Horror - Behind The Scenes
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Born in Puducherry, India, and raised in the posh suburban Penn Valley area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, M. Night Shyamalan is a film director, screenwriter, producer, and occasional actor, known for making movies with contemporary supernatural plots.
He is the son of Jayalakshmi, a Tamil obstetrician and gynecologist, and Nelliate C. Shyamalan, a Malayali doctor. His passion for filmmaking began when he was given a Super-8 camera at age eight, and even at that young age began to model his career on that of his idol, Steven Spielberg. His first film, Praying with Anger (1992), was based somewhat on his own trip back to visit the India of his birth. He raised all the funds for this project, in addition to directing, producing and starring in it. Wide Awake (1998), his second film, he wrote and directed, and shot it in the Philadelphia-area Catholic school he once attended--even though his family was of a different religion, they sent him to that school because of its strict discipline.
Shyamalan gained international recognition when he wrote and directed 1999's The Sixth Sense (1999), which was a commercial success and later nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. Shyamalan team up again with Bruce Willis in the film Unbreakable (2000), released in 2000, which he also wrote and directed.
His major films include the science fiction thriller Signs (2002), the psychological thriller The Village (2004), the fantasy thriller Lady in the Water (2006), The Happening (2008), The Last Airbender (2010), After Earth (2013), and the horror films The Visit (2015) and Split (2016).- Director
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Ti West is most notable for directing horror films, as well as being an actor, writer, producer, and editor. Ti broke out, after directing various projects, in 2009, when he directed two feature films - 2009's The House Of The Devil and Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever. Ti later directed, with his production company Glass Eye Pix, the widely popular 2011 horror film The Innkeepers, which starred actors Sara Paxton, Pat Healy and Kelly McGillis. Ti also starred as "Tariq" in Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett's horror film, You're Next (2011). More recently he has been a director for MTV's Scream and Fox's The Exorcist. His acting roles include him portraying "Dave" in Joe Swanberg's rom-com, Drinking Buddies (2013) and a cameo as "Favorite Teacher" in The House Of The Devil.- Director
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At 19 Adam got his start in feature film making early with his directorial debut Home Sick, a slasher horror film starring Bill Moseley and Tom Toweles. However it was his second effort at 24 years old with the film Pop Skull that garnered him a talent to watch. Made for a budget of around 2000 dollars he managed to capture the attention of French Distribution company The Wild Bunch. The film went on to premiere at the prestigious Rome Film Festival and the American Film Institute Film Festival. His dark and sometimes abrasive directing/editing style has been compared to directors such as David Lynch, Darren Aronofsky, and Shinya Tsukamoto.- Writer
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Simon Barrett A Horror Writer Day And Night And A Director As Well Is Most Notably Known For Working Alongside Friends And Fellow Film Aficionados Adam Wingard, LC Holt, Lane Hughes, Ti West & Joe Swanberg. His Most Popular Films (Horror) Are You're Next, V.H.S, V.H.S 2, Blair Witch (2016) And Dead Birds. Simon Also Worked On Southbound. His Acting Roles Include Portraying Tiger Mask A Hooded Fiend In Him And Adam Wingard's You're Next & Steve In Two Segments Of The Vignette Horror Pieces Of The V.H.S Horror Series With The First Released In 2012 And The Sequel Released Just The Next Year. He Also Appeared On Made In Hollywood Regarding The Blair Witch Remake. If You Have Any Questions Concerning Him He Is Available On Facebook And Twitter As Well As His YouTube Channel.- Director
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Eduardo Sanchez was born in Cuba in 1968. It was at a young age he gained an interest in film making. At Wheaton High School Ed made school movie projects such as Shrimp Fried Vice and Pride (in the name of Love) all of which starred his friends and family, as well as Ed himself.
After High School Ed studied at Montgomery College where he continued to make movies like Star Trek Demented. He later got accepted to the University of Central Florida where he made Gabriel's Dream, a film which he thought was going to be his big break, but that didn't come for almost another decade. In 1997 he and a close friend Daniel Myrick got together and started production on the most successful movie (budget to gross) ever, the The Blair Witch Project (1999). It was a world-wide hit and has become one of the most spoofed films of all time.- Director
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Alexandre Aja was born on 7 August 1978 in Paris, France. He is a producer and director, known for High Tension (2003), The Hills Have Eyes (2006) and Piranha 3D (2010). He is married to Laïla Marrakchi.- Director
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Paco Plaza was born in 1973 in València, València, Comunitat Valenciana, Spain. He is a director and writer, known for REC (2007), Veronica (2017) and [Rec]² (2009). He is married to Leticia Dolera.- Director
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Jaume Balagueró was born on 2 November 1968 in Lleida, Lleida, Catalonia, Spain. He is a director and writer, known for REC (2007), Sleep Tight (2011) and The Nameless (1999).- Make-Up Department
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Xavier Gens was born on 27 April 1975 in Dunkerque, Nord, France. He is a director and assistant director, known for Frontier(s) (2007), The Divide (2011) and Cell (2016). He has been married to Mounia Meddour since 2005.- Producer
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Neil Marshall was born on 25 May 1970 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, UK. He is a producer and director, known for Dog Soldiers (2002), The Descent (2005) and Doomsday (2008). He was previously married to Axelle Carolyn.- Producer
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Drew Goddard was raised in Los Alamos, New Mexico. He attended Los Alamos High School in Los Alamos, New Mexico and graduated in 1993. He then attended the University of Colorado, and worked as a production assistant in L.A. after graduation. A spec script Drew wrote based on Six Feet Under (2001) came to the attention of both Marti Noxon at Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997) and David Greenwalt at Angel (1999). Both wanted him but because Marti found him first, Joss Whedon determined Drew would go to "Buffy". He became a staff writer for Season 7 (2002-2003), writing five episodes. Once "Buffy" was over, Drew moved over to "Angel" and became the executive story editor for Season 5 (2003-2004), writing four episodes. Drew also found time to write the introduction for a book of essays about Buffy, "Seven Seasons of Buffy", and to contribute two stories to the "Tales of the Vampires" comic series. In the summer of 2003, Drew received his first screenwriting award, along with co-writer Jane Espenson, when the Hugos honored "Conversations with Dead People" from "Buffy" with an award for Best Dramatic Presentation/Short Form. That episode was also honored with a SyFy Portal Genre Award for Best Episode/Television; another of Drew's "Buffy" episodes, "Lies My Parents Told Me" (co-written with David Fury), was nominated for the same award.- Director
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Maine-native Carter Smith began his career in the world of fashion photography. His breakthrough story included a series of gritty, documentary-style portraits of teen life in the Midwest, which appeared in the British magazine ID. His fashion work and celebrity portraits have since been featured in The New York Times Magazine, Vogue, GQ, and W, all photographed in the cinematic style that has become Carter's signature. He has directed commercials for clients such as Lancome, Tommy Hilfiger and Tiffany's. He collaborated with author Dennis Cooper on an feature film script titled 'Warm'.- Writer
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Alexandre Bustillo was born on 10 August 1975 in France. He is a writer and director, known for Inside (2007), The Deep House (2021) and Among the Living (2014).- Director
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Adam Green is an American screenwriter, director, producer, and actor known for his success within the horror genre with films like the "Hatchet" franchise, "Frozen," and "Digging Up The Marrow." He is also the creator, writer, director, star, and show runner of the television comedy series "Holliston" and the singer for the metal band "Haddonfield."
Born and raised in the small town of Holliston, Massachusetts, Green grew up performing leading roles in school plays and hosting his own morning radio program "Coffee & Donuts" on the town's local radio station. He graduated from Holliston High School in 1993. Upon graduating from Hofstra University in New York with a Bachelor of Science in film and television production in 1997, Green landed a job producing and directing local and regional cable television commercials at Time Warner Cable Advertising back in his hometown of Boston. While working at Time Warner he met cinematographer Will Barratt and in 1998 the two formed their own production company ArieScope Pictures and began making short films together under the ArieScope banner. During this time period Green was also the lead singer for the hard rock/metal band "Haddonfield" which amassed a large and loyal following as they headlined weekly club shows in Salam, MA and other large venues around Boston's north shore in the late 90's. In 1999 at the age of 24, Green wrote, directed, and starred in his first feature film "Coffee & Donuts" which was based on his own life and his experiences chasing his career dreams while trying to get over the break-up with his first girlfriend/childhood love. The autobiographical comedy was made for only $400 by "borrowing" Time Warner's commercial production equipment after hours and ultimately gained the attention of United Talent Agency (UTA) in Los Angeles when it won "Best Picture" in (what was then called) The Smoky Mountain Film Festival. Signed by UTA as an official client, Green moved to Los Angeles in February of 2000 with the intention of turning "C&D" into a sit-com.
Though reactions were positive and interest in "Coffee & Donuts" was strong within the industry, Green's first three years in Los Angeles were a major struggle and he survived by doing any odd job that would pay or feed him. Though he was able to find occasional paid work as everything from an on-set production assistant, to performing as a stand-up comic, to working as a writer's/show runner's assistant, to performing as an extra/background, to writing, shooting, and editing local cable commercials, to ghost writing jokes for other stand-up comics, Green's main occupation from 2000 to 2003 was working as the DJ in the upstairs nightclub at the world famous Rainbow Bar and Grill where he survived off of the left-over food off of customer's plates or by eating out of the restaurant's trash at the end of each night. He performed stand-up comedy at various Hollywood night clubs including monthly comedy shows at the Rainbow with his regular troupe of comedians/friends that included comics Andy Sandberg, Chris Romano, and Eric Falconer whom had also all yet to be discovered at that time. In 2003 Green sold "Coffee & Donuts" as a sit-com to Touchstone/UPN with Tom Shadyac producing. However, the week after Green delivered the final draft of his pilot script for "Coffee & Donuts", UPN announced a merger with the WB (creating the CW network) and all of UPN's pilot development was scrapped, tying up the rights to Green's dream project and life story for a further 5 years. ("C&D" would wind up going through thirteen years of development and false starts due to random corporate mergers at various networks and studios before eventually coming to fruition as the television series "Holliston" in 2012.)
Green first gained worldwide recognition with his independent slasher comedy "Hatchet", a story and character ("Victor Crowley") that he had first come up with while at summer sleep away camp in 1983 when he was just 8 years old in an effort to scare the other children in his cabin. Written in 2003 while Green was spinning heavy metal records in the DJ booth at the Rainbow, "Hatchet" was filmed independently in May/June of 2005 and had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 27, 2006. Green spent the next 18 months traveling the world with his gruesome slasher/comedy as it played dozens of film festivals, winning a multitude of awards and accumulating incredibly positive reviews from critics and fans along the way. "Hatchet" received a US theatrical release through Anchor Bay on September 7, 2007 and introduced the world to the iconic villain "Victor Crowley." A worldwide success, "Hatchet" has spawned three sequels to date. Green wrote and directed "Hatchet 2" which arrived in US theaters on October 1, 2010 and he also wrote and produced "Hatchet 3" (2013) which opened in US theaters on June 14, 2013.
After the first "Hatchet" film was massively censored by the Motion Picture Association of America for its 2007 theatrical release, Green made international headlines in 2010 by standing up to the MPAA's archaic and secretive ratings system and refusing to accept the organization's arbitrary NC-17 rating for "Hatchet 2" which the filmmaker stated was completely unfair given the comedic tone of his film and in comparison to the serious torture porn style films of the time, many of which featured sequences of rape and mean spirited, realistic violence but which also happened to be distributed by major studios. After offering cuts and re-submitting "Hatchet 2" to the MPAA numerous times to no avail in an effort to try and find a compromise for an "R" rating, Green and distributor Dark Sky ultimately opted to release the "Hatchet 2" uncut through an arrangement with AMC cinemas, making it the first genre film in almost 30 years to be released in mainstream multiplexes without an MPAA rating. Though the unrated release of "Hatchet 2" was endorsed and conducted exclusively through AMC theaters, the chain immediately began pulling the film from all screens upon its midnight opening and within just 48 hours of its release the film had mysteriously disappeared from all AMC screens nationwide. Though journalists in the media pointed to outside pressure from the MPAA on AMC to pull the film, no explanation was ever given on official record by a proper representative of AMC and the MPAA refused to comment on the matter. With "Hatchet 3" being green-lit almost immediately after "Hatchet 2" arrived on home video, "Victor Crowley" still succeeded despite the AMC/MPAA debacle.
Though "Hatchet" was always intended to be a trilogy, on August 22, 2017 Green took the entire genre world by surprise when he suddenly showed a 4th "Hatchet" film (titled "Victor Crowley") to a sold-out audience of fans that thought they had gathered at the Arclight Cinema in Hollywood, CA to watch a 10th anniversary screening of the original film. Written and directed by Green, "Victor Crowley" was made in complete secrecy over a two year period as the filmmaker's surprise to the fans (known as the "Hatchet Army") on the 10th anniversary of the original "Hatchet." The stunt worked famously and "Victor Crowley" was trending #5 in the world on social media on the night of its surprise premiere in Hollywood, CA - two spots above Marvel's star-studded A-list celebrity attended "Stan Lee Celebration" that was taking place that same night. Green immediately began a worldwide tour with the film that started just three nights later in London, England and carried on through cities in Germany, Canada, and all across the United States (where the tour was dubbed the "Dismember America Tour") until the middle of November. By the end of the tour "Victor Crowley" had played nightly in 57 cities and 4 countries with Green personally appearing and speaking at most of the screenings. To date "Victor Crowley" is the best reviewed of the four "Hatchet" films and the most financially successful film in the franchise since the original. Three months after the theatrical release, the film was released on home video on February 6, 2018. In the weeks leading up to the home video release "Victor Crowley" was the #3 best seller on Amazon.com and among the top 10 most pre-ordered Blu-Rays worldwide ranking above wide release studio films like "Justice League," "Blade Runner," "Jigsaw," and "Get Out" further solidifying the "Hatchet" franchise's villain "Victor Crowley" as a modern day horror icon.
"Hatchet" also earned Green his place in the "Splat Pack", a term coined by esteemed UK film critic Alan Jones to describe a core group of new genre filmmakers who brought practical effects and extreme violence/gore back to the horror genre in the mid 2000's. Heralded by Jones as "the next wave of genre filmmakers," his original article about the "Splat Pack" ran in Total Film magazine in April of 2006 and by October both Time Magazine and the New York Post had also published stories about the "Splat Pack." Green appeared in the 2010 documentary "The Splat Pack" that also featured extensive interviews with his fellow "Splat Pack" members Eli Roth, Neil Marshall, Darren Bousman, Alex Aja, and Greg McLean. (Missing from the documentary were "Splat Pack" members James Wan and Rob Zombie.) Various merchandise based on "Hatchet" and its iconic villain "Victor Crowley" continues to sell more and more each year and in August of 2015 the first widely distributed "Victor Crowley" Halloween mask hit retail shelves across America, selling out of stock nationwide long before the Halloween holiday had arrived. In 2011 "Victor Crowley" first appeared in comic book form in "Hatchet/Slash", a crossover comic between Green's "Hatchet" films and Tim Seeley's long-running "Hack/Slash" comic series. In October of 2016 the first issue of the official "Hatchet" comic hit retail stores and the series has continued on strong with a new issue being released every 3-4 months. Green's first novel, the "Hatchet" tie-in "I, Survivor" will be released in May of 2018. "I, Survivor" first appeared in "Victor Crowley" as a fictitious autobiography written by the film's main character "Andrew Yong," however Green and author Joe Knetter co-wrote the actual book so that fans could delve even further into the "Hatchet" universe and fill in the ten years that had passed in the storyline between "Hatchet 3" and "Victor Crowley."
Aside from "Hatchet" (2007) and its three sequels (2010, 2013, 2017), Green continued and diversified his filmmaking legacy by directing the award winning Hitchcockian psycho-drama "Spiral" (2008), by producing the Sundance shocker and critically acclaimed "Grace" (2009), by writing and directing another Sundance darling and global success the very next year with his snowy suspense thriller "Frozen" (2010), by producing, writing, and directing the comedy "The Diary of Anne Frankenstein" which was included as part of the drive-in anthology film "Chillerama" (2011), and by writing, directing, and starring in the genre bending and highly praised successful pseudo-documentary "Digging Up The Marrow" (2015). In between his feature films Green also continued to write and direct various short films for his ArieScope website just for fun, several of which went on to become full blown viral hits with millions of views on-line including "Jack Chop," "Fairy Tale Police," and "Saber." Written, directed, and edited by Green, "Saber" received two awards in Lucasfilm's annual Star Wars Fan Film Awards at San Diego Comic-Con in 2009 ("Best Action" and "Audience Choice") and also spawned two sequels that were released to huge success in 2012 and 2014.
Meanwhile, after thirteen years of development and setbacks due to network mergers, in 2011 Green's ultimate passion project "Coffee & Donuts" was finally brought to fruition as the sit-com "Holliston." In its new form, Green was not only "Holliston's" creator but also the series' show-runner, writer, director, and main star. Licensed for broadcast by the FEARnet cable network, "Holliston" had its world television premiere on April 3, 2012 and quickly found a loyal audience. A second season was announced the morning after only the second episode had aired. An hour-long "Holliston Christmas Special" premiered later that same year on December 18th and is still considered by most fans to be their favorite episode of the series with its unexpected amount of emotion including a tear-jerking final scene between "Adam" and "Corri" that was revealed on the Blu-ray commentary track to have been completely improvised by actors Adam Green and Corri English. Season 2 of "Holliston" premiered on June 4, 2013 and further solidified the series as a hit despite FEARnet's extremely limited broadcast accessibility. However, just as Green was beginning to write Season 3, "Holliston" suffered the tragic death of main ensemble cast member Dave Brockie who passed away in what was eventually reported to be a drug overdose. Brockie not only played "Oderus Urungus" on "Holliston" (Green's character's imaginary alien friend and ulterior conscience), he had also performed as the lead singer for the heavy metal band GWAR for 30 years and was one of Green's closest friends in real life. To make matters even worse, just three weeks after Brockie's death, the FEARnet television network was suddenly dissolved in yet another unforeseen corporate merger between Comcast and Time Warner. In August of 2014 Green delivered a eulogy for Brockie at a public memorial in Virginia attended by several thousand GWAR and "Holliston" fans. During his speech, Green's played back the final voice mail Brockie had left for him and concluded by asking the thousands of fans that were present to all hold their hands together in the air. "This is your metal family," Green reminded the grieving fans. "And your metal family will always be here for you." The memorial concluded with a traditional viking style burning of Brockie's "Oderus Urungus" costume in Richmond's Haddad Lake. Overcome with grief, Green stepped away from "Holliston" for several years without any word if he would ever return to his show again.
During Green's indefinite hiatus from "Holliston," he continued to do a weekly podcast with fellow director, co-star, and real-life best friend Joe Lynch called "The Movie Crypt" on the GeekNation digital network. Named after the fictitious cable access program that Green and Lynch's character's host on "Holliston", "The Movie Crypt" was originally designed to merely be a spin-off and companion piece to the sit-com and the two filmmakers only planned to do the podcast for the ten weeks that Season 2 was airing. However, their weekly program began pulling in extraordinarily high numbers and quickly became one of the most popular entertainment industry behind the scenes podcasts on the internet due to Green and Lynch's enjoyable on-air chemistry and the duos unfiltered honesty about their real-life experiences as working artists in the Hollywood system. Focusing on a different guest artist's entire career journey each week, "The Movie Crypt" showcases all sides of the industry from filmmakers to actors to costumers to agents to studio executives to musicians and beyond. Guests have included Chris Columbus, Slash, Joe Dante, Jordan Peele, James Gunn, Penelope Spheeris, Bobcat Goldthwait, and Rob Cohen. By January of 2015 "The Movie Crypt" was averaging over 500,000 worldwide listeners a week and the podcast was listed in Entertainment Weekly's January 9th issue as one of "The Top 20 Podcasts You Should Be Listening To" out of over 285,000 podcasts in existence. In addition to their candid and compelling weekly artist interviews, Green and Lynch have also produced special stand out episodes of "The Movie Crypt" such as the November 2015 "Addiction" episode that tackled substance abuse and addiction within the industry, the December 2014 "Holliston Reunion" episode where the cast performed a new original "Holliston" episode designed as a radio play, and their December 2015 "Christmas Special" which featured a sincere and moving 2-hour interview with Santa Claus that remains the podcast's most popular episode to date. Green and Lynch have never missed a single week since the podcast first launched on May 6, 2013. It was "The Movie Crypt's" unplanned and unexpected success that would ultimately set the stage for the return of "Holliston."
In August of 2015 Entertainment Weekly made the announcement that Green and his cast had decided that they would indeed continue on with "Holliston" and do a 3rd season. In February of 2016 the "Holliston" cast appeared together on Facebook live where they answered questions from fans after completing their first ever read through of two of Green's new scripts for Season 3. During the Q&A with fans Green stated that "Oderus" would not be recast or replaced and that when "Holliston" returns he would acknowledge the loss of Brockie and then move on with the show, keeping his character's closet door permanently closed for as long as the series may continue. As of the time of this writing, Season 3 of "Holliston" is expected to begin shooting once the cast's individual production schedules can line-up together. With series stars Adam Green and Joe Lynch both consistently directing feature films and other television shows and with series co-star Dee Snider so busy with his various music projects and tours it is very difficult to get the entire cast together at the same time to shoot. The first official "Holliston" graphic novel (titled "Friendship Is Tragic") was announced and previewed on March 17, 2016 at Chicago's C2E2 comic book expo and pop culture convention. The comic book hit retail shelves in the Fall of 2016 and a sequel was green-lit just four days later. The second graphic novel (titled "Carnival of Carnage") hits shelves in May of 2018.
In 2015 Green turned ArieScope.com into an on-line network by offering weekly original programming. With over 100 free short films and original series' episodes to watch, Green's personal blog, and an on-line merchandise store, ArieScope.com has become a destination site for original content to millions of fans worldwide. Original series such as "Adam Green's Scary Sleepover" and "Horrified" proved to be extremely popular with fans and ArieScope.com also released the award winning series "20 Seconds To Live" which was helmed by filmmaker Ben Rock, an artist that Green personally believes in and wanted to expose his own audience to. Green's original on-line series and various short films are also carried on ArieScope's YouTube channel which has received over 4.6 million individual views to date.
In 2017 Green once again turned his attention back to his longtime band "Haddonfield" and the group released the album "Ghosts of Salem" on vinyl, CD, and digital through EMP Label Group and Green's own sub-label ArieScope Records. On October 14, 2017 "Haddonfield" celebrated the release of "Ghosts of Salem" with a live performance at the Palladium in Worcester, MA during the annual Rock And Shock horror and music festival. "Ministry," "Devil Driver," and "Motionless In White" also performed at the festival with "Haddonfield" in 2017.
A celebrated leader and inspirational personality in the horror genre, Adam Green has amassed an enormous following worldwide through his down to earth and extraordinarily kind demeanor at personal appearances, by his accessibility to his fans on social networking, by performing improv comedy and original live "Holliston" episodes for fans on the convention circuit, by never charging his fans for his autograph or photo, by consistently putting out new entertainment for his audience on such a frequent schedule, and by inspiring and encouraging his own fans that they too can achieve their dreams so long as they don't let the world's negativity change or disenchant their spirit. Green has personally organized and lead many charity events over the years. In May of 2013 he raised over $15,000.00 to help the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing by putting on a three-night fundraiser in his home town of Boston where he held theatrical screenings of the "Hatchet" films, a preview screening of select Season 2 episodes of "Holliston", and a silent auction of celebrity donated genre memorabilia. In April of 2015 Green also helped raise $7,000.00 for "Save A Yorkie Rescue" at the Monstermania convention in New Jersey by auctioning himself off for a date with a fan and auctioning off a screen-used prop hatchet. While on stage during the auction event, Green stated that it was the companionship of his own Yorkie "Arwen" that got him through the various personal tragedies he underwent in 2014. "You're not just saving the lives of these wonderful dogs, you're also very likely saving the lives of the people who will adopt them." Adam Green and Joe Lynch also put on an annual 48-hour live marathon of their Movie Crypt podcast to benefit "Save A Yorkie Rescue." The two filmmakers and "Holliston" co-stars stay on the air live for an entire weekend with celebrity guests joining them around the clock providing live comedy, film commentaries, script readings, and interviews to raise money for the dog rescue through donations from their audience. The Movie Crypt marathon raised $14,000.00 in 2016 and $24,000.00 in 2017, saving hundreds of abused and abandoned dogs that were in dire need of medical care and foster homes.
At the time of this posting Adam Green is developing Season 3 of "Holliston," working on a new TV series called "Killer Pizza" which is being produced by Chris Columbus, working on his next feature film project, and writing his next record with "Haddonfield" as well as working on many other projects. He lives in Los Angeles with his dog "Arwen" and his cat "Tyler." An avid music fan he has been known to follow bands on tour such as "Aerosmith," "Metallica," and "Guns N Roses." "Twisted Sister" is his favorite band of all time and 1982's "E.T. The Extra Terrestrial" remains his most favorite film. He is active on Twitter and Instagram at @Adam_Fn_Green and he also personally responds to his fans on his public Facebook page: Facebook.com/AdamFnGreen.
Biography submitted to IMDB in May 2016. Updated in March 2018.- Director
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Christopher Smith was born in 1970 in Bristol, England, UK. He is a director and writer, known for Triangle (2009), Severance (2006) and Black Death (2010).- Producer
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Scott Kosar was born on 26 September 1963 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is a producer and writer, known for The Machinist (2004), The Haunting of Hill House (2018) and The Crazies (2010).- Producer
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Writer director Glenn McQuaid was born and raised in North County Dublin, Ireland. After working as both a visual effects artist and art director in the advertising world, McQuaid's first foray in cinema came about when he coordinated the visual effects on Ti West's The Roost as well as Larry Fessenden's The Last Winter. McQuaid's feature film debut, the period horror comedy I Sell the Dead enjoyed a healthy festival release and was received well by both critics and audiences alike. 2011 saw him curate and produce the hugely popular audio genre series Tales from Beyond the Pale with partner Larry Fessenden. He also directed the short film Martin, a character prequel for Jim Mickle's Stake Land and co-directed the feature film V/H/S which was selected to premier at the 2012 Sundance film festival. McQuaid also works as a title designer, designing credits for films such as The Innkeepers, Hellbenders, Hypothermia and Angel of Death.- Producer
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Canadian filmmaker Jason Eisener directed, co-wrote and edited the sci-fi horror adventure "Kids vs. Aliens," his second feature film, inspired by his own childhood and shot on location near his hometown of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. He made his directorial debut with the 2011 Canuxploitation vigilante epic "Hobo with a Shotgun," starring Rutger Hauer. The cult hit was adapted from his fake trailer of the same name, which won South by Southwest and Robert Rodriguez's international "Grindhouse" trailer contest in 2007.
Eisener is the co-creator, executive producer and director of the groundbreaking hit Vice TV documentary franchise "Dark Side of the Ring," now in its third season. Launched in 2019, the critically-acclaimed flagship series explores untold and controversial stories of professional wrestling and quickly became the #1 rated program in the network's history, spawning spinoff series "Dark Side of the '90s," "Dark Side of Football," and "Dark Side of Comedy."
He also co-created and serves as director and executive producer on the forthcoming Vice TV docuseries "Tales from the Territories," executive produced by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Dany Garcia, premiering in Fall 2022.
Genre-obsessed since birth, Eisener's films include the segment "Y is For Youngbuck" for the horror anthology "The ABCs of Death," "Slumber Party Alien Abduction" for "V/H/S/2," the viral underwater horror short "One Last Dive," which was dubbed "The Scariest 1 Minute Movie Ever" and optioned by 20th Century Fox, and the Sundance award-winning Christmas horror short "Treevenge."- Producer
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Gregg was born in Selma, Alabama, but lived most of his childhood in Henderson, Kentucky, which he considers his hometown. While attending Henderson County High School, he wrote plays, acted in school productions, co-founded a theater company that produced plays for children, came in second in a state-wide speech and drama competition for high school students, and played a lot of Dungeons and Dragons. After many years of dreaming of attending the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, financial realities set in and lead him, instead, to Western Kentucky University. In his freshman year, he participated in numerous theatre productions and won the theatre and dance department's most prestigious award. Feeling unchallenged, he changed course after just one year of college and, in 1985, joined the Army, attending the Department of Defense Defense language Institute to study Persian-Farsi and graduating from Army Survival School. He was stationed with a Special Forces group as an Intelligence specialist. After four years, he was honorably discharged with enough resources to attend film school. He moved to Orlando, Florida and went to film school at Valencia Community College and the University of Central Florida. He worked as a set dresser and prop man on features and TV shows in Orlando and Los Angeles for 10 years before producing The Blair Witch Project, which established the "found footage" or "cinema scarité" as a popular film genre. As of 2013, he lives in Portland, Oregon.- Producer
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James Wan (born 26 February 1977) is an Australian film producer, screenwriter and film director of Malaysian Chinese descent. He is widely known for directing the horror film Saw (2004) and creating Billy the puppet. Wan has also directed Dead Silence (2007), Death Sentence (2007), Insidious (2010), The Conjuring (2013) and Furious 7 (2015).
Before his success in the mainstream film industry, he made his first feature-length film, Stygian, with Shannon Young, which won "Best Guerrilla Film" at the Melbourne Underground Film Festival (MUFF) in 2000.
Prior to 2003, Wan and Leigh Whannell had begun writing a script based for a horror film, citing inspiration from their dreams and fears. Upon completing the script, Leigh and James had wanted to select an excerpt from their script, later to be known as Saw (2004), and film it to pitch their film to studios. With the help of Charlie Clouser, who had composed the score for the film, and a few stand-in actors, Leigh and James shot the film with relatively no budget. Leigh had decided to star in the film as well.
After the release of the full-length Saw (2004), the film was met with overwhelming success in the box office both domestically and internationally. The film ended up grossing 55 million dollars in America, and 48 million dollars in other countries, totaling over $103 million worldwide. This was over 100 million dollars profit, over 80 times the production budget. This green-lit the sequel Saw II (2005), and later the rest of the Saw franchise based on the yearly success of the previous installment. Since its inception, Saw (2004) has become the highest grossing horror franchise of all time worldwide in unadjusted dollars. In the United States only, Saw (2004) is the second highest grossing horror franchise, behind only the Friday the 13th (1980) films by a margin of $10 million.- Writer
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Fede Alvarez was born on 9 February 1978 in Montevideo, Uruguay. He is a writer and producer, known for Don't Breathe (2016), Evil Dead (2013) and The Girl in the Spider's Web (2018).- Producer
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Robert Anthony Rodriguez was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, USA, to Rebecca (Villegas), a nurse, and Cecilio G. Rodríguez, a salesman. His family is of Mexican descent.
Of all the people to be amazed by the images of John Carpenter's 1981 sci-fi parable, Escape from New York (1981), none were as captivated as the 12-year-old Rodriguez, who sat with his friends in a crowded cinema. Many people watch films and arrogantly proclaim "I can do that." This young man said something different: "I WILL do that. I'm gonna make movies." That day was the catalyst of his dream career. Born and raised in Texas, Robert was the middle child of a family that would include 10 children. While many a child would easily succumb to a Jan Brady sense of being lost in the shuffle, Robert always stood out as a very creative and very active young man. An artist by nature, he was very rarely seen sans pencil-in-hand doodling some abstract (yet astounding) dramatic feature on a piece of paper. His mother, not a fan of the "dreary" cinema of the 1970s, instills a sense of cinema in her children by taking them on weekly trips to San Antonio's famed Olmos Theatre movie house and treats them to a healthy dose of Hollywood's "Golden Age" wonders, from Sergio Leone to the silent classic of Charles Chaplin and Buster Keaton.
In a short amount of time, young Robert finds the family's old Super-8 film camera and makes his first films. The genres are unlimited: action, sci-fi, horror, drama, stop-motion animation. He uses props from around the house, settings from around town, and makes use of the largest cast and crew at his disposal: his family. At the end of the decade, his father, a salesman, brings home the latest home-made technological wonder: a VCR, and with it (as a gift from the manufacturer) a video camera. With this new equipment at his disposal, he makes movies his entire life. He screens the movies for friends, all of whom desperately want to star in the next one. He gains a reputation in the neighborhood as "the kid who makes movies". Rather than handing in term papers, he is allowed to hand in "term movies" because, as he himself explains, "[the teachers] knew I'd put more effort into a movie than I ever would into an essay." He starts his own comic strip, "Los Hooligans". His movies win every local film competition and festival. When low academic grades threaten to keep him out of UT Austin's renowned film department, he proves his worth the only way he knows how: he makes a movie. Three, in fact: trilogy of short movies called "Austin Stories" starring his siblings. It beats the entries of the school's top students and allows Robert to enter the program. After being accepted into the film department, Robert takes $400 of his own money to make his "biggest" film yet: a 16mm short comedy/fantasy called Bedhead (1991).
Pouring every idea and camera trick he knew into the short, it went on to win multiple awards. After meeting and marrying fellow Austin resident Elizabeth Avellan, Robert comes up with a crazy idea: he will sell his body to science in order to finance his first feature-length picture (a Mexican action adventure about a guitarist with no name looking for work but getting caught up in a shoot-'em-up adventure) that he will sell to the Spanish video market and use as an entry point to a lucrative Hollywood career. With his "guinea pig" money he raises a mere $7,000 and creates El Mariachi (1992). But rather than lingering in obscurity, the film finds its way to the Sundance film festival where it becomes an instant favorite, wins Robert a distribution deal with Columbia Pictures and turns him into an icon among would-be film-makers the world over. Not one to rest on his laurels, he immediately helms the straight-to-cable movie Roadracers (1994) and contributes a segment to the anthology comedy Four Rooms (1995) (his will be the most lauded segment).
His first "genuine" studio effort would soon have people referring to him as "John Woo from south-of-the-border". It is the "Mariachi" remake/sequel Desperado (1995). More lavish and action-packed than its own predecessor, the movie--while not a blockbuster hit--does decent business and launches the American film careers of Antonio Banderas as the guitarist-turned-gunslinger and Salma Hayek as his love interest (the two would star in several of his movies from then on). It also furthers the director's reputation of working on low budgets to create big results. In the year when movies like Batman Forever (1995) and GoldenEye (1995) were pushing budgets past the $100 million mark, Rodriguez brought in "Desperado" for just under $7 million. The film also featured a cameo by fellow indie film wunderkind, Quentin Tarantino. It would be the beginning of a long friendship between the two sprinkled with numerous collaborations. Most notable the Tarantino-penned vampire schlock-fest From Dusk Till Dawn (1996). The kitschy flick (about a pair of criminal brothers on the run from the Texas Rangers, only to find themselves in a vamp-infested Mexican bar) became an instant cult favorite and launched the lucrative film career of ER (1994) star George Clooney.
After a two-year break from directing (primarily to spend with his family, but also developing story ideas and declining Hollywood offers) he returned to "Dusk till Dawn" territory with the teen sci-fi/horror movie The Faculty (1998), written by Scream (1996) writer, Kevin Williamson. Although it's developed a small following of its own, it would prove to be Robert's least-successful film. Critics and fans alike took issue with the pedestrian script, the off-kilter casting and the flick's blatant over-commercialization (due to a marketing deal with clothing designer Tommy Hilfiger). After another three-year break, Rodriguez returned to make his most successful (and most unexpected) movie yet, based on his own segment from Four Rooms (1995). After a string of bloody, adult-oriented action fare, no one anticipated him to write and direct the colorful and creative Spy Kids (2001), a movie about a pair of prepubescent Latino sibs who discover that their lame parents (Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino) are actually two of the world's greatest secret agents. The film was hit among both audiences and critics alike.
After quitting the Writers' Guild of America and being introduced to digital filmmaking by George Lucas, Robert immediately applied the creative, flexible (and cost-effective) technology to every one of his movies from then on, starting with an immediate sequel to his family friendly hit: Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams (2002) which was THEN immediately followed by the trilogy-capper Spy Kids 3: Game Over (2003). The latter would prove to be the most financially-lucrative of the series and employ the long-banished movie gimmick of 3-D with eye-popping results. Later the same year Rodriguez career came full circle when he completed the final entry of the story that made brought him to prominence: "El Mariachi". The last chapter, Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003), would be his most direct homage to the Sergio Leone westerns he grew up on. With a cast boasting Antonio Banderas (returning as the gunslinging guitarist), Johnny Depp (as a corrupt CIA agent attempting to manipulate him), Salma Hayek, Mickey Rourke, Willem Dafoe and Eva Mendes, the film delivered even more of the Mexican shoot-'em-up spectacle than both of the previous films combined.
Now given his choice of movies to do next, Robert sought out famed comic book writer/artist Frank Miller, a man who had been very vocal of never letting his works be adapted for the screen. Even so, he was wholeheartedly convinced and elated when Rodriguez presented him with a plan to turn Miller's signature work into the film Sin City (2005). A collection of noir-ish tales set in a fictional, crime-ridden slum, the movie boasted the largest cast Rodriguez had worked with to that date. Saying he didn't want to mere "adapt" Miller's comics but "translate" them, Rodriguez' insistence that Miller co-direct the movie lead to Robert's resignation from the Director's Guild of America (and his subsequent dismissal from the film John Carter (2012) as a result). Many critics cited that Sin City was created as a pure film noir piece to adapt Miller's comics onto the screen. Co-directing with Frank Miller and bringing in Quentin Tarantino to guest-direct a scene allowed Rodriguez to again shock Hollywood with his talent.
In late 2007, Rodriguez again teamed up with his friend Tarantino to create the double feature Grindhouse (2007). Rodriguez's offering, Planet Terror (2007), was a film made to be "hardcore, extreme, sex-fueled, action-packed." Rodriguez flirts with his passion to make a showy film exploiting all of his experience to make an extremely entertaining thrill ride. The film is encompassed around Cherry (Rose McGowan), a reluctant go-go dancer who is found wanting when she meets her ex-lover El Wray (played by Freddy Rodríguez) who turns up at a local BBQ grill. They then, after a turn of events, find themselves fending off brain-eating zombies whilst trying to flee to Mexico (here we go off to Mexico again). Apart from directing, Rodriguez also involves himself in camera work, editing and composing music for his movies' sound tracks (he composed Planet Terror's main theme). He also shoots a lot of his own action scenes to get a direct idea from his eye as the director into the film. In El Mariachi (1992), Rodriguez spent hours in front of a pay-to-use, computer editing his film. This allowed him to capture the ideal footage exactly as he wanted it. Away from the filming aspect of Hollywood, Rodriguez is an expert chef who cooks gourmet meals for the cast and crew. Rodriguez is also known for his ability to turn a low-budgeted film with a small crew into an example of film mastery. El mariachi was "the movie made on seven grand" and still managed to rank as one of Rodriguez' best films (receiving a rating of 92% on the Rotten Tomatoes film review site).
Because Rodriguez is involved so deeply in his films, he is able to capture what he wants first time, which saves both time and money. Rodriguez's films share some similar threads and ideas, whilst also having differences. In El Mariachi (1992), he uses a hand-held camera. He made this decision for several reasons. First, he couldn't afford a tripod and secondly, he wanted to make the audience more aware of the action. In the action sequences he is given more mobility with a hand-held camera and also allows for distortion of the unprofessional action sequences (because the cost of all special effects in the film totaled $600). However, in Sin City (2005) and Planet Terror (2007), the budget was much greater, and Rodriguez could afford to spend more on special affects (especially since both films were filmed predominately with green screen) and, thus, there was no need to cover for error.
Playing by his own rules or not at all, Robert Rodriguez has redefined what a filmmaker can or cannot do. Shunning Hollywood's ridiculously high budgets, multi-picture deals and the two most powerful unions for the sake of maintaining creative freedom are decisions that would (and have) cost many directors their careers. Rodriguez has turned these into his strengths, creating some of the most imaginative works the big-screen has ever seen.- Writer
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James DeMonaco was born in 1969 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for The Purge: Anarchy (2014), The Purge: Election Year (2016) and The First Purge (2018).- Producer
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Raised on the California Central Coast in the 70's and 80's, Josh Cooper Waller split his time between cattle ranches on one hand and the Arts and cinemas in the other. Early outdoor viewings of "Close Encounters" with his family, combined with a concert violinist Grandmother, instilled in him a sense of cinematic awe and wonder that he knew he had to chase after.
In 1992, no desire for college but unsure exactly which direction to go, Waller joined the US Marines. This decision would give back exactly what he needed it to. During his Reserve duty, Josh worked with private learning centers across the US, specifically with children dealing with ADD, Dyslexia, and various "disorders".
In 1996, Waller arrived in NYC to study acting at the William Esper Studio. During his time there he met and later became roommates with frequent collaborator, Daniel Noah.
In 2001, soon after the passing of his mother, Josh moved back to the West Coast. He immersed himself in script writing, short film writing/direction/production, and feature film development for several years. The service industry helped to provide during most of those years as did the occasional odd job.
In 2010, after connecting on a feature project that didn't come to pass, Waller partnered with his best friends, screenwriter Daniel Noah and actor Elijah Wood, to form SpectreVision, a genre production company dedicated to supporting unique voices within the genre space. Years later, Lisa Whalen would join their team as CEO and soon after as full partner. With Lisa they would expand to form Company X, a larger umbrella company, and partner with Ubisoft on gaming and Legendary for television development. During his time as partner and head of production, Waller would oversee over a dozen film productions some titles include "Cooties", "The Boy", "Bitch", "Daniel Isn't Real", Panos Cosmatos' "Mandy", and "Color Out of Space" by Richard Stanley.
In 2019, Waller stepped away from SpectreVision/Company X to focus on his directorial pursuits and to launch a new production shingle in Portugal called Woodhead. Woodhead is built upon similar principles and expressions to those childhood cinematic experiences -- To help other filmmakers realize that sense awe and wonder in their work.- Writer
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Three-time Oscar nominee Frank Darabont was born in a refugee camp in 1959 in Montbeliard, France, the son of Hungarian parents who had fled Budapest during the failed 1956 Hungarian revolution. Brought to America as an infant, he settled with his family in Los Angeles and attended Hollywood High School. His first job in movies was as a production assistant on the 1981 low-budget film, Hell Night (1981), starring Linda Blair. He spent the next six years working in the art department as a set dresser and in set construction while struggling to establish himself as a writer. His first produced writing credit (shared) was on the 1987 film, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), directed by Chuck Russell. Darabont is one of only six filmmakers in history with the unique distinction of having his first two feature films receive nominations for the Best Picture Academy Award: 1994's The Shawshank Redemption (1994) (with a total of seven nominations) and 1999's The Green Mile (1999) (four nominations). Darabont himself collected Oscar nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay for each film (both based on works by Stephen King), as well as nominations for both films from the Director's Guild of America, and a nomination from the Writers Guild of America for The Shawshank Redemption (1994). He won the Humanitas Prize, the PEN Center USA West Award, and the Scriptor Award for his screenplay of "The Shawshank Redemption". For "The Green Mile", he won the Broadcast Film Critics prize for his screenplay adaptation, and two People's Choice Awards in the Best Dramatic Film and Best Picture categories. The Majestic (2001), starring Jim Carrey, was released in December 2001. He executive-produced the thriller, Collateral (2004), for DreamWorks, with Michael Mann directing and Tom Cruise starring. Future produced-by projects include "Way of the Rat" at DreamWorks with Chuck Russell adapting and directing the CrossGen comic book series and "Back Roads", a Tawni O'Dell novel, also at DreamWorks, with Todd Field attached to direct. Darabont and his production company, "Darkwoods Productions", have an overall deal with Paramount Pictures.- Director
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Born and raised in the small riverbank town of Jenny Lind in Calaveras County, California, Edward Lucky McKee grew up mostly in poverty with little access to modern forms of entertainment. When McKee was age ten, he used an old video camera to videotape his sister's birthday party which put him on a path for an interest in film making. At age 12, he and a friend made their own version of A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) which they first saw at the local cinema.
While attending the Calaveras High School, McKee and classmate 'Kevin Ford' qv) solicited a commission from the school board to videotape a documentary for their senior class. After graduation, McKee traveled to Los Angeles in 1993 and enrolled himself in a film writing program at the University of Southern California's School of Film-Television. McKee made several friends during his four years at USC, most of whom helped with the development of his directing films. After leaving USC in 1997, McKee returned to his hometown to look for work. In 1999, he collaborated with making his first feature movie, which was a very low budget horror film titled All Cheerleaders Die (2001) with the production help from former USC classmate Chris Sivertson. Shot on high definition videotape over a period of two four-day weekends, All Cheerleaders Die (2001) was a splatter comedy about the rivalry between a group of high school jocks and four cheerleaders who accidentally die and are brought back to life to seek revenge.
While attending USC as a sophomore, McKee wrote the screenplay for a short film titled 'Fraction', as well as the screenplay for the feature movie May (2002) which was inspired by 'Mary Shelley''s Frankenstein and the moodiness of Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976), as well as the lyrics to a song from Nirvana. May (2002) tells the story about a lonely and repressed young woman working as a veterinarian assistant who is slowly pushed into insanity and murder by her quest for companionship. Having recognized McKee's talent while attending USC, classmate Marius Vaysberg developed the script through his newly founded "2Loop Productions" and offered McKee a production deal to make it into a feature film. With the backing of "2Loop Productions" and a cast of independent film actors who included Texas-born Angela Bettis in the starring role, who was Kevin Ford's wife, as well as Jeremy Sisto and Anna Faris. Filming was made in late 2001 in Los Angeles, and finished just in time for the January 2002 Sundance Film Festival where it had a one-night showing where it was picked up by Lions Gate for a limited theatrical release the following year before making its mark on home video and DVD as a cult following ever since.
In 2005, McKee was offered by United Artists to direct the David Ross script The Woods (2006), another horror film shot in and around Montreal, Canada and starring some first-rate actors like Patricia Clarkson and Bruce Campbell about a haunted woods influencing the actions of a teenage girl attending an all-girls high school located in isolation within the woods. But the film ended up being shelved after United Artists was bought out by Metro Goldwyn Mayer with a release date still impending.
Also in 2005, McKee was brought on by Mick Garris as one of the many film directors to direct an episode for Masters of Horror (2005) with the episode "Sick Girl" which starred May (2002) star Angela Bettis and B-horror film star Erin Brown (aka: Erin Brown) which was written by Sean Hood. McKee describes the episode as a dark comedy-romantic version of The Fly (1986) featuring Angela and Erin as two young lovers whose romance is complicated by the arrival of a lethal insect.
McKee then stepped in front of the camera for his first acting role in the starring role of Roman (2006), a psychological drama-thriller which is based on his own script and directed by May (2002) star Angela Bettis. McKee describes Roman (2006) as a sort-of alternated version of May (2002) with him playing a lonely guy whose obsession with a woman he sees passing by his residence every day leads to things going horribly wrong.
Most recently, McKee has agreed to direct Red (2008) an adoption of a Jack Ketchum novel about a lonely war veteran who goes crazy after his pet dog is killed. McKee has also worked as a producer for Chris Sivertson for the 2006 feature film The Lost (2006) also based on a novel by Ketchum.- Director
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Eli Craig was born on 25 May 1972 in Los Angeles County, California, USA. He is a director and writer, known for Tucker and Dale vs Evil (2010), Little Evil (2017) and The Tao of Pong (2004). He has been married to Sasha Craig since 5 September 2004. They have one child.- Writer
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Olatunde Osunsanmi was born on 23 October 1977 in the USA. He is a producer and director, known for The Cavern (2005), The Fourth Kind (2009) and Star Trek: Short Treks (2018).- Director
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Karyn Kusama was born on 21 March 1968 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. She is a director and producer, known for The Invitation (2015), Destroyer (2018) and Yellowjackets (2021). She has been married to Phil Hay since October 2006. They have one child.- Director
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Born and raised on January of 1977, Aragão started shooting his films in Guarapari, a small town located in Espirito Santo, Brazil. His father was a magician as well as a cinema owner, he was created around the world of tricks and makeup.The snap of that could be his future came early. When he was seven he watched a documentary film about "The Empire strikes back". Everything he liked was there: movies and special effects, even though he hadn't had a glance about what that meant. It was the eighties, when "Evil Dead" was released, a cult classic film that ended up (un) doing his mind. Then he passed a period doing courses and workshops that made him think he was ready to make his own movies. He began in 1994, working as special make-up artist for the short film "The Legend of Proitner", followed by "Vampicide" (1996), another short film, nowadays obscure. His debut as a director happened in the theater, with the horror play "Mausoleum", playing from 2000-2003. Later on, he directed his own projects, with "Chupa Cabras", "Rotten Fish" and "Rotten Fish II", all short movies, and "Mud Zombies" (2008).- Writer
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Chris Peckover is known for Better Watch Out (2016) and Undocumented (2010).- Director
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Pascal Laugier was born on 16 October 1971 in France. He is a director and writer, known for Incident in a Ghostland (2018), Martyrs (2008) and The Tall Man (2012).- Director
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Eli Raphael Roth was born in Newton, Massachusetts, to Cora (Bialis), a painter, and Sheldon H. Roth, a psychoanalyst, psychiatrist, and clinical professor. His family is Jewish (from Austria, Hungary, Russia, and Poland). He began shooting Super 8 films at the age of eight; after watching Ridley Scott's Alien (1979) and vomiting, and deciding he wanted to be a producer/director. With his brothers and friends, ketchup for blood, and his father's power tools, he made over 50 short films before attending film school at NYU, where he won a student Academy Award and graduated summa cum laude in 1994.
Eli worked in film and theater production in New York City for many years, doing every job from production assistant to assistant editor to assistant to the director. At the age of 20, Roth was development head for producer Fred Zollo, a position he soon left to write full time. To earn a living, Roth did budgets and schedules for the films A Price Above Rubies (1998) and Illuminata (1998), and often worked as a stand-in, where he could watch directors work with the actors. In 1995, Roth co-wrote the script that would eventually become Cabin Fever (2002) with friend Randy Pearlstein, and the two spent many years unsuccessfully trying to get the film financed. Roth left New York in 1999 to live in Los Angeles, and within four months got funding for his animation series Chowdaheads (1999). Roth and friend Noah Belson (Cabin Fever (2002)'s Guitar Man) wrote and voiced the episodes, which Roth produced, directed, and designed. The episodes were due to run on WCW's #1 rated series WCW Monday Nitro (1995) but the CEO was fired a day before they were scheduled to air, and the episodes never ran. Roth used the episodes to set up a stop motion series called The Rotten Fruit (2003) which he produced, directed, and animated, as well as co-wrote and voiced with friend Belson. Between the two animated series, Roth worked closely with director David Lynch, producing content for the website davidlynch.com.
In 2001, Roth filmed Cabin Fever (2002) on a shoestring budget of $1.5 million, with private equity he and his producers raised from friends and their family. The film was the subject of a bidding war at the 2002 Toronto Film Festival, eventually won by Lion's Gate, instantly doubling their investors' money. It went on to not only be the highest-grossing film for Lion's Gate in 2003, but the most profitable horror film released that year, garnering critical acclaim from The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Empire Magazine, and such filmmakers as Peter Jackson, Quentin Tarantino, and Tobe Hooper. Roth used the film's success to launch a slew of projects, including The Box (2009), a horror thriller he co-wrote with Richard Kelly. In May 2003, Roth joined forces with filmmakers Boaz Yakin, Scott Spiegel, and Greenestreet Films in New York to form Raw Nerve, LLC, a horror film production company.
In 2014, Eli married Chilean model and actress Lorenza Izzo.- Director
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Born and raised in Istanbul, Evrenol studied Film Studies and Art History at the University of Kent at Canterbury. Upon graduating, he has independently written, directed and produced short horror films, which won him several international awards, as well as being officially selected to more than 40 international genre film festivals around the world.
His feature debut film Baskin (2015), based on his 2013 short film of the same title, premiered at Toronto International Film Festival's Midnight Madness section, and awarded the Best Director at Austin Fantasticfest's New Wave Awards.- Director
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Daniel was born and raised in Hamburg, Germany, where as a teenager he was host of a radio show and editor of a youth magazine. He toured with a theater, studied drama and published a play before he went to Belfast, Northern Ireland, as a peace worker. Two years later he returned to Germany to go to film school and study screenwriting at the Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg in Ludwigsburg. He wrote a TV movie which got nominated for Germany's most prestigious media award and directed a documentary on rock musician Nick Cave. Daniel moved to Los Angeles and graduated from the American Film Institute's directing program. His thesis film got nominated for the ASC award. In the following three years he made short films, wrote songs for local singers, sat on a film festival jury in Kosovo, became a certified hypnotist and hitch-hiked across the US. In 2008 Daniel's first feature film, 'A Necessary Death', premiered at SXSW in Austin, Texas, before winning the audience award at AFI Fest later the same year. His second feature, 'The Last Exorcism', premiered at the Los Angeles Film Fest in 2010, was distributed by Lionsgate and grossed over $65mio worldwide. The film and/or its actors got nominated for the People's Choice Award, two Independent Spirit Awards and an MTV Movie Award. It won an Empire Award as well as awards in Sitges and Toronto.- Director
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Joe Lynch is a filmmaker. Born in Long Island and dealing with life in L.A., Lynch has creatively worked in various medias, including feature films, TV, music videos, commercials, short films, podcasts and more.
Lynch's previous feature films include "Wrong Turn 2: Dead End" with Henry Rollins, "Knights of Badassdom" starring Peter Dinklage, Steve Zahn & Ryan Kwanten, "Everly" starring Salma Hayek, "Mayhem" starring Steven Yeun and Samara Weaving & "Point Blank" starring Frank Grillo, Anthony Mackie & Marcia Gay Harden.
In TV, Lynch has directed episodes of "12 Deadly Days", My Dead Ex" and has starred and executive produced the cult comedy show "Holliston" with fellow filmmaker Adam Green ("Hatchet", "Frozen").
Lynch is also one half of the popular "The Movie Crypt" podcast with Green, which was named one of 2015's Top Podcasts by Entertainment Weekly and is consistently on iTunes Top 25 Film & TV podcasts.- Director
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Brad Anderson was born in 1964 in Madison, Connecticut, USA. He is a director and producer, known for Session 9 (2001), The Machinist (2004) and Transsiberian (2008).- Director
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David Slade was born on 26 September 1969 in the UK. He is a director and producer, known for Hard Candy (2005), The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010) and 30 Days of Night (2007).- Producer
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Jaume Collet-Serra was born on March 23, 1974 in Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. At the age of 18, he moved to Los Angeles and attended Columbia College Hollywood, working as an editor on the side. Upon graduation, he began shooting music videos and caught the eye of several production companies. From there he began directed various commercials for companies such as Playstation, Budweiser, Mastercard and Verizon. Since then, he has directed and produced movies such as The Shallows (2016), Orphan (2009) and Unknown (2011).- Director
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Gregg Bishop started making movies with his father's Super 8mm and 16mm film cameras when he was 7 years old and wrote & directed his first full-length feature, a spy thriller, at 17 years of age.
He attended the Production Program at USC filmschool where his student film Voodoo (1999) won over twenty film festivals world-wide including the Slamdance Film Festival. The short film is now screened for incoming USC film students, along with the short films Electronic Labyrinth THX 1138 4EB (1967) by George Lucas and The Lift (1972) by Robert Zemeckis.
After graduation, Bishop wrote & directed the $15,000 film festival smash The Other Side (2006) which premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival where it was snapped up for a theatrical release. Variety called the movie "a lean, propulsively paced supernatural thriller, packed with pulse pounding excitement". Bishop is currently developing the movie as a TV series.
Bishop directed & produced Dance of the Dead (2008) starring Lucas Till from MacGyver (2016), which had its World Premiere at the SXSW Film Festival and was hand-picked by director Sam Raimi for distribution through Lionsgate and Ghost House Pictures. Rob Tapert says "This was a movie that Sam Raimi and myself watched on a Sunday afternoon, we howled and we howled till Sam's wife and kids started banging on his office door wondering if we were alright. I think I've watched it about five times so far." Ain't It Cool News hailed Dance of the Dead (2008) as "a cult classic" and Bloody-Disgusting called it "one of the best horror comedies ever made that will be remembered for years to come".
In 2010, Gregg sold a TV series to Fox Studios. Bishop wrote and directed the Webby nominated The Birds of Anger (2011) for NBC/Universal G4Films starring Jaimie Alexander from Thor (2011) and Blindspot (2015). The film was selected by Robert Rodriguez to be featured on his El Rey Network.
Bishop wrote and directed a segment called "Dante the Great" for the third installment of the highly acclaimed V/H/S franchise V/H/S Viral (2014) which was released theatrically by Magnet Releasing.
In 2016, Bishop directed the feature film Siren (2016), which was released in theaters by Universal Pictures and is an adaptation of the popular short V/H/S (2012) segment "Amateur Night". Ain't It Cool News called it a "rock solid monster movie with a strong ensemble cast" and Los Angeles Times hailed it a "clever and confident expansion of a terrific short."
Bishop recently sold his spec script Lockdown that he wrote with Joe Ballarini to Sony Pictures with Michael Bay and Platinum Dunes attached to produce.- Director
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James Watkins was born in 1978 in the UK. He is a director and writer, known for Eden Lake (2008), The Take (2016) and McMafia (2018).- Writer
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Marcus Dunstan was born on 14 April 1975 in Macomb, Illinois, USA. He is a writer and director, known for The Collector (2009), Feast (2005) and The Collection (2012).- Director
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Jeremy Saulnier has slyly defined a unique cinematic aesthetic that complements his idiosyncratic narrative premises. His sophomore feature, Blue Ruin (2013) a quirky, crime drama set in a pretty, but grimier part of suburban America was a festival darling and supplanted his name within the independent movie scene. His upcoming project Green Room looks like more of the same strangely engaging stuff from the incredibly promising writer/director.- Music Artist
- Writer
- Actor
Robert Bartleh Cummings, more famously known as Rob Zombie, was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts on January 12, 1965. He is the oldest son of Louise and Robert Cummings, and has a younger brother, Michael David (aka Spider One; b. 1968), who is the lead singer of Powerman 5000. Growing up, Zombie loved horror movies, which have greatly influenced his music and filmmaking career; in 1983, he graduated from Haverhill High School. After graduating, he moved to New York City to attend Parsons School of Design, also briefly working as a production assistant on Pee-wee's Playhouse (1986).
Zombie and his then-girlfriend, Sean Yseult, co-founded the band White Zombie, named after the Bela Lugosi classic horror film of the same name (White Zombie (1932)). The band released their debut studio album, 'Soul-Crusher', in 1987; their second, 'Make Them Die Slowly', followed in 1989, but generated little buzz.
Following the release of their fourth extended play, however, White Zombie caught the attention of Geffen Records, who in 1992 went on to release their third studio album, 'La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One'. This album sold over two million copies in the U.S., becoming the band's breakout hit. White Zombie's fourth and final album, 'Astro-Creep: 2000 - Songs of Love, Destruction and Other Synthetic Delusions of the Electric Head', was released in 1995 to critical and commercial success, ultimately becoming their most successful album. The band released a remix album in 1996 and disbanded the same year, officially breaking up in 1998.
Rob Zombie began working on a debut album in 1997; 'Hellbilly Deluxe: 13 Tales of Cadaverous Cavorting Inside the Spookshow International' came out in 1998, selling over three million copies. Zombie formed his own record label, Zombie-A-Go-Go Records, in 1998.
Zombie composed the original score for the video game Twisted Metal III (1998) and designed a haunted attraction for Universal Studios in 1999. In 2000, he began working on his directional debut, House of 1000 Corpses (2003). Inspired mainly by classics such as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), the film was delayed until 2003 due to distributional issues. Though criticized for its explicit depictions of violence and gore, it went on to gross over $16 million and has garnered a cult following.
Zombie's second studio album, 'The Sinister Urge', was released in 2001 and sold over a million copies. In 2002, he married his longtime girlfriend Sheri Moon Zombie, who has appeared in all of his movies to date and often accompanies him on tour to choreograph dance routines and create costumes. Zombie released a sequel to 'House of 1000 Corpses' in 2005, entitled The Devil's Rejects (2005). Although it received much more positive reviews than its predecessor, it was still criticized for its violent content. He released his third studio album, 'Educated Horses', the following year.
In 2007, Zombie decided to focus on his work as a filmmaker for a while; the same year, he would release his most polarizing movie to date: Halloween (2007), a remake of the 1978 classic of the same name (Halloween (1978)). It received a mixed reception, but was a box office hit, and still currently resides as the top Labor Day weekend grosser. Zombie directed a fictitious trailer entitled 'Werewolf Women of the SS' (inspired by the exploitation flick Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS (1975)) for Grindhouse (2007). In 2009, Zombie directed Halloween II (2009), which was critically panned, and The Haunted World of El Superbeasto (2009), which was based upon one of his comic book series.
Also in 2009, Zombie began working on a new album; 'Hellbilly Deluxe 2: Noble Jackals, Penny Dreadfuls and the Systematic Dehumanization of Cool' came out the following year. In 2011, he directed a horror-themed commercial for Woolite, and began work on a new film, The Lords of Salem (2012). Unlike Zombie's previous efforts, 'The Lords of Salem' focused more on building suspense and a nightmarish, surreal atmosphere and less on brutal violence and excessive profanity. It ultimately received mixed reviews; just after its release, Zombie came out with his fifth studio album, 'Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor', his lowest-selling to date.
Zombie lent his voice to the superhero movie Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). He also began work on 31 (2016), which tells the story of five carnival workers who are trapped and forced to fight for survival against a gang of murderous clowns. It premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival in January, and will be released in September. In April, Zombie's sixth studio album, 'The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser', was released. Additionally, he has signed on to direct a film on the life of zany comic Groucho Marx, though a release date is uncertain.
Zombie is most recognized for his heavy metal style of music, influenced by his love of classic horror, and his exploitation/splatter-type movies. Overall, he has sold an estimated fifteen million albums worldwide, and his films have grossed over $150 million in total.- Producer
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James Wong is known for The X-Files (1993), The One (2001) and Space: Above and Beyond (1995). He is married to Teena Wong. They have three children.- Director
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- Editor
Mike Flanagan is a prolific writer, director, and editor. He entered into an exclusive overall deal with Amazon Studios in 2023 for television projects (after a similar exclusive deal with Netflix from 2018-2022), and has made feature films for Warner Bros., Universal Pictures, Netflix and more. Flanagan is best known for his work in horror films and television series, which has attracted the praise of critics for his focus on character and lack of reliance on jump scares. Stephen King, Quentin Tarantino, and William Friedkin, among others, have praised him.
Flanagan was born in Salem, Massachusetts to Timothy and Laura Flanagan. The family relocated frequently, as Timothy was in the U.S. Coast Guard, and finally settled in Bowie, Maryland. As a child, he would shoot and edit short movies on VHS. This continued as he attended Archbishop Spalding High School in Severn, Maryland, where he was active in the theatre department and the president of the Student Government Association. A graduate of Towson University's Electronic Media and Film department, Mike moved to Los Angeles in 2003 and began working as an editor of sketch comedy shows, reality television, documentary programming and commercials before his Kickstarter-funded breakout feature Absentia (2011) launched his filmmaking career.
Flanagan's films, all of which he directed, wrote, and edited, include Oculus (2013), Hush (2016), Before I Wake (2016), Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016), Gerald's Game (2017), Doctor Sleep (2019), and The Life of Chuck (2024). He also created, directed, and served as showrunner on the series The Haunting of Hill House (2018), The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020), Midnight Mass (2021), the teen horror series The Midnight Club (2022) and The Fall of the House of Usher (2023).
Flanagan has been nominated for dozens of awards for writing, directing and editing, and was presented with the Visionary Award by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films in 2022. He is an active member of the Producers Guild of America, Directors Guild of America, Writers Guild of America West, Motion Picture Editors Guild, and Screen Actors Guild.
Flanagan lives in Los Angeles with his wife, actress Kate Siegel, whom he married in 2016. They have a son and a daughter together, as well as a son from Flanagan's previous relationship with Absentia actress Courtney Bell. He has been sober since 2018, and frequently uses his work to explore themes of addiction, recovery, and empathy.- Director
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Darren Lynn Bousman was born on 11 January 1979 in Overland Park, Kansas, USA. He is a director and producer, known for Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008), Saw II (2005) and Abattoir (2016). He has been married to Laura Bousman since 2 January 2010. They have two children.- Director
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- Producer
After training as a fine artist before working as a director in Theatre and Opera, Australian writer, director, and producer Greg McLean's filmmaking career began when he wrote and directed the horror smash hit 'Wolf Creek.' The film played at the Sundance and Cannes Film Festivals before going onto worldwide 'cult film' status. After this success, he established Emu Creek Pictures, a production company based in Melbourne, Australia. He then wrote, directed, and produced the thrillers 'Rogue' and 'Wolf Creek 2', before directing, 'The Darkness', 'The Belko Experiment', and the survival thriller; 'Jungle'. Greg Executive Produced and directed episodes on two seasons of the 'Wolf Creek TV series and recently directed episodes for series including; 'The Gloaming', 'Bloom', 'Jack Irish', 'La Brea' (Seasons 1 and 2), 'The Twelve and was the series director for 'Scrublands' in 2023.- Director
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Born in 1960 in Antibes (in the South of France), Christophe Gans became crazy about movies at an early stage. As a teenager, he made a lot of samurai and kung fu super-8 films with his friends. At the end of the seventies, he founded the fanzine "Rhesus Zero" about B-movies. In 1980, he studied at the French cinema school Idhec and directed a short movie called "Silver Slime", a tribute to Mario Bava. In 1982, he founded the magazine "Starfix" and defended directors like David Cronenberg, Dario Argento, Russel Mulcahy, David Lynch, John Carpenter or Sergio Leone. He decided to make movies and directed one of the three parts of _Necronomicon (1994)_ called "The Drowned", then "Crying Freeman" from the famous Japanese manga. Gans created the video collection "HK" devoted to Hong Kong movies. He worked for two years on a free adaptation of Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues under the Sea" but the project failed. In 1999, he was asked to make Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001) ("Brotherhood of the Wolf") about the Beast of Gévaudan, an unknown animal who killed more than one hundred people in France at the end of 18th century. The movie was released in January 2001 and was a great success (more than five million people saw it).- Director
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- Producer
Leigh Janiak is a film director and screenwriter born on February 1, 1980 in Ohio, USA. She is the daughter of Karen L. Janiak and Nestor K. Janiak of Mentor, Ohio, USA. Her feature film directorial debut was horror/mystery Honeymoon (2014) starring Rose Leslie from Game of Thrones (2011), and Harry Treadaway who can be seen on the television series Penny Dreadful (2014) as Dr. Victor Frankenstein. Leigh Janiak has been generating a lot of buzz after it was announced that she was attached to direct and co-write a sequel for the 1996 cult thriller The Craft (1996). Leigh has also recently directed episodes from the hit television series Scream: The TV Series (2015) as well as directing on another television series, Outcast (2016). She has been married to Ross Duffer since December 2015- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Bryan Bertino was born on 17 October 1977 in Crowley, Texas, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for The Strangers (2008), The Blackcoat's Daughter (2015) and The Strangers: Prey at Night (2018).- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Dennis Iliadis was born in Athens, Greece, and also grew up in Paris and Rio de Janeiro. He attended Brown University in Rhode Island, studying film and political economy before enrolling at the Royal College of Art in London. Iliadis is quickly gaining a name in the film industry, having taken on the director role for the remake of The Last House on the Left (2009). It is his first American film, and he believes its story to be a fascinating take on human nature. He previously directed the film Hardcore (2004), which went on to win the German Independence Award - Audience Award. His college graduation film, Ole, and his next short film, Morning Fall, both received awards for excellence.- Writer
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- Director
John grew up in the Twin Cities of Minnesota. After graduating St. Thomas Academy, an all-boys, military, Catholic highschool, John moved to Iowa City to attend the University of Iowa. There he would make the move from writing to film. Two years later, John moved to Manhattan to attend NYU's film program. After graduating NYU, John moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in filmmaking. John wrote and directed his first feature, Full Moon Rising (1996) just out of college. For his sophomore effort, The Dry Spell, John was joined by his brother Drew, who produced the film as John wrote, directed and edited. They now live in Los Angeles, working together as The Brothers Dowdle.- Producer
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Juan Carlos Fresnadillo was born on 5 December 1967 in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. He is a producer and director, known for 28 Weeks Later (2007), Intacto (2001) and Linked (1996).- Editor
- Director
- Writer
Gonzalo López-Gallego was born in Madrid, Madrid, Spain. He is known for Open Grave (2013), El rey de la montaña (2007) and Nómadas (2001).- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Christopher Landon was born on 27 February 1975 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Freaky (2020), Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones (2014) and We Have a Ghost (2023).- Director
- Editor
- Cinematographer
Jake West was born in 1972 in the UK. He is a director and editor, known for Razor Blade Smile (1998), The ABCs of Death (2012) and Evil Aliens (2005).- Director
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- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Guillem Morales was born in 1975 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. He is a director and writer, known for Julia's Eyes (2010), Back Room (1999) and The Uninvited Guest (2004).- Director
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- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Sean hails from Hobart, Tasmania. The Loved Ones (2009) is his first feature and has achieved official selection at over twenty international film festivals, winning the People's Choice Award, Midnight Madness Category, Toronto International Film Festival (2009) and The Siren Award for Best International Feature, Lund International Film Festival (2010). His most recent short Advantage (2007) had its international premiere at the Sundance Film Festival (2008) and has picked up multiple awards on the festival circuit. While doing his Masters at the Australian Film Television & Radio School, Sean received the Australian Directors Guild and Screen Sound Australia Awards for Excellence in Drama Directing for his shorts, Work?, Sport, Sunday and Ben.
When he isn't directing shorts and features, Sean directs television ads for Renegade Films in Melbourne. He has directed spots for Cadburys, Nintendo and Ford, among others.- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Ari Aster is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is known for writing and directing the A24 horror films Hereditary (2018) and Midsommar (2019). Aster was born into a Jewish family in New York City on July 15, 1986, the son of a poet mother and musician father. He has a younger brother. He recalled going to see his first movie, Dick Tracy, when he was four years old. The film featured a scene where a character fired a Tommy gun in front of a wall of fire. Aster reportedly jumped from his seat and "ran six New York City blocks" while his mother tried to catch him. In his early childhood, Aster's family briefly lived in England, where his father opened a jazz nightclub in Chester. Aster enjoyed living there, but the family returned to the U.S. and settled in New Mexico when he was 10 years old.- Writer
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- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Writer
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Scott Beck was born on 22 October 1984 in Denver, Colorado, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for A Quiet Place (2018), 65 (2023) and Haunt (2019).- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Bryan Woods was born on 14 September 1984 in Davenport, Iowa, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for A Quiet Place (2018), 65 (2023) and Haunt (2019).- Director
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Jordan Peele is an Oscar- and Emmy-winning director, writer, actor, producer, and founder of Monkeypaw Productions. Peele's first feature film, "Get Out," was a critically acclaimed blockbuster, recognized with four Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. The film would earn Peele the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. His second feature, "Us," broke numerous box-office records, becoming the biggest opening for an R-rated original film in history when released in March of 2019 to widespread critical praise. Peele's third feature, the original horror epic, "Nope," opened in the summer of 2022 to rave reviews, the No. 1 slot at the box office, and once again becoming a widely discussed cultural phenomenon. Five years in the making, Peele produced and co-wrote Henry Selick's stop-motion animated feature, "Wendell & Wild," to which he also lent his voice as one of the title characters. Under the Monkeypaw banner, Peele co-wrote and produced Nia DaCosta's "Candyman" which made history as the first film helmed by a Black woman director to open at No. 1 at the box office. He also produced Spike Lee's "BlacKkKlansman," which earned a nomination for Best Picture and won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. He has also served as executive producer for numerous television series, including "Hunters" (Amazon), "Lovecraft Country" (HBO), and "The Twilight Zone" (CBS). Prior to becoming a filmmaker, Peele was a celebrated comedian who was the co-star and co-creator of "Key & Peele" on Comedy Central.- Director
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Jonas Åkerlund was born on 10 November 1965 in Bromma, Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden. He is a director and editor, known for Lords of Chaos (2018), Polar (2019) and Madonna: Ray of Light (1998). He is married to B. Åkerlund. He was previously married to Charlotta Palmbäck.- Actor
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Adam MacDonald is a writer/director, born in Montreal, now residing in Toronto. His directorial works include three short films: Sombre Zombie (2005) and In the Dominican (2010) His feature length debut, Backcountry (2015). -- had its World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it was represented by Cinetic Media and bought by IFC. At TIFF TheGlobe and Mail named Adam one of the "Top Ten Canadians to Watch." His second feature Pyewacket (2017) also had its world premier at the Toronto international film festival, where it was represented by Seville international and bought by IFC. NOW magazine proclaimed Adam one of the 10 Canadians to watch at TIFF 2017.
His first television credit was successfully helming the entire third season (8 EPS) of Aaron Martin's SLASHER ( SOLSTICE) for NETFLIX. Adam wrote both his feature films. He recently completed the commissioned writing assignment of the epic thriller the BLACK DONNELYS ( a Canadian/Irish co- production). He's also attached to direct. He's been hired to rewrite HOLLYWOOD horror scripts such as the THE FORGOTTEN as well as the upcoming UK/INDIA horror SAMSARA
His first short, Sombre Zombie was produced with a grant from the Bravo! Network . Canada's renowned filmmaker Bruce McDonald, (Hard Core Logo) mentored Adam during his creative process. Upon completion the film aired on Bravo! and also screened in several festivals, including the very popular Fantasia and Nashville Film Festivals.
Building upon his shorts, Adam wrote and directed Backcountry. Upon its TIFF World Premiere, the film received rave reviews. Backcountry has been "Certified Fresh" by Rotten Tomatoes, with an 88% Fresh Rating. . Among the outlets praising it were The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, RogerEbert.com, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Vulture, and Salon. Fangoria proclaimed it "The best Canadian horror film in ages" . Backcountry reached #1 on iTunes Horror in the United States, Canada , Australia, Germany, Italy, Austria, Denmark, Switzerland, Spain, Saudi Arabia and #3 in the UK. The film held most of these positions for weeks. As of now it is one of IFC's top grossing films of 2015.
BACKCOUNTRY has been featured in over 25 BEST OF HORROR lists including AIN'T IT COOL NEWS, THE DALLAS OBSERVER, DREAD CENTRAL, BLOODY DISGUSTING AND FANGORIA.
Besides his filmmaking Adam is also an accomplished actor, with over 40 credits to him name. This experience has become a vital tool in his directing efforts. Currently, Adam's favourite film is Hong-jin Na's The Chaser. He continues to love boxing as well as pop culture and music from the eighties.- Writer
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Ted Geoghegan studied English at The University of Montana in Missoula, Montana, fine-tuning his skill as a screenwriter under the tutelage of Carroll O'Connor and attaining a degree in English Education with an emphasis on the works of William Shakespeare.
In 2000, Geoghegan co-wrote German director Andreas Schnaas' first English-language film, Demonium (2001), and followed it with numerous genre features in Europe and The United States. He founded his own independent production company in 2007, producing one short film and three features under its Starving Kappa Pictures banner. In 2013, Geoghegan co-wrote the Korean blockbuster The Berlin File (2013), and began his directing career two years later with the critically-acclaimed We Are Still Here (2015).
Ted has written about genre films for a number of online and print publications, and has been regularly featured in the media as an expert on slasher and exploitation cinema.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Adam MacDonald is a writer/director, born in Montreal, now residing in Toronto. His directorial works include three short films: Sombre Zombie (2005) and In the Dominican (2010) His feature length debut, Backcountry (2015). -- had its World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it was represented by Cinetic Media and bought by IFC. At TIFF TheGlobe and Mail named Adam one of the "Top Ten Canadians to Watch." His second feature Pyewacket (2017) also had its world premier at the Toronto international film festival, where it was represented by Seville international and bought by IFC. NOW magazine proclaimed Adam one of the 10 Canadians to watch at TIFF 2017.
His first television credit was successfully helming the entire third season (8 EPS) of Aaron Martin's SLASHER ( SOLSTICE) for NETFLIX. Adam wrote both his feature films. He recently completed the commissioned writing assignment of the epic thriller the BLACK DONNELYS ( a Canadian/Irish co- production). He's also attached to direct. He's been hired to rewrite HOLLYWOOD horror scripts such as the THE FORGOTTEN as well as the upcoming UK/INDIA horror SAMSARA
His first short, Sombre Zombie was produced with a grant from the Bravo! Network . Canada's renowned filmmaker Bruce McDonald, (Hard Core Logo) mentored Adam during his creative process. Upon completion the film aired on Bravo! and also screened in several festivals, including the very popular Fantasia and Nashville Film Festivals.
Building upon his shorts, Adam wrote and directed Backcountry. Upon its TIFF World Premiere, the film received rave reviews. Backcountry has been "Certified Fresh" by Rotten Tomatoes, with an 88% Fresh Rating. . Among the outlets praising it were The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, RogerEbert.com, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Vulture, and Salon. Fangoria proclaimed it "The best Canadian horror film in ages" . Backcountry reached #1 on iTunes Horror in the United States, Canada , Australia, Germany, Italy, Austria, Denmark, Switzerland, Spain, Saudi Arabia and #3 in the UK. The film held most of these positions for weeks. As of now it is one of IFC's top grossing films of 2015.
BACKCOUNTRY has been featured in over 25 BEST OF HORROR lists including AIN'T IT COOL NEWS, THE DALLAS OBSERVER, DREAD CENTRAL, BLOODY DISGUSTING AND FANGORIA.
Besides his filmmaking Adam is also an accomplished actor, with over 40 credits to him name. This experience has become a vital tool in his directing efforts. Currently, Adam's favourite film is Hong-jin Na's The Chaser. He continues to love boxing as well as pop culture and music from the eighties.- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Adam Egypt Mortimer is known for Daniel Isn't Real (2019), Archenemy (2020) and Some Kind of Hate (2015).- Writer
- Director
- Editor
Andy Mitton is known for The Witch in the Window (2018), The Harbinger (2022) and YellowBrickRoad (2010).- Director
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Lee Cronin is an award-winning writer/director from Dublin, Ireland. He is previously well known for Ghost Train (2013), which won the Méliès d'Argent for Best European Fantastic Short Film. Earlier in his career, he wrote and directed the shorts Billy & Chuck (2011) and Through the Night (2010). His debut feature film, The Hole in the Ground (2019) premiered at Sundance Film Festival in 2019 to critical acclaim, and landed him a Saturn Award nomination for Breakthrough Director. His next feature Evil Dead Rise (2023) will release theatrically through New Line Cinema in April 2023.- Director
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- Producer
Takashi Shimizu was born on 27 July 1972 in Maebashi City, Gunma Prefecture, Japan. He is a director and writer, known for Ju-on: The Grudge (2002), The Grudge (2004) and Ju-On: The Grudge 2 (2003).- Director
Tyler Gillett was born on 6 March 1982 in Flagstaff, Arizona, USA. He is a director, known for V/H/S (2012), Ready or Not (2019) and Scream (2022).