Aspiring Filmmakers To Premiere During AMC’s MonsterFest 2003
JERICHO, NEW YORK, August 26, 2003 – A select group of aspiring horror filmmakers will once again have the opportunity to show a national television audience how scary they can be when AMC presents its 2nd annual edition of “Short Screamers.” This half-hour special, comprised of original horror movie shorts made by amateur and up-and-coming filmmakers, will premiere Halloween night, October 31 at 10 pm, during MonsterFest 2003, the 7th edition of AMC’s annual Halloween festival, which runs from October 26-31.
One of Hollywood’s most successful horror auteurs, Clive Barker (HELL RAISER, CANDYMAN), has signed on to host the special, which was one of the most-watched and critically acclaimed features of AMC’s MonsterFest 2002. Barker will be adding his unique perspective on crafting a classic film chiller as he introduces the macabre movie shorts created by the aspiring filmmakers for AMC.
“In filming these shorts, every frame counts,” states Barker. “It’s great to see these guys getting to the heart of what really matters – scaring people. Perhaps one of these shorts is the work of a new horror master? ‘Short Screamers’ invites viewers to tune in Halloween night and see for themselves.”
To find and produce ” Short Screamers,” AMC once again approached newly emerging film directors and industry up-and-comers, including the LA-based “filmmaking collective,” Group 101 Films, to solicit original horror shorts. This year’s batch of original mini-thrillers, approximately one-minute each, range from the suspenseful to the sublime to the downright scary. Following are details on a quartet of the shorts to be featured in ” Short Screamers“:
- Steve Concotelli’s “Blood Syrup” – A sleepy waffle-eater and his prankster roommate are first baffled then terrorized when a Mrs. Butterworth-wannabe come to life;
- Jane Selle Morgan’s “Do It Again” – A father out to scare his two daughters with a little red hand-puppet named Seymour gets the ultimate scare of his own – when he’s carted off into the closet by Seymour’s human-sized twin. The girls love it and ask Daddy to “do it again.” Viewers will doubt that he can…
- Rachel Tejada’s “Fashion Victim” – A verbal spat amongst two stylish denizens in a nightclub bathroom concludes with an explosive bloody splash – when one attempts to stifle a sneezing fit by pinching her nostrils shut;
- Dina Mande’s “Hotrthnhell” – Forget about the danger of computer viruses! This single girl looking for love in an online chat room gets her very soul “downloaded” by an internet “hottie” who turns out to be Beelzebub himself!;
Several of the innovative, wildly creative short films solicited by AMC will also air interstitially throughout MonsterFest and online at the network’s website, www.amctv.com. They reflect and interpret filmmaking trends and offer an extraordinary glimpse into the future potential of horror films and moviemaking.
AMC’s MonsterFest 2003 is a six-day Halloween marathon that is the ultimate television destination for monster movies and themed original programming. The October 26 – 31 event features a wide variety of thrilling favorites beginning with the week with suspenseful classics including ROSEMARY’S BABY and AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON and culminating with one of the scariest film franchises to hit the big screen, HALLOWEEN 2 – 5. AMC will support MonsterFest 2003 with interactive, real time online games at www.amctv.com, a national sweepstakes- “MonsterFest Movie Millions“- and special local ad sales contests and prizes.
About AMC
AMC is a 24-hour, movie-based network, dedicated to the American movie fan. The network, which reaches over 84,000,000 homes, offers a comprehensive library of popular movies and an increasingly visible, critically-acclaimed, slate of original programming that is a diverse, movie-based mix of original series, documentaries and specials. Over the past three years AMC has garnered many of the industry’s highest honors, including eight Emmy awards. AMC is “TV for movie people.”
About Rainbow Media Holdings, Inc.
A leader in sports, news and entertainment programming, Rainbow Media Holdings, Inc. is a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVC). Rainbow owns and manages national networks: AMC, IFC (The Independent Film Channel), WE: Women’s Entertainment and Fuse, as well as Mag Rack, a collection of on-demand video magazines. Rainbow’s other businesses include its regional programming services — MetroChannels, News 12 Networks and Rainbow Sports Networks — as well as the Rainbow Advertising Sales Corporation and Rainbow Network Communications. Rainbow is a 50 percent partner in Fox Sports Net.
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