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Last month, I brought you details and clips from writer/producer/director Shawna Baca‘s (Isabel, The Lesson) ambitious project combining Wushu martial arts, sci-fi and mythology entitled, Ascended Masters. The short film is based on a feature screenplay trilogy currently in development and stars Wushu World Champions Don Hyun Kiolbassa and Ernesto Matamoros, and features actress Kikey Castillo (The Broken Hearts Club, Maddoggin’).

Shawna has put together concept art, storyboards, animatics, stunt choreography, visual effects tests and put a creative team, including co-producers Kaz Kipp and Aaron Sanchez, director of photography Michael Dallatorre (Ghild), VFX supervisor Timothy Cairns, and editor Carey Williams to help her complete her vision.

Now, thanks to producer Kaz Kipp, we’ve got our hands on a visual effects test for a battle in the film, along with an interview with director Shawna Baca, where she speaks about why she wants to put this project together.

We receive a lot of requests to check out people’s independent sci-fi/fantasy projects, some are good, some are great, and some… well, not so much. When we actually do get a look at something that seems just phenomenal, we have to tell you about it. Enter Ascended Masters. Writer/Producer/Director Shawna Baca (Isabel, The Lesson), who was the only person of American Latin descent out of 12,000 filmmakers to be selected for Fox’s Reality show On The Lot, by executive producers Steven Spielberg and Mark Burnett is putting together one hell of an ambitious project that combines Wushu martial arts, sci-fi and mythology.

Ascended Masters is a short film based on a feature screenplay trilogy currently in development and stars Wushu World Champions Don Hyun Kiolbassa and Ernesto Matamoros, and features actress Kikey Castillo (The Broken Hearts Club, Maddoggin’). Shawna has put together concept art, storyboards, animatics,...

Pablo Proenza and Erin Ploss-Campoamor of Cut Glass Productions have sold their film Dark Mirror, a feature length supernatural thriller, to IFC Films, which has scheduled a May 6th date for its release on "Movies on Demand" as part of "IFC in Theaters" service. The film stars Lisa Vidal, David Chisum, Christine Lakin and Lupe Ontiveros. Variety said of the film: "tour-de-force performance," "excellent!," "a spin on the genre."

Watch the trailer at -- http://www.vimeo.com/4113686

With a broadcast premiere of May 6th approaching the husband and wife creative team are fanning out next week to bring added fanbase attention to the project. Pablo will be participating on a panel about the film at Fangoria's Weekend Of Horrors (http://tinyurl.com/cg7mjp) at the La Convention Center, while Erin presses the flesh at the National Association of Latino Independent Producer's (Nalip) 10th anniversary conference (http://www.nalip.

Dear Latin HORRORphiles:

I wanted to take a moment and Thank everyone who came out last night and helped make "The HORRORphiles #2 - Scaring up a Revolución" such a Bloody enormous success!! We had a packed house and once again we had an incredible vibe going that's hard to describe. The closest would be: Solidarity. And I'm hoping there's more to read into the kinship than just extremely spiked Bloody Mary mix :)

I also want to thank you all for coming out and putting $6 on the barrelhead during this wacked out economy to support the Anthology Film Archives and the filmmakers whose films we showcased. Please know that those hard-earned $ go a long way in keeping the Anthology up-and-running. It is the Only venue of its kind left in New York and is entirely administered by filmmakers, for filmmakers. I'm honored to have been associated with the screening space for the last 7-years,...

Dear Latin HORRORphiles:

Here is a link to the trailer for Shawna Baca's film, 3:52 (staring America Ferrera), which is showcasing April 4th as part of "The HORRORphiles #2 - Scaring up a Revolución" screenings hosted by Latin Horror at Anthology Film Archives.

We hope you join us on April 4th and support the genre of Latin horror.

http://tinyurl.com/crwbc3

- Latin Horror Team...

Film Independent has selected 40 fellows for Project: Involve, its annual diversity mentorship program.

The participants were announced at a reception at the Eastman Kodak Co. Thursday night.

Project: Involve is dedicated to increasing cultural diversity in the film industry by cultivating the careers of under-represented filmmakers. The program, which runs from Nov. through June, offers a combination of one-on-one mentorships, filmmaking workshops, community screenings and job placement.

Additionally, Project: Involve Fellows receive a complimentary one-year membership to Film Independent.

"We have a remarkable group of filmmakers from culturally diverse backgrounds in this year's Project: Involve," Dawn Hudson, FIND exec director, said. "Project: Involve serves as an effective incubator for diverse voices in the industry and we are proud that this signature program has cultivated the talents and careers of more than 450 filmmakers."

This year's participants are:

Directors Shawna Baca, Anthony Buncio, Fernanda Cardoso, Rahul Das, Dustin Owl Johnson, Masami Kawai, Danny Lee, Hezekiah Lewis, Stacey Marbrey, Judy Marcelline, Jon Maxwell, Mahesh Pailoor and Santiago Tapia.