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March is coming to an end and while Screambox‘s April line-up is absolutely jam-packed – stay tuned! – we’re first ending this month with a bang.

Now streaming on Screambox are several Dark Star Pictures classics, including the completely gonzo Bloody Disgusting collaboration Dementia: Part II, which delivers absurd gross-out humor and nonstop mayhem.

Here are some of the titles in addition to new Screambox arrivals Evil Little Things, Crispy’s Curse, Clownface, Clownado, and the previously released Killer Sofa and FeardotCom.

Achoura

Also called “Children’s Night,” Achoura is a religious celebration. In Morocco, children splash water on each other and gather around a bonfire.

In the film, four friends reconnect when one of them, who disappeared 25 years ago, suddenly comes back into their lives. Together, they will have to confront the terrifying events of their youth and fight a monstrous creature born of a horrible legend.

Patrick Bromley...

Exclusive: Christian Magby (The Flash) has been tapped as a lead opposite Demi Lovato in NBC’s single-camera comedy pilot Hungry, starring and executive produced by Lovato. Hungry comes from Sean Hayes and Todd Milliner’s Hazy Mills, Sb Projects and Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group.

Written and executive produced by Suzanne Martin, Hungry follows a group of friends who belong to a food-issues group helping one another as they look for love, success and the perfect thing in the fridge that’s going to make it all better.

Lovato’s Teddy is a talented food stylist who wants to have a healthy relationship with food and date men who are good for Teddy — but, like so many of us, it’s a struggle.

Magby will play Jared, the support group’s leader and creator. He is fit, positive and at ease with his body – everything everyone...

Valerie Bertinelli is set as a lead opposite Demi Lovato in NBC’s single-camera comedy pilot Hungry, starring and executive produced by Lovato. The casting marks Bertinelli’s first series regular role since her six-season run on TV Land’s hit sitcom Hot In Cleveland. Hungry comes from Sean Hayes and Todd Milliner’s Hazy Mills, Sb Projects and Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group.

Written and executive produced by Suzanne Martin, Hungry follows a group of friends who belong to a food-issues group helping one another as they look for love, success and the perfect thing in the fridge that’s going to make it all better.

Lovato’s Teddy is a talented food stylist who wants to have a healthy relationship with food and date men who are good for her – but, like so many of us – it’s a struggle.

Bertinelli will play Lisa, Teddy...

Valerie Bertinelli is eyeing a return to sitcoms as a series regular in NBC’s Hungry, the Demi Lovato-fronted comedy pilot about a group of friends with food issues, TVLine has learned.

Described as a “warm, loving, self-critical and emotional mess of a woman who has lost and gained the same 30 pounds for 30 years,” Lisa (Bertinelli) considers her daughter Teddy (Lovato) to be her best friend. And as a restaurant owner, “she is constantly thinking about and serving people food.”

More from TVLineMorena Baccarin, Ryan Michelle Bathe to Star in NBC Bank Heist Drama PilotManifest's Season 3 Finale Drops Many Bombshells,...

Exclusive: Anna Akana (Jupiter’s Legacy), Alex Brightman (Beetlejuice), Ashley D. Kelley (Insatiable), Jay Klaitz (FBI) and Rory O’Malley (The Book of Mormon) are set as series regulars in NBC single-camera comedy pilot Hungry, starring and executive produced by Demi Lovato. The project comes from Sean Hayes and Todd Milliner’s Hazy Mills, Sb Projects and Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group.

Written and executive produced by Suzanne Martin, Hungry follows a group of friends who belong to a food-issues group helping one another as they look for love, success and the perfect thing in the fridge that’s going to make it all better.

Akana will play Wednesday, who looks exactly like what she is – a trophy wife. Sustaining that takes a lot of self-control, but she’s so in control that it’s actually out of control, and it’s driving her and her husband crazy.

Brightman’s Cooper is so sweet,...

Disney+ may have endured Covid-caused delays for developing Marvel Cinematic Universe spinoff series like The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, WandaVision and Hawkeye, but the streamer’s supplementary Marvel content is well on its way, as evidenced by two sneak peek previews of upcoming docuseries Marvel’s 616, which drops in September.

With over 80 years’ worth of Marvel history to cover, Marvel’s 616 focuses on the stories behind the stories, showcasing the comic creators themselves and their inspirations. Moreover, it will serve as a showcase that puts the Marvel Universe—both on page and onscreen—into the wider context regarding its effect on the readers and on popular culture in general.

On that note, do check out the two official sneak peek videos for Marvel’s 616.

The first clip hails from Episode 2, “Higher, Further, Faster,” which, directed by Community actress Gillian Jacobs, focuses on the groundbreaking conception of Marvel’s Muslim...

Savage twist on 19th century voyeur tourism.

Timothy O’Brien’s Los Angeles-based sales company Oration Films has signed all-rights deals on Yedidya Gorsetman’s black and white sci-fi thriller Empathy, Inc for Turkey and the UK.

Arrow Films will release the film in the UK in 2020, and the Turkish release will be through Fabula Films.

Empathy Inc tells of Joel, a tech-sector venture capitalist, who is presented with a ground-breaking but morally challenging Vr proposal soon after one of his ventures has collapsed in disgrace.

In a twist on the 19th century’s voyeuristic tourism of mental hospitals and slums,...

Chicago – A film that made its world premiere in Chicago – at the 2018 Cinepocalypse Film Festival – is making its way into the national consciousness. “Empathy, Inc.,” directed by Yedidya “Jed” Gorsetman, has a theatrical run in the first half of September, (including Chicago) before the release with Video-On-Demand on 9/24.

Jed Gorsetman collaborates with screenwriter Mark Leidner for the second time, after they debuted with “Jammed” in 2014. “Empathy, Inc.” came out of their workshopping of ideas, and combines science fiction, ambition and relationships in a skewered black and white world. The tone of the film is dark and funny, as a start-up company called Empathy, Inc. goes a bit farther with their product than anyone can imagine.

‘Empathy, Inc.’ in Theatres and VOD in September

Photo credit: Dark Star Pictures

In the following podtalk with Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com from 2018, director Jed Gorsetman goes into detail on the origins of “Empathy,...

Director Yedidya Gorsetman and scenarist Mark Leidner’s first feature “Jammed” was a well-reviewed (if little-seen) comedy set in the twirlydancing stoner universe of a jam-band festival. Their sophomore effort does an about-face from that rainbow tie-dye milieu to the monochrome severity of a black-and-white neo-noir. But surface aesthetics are hardly the only factor that shifts in “Empathy, Inc.,” a clever indie suspense that draws on fantasy-tinged notions of virtual reality and identity exchange to create an ingenious tale more in the realm of an intimately-scaled thriller than sci-fi. Opening on a single Los Angeles screen on Sept. 6, with more cities added Sept. 13 and VOD launch on the 24th, this arresting tale should not only prove a career leg-up for all involved, it might also attract remake offers.

Venture capitalist Joel (Paul Rudd-looking Zack Robidas) begins the film at a serious low ebb: He’s had to take the fall for a high-profile,...

"Walk a mile in the shoes of the less fortunate, and when you wake up, no matter what problems you have in your real life – feel that much better." Dark Star Pictures has debuted an official trailer for a rad indie sci-fi thriller titled Empathy, Inc., from writer/director Yedidya Gorsetman (of Jammed previously). This first premiered at Cinepocalypse last year, and also played at the Brooklyn Horror Festival, plus Austin and Philadelphia Film Festivals. Empathy, Inc. is about an investor in a Vr startup – using a technology called "Xtreme Virtual Reality" – who discovers that the reality the company provides isn't so virtual. Not entirely original, but a cool idea anyway. Starring Zack Robidas, Kathy Searle, Jay Klaitz, Eric Berryman, Aj Cedeno, Charmaine Reedy, Fenton Lawless, Anthony Mangano, and Karen Lynn Gorney. This has such a nifty, lo-fi look and feel – like Pi or Primer, mashed up together with virtual reality and startups.

Autumn theatrical roll-out planned for Us.

Los Angeles-based Oration Films has bulked up its Cannes slate and acquired international rights to Yedidya Gorsetman’s sci-fi thriller Empathy, Inc, which Dark Star Pictures has picked up for North America.

Oration will launch international sales and festival promotion on the Croisette next week on the story of Joel, a tech venture capitalist presented with a ground-breaking virtual reality proposal shortly after one of his ventures collapses in disgrace.

The proposed technology would allow the wealthy elite to spend time in the shoes of those less fortunate than themselves. As Joel leans more about the Vr,...

Gettin’ The Band Back Together, the rock musical that just opened August 13 at the Belasco Theatre, has set its last performance for Sunday, September 30. It will have played 30 previews and 40 performances. The producers announced the decision Friday.

“It’s not just the money, but when a team of the most creative people you know spends years of their lives working toward a common goal, and it doesn’t turn out the way you all dreamed..it’s heart-crushing,” producer Ken Davenport wrote candidly in a blog post about the decision, which he said made over the past 24 hours.

Davenport said the call was especially tough as he said “surveys of actual Telecharge ticket buyers and got a 98.2% positive rating, and an exceptionally high “Net Promoter Score.” (How likely they are to tell their friends and family to get tickets.),” he said.

Producer Ken Davenport has racked up an impressive collection of Tony Award nominations (and a couple of wins) for shows like “Once on This Island,” “Kinky Boots,” and “Spring Awakening.” But co-writing the book (with improv comedy group the Grundleshotz) for “Gettin’ The Band Back Together,” a musical about a 40-year-old Jersey boy who realizes his dream of starting a rock ‘n’ roll band, was surely a singular labor of love. At a recent preview, Davenport actually got up on stage before the show to tell us so, getting a big laugh by sharing the information that his Barry Manilow high-school tribute band called itself “The Barely Manilows.”

The writer-producer’s affection comes through in the show, which opens, appropriately enough, with a song called “Jersey.” “Perfect beaches and snow-capped hills / It’s like New York but you can pay your bills,” sing the hard-working chorus boys and girls, amusingly...

Chicago – The buzz of the Chicago film week is the 2018 Cinepocalypse Film Festival at the Music Box Theatre. And there is no better excitement than a World Premiere, and director Yedidya “Jed” Gorsetman is doing just that with his new film, “Empathy, Inc.” For complete information about the screening, click here.

World Premiere of Jed Gorsetman’s ‘Empathy, Inc.’ at Cinepocalypse

Photo credit: Rigel Films

Jed Gorsetman is working with screenwriter Mark Leidner for the second time, after they debuted with “Jammed” in 2014. “Empathy, Inc.” came out of their workshopping of ideas, and combines science fiction, ambition and relationships in a skewered black and white world. The tone of the film is dark and funny, as a start-up company called Empathy, Inc. goes a bit farther with their product than anyone can imagine.

In the following podtalk with Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com, director Jed Gorsetman goes into detail on the origins of “Empathy,...

Coming courtesy of a Bloody Disgusting exclusive, the first trailer has premiered for Yedidya Gorsetman's micro-budget techno-thriller, Empathy, Inc., which will have its World Premiere at Cinepocalypse on June 24, 2018. The film, which was shot in and around new York on a shoestring budget, follows an investor in a Vr startup who discovers that the reality the company provides may not be as virtual as advertised. Starring Zack Robidas, Kathy Searle, Eric Berryman, and Jay Klaitz, it features a wonderfully unique, black and white aesthetic that feels nostalgic and haunting all at once. Empathy, Inc. is the second film from Yedidya Gorsetman, writer Mark Leidner, and producer Josh Itzkowitz. Check out the trailer below:...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

"What happens when you secretly pay someone to romance your Mom?" Freestyle Media has debuted an official trailer for a cute New York-set indie romantic comedy titled Born Guilty, from writer/director Max Heller. The ensemble comedy is about a mother and her son, both intervening in their lives a bit too much. Acclaimed actress Rosanna Arquette stars as a "lonely and frazzled New York social worker." Her son is played by Jay Devore, and he decides to setup his free-spirited Australian friend Rawl, as played by David Coussins, with his mother - all the while trying to balance his own relationship, too. The cast includes Keesha Sharp, Anna Lore, Jay Klaitz, John Lavelle, and Xander Berkeley. This looks pretty bad, but have a look anyway. Here's the official trailer (+ poster) for Max Heller's Born Guilty, direct from YouTube: Born Guilty is the story of a lonely and frazzled...

(Note: This post contains Major spoilers for “Jessica Jones” Season 2. Read on at your own risk!) “Jessica Jones” Season 2 kicks into high gear in its sixth episode, when Jessica’s investigation turns up new information about the shadowy group Igh and what it’s been doing to turn people superpowered. As Jessica (Krysten Ritter) digs into the question of what Igh is and what experiments it has done on people, she learns from a super-person named Robert Coleman, a.k.a. “The Whizzer” (Jay Klaitz), that someone is hunting and killing super folks. It appears to Jessica that someone is trying to cover...

(Note: This post contains mild spoilers for the first two episodes of “Jessica Jones” Season 2.) The Netflix Marvel shows often work its smaller-scale heroes and villains in various roles in the stories of its title characters. In “Jessica Jones” Season 2, a man named Robert Coleman comes to Jessica’s private investigation agency to hire her — and claims to be a superhero himself. It turns out to be true: Robert (Jay Klaitz) is a super-fast hero who tells Jessica (Krysten Ritter) people used to call him “the Whizzer” in school. While Robert doesn’t hang around on the show for very...

Jessica Jones season 2 kicks off with Jessica searching for new cases, and one of the strays that comes to the door is a man called Robert Coleman (Jay Klaitz), who claims to have super-speed (but only when he’s scared), and who goes by the superhero name “The Whizzer.” This being a Marvel show, many are probably wondering if the Whizzer is actually a real superhero from the comics and the answer is yes, of course he is.

Gettin' The Band Back Together has announced that Mitchell Jarvis Rock of Ages, Fiddler on the Roof will lead the company as Mitch Papadopolous, along with Jay Klaitz Lend Me A Tenor, High Fidelity, Paul Whitty Once, The Full Monty, and Sawyer Nunes Matilda, Finding Neverland as Juggernaut band members Bart a math teacher who isn't any good at math, Sully an Irish cop who dreams about being on Broadway, and Ricky a 16-year-old Jewish rapper who makes Vanilla Ice look cool, respectively.

Jay Klaitz Rock of Ages, High Fidelity, Lend me a Tenor is making his Kickstarter debut. The actor stars in a short film called Bender. Imagine waking up after a big night in a park, 10 years in the future. You can find a link to the project here httpkck.st16OiozJ. The campaign has 8 days to reach its goal of 6,000 by September 12th.

0:00-1:45 – Introduction

1:45-4:15 – Our lunch sponsor: Excellent musician Mike Masse, aka Mike the Sound Guy

4:15-17:10 – “Man of Steel” review

17:10-26:50 – “This Is the End” review

26:50-33:30 – “Before Midnight” review

33:30-39:00 – “The East” review

39:00-46:20 – Qotw (which movie’s cast of characters you’d want to be with when the Apocalypse happens); ending with an impromptu Pitch Me, kind of

46:20-48:00 – No show next week! Jeff is traveling

48:00-1:04:40 – The stars of “The History of Future Folk,” Nils D’Aulaire and Jay Klaitz, ending with a song

1:04:40-1:07:25 – Wrap-up and goodbyes

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This year, we're seeing a lot of movies in which the fate of the Earth is threatened, but we're willing to bet that none of them feature bluegrass music and a guy from Twisted Sister. Yes, those are just two elements in the delightfully bizarre "The History Of Future Folk," the debut feature film from co-directors Jeremy Kipp Walker and John Mitchell.Starring Nils D’Aulaire, Jay Klaitz, Julie Ann Emery, April Hernandez and Dee Snider (yes, that Dee Snider), the film tells the bonkers story of General Trius aka Bill, sent from the planet Hondo to take over Earth when their home is threatened by a comet. Once here, he becomes enchanted by the strange human concoction called "music," and decides to stay, settle down and start a family. But that existence is interrupted when Hondo sends the assassin Kevin to get the take-over-Earth mission back on track, but...

Check out a new clip from Variance Films' The History of Future Folk comedy sci-fi/music pic directed by J. Anderson Mitchell and Jeremy Kipp Walker, which opened May 31st. The film stars Nils D’Aulaire, Jay Klaitz, Julie Ann Emery, April Hernandez, and Dee Snider. The clip called "Once Upon a Time" opens with a persistent little girl who wants a story before she gets in bed, with dad saying "Alright, once upon a time, on a planet called Hondo, there was a little boy anmed Trius. Everyone in Hondo was scared because there was a Ginormous comet in space, heading right for their planet."...

For a movie about a pair of aliens who crash-land in Brooklyn and start a folk band, the debut feature by J. Anderson Mitchell and Jeremy Kipp Walker, demands a comparatively small suspension of disbelief. Nils d'Aulaire and Jay Klaitz, who play officials of varying rank from the planet Hondo, are English-speaking, human-looking extraterrestrials set apart only by their repurposed bucket helmets. (Their superpowers are fuzzy at best.) D'Aulaire's General Trius, aka "Bill," so enamored by music on Earth, has settled down and started a family, working as a humble groundskeeper at a museum and moonlighting as a spaceman-themed club act that is, of course, only partly tongue-in-cheek. Rather than some high-tech space station, his secret command post is a cut-and-paste job operating out of ...

Bill (Nils d'Aulaire) is a musician who plays solo gigs dressed as an alien from the planet Hondo. That aside, Bill's life appears pretty standard (a wife, a kid, a job) until Kevin (Jay Klaitz) crash-lands in his spaceship...from the planet Hondo. Kevin has been sent to Earth to locate General Trius, who is actually Bill, because Bill is really from the planet Hondo too. Bill was initially sent to exterminate Earth's inhabitants because Hondo and its people are on a collision course with a comet and need a new home. But here on Earth, Bill has discovered music, an art form that does not exist on Hondo; Bill spared the earthlings and is living happily among them, but Kevin is determined to follow through with the plan. And so it continues with lots of alien tomfoolery, good guys, bad guys, and some really great music from our Hondonians,...

No, we're not high. This is actually a movie about a folk music duo, aliens, action and romance. The History of Future Folk is an indie about two aliens (Nils d'Aulaire, Jay Klaitz) from a planet called Hondo who came to our planet and wipe out civilization, but our music changed their mind. Now with their Devo-inspired look and catchy folk tunes, they're an upstart musical duo just trying to get by on Earth. But the rest of Hondo is still hellbent on taking over Earth, and it's up to this strange team to stop them. This first trailer is funny, charming, and wholly original, and we'll be seeking out the film this summer. Watch! J. Anderson Mitchell & Jeremy Kipp Walker's The History of Future Folk, originally from Apple: The citizens of the planet Hondo have sent General Trius (Nils d'Aulaire) to find a new home on Earth and...

General Trius (Nils d'Aulaire) is from the planet Hondo, doomed to obliteration by an asteroid. He is sent to Earth with a mission: to infect the human race with a deadly virus, thus making way for the Hondonian invasion. But General Trius abandons his mission when he hears music for the first time (the muzak in Costco brings him to a state of ecstasy). Instead of genocide, he opts to become "Bill" and settle down with a wife and kid. He retires his red space suit and bucket helmet, except for an occasional gig at a hipster lounge run by Dee Snyder, where he plays bluegrass banjo and sings about space worm farming. Enter The Mighty Kevin (Jay Klaitz), a Hondonian assassin sent to succeed where General Trius has failed. But Kevin also abandons his mission when Bill captures him and serenades him with sweet music from his banjo. The...

Directors: John Mitchell, Jeremy Kipp Walker Starring: Nils d'Aulaire, Jay Klaitz, Julie Ann Emery, April L. Hernandez, Dee Snider, Onata Aprile J. Anderson Mitchell and Jeremy Kipp Walker’s The History of Future Folk is a clever micro-budget sci-fi homage with with a message that poses the question: "Can['t] we all just get along?" If anything, maybe music will save the Milky Way galaxy from total annihilation, as Bill (Nils d’Aulaire) and Kevin (Jay Klaitz) from Hondo ("Hondo!") fall in love with Earthling music...

After seeing a couple stills in the festival guide, sci-fi comedy The History Of Future Folk immediately became one of my most anticipated films at the 2012 Los Angeles Film Festival. Flight of the Conchords is a natural reference point if you've got two attractive outsiders acting and singing in a more magical Brooklyn than we're all used to, but the similarities pretty much end there. The History Of Future Folk is sweet and charming, a colorful little story about a couple of bluegrass-playing space aliens from the planet Hondo who learn to live and love on Earth.   After The History Of Future Folk's Laff premiere, we spoke with co-director/screenwriter J. Anderson Mitchell, co-director/producer Jeremy Kipp Walker and actor Jay Klaitz (The Mighty...

The lineup of the 2012 Los Angeles Film Festival was announced today, and while there are a lot of impressive entries heading to the West Coast, not many of them are horror films. But there are a few that caught our eye so read on for the details.

This year's Los Angeles Film Festival runs from June 14th-24th; click here for ticket info. Below are the horror and horror-ish sounding films on the fest's slate; visit the official La Film Festival website for the full list.

Vampira and Me – (Director/Producer R. H. Greene) – Before Elvira there was Vampira, the playfully ghoulish host of a local L.A. late night horror movie show who became a national celebrity, then disappeared. This loving, personal portrait reveals the remarkable woman behind the chalk-white mask. ★ World Premiere

P-047 – Thailand (Director/Writer Kongdej Jaturanrasamee Producers Soros Sukhum, Kongdej Jaturanrasamee Cast Parinya Kwamwongwan, Aphichai Trakulphadejkrai) – Part meditation,...

Ken Ludwig's comedy Lend Me A Tenor began previews on Friday March 12 and opened on April 4 at Broadway's Music Box Theatre (239 West 45th Street). It stars Anthony Lapaglia, Tony Shalhoub, Justin Bartha, Brooke Adams, Mary Catherine Garrison, Jennifer Laura Thompson, Jay Klaitz, and Jan Maxwell, and is directed by Stanley Tucci. Broadway Beat and Broadway World were on hand and are pleased to bring you these highlights and interviews with the cast and creative!

Lend Me A Tenor's Justin Bartha stopped by Good Day New York and discussed his role in the show. Ken Ludwig's comedy Lend Me A Tenor began previews on Friday March 12 in preparation for opening night on April 4. at Broadway's Music Box Theatre (239 West 45th Street). It stars Anthony Lapaglia, Tony Shalhoub, Justin Bartha, Brooke Adams, Mary Catherine Garrison, Jennifer Laura Thompson, Jay Klaitz, and Jan Maxwell, and is directed by Stanley Tucci.

Lend Me A Tenor starts previews at the Music Box Theater on March 11 and opens on April 4. Ken Ludwig's hilarious comedy stars Anthony Lapaglia, Tony Shalhoub, Justin Bartha, Brooke Adams, Mary Catherine Garrison, Jennifer Laura Thompson, Jay Klaitz, and Jan Maxwell, and is directed by Stanley Tucci. It will play at the Music Box Theatre (239 West 45th Street). The hilarious cast met the press yesterday and BroadwayWorld.com was there!

Stanley Tucci will direct a Broadway play starring Anthony Lapaglia and Tony Shalhoub. The actor will also direct Brooke Adams, Mary Catherine Garrison, Jennifer Laura Thompson, Jay Klaitz and Jan Maxwell in Lend Me a Tenor. The play is a 1930s comedy about Tito Merelli, a fiery Italian star of world fame who arrived in Cleveland, Ohio, to make his debut but promptly vanished. The show's producers said of the plot:'As Saunders, the show's presenter, conspires to cover for Tito's absence, placate his hot-blooded wife, and distract his most passionate fans, chaos on a truly operatic level ensues.' Tucci has lately starred in Julie & Julia as well as The Devil Wears Prada - both...