The Slaughter will be out on DVD in North America on November 6, 2007. Look for it at Blockbuster, Amazon.com or rent it on Netflix!!!

Thanks to all the festivals and fans that have voted for us!

Rhode Island International Horror Film Festival -- BEST PICTURE
www.film-festival.org

Thriller Chiller -- BEST THRILL
www.thrillerchiller.com

International Horror & Sci-Fi Film Festival -- BEST SPLATTER!
www.horrorscifi.com

Salem Independent Horror Film Festival -- 2nd Place BEST FEATURE
www.salemfilm.com

Another Hole in the Head -- 3rd Place AUDIENCE AWARD
www.holehead.org

Freak Show Horror Film Festival
Laura Bach - BEST ACTRESS
Patrick Magee - BEST SPECIAL FX MAKEUP
www.spookyempire.com

Eerie Horror Fest -- BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS/MAKEUP
www.eeriehorrorfest.com

Festival of Fantastic Films, UK -- HIGHLY COMMENDED INDEPENDENT FEATURE
www.fantastic-films.com


Plus we were nominated for the following:
Shockerfest
Zak Kilberg - BEST ACTOR
BEST PICTURE
www.shockerfest.com

Chicago Horror Fest -- BEST FEATURE
www.chicagohorrorfest.com

Please support these festivals. Those with MySpace pages are in our top friends. Be their friend if you aren't already. Check out our remaining festival screenings if you can.
www.theslaughtermovie.com
We'll be announcing a DVD release date soon!

Check out The Slaughter at the following festivals over Halloween weekend.

Friday, October 27
Opening night Film!
Fairfax, Virginia www.thespookymovie.com

Saturday, October 28
2nd Place Best Feature!
Salem, Massachusetts www.salemfilm.com

Saturday, October 28
Atlanta, Georgia www.atlantahorrorfest.com

Saturday, October 28
Best Splatter!
Phoenix, Arizona www.horrorscifi.com

Catch the film if you live in one of the following cities:

September 30 & October 1
Boise, Idaho www.idahofilmfestival.com

October 4-8
Erie, Pennsilvania www.eeriehorrorfest.com

October 6
Chicago, Illinois www.chicagohorrofest.com

October 7
Providence, Rhode Island www.film-festival.org

October 8
Riverbank, California www.shockerfest.com

October 13-15
Orlando, Florida www.spookyempire.com

October 14
Muskegon, Michigan www.thrillerchiller.com

October 27-29
Phoenix, Arizona www.horrorscifi.com

November 16-18
Portsmouth, UK www.horrorfest.co.uk

More to come!!!

Im sitting at the Cows End coddling a large cup of coffee, nursing an excruciating hangover, and staring off into space. This guy walks by and looks at me like Im some kind of freak. Fact is I thought he was. About ½ hour later the same guy walks by from the opposite direction, gives me the same look as before. I realize hes trying to see if he recognizes me, and me him. (Note to self: drinking a bottle of wine with the speed and ferocity of a 12 oz can of coke on a hot day is not a good idea). Low and behold its Calvin Green, a good old friend from Toronto. We talked for a couple hours, getting caught up. He told me about Production HQ and what they were doing and their vision. I thought, this guy is so talented why isnt he on a series or doing film after film. He tells me his goal is to make his own projects to define his own future and carve a niche. Its a story Ive heard often. Shit, its a story I hope to fulfill for myself. But in Calvins case it is coming true.

Production HQ

A couple weeks later I met Calvin at Production HQ, got a tour, and met some nice folks. In the meeting he spoke of producing feature films later in the year and that I should stay in touch with him. We all know its an actors job to stay in touch with everyone they meet thats making a movie we might want to be in. And, listen to the person that says those words, because for every ten that say, Im making a movie one just might actually come through and make the damn film. Relationships are everything in our business.

Passage of Time

I hadnt talked to Calvin in probably six weeks, it was mid November last year, and I was meeting with a bit of success, acting. Driving across the 101 from a call back, I thought Shit! You idiot you were supposed to stay in touch with Calvin, CALL HIM. I did, that instant. He was smack dab in the middle of casting THE SLAUGTHER and asked me what I was doing that afternoon. I responded anything you want me to be doing he laughed and said theres a role I might want to come in and read for. I got the low down, got home. Grabbed the sleaziest looking outfit I could put together and hi tailed it over to HQ. Got there read the sides, which at first glance just felt sooo easy. Went in the room read the piece, and made em all feel really uncomfortable. I guess that was the character they wanted. A week or so later while I was shooting another film, Calvin called and asked, What are you doing next week? Once again I answered, Anything you want me to be doing! Only this time he was telling me I was getting a call a bit later from a production coordinator and that I had the role of CARL STEVENS in the film. FUCK YEAH! Thats what I yell at the top of my lungs every time I get a cool role. Truthfully I yell it on all of them. Just got another one recently and yelled those words so loud I injured my throat, in front of the producers. Note to self contain enthusiasm jackass before you loose your voice, permanently!

Mismanaging Time

So, the next two weeks of my life become hell because Im shooting a short film day and night and have a major role, and shooting The Slaughter during the day and night for a week, and sometimes shooting the short film till 4 AM, then sleeping a few hours and going to shoot more of The Slaughter. On one day I had a third booking and did three damn parts on the same day. Not recommended unless ones therapist is within easy reach.

Working with HQ

Jay Lee and his illustrious sister Angela are extraordinary people. Jay works like hes been directing for 20 years and Im not sure, but I dont think hes much more than 29. Angela knows so many ins and outs of producing its intimidating. Damn glad I work for them! Working with Jay was a completely different kind of experience than any other director Ive had on over 130 projects in the past fifteen years. He gets to know the actor, develops his own shorthand, and bingo bango bongo he gets what he needs and it ends up on the screen making the film and performances really work well. Theres no ego at HQ. Producers, executives, and assistants make meals, sweep floors, hold the boom, and help everyone out when they need help. The all care about whats going on and getting the best out of every moment. While we were shooting The Slaughter Calvin would take time from his producing responsibilities to sit with the actors and run the scenes and talk character and situation getting us ready for Jay. It makes a difference when everyone in a production cares about the end result. Make up and special effects were remarkable on the show. The actors and crew all delivered. The net result is a really cool movie thats getting good reviews from festival screenings, and is enjoyed by audiences. When it comes out be sure to get a copy at your local video store. If you like the genre, this one will be hard to beat.

Epilogue

Working on The Slaughter was by far one of the most exciting, fun, friendly, heart warming, and memorable experiences Ive had in fifteen years of doing this thing. The food was excellent! Abbey the resident princess Bull Dog was always loads of fun. Everyone from every aspect of the production had one thing on their minds lets make a good film and enjoy the process, and we did. Its a really nice thing in life when you get to find a new family. Thanks for adopting me HQ ?

I just read a scathing review of our film on IMDB and can only suppose it's from one of the LA horror festival programmers (since our film hasn't been released yet and is only in the hands of programmers and a few reviewers around the world). I'm sorry we wasted your time. But wow! How can there be so much hate for a silly horror comedy? All of us horror fans (except for the really sick and twisted ones) are just having a good time. No ones expects a masterpiece to come from a 7 day shoot and $25,000. And we NEVER planned on being compared to the great master Sam Raimi and what are clearly the GODS of the horror comedy, The Evil Dead Series. Sure, we pay homage to it, as we should.

Five years ago we made a psychological thriller named Noon Blue Apples. It went to the Sundance Film festival and asked all the questions (and a few more) that The DaVinci Code would ask when the book came out a year later. The film studios and distributors all told us it would "go over" the audience's heads. We'll they clearly underestimated the audience as proved a few years later by the BILLION dollars generated by both the book and subsequent film. Anyway, I digress. I do so because I think we movie lovers (horror and otherwise) just want to be entertained. We want to see some blood, maybe a little sex and scream and laugh a little. For Christ Sakes! How can you hate that? It reminds you that you're alive! As filmmakers that's all we're trying to do.

So a word of warning to all who enter a theater at a genre festival or put The Slaughter into your DVD player - IT'S A STUPID MOVIE! It's supposed to be!!! We had a great time making it. We made great friends. We got covered in blood (it's still oozing from the floor boards in my living room!!!) and we laughed.

Hi everyone. This is my whole mini-autobiography on "The Slaughter" experience. I just wanted to share it with you!! Be warned that it contains some spoilers but not enough to ruin the experience of watching the film.

GETTING THE PART

"The Slaughter" came to me as a complete fluke. Although I initially came to Los Angeles from San Jose 3 1/2 years ago to further my acting career, I somehow became engrossed in doing a bit of modeling. In October of 2005, I registered with a model/photographer networking website for the sole purpose of connecting with any photographer in Maui, as I was to go there on vacation. I wanted to take some shots for my modeling portfolio in beautiful Hawaii. It never occurred to me that someone on the other end of that site might be searching for someone, in particular me, who Calvin Green (one of the Producers) thought might be right for a role in "The Slaughter". He asked me to come in and audition for the part of Dana.

In mid-November, after my information had been forwarded to the Director, Jay Lee, Calvin sent me sides and we set an audition date. I unfortunately became ill and cancelled, unbeknownst to me if I would even have another opportunity to audition. They gave me the opportunity to come in the next day, and I couldn't make that one either because I was still sick! (I later found out I had strep throat.) Fortunately, they said it would be all right if I went straight to callbacks the following week, and so... I finally went!

I corresponded with Calvin for a couple of weeks after my audition, and he hinted to me "there is only one more role to cast" (and not Dana's). I kept telling myself, "It IS Hollywood and no matter how confident one is in the audition, and no matter what people say, things can still go awry." On my birthday (December 7th) he called me and informed me that I landed the role of Dana... the lead! Happy Birthday to me! This was my very first actual speaking role in my very first movie, and I got the lead part? I couldn't believe it. I was driving when he told me, and I think I told him to "Shut up!" I became ecstatic of course, but pleasantly terrified at the same time. The entire feature length film was resting on my shoulders, and would all be finished shooting in just under two weeks. I had a hard time wrapping my brain around that because I knew there was a gargantuan amount of hard work to be accomplished in a short amount of time.

THE SCRIPT

At this point, I hadn't even read the entire script, and we were to begin shooting in 4 days. I finally received and read it, and was in disbelief that certain scenes could even be accomplished. I didnt understand how they were going to make it look like someone's face got ripped off, or head, or couldn't imagine myself leaping over a balustrade, or how they would manage to have me strangled by a headless body! How faithless of me. I came to learn that Jay Lee is incredibly brilliant and determined. His mind is constantly at work. Because of the inconceivable content of the script, I assumed he wrote it without limiting his imagination to low budget. However, he found a way to accomplish everything in that script and experiencing him in action making it all happen was awesome.

THE CAST

At last, I was able to meet the full cast at the table read. In a way, I felt even more proud of myself after meeting the cast, because I was amazed at the talent of every individual cast member... and I was cast along with them? It is interesting to read a script your own way, and later see how each of the cast brings their own personality and flavor to their characters. I giggled uncontrollably so many times during that table read. There was one scene where Brad Milne's character, Carl, had to say "Fuckin hippies", and he delivered the line in such an unexpectedly creative way that I couldn't stop laughing! Zak Kilberg (Iggy) and I had a great quantity of scenes to work on together, so he became my best buddy during shooting. We learned so much by working together, and, as actors, went through such a range of emotions, from ambiguity to victory. I learned so much from Zak. He is a marvelous actor and beautiful soul. To this day, we are still great friends.

One pickle that we got into that actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise was the resignation of our first Heather. We had already shot for one whole day (which was about 15% the movie) and then she decided to pull the ripcord. Fortunately, I knew a girl, my good friend Laura, who fit the part perfect... my exact words to Calvin were, "She's pretty, has sex appeal, and studied acting at NYU..." A day later, I was working with one of my closest friends in L.A. Laura turned out to be the best Heather ever. Not only is she smoking hot, she's a reliable, solid actress.

The miraculous thing about the cast of "The Slaughter" is that I can't remember anyone ever being a diva. We all had such a blast together, most likely due to the fact that we all got along surprisingly well. (And cans and cans of Monster Energy Drink) Everyone was strikingly kind and caring, and that can be very hard to find in Hollywood. I have true admiration for every member of the cast who I was able to work with. I learned a little bit of something from everyone, and was greatly inspired in some way by many. I would love to scream like Jen (Alexandria), have abs like Adriana's (She-Demon), cry on cue like Carmit (Julia), make people laugh 'til they cry like Travis (Brandon), have as natural an acting ability as Cat (Tyler), get into a character that's completely opposite of myself, like Billy did as Razz... I can go on forever.

FILMING

We filmed for 7 days straight, usually from about 7am until midnight or later. Although it was a trying experience, there were many unforgettable moments. One thing I absolutely loved about working on "The Slaughter" was my being directed by Jay Lee. I felt that I clearly understood him and what he wanted a majority of the time. I had to learn to trust that he was getting me to do things certain ways because it fit his vision for the movie. At times, he definitely challenged me as an actor. He would ask me to show that Dana was constantly gathering information, that all of her emotions should be internal but conveyed through the eyes, not to either smile or furrow the brows, lead the group to get the job done without breaking under pressure, but be serious and dead pan while saying, "Whoever she was she was in bad shape. We should try to find her." By working with Jay in the role of Dana, I certainly learned more about acting than ever before, and feel that I have progressed so much in my ability because of "The Slaughter".

One of my favorite moments was watching the cast transform from people to Zombies. The special effects were just incredible. I remember staring at Travis in disgust when he was in full make-up. I literally wanted to barf. Billy's intestines coming out of his mouth made me gag a few times. Even up close, the guts look real. Seeing my friend Laura looking dead was just eerie to me, because she really looked like a dead Laura. One totally hilarious experience was when all the Zombies ate Jen. They unexpectedly started fighting over her guts like rabid hyenas. After Jay yelled cut, everyone burst into laughter and starting clapping and yelling. I have it on tape. Jen says, "That was fucking disgusting!" I also loved ripping off Zak's head. It was really, really hard not to laugh. Actually, I think I was laughing when I did it, but you can't tell because my mouth was so wide open. There were a few times during filming that it was really hard not to laugh, like Brandon saying he was going to shit in his pants, and Iggy grabbing Heather Zombie's boob. Another great memory is Calvin's delicious curry that he would make.

The only thing I can think of that sucked about filming was getting up early. I love sleeping in.

L.A. & S.F. SHOWINGS

Six months later, "The Slaughter" had a screening in Los Angeles. This was a very new, very nerve-wracking, and very exciting experience for me. I had never really seen myself on the big screen, and before the movie started that night at the Fine Arts Theatre, I was absolutely insane. I was suffering from self-consciousness and worry about what the audience would think about the movie, and me! I had about 50 friends and family come out that night to support, and so I was also running around trying to greet everyone. As soon as the movie started, I was completely at ease, and just fell into the movie! It was so amazing to see it all come together, and finally understand why certain things were done certain ways. I was blown away by Jay's editing, and how it made everything fully make sense. I was also flabbergasted that the special effects turned out better than my brain could even imagine. It was crazy thinking back about how I shamefully doubted that the effects could even be done, then to see it get done, and then see it completed above and beyond what I had ever dreamed of. I think it's quite safe to say that the audience really liked it. It's so funny, because a few of my close friends said to me, "Oh my gosh, it was good! It was actually good!" I guess everyone has a little skepticism at first. I myself thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Even though it's hard to claim it isn't a biased opinion, I think I have the ability to remove myself and have an opinion about it, and I loved it!

We were fortunate enough to be included in SF Indie's Another Hole in the Head horror film festival. Although I was nervous again to see it a second time around, I wasnt as nervous as I was in L.A. This trip to San Francisco was an exceptionally fun one. I was able to hang out with most of the cast and crew again. After the showing, we went out dancing and had a wonderfully esoteric time adding on more memories... like eating yummy crepes and having crazy cab ride adventures. Later, we found out that "The Slaughter" won the third place audience award at Another Hole in the Head! And then, we were given a good review from Variety.com!

LAST CHAPTER

I have to say that everyone involved in the making of "The Slaughter" was such a joy to work with. I have found that Production HQ's team is comprised of genuine, exceptionally humble, down-to-earth, yet extremely hard-working individuals. Calvin is a gem who helped me through a majority of the acting stress, and helped me stay focused in the midst of all the hundreds of unfamiliar lines to understand and memorize in a short amount of time. Gino is an amazing photographer that I would still love to shoot with someday soon. Kelly, the make-up girl, is a doll who I've already worked with again because I love her work so much. Mike Zampino is basically the sweetest most helpful stand-up comic ever to exist who can grill; I cant believe he is our Line Producer. Chauncey is a very talented and dedicated music man. Kiana always made sure someone was laughing and that there were enough Airheads for everyone to eat. Gentle Judy, one of the Producers, is a joy to be around, and boy can she dance. Sara K., our Production Designer, is a sweetheart who I wish I hung out with more. Tim is very sweet and helpful went it came to tedious tasks such as rolling gauze five thousand times; I'm sorry about smashing the cement bag! The Special Effects Make-Up guys were really nice and super talented, although I didn't get much of a chance to get to know them because I was never a Zombie. Francisco and Tameka were sweeties who worked hard just like everyone else. Angela was the glue who held everyone together, and I never saw her lose it under all the pressure. I just want to hug Angela. Even Abbey, the dog, added character to the group. She liked to help too. And of course, we couldn't have done anything without Jay the genius. My point is: everyone was really freaking cool!!!

Everything having to do with "The Slaughter" has all been so exhilarating, and nothing less of a dignified, positive, first movie experience for me, as you now know since you've made it this far in my novel. I know that if any one person involved in making this movie were missing, it would never have turned out the way it did. That's just the way the universe works... in flukes!

My experience making THE SLAUGHTER was rushed, and to be totally honest I think that is what makes it such a hit. That, and the fact that Jay Lee is a brilliant filmmaker who totally takes control of the process and speeds through like a well oiled filmmaking machine almost single handedly. My personal experience making this film was different from the other actors. I met Jay in August through Lauren Fox, the star of NOON BLUE APPLES (OFFICIAL SUNDANCE SELECTION) who I moved to LA with. Jay and I hit it off and after he shot an audition tape for me, he called and offered me the role of Iggy in THE SLAUGHTER, which he hadn't even begun writing yet. Like all tentative filmmaking ventures I happily accepted with no real trust that the movie would get made within 3-5 years. I think it was late November that he actually began writing the script, or piecing together the segments he'd written over the past few months, I know I didn't actually get a script in my hand till less then a week before shooting. So I basically didn't look away from that script until we wrapped. We shot principal photography in 1 week, maybe 8 days, because a cast member dropped out after our first 14 hour day and we had to recast and reshoot. It was such a great week, and in all confined closed quarters like low budget film sets, everyone gets to know each other really well really quickly, and I can honestly say, there were no memorable conflicts. I really got along with every person on set for the entire shoot... never happened that smoothly before... The small crew we did have was fantastic, especially the spfx make up guys lead by Patrick Magee. They were so good at what they did, just totally efficient and pleasant the whole time. Within 2 months after the shoot, Jay had a rough cut completed. We made several small changes but we had a complete film intact within 4 months after Jay began writing a first draft of the script... Pretty freakin cool!

H. P. Lovecraft, George Romero and Sam Raimi just to name a few of our heroes that we pay homage to in our film, The Slaughter. For die hard SERIOUS horror and Zombie fans, please don't be offended. We're just having a good time.

Our film just had it's world premier at Another Hole in the Head festival in San Francisco and we took 3rd place with the audiences.

24framespersecond.com says, "Every once in a while you just have to have a good dose of B-Horror. Spotlight pictures latest offering The Slaughter fits the bill perfectly."

We plan to play festivals throughout the US (and hopefully a few internationally) so if you know of a good horror fest let us know! DVD releases (Halloween in the US and other areas TBD) coming soon.

Our team plans on making at least three more films within the next year so keep an eye out for the company site going up soon. Also check back here for blogs from the cast and crew to get an inside look at what it's like to make a horror flick!