Brian Purviance
- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Brian Purviance was born in 1979 to parents Chris and Patricia
Purviance in the suburbs of Philadelphia. His love of film truly began
as a small child when he first seen the movie E.T. (1982), from then on
he began to look at film as an escape from reality. When all the kids
on his street (Snake Hill) would write papers on becoming astronauts,
firemen, policemen or famous athletes, Brian would always approach them
and say, "I want to make movies, if you want to be a cop, or a
basketball player, hell... even if you want to fly! I can just make a
movie about it!"
It was in the early 1980s when Brian's father introduced him to the film Scanners (1981), this is when his love of horror films became true. During his childhood, there was a small video store that would rent out ten movies for ten days for ten dollars; Brian certainly took advantage of this. At one point he even rented out, in alphabetical order, every single horror film they carried from A to Z. Titles like Sleepaway Camp (1983), A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), Cutting Class (1989), Psycho (1960), Nosferatu (1922), Suspiria (1977), The Lost Boys (his personal favorite), Carnival of Souls (1962), Night of the Living Dead (1968), Evil Dead (1982), etc. all of these titles had a major influence on Brian growing up. At the age of 12 he received his first video camera for his birthday and began making short films, especially horror films, using up the Purviance family Ketchup by day for fake blood.
In the year 1994, it became evident to him, that even with no money and no experience he could really make a good movie. This was when he was introduced by his father once again, to Clerks (1994), the small budget black and white comedy, Written and Directed by Kevin Smith, this had Brian in a frenzy to compose his own script and actually see it through. Unfortunately, it wasn't until 2003 when his dream of seeing his name on the big screen came true. It was the weekend of his 24th birthday in Providence Rhode Island, his first film, Art of the Dead, premiered before an audience. He was happier than ever, his dream came true, and in a great fashion, grabbing a 7:30 time slot and opening for The Last Horror Movie (2003), which went on to win best feature at this festival.
As his life moves towards marriage and kids, now at 29 years old his dreams of becoming a film maker are still alive. He writes and writes and writes, and sporadically finds the time to shoot his films. Now that he met fellow enthusiast Joe Shaffer at the local gym, the two of them use each other as inspiration to complete tasks. Brian has the ideas to develop scripts, and the drive to shoot and direct his film, while Joe sits up late at night coming up with elements of sound to make the film more intriguing. They are a match made in heaven, and this is evident in there filmmaking.
It was in the early 1980s when Brian's father introduced him to the film Scanners (1981), this is when his love of horror films became true. During his childhood, there was a small video store that would rent out ten movies for ten days for ten dollars; Brian certainly took advantage of this. At one point he even rented out, in alphabetical order, every single horror film they carried from A to Z. Titles like Sleepaway Camp (1983), A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), Cutting Class (1989), Psycho (1960), Nosferatu (1922), Suspiria (1977), The Lost Boys (his personal favorite), Carnival of Souls (1962), Night of the Living Dead (1968), Evil Dead (1982), etc. all of these titles had a major influence on Brian growing up. At the age of 12 he received his first video camera for his birthday and began making short films, especially horror films, using up the Purviance family Ketchup by day for fake blood.
In the year 1994, it became evident to him, that even with no money and no experience he could really make a good movie. This was when he was introduced by his father once again, to Clerks (1994), the small budget black and white comedy, Written and Directed by Kevin Smith, this had Brian in a frenzy to compose his own script and actually see it through. Unfortunately, it wasn't until 2003 when his dream of seeing his name on the big screen came true. It was the weekend of his 24th birthday in Providence Rhode Island, his first film, Art of the Dead, premiered before an audience. He was happier than ever, his dream came true, and in a great fashion, grabbing a 7:30 time slot and opening for The Last Horror Movie (2003), which went on to win best feature at this festival.
As his life moves towards marriage and kids, now at 29 years old his dreams of becoming a film maker are still alive. He writes and writes and writes, and sporadically finds the time to shoot his films. Now that he met fellow enthusiast Joe Shaffer at the local gym, the two of them use each other as inspiration to complete tasks. Brian has the ideas to develop scripts, and the drive to shoot and direct his film, while Joe sits up late at night coming up with elements of sound to make the film more intriguing. They are a match made in heaven, and this is evident in there filmmaking.