A promotion and a note about rude people...

Viscera Organization 2012 trailer. from Viscera Organization on Vimeo.

As some of you may know, I'm involved with the Viscera Organization, a 501(c)3 non-profit out of L.A. that works to support, promote, and encourage women working in genre media by offering a variety of services.

My film aftershock is a part of their library and played the L.A. kick-off event in 2011. This year, I started working for them as a tour coordinator with James Morgart, the Director of Media and Distribution for the Organization. In August, I was given a different role: I was asked to run the yearly L.A. carpet ceremony which basically means that I'm in charge of everything for the Viscera Film Festival EXCEPT the actual film program (that's all up to the rockin' Heidi Honeycutt and the amazing Kayley Viteo) and which includes the other activities for the weekend such as the Mistresses of Horror Alliance dinner on Friday and the Post Apocalyptic Brunch on Sunday.

My role has expanded again as I've been voted onto the executive board of the Viscera Organization as the Director of Operations!

This won't be affecting my filmmaking, though it's more important than ever that I move out to the Left Coast. Not to L.A., though. I LOVE my L.A. friends, but I really don't want to live there.

On the filmmaking side, however, I have some great news! Tonight, Stella Buio is up for Best Horror Short and our leading lady, Linnea Quigley, is up for Best Actress in a Short at the Buffalo Screams Horror Film Festival! Good luck to all of the nominees, but fingers crossed for Linnea! :D

And, speaking of screenings, the film also screened last weekend in the October FilmSlam at the Enzian! It's a great venue and the crowd was wonderful, surprising to me since we were the only horror film in the 'Slam. It was a great time and I have to thank Tim Anderson for screening the film and just being a really awesome guy! He loves indie film and it shows in the twinkle in his eyes.

And, finally, for this post anyway...Stella Buio screened at Creative Loafing's Reel Terror Film Festival in Tampa last night and we won an award for Best "Jaw Dropping" F/X!!

This was my second year taking part in Reel Terror and I like what Creative Loafing Tampa is trying to do. So far, it doesn't seem to be about fostering relationships with "celebrities," but about fostering a community. I did have one problem with the event this year, however, and it's not Creative Loafing's fault. My problem was this: if you want to have a conversation with someone and there's a panel or screening going on at the same time, either whisper or take it the fuck outside.

It's fine if you're not interested in whatever's going on because it's not about you, but you don't have to be rude to whoever is on stage, the filmmakers whose film is on screen, or the people who are trying to watch what's playing.

Music review: Just Tell Me That You Want Me

I’m going to step out of my comfort zone a little bit and review an album I bought off of the other day. I don’t normally review music because that’s not where my “expertise” lies. I make horror films. But, in this case I’m going to make an exception because the album in question is Just Tell Me That You Want Me, a collection of Fleetwood Mac cover tunes by some of Today’s Biggest New Stars! and a couple of Yesterday’s Biggest Shining Beacons!

I’m a HUGE fan of Nicks-era Fleetwood Mac because I’m a HUGE fan of Stevie Nicks and I have been since I was eight years old. Now, I normally HATE covers, really of any group, but especially of Fleetwood Mac. It’s the same problem I have with most film remakes: it’s very rare that a band doing a cover can capture the emotion of the original song and what comes out is usually a trite, paint-by-numbers affair offering up so little innovation as to be a carbon copy of what came before or so much innovation that the song is completely lost.

Overall, the album is meh, but the handful of songs that I feel got it right are nearly worth the price of the entire album.

WARNING: foul language ahead.

“Albatross” covered by the Lee Ranaldo Band (featuring J Mascis). It’s not too far removed from the original instrumental piece from the Peter Green era. They’ve added a few filters to make it sound more indie, I guess. Passible.

“Landslide” covered by Anthony. I know people have this same problem with Stevie Nicks, but I find this guy’s vibrato to be very distracting. It’s like he doesn’t have control over his voice. Stevie has tight control over her voice and has maintained that control through the drugs, drinking, and smoking (I said I was a fan, that doesn’t mean I’m not realistic.) There’s no power behind this guy’s voice in this song so it comes off whiny.

“Before the Beginning” covered by Trixie Whitley. I’m familiar with quite a few of the pre-Nicks era songs, but not enough to be considered a fan. I sought out the original version of this song after hearing the cover, but I have to say that this version is AMAZING. I love love love this song.

“Oh Well” covered by Billy Gibbons and Company. “Oh Well” is one of my favourite songs. I usually prefer the faster, more intense Lindsay Buckingham version, but this version, by ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, has taken Buckingham’s version and shown it how its done. This song is so damn good...it’s gritty and sexy and surprisingly controlled in its chaos. Love it!!

“Rhiannon” covered by Best Coast. What the fuck? Who the fuck thought this was a good fucking idea? GAH!! FUCK THESE PEOPLE IN THEIR EARS! This version makes me want to smash things. It’s like the Chopsticks rendition of Rhiannon. I probably can’t hate a cover song more than I hate this one. I can’t even listen to the whole thing. HATE HATE HATE.

“Think About Me” covered by The New Pornographers. Passible. I don’t think I’d search it out, but it’s got a fairly groovy surf vibe to it.

“Angel” covered by Marianne Faithfull. This is easily the most disappointing track in the collection. I expected far better from Marianne Faithfull. Angel is one of my top favourite Stevie Nicks songs, but this arrangement strips all of the dynamism and power out of it. Marianne Faithfull’s voice is just not up to this song. To be fair, Stevie Nicks’ voice may not be up to this song now, either, but it deserves better treatment. (1:55 and from around 7:03 to the end in this video (Click "this video" to be taken to the YouTube. :D)

“Silver Springs” covered by Lykke Li. More filters. What are these indie bands hiding behind all that crap? Oh, right. That they’re really not that good.

“Dreams” covered by The Kills. The garage-as-recording-studio sound does nothing to enhance the lack of enthusiasm shown in this song. It gets...okay...at the chorus, but it’s not impressive in the least.

“Gold Dust Woman” covered by Karen Elson. More thick reverb filters on another passible cover, but, it’s yet another paint-by-numbers piece.

“Storms” covered by Matt Sweeney and Bonnie “Prince” Billy. Another favourite Stevie Nicks song turned into a pretty good cover. Not outstanding, not horrifying (I’m looking at you, Rhiannon.)

“Straight Back” covered by Washed Out. It’s got a slight Spanish feel to it and a lot of layers, but there so many filters on the “singers” that you can’t really understand the lyrics unless you already know them. Overall, however, I really like this cover. The original is very intense and the intensity here is approached from a different angle and with a lot of respect.

“That’s All for Everyone” covered by Tame Impala. 70s sci-fi version of one of Lindsay Buckingham’s better songs. Meh.

“Sisters of the Moon” covered by Craig Wedren and St. Vincent. This is another deep cut of Stevie Nicks’ that I adore and this cover came thisclose to blowing my mind. There are only three missteps in this song: the singer is singing through his nose for the majority of the first verse and chorus wherein he also sounds like he doesn't know the lyrics ("the black widow spider makes more sound than she // and the black pools in those eyes of hers make more sense to me.") And, finally, when the chick singer comes in, she really should've belted out “Does anyone know her name?” That’s the thrust of the song. Stevie’s asking if anyone knows her name, her real name...it should be heartrending. Instead, the chick who sings it in this cover is just like “Whatever...” and can’t even be arsed to sing over the drums (the drums should not be lowered in this song...) Even Lindsay belted it out in this amazing live version from the Mirage tour.
(edited to add: Turns out my talent for mishearing lyrics has struck again. I've always thought Stevie was singing "black pools", but it IS "black moons". Geez...lol)

“Dreams” covered by The Kills. Not a cover I would seek out in the future. Forced power, but true earnestness.

“Gypsy” covered by Gardens and Villa. Boring and trite cover of an incredible song.

“Tusk” covered by The Crystal Ark. This cover doesn’t make me as angry as Rhiannon, but come on...how can you take such a dynamic song and make it so incredibly boring? Where’s the power? Where’s the emotion? Instead it’s all electronic beeps and boops and some drummers who are bored even before their section starts.

“Hold Me” covered by Haïm. An okay cover, more paint-by-numbers, but there’s a section I really like, I think it’s the rhythm guitar that’s playing under the solo and then the picking part that comes before the series of choruses that finish out the song (for those who have this album and are keeping score, anyway.)

“Green Manalishi” covered by The Entrance Band. An original Mac song that I’m kind of familiar with and a remake that’s just sort of meh.

A passel of great news!!

It's been a while, but I've got quite a bit of good news to share! First, the biggest news... When I feel that something is worth my time, I become dedicated to that thing. It doesn't replace any current passions, it tends to add to them. In this case, that thing would be the Viscera Organization, a non-profit based out of L.A. that works to support and encourage female genre filmmakers. Among their services is the Viscera Film Festival which has a carpet ceremony every July and then the current's year's selections go out on tour around the world. My film aftershock is one of the films in the library, as an official selection of the 2011 Carpet Ceremony and Tour.

I started working for them in April as the assistant to James Morgart, the guy who's in charge of the tour (his official title is now Director of Media and Distribution.) In July, after an offhand, but sincere, series of remarks, a lot of contemplation, and quite a bit of discussion, it was proposed that I take on a different task...that of the Director of Operations for the L.A. Carpet Ceremony. According to the list of duties, I'm essentially in charge of the weekend festivities for the Viscera Film Festival. It's a bit daunting, but I'm up for it!

Viscera is very important to me. For years, I've felt alone as a woman who directs horror films. On the rare occasion that I met other female filmmakers (before Viscera, that is) they tended to be snobbish and catty. I don't see the point in that kind of attitude. It's boring. And I expected the same treatment when I got to the carpet ceremony last year. While there are certainly those who think they're better than the rest of us (there always are), the majority of women I've met thanks to Viscera have been people I'm so happy to have met, some of whom I now call friends. I'm so happy and so honoured to be a part of something as meaningful as Viscera!

By the way, we're looking for volunteer staff members! If you want to help out an amazing film-oriented non-profit, head over to the contact page, look at the staff PDF and send us an email!



On the film side, Stella Buio has gotten its first two festival acceptances!! The lovely Miguel Rodriguez of the Horrible Imaginings Film Festival, who played my film JustUs last year, has accepted Stella Buio into their line-up and I've since learned that fellow Viscera staff member Maude Michaud's film Red and my soul-sister-in-horror Karen Lam's film The Stolen will also be playing there this year! This festival takes place November 10 and 11.

Stella Buio has also been accepted to the Buffalo Screams Horror Film Festival in Buffalo, New York! This festival takes place October 17-21.

But JustUs isn't dead...it was just accepted to the ShockerFest Horror Film Festival in Modesto, California! ShockerFest has morphed into a local access television film festival and JustUs will be screened on October 14 on KAZV-TV, channel 195 / broadcast channel 14.

And, finally...I GET TO SEE STEVIE NICKS IN CONCERT IN A FEW DAYS! That's not really career related, but whatever...

Travel...

I share the following story to share the humour part, not the complainy part because, when you think about it, it really is funny. Believe me, I know full well that these are First World Problems. That said...

I’ve traveled a lot in the past few years. It was mainly for film festivals, but I always had an ulteriour motive: find a new place to live. Some place where everyone isn’t so bloody angry all the time, that won’t bog me down with phonies and “filmmakers” and fish who think they’re bigger than they are and take their egos out on everyone else. Also, con men seem particularly prevalent in Sarasota. Either that or my cute dimples, boobs, and bubbly enthusiasm for filmmaking and films in general make them think I’m an easy target. 

I usually head out to Washington in September and had made plans to do so a little early so I could attend PAX Prime, a gaming convention in Seattle, and stay a little later so I could look at potential places to live around Portland. I made these plans a month or so ago. But because I have other plans after Washington state, my route is circumlocutious so I had to get one way tickets all the way through (which turned out to be a stroke of luck). 

Last week, Hurricane Isaac formed and the track took it across Tampa (Sarasota is an hour south) so I had to make a decision: try to arrange to go early or wait it out and see if the track changes.

You have to take between two and three planes when you’re flying within the contiguous United States and flying out of Sarasota. Their landing fees are so high that they’ve lost a lot of airlines and, at most, ten flights leave from there a day. So, considering all of this, I decided to call Expedia and see what my options were.

After an hour of “traveling music” (‘Hotel California’ ‘Driving in a Fast Car’, etc), I finally get someone on the phone and they told me that according to Delta’s policy, they could cancel my ticket and give me airline credit (my one way ticket was $180 with fees and all that.) Then, the next time I book a one way ticket, I could put that $180 toward the flight, pay the remainder and then pay $150 on top of that for “ticket reissue.” That’s probably not bad for a normal round trip ticket on Delta, but on a “cheap” one-way? 

My second option, the ticket change, would be to put that $180 toward a new one-way ticket. Sounds reasonable, until he told me that the new ticket would be $700.

It wasn’t the agent’s fault, he worked for Expedia not Delta, so I didn’t tell him to blow me.

I called Delta and got the exact same answers, but the new ticket was $800. I didn’t tell them to blow me, either. The person on the phone doesn't deserve my ire. I did come close, though.

At that point, I’d decided to wait it out and see what was going to happen, but my mom...she’s a worrier. And she suggested that I go ahead and get the ticket because if I didn’t, I most likely wouldn’t be able to go. And all of the weather models suggested the same thing. So I bought a ticket out via US Airways for Sunday.

The plane from Sarasota was running a little late. It was starting to rain and the wind had picked up a little bit and I was thinking, “Y’know, this was a good idea.” We got to DC a little early, but then the plane I was to take next, to Philadelphia, was late. And then, once they finally landed and we could board, they kept us sitting on the tarmac for an hour or so until a teeny-tiny storm system could pass by, which of course meant that we all missed our connections and were stuck in Philadelphia when we eventually arrived.

US Airways fixed us up with new tickets, but didn’t give us hotel rooms. They gave us a little pink slip that we could call to get cheap hotel rooms and free shuttle service. I guess I’m a snob because I didn’t want to stay in a crackshack so I went to the hotel that’s attached to the airport and stayed there instead.

My flight route now runs like this: I leave Philly for Charlotte at 5:00 pm and then I leave for Portland at 8:05.

The best part? I called my mom this morning and all’s well. There are a lot of hurricane parties going on today. New Orleans is now in the path of the storm...yet again. New Orleans needs some of Florida’s luck...and I want to leave even more now. We’re due a big storm and I’d like to be safe in the shadow of Mount St. Helens before that happens (my first time in Portland, Mount St. Helens erupted for the first time in two decades.)

The moral of the story? If I lived in Portland, I'd be home already...

*edit to add* Just got a weather update from the Mommy Channel: it's still all stormy and bad down in Florida, just not hurricane level in intensity.

Stella Buio finished and already garnering some reviews!

It's been a crazy time since coming back from Comic Con, but I finished the new short last week and have started sending it out to festivals and for review (see the trailer above.) Now it's the waiting game as more festivals announce calls for entry (I missed a few really big festival deadlines that I wanted to hit, but I'll send them the flick next year) and wait for the ones I have submitted to to get back to me.

The film has already garnered two reviews, one review ("Lori Bowen's Stella Buio Pays Homage to the Good Ol' Days") came from Justin Hamelin of Mangled Matters and the newly-renamed women in horror blog Cup of Stars. The other comes from the tall and goddessly Heidi Honeycutt of Planet Etheria (Stella Buio (2012)). It has to be noted that Heidi is a friend of mine and I hearts her dearly. Yes, her cheque is in the mail.

(edited at 7:13 pm EST to add a new review by Char Hardin at Char Hardin Horror Reviews  -- Unfortunately, it looks like a staple of Italian horror cinema, the Strangely Passive Victim, is going to be a sticking point for people...)

In the meanwhile, I can (and will!) share the preliminary artwork for the poster! Bonni Reid has painted (PAINTED) an astounding piece for us. She's currently working on one more element of the image so this isn't complete, plus the typeface will change and the credits will need to be added, but holy crapamoly!! It's GORGEOUS!

My plan with this short is much like the plan I had for JustUs except I don't have to contend with the (very reasonable) constraints of any union when it comes to putting the short on DVD. I won't be putting it on the internet publicly for a year to give the festivals a chance of running it without worrying about it being freely available.

Speaking of JustUs, I recently released that short film to the public, for free, via Vimeo! Click here to go watch it!

That's all the news that's currently fit-to-print! Be safe and be good to each other!

San Diego Comic Con 2012

I shouldn’t have to post this warning, but this post contains language that may hurt delicate sensibilities. If it does, what in the hell are you doing reading the blog of a horror filmmaker?


For photos from my trip, head on over to my Flickr account! http://www.flickr.com/photos/kimyoo_films/

Anyway, you always read about how crazy San Diego’s Comic Con is, but it doesn’t really sink in properly unless you’ve lived it. I was there from at least 8 am until 9 pm every day from preview night until Sunday close. I definitely lived it.

But first, let’s start with my initial couple of days in San Diego. You may have noticed that I’m careful about using names in my posts about certain adventures I’ve had and certainly try to not name the people I’ve stayed with. I even avoid telling people where I’m staying when I’m in L.A. because safety is paramount and I don’t want to be the unwitting cause of some stupid, pointless drama or to have people suddenly start talking to me because I know this person or that person (I’m more familiar with this than you might think.)

My kind San Diego host was nice enough to give me a lift to Balboa Park early on Monday morning, a beautiful, huge area smack dab in the middle of the city that houses pretty much every single museum San Diego has to offer including the San Diego Zoo, which was my main goal for the day. I walked around just taking in the architecture and the biological house (where they have a lot of exotic flowers like the Venus fly trap!) and then headed over to the Zoo where I promptly got a sunburn.

A slideshow of my San Diego (not including Comic Con) photos, with some L.A. thrown in there for good measure.

On Tuesday, I ventured into downtown San Diego just to get a feel for where I would be spending the next five days of my life and walked along the bay via the Embarcadero Marina and Seaside Village. The weather was absolutely gorgeous the entire time and, of course, I managed to make my sunburn worse, but I saw a wild seal (who needs Sea World?!) and the Midway (what a huge boat!) and then my host and I went out to the Hotel del Coronado where they filmed Some Like It Hot and had dinner, then went back to the house to prepare for the next day. Preview Night.

Wednesday is Preview Night at Comic Con. What that means is that they let you in to the exhibitor floor around 6, I believe it was, and you can start spending your money early and then, alter on, you can watch some special screenings of new genre pilots. Since I’d already planned my weekend (HA!), I decided to do my shopping on Preview Night, well aware that sometimes you can get better deals on Sunday. I’m a t-shirt person and got a Carrie Fisher Wishful Drinking tour shirt, a Miskatonic University shirt, and a Facehug shirt (a parody of Facebook with a facehugger. :D)

It was fairly well packed on Wednesday night, but I kept telling myself, “You ain’t seen nothing yet.” And I hadn’t.

Afterwards I went to a screening of Street Fighter hosted by Miguel Rodriguez of Horrible Imaginings for GamerCon. I, perhaps not surprisingly, hadn’t seen Street Fighter before. I don’t think I’ll see it again, even if the late Raul Julia was so good in it.

Wednesday and Thursday, I did what I call calorie packing. I ate more than I usually do and had actual ice cream (god, it was delicious, too). I got the idea from marathon runners because I figured that I wouldn’t really have a chance to eat during the con. I was right. Other than whatever breakfast bars I brought in with me (which, let’s be honest, are like Lembas bread...they might fill you up for a hot minute, but don’t taste like much), I didn’t eat at Comic Con and usually afterwards, I was too tired to get something to eat. I feel like I lost weight, but the scale’s all like “Nope.”

Thursday was the true start of Comic Con. I managed to just barely make it into a couple of panels, but even though I left one early, I didn’t make it to the screening of my friend Karen Lam’s film Doll Parts. This made me a sad panda. Not making it to things became common throughout the con. How in the hell do people make it to all of the panels they want to see? Oh yeah, they camp outside the night be-fuckin’-fore.

Really?

Yes, really.

And they stay through panels they don’t care about, pretty much guaranteeing that those who want to see that panel don’t get to.

Obviously, I’m really annoyed by the way Comic Con handles the panels and am going to sum up Thursday like this: I got to see the Disney panel and Jackie Chan in Hall H by sheer luck. The rest of the panels were in smaller rooms and no one really cared about them enough to line up for days in advance.

Friday, though...Friday was going to be a big day. The Firefly and Walking Dead panels were that day as well as the Resident Evil movie and Looper/Elysium/Total Recall panels. Firefly was in Ballroom 20 which is a big room, but not Hall H size. I got in line for that, but first i had to find the end of the line...which was all the way down by the bay. Eventually, volunteers came out and told us that where we were in line meant that we probably wouldn’t get in. I was fine with waiting to see until they came out and told us to sit down. For whatever reason, that got my hackles up and I left the line, wandered for a moment, then got in line for Hall H. It was still early so I hoped that maybe I could get into the Walking Dead panel at 1:30 I think it was, even though that line wrapped around a large sidewalk by the bay...twice.

I got into line around 9 am, I believe. I didn’t get into Hall H until the 3 or 4 pm Resident Evil panel and even then, I almost didn’t make it for that.

What.

the.

fuck.

I’d thought ahead and put a couple of movies on my iPod, including a great flick called The Cellar Door. It starts out a bit slow (I’m sorry, but motherfucker kidnaps me for some weird fetish thing and I get a chance to escape, I’m not going to just knock him out and run. He’ll Always Be There if I do that. No, no, I’ma make sure he can’t follow me, y’dig?), but the film picks up in the second act or so and doesn’t relent. Most of that intensity is thanks to lead Michelle Tomlinson and how well she plays off the antagonist.

I survived a six hours wait in line to see these panels. Now that it’s over, I can say it was kind of worth it, but I would not do it again unless I had friends who were willing to stand with me. Because Comic Con apparently refuses to figure out a better method (reserved or ticketed seating, separate lines, clearing the fucking rooms in-between panels), they’ve made standing in line a team sport. You need at least two people so that one can go to the bathroom or make a Starbucks run and the other can hold the fort. All of the friends I had at Comic Con were WORKING the convention either as press or in a booth.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m used to being by myself and doing a lot of things by myself. When I was a kid, I was once yelled at by my brother’s then-girlfriend because I said that I wanted to go bowling with them and for a long time afterward, I just waited for invitations to hang out. Eventually, I decided that I wasn’t going to wait anymore and started to invite myself. My conversations with me often go like this:

“Hmm...I want butterbeer.” -- “Do you have money to go to Universal?” -- “I have an annual pass.” -- “Let’s go!” -- “WHEE BUTTERBEER!”

In case you can’t tell, I’m pretty socially awkward. Thankfully, I understand that.

Shit, now I want some butterbeer and my annual pass has lapsed.

Anyway, after wasting most of my day in a fucking line, I escaped and went to things that didn’t really have lines and the next day, Saturday, where the big panel I wanted to see was Django Unchained, I skipped out on lines almost entirely and hung out with a couple of friends who came down from L.A. I missed out on Django, Mythbusters, and Carrie Fisher, but hanging with people I like, even in a madhouse such as this, was far better. When they left, I caught the Tromatize Me panel about branding yourself / your work and that was pretty much it.

Sunday, I headed in and went right to the dealer room for try and snag some free stuff. Because I wasted my time in line on Friday and didn’t want to waste my time on Saturday, I missed out on the swag, but Sunday I was able to grab some free stuff and I got a good deal from the Famous Monsters of Filmland booth that had a buy-one-get-one-free deal on their shirts and hoodies.

I had a couple of panels I wanted to get into that day and I managed to get into two out of three of them. I missed the Drew Struzan panel, though. Ah well. Since I missed that, I ended up going to the Sega pop-up arcade and playing Aliens: Colonial Marines and then went over to the Nintendo lounge and played the new Castlevania 3DS game. I was disappointed in their 3D, though. Either it needs work or they need to take that handset off the display.

After that, I went back to where I was staying, hung out for a bit, then passed out for I was leaving very late the next day and wanted to be all fresh.

The next day was a Monday, the start of a new week. I popped back downtown to check out what I didn’t get to see while there during the event, got some food, and then went back to make sure I had everything packed up and ready to go for my trip home. 

I left San Diego International Airport at seven pm and got home around 11 the next morning. That was rough.

So there you have it. I survived Comic Con. If I ever have a film that makes people stand in line like that at a con, I’m going to make sure they’re taken care of. I’m going to have volunteers take them bottles of water and Lembas bread and maybe even line-exclusive swag because the way Comic Con handles it is bullshit.

As far as costumes go, I saw a lot, but very few really stood out. I saw a lot of men in drag, like male Slave Leias and a male Catwoman, even a male Princess Peach. Lots of Doctor Whos (not Doctor Whose) of varying gender associations as well as a couple of Hot TARDISes and Hot Daleks.I don't have a whole lot of costume pictures, though. Most of the time, I really just wanted to get to the point B...

Would I do this again? Sure! But I'd hope for a panel or friends to be with me.

The guts of the story in all of it's bloody glory; Viscera 2012

Alright so I’m back from my trip to California which spanned not only L.A. for this year’s Viscera Film Festival, but also San Diego for the San Diego Comic Con. Chronologically, Viscera was first so that’s what this post is about.

THURSDAY, JULY 5, 2012:

I got in to L.A. in the afternoon and pretty much got right to work, heading first to drop off my bags at my kind host’s house then heading in to the Egyptian for the volunteer meeting. I didn’t have a film in this year’s festival, but that’s not going to stop me from coming out and supporting my fellow filmmakers! Since I was going to be there regardless, they asked me to shoot the weekend. 

I shot their Marrow event in February and learned a lot about live event sound -- remember, I shoot my brother’s band, but either don’t worry about sound or have my Zoom set up to capture it separately. For Marrow, I used my wireless lavalieres, thinking hey, they’re small, will travel well, and are really excellent. While all of that is true, lavs aren’t good for events involving lots of people speaking very loudly in enclosed spaces. Since I would have to check a bag for the week and a half I was in California, I packed my boom mic in that so I could take it with me, a HUGE improvement in the sound area.

In an attempt to be more like my brother, who had an accident while on a hike in Peru (sounds so exotic!), within an hour of arriving at the Egyptian, I...heh...fell and sprained my ankle. Spectacularly. I did this last weekend and I still have bruises and my ankle is still very sore (but I also limped my ass through all of Comic Con...) It was no one’s fault. I was hoping to get an interesting angle and knew where I was stepping, but my ankle decided that it didn’t want to go down that step and let me know...violently and painfully.

I would be standing still for most of the shoot anyway, so to me, there’s no real point in complaining about it so long as I could get my kind host to stop by a pharmacy before we went back home so I could get a wrap. I just had to knock my posture out of whack for a while as I supported my weight on my left leg. No biggie.

The rest of the volunteer meeting went well and I got to hang out with a couple of friends afterwards for a bit before the HOLY SHIT started. Then, we went and got me a wrap for my ankle and went to sleep. 

FRIDAY, JULY 6, 2012:

Friday was only jam-packed in that I’d made plans to spend some time with a very good friend of mine and then had to get back to the house and get ready for the MoHA dinner. My friend and I walked Lake Hollywood -- yes, with my sprained ankle...I don’t get to see this person very often and I’d never been to Lake Hollywood. Thank goodness for Tylenol through my entire stay! -- and then we had a great lunch at Aroma Cafe. 

When we walked up, there was a gentleman sitting by the entryway to the cafe. I instantly recognized him; it was Johnny Dark who is most famous -- to me anyway -- as Danny the owner of Danny’s Pizzaria in Just the Ten of Us. However, he was also in the surprisingly good Up Your Alley, a romantic comedy starring Linda Blair and the formerly Unknown Comic, Murray Langston (I used to be a huge Linda Blair fan.)

Part of me really wanted to go up to him and just say thank you, but the rest of me, the part that didn’t want to bother him, won out and I didn’t. This is a common motif for me...

After lunch, I made my way back to where I was staying and got ready for the MoHA Dinner. What is this MoHA dinner I’m talking about? It’s a gathering for the Mistresses of Horror Alliance, a new branch of Viscera headed by the fabulous Miss Maude Michaud. Where Viscera seeks to promote and encourage female filmmakers externally, MoHA seeks to connect those filmmakers with each other to encourage collaboration amongst our ranks. This is all a part of the message of Viscera, that we’re better working together like the organs of the human body (y’know...viscera.)

The MoHA dinner was at the Caña Rum Bar, a posh, exclusive, members-only joint in downtown L.A., and was catered by Anarkitchen. It was freakin’ awesome! I couldn’t film all of it, the lighting was pretty bad once the sun went down, but trust me when I say that it was a fabulous event.

After the MoHA dinner, it was time to get some rest for the next day was V-day, baby.

SATURDAY, JULY 7, 2012:

Up and at ‘em fairly early for it was The Big Day, the film festival at the Egyptian. Holy crap, you guys. You don’t understand. It’s the Egyptian. It’s one of the Holy Grails of film, one of the most famous and historic landmark theatres in the United States if not the world and they were allowing Viscera to be there. Not only that, but they welcomed Viscera with open arms into their gorgeous building and courtyard.

The carpet was rolled out down the middle of the courtyard leading to the front doors of the theatre. Blood spatters were still being added when we got there around 12:30 pm. The step and repeat banner and carpet were already set up and the lighting guy was putting up his lights, the raffle table was being loaded, and the MoHA table was raring to go. I was there a couple of hours early so I started getting B-roll almost immediately (B-roll is “extra” footage that will be intercut with, say, an interview or cut together to go under a voice-over.)

I loved shooting at the Egyptian, but I could’ve done without the curious stares from the Hollywood tourists. I stayed inside the courtyard most of the time, but I knew the sun would provide some interesting lighting to the Egyptian signs and eventually had to go out to the sidewalk for footage. I got some great shots, though, and at least the tourists weren’t so boggled by Something Going On that they tried to bug me about it. I did feel like paparazzi at one point when I was waiting for something out on the sidewalk. I’m the worst paparazzi, though.

I loved shooting the event and have to give a special shout out to the woman who did the actual interviewing part for me, Savannah Schoenecker. She did a great job!

There was a slight set-back in that the step-and-repeat set up had to be moved to another part of the courtyard due to a tiny oversight, but we still ended up finishing the carpet ceremony on time, if not a little early, and ushered everyone inside where the real fun was to take place!

During this time, I discovered that had one battery with full power whereas I had planned it so that I would have at least two. I shot director Mary Lambert receiving the Inspiration Award and the rest of the introduction, but because of the battery woes, I got to see some of the films as I needed to keep the one full battery for the intermission B-roll, the raffle table during the intermission as people came to claim their goodies, the formal MoHA announcement, and the awards / Q&A as the other batteries charged, painfully slowly, in the VIP section.

I loved pretty much every film I got to see this year. Some of the stand-outs for me were The Dump (about two serial killers who find themselves in an awkward position whilst trying to dispose of their victims), Escape from Hellview (a beautiful animated piece out of Israel), How to Rid Your Lover of a Negative Emotion Caused by You (which was about accepting each other warts and all), and Barbie Girls (about friendship and obsession.)

After the screening was the presentation of the awards and, I’ll be honest, I can’t remember who won what. I know that Rebekka McKendry won something for The Dump (best director?), and that Bloodtraffick won (I think that was best cinematography), and The Night Caller won and I think that was for best film. I feel crappy for not being able to remember, but my footage is on my laptop and my laptop is in my room and my room is waaaaaaay over there and my foot is stiff and sore waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. /whine

Afterwards, we all headed over to Hotel Roosevelt for the afterparty. I shot a little bit there, but bars keep things dark for a reason. It was a great time talking to friends and seeing other friends who, for whatever terrible horrible no good reason, couldn’t make it to the main event. A few of us headed out a little early and got some rest for the next day was the brunch!

SUNDAY, JULY 8, 2012:

The first official Viscera Post-Apocalyptic Brunch was held at the Wirsthaus, a German bar and restaurant. Delicious Bavarian pretzels for brunch? Yes, please. (They really were flippin’ awesome.) I was a little loopy and tired, not unlike my compatriots, but all in all it was a great day! After that, I climbed into the car of my next kind host for the trip to San Diego and my first Comic Con experience, but in the immortal words of the voice over at the end of The NeverEnding Story, that's another story.

Now that I’m at the end of my post, and you, dear reader, have made it this far, I want to send a special thank you to Shannon Lark, Heidi Honeycutt, and Stacy Hammon, the triforce of awesome behind the Viscera organization. My love and my loyalty are not easily won and these ladies have mine in spades. Thank you Shannon, Stacy, and Heidi for proving to me that I’m not alone and that there are others out there who want to nurture and support other filmmakers, too. Now, I just need to get the hell out of Florida (but not move to L.A. I want to live in Portland, Oregon.)