when filmmakers make movies without commercial calculation, when they really are possessed by the medium. And I’m confident that in an age of DVD, even the most eccentric film can find its audience. Of course we have very cool DVD extras planned for both features. We’ll also be offering these films for theatrical presentation, preferably at drive-ins and midnight shows.”
The first in the series is James Felix McKenney’s THE OFF SEASON. Described by Fessenden as “a quirky ghost story set in a desolate Maine motel,” the film stars Christina Campanella (THE ADDICTION) and Don Wood (CANNIBALLISTIC!, TV’s “Colonial House”, “In a Fix”), as well as Fessenden himself. Genre legend Angus Scrimm rounds out the cast. Best known as the sinister “Tall Man” in the PHANTASM film series, Scrimm was McKenney’s first choice for the role as the lead couple’s oddball neighbor. “Jim is a great fan of PHANTASM, and he had a role written for Mr. Scrimm, so we decided to get in touch with the Tall Man and see if he’d want to play a quirky, retired rodeo cowboy. He liked the script and accepted the role.” grins Fessenden.
THE OFF SEASON was shot in Hi Definition video with cinematography by David W. Hale. The crew of five work for ten straight 20-hour days in the coastal town of Old Orchard Beach, Maine. Unfolding in long restless floating camera takes, the film plays like a theater piece observed by a demented stalker. In fact, writer-director McKenney first collaborated with actor Don Wood and the crew in the notorious Boston underground theater group House of Borax in the 1990’s.
Theatrical flourishes give way to darker themes in THE OFF SEASON: McKenney speaks of his influences: “I wrote the script in 1996 after seeing Lars von Trier’s THE KINGDOM. I was inspired to do a ghost story, but I wanted to do something a little different. Rather than having it set in a haunted mansion, on an old castle or other giant structure, I wanted my film to take place where there’s nowhere to run — no comfort zone.” McKenney continues, “you see this now in a lot of Japanese horror, starting with RINGU, so the concept doesn’t seem quite as novel it once may have. But what really sets THE OFF SEASON apart from the Asian ghost movies are the characters. My taste is a bit more John Waters than John Carpenter, so I like to explore the more absurd sides of people and how they behave in various situations, while giving the audience a good shock or two.”
THE ROOST, affectionately called “The Bat Movie” during production, was shot in Super 16mm film on the camcorder-sized Aaton A-Minima camera by Director of Photography Eric Robbins. Filming in rural Southern Delaware in the massive barn Hitchcock used for MARNIE, the tiny crew of THE ROOST found itself vying for access to country roads with M. Night Shyamalan’s production of THE VILLAGE during a 23 day shoot during Fall of 2003.
THE ROOST features a young cast led by Wil Horneff (THE SANDLOT, BORN TO BE WILD) and his real-life sister, Vanessa Horneff in her film debut. Glass Eye Pix veteran John Speradakos (WENDIGO) is featured as Sergeant Mitchell, and the film is hosted by a gaunt bald Tom Noonan (MANHUNTER, MONSTER SQUAD, THE PLEDGE).
Writer-director Ti West has made “the definitive raw slacker-revenge-of-nature-zombie-horror-host-special-effects-splatter film,” says Fessenden, who also appears as a hapless tow-truck driver. He continues: “I will be able to add this one to my growing roster of onscreen deaths: by gunshot, ice pick, death-dive, and now– bat-attack.” Ti West says: “I love pulp horror. Tales from the Crypt got me through middle school. The host stuff comes out of my love for late night TV, and the old school approach to horror. I think horror movies should be fun to watch. October is the only time of year I watch TV. How great is it when your flipping trough the channels at like 2 in the morning and find some horror movie or TV show you have never seen. You get all into it, and can’t wait to see more. I love that feeling. I hope I can be responsible for creating that for someone.”
Preview screenings for both THE ROOST and THE OFF SEASON have been included as a month of horror films at New York City’s Pioneer Theater. THE ROOST will be shown on October 27th at 7pm as part of a double bill with Sam Raimi’s EVIL DEAD. THE ROOST director Ti West will be in attendance. The following night, October 28th, features a double feature of THE OFF SEASON with PHANTASM. Angus Scrimm, star of both films will be at the 7:00 PM screening along with THE OFF SEASON director, James Felix McKenney.
Fessenden is also Executive Producer with Steven Beer and Sam Downey of writer-director Dave Gebroe’s “instant Classic” ZOMBIE HONEYMOON, showing October 22 at the Hamptons Film Festival.
Glass Eye Pix wishes you a very happy SHOCKTOBER!!
More information:
ScareFlix: www.glasseyepix.com
The Off Season: www.monsterpantsonline.com
The Roost: www.TheRoostMovie.com
Pioneer Theater:
155 East 3rd Street (at Ave. A)
New York, NY 10009
(212) 254-3300
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March 23, 1998
Habit Press Release
by Michael Ellenbogen, March 1998
New York – One year after its initial public booking in Chicago, HABIT, the psychological horror by writer-director-star Larry Fessenden, is a hard-won independent success story. Fessenden and his Director of Photography, Frank DeMarco are currently in Los Angeles at the 1998 Independent Spirit Awards where they were both nominated for top awards. In the Best Director category, Fessenden joins Robert Duvall (The Apostle), Victor Nunez (Ulee’s Gold), Paul Schrader (Touch), and Wim Wenders (The End of Violence). DeMarco, vying for Best Cinematography, joins Michael Barrow and John Foster (Sunday), Robert Elswit (Hard Eight), Declan Quinn (Kama Sutra), and Alex Vendler (The Bible and Gun Club).
Late in 1996, after 50 distributors told Fessenden that they could not see a way to market his independently produced film, he and his production company, Glass Eye Pix, partnered with his long-time associate, Michael Ellenbogen of Passport Cinemas, for the purpose of distribution. “In our first distribution effort together, we were able to tap six markets, schedule six more, and get six others to agree to an unspecified date in the near future,” says Ellenbogen. Before distributing HABIT, Ellenbogen had been producing and programming two annual film festivals, the Albany International Short Film Festival and New York’s Capital Film Slam, and a monthly series of short films, ‘Off-hollywood’.
HABIT has been a critical success in each of its outings. The metaphorical nature of the vampire story combined with Fessenden’s naturalistic acting and directing style has encouraged critics to be insightful. Michael Wilmington (The Chicago Tribune) called HABIT a “paralyzingly real ƒ Sharp ƒ Chillingly smart ƒ ” movie that “evokes true horror: the fear that you can trust nothing around you.” Amy Taubin of the Village Voice called it “a Dostoyevskian East Village romance,” and “as evocative of New York-style paranoia as Rosemary’s Baby, Bad Lieutenant, or Taxi Driver.” Other praise for the film included: “Remarkable.” (Michael Freidson, Time Out New York) “Haunting.” (Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times). HABIT was passed over by major film festivals like Sundance and Toronto, but its appearance in the Chicago Film Festival in 1995 caused a stir of interest-most notably in the minds of three of Chicago’s top critics including Ebert, John Petrakis (Chicago Tribune), and Joshua Katzman (The Reader) and Charles Coleman, programmer of Facets Cinematheque, Chicago’s true haven for independent cinÚphiles. Its follow-up appearance at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival in 1996, programmed by Robert Faust, garnered enough interest in Fessenden to set in motion events which led up to his winning the ‘Someone to Watch Award’ in March, 1997 ($20,000 cash sponsored by SWATCH Inc. and awarded by the Independent Feature Project West at the Independent Spirit Awards (ISA)).
“The important thing to realize,” says Ellenbogen, “is how much these small events can mean to an independent distributor.” When Coleman requested to play the film in his small Chicago art house in March, 1997, the offer was accepted. “Early in 1997, we had been trying to get booking dates in New York at the Angelika, Film Forum, Paris Fine Arts and Cinema Village, and in L.A. at Landmark Theatres, but several things were working against us: no major festivals, no major awards, no names, and no distribution track record,” says Ellenbogen. “As the months went by, we were concerned that the movie would be out of place in summer engagements when most attention would be on the blockbusters and the decision was made to hold the two major cities until the fall. Facets gave HABIT the opportunity to play for two weeks. It was a combination of our in-house publicity efforts and those of Coleman that generated the intelligent and positive reviews by Ebert and Wilmington.”
The Chicago reviews and the ‘Someone to Watch Award’ gave us the ammunition we needed to open the doors to Laemmle’s Music Hall theatre in Los Angeles and Ed Arentz’s Cinema Village in New York in October and November last year. Glass Eye Pix and Passport Cinemas had beat the odds and now had an opportunity to do business in two high profile art houses. With this goal in mind, they began developing an extensive publicity and promotional campaign, treating HABIT as any indie distributor would treat their trophy picture. Color one-sheets were released on the streets of both cities, postcards were distributed by hand and by Go-Card-one of the several postcard-advertising distribution companies-20,000 sets of eight different collector’s cards (most of them stuffed into their platic casings by the director himself), and thousands of handbills were distributed. A late night wild-posting adventure in downtown New York to promote the film resulted in the arrest of Ellenbogen and Fessenden, who were charged with ‘graffiti-ing’.
Critically speaking, Fessenden’s persona and directing style have been the subject of great speculation. New York’s Newsday called him a “virtual one man show” for writing, acting, and directing the film, while his looks have been compared to everyone from “a runty Jack Nicholson” to “a skinny Tim Robbins” and “Keith Carradine after extensive-and unsuccessful-electroshock.” His directing, on the other hand, has recalled the style and films of such greats as Roman Polanski, Abel Ferrara, Francis Ford Coppola, and Martin Scorcese in the minds of many critics. Publicity efforts launched in July were successful in gaining positive reviews from many national publications, including Interview, Bomb, Paper, Playboy, Fangoria, Shock Cinema, and Cups magazines. The movie also landed on the ‘Best of 1997’ lists of critics Taubin and Steve Puchalski (Shock Cinema). These were good enough to allow Jack Foley, director of marketing at City Cinemas/Angelika, to convince his programming committee to book the film into a midnight slot in New York in December. Foley then chose HABIT to be one of eight initial films to run at the newly built Angelika Film Center in Houston (TX), which opened to the public on Christmas Day, 1997. While HABIT has not broken into a box office run that would make a platform release possible, it has achieved what its distributors call a “progressive” release, moving from city to city. “This allows us to keep the costs of distribution down and pay more attention to promoting the film in each market, says Fessenden. “It also allows us flexibility with the timing of each release. In Austin, TX, we were scheduled to open on Friday the 13th but moved up to the 27th to avoid competing with Robert Duvall’s THE APOSTLE”. “The key,” says Ellenbogen, “is working with the exhibitor to find a window of opportunity that works for them and for the picture.” This pattern will hold until the release of the video in the Fall of 1998.
The year-long efforts have also paid off with two distribution deals. One is with New York-based Fox Lorber which covers all international rights to HABIT including theatrical, cable, and video and domestic video releases. The other is with Wendy Lidell of New York-based International Film Circuit for domestic theatrical and semi-theatrical bookings.
Currently, Fessenden is developing two features at Glass Eye Pix. He has one completed script, “Hector Dodges,” which veers from his focus on genre bending horror films to something lighter and more romantic while maintaining an auteur’s sensibility for unique, offbeat situations. His other project is a haunting and mystical monster movie based on an old folk tale and set in the snowy regions of the north country. Having made an impression while starring in Kelly Reichert’s film RIVER OF GRASS and in HABIT, Fessenden has been receiving offers for other feature roles for some time, none of which he has accepted as of yet. Television, however, caught his fancy briefly, and on March 24th you can see him play a gun dealer on the soap opera ‘As The World Turns’.
While continuing to manage HABIT’s distribution, Ellenbogen is now producing feature films under the roof of his new production company, Passport Pictures. The first project in development is an updated adaptation of Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov. “Karamazov,” written by Michael Brophy, the film is a modern sexual noir set in the Hamptons. While Ellenbogen has several original projects that he plans to write and direct, he is currently focusing on acquiring screenplays to produce. “I am drawn to stories that mix intrigue and suspense,” he says of the scripts he reads. “I need intelligent people moving fast toward some kind of transcendence. I like to be surprised and seduced because to me, cinema is about escape.”
Both companies maintain an office together in New York City’s Soho neighborhood.