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Exclusive: The L.A.-based Screamfest Horror Film Festival has unveiled the first wave lineup for its 24th edition, taking place at the Tcl Chinese Theatre in Hollywood from October 8-17.

Among the films to look out for at this year’s festival are two produced for Hulu by WorthenBrooks (formerly 20th Digital Studio), on which we were first to report: Screamfest alum Brandon Espy’s Mr. Crocket and Justin Harding’s Carved, both of which will premiere on Hulu later this year.

A supernatural horror film starring Jerrika Hinton and Elvis Nolasco, Mr. Crocket follows Summer Beverly (Hinton) as she embarks on a chilling journey to rescue her son from a sinister children’s show host with otherworldly powers. Starring Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Carved is a fun romp centered on a group of survivors trapped in a Halloween village battle with a sentient, vengeful pumpkin.

In addition to Carved,...

Terry Hall, the lead singer of The Specials, has died aged 63, his bandmates said.

Hall, who was also a former member of Fun Boy Three and the Colourfield, died folllowing a brief illness.

The band tweeted: “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing, following a brief illness, of Terry, our beautiful friend, brother and one of the most brilliant singers, songwriters and lyricists this country has ever produced.

“Terry was a wonderful husband and father and one of the kindest, funniest, and most genuine of souls. His music and his performances encapsulated the very essence of life… the joy, the pain, the humour, the fight for justice, but mostly the love.

“He will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved him and leaves behind the gift of his remarkable music and profound humanity. Terry often left the stage at the end of The Specials’ life-affirming shows with three words…...

Exclusive: Alyssa Milano (Brazen), Virginia Madsen (Sideways), Gina Torres (9-1-1: Lone Star) and Milana Vayntrub (This Is Us) have signed on for roles in the feature-length anthology Give Me an A, which links together 15 short films, in response to the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade.

The film currently in post-production will have been completed within two months from the date of Roe’s overturning — which eliminated the longstanding constitutional right to abortion — in an effort to ensure this is a response and not a delayed reaction. The creators, cast and crew have made a significant effort to expedite the process in order to start a conversation with audiences about the importance of bodily autonomy and address the dysfunction of a democracy that is not protecting the needs of a majority of the population. Support from vendors like Keslow, Panavision and The Ebell of Los Angeles has allowed...

With a sea of short films washing up on the shores of YouTube and Vimeo each day, how can filmmakers make their work stand out? One team with a solution is Jake & Will — Will Blank and Jake Bradbury — for whom their 16-episode online short film series Twentieth Century Faux is both a smartly packaged exploration of millennial anxieties as well as a kind of personal filmmaking challenge that connects these two filmmakers back to the essential pleasures of making movies. The shorts run from one to three minutes each, are released weekly, are titled after well-known movies, […]...

With a sea of short films washing up on the shores of YouTube and Vimeo each day, how can filmmakers make their work stand out? One team with a solution is Jake & Will — Will Blank and Jake Bradbury — for whom their 16-episode online short film series Twentieth Century Faux is both a smartly packaged exploration of millennial anxieties as well as a kind of personal filmmaking challenge that connects these two filmmakers back to the essential pleasures of making movies. The shorts run from one to three minutes each, are released weekly, are titled after well-known movies, […]...

"Come on over." Feeling lonely? Need a good laugh? Want to hate text messages even more than you already do? Fire up this short film Girl, Interrupted, a three-minute comedy short directed by Jake & Will (aka Jake Bradbury & Will Blank). This is a pretty basic short with a premise that you'll understand as soon as you start watching. Starring Traci Doering as the "girl". This funny short film is one of the first as part of a new project created by comedians Jake & Will called 20th Century Faux, in which they're making a series of comedy shorts (the way they want) using very limited resources, delivering 16 in total. You can also listen to a behind-the-scenes podcast for this short here. As we've noted before, this goes to show how much fun you can have with pretty much no budget. If you enjoy this, there's plenty more from this team on the way soon.

For their brand new series of cheekily titled short films — all named after already-popular offerings, from “No Country for Old Men” to “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” — filmmakers Will Blank and Jake Bradbury aimed for a truly minimalist approach. Each film was conceived of and made within the space of just one day, all focusing on some uniquely millennial issues.

For both Blank and Bradbury — both lauded short filmmakers with a ton of other projects on their plates: Blank recently made the award-winning short “Limbo,” starring Sam Elliott, and is currently working on the Steven Spielberg-helmed reboot of “Amazing Stories,” while Bradbury has worked with Netflix, Maxim, and CBS — getting back to their indie roots was key.

The result is a project they dubbed 20th Century Faux, featuring a series of shorts that explore modern life and relationships from a variety of perspectives, using topics as diverse as Vr,...