A little bit about my new short film, Stella Buio.

I've started an IndieGoGo campaign for my new short film Stella Buio. It's a 70s Italian horror throwback about a medium who reconnects a family to their loved one quite literally as she brings him back from the dead to wreak havoc on them.

I didn't want to say too much about my cast just because I am superstitious about revealing names before I have their scenes in the can, but I feel like I can (and should) go ahead and post: I've cast my good friend Chris Cline as Philip, the deceased loved one. He played the Priest in my films A Hammer Fell in Jerusalem: Anathema and A Hammer Fell in Jerusalem: and be at rest. Shawn McBee, whom I've known since high school, will be one of Philip's family members. I've also cast Melanie Robel as the lead protagonist, Julie. She's an up and coming actress and came to me highly recommended; I'm so glad she agreed and I can't wait to work with her! Finally, the big news: legendary Scream Queen Linnea Quigley will be the title character, Stella Buio!

*Kermit flail*

Also joining me on this epic quest are Bonni Reid, who will be doing my poster art, Wheat, as my gaffer, and my brother Shawn Bowen will be handling the Fabio Frizzi-inspired score!

My film JustUs has been accepted to the Sarasota Film Festival!

Geez louise...I haven't posted since late last year! I wanted to start blogging more and maybe now is a good time to start as I have some cool news to share.

JustUs has been accepted to the Sarasota Film Festival!

As I said on my Tumblr (yeah, I have a Tumblr): If you're a filmmaker who doesn't live in New York City or Los Angeles, chances are that you know what it's like to have the hometown film festival reject your film. You could be accepted to every festival you applied to, but when the hometown rejects it, you feel like a pariah of some sort. I've sent my work to the Sarasota Film Festival three times now and apparently the third time is the charm because this year, JustUs has been accepted to the Sarasota Film Festival! They're not big on horror here, this is mainly a community for retirees, but the ones that make waves at Sundance and Toronto tend to make their way to this festival.

Now, I still feel like a pariah here because I work in horror and don't give a crap about being famous or most of the stuff that seems to drive our local "film industry." And some interactions I've already had about the festival leave me un-encouraged about staying here. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to live in L.A. either. I always have a great time when I'm there and I love (and miss) my L.A. family, but I don't think I could live there (and maintain what's left of my sanity.) And I haven't even gotten into how expensive it is to live there.

However, I live here right now and I'm going to continue to make the best of it, and complain about it as well, until I'm no longer a resident. :D

Okay, now, the reason I have a Tumblr: I originally wasn't going to get one. I mean, let's be realistic, I haven't been keeping up on this blog very well as it is. But, I was asked by the heads of Curio Media, Inc. to post relevant news to their Tumblr and I had to start learning somewhere, right? So I got one for myself. My prose work has never been particularly flowery unless I'm going for a certain effect -- I think this is due to the economy of words necessary to write screenplays -- and Tumblr isn't designed for long rambly posts so it fits me and my style; however, I will work on posting here more.

I've been interviewed by Dread Central's HorrorChick and Mangled Matters' Justin Hamelin recently. My interview with TheHorrorChick was for Dread Central's Indie Horror Month. And my interview with Justin Hamelin is for his Women in Horror blog.

Here's the teaser for JustUs:


I have a lot more to post, but I think this is good for now. :D