- JD Ellenberger is an Irish-American director, screenwriter, producer, editor, actor, and author, who began his film career in 2010 as a gorilla-style filmmaker under the moniker of Johnny Daggers.
That same year saw Ellenberger release his first and only short film Samhain: Night Feast, which was both an Official Selection and festival winner of the Bastards Of Horror Short Film Fest (Pittsburgh, PA) Immediately after the films release, JD met with the legendary director, George Romero (Night Of The Living Dead), who not only gave him advice but also his blessings for JD's first feature length attempt, Caustic Zombies. Sadly, despite the film having a sold-out premier at the Hollywood Theater in Dormont, PA (just outside of Pittsburgh) the film never saw the light of day, as internal issues and the actual film having gone missing for several years.
In 2011, JD began writing his next screenplay entitled Mo Anam Cara. The film was a dark, animated (claymation) film in which JD had procured Doug Bradley (Pinhead in the Clive Barker horror franchise Hellraiser) to do the films narration. Despite a successful crowdfunding campaign, the project ran out of funding midway through the set production process where one-third of the sets had been built, and subsequently the film came to a halt. Frustrated, JD took a break from his own projects and worked as an extra in two episodes of the A&E Television Series, Those Who Kill.
In 2014, with a two and a half year hiatus, JD came back refreshed and began working on two projects at once. The first being a screenplay for a documentary which focused on the trails and tribulations of making a film on a shoe-string budget. And the second was adapting the Mo Anam Cara screenplay into an illustrated novella, which later became known as Neverlasting. Whether it was a refreshed outlook, or the fierce determination, the comeback was a successful one. The documentary, now known as Blood On The Reel, got JD signed to his first major film distribution deal with SGL Entertainment. Blood On The Reel was an Official Selection at both the Tri-Cities International Film Festival, as well as the Virginia Indie Horror Film Festival. And his illustrated novella landed JD his first book publishing deal with Burning Bulb Publishing.
Continuing with his headstrong momentum, JD began work on his next screenplay, an homage to the early 20th Century silent films by the likes of Phantom Carriage, Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari, Nosferatu, etc. The screenplay, as well as the film would become known as Noctambulist. And in 2019, the film received world wide distribution (SGL Entertainment) and was an Official Selection at one of the longest running and most prestigious film festivals in the world, the WorldCon 75 international film festival which was held in Helsinki, Finland. The release of Noctambulist saw JD mature, both personally, and professionally. He felt as though he had finally found his niche and sense of direction. He no longer felt like the young, punk, "gorilla" filmmaker that he began his career as. In October of 2019, JD began work on his next screenplay entitled Lachrymose Primrose. A dark psychological thriller, continuing where Noctambulist left off.
Lachrymose Primrose began production in August of 2021. Ellenberger and crew worked through the height of the pandemic, while the rest of the world shut down. Filming during the pandemic made finding crew members willing to work and gather around others quite difficult. Accustomed to being self-reliant, Ellenberger decided that he would shoot, light, and edit, the entire film himself. As well as remodel his entire home which he used as the set for the film. Because of the skeleton crew, the film took a full year and a half to finish. And another year in the editing room.
"Making Lachrymose really took it's toll on me. But I would not change a single moment. Of course I was accustom to doing the cinematography, but there were certainly a lot of firsts. Lachrymose was the first major narrative film that I edited. The first that I had color graded. The first that I got to really experiment with color schemes. And the first film that I added all of the Foley effects. It was a labor of love. And it made me fall in love with the entire film process all over again."
In July of 2023, Lachrymose Primrose had finally completed and with that, Ellenberger is on the hunt for a new, larger, distribution company. He is preparing for many festival submissions in the hopes that it garners some distribution offers.- IMDb Mini Biography By: SEAFARING PICTURES - Johnny Daggers is a Neo-Noir, Horror filmmaker, or "Noirror", as Mr. Daggers has penned it. And, he is also an author of the macabre, releasing his debut illustrated horror novel "Neverlasting" in 2016 through Burning Bulb Publishing.
As a filmmaker, Johnny Daggers first made a name for himself in 2010, when his 20 minute short, "Samhain: Night Feast" won the Bastards Of Horror Film Fest.
In 2011, Johnny Daggers began work on his first feature film, "Caustic Zombies", which had a successful, sold-out, red-carpet premiere at the Hollywood Theater in Dormont, PA. Despite the films successful screening, the film would never officially be released due to internal issues among the crew. Issues which resulted in Daggers losing much of the original footage, preventing an "Official" directors cut release. To appease the fans, Daggers decided to release a limited edition, "official" bootleg version of the film in 2012.
The trials & tribulations over the woes of Caustic Zombies filled Daggers with disdain for the indie film world, and it left him questioning whether or not he should continue. It was during this time in 2012, when Daggers decided to take a break from film and focus his attention on his modeling career, which up until this point, had been more of a hobby. With all of his energy directed at his modeling, Daggers began appearing in countless magazines. Most notably, the world famous "ALT" publication, Bizarre Magazine. To this date, Daggers has appeared as a model in well over 20 publications, gracing the cover of a handful, and was selected as an official 'spokes-model' for Savage Beauty Magazine, Lindsey Lowe Custom Eye-wear and Freakware Clothing.
2013, while at the height of his modeling profession, Daggers was presented with the opportunity to act as an extra in two episodes of the A&E television series, "Those Who Kill", where he was fittingly cast to play the role of a "punk-rocker". The experience was one which provided Daggers with great insight in seeing how "Hollywood" productions were run. He realized that his sets operated just as efficiently, and he realized that he still had a longing passion for film.
2014 saw Johnny Daggers returning to the world of film, refreshed, focused, and more determined than ever. He began work on what would become his next release, a documentary entitled "Blood On The Reel: The Guts Behind Indie Horror". As inspiration for the film, Daggers drew from his previous personal hardships, but he also decided to share a lot of his personal success stories, not at an attempt to self-boast, but in an attempt to show aspiring filmmakers that success can be had, even if it is accompanied by times of hardship. At the time of conceptually creating the film, Daggers had no inclination that "Blood On The Reel: The Guts Behind Indie Horror" would be his first film to land him his first major distribution deal. In late 2014, he signed on with SGL Entertainment, who released the film world-wide on DVD, Bluray and VOD in the Summer of 2016.
Immediately after the completion of "Blood On The Reel: The Guts Behind Indie Horror", Daggers embarked on what we would later refer to as his 'dream film'. The film was entitled 'Noctambulist'. A 1920s inspired, black and white silent thriller. And a homage to the early German Expressionist Films which had inspired Daggers so greatly. "Nocambulist" would become the film which slowly moved Johnny Daggers out of the world of horror and into the world of film Noir. A direction which as both a writer and a director, he had longed desired to go.
'Noctambulist'" completed filming in December of 2016, and the editing was completed by mid 2017. In September of 2017, "Noctambulist" was named as an "official selection" at the Worldcon 75 International Film Festival, where it screened to a sold out room. Although the film was complete, it was lacking one thing that Daggers desired, and that was an all original soundtrack to accompany it. Being that Daggers is also a musician, he composed two tracks, accompanied by vocalist Jeannie Goodwitch of the band, "Curse In The Woods", but simply did not have the time to score an entire soundtrack Daggers decided to reach out to famed multi-instrumentalist, Paris Sadonis of Christian Death, Shadow Project, EXP, Heltir, and Eva O Halo Experience, to name a few. Upon seeing the film, Paris was eager to take on the task at scoring the soundtrack, and suggested bringing in a self-taught, experimental jazz musician by the name of Ace Farren Ford of Smegma, Heltir, EXP, L.A.F.M.S, to aid in scoring some of the dream sequences. Sequences which led for the need of more darkly abstract soundscapes.
At this moment, we are waiting on the finished soundtrack, and then off to the distribution company, where it will wait a release in 2018. Until then, stay tuned.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Daggervision Films
- Won 2010 Pittsburgh Horror Realm Convention, Award: The Bastards of Horror Short Film Fest for Samhain: Night Feast.
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