Toronto Scream Fest 2009

Festival Date: August 6, 2009

We here at SHARP OBJEX are proud to announce that we'll be doing coverage for the upcoming Toronto Scream Fest. Started by Mike Klassen and David During, TSF hopes to feature filmmakers who have been busy in the last several years on short, ambitious horror film projects. The festival will be held at Fox Theatre.

With August 6th quickly approaching, there's no better time to buy your advance tickets. You can do so by visiting the Fox Theatre Box Office or by emailing TSF at torontoscreamfest@gmail.com. Advance tickets are 8 bucks, 10 the night of.

Here's what Mike, co-creator of TSF, had to say about the festival:

"The Toronto Scream Fest was created so that film makers from all different areas and experiences could come together, network and show their films. We are trying to connect film makers that are just starting out and haven't had much experience with other film makers that do have the experience.

The night is broken up into 3 sections; first being the "First Time Film Makers" section. Here is where we took submissions from anyone and everyone with no submission costs at all. We chose 4 films that have never been seen on the big screen to give these film makers a chance to have their films in a festival.

The next section has 2 short films made by more experienced film makers; first "Behind My Eyes" is a horror film made by Sheridan Media Arts Graduate Robert Barrow and second is a short grindhouse film by co-creator of Scream Fest and soon-to-be graduate of the Sheridan Media Arts program, Mike Klassen. Also in this section we have a special sneak peak at an independent feature film entitled "48 Hours In Purgatory". This film was written and directed by Jason Armstrong.

In our last section we wanted to screen a film that has made some noise in the industry, but also has a strong independent feel. The film "Zombie Girl: The Movie" fit that bill perfectly. As an added bonus to the night, one of the directors Justin Johnson will be coming down from Texas to Scream Fest and will be doing a Question and Answer period after the screening of the film."

Sites:

Official Toronto Scream Fest site:www.torontoscreamfest.com
Facebook Group:http://tinyurl.com/mnc3pt
Twitter:www.twitter.com/torontoscreams

Schedule and Film Synopsis':

Doors: 6:45PM
"First Time Film Makers"

7:10PM - "The Mind of Drake" Directors - Saad Quereshi & Owen Baxter-Derro

Short Synopsis: Brian enters the dreams of his friend Drake. Inside
he finds corruption.

7:20PM - "Casting Shadows" Dir. Veronica Ramshaw

"Casting Shadows" is a short documentary about the shadow cats,
a group of people who "shadow" live on stage for the movie Repo! The Genetic Opera.

 
7:30PM - "Snuff" Dir. Jason Armstrong

Short Synopsis: "Snuff" is a short film shot with no crew, an
impromptu cast, a $100 budget and an idea that you could shoot a
Hitchcock-esque short (sans production values) in one night. In -22 weather.
Conceived and directed by Jason Armstrong ("48 Hours in Purgatory") and Produced
by Stephanie Christiaens ("Bones"), Snuff is a campy hobby-film with one goal: to
keep you guessing right to the end.

Starring: Erica Rinas, Adam Harrison, Chris Maddison, Megan Davey,
Greig Graham, Jeremy Ransom and Richard Dallaway as “The Bartender.”

7:40PM - "Jason Goes To Work" Dir. Ryan Doyle

Short Synopsis: A penniless and desperate Jason Voorhees is forced to
take a hiatus from his day job slaughtering teens at Camp Crystal Lake to work
as an office lackey. After a rough start, he soon learns the rules of a cut throat
business world, and that to climb the corporate ladder he has to get his hands dirty.

7:45PM - BREAK

8:00PM - "Behind My Eyes" Dir. Robert Barrow

Short Synopsis: Something evil is lurking inside the mind of Sydney
Rowans. A force with only one goal. To take him over, one piece at a
time. Scream Fest is the premiere of "Behind My Eyes" and was written
and directed by Robert Barrow, "Behind My Eyes" is the first film from
the Peterborough based Steal My Name Productions. Where the budgets
may be small but the idea's are always big.

Link to trailer:http://tinyurl.com/l9znvc

8:10PM - "48 Hours In Purgatory" Dir. Jason Armstrong

Short Synopsis: Scream Fest is the home of the very first look at the
upcoming feature film "48 Hours In Purgatory". A special sneak peak
can only be seen at the festival! Do our self-deceptions serve us
better than we imagine? Do we have the courage to look past the simple
labels we place on others? Do we have the courage to face our inner
demons? Written and Directed by musician Jason Armstrong (Uneven
Ground), this film explores those questions and more in the
character-rich story about love, regret, fear, and the lies we tell
ourselves.

Official Site:www.48hoursinpurgatory.com
Facebook Group:http://tinyurl.com/mwuvl9

8:15PM - "Stripped!" Dir. Mike Klassen

Short Synopsis:"Stripped!" is an old school romp in the genre of
grind-house. The film follows the exploits of two sisters who
baby-sit for money and kick a whole lot of ass in their spare time.
It’s all here; Girls, Guns and Guts and for the very first time an
extra 5 minutes was added in this Un-Cut version of the film never
before seen!

Trailer:http://tinyurl.com/ldpmgw
Actor Promotions:
http://tinyurl.com/kpy8a5
http://tinyurl.com/lylzkk

8:30PM - BREAK

8:45PM - Zombie Girl: The Movie Directors - Justin Johnson, Aaron
Marshall & Erik Mauk

Short Synopsis: Presented at this years "Hot Docs" in Toronto, Zombie
Girl won over audiences again and again. The film is a feature length
documentary that follows a very unique subject. Emily Hagins is making
a zombie movie. It’s feature-length, it’s bloody, and the zombies
don’t run. Just like it should be. But there’s just one difference
between her film and every other zombie movie you’ve ever seen. Emily
is twelve.

Official Site:www.zombiegirlthemovie.com
Facebook Group:http://tinyurl.com/kjhqd6

10:15PM - Question and Answer period with Director Justin Johnson.

10:30PM - WRAP

Special Guests:

The web-zine, always current and entertainingtheoffline.comwill add
all the comedy this festival can handle! Started by Sheridan Media
Arts grads as a way to post their work, this site has grown to a
strong online community of fans and film makers alike. The site not
only does short films but also music and movie reviews, podcasts,
interviews with musicians like Thrice and tons more. They just
finished an episode of the new series "whatever."
which you can check out here:http://tinyurl.com/mqvqvz. Their
official site is:theoffline.com.

You can add them on Facebook here:
http://tinyurl.com/l8vjrg

and check them out on Twitter here:
http://twitter.com/theoffline.

Dion Conflict will also be a guest at this year's Toronto Scream Fest.
He most recently held the Shock and Awe All-Night Grind-house Festival
at Fox Theatre (June 13, 2009). His passion for finding and then subsequently screening
un-heard of or hard to find film gems is apparant. Traveling across the globe,
Dion shows films that sometimes havenot screened in decades and has an
impressive collection of filmprints. Check out more information on Dion and
his events at:www.dionconflict.com