Zombie Short Film Festival

Okay…we took the rest of the weekend to rest and recuperate.  Now…here’s the full report.

Friday night was an absolutely incredible night!  A near capacity crowd showed up at the Revue to cheer on our finalists. Despite the mix of zombies and humans, no brains were eaten and no skulls were caved in. The night wasn’t about humans vs. zombies…it was all about the films!

After a bit of hosting/housekeeping, we got down to business. The films were shown, trivia questions were asked, and Zombieland t-shirts and hats were thrown into the crowd.  All of our films were enjoyed by the audience, but there could only be one winner of the coveted Zomb D’or! In the end, we announced the final three, as chosen by our jury. They were, in no particular order:

1) The Skin of Your Teeth – Directed by Dan Gingold
2) Deadspiel – Directed by Jay Molloy. Produced by Pat Corcoran
3) Zombeer – Directed by Marjan Westbrock

It was up to our audience to choose the winner by applause. And choose they did! And the winner was…

Deadspiel!

Congratulations to Pat Corcoran & Jay Molloy. They get to take home $500 and the coveted Z’omb D’or. And thank you to EVERYONE who submitted short films!

Thanks, also to our sponsors. The good folks over at Buddha Dog, She Said Boom, and Envoy made it possible for us to hold our little festival, and we greatly appreciate their help. We’d also like to thank Reel Time Films, Ghoul Friday, and Sony Pictures for providing us with prizes.

We relied very heavily on the internet to spread the word for our festival. A big thanks to the guys at Boingboing, Rue Morgue, the Toronto Zombie Walk, Zed Word, and the Midnight Podcast for the shout-outs.

We would also like to thank our jury. Rob Sacchetto and his fantastic wife Andrea, who came all the way from Sudbury to attend. Thanks also to Alyson Court for being there, and for her help getting the fest up and running. And a big thanks to Nug for all his input. Our jury chose wisely, and we’re thrilled they could come aboard!

A personal thank you to our friends who helped us out. Tim and the staff, at the Revue Cinema, went out of their way to make sure our screening was a success. And we honestly could not have done ANYTHING without the wisdom and help of our good friend, Robbo Mills. Thanks, also to Kristen McGregor, for her support, and for putting up with constant zombie-talk over the past four months.

And finally…thanks to everyone who came to the Revue see the show! We hope it is the first of many.

See you all next year!

Jim & Cory

A lot of you seem to think that selling advanced tickets to our screening is a good idea.  We agee!

You can purchase advanced tickets right here, on our website for $12.50 (CAD).  Or you can wait and purchase them at the door for $15.

The Revue Cinema doesn’t have an advanced ticket buying system, so we’re going to do it ourselves, right here on our website, using our Paypal button.

After you’ve purchased your ticket, please send us an email to let us know your name, so we can put you on our list.

Thanks, and see you at the festival!

Well folks, we’re two weeks away from the big night, and we’ve gone through each and every submission.  It was an incredible crop of films for our first festival, from cities around the world.  We’d like to thank everyone who took the time to send us their zombie shorts.  It was a very difficult process, with a lot of hemming and hawing…but we’ve narrowed the field down to ten finalists!  Here they are below in no particular order:

1.  Keg of the Dead:  Jim Dirschberger & Paul Schilens

2.  The Zombie:  April Campbell (featuring Randy Smith)

3.  Deadspiel:  Pat Corcoran & Jay Molloy

4.  The Skin of Your Teeth:  Dan Gingold

5.  They Shall Pay With Rivers of Blood:  Travis Hopkins, Matthew Badiali, and Kristina Anstiss

6.  The Lift:  Mark McCarthy, Fintan Karney

7.  ZZZZOMBIES:  David King

8.  Housewarming:  Lee Marquardt

9.  ZOMBEER:  Marjan Westbrock

10. Bum of the Dead:  Geoff Whitman, Trevor Townsend, Connie Daye, and Rich Bisquera

These are the ten films that we will be featuring on the night of our screening.  And our jury’s just gettin’ started!  From these ten, they will select a top three.  Then it will be up to our audience to choose (by applause) the very first winner of $500 and the coveted Zomb D’or!

Best of luck to all our finalists.  And thank you to everyone who submitted!

The submissions are in, and they’re fantastic!  Now it’s time to introduce our esteemed jury members who will be watching each film and judging which one will be worthy of the coveted Z’omb D’or!

Rob Sacchetto

Rob Sacchetto been a freelance artist for almost 25 years. He is the Original Zombie Portraits artist behind www.zombieportraits.com. To date he has done over 640 paintings worldwide, since launching his site in Nov ‘06..He also has an online sketchbook, with a new illustration and painting posted daily: www.zombiedaily.com which includes podcasts and tutorials for zombie illustrations. The site now features over 400 original drawings.  Last year, he wrote and illustrated The Zombie Handbook: How to identify the living dead and survive the coming zombie apocalypse (pub. Ulysses Press, Berkely, CA)which features some 250 illustrations.  The book is being distributed throughout North America. He has recently signed a contract for a second zombie themed illustrated book due out next summer.

Mike “Nug” Nahrgang

Nug is very happy to be judging you all… the audience as well as the films.  Nug was most recently seen as “Good Ol’ Reliable Jake” in Evil Dead: The Musical, as well as in the horror films Cube:Zero and Men With Brooms. Currently, Nug hosts SHOWGAME!, a live game show which runs monthly at The Rivoli.  He hopes that these films don’t give him nightmares, but knows better.

Alyson Court

Alyson is a Canadian stage, screen, and voice actress living and working in Toronto.  She is the voice of Claire Redfield in the Resident Evil video game series, as well as the CG animation movie Resident Evil:  Degeneration. She will soon reprise her role as Claire Redfield in the upcoming Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles for the Nintendo Wii.

A huge thank you to our jury members for voluteering their time and energy to our festival.  Stay tuned!  Our finalists will be announced soon!

You can’t swing a chainsaw in Toronto without hitting a zombie, or zombie-related event!

In addition to our beloved little short film festival, fans of zombie lore can get more than their fill of undead flesh during the month of October.  Before making your way to the Revue Cinema, on Oct. 30, you might want whet your ghoulish appetite at the following events.

The Toronto Zombie Walk

The seventh annual Toronto Zombie Walk will be taking place on Saturday, October 24, at 3:00 PM.

This is your chance to dress in your favorite fiendish finery, slap on some stage blood, and shamble down the street with your fellow deadheads.  Last year’s attendance topped 3000 zombies!  Let’s try to break the record!

For more information on the Toronto Zombie Walk, check out their website:

www.torontozombiewalk.ca

Halloween Screening & Double Bill

On Thursday, October 29, head down to the Royal Cinema (608 College St. West) for a double bill of two fascinating and spooky documentaries.

The first film, The Houdini Code, is not about zombies, but it does deal with a subject from beyond the grave.  When Harry Houdini died, in 1926, he was determined to try to send a message through to his wife from the other side of the mortal plane.  Did he succeed?  Watch the film, and find out for yourself.

The second film, Zombies: When the Dead Walk deals with zombies, their place in the culture of Haiti, the practice of Voodoo, and the famous case of Clairvius Narcisse: the Haitian man who died and was buried in 1962…only to resurface again in 1980.  This film also follows the work of Wade Davis and his investigations into the mysterious “zombie poison” of Haiti.  Remember the Wes Craven film The Serpent and the Rainbow.  Well that movie was based on Davis’ work.

Compelling stuff.

Show time for the double bill is 7:00.  If you’d like to see the trailer for Zombies: When the Dead Walk, click here.

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And speaking of movies, Hollywood has, once again, delved into the world of the undead with the release of Zombieland, which can be seen in theatres worldwide.  The folks at Sony Pictures were kind enough to donate some swag to our festival to commemorate the release of this film, so keep your heads up during our screening.  There might be a t-shirt or ball cap flying your way!

Today was the last day for submissions, and I have to say, we’ve got some seriously great short films to screen!  Stay tuned for more information, including bios of our esteemed jury, in the next couple of days.

Great news!

We’ve managed to secure a venue for an after-screening gala!  Undead heads who wish to have a civilized drink after our festival just need to head to River, a delightful restaurant located at 413 Roncesvalles…right across the street from the Revue Cinema!

There is no admission fee to the gala, but the place has a limited capacity.  First come, first served.

The gala starts at 11:00, so come on out and mingle with your fellow zombies!

We’d like to send a big shout out to Jasmine, over at Envoy Business Services for all her help with our little undead festival.

Also, big thanks to the good folks Buddha Dog!

And She Said Boom!

Our sponsors are amazing, and we’re grateful for their generous support and awesome zombie conversation.

If you are a business owner who would like to present your company to local, national, and international clientele (including a growing legion of zombies and their fans) we wish to offer the following sponsorship cooperation:

BRAINS! (of our Organization): For a one time $200 donation, you will receive a free ticket to our screening.  We will also place your logo prominently on all of our promotional materials, including a link to your website or business listing on our website.  We will promote and personally thank your business in our screening program, and provide you with a personal invitation to the ZSFF Gala, which will follow the screening.

UNDEAD AUCTION: We are currently in need of prizes for our silent auction, as well as items to be given out as door prizes during our screening.  If you wish to contribute support through merchandise or coupons for your services, we will gladly accept them.  You will receive a special thank you in our program and website, as well as a plug for your business at the auction table and during the screening itself.

Sound good?  Have other ideas that may help us promote your business and help the film festival?  Then please don’t hesitate to get in touch!

Apologies to all who had issues with our online form. I just turned it into a google doc, and shared the link. If you’re still having trouble, please shoot us an email, and we’ll send you a reply with the form attacked.

Click here, if you dare!

Official Zombie Short Film Festival Entry Form

And don’t forget the Pay Pal…

Now that we’re sporting a kick-ass poster, it’s time to start promoting this bad boy on facebook!

So click here if you want to join the Zombie Short Film Festival Group.

And click here if you’d like to attend the event.

And finally…here’s the fan page!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Zombie-Short-Film-Festival/146096955201

More to come!

Jim

Thanks to the fine folks over at midnightpodcast.com for the interview. It should be airing on Friday.

Jim