NEW YORK'S HORROR FILMMAKERS THRILL TO TABLOID WITCH
AWARDS
by Thomas M. Sipos, managing editor.
[January 17, 2006]
[HollywoodInvestigator.com]
Several New York horror filmmakers received very special holiday gifts
in 2005 -- Tabloid Witch Award trophies!
While
lucky Los Angeles-based recipients of the 2005
Tabloid Witch Awards -- sponsored by the Hollywood Investigator! --
attended the November 26 awards presentation,
many winners live far outside of L.A. and were unable to participate.
But because
a surprisingly large number of those filmmakers live in New York, the Hollywood
Investigator was able to present their trophies during a special sojourn
to the Big Apple this past December.
Mole director Rich Mauro (Best Horror
Feature Film) and actress Sam Tsao (Best Actress) met with the Investigator
near NYU -- former film student Mauro's alma mater -- to accept their trophies. Mauro also accepted trophies for Anthony Savini (who co- wrote and co-directed Mole with Mauro) and James Cox (Best Supporting Actor).
"Mole has been well received in England," said Mauro of his film's latest triumphs. "It was reviewed positively by The
Rumor Machine and is going to the American Film Market in 2006 to be
sold outside the US."
"Mole has been well received in England," said Mauro of his film's latest triumphs. "It was reviewed positively by The
Rumor Machine and is going to the American Film Market in 2006 to be
sold outside the US."
Mole is about a TV news crew who gets lost in New York's abandoned subway tunnels
and learn the grim reality behind "mole people" -- those born underground
and
living their entire lives in darkness. Among other attributes, Mole is noteworthy for its guerilla filmmaking -- it was actually shot in New
York's abandoned subway tunnels, without city permits.
With the
boom in independent filmmaking and inexpensive DV equipment, Mauro says
it's easier today to shoot a film than to find a distributor for it. Despite
that, he increased the burden by trimming Mole to an one hour -- an unattractive
length for distributors. Yet Mauro insisted that one hour was the
aesthetically correct length for Mole. An
initial longer version bored audiences, while the one-hour length has proven
to be a tense crowd-pleaser.
Mauro
later found a distributor who included Mole as part of a four-DVD horror film package. Meanwhile, he continues
developing new projects.
"I'm currently
working on two documentaries in Maryland," said Mauro. "I may be
directing a film I wrote, Visions of Grace,
about a Franciscan priest who gives up his life for a fellow prisoner in
Auschwitz. It's to be produced by Peter Bove, who produced Capturing
the Friedmans."
Mole has
been an especially rewarding experience for actress Sam Tsao. She
met her current beau, actor John-Luke Montias, on Mauro's set. By
all reports the couple is very happy -- despite Montias's character strangling
Tsao's character in an extremely realistic choking scene.
"Sam's a very devoted actress," Mauro explained. "She really gets into her part."
Filmmaker Michael Fiore
-- who won an Honorable Mention for Cadaverous -- says things are "very hectic" for him at the moment, yet he found time
to meet with the Investigator at a Manhattan Starbucks to accept his Tabloid
Witch.
Of his current projects,
Fiore says, "I am working with Moderncine/Modern Horror as one of six directors
on their slate to direct a feature horror. The script I was initially
handed has been scrapped and we are currently looking for material suitable
for a $1 million budget.
"Cadaverous is being viewed by Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan of 1492 Pictures. I met them at a special screening of Rent. Upon telling them of my work, they asked to see the film."
Columbus
and Barnathan are NYU film school alums -- as are Fiore and Mauro and several
other Tabloid Witch Award winners. While not every winner attended
NYU, it was the film school best represented among the 2005 winners.
Another NYU film school
alum is Sam Zalutsky -- who
won a Tabloid Witch Honorable Mention for SuperStore. Zalutsky accepted his trophy at the same Starbucks as Fiore, albeit a week
later.
Zalutsky's SuperStore is noteworthy because it was tied with Mole and Legion as the "Audience Choice" at the
Tabloid Witch Awards's L.A. film screening/awards presentation. Human
No More was fourth among a total of seven films that were screened.
Zalutsky told the Investigator
that the Tabloid Witch is the first physical trophy he's ever won -- and
that it's already mentioned on his résumé.
"SuperStore.will
be playing at the end of this month with my other short films in chashama's
windows program," said Zalutsky. "Chashama is a New York nonprofit
arts organization. They use storefront windows to stage performances
and visual installations as expressions of public art. Since 1995,
they've presented over one thousand performances and exhibits. I
think SuperStore will screen at 266 West 37th
Street.
"I'm also
fundraising and casting Mama's Boy, a psychological
horror/thriller that I wrote and will direct this summer. I've raised
a quarter of the budget. I've a great casting director, Jordan Beswick,
who cast my previous short, Stefan's Silver Bell.
"And I'm
writing two new scripts, both comedies."
The Hollywood
Investigator will continue to follow the the future successes of its Tabloid
Witch Award-winning filmmakers and actors! Stay tuned!
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ADDENDUM:
North
Carolina filmmaker Jamie Renee Williams, who an Honorable Mention for Slinky
Milk, was unable to receive her award in person
-- as she was in Japan!
She
sent this photo.
If you
haven't already read about our 2005 winning films -- read
about them now!
Read about
the Los Angeles Awards.
It's not
too early to enter our next search! We're reviewing entries as they arrive.
And if you're
a filmmaker, actor, musician, or writer who doesn't do horror -- we want
to hear from you too! Email or snail mail
us about your project, and if we're intrigued we'll cover it or invite
you to submit a report! |
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Copyright 2006 by HollywoodInvestigator.com
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