Horror Film Awards
2016 Award-Winning Filmmakers in the Spotlight
Pete Jacelone
AWARD-WINNING FILMMAKER
Pete Jacelone is an independent film writer, producer, director and editor. His first film was Psycho Sisters (1998), which he co-produced and directed. He is also known for producing and directing The Erotic Mirror (2002), BEEF: You are what you Eat (2006), Sculpture (2009) and Creepy Clowns: The Lunatic'ler (2016), as well as a number of short horror films. He also occasionally dabbles in acting and as appeared in Ghoul School (1990), Polymorph (1996), Bloodletting (1997), to name a few, including most recently his own award-winning film Creepy Clowns: The Lunatic'ler (2016).
Matthieu Kassimo
AWARD-WINNING FILMMAKER
Matthieu Kassimo is a french actor and filmmaker who lives in Paris, France. He made his first debuts in the french film industry in 2011 and shared small parts in two features films Sea, no sex and Sun and Crawl. Then he started to work on several productions including stage productions. In 2014 he played the main part in the short film Nocturnes directed by Tommy Lefort, best script award @ Chelsea Film Festival in NYC. He made his first short film as a director called The Shelter. At that time he started to work on a new project called Seltsam, an anthology of horror stories. The Amourous Ghost was the first story of this project.
Jamal Hodge
AWARD-WINNING FILMMAKER
Jamal Hodge is a filmmaker who believes that the tribulations of his childhood have formed a deep understanding of pain, identity, and the importance of compassion. In his films Hodge strives to use darkness to show light, to blend the terrible with the sublime, in order to expand the audience's awareness of each other's humanity while reminding them of their own.
His short film "The Kind Ones" has screened at the Cannes Short Film Corner, The Big Apple Film Festival, and won The audience choice award at the The New York City Horror Film Festival all in 2016. Additionally, his short film "The Jump" won the audience award for best Narrative Short Film at the Black Star Film Festival and the Baltimore International Film Festival. The Jump has also been an official selection in festivals such as The Urban World Film Festival.
Jamal has won the Best Director Award from the Damn! Film Series in 2016. Among his many narrative film awards Hodge has worked on the Emmy Award-winning documentary, "Bullets In The Hood" as a cinematographer, and on Discovery Channel's award-winning series "Off To War" as an assistant editor. His first documentary "An African American in Russia" even took him to The Sundance Film Festival.
Despite his humble beginnings, Hodge has risen to become one of film's most promising and dynamic new visionaries. As a director, writer, and producer, Jamal Hodge has only just begun to carve out his place in film history.
Tony Ahedo
AWARD-WINNING FILMMAKER
Tony Ahedo is a Writer and Director from Saint Petersburg, Florida. He is a graduate from Ringling College of Art and Design with a degree in Digital Filmmaking ‘15. With a cinematography background, Tony has worked on various projects in different positions such as Gaffer and Assistant Camera all across Florida. In 2013 his short documentary “The Finest” kickstarted his directing career. The documentary premiered at Gasparilla International Film and continued to play across the Florida festival circuit. It won Best of Ringling at his school in 2013.
Later in 2013 Tony led a small team into the 48 Hour Film competition as a first time competitor. Tony acted as team leader, writer, and cinematographer on the project “Untitled Zombie Documentary” which won best writing, actor, and film of the regional competition. The film has one multiple awards at different festivals.
“ICON” Tony’s senior thesis at Ringling, which has been screened at the 2016 Sarasota Film Festival, 2015 Orlando Film Festival, 2015 TBUFF, and many more festivals. “ICON” is a narrative drama written and directed by Tony. It won Best of Ringling 2015, Best Student Film at the Top Indie Awards and continues to play in the festival circuit today.
Tony’s first post-graduate project is the series Barry Baker: Aspiring Serial Killer. The new-media series has completed half of it’s first season. The pilot will is available on Amazon Prime with episodes following shortly. Tony is currently developing the rest of the first season.
This page is under construction! More filmmaker spotlights coming soon!
Alex Salazar
AWARD-WINNING FILMMAKER
A filmmaker from the small town of Kirkland, Washington, Alex Salazar left the tree farm he grew up in and attended Loyola Marymount University's School of Film & Television where he graduated with the Presidential Citation and a BA in Film & Television Production. He has written and directed several commercials, music videos, short films and has worked on over thirty studio films in the Assistant Director department all over the country. New Orleans, with its lovely swamps and tasty beignets, is where he currently lives and works.
The award-winning "Danger, Dames & Dangerous Games"marks his first feature film and the exciting buzz and awards the film has won so far exemplify his ability to shoot quick, stay under budget and still tell an incredible story. Even if that story ends with a joke about male genitalia.
Salazar is looking to go into production on his next exciting project entitled "Tenebris".
Todd Redenius
AWARD-WINNING FILMMAKER
Todd Redenius founder of TBRvideo his experience so far includes 13 movies ranging from horror, thriller, comedy/horror and suspense.
These movies range from 2 minutes to 70 minutes. My goals are simple, do it yourself and shoot everything your way and have fun doing it.
You don't need a studio or millions of dollars to make a movie. You can make movies and learn the technical aspects as well as honing your story telling skills. There's nothing wrong with developing your talent that way, just buy a camera and go make the movie you want to make.
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Letícia Bortoli
AWARD-WINNING FILMMAKER
Leticia is a Brazilian filmmaker and screenwriter. She studied filmmaking at the Latin America Institute in São Paulo,Brazil. She continued her studies in several schools in different parts of the world, including Guionarte in Buenos Aires and Emerson College in the US. Since starting the craft she worked in several short films and music videos. "Call me Clint" (Carmel International Film Festival Official Selection) was the first short film written and directed by Leticia. It was awarded with Best Short at SNOB film Festival in 2015 with "Beauty Shot". Currently in pre production for the Boston based feature "Sundown" as DOP.
Kurtis M. Spieler
AWARD-WINNING FILMMAKER
Kurtis M. Spieler is a writer/director from Connecticut, who has been a horror fan for as long as he can remember. In 2006, Spieler graduated from NYU’s intensive filmmaking program and shortly after began his career in filmmaking. In 2007, he started his own small production company, Invasive Image, LLC, with the help of his producer Nicholas Papazoglou. Spieler then spent the next several years making numerous short films that played in a variety of horror film festivals around the country, including the New York City Horror Film Festival and the LA Screamfest. In 2013, Spieler shot his first feature film entitled Sheep Skin (which was based on his 2007 short film). Sheep Skin has been described as “The Howling meets Reservoir Dogs” and has received a great deal of critical praise from many horror websites and publications. The movie was acquired for distribution by Unearthed Films and was released on DVD in March 2016.
Spieler is now in the process of securing distribution for his second feature film The Unexplained Disappearance of Karla Marks. This movie has already been getting a great deal of attention and was recently praised by Ain’t it Cool News, saying it is a “structurally sound and tightly written tale of paranoia, paranormal things, and missing people. I definitely recommend this film to folks who are fans of the found footage sub-genre.” Spieler has been working hard to try and bring his own unique voice to the horror genre, claiming that his focus is to not only make scary movies, but to make movies with engaging stories and strong characters. A recent review for Sheep Skin stated “keep your eye on Spieler: that dude is going places” - pophorror.com.
Thomas Turner
AWARD-WINNING FILMMAKER
I am an aspiring creative currently working in media and spending any free moment from work scriptwriting or directing. I am up for telling any story across various genres or mediums as long as the idea is worth chasing and is creatively exciting. It's early days yet but some of my recent achievements include placing in the semi-finals of the annual 'Scriptapalooza 2016 script competition' as co-writer of a feature drama/comedy titled 'Phishing' and 'The Tooth Fairy', my first short, currently being selected and in competition at eight short film festivals with more results pending.
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Jason Mills
AWARD-WINNING FILMMAKER
Jason Mills is an avid independent filmmaker from Vancouver, B.C. He grew up in Southampton, England and at the age of 12, made his transition to Vancouver. Jason was always interested in filmmaking from an early age. He produced homemade short films with his friends for fun, and eventually realized he had a strong passion for the arts. It was during his high school English class where he produced a movie instead of a written assignment, that he immersed himself in the world of film.
At the young age of 23, Jason made his first feature film, "They Came from the Attic" also known as, "Above Us Lives Evil" which eventually sold to Lions Gate UK and was picked up by a distribution company in the US and Canada. Jason pursued his love for filmmaking, eventually filming his second feature film, a lost footage horror film, "The Changing of Ben Moore". At only 31 years old, Jason completed his third film "3 Hours Till Dead" which will be available in early 2017. Jason is a writer, producer, director and set decker on his own films and with the help of a great team he continues to pursue his love for film. Jason is Currently on his 6th feature film.
Tom Zarzecki
AWARD-WINNING FILMMAKER
ToM Zarzecki is so famous that he writes his own bios.
I’m not mentally ill but if you want a contradiction check out my films & music.
I started filmmaking with action figures & friends with a VHS camcorder my Dad bought off a co-worker. We would improvise crime, horror, music & comedy stories.
In high school, I sort of abandoned my focus to be an actor/filmmaker to pursue my core passion of making music. After high school, I shot a music video for my band DEATH CAT with a friend and realized I was good at it. Then while tripping on LSD, my friend put in John Waters’ “Pink Flamingos” & I decided to start making features.
I moved from Detroit to Chicago to blow money I didn’t have at film school to learn things that I could have learned off the internet. I then, started my first feature length: an experimental documentary “The Curse of the Death Cat”. After graduation, I blew the money I had to make an experimental sci-fi movie “Telepathic Telephones” while moving around, working odd jobs and stuff. Emphasis on “stuff”.
Then I moved to Los Angeles in 2013 because I hate warm weather and wanted to get filthy, disgustingly rich(which is why I play in a noise punk band & make experimental movies). Now that I sleep on my drummer’s couch, I’m working on my 3rd feature which you should also check out. “Psychedelic Psychopaths”. It’s a horror movie & it’s coming out great.
Alban Ravassard
AWARD-WINNING FILMMAKER
Alban Ravassard is a screenwriter and director who graduated from a Paris private film school in 2009 and obtained a degree in Cinema at the University Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne. He has written and directed short films screened in national and international festivals and awarded several prizes.
In 2010, he co-founded L'Atelier 321, a director’s collective and was part of the first edition of the Locarno Film Academy. In 2013, he was named programmer of shorts films at the Korean Film Festival in Paris, a function he still fulfills at present.
In 2015, he wrote and directed The Call, a Crime/Fantasy short film coproduced by La Casquette productions and L’Atelier 321 which counts 68 official selections and won 27 awards in international film festivals. Then, he co-wrote Altilaneus a medieval webseries he presented in the webseries competition of the International festival of screenwriters of Valencia (France).
In 2016, he co-founds Film’Arts Production, a film association, then cowrites and produces a comedy short film entitled “Unnatural Selection” written and directed by Geneviève Delouche.
Alban Ravasssard is an active member of the French Director’s Guild.
József Gallai
AWARD-WINNING FILMMAKER
After watching Lady in the Water (2006), József Gallai decided to deal with filmmaking and started writing screenplays and short stories.
In 2014, he wrote and co-directed Hungary's first feature length found footage horror Bodom. In this year the movie opened the Bram Stoker International Film Festival in Whitby, UK as well as collected numerous nominations on film festivals including 30 Dies Festival in Andorra, Golden Rake Award for Indie Horror and New York Scary Film Awards in the US and Amazon Horror Awards in Brazil.
In 2015 Bodom was in the final competition at the Full Moon Horror & Fantasy Film Festival in Romania, competing with award winning films such as Welp, Horsehead and Réalité.
In the beginning of 2016 his next horror movie Moth was completed and finished 4th Best Feature Film at the International Horror Hotel in Cleveland, Ohio and won Award of Merit at the Bloody Horror International Film Festival in Canada. The movie has been called a "thought-provoking and chilling film" by Found Footage Fiction and a "front running for a new horror niche" by Horror Habit. According to Horror Asylum, Moth is "an unusual experience with some moment reminding the author of David Lynch's Inland Empire (2006)".
Gallai finished his latest found footage feature A Guidebook to Killing Your Ex in late 2016 and is currently working on his next horror project.
William David
Glenn IV
AWARD-WINNING FILMMAKER
William David Glenn IV is a writer and director from Lexington, Kentucky. He has written, directed, and acted in multiple films as well as worked in various crew positions. From a young age, David became enamored with movies. He has wanted to be a filmmaker since he first read about Steven Spielberg and saw The Lord of the Rings films in his early years. His obsession with films has turned him into a passionate film lover and creator and has enforced his desire of pursuing a career in the film industry. He just graduated from the University of Kentucky and plans to pursue a MFA in Screenwriting at Asbury University beginning in 2017.
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Bita Elahian
AWARD-WINNING FILMMAKER
Bita Elahian is a film director from Iran who currently resides in Brooklyn, New York.
Elahian studies at the renowned New York Film Academy (NYFA) and has directed several drama films from as early as the time she was living in Iran. While in the Middle East, Elahian gained popularity as both an actress and a theater director. Notably, she directed Theater performance such as “Crimes of the Heart” at the theatre stage.
Additionally, Bita Elahian in 2011 directed “Lobby” which was featured during the Fajr International Theatre Festival. The event takes place annually in Iran and attracts performers and film enthusiasts alike from Iran .The performance was regarded as being one of the best works of the year. Thereupon, Elahian got nominated for the position of the Best Theater Director of play and received an award for the same. Such recognition is considered to be prestigious for a beginner.
After seeing the success of “Lobby” and other works, Elahian decided to focus all her attention into filmmaking. She commenced her stint by making a movie titled “The Seventh Day” and which went on to be aired in more than 20 film festivals all over the world.
Subsequently, Elahian moved to the United States to advance her career as a film director. As a student at the NYFA, Elahian has directed the production of “Beautiful Dream” as part of her coursework and which went to receive recognition from the Spotlight Film Awards in addition to a Silver Award. Furthermore, she also participated in the Winter Film Award competition as a judge. Also, Elahian directed the making of “Blame” as part of her Thesis. The movie is still in its post-production phase and it is expected to be a success.
Aaron Landgraf
AWARD-WINNING FILMMAKER
Aaron Landgraf, 21 is a director, cinematographer, writer, producer, and editor based out of St. Louis, MO. In addition to filming TV commercials and TV spots for local businesses, Aaron is one of the founders of 508 Films, a production company company responsible for producing Learning, To Go web series, a project which Aaron wrote, produced, and directed. In his relatively little spare time, Aaron enjoys practicing film photography. His award-winning film, The Devil's Conductor, co-directed by Marshall White, wins the Silver Award at the Spotlight Horror Awards.
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ALEXANDER ROMAN
AWARD-WINNING FILMMAKER
I'm a Gay Indie Filmmaker based in Los Angeles. I've made documentaries, promo videos, and scripted short films since 2009. "Reflections of the Past" is a documentary about the famous Parker/Hulme murder case most known through Peter Jackson's film "Heavenly Creatures" with Kate Winslet. Other documentaries include "Peter Ford: A Little Prince" about the son of Hollywood actor Glenn Ford and my recent DocuDrama "A Young King Must Die" about the JFK Assassination.
My short films "Playing in Darkness," and "Lost & Broken" explore storytelling with Gay themed elements blending a Noir vibe along with "Salem Occultist" my second horror film exploring a Gothic atmosphere, "Quinn" a 1960's inspired James Bond/Harry Palmer piece about a love affair between an MI6 & KGB Agents and my upcoming project "Last Stop Phoenix" a 1940's Film Noir tale about a broken down Movie Star on the run from the Mob.
spotlight
Avery S. Jung
AWARD-WINNING FILMMAKER
Avery is a student filmmaker currently finishing her studies in Paris. Death by Murderphone is her first short film and she's ready to make more odd films in the (very near) future.
Death by Murderphone is the story of Sara, an aspiring YouTuber, who finds a lost phone containing a mysterious video which could be a video depicting the death of two young men or an inept shot at horror genre. Her two friends- Alice and Ben, do not take this seriously, which does not change her budding obsession with understanding the true nature of the video. Things seem more or less ordinary until Ben learns- through an esoteric themed podcast called "Jesse's paranormal archives”- that the event of the mysterious video could be real.
At the same time, Jesse- the host of the aforementioned podcast- also finds a phone containing another mysterious video; that of Sara, Alice and Ben. Being a self-styled paranormal investigator, he soon realizes the phone’s abnormal qualities and becomes transfixed by it which ultimately leads him down to an unforeseen path. Meanwhile, Sara’s obsession and paranoia keeps growing. When she finally discovers that the disappearance of the hikers- subjects of the perplexing video- had actually taken place, she decides that she's going to investigate the enigma on her own.
Chip Gubera
AWARD-WINNING FILMMAKER
In the last 20 years Chip Gubera has directed and/or produced 6 feature films and over 40 short films, 15 of which have been accepted at film festivals around the world. 8 of these films have won awards at festivals worldwide.
A short film titled "Song of the Dead" was released in 2004 on "Fangoria Magazine's Blood Drive" hosted by Rob Zombie. From the short film came the feature length zombie-musical also titled "Song of the Dead". "Song of the Dead", Gubera's first feature film starring Reggie Bannister, has currently been screened at several national and international festivals and has won awards in the US, Spain, and Argentina.
Gubera lives in Columbia, Missouri where he teaches media technology in the IT Program at the University of Missouri. He directed two feature films in conjunction with the University starring legendary Mexican masked wrestler Mil Mascaras. The films are titled "Academy of Doom" and "Mil Mascaras vs. the Aztec Mummy", which he co-directed with Jeff Burr.
In 2012, Gubera produced a documentary called "Joplin, Missouri - A Tornado Story". This award- winning documentary is about Gubera's hometown of Joplin's response to an EF-5 tornado that devastated the town in 2011. The film is narrated by George Noory, host of the syndicated radio program "Coast-To-Coast AM". The film has numerous honors including best documentary and Gubera receiving best director at the 2012 St. Louis Filmmaker's Showcase.
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Gabriela Staniszewska
AWARD-WINNING FILMMAKER
Gabriela Staniszewska is the award winning Director, Writer and Producer of The Spring, which made an impression on the festival circuit in 2015, winning the Woman Director of the Year award at the IFFWSZ festival in Jakarta. I Should Have Run is her short horror debut. Made on a micro-budget of £200 over three nights on the Bristol to Bath cycle path, United Kingdom, it has won Best Horror at Imagine This Women's film festival in New York, Best International Fiction at Cardiff Mini Film Festival and the Final Girls award at the Unrestricted View film festival in London, as well as being nominated for several others in 2016. Her first major project was Bristol zombie film Blaise, which she produced. Gabriela works with a small and talented collaborative short-filmmaking team in Bristol, UK, predominantly on micro-budget shorts.
Gary Malick & Andy Kumpon
AWARD-WINNING FILMMAKER
Filmmakers Gary Malick and Andy Kumpon formed KillerBeam Entertainment with a focus on original stories and mix them with micro budgets to create a blueprint to profitable movie making within the horror genre, as well as science fiction and fantasy. Gary and Andy enjoy working together as a collaborative unit and have several great projects in the pipeline for KillerBeam!
Jason E. Myer
AWARD-WINNING FILMMAKER
Born in Wichita Falls, Texas on January 17, 1975, Jason E. Myer is an upcoming film director and sound design engineer.
Jason developed and grew as a director by filming a couple of YouTube comedy series over the last decade. A former reality television personality starring in four seasons of the hit show Big Rich Texas, he is utilizing his experience on both sides of the camera to bring projects to the big screen.
Jason also has extensive audio engineering experience, mastering musical tracks for various clients over the years. These skills have proven valuable for the sound mix and design of film.
His first short film, Dinner is Served, was completed in 2016 with a cast of eleven and crew of only three.
Jason works with his wife, a former reality star and award-winning author, who now serves as the writer, producer and editor of the films.