They toil with limited budgets and long hours, on this page you will see their latest work and maybe discover the next big thing.

GENRE INDIE FILM TRAILERS

ANIMALS

Artsploitation Films is pleased to announce the acquisitions of new Spanish film Animals.  The film was acquired at the Ventana Sur Film Market in Buenos Aires in November 2012 and the deal was finalized at the recently concluded Berlin International Film Festival in February 2013. Ray Murray, President of Artsploitation Films said about the film: “Animals is an intoxicating blend of genre and a coming-of-age film. It explores that exciting but troubling moment when sexuality enters into a youth’s world.”

Pol is a teenager with a seemingly calm life: he lives with his brother and is still in high school. However, Pol has a secret: Deerhoof, a cuddly teddy bear who thinks, moves around and with whom he shares his best moments. Life goes on as normal until the arrival of Ikari, an enigmatic student who seems to be hiding something. Pol is fascinated by his new classmate and attracted to the dark side he harbors. An inexplicable death and a series of strange events will transform the meek student’s routine into a fantastic adventure which will take over their lives. ANIMALS is a story of teenage love, of sacrifice, of the tragedy of two clashing worlds. In ANIMALS the power of imagination blurs its borders with reality and death turns out to be an ending as tempting as inevitable.

Magnet Releasing has acquired North American distribution rights to the acclaimed comedy/horror film MILO.  Directed by Jacob Vaughan, written by Vaughan and Benjamin Hayes and starring Ken Marino & Gillian Jacobs, MILO premiered last weekend at the 2013 SXSW Film Festival. Blending the gory elements of a classic critter film (à la GREMLINS) with the lighthearted comedy of an unlikely friendship (reminiscent of TED), MILO was one of the most talked about and unique films of the festival.

The sale for MILO was completed late Friday night, making it the last deal to close during this year’s SXSW.

Duncan’s (Ken Marino) life is a real pain in the ass.  Tormented by manipulative, crooked boss (Patrick Warburton), a nagging mother (Mary Kay Place), a deadbeat new age dad (Stephen Root), and a sweet, yet pressuring, wife (Gillian Jacobs), his mounting stress starts to trigger an insufferable gastrointestinal reaction.  Out of ideas and at the end of his rope, Duncan seeks the help of a hypnotherapist (Peter Stormare), who helps him discover the root of his unusual stomach pain: a pintsized demon living in his intestine that, triggered by excessive anxiety, forces its way out and slaughters the people who have angered him.  Out of fear that his intestinal gremlin may target its wrath on the wrong person, Duncan attempts to befriend it, naming it Milo and indulging it to keep its seemingly insatiable appetite at bay.

MILO features notable puppetry by Frank Langley and Bob Mano.

“Just like Ken Marino, our stomachs were hurting watching MILO, happily because of laughter rather than an intestinal demon,” said Magnolia President Eamonn Bowles. “MILO is a rare entry in the horror-comedy genre that truly delivers.”

Jacob Vaughan said, “Magnet is the perfect home for MILO. The company is second-to-none in releasing quality genre movies and their passion for MILO is overwhelming.  I’m confident they will do an incredible job positioning the film in the marketplace and getting it seen by audiences everywhere.”

TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL

MIDNIGHT

Kicking off the rebranded Midnight section is Marina de Van’s stylish Dark Touch, the disturbing story of a traumatized young girl whose subconscious begins to lash out at those who have wronged her. The young girl at the center of Dark Touch is not Midnight’s only superwoman either. Between the man-made super-warrior slowly discovering her sentience in The Machine, and Zoe Bell’s modern-day gladiator fighting her way through an army of opponents in the action-packed Raze, strong women dominate Midnight. Strange and superhuman powers are also lurking in the mysterious figure haunting a young married couple at their mountain retreat in the found-footage supernatural thriller Mr. Jones. But found footage really reaches its apotheosis as a genre in the horror extravaganza V/H/S/2, an omnibus of the most cutting-edge genre filmmakers working today that includes zombies, cultists, ghosts and alien invasions. Between action, horror, sci-fi and found-footage, Midnight offers seven films for all genre tastes.

• Dark Touch, directed and written by Marina de Van. (France) – World Premiere, Narrative. Niamh is the lone survivor of a bloody massacre after the furniture and objects in her family’s isolated house take on a monstrous life of their own. The police ignore her wild stories and the family friends and social worker who take her in try to introduce a new life. But in this psychological thriller, Niamh is unable to leave her violent past behind her, endangering everyone who crosses her path.

• Frankenstein’s Army, directed by Richard Raaphorst, written by Chris W. Mitchell and Miguel Tejada-Flores. (Netherlands) – International Premiere, Narrative. In the waning days of World War II, a team of Russian soldiers finds itself on a mysterious mission to the lab of one Dr. Victor Frankenstein. They unearth a terrifying Nazi plan to resurrect fallen soldiers as an army of unstoppable freaks and are soon trapped in a veritable haunted house of cobbled-together monstrosities. Frankenstein’s Army is the wild steampunk Nazi found-footage zombie mad scientist film you’ve always wanted.

• Fresh Meat, directed by Danny Mulheron, written by Briar Grace-Smith. (New Zealand) – New York Premiere, Narrative. After a poorly executed escape from the police, a gang of dysfunctional criminals flees to the suburbs and gets more than it bargained for when it crash lands in the garage of an upper-class Maori family whose refined palates have developed a taste for human flesh. This action-packed horror comedy tells a blood-spattered tale of basement butchery and shifting allegiances as these unlikely adversaries enter a deadly showdown. A Tribeca Film release.

• The Machine, directed and written by Caradog James. (U.K.) –World Premiere, Narrative. Caradog James adds another layer to the Frankenstein story in the latest gripping sci-fi adventure to come out of the U.K.. Already deep into a second Cold War, Britain’s Ministry of Defence seeks a game-changing weapon. Programmer Vincent McCarthy unwittingly provides an answer in The Machine, a super-strong human cyborg played by the impressive Caity Lotz (The Pact). When a programming bug causes the prototype to decimate his lab, McCarthy takes his obsessive efforts underground, far away from inquisitive eyes.

• Mr. Jones, directed and written by Karl Mueller. (USA) – World Premiere, Narrative. Scott (Jon Foster) is a filmmaker in need of inspiration. He and his girlfriend Penny move into a desolate house hoping to make a breakthrough. Then they discover their neighbor, the elusive Mr. Jones. Famous for his haunting sculptures, Mr. Jones has remained a mystery to the world. Scott and Penny, convinced that they have found the perfect film subject, sneak into his workshop and realize that their curiosity may have chilling consequences. Who is Mr. Jones?

• Raze, directed by Josh Waller, written by Robert Beaucage. (USA) – World Premiere, Narrative. Stuntwoman Zoe Bell (Inglorious Basterds, Kill Bill 1&2) headlines this sly subversion of the women-in-prison genre. After Sabrina (Bell) is abducted, she finds herself in an underground lair, forced to do battle with other innocent women for the amusement of unseen spectators. Each of these reluctant warriors has something to lose, but only one will remain when the game is done. Violent and relentless, Raze takes its video game aesthetic to the deepest and darkest places, rarely surfacing for air. Includes Rachel Nichols and Tracie Thoms.

• V/H/S/2, directed by Simon Barrett, Adam Wingard, Eduardo Sanchez, Gregg Hale, Timo Tjahjanto, Gareth Evans, Jason Eisener, written by Barrett, Jamie Nash, Tjahjanto, Evans, Eisener, and John Davies (USA, Indonesia) – New York Premiere, Narrative. Investigators break into a house, find a vast collection of VHS tapes and play them one by one. The videos include visions of the paranormal, flesh-eating zombies, a shockingly genuine scene of hell on earth and a slumber party gone horribly awry. This highly anticipated sequel to last year’s horror breakout V/H/S features contributions from contemporary genre filmmaking’s leading talents, including the creators of Hobo with a Shotgun, The Raid, You’re Next and The Blair Witch Project. In English, Indonesian with subtitles. A Magnet Release.

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ANTIVIRAL

Brandon Cronenberg’s striking body-horror debut is a prescient and chilling vision of our cultural obsession with celebrity. In a dystopian future world, Syd March (Caleb Landry Jones) works at the Lucas Clinic, which has an unusual and highly profitable line of business: deliberately infecting paying customers with diseases harvested from top celebrities, thus providing a “biological communion” between stars and fans.

Though his work environment is tightly monitored, Syd manages to sneak viruses out of the office and retool them on his personal console for his lucrative sideline supplying the black-market disease trade. When Syd is tasked by his employer to collect a virus from starlet Hannah Geist (breakout actress Sarah Gadon), he is unable to resist the temptation to get closer to one of his own personal celebrity obsessions. Injecting the virus into his own bloodstream, Syd is launched down a dangerous path — and the stakes are raised even higher when he learns that Hannah’s illness is potentially fatal.

Coolly stylized and laced with dark comedy, Antiviral immerses us in the contrasting textures of its vividly realized future, from the blindingly white, clinical spaces of the laboratory and Syd’s apartment, to the baroque decadence of Hannah’s luxurious world, to the grimy and sinister underworld of the black market. Cronenberg lets his imagination run riot as he takes his sardonic vision to its logically extreme end. In this literally sick, fame-fixated world, everything from celebrity infections to celebrity steaks (prime cuts of human beef grown from the cells of stars) are on the market.

Cronenberg has found ideal specimens for this baleful experiment in his two leads: Jones, steadily deteriorating throughout the film as the disease eats its way through Syd’s frail body, gives a vividly physical performance, while the porcelain-skinned Gadon is the quintessential Hitchcockian icy blond as Hannah, who takes the term “object of desire” to its commodified extreme. Gruesomely absurd and incisive, Antiviral is a visceral satire on our contemporary society of the spectacle.

ELFQUEST – THE MOVIE

Geek Icon Stephanie Thorpe to moderate panel celebrating 35^th Anniversary of legendary comic series “ElfQuest” at the Emerald City Comic Con 2013 on Saturday, March 2, 2013.

Joined by creators Wendy and Richard Pini, you’re invited to share in an examination of all things “ElfQuest”: past, present and an exciting look ahead at what the future holds for this beloved series.

Recently announced on the front page of Variety, Thorpe and producing partner Paula Rhodes acquired the film/TV rights to the ElfQuest franchise. As one of the driving forces behind the award-winning cyber-phenom “ElfQuest: A Fan Imagining”, Thorpe will bring her unique perspective to the lively discussion. This short live-action production has had over 300,000 views since its debut, earning numerous awards and accolades from film festivals, conventions and the media with over 100 articles and interviews to date.

Thorpe comments, “I think ElfQuest resonates with fans on so many levels. Wendy and Richard Pini are really incredible visionaries and the art is absolutely beautiful. People are also really attracted to the grand adventures that Cutter and his tribe go on, and despite being elves, these conflicts make for very human stories.”

Her acting & producing work continues in returning series “Shelf Life” (www.shelflifeseries.com), which has completed 4 seasons of 40 episodes, and was featured at Comic-Con 2012 and at Social Media Week in LA.

And coming soon, Thorpe creates and stars in the new series “Slumber Con.” Touted as ‘The View…for nerds’, Thorpe and fellow geek girl Jennifer Landa host slumber party-style chats about the latest in nerd news, entertainment, crafts, food & style (www.slumbercon.com). Thorpe is also one of the writers, directors, producers & actors in the new comedy series “The Ladies & The Gents,” exploring the shenanigans during ‘One night, One club, Two restrooms’ (theladiesandthegents.com), which will premiere in mid-March 2013.

A growing presence in the New Media scene, Thorpe is in demand as an expert panelist & speaker, a host and presenter, a writer & producer, content creator, actress and director. She speaks at events around the country, appearing on such panels as Geek Girls Create at WonderCon 2012 and The Most Dangerous Women at Comic-Con at SDCC 2012. She was honored to speak on 3 panels at Comic-Con 2012 and GeekGirlCon 2012; and she appeared on 2 panels at Stan Lee‘s Comikaze in September 2012, with her hit series “Shelf Life” featuring at Social Media Week in LA. Thorpe has been nominated twice to the Board of Directors for IAWTV, hosted 4 events for the non-profit organization Celebrate the Web and is a founding member of The League of Extraordinary Ladies.