Thursday, September 20, 2012

Carnival of Darkness Horror/Sci-Fi Short Film Festival – Oct 24th- releases finalists and star-studded lineup


This article first appeared in Examiner.com
Festival confirms Veronica Cartwright, Tara Cardinal and Drew Daywalt

             Hollywood, CA — Carnival of Darkness Horror/Sci-Fi Short Film Festival 3 announced today (Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012) its star line-up and top short-films finalists to be showcased at this years’ event to be held at the LA Film School.
            “When I watched these submissions, some of my big parameters are - am I being physically affected (by the film), is my heart racing, is the hair standing up on the back of my neck and am I having an actual physical reaction?”, Bram said on the Movie Geeks United Blog Radio show live last night in announcing the Festival finalists.

The following are the Official Film Selections for Carnival of Darkness 3:
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SHORT FILMS FINALISTS                                                              FILM DIRECTOR

Things Fall Apart                                                                                Rob Chiu
Feed A                                                                                                Clarke Mayer
How to Kill Your Clone                                                                       Jack McWilliams
Chameleon                                                                                         Samuel Lemberg
The Hike                                                                                              Walter Michael Bost
The Gift                                                                                                Carl Rinsch
Many Doors of Albert Whale (actually stars )                                      Marichelle Daywalt
Captured Bird                                                                                       Jovanka Vuckovic
Blue Hole                                                                                              Eric Gardener
Behind You                                                                                            Benjamin Freiburger
The Guest                                                                                              Bryan Ryan
Immersive Cocoon                                                                                Oliver Zeller
            The finalists were announced live on the radio Online. Filmmakers will be notified by e-mail Friday, Sept. 21, 2012 by Withoutabox.com.
CarnivalofDarkness.net coming Oct. 24, 2012.
            Movie Geeks United! is the most popular movie-themed podcast on the internet and iTunes, featuring informative and passionate discussions with filmmakers James Cameron, Francis Ford Coppola, Robert Duvall, Brian De Palma, Paul Schrader, and John Sayles.
            Confirmed this year as panelists and joining other celebrities on the red carpet for the third annual film festival event on Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2012, include: Veronica Cartwright, Tara Cardinal and Drew Daywalt. This celebration of creepy and original films culminates in a panel discussion featuring top names in the horror field. Previous panels have included such notables as Juliet Landau, Jeffrey Reddick, Paul Solet, Trent Haaga and Del Howison.
            Director/Writer/Producer Alex Bram, a multi-award-winning filmmaker is the creator of this short horror, sci-fi festival. His psychological thriller, BODY OF WORK honors the tradition of Alfred Hitchcock, while at the same time, using modern technology to bring about a new wave of suspenseful filmmaking.
            Carnival of Darkness champions outstanding new work only and is very selective in films screened. Selection is an award in itself and recognition of excellence. The top short film award is the “Thrill Ride”. “The award spotlights one film which truly provides the most suspenseful experience, while also striving to be the best of cinema.  The Thrill Ride Award is announced and a trophy is presented live onstage at the conclusion of the event,” explained Bram. 
       
Veronica Cartwright
Panel for Carnival of Darkness 3

            “Carnival of Darkness is extremely proud to be able to welcome true master actor Veronica Cartwright to this year’s festivities,” said Bram. “Alternating between television and big screen movies, Veronica has appeared in such films as the remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) and the horror classic Alien (1979). Born in Bristol, England, Veronica is the older sister of the popular child actress Angela Cartwright. In her early career, Veronica was cast in a number of popular movies such as The Children's Hour (1961), Spencer's Mountain (1963) and Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963). As such, she was cast as "Jemima Boone" in the popular television series "Daniel Boone" (1964), which ran from 1964 to 66. Her career after "Daniel Boone" may have been influenced by Hitchcock, since she appeared in both the remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) and the horror classic Alien (1979).  
Tara Carinal
             “Tara Cardinal is the daughter of a psychic and a musician,” said Bram.  “She frequently appears in horror and fantasy films and likes to perform her own stunts. Look for her film Legend of the Red Reaper, (2012) coming soon. Cardinal is currently filming, Spreading Darkness, (2013) and has several projects in the works. She was discovered in a shopping mall and acted in her first movie in 2006. Tara frequently appears in horror and fantasy films and likes to perform her own stunts. Moreover, Cardinal has not only acted on stage, but also has modeled for various comic book characters, performed at Renaissance Festivals, and even done live shows as a professional wrestler. A dedicated humanitarian and staunch advocate for children's rights, Tara co-founded the non-profit peer counseling organization C.L.U.B.
Drew Daywalt’s first Online horror short film Bedfellows earned a million viewers with a week of its launch. Later, the world’s leading short horror film creator, enjoyed millions of hits to his 2010 horror web series Camera Obscura.  Most recently Daywalt directed three episodes of MTV’s new horror comedy TV series Death Valley, and wrote the screenplay for the remake of Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things for George Romero, now set up at Anchor Bay. 
 “Carnival of Darkness (CarnivalofDarkness.net) is a showcase of the very best horror and sci-fi shorts from filmmakers across the world,” said Festival Director Bram. “This 3rd annual gathering of genre enthusiasts and industry professionals will be more than just a screening of films; it’s going to be the most thrilling theater-going experience of the year.”
            This film festival is committed to presenting the idea that craft quality can be an essential part of both horror and science fiction filmmaking.  “Carnival of Darkness” spotlights those films which demonstrate that. 
            Selected filmmakers and casts will get to walk the “blood red carpet” along with industry heavyweights and notables from the horror/sci-fi communities. The doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the red carpet affair starts at 8:00 p.m.
LA Film School’s 345-seat stadium-style theater reportedly has one of the few true 24P High Definition Projection Systems in Hollywood. For more on the LA Film school visit: http://www.lafilm.edu/home.html.  
            The theater lobby will be set up like a twisted art gallery and horror related collectibles, graphic novels, DVD’s and T-Shirts will be available.  Attendees will enter a funhouse of mysterious events and surprises, freaks, performers and artists.

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