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"I don't understand your hip hop numbers!" Gravitas Ventures has released a final trailer for indie comedy Appiness, which is arriving on VOD this month. The film is the directorial debut of a Canadian composer-actor-writer named Eli Batalion, who also stars in & produces this in addition to writing & directing. When Eric and Raj, old high school buds, try to build the next great app and become billionaires - they don't. Their app is called "Connect2U" but this seems to be more of a goofy comedy about how making an app isn't such a good idea. Starring Eli Batalion, Varun Saranga, Amber Goldfarb, Mike Paterson, Susan Bain, Kathleen Stavert, and Derek Johns. No surprise, this doesn't seem like it's really worth anyone's time. Here's the final Us trailer (+ intl. trailer / poster) for Eli Batalion's Appiness, from Gravitas' YouTube: When Eric Newman, a shy corporate professional on the cusp of his 30's,...

In the golden age of television, the New York Television Festival is quickly becoming the place to find the next crown jewel. Now in its 12th year, the festival continues to grow each year both in scope and prestige, boasting a record number of submissions, artists, and industry participation.

“It’s taken us a couple of years to get to this point, but we’re hitting our stride at a time where there is great creativity in TV and digital,” said Nytvf Founder and Executive Director Terence Gray, surveying the room bustling with pitch meetings on plush couches. “It’s fun, you see these incredibly talented people that are being given a shot to sit down with agents and managers and executives.”

Read More: ‘Arrested Development’ Creator Mitch Hurwitz’s Pitching Secret: Make ‘Em Laugh

Grey founded Nytvf twelve years ago, shrewdly filling an opening for a Sundance-like festival for independent television creators.

Horror musicals don't come around all that often, but we were treated to one this year by the name of Stage Fright, featuring the likes of Meat Loaf and Minnie Driver. The film's soundtrack is on its way, and we have all the details right here.

Lakeshore Records will release the Stage Fright – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack digitally on August 19th and on CD September 23rd. Stage Fright features performances by Meat Loaf, Minnie Driver, Allie MacDonald, the Metal Killer, and more.

The film’s writer/director Jerome Sable and Eli Batalion composed the music and lyrics for this "Glee" meets The Rocky Horror Picture Show musical comedy, producing a genre-bending score that mixes heavy metal rock with a full orchestral sound. This R-rated horror-musical was produced by Ari Lantos and Jonas Bell Pasht.

Synopsis

Starry-eyed teenager Camilla Swanson (MacDonald) wants to follow in her mother’s footsteps and become a Broadway diva,...

John Carpenter was once among Hollywood’s most prolific filmmakers. But the man who brought us such genre classics as Halloween, The Thing, Escape From New York, and Assault on Precinct 13 has only made one movie in the past 13 years—2010’s psychological thriller The Ward—and hasn’t troubled the box office in a big way since 1998’s James Woods-starring Vampires. (And Carpenter, 66, doesn’t sound like he’s in any rush to get back behind the camera: “I worked really hard for more years than I’d like to count, but now I can pick and choose things,...

Winning my award for “Most Badass 2014 SXSW Midnighters Feature” was a horror musical that took me by complete surprise, blending operatic theatrics and bitchin’ 80s hair metal for a gloriously gory chorus of terror. Stage Fright, created by Jerome Sable and Co-Composer Eli Batalion, is an exquisite throwback to a greater era of horror, but the boys who brought you The Legend Of Beaver Dam also inject a humorous bite worthy of both laughs and screams. I mean, who doesn’t love a sing-along boasting a body count? Wait – don’t answer that. Just let me keep thinking I’m normal.

Drawing comparisons such as “Glee meets Sleepaway Camp” and “The Phantom Of The Opera meets Scream,” I like to think Stage Fright finds a unique, witty blend that goes beyond Glee‘s overly-dramatic sarcasm. Coming out guns blazing, Sable and Batalion hit fans right away with a self-deprecating song...

Every bit of artwork we have seen for the horror musical Stage Fright (review) has been great. Let's hope that trend extends to its Blu-ray and DVD release. Given all the goodies we've gotten already, if we get some ugly eyesore, we shall riot!

Minnie Driver, Meat Loaf, Allie MacDonald, Douglas Smith, Kent Nolan, Brandon Uranowitz, Ephraim Ellis, Melanie Leishman, James McGowan, Steffi Didomenicantonio, Ryan Bobkin, Leanne Miller, and Adrianna Di Liello star.

Look for it on Blu-ray and DVD on July 8, 2014.

Special Features

Commentary The Making of Stage Fright Outtakes Deleted Scenes Interviews: Writer/Director Jerome Sable, Co-Composer Eli Batalion Axs TV: A Look at Stage Fright The Legend of Beaver Dam Short Film Trailer

Synopsis

Starry-eyed teenager Camilla Swanson wants to follow in her mother's footsteps and become a Broadway diva, but she's stuck working in the kitchen of a snobby performing arts camp. Determined to change her destiny,...

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: July 8, 2014

Price: DVD $26.98, Blu-ray $29.98

Studio: Magnolia

Meat Loaf rises to the occasion in Stage Fright.

A snobby musical theater camp is terrorized by a blood-thirsty killer who hates musical theater in the campy horror-musical comedy send-up film Stage Fright starring Meat Loaf (The Rocky Horror Picture Show) and Minnie Driver (Barney’s Version).

Starry-eyed teenager Camilla Swanson (Allie MacDonald) wants to follow in her mother’s footsteps and become a Broadway diva, but she’s stuck working in the kitchen of a snobby performing arts camp. Determined to change her destiny, she sneaks in to audition for the summer showcase and lands a lead role in the play, but just as rehearsals begin, blood starts to spill, and Camilla soon finds herself terrified by the horror of musical theatre.

Written and directed by Jerome Sable, the R-rated movie premiered online in April, 2014 and received some U.

Stage Fright has already seen a VOD and theatrical release, but if you’ve been holding out for a physical copy, Magnolia Home Entertainment will be bring the horror musical to Blu-ray and DVD next month. Blu-ray.com reveals that Stage Fright will hit Blu-ray & DVD on July 8th with a pretty decent set of bonus features:

“Starry-eyed teenager Camilla Swanson wants to follow in her mother’s footsteps and become a Broadway diva, but she’s stuck working in the kitchen of a snobby performing arts camp. Determined to change her destiny, she sneaks in to audition for the summer showcase and lands a lead role in the play, but just as rehearsals begin, blood starts to spill, and Camilla soon finds herself terrified by the horror of musical theatre.”

Bonus Features:

Audio Commentary The Making Of Stage Fright Outtakes Deleted Scenes Interviews: Writer/Director Jerome Sable Co-Composer Eli Batalion...

Editor's Note: This post is presented in partnership with Time Warner Cable Movies On Demand in support of May's Indie Film Month. "Stage Fright" is currently available to view On Demand. The first rousing musical number in the new musical-horror mess "Stage Fright" is clever and catchy, and it promises better things than the film ever delivers; wasting no time in unsheathing a razor-sharp sense of humor, writer-director Jerome Stable and musical director Eli Batalion give us a coterie of nerdy theater geeks, like so many "Glee" rejects gathered for a giant slumber party, singing away their troubles to each other: "I got beaten up a dozen times / for singing Stephen Sondheim's Rhymes" "Those school bullies sound awfully bad" "What school bullies? It was…my…dad…" They come to the camp where they can learn how to sing and be themselves (at least for once a year), and where "everyone is gay,...

Now available on VOD and arriving in theaters this weekend is Stage Fright, an eccentric musical-slasher-comedy fromJerome Sable, the mad genius responsible for the excellent 2010 short The Legend of Beaver Dam. With Stage Fright,Sable and co-writer Eli Batalion set out to expand on the elements that made Beaver Dam so unique with more musical numbers, gorier set pieces, and a cast of recognizable faces (Meat Loaf, Minnie Driver, Allie MacDonald, Douglas Smith). The film follows the attendees of Center Stage musical theater camp as they produce their big show, "The Haunting of the Opera", but someone has a sinister agenda against the play and wastes no time slicing and dicing through the cast of the ill-fated production. I recently had the opportunity to jump on the phone for an exclusive phone interview with Jerome Sable and Eli Batalion. They talked about the genesis of the film, their writing process,...

The Hamming of the Opera: Sable’s Debut Musical/Horror Hybrid Light Fun

What promises on paper to be a delirious mess or instant camp classic ends up being not quite either with Jerome Sable’s ambitious directorial debut, Stage Fright, a musical horror film that foregoes cheap laughs for an unanticipated dose of character development. Bringing to mind the days when B horror flicks were as much as fun as they were unapologetically (and often, cheaply) violent, Sable’s film is bound to be described as a film ‘like’ this one mixed with something ‘like’ that one, though choosing to market it as Scream crossed with “Glee” is terribly unfair and not quite apt, as its own self-awareness, not to mention the performances Sable snags from his cast, catapults it as something much more genuine and entertaining than those references. Friday the 13th meets Sleepaway Camp meets The Rocky Horror Picture Show...

The newest horror musical Stage Fright (review) is poised for release, and we have the scoop! Starring Minnie Driver and Meat Loaf, this retro slasher is a great throwback for fans of Phantom of the Opera and The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Dread Central: I don't know if you remember me, but I was a huge supporter of your short film, The Legend of Beaver Dam. I love it so much! So I am wondering... when you got the backing to make a feature horror musical, why not go with expanding on The Legend of Beaver Dam?

Jerome Sable: Even though we made The Legend of Beaver Dam first, the idea for Stage Fright actually preceded it. Batalion and I knew we wanted to do a slasher film at a musical theatre camp, but we realized we would probably need to make a short film first, before anyone would back an entire feature.

Currently available on VOD and arriving in limited theaters on May 9th courtesy of Magnet Releasing is Jerome Sable’s wonderfully manic horror musical Stage Fright. Daily Dead recently chatted with Sable and co-composer Eli Batalion about the inspiration behind their ambitious debut feature film project, working with their talented ensemble of actors and singers and much more.

I really enjoyed Stage Fright, guys- I really thought you guys showed a ton of ambition and ingenuity and loved the fact that you embraced a subgenre we don’t see very often, horror musicals. What made you guys decide to go this route for your first feature?

Jerome Sable: Yeah, I can probably count the number of horror musical movies on both of my hands so I think that was a huge appeal to both of us from the start- to be able to do something different and to do...

In anticipation of Stage Frights limited theatrical run on May 9th, Shock Till You Drop spoke with director Jerome Sable about the horror-musical which is now available on VOD. Joining him in our chat was Eliot Batalion, who collaborated with Sable on the film's music and lyrics. You can read our review of the film via this link. I'll let distributor Magnet explain the tale: Scream meets Glee in this dark comedy musical about a starry-eyed teenager Camilla Swanson who aspires to follow in the footsteps of her Broadway diva mother. Instead she's stuck working in the kitchen of a snobby performing arts camp. Determined to change her destiny, she sneaks in to audition for the summer showcase and lands a lead role in the play, but just as rehearsals begin, blood starts to spill, and Camilla soon finds herself terrified by the horror of musical theater.

The post Shock Interview: Jerome Sable,...

As someone whose only tattoo happens to be the iconic red lips from The Rocky Horror Picture Show poster, you could say that my interest in seeing the latest horror musical, Stage Fright, was a “sure thing.” Written and directed by Jerome Sable, Stage Fright is a clever, gory and wickedly fun time that truly celebrates everything we love about horror musicals with an unabashed enthusiasm that you can’t help but fall in love with.

Wasting no time, Stage Fright gets gruesome with a stunning opener that finds Broadway star Kylie Swanson (Minnie Driver) celebrating the performance of a lifetime. Unfortunately for Kylie, that’s exactly what ends up being the case when she is savagely murdered by a masked killer that very evening, leaving her two children- Camilla (Allie MacDonald) and Buddy (Douglas Smith) – in the care of her theatrical producer Roger (Meatloaf). Some years later, Roger opens...

How gory is the new slasher movie Stage Fright? This gory: During her post-shoot Adr recording session, actress Minnie Driver wouldn’t even watch her own, very early demise. “It was too gruesome for her,” says director Jerome Sable.

So why did Driver agree to appear in the film in the first place? “She had been in The Phantom of the Opera, the film version ,” explains Sable. “So I appealed to her on that level.”

Oh, right. There’s something we forgot to mention about Stage Fright. In addition to being a full-on, blood-soaked horror flick, the film is also a full-fledged,...

While many horror fans came out of this year’s South By Southwest film festival giving Oculus and Exists top honors as far as the Midnighters programming went, there was another movie that I thought stole the show. A horror musical featuring a slasher villain who hates musical theaters and enjoys chopping up characters who could easily be featured on Glee? Sounds too good to be true, right? Wrong. Stage Fright is a hilarious horror comedy that blends thrashing metal, gross-out kills, and genre insanity in a way that had me begging for more, and that’s thanks to creators Jerome Sable and Eli Batalion.

After screening the film, I was able to sit down with writer/director/composer Jerome Sable and co-composer Eli Batalion, two very enthusiastic musicians whose personalities injected so much energy into Stage Fright. After talking to the duo, I could see why their film was...

A horror musical? Really? Yes! And if you’re as skeptical as I was about the combination just before walking into my SXSW screening of “Stage Fright,” you better throw all that apprehension out the window because not only is the film quite good, but it was one of the most enjoyable experiences I had the entire festival. The film stars Allie MacDonald as Camilla Swanson. Back when she was a kid, her mother (Minnie Driver) was murdered while in the midst of a run leading the Broadway show, “Haunting of the Opera.” Years later, Camilla still dreams of following in her mother’s footsteps (minus the untimely demise), but the problem [ Read More ]

The post SXSW 2014 Interview: Stage Fright’s Jerome Sable & Eli Batalion appeared first on Shockya.com.

South By Southwest has been full of slow-burn horror this year, creating a pattern of early calms followed by short bursts of pandemic horror – some good, some bad. Film festivals aren’t meant for routines though, they’re meant to be places where a large variety of genre insanity can be found, insanity exactly like Stage Fright. Think The Rocky Horror Picture Show meets Friday the 13th, with ample doses of Dimebag Darrell level shreddage, and you’ve got the formula for a face-melting horror musical ripe with infectious energy and deadly sing-alongs. It’s a rare treat when a horror film can have me smiling from start to finish, but a continually inviting rock opera drenched in blood and littered with guts? That’s an event I’d put on my Sunday best for.

Taking place at a struggling theater camp where future stars come to hone their passion,...

The Wagner/Cuban Company's Magnet Releasing, genre arm of Magnolia Pictures, announced today that they have acquired U.S. rights to Stage Fright , a genre-bending horror/comedy/musical that's set to make its world premiere in the Midnighters section at this year's SXSW Film Festival. Stage Fright is the feature film debut of writer/director Jerome Sable, director of the award-winning, festival favorite short, "The Legend of Beaver Dam." It stars Allie MacDonald and Douglas Smith, with Minnie Driver and Meat Loaf, and was produced by Ari Lantos and Jonas Bell Pasht of Serendipity Point Films. Music and Lyrics were written by Jerome Sable and longtime collaborator Eli Batalion, who also appears in the film as the wildly obsessive camp music director. Described as...

Look at those children. They are not happy children. No, sadly, they have come to learn all too intimately that the 'legend' of Beaver Dam - a horrible killer named Stumpy Sam - is no legend at all. They've also learned that he has a catchy theme tune.Yes, if you've been around these parts for any length of time then you already know that I'm talking about Jerome Sable and Eli Batalion's hit horror musical The Legend Of Beaver Dam - a raucous crowd favorite at Sundance, Toronto, Sitges and more than seventy other festivals around the world. The duo are back at the horror musical game now with their debut feature Stage Fright - starring Minnie Driver and Meat Loaf - currently in post...

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

Stage Fright

Director/Writer: Jerome Sable

Producer(s): Jonas Bell Pasht, Serendipity Point Films’ Ari Lantos

U.S. Distributor: Rights Available

Cast: Minnie Driver, Meat Loaf

Jerome Sable’s is definitely the least well-known among the wealth of Quebecois film talents breaking out with a film this year, but if you asked anyone who is lucky to have viewed his Tiff/Sundance selected short The Legend of Beaver Dam, you’d know that he is excellent when it comes to the funny bone, showed a lot of poise in his comic timing, has already perfected the merger of two genres that historically never fitted well. His daunting directorial debut described as “Scream meets Glee” goes by the name of Stage Fright and once again see Sable work with his creative sidekick Eli Batalion as the co-film composer. Sable will likely pack his suitcase for a long film festival tour.

Minnie Driver has racked up plenty of indies and TV spots in recent years, but not many memorable film roles. If her latest venture proves as interesting as it sounds, however, that could soon change.

Driver joined the cast of Stage Fright, the debut feature from writer/director, Jerome Sable. His short rock musical The Legend Of Beaver Dam was an official selection at a number of film festivals, including Tiff and Sundance, and unsurprisingly, this next effort has a few tunes.

Stage Fright is based on Sable’s own script, and contains music composed with his songwriting partner, Eli Batalion. The film tells the story of a “snobby musical theater camp terrorized by a blood-thirsty masked killer who despises musical theatre.” Driver plays a Broadway star named Kylie Swanson who’s also the mother to siblings/campers Camilla (Allie MacDonald) and Buddy (Douglas Smith). If the details so far don’t grab you,...

• Abbie Cornish, in a swift turn from starring in the upcoming RoboCop remake and Seven Psychopaths, has been cast to play the lead role of Betty, a veterinarian who falls for acclaimed Italian director Federico Fellini, in Fellini Black and White, also starring William H. Macy, Terrence Howard and Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage. Henry Bromell is directing from a script he also wrote. In the film, the Australian beauty falls head over heels for Fellini, played by Brazilian actor Wagner Maura, when he’s in Los Angeles for the 1957 Academy Awards, the year he won for sadly beautiful black-and-white dramedy Nights of Cabiria,...

With Les Miserables on the horizon, musicals seem set to be enjoying another cinematic renaissance. But what about horror musicals? The last big attempt was Repo! The Genetic Opera, which became more of a cult release (and still tours). But the producers of Stage Fright will likely be hoping for a little more box office impact. Minnie Driver will be keeping her fingers crossed too, as she’s just joined the cast.Meat Loaf, Allie MacDonald and Douglas Smith are already all aboard the film, which finds a snobby musical theatre camp terrorised by a violent masked killer who despises, as if you couldn’t guess, musical theatre. Driver is on to play the mother of MacDonald and Smith, who also happens to be a haunted Broadway star.Director Jerome Sable wrote the script for the movie, as well as composing the music and co-writing the lyrics with Eli Batalion.

Most actors would run the opposite way at the thought of encountering Stage Fright, but Minnie Drive is diving headfirst into the horror-musical project helmed by Jerome Sable (The Legend of Beaver Dam), and we don't blame her one bit!

Per The Wrap, the British actress joins "Meat Loaf" Aday, Allie MacDonald, and Douglas Smith in the production. Sable, who composed the music and co-wrote the lyrics with Eli Batalion, will direct from his own script. Serendipity Point Films is producing, and shooting begins September 6th in Canada.

Stage Fright tells the story of a posh musical theater camp terrorized by a killer who hates musicals. Driver plays Kylie Swanson, a haunted star of the Broadway stage and mother of two siblings who find themselves at the center of the unfolding horror at the camp. Meat Loaf plays Roger McCall, a slumming Broadway producer-turned-camp director.

"It’s a real thrill...

Have you heard the tale of Stumpy Sam, boys and girls? If you happened to catch Jerome Sable's short film The Legend Of Beaver Dam on its extensive festival run - it was an official selection in Toronto, Berlin, Sundance and a host of others - then you would have. The blood soaked rock musical was a bona fide sensation and Sable, along with songwriting partner Eli Batalion, have got a heaping dose more where that came from.How so? Well, Sable has just signed up Minnie Driver and Meat Loaf to appear in his soon-to-shoot feature debut Stage Fright. And, yes, it is once again a horror musical. Deadline pitches it like this:Stage Fright tells the story of a snobby musical theater camp terrorized...

Minnie Driver has been added to the cast of Serendipity Point Films' horror-musical, "Stage Fright," the company announced on Monday. The British actress joins Marvin "Meat Loaf" Aday, Allie MacDonald and Douglas Smith in the production. Jerome Sable ("The Legend of Beaver Dam") will direct from his own script. Sable also composed the music and co-wrote the lyrics with Eli Batalion.   The film will begin shooting on Sept. 6 in Canada. Also read: Wrap Video: Hilary Swank, Minnie Driver, Juliette Lewis "Stage Fright" tells the story of a posh musical theater camp terrorized by a...

The horror musical short film by Jerome Sable & Eli Batalion is literally one of those films that has to be seen to be believed. Outrageous, over-the-top, bloody, profane and one of the biggest highlights in the fifteen years of the Fantasia Film Festival. Few short films look and sound so good. Delirious, demented and diabolically funny, Legend is the start of a very promising career from filmmaking team Jerome Sable and Eli Batalion.

After a campfire story summons an evil monster, it is up to one nerdy kid, Danny Zigwitz to save his fellow campers! Heads will roll and blood will spill in this unique short, a musical / slasher / ghost story that is likely funnier and more entertaining than most feature length films you’ll see this year.

Destined to be a legendary short film, Legend of Beaver Dam has first time audiences singing along by the end. The gallons of jet-propelled blood,...

Every year the Fantasia Film Festival reserves several spots in their schedule for popular films that sell out and demand an additional screening for fans who didn’t have a chance to see the films. Sometimes Tba’s are reserved either for a secret screening that Fantasia didn’t want you to know about such as Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds from two years ago, or a film that they couldn’t confirm that they would get before they printed out the programs. This isn’t unusual and most genre fests do the same. So the question remains, what are the Tba’s going to be for 2011.

Attack The Block screened Friday to a sold out audience and so far it has been the highlight of the festival. Joe Cornish’s infectiously larky extraterrestrial invasion movie effortlessly had the ability to extract laughs and shocks from the already feverish Fantasia audience.

The Legend of Beaver Dam

Directed by: Jerome Sable

Written by: Jerome Sable, Eli Batalion

Running Time: 12 minutes

The horror musical short film by Jerome Sable & Eli Batalion is literally one of those films that has to be seen to be believed. Outrageous, over-the-top, bloody, profane and one of the biggest highlights in the fifteen years of the Fantasia Film Festival. Few short films look and sound so good. Delirious, demented and diabolically funny, Legend is the start of a very promising career from filmmaking team Jerome Sable and Eli Batalion.

After a campfire story summons an evil monster, it is up to one nerdy kid, Danny Zigwitz to save his fellow campers! Heads will roll and blood will spill in this unique short, a musical / slasher / ghost story that is likely funnier and more entertaining than most feature length films you’ll see this year.

Destined to be a legendary short film,...

The Jury, Audience, Next! and other special award-winners of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival were announced tonight at the Festival's Awards Ceremony hosted by Tim Blake Nelson (star of Flypaper which premiered in this year's Premieres section) in Park City, Utah. Highlights from the Awards Ceremony can be seen on the Festival website.

Films receiving Jury Awards were selected from four categories: U.S. Dramatic Competition, U.S. Documentary Competition, World Cinema Dramatic Competition and World Cinema Documentary Competition. All films in competition were also eligible for Sundance Film Festival Audience Awards as selected by Festival audiences. The U.S. Audience Awards presented by Acura were announced by Ray Liotta, and the World Cinema Audience Awards were announced by Joshua Leonard. Vera Farmiga announced the Best of Next! Audience Award.

Jury Prizes in Shorts Filmmaking were awarded to American and international short-form films on Tuesday, January 25. Other awards recognized at the...

The Sundance Film Festival Juries have selected the winners of the 2011 awards. Since they give out so many awards, the list is extremely long. We shound be playing catch up on the festival now that it is over and things are a little less chaotic. In the meantime here are the winners.

The 2011 Sundance Film Festival Juries consisted of:

U.S. Documentary Competition: Jeffrey Blitz, Matt Groening, Laura Poitras, Jess Search, Sloane Klevin U.S. Dramatic Competition: America Ferrera, Todd McCarthy, Tim Orr, Kimberly Peirce, Jason Reitman World Cinema Documentary Competition: José Padilha, Mette Hoffmann Meyer, Lucy Walker World Cinema Dramatic Competition: Susanne Bier, Bong Joon-Ho, Rajendra Roy Shorts Competition: Barry Jenkins, Kim Morgan, Sara Bernstein Alfred P. Sloan Award: Jon Amiel, Paula Apsell, Sean Carroll, Clark Gregg -

2011 Sundance Film Festival Award Winners:

The Grand Jury Prize: Documentary was presented to How to Die in Oregon, directed by Peter D.

The Sundance Institute announced the award winners for the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Like Crazy ended up winning the Dramatic Grand Jury Prize, and Circumstance won the dramatic audience award. I thought Like Crazy was a good film, but it definitely was not one of my favorites or one of the best movie there. I didn't end up getting to see Circumstance.

Check out the full list of winners below:

2011 Sundance Film Festival Award Winners:

The Grand Jury Prize: Documentary was presented to How to Die in Oregon, directed by Peter D. Richardson. In 1994 Oregon became the first state to legalize physician-assisted suicide. How to Die in Oregon gently enters the lives of terminally ill Oregonians to illuminate the power of death with dignity.

The Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented to Like Crazy, directed by Drake Doremus; written by Drake Doremus and Ben York Jones. A young American guy and...

Tonight the Sundance Institute announced the award winners for the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Like Crazy won the Dramatic Grand Jury Prize, and Circumstance won the dramatic audience award. You can find the full list of winners in the press release after the jump. 2011 Sundance Film Festival Announces Awards Happy, Happy, Hell and Back Again, How to Die in Oregon and Like Crazy Earn Grand Jury Prizes Audience Favorites Include Buck, Circumstance, Kinyawaranda and Senna to.get.her Awarded Best of Next! Audience Award Park City, Ut–The Jury, Audience, Next! and other special award-winners of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival were announced tonight at the Festival’s Awards Ceremony hosted by Tim Blake Nelson (star of Flypaper which premiered in this year’s Premieres section) in Park City, Utah. Highlights from the Awards Ceremony can be seen on the Festival website, www.sundance.org/festival. Films receiving Jury Awards were selected from four categories: U.

2011 Sundance Film Festival Award Winners

The Grand Jury Prize:Documentary was presented to How to Die in Oregon, directed by Peter D. Richardson. In 1994 Oregon became the first state to legalize physician-assisted suicide. How to Die in Oregon gently enters the lives of terminally ill Oregonians to illuminate the power of death with dignity.

The Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented to Like Crazy, directed by Drake Doremus; written by Drake Doremus and Ben York Jones. A young American guy and a young British girl meet in college and fall in love. Their love is tested when she is required to leave the country and they must face the challenges of a long-distance relationship.

The World Cinema Jury Prize: Documentary was presented to Hell and Back Again, directed by Danfung Dennis. Told through the eyes of one Marine from the start of his 2009 Afghanistan tour to his distressing return and rehabilitation in the U.

The 2011 Sundance Film Festival awards have been announced.

Drake Doremus‘ Like Crazy and Peter D. Richardson‘s documentary How to Die in Oregon won the grand jury prizes for American films at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival awards ceremony.

Jason Reitman presented the grand jury prize for U.S. dramatic film to Drake Doremus’ Like Crazy, one of the big sales of the fest . Doremus also wrote the script with Ben York Jones.

The movie starring Felicity Jones, Anton Yelchin and Jennifer Lawrence follows young American guy and a young British girl meet in college and fall in love. Their love is tested when she is required to leave the country and they must face the challenges of a long-distance relationship.

Felicity Jones of Like Crazy also won a special jury award for acting. Producer Jonathan Schwartz and writer-director Drake Doremus accepted the award for the British actress, who was working in England.

Tim Blake Nelson hosted the awards ceremony tonight for the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Taking the top prize was Drake Doremus‘ Like Crazy, with Winter’s Bone winning grand jury prize (dramatic) last year. We weren’t too hot on the film, and surprised something great like Sean Durkin‘s Martha Marcy May Marlene or Mike Nichols‘ Take Shelter didn’t grab it. You can check out the rest of the winners below and our complete Sundance 2011 coverage here.

Grand Jury Prize, Dramatic:

Like Crazy

Grand Jury Prize, Documentary:

How To Die In Oregon

World Cinema Jury Prize, Dramatic:

Happy, Happy

World Cinema Jury Prize, Documentary:

Hell and Back Again

Dramatic Audience Award:

Circumstance

Documentary Audience Award:

Buck

World Cinema Dramatic Audience Award:

Kinyarwanda

World Cinema Documentary Audience Award:

Senna

The Best of Next Audience Award:

to.get.her

Directing Award, Dramatic:

Martha Marcy May Marlene, directed by Sean Durkin

Directing Award,...

The midnight movie crowd at Sundance hooted for the grindhouse pic Hobo with a Shotgun, but it downright fell in love with the charming horror-musical short that played in front of it in a brilliant stroke of spot-on programming. The twists in Jerome Sable and Eli Batalion's 12-minute short The Legend of Beaver Dam are best left unspoiled, but suffice to say it involves a campfire tale, screaming children, plenty of gore, and a metal rock sing-off between a nerdy kid hero and a bloodthirsty killer. Sable and Batalion are supposedly working on a feature along the lines of Beaver Dam, so take a peek at this teaser and keep an eye out for more from these two. [StumpySam.com]...

Sable & Batalion’s The Legend of Beaver Dam has been playing some of the premiere film festivals since September. It played Tiff, Fantastic Fest, Stiges and just recently played at Sundance 2011. I received a screener prior to Fantastic Fest – thank god because I missed it on the big screen because of my schedule – and I fell in love with it. The short film takes the familiar story of an urban legend being told at a campfire setting. However, the end result of this fantastic short film is anything short of predictable. Blood and the piercing screams of horror & rock are just some things you can find in this 10 minute blessing. Today, I bring you the long delayed interview with the director, Jerome Sable.

You can read my review of the short film here shortly. I was very excited to get to interview Jerome at Fantastic Fest. Then I got the...

Writer-director Matt Piedmont’s “Brick Novax — Part 1 and 2” won the Jury Prize in Short Filmmaking at the Sundance Film Festival, while writer-director Ariel Kleiman’s “Deeper Than Yesterday” won for international short filmmaking.

The filmmakers will be honored at Saturday night’s awards ceremony, hosted by Sundance alum Tim Blake Nelson.

Piedmont’s “Novax” is the story about an international super legend who records his amazing tales as an astronaut, movie star, corporate CEO, and famous musician to preserve his legacy as the coolest guy in the history of the world.

In Kleiman’s “Yesterday,” a submarine crew becomes savages after three months submerged underwater in a submarine. One of the men, Oleg, fears that losing perspective may mean losing himself.

In addition, the Shorts Jury awarded Honorable Mentions in Short Filmmaking to:

“Choke” Canada (Drector and screenwriter: Michelle Latimer

“Diarchy” / Italy (Director and Screenwriter: Ferdinando Cito Filmomarino

“The External World” / Germany,...

Writer-director Matt Piedmont’s “Brick Novax — Part 1 and 2” won the Jury Prize in Short Filmmaking at the Sundance Film Festival, while writer-director Ariel Kleiman’s “Deeper Than Yesterday” won for international short filmmaking.

The filmmakers will be honored at Saturday night’s awards ceremony, hosted by Sundance alum Tim Blake Nelson.

Piedmont’s “Novax” is the story about an international super legend who records his amazing tales as an astronaut, movie star, corporate CEO, and famous musician to preserve his legacy as the coolest guy in the history of the world.

In Kleiman’s “Yesterday,” a submarine crew becomes savages after three months submerged underwater in a submarine. One of the men, Oleg, fears that losing perspective may mean losing himself.

In addition, the Shorts Jury awarded Honorable Mentions in Short Filmmaking to:

“Choke” Canada (Drector and screenwriter: Michelle Latimer

“Diarchy” / Italy (Director and Screenwriter: Ferdinando Cito Filmomarino

“The External World” / Germany,...

Filmmakers from Australia, Poland, Spain, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Canada and the United States Celebrated for their Documentary and Narrative Work

The 2011 Sundance Film Festival this evening (January 25) announced the jury prizes in shorts filmmaking and gave honorable mentions based on outstanding achievement and merit. The awards were presented at a ceremony held in Park City, Utah. These award recipients will also be honored at the Festival’s Awards Ceremony hosted by Sundance Alum Tim Blake Nelson on Saturday, January 29.

The 2011 Short Film jurors are Barry Jenkins (director, writer, Medicine for Melancholy); Kim Morgan (Film and Culture writer, Sunset Gun, The Hitlist) and Sara Bernstein (Vice president, HBO Documentary films; supervising producer, Baghdad ER, White Light, Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki).

The Jury Prize in Short Filmmaking was awarded to Brick Novax pt 1 and 2 (Director and Screenwriter: Matt Piedmont). Penniless and now living in a seedy motel with only weeks to live,...

One of our favorite short films of the year, The Legend of Beaver Dam (review here), is poised to make a splash at this year's Sundance Film Festival screening ahead of the highly anticipated Hobo with a Shotgun in the "Park City at Midnight" lineup, and we've got all the info for ya!

The short tells the story of Danny Zigwitz, a nerdy youngster who needs to save his fellow campers from a bloody massacre when a campfire ghost story comes to life. Little kids, an evil monster, a gory fight to the death in the woods — and it's a rock musical.

It has already won several awards, including "Best Horror Short Film" at Fantastic Fest and "Best Short Film" at both Screamfest La and Sitges Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya, the number one fantasy/horror fest in the world. Believe us when we say it deserves every damned one of them,...

The Sundance Film Festival 2011 has a great line-up of movies this year, and I'm really excited about what we are going to get to see this year. The festival has just released their short film line-up, which is always cool to check out. Some of these movies are underated, but I've seen some pretty incredible live-action and animated short films at the festival.

Here's the official press release and list of films for you to check out:

Park City, Ut— Sundance Institute announced today the program of short films selected to screen at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. This year the Festival's Short Film Program comprises 81 short films from U.S. and international filmmakers selected from 6,467 submissions up 6% over 2010. The 2011 Sundance Film Festival runs January 20-30 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah. The complete list of films is available at www.sundance.org/festival. ”It’s a...

The 2011 Sundance Film Festival is shaping up quite nicely. The films in competition [1], and out of competition [2], have already been announced and each has some incredibly exciting entries. Monday brought the announcement of the 81 short films, chosen out of 6,467 entries, that will play in Park City, Utah this January. And while the majority of them are by currently unknown filmmakers, there are a few that jump out featuring names like Elijah Wood, Danny McBride, Seth Rogen, Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly and Jack Black. Actually, those guys are all in the same short. Other notables include Neil Labute, Tim & Eric and Isabella Rossellini. After the jump, we'll highlight those films and show you the full list. Scanning the list, here are the films that stick out as particularly exciting. Fight For Your Right Revisited (Director and Screenwriter: Adam Yauch) - After the boys leave the party... Cast: Elijah Wood, Danny McBride,...

HollywoodNews.com: Sundance Institute announced today the program of short films selected to screen at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. This year the Festival’s Short Film Program comprises 81 short films from U.S. and international filmmakers selected from 6,467 submissions up 6% over 2010. The 2011 Sundance Film Festival runs January 20-30 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.

“It’s a marvel to discover the creativity in this year’s shorts program. These filmmakers are charged with telling compelling stories, nurturing breakout performances and engaging the audience, all in a fraction of the time allocated to features, and each one delivers,” said Trevor Groth, Sundance Film Festival Director of Programming. “For 2011, we are pleased to be able to shine a light on indigenous filmmakers working around the world in the short-form medium, and to provide festival goers with a window into native storytelling.”

“These directors have once again raised the...

After announcing their feature film line-up (here and here), the Sundance Film Institute just sent us over their short film selections. Most initially appealing is Fight For Your Right Revisited, directed by Beastie Boy‘s Adam Yauch. The short features Elijah Wood, Danny McBride, Seth Rogen, Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, and Jack Black. I’ll definitely be checking it out.

Neil Labute is also directing a short starring Julia Stiles, and Jonathan Caouette‘s short starring Chloë Sevigny will show, from the trailer we previously featured. There is also a short co-written by Cloverfield and Unstoppable‘s T.J. Miller. Check them all out below and look for our coverage in January.

U.S. Narrative Shorts

After You Left (Director: Jef Taylor; Screenwriters: Jef Taylor and Michael Tisdale) — A man in his mid-thirties searches for meaning in the aftermath of a relationship.

Andy and Zach (Director and Screenwriter: Nick Paley...

Well, we’ve see the list of feature-length films that are in the 2011 lineup of the Sundance Film Festival. Just moments ago, the festival revealed the full list of short films that will accompany those features – 44 in total, from a record 3,453 submissions! Wow! Glad I’m not on that judging committee.

But of note in the below list are 2 filmmakers who are followers of this blog, both I’ve communicated with in the past – one actually was mentioned on Black Filmmakers To Watch thread, so we may as well add the other.

I’m referring to Moon Molson and Tahir Jetter.

Moon’s short film is titled Crazy Beats Strong Every Time. Some may recall that, in September, I posted an entry for Moon, to help raise money to complete the short film. He was trying to raise $8,000, and actually ended up raising $10,250! So, congrats to Moon! The synopsis for...

On Sunday, October 17th, this writer hosted – along with the lovely Jonna Jackson - the tenth annual Screamfest Horror Film Festival Awards. Held at an intimate location in the mountains above Burbank, CA, the stormy evening celebrated the ten days of original horror programming which had preceded it, most notably director Chris Smith’s apocalyptic Black Death and Yann Gozlan’s French-shocker Caged (Captifs), two features which proved to be festival-judge favorites.

Screamfest, which is spearheaded by founder and director Rachel Belofsky, has built a reputation over the last decade as having its finger on the pulse of the horror genre. Recent films programmed at Screamfest that have garnered a lot of attention include Let the Right One In, Trick r Treat, Splinter, Martyrs, The Signal, and Paranormal Activity.

Below is a full list of the evening's winners.

Best Film: Caged (Captifs), director Yann Gozlan Best Short: The Legend Of Beaver Dam,...