News

More than 70 powerful women from around the Us and the world – including actor Kristin Davis (Sex and the City), former Haitian Prime Minister Michelle Pierre-Louis, Top Chef Masters competitor Mary Sue Milliken and many more – joined international relief and development organization Oxfam America in Washington, DC for a Sisters on the Planet Summit to mark International Women’s Day this week.

Photo: Shiloh Strong / Oxfam

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About three weeks ago, I wrote an article announcing Shadowlocked's involvement in this year's Telluride Horror Show and my role as 'Master Host'. Some of you have been wondering what films will be on tap for those in attendance, and lemme tell ya, there are some real doozies. Whether their horror tastes lie with the moody and atmospheric or with over the top fountains of gore, fright fans will find that the Horror Show has something for everyone this year.

Back by popular demand is the extremely popular horror/comedy Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, one of last year's Horror Show crown jewels returning for a repeat performance. Also on tap is The Tunnel, an Australian horror in the 'found footage' genre. Director Carlo Ledesma and producers Enzo Tedeschi and Julian Harvey will be in attendance. Making their United States debuts are shoot-o-rama The Scarlet Worm and tournament-style gorefest Monster Brawl.

As I made my way into Grímur Hákonarson’s Icelandic comedy ‘Summerland’, I had done so with somewhat mixed expectations. The film itself seemed light in comparison to the sometimes outrageous assortment of films I had seen thus far, and I had been looking forward to a brief reprieve from the sick and twisted. As I sat there waiting for the film to start, I took a look through my program guide, and happened upon the description of a little short known as ‘Dungeon Master’, which was to play with alongside the film. Now usually when I attend festivals like this, I tend to overlook some of the short film gems that oftentimes lay hidden deep inside a festival’s programming, so imagine my surprise when one of my favorite items from the whole festival, turned out to be one of these said shorts.

‘Dungeon Master’ details the story of two ex-nerds,...

Knoxville, we know you're all Volunteer fans there, and things could be better for you. Florida just opened another can of whoop ass on you, and Tennesse's most glorious alum, Peyton Manning, is on the shelf until who knows when. But fear not! I've got good news for you.

The Third Annual Knoxville Horror Film Fest will be kicking off at the Relix Variety Theater on October 22 and carrying on the madness through October 23. And the films we've heard rumored to be screened at this year's festival are so good they'll make you forget how Rainey ran through your defense like they were zombies (and I'm talking about the slow old school shuffling zombies, not the fast Dawn of the Dead remake ones - gotta tighten up that D).

So far we know the outstanding anthology film Chillerama will be headlining Sunday's events. Other confirmed films are Javier Chillon's Decapoda Shock,...

When it comes to selecting which movies you are going to put in your film festival, some organizers are better than others. Judging by the announcement of first wave of films to be screened at the Second Annual Telluride Film Festival in Telluride, Colorado, these guys know their shit!

With a schedule that will boast over 20 features and 20 shorts, this is just the beginning, but I'm impressed already…Chillerama, Helldriver, a killer baseball pitcher film And Tucker and Dale vs Evil. Yeah, I'm impressed.

And not only are you getting a killer film line-up, Telluride itself is amazing! A former silver mining town set in a box canyon in southwest Colorado, it's the perfect Shining-esque, Overlook Hotel setting for a horror film festival. To-Hell-You-Ride, Colorado. Oh yeah!

I know it's a full schedule when the ol' carpel tunnel syndrome starts acting up while I write and format the film list.

The Telluride Horror Show – a 3 day horror film festival in Telluride, Colorado – returns for its second edition on October 14-16, 2011. The first batch of films has been announced, but this is just a teaser so fear not, horror fans! The complete festival program will include 20+ feature films and 20+ shorts. The Telluride Horror Show takes place at the legendary Sheridan Opera House and Nugget Theatre, both located on Telluride’s historic main street.

Feature Films:

Chillerama – Directors: Adam Green, Adam Rifkin, Joe Lynch, Tim Sullivan. It’s the closing night at the last drive-in theater in America and Cecil B. Kaufman has planned the ultimate marathon of lost film prints to unleash upon his faithful cinephile patrons. Four films so rare that they have never been exhibited publicly on American soil until this very night! What could possibly go wrong? With titles like Wadzilla, I Was A Teenage Werebear, The Diary Of Anne Frankenstein,...

The complete list of short films screening at Fantastic Fest has been announced. Unfortunatly as with most short films, there isn’t too much known about many of these. I know Infernal Nuns recieved a lot of praise from various blogs after it screened at Fantasia and Cop Hard is based on the popular web series, but apart from that, I’m pretty much in the dark. What I do know is that sometimes the short films are more rewarding than some features. Remember folks, some of these directors may go on to do some very big things in the near future, so try and check them out. Here is the press release.

Austin, TX-Wednesday, August 24th, 2011- Fantastic Fest is excited to announce the short film lineup for the seventh edition of Fantastic Fest, happening September 22-29 in Austin, Texas. Fantastic Fest loves its short films – they provide a...

Anybody can tell a good tale, spin a quality yarn so to speak, if given an hour and a half. But to accomplish that same feat in 15 minutes or so, now that's doing something. And Fantastic Fest has announced the lineup of 50 films doing just that for this year's program.

The Fantastic Fest shorts will be presented during the festival, which runs September 22-29 in Austin, Texas. With running times as long as thirty minutes and a short as two, and coming from over a dozen countries, the films look as diverse as they will be entertaining. Take a gander at the huge list complied below, and for those of you lucky enough to be in the great state of Texas during the fest, we envy you.

Fantastic Fest 2011 Shorts

All Men Are Called Robert (2011)

U.S. Premiere

Director: Marc-Henri Boulier, France, 6 minutes

A naked, terribly bruised man is running through the woods.

The Dungeon Master

Directed and written by Rider Strong and Shiloh Strong

2011, USA

Shane and his friends immerse themselves in a D&D spectacular, all in the hope of reliving the geeky fun they had back in their younger days, but things go terribly wrong once the dungeon master shows up dressed in a cape. The Dungeon Master, which screened before the closing film at this year’s Fantasia Film Festival, was yet another surprise hit. What’s most striking about this short is that, while poking fun at D&D, which could be considered something of an easy target, the fun-making doesn’t really extend to the game itself. In fact one can argue that given the direction the narrative takes, The Dungeon Master is a fourteen minute fantasy for any kid who was ever bullied back in high school simply for being different. The Dungeon Master is an affectionate spoof,...

San Diego’s annual Comic-Con is mostly known for its major media spectacles, displays and panel discussions by major mainstream Hollywood studios and distributors. Lesser known is the Independent Film Festival that is hosted by and runs concurrently with the larger convention on July 21-24.

The film festival runs in a large meeting room at the Marriott Marquis Hotel and Marina, located right next door to the convention center. Each day kicks off with a “Film School” panel discussion at 10:00 a.m., then packs the late morning, all afternoon and night with independent films from all over the world.

Screenings are blocked by genre, such as Action/Adventure, Sci-Fi, Horror, Animation and Documentary. There’s also an awards presentation on the 24th, with repeat screenings of the winning films.

One of the highlights of this year’s Cci-iff is the screening of Waylon Bacon‘s fantastic and disturbing short film Help Wanted,...

It has been one week since the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival came to a close and I wanted to share with you one last look at my festival experience. Here is the good, the bad & the ugly of Tribeca 2011.

Highlights

There were a lot of great films and moments at this year’s festival. Here are some of my favorites.

Rabies . My favorite film of the festival. Smart, funny, inventive & surprising. A slasher that removes the killer from the start and toys with genre conventions. The Dungon Master . It won best online short, which was well deserved. My favorite short of the festival and one of the best I.ve seen in a long time. Bravo Rider & Shiloh Strong. Janie Jones . This film is like most road trips in that you may know where it is gong but it is the journey that really counts. Sweet, heartwarming, well made and full of great performances.

You can tell how massive and diverse a festival like Tribeca is by the fact that I saw 10 features and a whole bunch of shorts, yet only one film I saw won an award and none received special mention. I want to congratulate Rider & Shiloh Strong for winning best online short for their amazing film, The Dungeon Master. I have been pushing it as my favorite short of the festival and apparently many people agreed with me. Below is the list of all the winners & special mentions. Congratulations to all of them and congrats to everyone who just played at the festival, which is a huge honor by itself.

World Narrative Competition Categories:

The jurors for the 2011 World Narrative Competition were Souleymane Cissé, Scott Glenn, David Gordon Green, Rula Jebreal, Art Linson, Jason Sudeikis and Dianne Wiest.

The Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature . She Monkeys (Apflickorna), directed by Lisa Aschan,...

My favorite short film of the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival was a dark comedy called The Dungeon Master. Apparently it was your favorite as well because it won Best Short from the Tribeca (Online) Film Festival. Earlier this week I had the opportunity to sit down with Rider & Shiloh Strong to talk about the film, which they wrote and directed. I want to thank them for taking the time to speak with me and also for signing some Tribeca program guides, which we are giving away right Here.

Below is a video of our full interview, in which we talk about making the film, Dungeons & Dragons, social media, embarrassing childhood magic shows and more. Enjoy!

Bonus Video

Before the interview, I talked with Rider & Shiloh about a short film I made a few years ago that was also D & D inspired. It shares a similar theme with Dungeon Master but their...

Because I was running late today, I unfortunately had to skip my customary breakfast ice cream. Instead today started right up with an early screening of Grave Encounters by The Vicious Brothers. I was thoroughly surprised by this very fun flick. While I love the found footage genre, I much prefer TV shows like Ghost Hunters to found footage ghost (or demon) films like Paranormal Activity. While there really isn.t anything original in Grave Encounters, the execution really makes it worthwhile.

Following the screening, I made my way to the Doha Film Institute Filmmaker Lounge for an interview with Rider and Shiloh Strong. I was really looking forward to the interview, not just because I grew up watching Boy Meets World religiously but also because I truly loved their short, The Dungeon Master. In fact, in the 30+ minutes that we spoke, we never talked about any of their previous...

If you have been following my coverage from the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival, you already know that Wamg had a chance to sit down with Rider & Shiloh Strong to talk about their new film, The Dungeon Master. I absolutely loved this short and highly recommend you check it out.

To help promote the film, Rider & Shiloh have signed a few Tribeca Film Festival Official Guides for us to give away!

Want to win one plus a postcard for The Dungeon Master?

All you have to do is watch the film for free on the Tribeca Film Festival website and then come back here to let us know what you thought of it. Be sure to leave your comments on the Tff website as well.

Here.s a direct link to the Dungeon Master screening room:

http://www.tribecafilm.com/tribecaonline/streaming-room/dungeon_master-film33955.html

The film is only available until the...

Since Friday, I have been raving to people about Rabies (review here), which is my favorite film of the Tribeca Film Festival so far. I.ve also been telling everyone how it is available to watch for free as part of the festival.s online screening room. Pretty much no one knew what I was talking about. It occurred to me that I should write a post to explain a little bit about Tribeca.s online festival and how you can watch some great indie films for free.

By going to http://www.tribecafilm.com/tribecaonline you can get all the info. Basically you have to sign up for a free Tribeca film account and then reserve a virtual seat for one of the online screenings. Each of the films have set days when they are streaming and you should have 24 hours for each to check in and watch the film on those days.

On Day -1 of the Tribeca Film Festival, we welcomed local participants at our annual New York Filmmakers Party, held in the velvet-couched rooms of the Bowery Hotel. Though we all dodged raindrops to get there, a good time was had by all at the soiree, sponsored by Company 3 and Deluxe Entertainment Services Group, which offer post-production services, specializing in color correction. Company 3 Vice President Jackie Lee explained why they enjoy being a part of Tribeca: 'We host this party to support independent filmmakers in New York, and because New York is such an important market. We just opened Company 3 Di services in 2011, and we're now working on 6-8 independent films, including Drive. We want to help indie filmmakers realize their dreams, and we know this is a tough market in which to make films.' Filmmakers Rider and Shiloh Strong, whose short film The Dungeon Master...

Organisers of the Tribeca Film Festival have announced this year's line-up of 60 short films, 22 of which are world premieres.

The international festival was founded in 2002 by Robert De Niro, producer Jane Rosenthal and real-estate investor Craig Hatkoff to help revitalise Manhattan's Tribeca neighbourhood following the 9/11 terrorist attack.

The 2011 event - presented by founding sponsor American Express - will run from April 20 to May 1. The 60 shorts represent 21 countries, including the UK, and feature stars from around the globe.

In a new development this year, the recipient of the Tff Best Narrative Short award will qualify for consideration in the Short Films category of the Oscars without the standard theatrical run, provided the film otherwise complies with Academy rules.

The short film program, drawn from 2,862 submissions, will be presented in eight thematic programs, which are detailed below.

There is a broad spectrum of styles and storytelling, from zombies taking over Manhattan to the humanitarian effort in Haiti.

The 2011 Tribeca Film Festival on Wednesday announced its lineup of 60 short films, 22 of which are world premieres.

A new wrinkle at this year’s festival is the recipient of the Tff Best Narrative Short award will qualify for consideration in the Short Films category of the annual Academy Awards without the standard theatrical run, provided the film otherwise complies with the Academy rules.

Drawn from 2,862 submissions, the short-film program represents 21 countries, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Haiti, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Scotland, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom and the United States.

The following is a listing of the selected short films in the eight programs in which they will be presented, with descriptions provided by the festival.

2011 Tribeca Film Festival Short Film Program

Off the Grid (Documentary)

Sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll are a few of the topics explored in these thought-provoking short documentaries.

The 2011 Tribeca Film Festival on Wednesday announced its lineup of 60 short films, 22 of which are world premieres.

A new wrinkle at this year’s festival is the recipient of the Tff Best Narrative Short award will qualify for consideration in the Short Films category of the annual Academy Awards without the standard theatrical run, provided the film otherwise complies with the Academy rules.

Drawn from 2,862 submissions, the short-film program represents 21 countries, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Haiti, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Scotland, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom and the United States.

The following is a listing of the selected short films in the eight programs in which they will be presented, with descriptions provided by the festival.

2011 Tribeca Film Festival Short Film Program

Off the Grid (Documentary)

Sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll are a few of the topics explored in these thought-provoking short documentaries.