Frankenstein

In fifth grade I dressed up as Frankenstein for Halloween. I remember this specific Halloween because I was in costume-- green greasepaint, neck bolts and a paper mache' head piece while every other kid was in a t-shirt and store-bought mask. Those kids were amazed that I'd gone to so much trouble. I was completely embarrassed, maybe even mortified, but also kinda proud.

Here's a great blog post about the book-- Movie Monsters, I read so many times, I had it memorized-- that had the costume instructions.

http://wonderfulwonderblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/movie-monsters.html


And here's me as Frankenstein, circa 1978. I'm trying to hold my hands like the Frankenstein illustration. Whenever I do monster/zombie/vampire hands now, I still hold 'em that way.

Thirty years later, I'm turning 40, itching to get a new tattoo, but having trouble pinpointing the right image. I'd recently been through a particularly rough break-up, did some work getting my head screwed back on straight, and was feeling a bit renewed, greater than the sum of my parts/past, downright Frankenstein-esque. I think you can guess where this is going.

That's the right side of my torso, hipbone to armpit. Yes, I'm hirsute. Five one-hour sessions with Sam Parker at Memorial Tattoo and now I have the instructions on how to make a Frankenstein mask with me... all the time.

Here's me as Frankenstein in 2008.
It turned out a little Fresh Prince hi-fade, but gets better every year. So, yes, I'm another Frankenstein-obsessed monster kid.

Here's my 2010 edition:






Oh, yeah, Garage Rock! Here's a mix I made of 21 songs about Frankenstein for Halloween. Download and enjoy!

http://rapidshare.com/files/299699135/Frankenstein_Halloween_09.zip

Happy Halloween! Er, Happy New Year!

Where are they now? 2010

Approaching the 6 year anniversary of the shooting of Stomp! Shout! Scream!, some folks might be asking-- Hey, what happened to all those great actors?


That's Cynthia Evans and Claire Bronson, Jody Viola and Theodora Viola respectively, on the same episode of Drop Dead Diva on Lifetime (Episode 109, "Last Year's Model"). Cynthia plays a housewife who wants a refund on her mortgage because her house is haunted. Claire plays a courtroom by-stander who gets called to the stand. And they're both awesome, of course.

[The crappy pictures were taken with an iPhone from a projected TV.]

SSS poster in Halloween 2

Mad Tea Party

Caught Mad Tea Party-- a one-man-band-ukulele duo-- in Asheville last weekend at Bele Chere.  Their smiling, energetic, catchy fuzz-country-blues songs were an early-afternoon surprise in an otherwise bland afternoon of music (granted, we only stayed a few hours, it was 100fuckingdegrees).  We did catch Southern Culture on the Skids Friday night who were great, as always.  Their new songs sounded good to me, looking forward to their new record.

So Mad Tea Party comes highly recommended, especially live.  This 7" naturally caught my attention.

I didn't want to carry it around all day so I settled on a Zombie Boogie t-shirt and their latest CD.  But it's available as a easy-as-pie download with bonus song.  Maybe I'm just a sucker for anything Halloween-ish, but it's my favorite of what I've heard so far.

And here's a music video by my friend Skizz!



And here's a link to the fairer half's blog about her awesome skeleton-Uke tattoo.

In the transition is the interesting stuff

I think I love the '60s because it was a decade of such utter transition.  Compare 1958 with 1972 and the world is a very, very different place.  And it's inside these transitions where the most interesting things happen, new ideas clashing with old ones, nobody sure what's gonna win or what new ideas are gonna stick.  Allot of people in the '50s thought rock n roll was a fad that would soon be replaced by Calypso or Bossa Nova.

When I was writing SSS, I wanted to place it in the exact transition between the naivete of the early '60s-- where the most important thing on most kids minds was What new dance is gonna replace The Twist?!-- and the bitter cynicism of the late '60s/'70s.  It's in that transition when garage bands sprang up everywhere and teens were trying to write dance songs, but with fuzzed out Farfisa organs and reverb-drenched guitar chords.  I found this video on a bootleg DVD of Garage Bands several years ago at Dragon*Con.  It was significantly influential (along with the Hullabaloo DVD box set) in the look of SSS.

One video in particular really struck me-- PSYCHOTIC REACTION by The Count Five.  It's been a couple years since I've see this clip, but I remember a moment-- when the garage-pop repetition turns into an atonal, off-time guitar solo and the Go-Go Girls have a look of panic because their happy dance steps no longer fit here.  They don't know what to do.



Looking at this now, that moment is clearly in my head only.  Regardless, this song will always represent the exact moment when innocence is lost and and the '50s became the '70s.  After this, a whole lot of music became too self-aware, less fun and people started dancing with themselves instead of each other.

Man or Astroman?

I hope this blog doesn't turn into an Oh-the-good-old-days kinda thing, but I'm really looking forward to seeing Man or Astroman? this weekend at The Earl's 15th Anniversary.  Which makes me think of one of the first times I saw them play INVASION OF THE DRAGONMEN, mid-90s, probably at The Point.
 

Much like my Go Go Gorilla moment with the Hate Bombs, MoAM? nailed my noggin with a cultural reference that solidified my fandom for good.  It took a few seconds for it register, but I recognized the samples from a Power Records Spiderman read-n-listen comicbook-n-record that I used to listen to on my Winnie the Pooh record player incessantly.  It's at 1:40 into the clip below.



 I own 18 MoAM? 7" singles.  I counted.  Here's the poster for the show, done by awesome guy Jordon Gum.

Q: What's wrong with you? A: Wavy Gravy

Back in the summer of 1989 (feel free to stop reading if you hate blogs posts that start this way), I worked in Yellowstone National Park, waiting tables at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone Lodge.   It was that summer that a cassette tape changed my musical taste... forever.   

Living amid a hive a college students, free time was spent drinking and smoking pot, or road-tipping to Idaho/Jackson Hole/Canada to drink and smoke pot, or occasionally hiking.  There were three guys from Minnesota (one from Bemidji, I remember b/c of his speech impediment), who had a home-recorded cassette called WAVY GRAVY.  It was only recently that I realized the title had less to do with the '60s psychedelic icon than with Cleveland DJ The Mad Daddy.  I could describe it to you note for note, but his guy's already done it, "There are, broadly speaking, two types of people in the world. Those who realise that the Wavy Gravy compilations are the greatest albums in the history of mankind; and those who suffer from unsightly genital warts. Which are you?"

I probably listened to that cassette 120 times in 120 (late) nights that summer.  Not every night, but some nights 3 times in a row.  By mid-summer, it took every fiber in our gaggle of stoners to not quote it verbatim every time we'd play it for someone new.  We were annoying college students.

I got my own copy of this precious gold, but it never rang quite as true after that summer.  A couple years later-- about the time I realized that the music I really loved was this thing called Garage Rock-- I saw The Hate Bombs at the Star Bar and their encore was "Go Go Gorilla".  It was probably pretty close to when this was taped:

I never knew my favorite track from the summer of '89 wasn't just an novelty/obscurity, but a Garage rock classic!  I've since become instantly enamored with any band who covers it.  Clearly there was no better track to use in the climactic scene of Stomp! Shout! Scream!

[For the record, the Shandells' track is actually called "Gorilla."  "Go Go Gorilla" is by the Ideals and more of a doo-wop classic.]

2 Girl Garage bands

As much as I love pretty-much every 3-chord garage rock band, you put a couple of girls in the band and I'll love it even more.  This is not surprising, consider... you know... that movie I made.

The Like

Picked up their CD at Criminal this week.  The cover caught my eye, and since it was at the listening station, I listened.  Good fuzzy guitars and Fafisa/Vox organ.  On the pop side of garage, but really good.  And of course, adorable in their '60s styling.


The Cocktail Slippers

Saw these girls at SXSW this past March.  Like the Donnas, but *somehow* hotter.  And Norwegian. Or: because they're Norwegian.  Bought a couple CDs just so I could stare at 'em up close for 30 more seconds.  They crank it up more on their first record, MASTERMIND, than the pop-ier second one ST. VALENTINES DAY MASACRE.  Their part English, part Norwegian blog.

Swamp Rats

The only band to out-Sonic The Sonics.  The Swamp Rats from Pittsburgh. Available from awesome label Get Hip Records.

Garage Rock

This blog has sat dormant since Stomp! Shout! Scream! was re-released on DVD by Indican Pictures (as Monster Beach Party A Go Go).  Marketing and selling and such is now in their hands.  So I'm going to use this space to write about what ever Garage Rock crosses my ears.

I found this 7" Single by The Vice Barons at Criminal Records today.  I love singles, but have about 1,000 that I don't really listen to, so I don't really buy that many any more.  This one grabbed me, however-- clearly the sexy-as-all-get-out cover and the song title DEATH WALK OF FRANKIE STEIN.   It's a 4-track EP of fuzz guitar-organ surf songs.  Other tracks are: SWAMP SUFER, BUZZ..., AND RADIANT.  A google search found an album called FRIENDS IN LOW PLACES that sounds great on first listen.  Thanks for reading.

Film Festival wrap up

Stomp! Shout! Scream! premiered at the Austin Film Festival in October, 2005 and went on to screen 38 festivals (see list below) in 6 countries (USA, Canada, England, Brazil, Greece, & Australia), winning several Best-of Awards. Wow, that's awesome you might say. Here's how it happened.

From the middle of 2005 the beginning of 2009, I submitted to 133 film festivals. Yes, I'm a little OCD. Total entry fees (with a handful invites/fee wavers): $3,300. That's not including DVD screeners or postage or promotional stuff like postcards or posters or travel to actually get to any of these festivals.

In addition to getting the film seen and finding distribution, one of my goals was to have a screening in each of the 50 states. Between festivals and the limited theatrical run with Monogram Releasing... thirty down, twenty to go. Here's a handy map:
Do you live a a state that's still colored white? Contact me and let's set up a screening. Jay@stompshoutscream.com

Some moments that stick with me:

Austin Film Festival
I watched the sun come up and set from the seat of my VW GTI, driving the 14 hours Atlanta to Austin, with a car full of poster and promotional materials. The next morning at 5:00 AM, I was on an Austin morning show, talking about SSS's world premiere. The interview after me was Shane Black (screenwriter Lethal Weapon, Last Boyscout, Last Action Hero, etc.), who was there premiering KISS KISS BANG BANG. I saw him 20 hours later in the hotel bar and I think we had a moment.

DeadCENTER Film Festival, OK City, OK
SSS was the Opening Night Film, complete with local girl-garage rock band playing before the movie. It was screened in a city park on a beautiful night. Except that the sprinklers started up on the far side of the park as the movie started. They were systematically coming on across the park, ever closer to the movie watching crowd in their lawn chairs. One industrious festival volunteer gather a dozen small trash cans to cover the sprinklers when they popped up amoungst the crowd.

Santa Fe Film Festival
SSS screened on a Sunday night, but snow showers limited attendance to 7 people. I did get to meet '60s counter-culture icon Wavy Gravy.




Psychotronic Film Festival, Savannah, GA
Sold-out screening, great crowd, lots of fun. And SSS make the cover of both weekend entertainment papers!


















Screenings & Awards

Toofy Film Festival (screened as a work-in-progress)
Boulder, Colorado
September, 2005
Winner: Best Feature Film

Austin Film Festival
Austin, Texas
October, 2005
World Premiere

B-Movie Film Festival
Syracuse, New York
March, 2006
Nomination: Best Cinematography
Nomination: Best Set Design

Backseat Film Festival
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
March, 2006

Sarasota Film Festival
Sarasota, Florida
April, 2006

Maryland Film Festival
Baltimore, Maryland
May, 2006

Portland Underground Film Festival
Portland, Oregon
June, 2006

Dead Center Film Festival
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
June, 2006
Opening Night Film

FILMSTOCK Film Festival
London, United Kingdom
June, 2006
European Premiere

Calgary Fringe Festival
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
August, 2006
Canadian Premiere

Atlanta Underground Film Festival
Atlanta, Georgia
August, 2006

Indie-World Film Festival
Belo Horizonte, Brazil
August, 2006
South American Premiere

Rome International Film Festival
Rome, Georgia
September, 2006

Eerie Horror Film Festival
Erie, Pennsylvania
October, 2006

Fargo Fantastic Film Festival
Fargo, North Dakota
October, 2006

The Red Bank International Film Festival
Red Bank, New Jersey
October, 2006
Closing Night Feature Film

Indie Memphis Film Festival
Memphis, Tennessee
October, 2006

It Came from Lake Michigan Film Festival
Racine, Wisconsin
October, 2006

Eureka Springs Digital Film Festival
Eureka Springs, Arkansas
November, 2006

MicroCineFest
Baltimore, Maryland
November, 2006
Closing Night Feature Film

Santa Fe Film Festival
Santa Fe, New Mexico
December, 2006

Southern Fried Flicks
Augusta, Georgia
January, 2007

Magnolia Film Festival
Starkville, Mississippi
February, 2007
Winner: Best Feature Film

San Francisco Frozen Film Festival
San Francisco, California
July, 2007

Landlocked Film Festival
Iowa City, Iowa
August, 2007

The B-Movie Celebration
Franklin, Indiana
August, 2007

Indieclub Halloween Spooktacular
Columbus, Ohio
October, 2007

Hell’s Half Mile Film Festival
Bay City, Michigan
October, 2007

Freakshow Horror Film Festival
Orlando, Florida
October, 2007

Melbourne Independent Filmmakers Festival
Melbourne, Florida
October, 2007

Sweet Onion Film Festival
Walla Walla, Washington
October, 2007
Winner: Best Feature Film

Psychotronic Film Festival
Savannah, Georgia
January, 2008

Foresite Film Festival
Ogden, Utah
March, 2008

All-American Film Festival
Durham, North Carolina
March, 2008

Gimme Shelter Film Festival
Athens, Greece
March, 2008
Eastern European Premiere

Appalachian Film Festival
Huntington, West Virginia
April, 2008

No Film Festival Required
Phoenix, Arizona
August, 2008

Schweitzer LakeDance Film Festival
Sandpoint, Idaho
September, 2008
Winner: Best Soundtrack

Asheville Film Festival
Ashville, North Carolina
November, 2008

A Night of Horror
Sydney, Australia
March, 2009
Australian Premiere

Theatrical?! How'd that happen?

Three and a half years after premiering at the Austin Film Festival, Stomp! Shout! Scream! is in THEATERS now, April 10-17 2009. These theaters:

Nova Cinemas
Commerce, Georgia
Sun: 12:40, 3:00, 5:25, 7:40, 9:40
Mon-Thu: 5:25, 7:40, 9:40

Georgetown 14 Cinemas
Indianapolis, Indiana
1:10, 3:15, 5:20, 7:25, 9:30

Studio 10 Cinemas
Shelbyville, Indiana
1:10, 3:50, 7:00

Nova 10
Des Moines, Iowa
Sun-Mon: 1:15, 3:15, 5:15, 7:40
Tue-Thu: 5:15, 7:40

Nova 6 Theatres
Moline, Illinois
Sun: 12:45, 2:50, 5:00, 7:30, 9:30
Mon-Thu: 5:00, 7:30, 9:30

Theatres of Georgetown
Georgetown, Kentucky
Sun: 1:15, 3:15, 5:15, 7:15, 9:15
Mon-Thu: 5:15, 7:15, 9:15

Portsmouth Cinemas
Portsmouth, Ohio
1:35, 4:00, 7:20, 9:45

Branson Meadows Theatres
Branson, Missouri
Sun-Thu: 1:55, 4:30, 7:25

The Amp
Oxford, Mississippi
Sun: 1:35, 4:20, 7:25, 10:00
Mon-Thu: 4:20, 7:25, 10:00

So how did THAT happen? I am a glutton (or a fool or just OCD) for submitting my film to film festivals (112 submission, 37 screenings). One of them was the B-Movie Celebration in Franklin, IN. SSS showed there in August, 2007 where I met the organizer, Bill Dever. Bill has set up a distribution company, Monogram Releasing, and a franchise, B Movie Nation, to put movies in theaters. In January, 2009, he invited SSS to be part of the series. Other films are indie horror and 80's style gore flicks. most notibly Troma's Poltrygeist, directed by Lloyd Kaufman. SSS adds another flavor to the series-- shot on 35 mm, a throwback to the '60s rather than the '80s, and rather innocent comparatively. The deal Monogram offered was a good one (no money upfront, but a good % of gross ticket sales) and the cost of delivering SSS for theatrical was minimal. Minimal because this would be a digital theatrical run. I delivered SSS as a hi-def quicktime on a hard drive. The film would be distributed on blu-ray DVD and projected digitally. The initial theatrial run would be in two small theater chains, Nova Cinemas and Republic Theares. More theater chains would be added as success dictates.

With a this scale distribution (read: the tiniest of tiny) there would be no money for advertising or press agents. Generating a ticket-buying audience would have to be done on the internet and via word of mouth. With appologies to my facebook friends, I've been beating the drum of "SSS in theaters! April 10, 2009!!" for the last 3 weeks. Other tasks: updaing www.stompshoutcream.com; starting to twitter; creating a youtube channel; cut n pasting 5 years worth of my on-line 'journal' to this blog; sending out press-kits to every media outlet in the small towns in this theatrical run... There's more, but it's a blur. I was hoping to generate some PR interest and roll that into making a personal appearance in one of the markets (Louisville, KY was supposed to have 3 screens in the general area). Surely "Adult Swim Producer here to promote indie monster-beach-party flick" is a headline somewhere.

But... I got no bites, so I rounded up cast/crew/family/firends to gather at the 9:40 screening in Commerce, GA, about an hour north of Atlanta where I and most of the cast/crew/family/friends live.



I drove out to the Nova Cinemas for the 5:45 screening on Friday, where 2 patrons sat in the back of the small 85-seat theater. The projection was at the wrong aspect ratio (4:3 instead of 16:9, so everyone was streched tall and skinny). The folks at Nova were very kind and we figured out the propper settings on the projector in just a few minutes. I peaked my head into the 7:40 screening... dead empty. State-wide tornado warnings were serious enough that the few cast/crew/family/friends that were still up for coming had to abort the road trip. By the time 9:40 rolled around..I bought the only 4 tickets sold for me, Travis Young (Hector, the mechanic love-interest in the film) and our dates. We enjoyed the screening nonetheless, adding our own live commentary throughout.

On Saturday, I found out that a couple of the theaters originally scheduled to screen SSS were NOT screening it due to technical difficulties with their digital projection or conflicts with Monogram, including 2 of the 3 theaters around Louisville. I'm certainly glad I didn't make the trip up there. Bill also said that those theaters may still have a SSS run later and that other theater chains and indie theaters are interested in the film.

Making a 60's beach party monster movie does have an evergreen effect. It will never get dated. It's timeless. Like Citizen Kane. Or Night of the Lepus.

Stomp! Shout! Scream! in Theaters April 10, 2009

For immediate release
March 24, 2009
Contact: Jay Wade Edwards
jay@stompshoutscream.com

B MOVIE NATION & “STOMP! SHOUT! SCREAM!” BRING FUN BACK TO THE MOVIES

Atlanta, GA (March 24, 2009) – B Movie Nation continues its theatrical run with Adult Swim producer Jay Wade Edwards’ STOMP! SHOUT! SCREAM! opening on 14 screens on April 10, 2009. The film centers around a mysterious murder, the all-girl rock band that becomes embroiled in the investigation, and Florida’s legendary Skunk Ape.

Replete with an original garage rock soundtrack and gorgeous 35 mm cinematography shot in pulsating ’60s colors, STOMP! SHOUT! SCREAM! was produced as if it were made in 1966 – without parody, condescension or retrospective irony.

“Independent films can be very heavy. True escapism is rare in independent cinema, but it’s something audiences really respond to when done well. Good storytelling, attention to craft and intelligent film making are not solely the property of high-minded drama,” noted Edwards. The writer/director/producer Edwards’ genre of choice is science fiction and horror of the 1950s and 1960s, and while he notes that these films are generally renowned for high camp and low production values, “films that transcended the science fiction and horror genre, such as CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, and THEM! inspired me to create an interesting story with compelling characters, but do it within the framework of a genre film. In other words, create something that’s as much fun to watch as it was to make.”

The soundtrack -- Catfight!, The Woggles, The Fleshtones, The Hate Bombs, The Penetrators, Tiger! Tiger! -- is a lovingly recreated party platter of surf/garage rock tunes that effectively evoke the era without dating itself. The all-girl band in the film performs original songs recorded by Atlanta all-girl band Catfight! Comprised of Susanne Gibboney (drums), Katy Graves (bass), and Jennifer Kraft Leavey (guitar), Catfight!’s influences range from The Stooges to The Shangri-las. “Catfight! is inspired by sixties good-time beach party music. We jumped at the chance to provide some songs for a cool flick in the style of our favorite movies and sounds. We can't believe our good fortune,” said Gibboney.

Cinematographer Evan Lieberman shot the feature on 35mm with the look of the 1960s beach party films – unnaturally bright, primary colors for the characters and locations that contrast with the dark, grungy look of the Skunk Ape. “STOMP! SHOUT! SCREAM! presented Jay, myself and the crew with the unique opportunity to reference the style of the great Floyd Crosby who shot the original beach party films of the 1960s,” said Lieberman. “Crosby used a simple yet dynamic sense of movement and an unusual degree of color saturation to create a playful sense of space that expressed the innocent fun and bright optimism of the time period before American youth culture descended into the more conflict-ridden psychedelia of the hippie era.” Edwards’ adds, “We bought leftover film and discovered it was from the Johnny Cash bio, WALK THE LINE, so our movie has a rock-and-roll lineage right down to the film stock!”
The film has screened at more than 30 festivals in five countries, including the Austin Film Festival where the Austin Chronicle noted, "STOMP! SHOUT! SCREAM! does it better than American International Pictures ever did… as much fun as an episode of Hullabaloo-- snappy bouffants, earnest braniacs, hippy-hippy-shake and all!"

The film has garnered praise worldwide, including: “A ridiculously delightful cinematic experience,” Film Threat. “In all its demented, straight-faced glory, John Waters would be proud,” Cinema Crazed. “See this picture for its catalogue of perfection,” John Huff, writer/director.

STOMP! SHOUT! SCREAM! includes cameos by “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” alumni Dana Snyder as well as Ned Hastings as the Skunk Ape. Animated titles were illustrated by renowned retro-tiki artist Derek Yaniger.

Edwards has worked as a professional television and film editor since 1991 and currently serves as editor and producer of “Aqua Teen Hunger Force”, both the series and COLON MOVIE FILM FOR THEATERS (2007), for Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim. His other credits include “Space Ghost Coast to Coast,” “Squidbillies,” “The Brak Show,” documentaries, and numerous promotional campaigns.

Monogram Releasing launched B Movie Nation with an initial slate of cutting-edge B-Movies with Kevin Tenney's BRAIN DEAD on March 20th. Other films set for distribution include U.K. import, JACK SAYS, and the world's first English language Luchador movie, MIL MASCARAS VS. THE AZTEC MUMMY. "We have to make going to movies fun again," says Bucky Kolkmeyer of Monogram. "Movies are the classic form of American entertainment. We are going to give people a reason to go to the movies.”

For more information on please visit:
www.stompshoutscream.com
www.monogramreleasing.com
www.bmovienation.com


STOMP! SHOUT! SCREAM! opens April 10, 2009 at these theaters:

Nova Georgia
340 Tanger Drive
Commerce, Georgia 30529
(706) 423-9659

Nova Cinemas at Sabal Palms
2539 Federal Hwy
Fort Pierce, Florida 34982
(772) 489-8266

Georgetown 14 Cinemas
3898 Lafayette Road
Indianapolis, Indiana 46254
(317) 291-3456

Studio 10 Cinemas
1624 E. State Highway 44
Shelbyville, Indiana 46176
(317) 398-3549

Nova 10
4353 Merle Hay Road
Des Moines, Iowa 50310
(515) 270-8330

Nova 6 Theatres
2018 36th Ave
Moline, IL 61265
(309) 743-1153

Branson Meadows Theaters
4740 Gretna Road
Branson, Missouri 65616
(417) 332-2884

Dixie Dozen Cinemas
6801 Dixie Highway
Louisville, Kentucky 40258
(502) 935-3771

Theaters of Georgetown
401 Outlet Center Drive
Georgetown, Kentucky 40324
(502) 863-0055

Movie Palace Cinemas
1231 Woodland Drive
Elizabethtown, Kentucky 42701
(270) 769-1505

The Amp Oxford Mississippi
206 Commonwealth Boulevard
Oxford, Mississippi 38655
(662) 236-4080

Portsmouth Cinemas
1623 Chillicothe Street
Portsmouth, Ohio 45662
(740) 355-3456

Lake Geneva 4
244 Broad Street
Lake Geneva, Wisconsin 53147
(262) 248-2370

Nova Cinemas at the Hartford Theater
2941 State Road 83
Hartford, Wisconsin 53027
(262) 673-4121

Halloween screenings

October marks the 3rd anniversary of shooting Stomp! Shout! Scream!. The film is having a screening renaissance-- five screenings in four weeks, including THREE new state premieres. Folks love a monster movie for Halloween. The screenings are:

Hell’s Half Mile Film Festival
Bay City, Michigan
October 12-14, 2007

Columbus IndieClub Halloween Spooktacular
Columbus, Ohio
October 14, 2007

The Freak Show Film Festival
Orlando, Florida
October 19-21, 2007

The Sweet Onion Film Festival
Walla Walla, Washington
October 26-28, 2007

The Melbourne International Filmmakers Festival
Melbourne, Florida
November 2-3, 2007

Please welcome Washington, Ohio, and Michigan to the family of states who have screened Stomp! Shout! Scream!

The best part about this month’s screenings is that now I can say, “Stomp! Shout! Scream! has screened everywhere— from ATLANTA to WALLA WALLA!” Please come out and check out the movie if you are anywhere close to these festivals. It is best experienced with an audience and a few beers.

Iowa, B-Movie Celebration, Springville NY & Mary's

Stomp! Shout! Scream! had a pretty slow summer, screening-wise, but things are starting to pick up for the fall. The Skunk Ape invades the Midwest this month for screenings in Iowa and Indiana. The Landlocked Film Festival in Iowa City will screen the film each day during its festival, August 9, 10, & 11. The B-Movie Celebration near Indianapolis, Indiana, screens the film on Saturday, August 18 at 2:30 pm, but the whole weekend sounds pretty amazing. Tons of great movies screen all day and night, and B-movie icons Lloyd Kaufman, Tom Savini and Jim Wynorski will be in attendance. I just booked my travel to the B-Movie Celebration, so if anyone reads this and finds me in Indiana and says the secret password (“It’s an antediluvian simian creature”), you’ll get a free DVD.

Towns in New York, Iowa & Indiana were recently added to the Skunk Ape's march toward screenings in all 50 states. If you would like to host a Stomp! Shout! Scream! screening in your town, please contact me.


The New York state premiere was held in the charming hamlet of Springville on Saturday, July 21, by the rec department swimming pool. Dozens of residents enjoyed snacks, refreshments and a brisk swim while the movie screened under the stars. Thanks a bazillion to filmmaker Seth Wochensky & the Springville Center for the Arts for hosting me and the film. It was one of the best screenings to date.



Another completely ridiculous screening was held at Mary’s Bar in East Atlanta as part of their annual Summer Beach Party night. Bathing suits met gorilla suits on the dance floor. Thanks to Millie and all the nice folks at Mary’s for the screening and letting me DJ a set of monkey songs.

MicroCineFest, Rome, Santa Fe, IndieMemphis Film Festivals

Stomp! Shout! Scream! had a good run of festival screenings last fall—Brazil, Rome, GA; Memphis, TN; Erie, PA; Red Bank, NJ; Fargo, ND; Eureka Springs, AR; Racine, WI, Baltimore, MD; and Santa Fe, NM. In 2007, screenings continued in Augusta, GA and most recently Starkville, MS. That’s 24 screenings in 16 states and 4 countries, with two Best Feature Film Awards (the first festival screening at the Toofy Film Festival and the most recent screening at the Magnolia Film Festival). It has always been my goal to have a screening in all 50 states. The film is 32% of the way there with outstanding film festival submissions in South Carolina, Iowa, Connecticut, Minnesota and Michigan.

If anyone reading this would like to screen Stomp! Shout! Scream! in their town, please contact me.

The festivals I’ve attended seem to fall into two categories: Small-town festivals bringing indie films that wouldn’t otherwise get screened there and city festivals that tend to be as much a society events as a film festival. Both festivals have their advantages. Bigger city festivals usually have more money to spend on filmmaker travel and parties, where small-town festivals often spend their efforts on creating a community for filmmakers to interact with each other and audiences. It’s these festivals that foster a community for filmmakers that I find the most fun. Making independent films is exhilarating, but also very, very hard work. It will certainly make you crazy. Finding other people with the same passions makes it all the more worthwhile and invigorates me to keep going.

Almost every year since 1999, I’ve traveled to Baltimore for MicroCineFest, “thee underground film festival in Baltimore, hon.” Without Skizz and MicroCineFest screening my short films early on, I would have never had the confidence to attempt making a feature film. This year, Stomp! Shout! Scream! was invited to be the closing night film (screened out of competition, so I could continue my tradition of being a judge for the festival). As always, watching great films, duck pin bowling, visiting the Visionary Art Museum, and hanging out with Nick, Mike and everyone else on the screening committee was truly the best film festival experience anyone could ever have. I can’t thank Skizz enough for all he’s done for me and for independent filmmakers everywhere.


The Rome (Georgia) International Film Festival generates very enthusiastic audiences and programs excellent films. I got to meet one of the biggest influences on my becoming a filmmaker-- Rich Schmidt, author of the now-classic Feature Filmmaking at Used Car Prices-- and view one of his early films, Emerald Cities, on a big screen.

Several filmmakers and organizers from the Santa Fe Film Festival were in attendance, which led to Stomp! Shout! Scream! screening in New Mexico in December. The highlight of my trip west was getting to see the creature feature The Host, an incredible monster movie from Korea. Go see it when it opens in the US in March.

Jay with '60s counterculture icon Wavy Gravy at the Santa Fe Film Festival.

In Santa Fe with filmmakers Donna Musil (Brats Our Journey Home) and Amy Linton (Sacco & Vanzetti).

The Red Bank International Film Festival screened the film back in October, where it received its best review yet from THE RAG—“ the monthly entertainment source serving the Jersey Shore.” “This movie totally ROCKS… FANTASTIC… well written and extremely imaginative. I wish more movies out there still had the clean and cleaver vibes of this retro flick,” said reviewer Debra Dynamite. I really wish I could have attended this one, I hear folks loved the film.

IndieMemphis is a wonderful festival that focuses on Southern films and filmmakers. I got to meet several super nice folks, including Oscar-nominated filmmakers Craig Brewer (Hustle and Flow and the upcoming Black Snake Moan) and Ray McKinnon. Stomp! Shout! Scream! got some great national press with a picture in MovieMaker Magazine thanks to IndieMemphis.

Austin Screening, soundtrack and semi-endorsements

The good folks at the Austin Film Festival sponsored a Stomp! Shout! Scream! screening at the Alamo Draft House as part of their Best of the Fest series. Thanks to them for the great promotion in getting the film seen.





On hand was Mike from Chicken Ranch Records, who has put out the soundtrack. Along with all the songs from the film, there’s 3 additional tracks. The legendary Fleshtones contributed super rare, original surf tune that kicks ass. Tiger Tiger added “Black Daggers” which just had its video release recently. It also kicks much ass. The Clutters added an amazing, big, crunchy guitar-laden “Tainted Love”, originally recorded in 1964 by Gloria Jones, then covered in 1981 by Soft Cell. Wholly cow, it’ll rock your head off. Also on there is the full vocal version of The Woggles’ “One Four Three” which is heard as an instrumental during Theodora and Hector’s love montage. “Renegade Grinder” is a gear-head, buzz-saw-guitar, surf track from Johnny Knox & HI-TEST that’s only in the film for a quick snippet and has to be heard in it’s entirety. Tracks from The Evidents, The Vendettas, The Penetrators and, of course, all the Catfight! songs are there in their full glory. Go get a copy from Chicken Ranch, you won’t regret it.

Pictures from Dragon*Con 2006. Not necessarily endorsements: