Where it Dwells - Female Driven Scottish Student Home Invasion Film Needs Your Help!

Where it Dwells is the final graduation project of Screen Academy Scotland student Kayleigh Boyd, starring Saskia Ashdown and produced by Sunrise Ishimwe.  Having seen a rough cut of the film, I think we have something really special here that would go down a treat with film festival viewers, that would also really gives audiences a great insight into what this young Scot is capable of.

Putting a twist on the classic home invasion story, Where it Dwells is a short film that pays homage to films like Hush, The Shining and Memento.  There is a beautiful subtlety to it.  One that makes for a short film that is genuinely eerie and quietly disturbing....which makes it all the more effective and most certainly gives it the potential to be fleshed out into a full feature.

Saskia Ashdown gives a beautiful and very understated performance.  When paired with Boyd's tight script and excellent direction, complimented by cinematographer Stuart's wonderful attention to visual detail, everything jells together perfectly.  

I'm always particularly happy to see Scottish chicks making horror films (these are my people after all!) as it still is very much a massive sausage fest in this country, that I really hope that folks will get behind Kayleigh and see just what she has to offer.  

Kayleigh and her cast and crew are currently raising funds to help complete post-production on the film and to use anything left over to go towards film festival submission charges and are looking for backers.  If this is something you would be interested in getting behind, you can check out their IndieGoGo campaign here.  

Jennifer's Bodies Official Selection 2017 - World Premiere of Julie Robinson's Were!

I am super happy to announce that I shall be showing the World Premiere of fellow Scot, Julie Robinson's deliciously awesome Were at Jennifer's Bodies this year.  Were most definitely made me smile, a lot.  It's actually a pretty cool reflection of the culture going on in the Western World today but with a perfectly horror~ific twist! :)  

(Girls in the woods, takes me back to being a teenager....mwahahahaha!  That makes me giggle because me hanging out in graveyards with my friend started some interesting "cult" rumours, hahahaha.)

"Were is a short film that sees three girls camping in the woods approached by a sinister stranger."

Everyone knows how much of a patriotic Scot I am, haha, so it fills me with immense pride to be showing this alongside Jo Osborne's Requital, as well as promoting other Scottish women in horror.  Due to this being the actual premiere of the film as well, all cast and crew will be in attendance which is super cool! 

"Julie is a busy Mother of two, who has worked as a Lighting Console Operator and Vision Engineer at BBC Scotland since September 2000.

In her limited spare time, Julie runs Jumbled Up Productions, through which she enjoys working on various film projects.  The first was Accidents Happen, a short black comedy written, produced and scored by Julie, with the rest of the roles being filled by her friends and work colleagues.  Julie followed this up by writing, producing and directing Socks & Shoes Off: Tora Black Belt Academy, an hour-long documentary about the people involved in a local karate club.  Jumbled Up's third project, Were - a short horror film again written, produced and directed by Julie, is currently in post-production.

(Julie on set, hard at work!) 

Some of her vision and lighting work at the BBC include: 

Mrs Brown’s Boys, The Life Of Riley, The Weakest Link, The Kids Are Alright, Frank Skinner's Opinionated, Ask Rhod Gilbert, National Lottery Jetset, This Is Your Life, Question Time, Top Of The Pops Saturday, Copycats, Children In Need, Hogmany Live, The Mod, Celtic Connections, BAFTA Scotland Awards, Robert Burns' World Tour Of Scotland, The Saturday Show, Live & Kicking, Get 100, Nina & The Neurons, Newsnight Review, The Edinburgh Military Tattoo, Proms In The Park, T In The Park, Live 8, Harry Potter At The Castle, Grandstand, various coverage of The Edinburgh Festival, and many live sporting events including Football, Rugby, Golf, Badminton, Athletics, Snooker, Indoor Bowls, Mountain Biking and the Great Caledonian Run."

(Were cast and crew on set!) 

You can find out more info by visiting the Official Facebook Page as well as the Jumbled Up Productions website too, and be sure to look out for an interview with Julie (alongside a host of directors of films screening this year!) in the upcoming Women in Horror Month edition of Popcorn Horror Magazine. :) 

Jennifer's Bodies 2017 - Event and Submission Details!

Greetings horror darlings!  So it's that time of year again and Women in Horror Month is soon to be upon us.  This year Jennifer's Bodies shall be hosted in Glasgow at Blackfriars, a wicked little venue that is the perfect setting for all things horror.  I was actually there for the Glasgow Horror Festival in October and it was ace!

Sooooo, submissions....

Your feature film/short MUST be either directed, produced or written by a woman.  

• All submissions must obviously be horror (doh!), be it psychological, zombie, ghost, revenge, slasher...as long as it is horror~ific...and if you're not sure, by all means, please do get in touch!  I also love haunting sad films that ooze melancholy and many of these can still be deemed horror of sorts.  It's all subjective to our own personal ideas I guess.  :)  

• For submissions of shorts and features, if you could email me links to a private Vimeo/YouTube account with the password for me to view.  If I then accept your submission for this year's festival, I will require a high-quality downloadable copy.   

• Once you have been accepted into Jennifer's Bodies 2017, if you have any campaign materials then please to bung them in the post to me.  :) 

• There is no charge for submissions. 

• I will consider a feature/short that is not directed by a woman IF it is both written and produced by a woman and has a strong female lead performance.

• Every year I screen a film directed by a MAN that has basically taken on board all of the principles of Women in Horror Month.  Such as Jose Pedro Lopes and Jeremiah Kipp; both previously screened at Jennifer's Bodies, due to their strong female empowered films.  If you are a woman and you feel that you know a guy who embodies everything that we stand for, get them to drop me a line.  

• All submissions are due by January 24th 2017 and a full line-up shall be posted on January 31st 2017.     

Email for submissions and more information - jennifersbodies@gmail.com

Details to include -

• Name
• Website/Facebook Page/Twitter/Tumblr/Instagram/Pinterest etc.
• A Small Bio About Yourself
• Short Description of Submission
• Links to YouTube/Vimeo (other private video site) with password
• Details of any awards won
• Trailer
• Poster

Event details -
Sunday 19th February
4-11pm
Blackfriars

36 Bell Street

Glasgow 

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Mexican Anthology México Bárbaro Racking Up the Mexican Female Horror Directors with the Inclusion of Bautizo Director Laurette Flores!

Okay, so I'm totally fucking digging Lex Ortega right now.  Lex is the guy behind México Bárbaro, the new Mexican anthology which features a slew of amazing directors!!  Anyhoo, after my initial press release about the film where I credited the gore~geous Gigi Saul Guerreo, the not exactly difficult on the eyes himself, Lex, messaged me to inform me that not only does his anthology feature the work of  Madam Guerrero....it also features another totally bad ass chick, Laurette Flores.  :)

Laurette Flores's short Bautizo shall also be featured in the line up, which features a whole host of amazing Mexican guys as well.  And rather than total sexism, the only thing for sure that Lex is looking for, on top of being a super rad filmmaker of course, is that the person is a born and bred Mexican.  Which is pretty fucking sweet in my book!! :)  

I've just watched Bautizo having been given the version with the English subtitles and holy fuck!!  It's fucking brutal.  But not in an over the top way.  More just shocking in general.  Which makes it all the more effective. 

And random fact - it's highly entertaining that my favourite type of foreign language films are Mexican (followed by German), but yet I am highly allergic to capsaicin, the chemical found in chilli...a staple of the Mexican diet.  Haha.  I always find that Mexican films feel so raw, but are visually stunning at the same time.  There is some real talent out there and it's great to see a collection of up and coming, alongside established Mexican directors.

To follow México Bárbaro, check out the Official Facebook page where you'll see links to all other sorts of awesome things and general rad~ness!!

BAUTIZO (english subtitles) from Bautizo Cortometraje on Vimeo.

Jennifer's Bodies 2014 Submission Guidelines - DEADLINE EXTENDED till 29th January!

• Your feature film/short MUST be either directed, produced or written by a woman.  
• All submissions must obviously be horror (doh!), be it psychological, zombie, ghost, revenge, slasher...as long as it is horror~ific...and if you're not sure, by all means, please do get in touch!  I also love haunting sad films that ooze melancholy and many of these can still be deemed horror of sorts.  It's all subjective to our own personal ideas I guess.  :)  
• I will consider a feature/short that is not directed by a woman IF it is both written and produced by a woman and has a strong female lead performance.  
• For submissions of shorts, if you could email me links to a private Vimeo/YouTube account with the password for me to view.  If I then accept your submission for this years festival, I will require a copy to be posted out on DVD/Blu-ray.   
• When emailing me, if you could include a basic synopsis of your movie, along with any campaign materials such as film stills, posters and trailer etc., that would be fab!!
• Once you have been accepted into Jennifer's Bodies 2014, when posting out your DVD, if you could also include any campaign materials in hard copies, such as postcards etc. for your film. This way I can display them at the event and it makes it easier for people to remember the names of all the things they've seen.  And besides, who doesn't love postcards!?! ;) 
• Also if you have any other promotional items such as t-shirts, patches and what not that you'd like to send, I will be doing a giveaway and raffle at the event.  Also my boobs like to put your tees on them too.  They likes the coverage, moooahahahaha.  
• There is no charge for submissions however if you would like to make a donation towards helping put the festival together, then that is most appreciated.  Even if everyone puts in £5....it all builds up.  The main cost is that of advertising and making up a programme.  I do everything for Jennifer's Bodies myself and the costs do build up, so any help I can get is fab!! :)   
•   
• All submissions are due by January 29th 2014. 

Email for submissions and more information - jennifersbodies@gmail.com

Details to include -

• Name
• Website/Facebook Page/Twitter/Tumblr/Instagram/Pinterest etc.
• A Small Bio About Yourself
• Short Description of Submission
• Links to YouTube/Vimeo (other private video site)