VFX Secrets & Scares: 2025 International Horror & Sci-Fi Film Festival Sneak Peek!

The visual effects revolution has transformed indie horror and sci-fi filmmaking, and nowhere is this more evident than at the International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival. In this captivating conversation, we sit down with the festival's executive staff to explore how VFX has evolved throughout the festival's 20-year history.

Festival Director Monte Yazzie joins Horror Program Directors Brandon Kinchen and Danny Marianino and Sci-Fi Program Director Michael Stackpole to share their journey from film fans to festival programmers. Together, they paint a fascinating picture of how technological democratization has empowered creators to achieve Hollywood-quality effects on shoestring budgets.

"There's everything before Texas Chainsaw Massacre and everything after," explains Yazzie, highlighting how landmark films transformed what's possible in indie horror. Today's filmmakers build on this legacy, combining practical effects with digital wizardry to create seamless illusions that were once the domain of major studios alone.

The team reveals their programming philosophy, describing it as crafting "the perfect mixtape" of films that take audiences on an emotional journey. They discuss standout submissions for the 2025 festival, including Freaky Tales featuring Pedro Pascal, The Surfer with Nicholas Cage, and two Texas Chainsaw Massacre documentaries that explore the franchise's cultural impact.

Whether you're a filmmaker looking to incorporate VFX into your work or simply a fan of these beloved genres, this conversation offers invaluable insights into how passion, technology, and community continue to push the boundaries of independent filmmaking. Don't miss the International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival, running alongside the Phoenix Film Festival from March 27-April 6, 2025.

Transcript

Paul DeNigris: We're getting a sneak peek at the 2025 International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival and discussing how visual effects have evolved over the festival's history on this episode of VFX forgiveness.

Welcome to VFX for Indies, a podcast about the intersection of visual effects and independent filmmaking. I'm your host, Paul DeNigris, VFX artist, filmmaker, and CEO of boutique visual effects shop, Foxtrot X-Ray. With me today is the executive staff of the International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival Festival Director Monte Yazzie.

Horror program director is Brandon Kinchen and Danny Marianino and Sci-Fi program director Michael Stackpole. Welcome to the podcast gents.

Michael Stackpole: Oh, glad to be here.

Paul DeNigris: On this show. Our goal is to explore the crossover between visual effects and indie film production without going too deep into the weeds of Tech Talk.

If you like what we're doing here, please like and subscribe to stay updated as we release new episodes, and you can find our back catalog at vfxforindies.com. As I mentioned, these gentlemen are the executive staff of the International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival. The horror Sci-fi film Festival is a program of the 5 0 1 C3 non-profit Phoenix Film Foundation.

It's a sibling of the Phoenix Film Festival, the Phoenix Film Society, IFP Phoenix, the Peoria Film Fest, the Arizona Student Film Festival, and the Phoenix Critics Circle. Horror Sci-Fi Film Festival has been running since 2005 and this year runs alongside the Phoenix Film Festival's 25th anniversary edition.

From March 27th through April 6th, 2025. Before we talk about the festival and the films, I want to ask each of my guests to introduce themselves, guys, tell the audience who you are, what you do, and how you came to be involved with the International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival.

Danny Marianino: Well, I could start, uh, uh, I thought, I think Stackpole is probably the oldest veteran, uh, in the mix here.

Um, I, uh, me and Brandon actually, uh,

Brandon Kinchen: yeah, our stories are gonna be the same. So it's gonna be the same story.

Danny Marianino: Yeah. So, so we, um, we had a website here in town years ago called, it Blows my, uh, not blows my mind. What was it called? Uh,

Brandon Kinchen: I can Smell your Brains.

Danny Marianino: ICanSmellYourBrains.com. And we were, this was back when, um,

Brandon Kinchen: 20 years ago.

Danny Marianino: Yeah. Brian Polito actually was the festival director and we, uh, we were pre kind of pre-screening guys, uh, for the short films in the feature films at the time. And then. Uh, that was like maybe 2007.

Brandon Kinchen: That was the first year. And I think we came on like the second year as like sponsors.

Danny Marianino: Yeah. And then the third year we actually came in, uh, uh, 'cause Brian Polito left and, uh, our friend Andrea came in and she was the, uh, horror director.

And we started doing the, uh, I started doing the shorts one year. Brandon started doing the full feature films. It was after he had a fire in his house.

Brandon Kinchen: We were, we did 'em together for, for a couple years. And then you had the fire. Yep. And you, you had a lot of shit going on. So I'm like, I'll take the features.

You do the shorts, and we just kept it that way from there on out.

Danny Marianino: Yep. Well, and then Andrea left and Monte came in and we've been. I guess we've been doing it almost 20 years now from, uh, I think it's the 15th year of the Horror sci-fi. I feel like it's longer, but it feels like longer.

Brandon Kinchen: I'll tell you that it feels like forever.

Paul DeNigris: On the website, it said it goes back to 2005, but that didn't seem right to me. I, I, and I'm not sure if maybe it, it ran sporadically during the first few years. Yeah,

Michael Stackpole: it, it was there since 2005. It's been there every year. The, um, I think it was for the first six years, it was independent and done in October.

Right. And then we jumped over and became part of the Phoenix Film Festival co-located and everything like that. Um, I started with Brian, uh, back when it was proposed. Uh, Brian and I were doing scripts together, and, uh, one day he said, uh, Hey, we're doing this film festival. I want you to be the science fiction guy, and knowing no better.

I said, sure. Uh, so, uh, you know, I've been the, uh, I've been programming both the sci-fi shorts and the sci-fi features, uh, for the, for the life of the, uh. Uh, the festival.

Paul DeNigris: Right on. Just to give some, some background, Brian Polito, uh, is a, is an Arizona guy as well, comic book creator, uh, most famously known for Lady Death.

Is that correct? Yep, yep, yep. Yeah. Uh, and also a filmmaker, um, who I think some of my back when I was teaching, I think some of my students worked on a couple of films that he shot here in, uh, in Arizona, uh, that some, some of our mutual friends, uh, produced. Um, Michael, you've also got a lot of serious sci-fi bonafides, which I want to, I want to hear about.

But, but before we do, let's, let's hear from Monte. How'd you get involved with this, uh, with this organization?

Monte Yazzie: You know, I was watching, uh, all of these, these programmers, uh, films from the audience. 'cause I've been going since 2005. So I've been in, I started as an attendee for, uh, man, almost 10 years, nine, almost 11 years.

And then in 2016, or I think 2015, somewhere around there. Um, Andrea left and, uh, she, uh, had, you know, I had, I had been going so much by that time that she kind of came through and said, you know, Hey, is this something that you think you might wanna do? And, you know, I was like, I'd love to do it.

It'd be a dream to do it. I, I'd love this festival. And, uh, you know, Jason and everybody else kind of got on board and, you know, I was asked to, to kind of come on board and help out. And, you know, I, uh, I often tell people, they'll say, you know, why, why has it lasted so long? And I said, it lasts so long, not because of leadership, but because of the great people that program the, the, the, the films we have here.

So, you know, Brandon, Danny and Michael, they are, they are the, uh, experts in terms of what is gonna play well and what's gonna be really great in the festival. And, you know, I, I trust their, their judgment and everything very, uh, very, you know. A hundred percent. There's no, I, I'm always excited to see what they program and you know, sometimes I like to be surprised as well too.

I'll just show up and sit in the audience and watch what they program. So, um, but it is that, it is that balance, I think of a, you know, understanding. Like, you know, there's a reason why we've lasted so long and why we have been so successful and, you know, and you can attribute that to the people that are, have been with the program for as long as they have.

Paul DeNigris: Absolutely. I mean, every, every year the festival is a celebration of these genres, and it's obvious that the folks that. Pick the films program, the, the, the blocks that it's obvious. You guys love these genres, right? Mm-hmm. Which is, which is the secret ingredient. Absolutely right. The Phoenix Film Festival has lasted as long as it has because those folks love film.

International horror sci-fi has lasted this long 'cause you guys love horror and sci-fi. Uh, Michael, uh, you, you, I think you gave yourself short shrift in your, in your intro. Um, just tell the audience a little bit about, uh, about your history with the sci-fi genre and, uh, and why you were the obvious choice when, uh, when Brian Polito tapped you to, to, uh, join the festival.

Michael Stackpole: Yeah. I, I, uh, my, my day job is, uh, writing science fiction and fantasy. Um, I started out as a game designer and computer game designer, and then, uh, in the eighties, uh, moved into, uh, doing novels. Um, and I was very fortunate in, uh, 96, 97 got to write in the, uh, star Wars franchise. And so I've done nine novels there.

All of those hit the New York Times bestseller list. And uh, you know, that kind of puts me in a position of, um, uh, it makes it look like I know what I'm doing, uh, which is, which is really kind of important.

Paul DeNigris: Appearance is everything in this business, right? Yeah, no, Michael does actually really, really genuinely know what he's doing.

And, and, and again, loves sci-fi. Thanks. And, uh, and, uh, and, and I enjoy, you know, when I see him at the festival every year, uh, getting to nerd out on stuff and, uh, and chatting about things like the Mandalorian and, you know, the different directions of the Stars franchise. I dunno if I should put you on the spot.

On the, uh, on the podcast, Michael, but we'll see if we have time, time towards the end. No problem. Uh, Danny, Brandon, Monte, what do you guys do as your, as your day jobs when you're not, uh, when you're not programming, uh, film festivals?

Brandon Kinchen: Well, I, myself, uh, I work for my wife currently, but I used to be in bands owned, uh, music venue in Flagstaff, and sold that during the pandemic, came back to Phoenix and, uh.

Been, uh, working for my wife in real estate, honestly, and on the side, but mostly stay at home. Dog Dad,

Danny Marianino: I, uh, I manage, uh, I work at a bank. I manage a portfolio of customers, but I also, um, I write books. I not, I'm not on New York Times Bestel. I'm, no, I'm not a stackpole level, but, uh, I, I've got about seven different books out, uh, kids books to adults, uh, humor, kind of comedy stuff.

Um, and I used to play in a, uh, kind of a popular band back in the day. Um, so once in a blue moon, I, well do something in music here and there, but, uh, you know, um, mo mostly these days, uh, working on children's books. Nice.

Paul DeNigris: Nice, Monte, how about you?

Monte Yazzie: So, my day job is, uh, I don't have, uh, as storied of a background as these fellows with the, what they've done.

My day job is, uh, I'm a public health officer for a tribal community here in Arizona. So I do a lot of work with, um, uh, health standards, uh, injury prevention, uh, emergency management and, uh, planning for a tribal communities, uh, you know, kind of increased health, uh, components as they move forward. And, uh, on top of all that, I have been heavily involved in film in Arizona for a very, very long time.

So I'm the president of the Phoenix Critic Circle right now, uh, which is our local film Critics Society here in Arizona. And, um, you know, we have, uh, a wide range of members who are all local, who write consistently or do podcasts consistently. And, you know, we, uh, we hold a pretty high standard for our, uh, our group of esteemed writers.

Um, I've been part of that organization since it was founded about, you know, I think like nine years ago now. And, uh, on top of that, I, uh, have dabbled in filmmaking for a very, very long time, and only recently have, uh, had the opportunity to, uh, produce my first feature film. Uh, it's called The Dead Thing.

It's on shutter AMC networks right now. You can stream it right now if you like to. And, uh, but that was a labor of love. Uh, shot it in 2022 during right at the end of the pandemic and, uh, well, right at, right when we were coming out of the pandemic. But we, um, we're, we're doing a lot of work back then, and it took two years to finish up and get it out to the masses.

But it's been pretty amazing to see the success that it's had and, you know, the, the word of mouth that it's achieved. And, you know, I've been a shutter subscriber since day one. So the fact that, you know, I have a movie that has my name on it and my participation in some way, shape, or form on it is, uh, is pretty amazing.

So I keep telling, I tell people this, I don't want to pinch myself because I'm worried I'm gonna wake up college kid wondering how I'm gonna make my first short film.

Danny Marianino: I actually finally watched it last night.

Monte Yazzie: Oh hey, nice.

Danny Marianino: Me and me and, uh, Jay photos, uh, who caught it over some cigars in the backyard. It was awesome.

Monte Yazzie: Did you see me at my cameo? Did you see my cameo?

Danny Marianino: I didn't catch a cameo by you in it.

Monte Yazzie: I'm playing pool in the background of one of the scenes.

Danny Marianino: I'm gonna have to go back and look at it. Yeah.

Paul DeNigris: Very cool. Congrats, Monte. Thank you. I'll have to catch up with that as well. I don't think I, I have every streaming service known to man, but I don't think I have shutter.

Yeah. So

I'll have to check that out. Uh, and you know, this is one of the things I love about, uh, about film festivals in general and the Phoenix Film Festival in particular is, um, there's a community that's built around this organization that is unified by this love for film. And you've got people from all different walks of life, all different experiences there.

You know, people who, like myself, work in the industry. I. All the time. And then people who have jobs that are not related to the, to film, uh, but they, they dedicate their time as volunteers because, you know, none of, no nobody's getting paid to, to run a film festival, really. Um, you're doing it 'cause you love it, right?

You're doing it because this is my community, this is my genre, this is, this is what I wanna do to celebrate my love of these things and, and join with the community. And that's what makes it awesome. Uh, and that's why I look so forward to the Phoenix Film Festival and, and horror sci-fi film festival every year.

It's like, uh, it's like homecoming. It's, it's like a family reunion. You know? You get to hang out with people. You don't, I don't see Michael Stackpole, you know, regularly. We don't run in the same social circles, but. I see 'em, we share a drink. We, we chat about, uh, we chat about sci-fi. I see Monte and we chat about pizza and, uh, and all sorts of things, right?

And, uh, and it's because of the, the, our mutual love of film that brings us together. So it's, uh, it's pretty magical. If you haven't been to a film festival, uh, I, my listeners out there, if you haven't been to a film festival, find one near you and go, and you will, you will realize this is, these are my people.

This is who I'm supposed to, to hang out with. So obviously this is a visual effects podcast. So I want to talk about what you guys have seen in terms of v uh, VFX, visual effects, special effects, any sort of effects work over your years of watching movies for the festivals. Both, both the films that you've accepted and the ones that you didn't.

Both horror and sci-fi genres can really heavily rely on effects work both in camera, special effects and post-production visual effects. And obviously there's always exceptions. I can think of Primer as a good example of a sci-fi movie that just didn't rely on effects work at all. So tell me, what have you seen over the years?

What's worked and what didn't work?

Danny Marianino: Well, I'm gonna say first off, everything's improved greatly in the last few years. Um, you know, people were a little more practical effects on a short film, uh, at least, you know, uh, for horror stuff. But, uh, you know, I, I've seen it, it get better and better and better through the years.

And sometimes you sit back and you say to yourself, wow, this is short film, and this guy was able to pull this off visually. Uh, with probably a budget to feed his crew at, uh, Denny's, you know, so, uh, I it's been, it's really been, uh, pretty amazing to see such a change. I honestly, I think Stackpole's really got the, the biggest, uh, change in things.

'cause I mean, sci-fi, I would, it really heavily relies on effects. Uh, and I've seen, I saw his, his run last year and I was like, wow. Holy, holy shit. Can I say shit? Uh, I guess I could already, fuck. You can. Alright, cool. Yeah, I was like, I, I was like, wow, man. Like, like people are really, they're, they're getting, technology is either getting easier to use or people are just getting better at it.

Michael Stackpole: Yeah. I mean it, that's very, very true. I, down through the years, uh, the effects have gotten so much better and, and it seems that. People are a lot more comfortable working with, uh, working with effects. And it, it makes it really, really important because, um, years ago you would have people that had perfected an effect and then would try and build a story around it, and, and it wouldn't, it just wouldn't be there.

I mean, they'd have a, they'd have a 10 minute short and five minutes of it was the effect. And then they didn't really do anything with the other, with the other five minutes. And so it didn't really hold together as a story. Um, but now, because the, that world of possibilities is so opened up, uh, they're able to have their really good story and go, and then I put this effect in here and I put this effect in here, and it really feels kind of organic to the stories.

Whereas before it was just a, it was just tacked on.

Brandon Kinchen: Yeah, and I, I've seen it, it's run the gamut over the years. I, I could say, I mean anything from more like Troma esque effects, you know, where it's just kind of just splattery all over the place to stuff. It looks like it may have been done with an iPhone as like, just as a standard pushing effect.

But for a lot of stuff, when we get some of these films early and they're, they can be pre effects that, that I'll have to watch and yeah, they'll have standin effects. So you have to, you have to kind of go with what feels like Go is gonna go along with it. 'cause you know, you may have incomplete stuff that you just have to kind of rely on how the story is going, how everything's working, maybe well, is it gonna come together when they do have that effects put in.

And, but the thing is, a lot of films don't have to worry about. Wouldn't submitting if the effects is done, because a lot of people can get around it and watch, watch it really feel how it is while they're still trying to perfect it in the end.

Monte Yazzie: You know, the program that I do is showcases. So a lot of what we see in showcase are films that have distributors or they have funding, or they have, you know, something that is giving them a little bit more of a advantage over competition films.

Um, and it's interesting to hear how filmmakers are using visual effects to add, uh, production value to their, to their films. And you know, I remember there was a, a few years ago there was this zombie apocalypse film that, that came out and, you know, the landscapes, I was like, where'd you shoot this at?

Did you shoot this in the desert? Or where'd you find that? Like that background house? And he goes, oh, it's all VFX. He goes, it's all stuff that we added. And, and you know, after it was over, we knew we wanted to have this landscape that looked like a real big, like dense desert. He goes, we didn't, we couldn't find it.

We couldn't shoot off, off of some place. So we just masked it off and shot the green screen and built it in, built in the backgrounds, and you would've never have noticed it like it was, it was so seamless in how they were able to do it. And, you know, listening to some of these filmmakers now that are coming through who are using VFX to really add like a, a, a value that they, that they can't purchase and a value that, you know, that gives their film more depth and more Dr.

Drama, um, is pretty amazing. And, you know, that even comes with like, you know, what I call like what, you know, I will always be a practical effect guy for horror films. That is what I love. But you'll see sometimes people are using blood splatters or they're using, you know, wounds and stuff to like add this drama to the scene and make it a little bit bigger.

And, you know, for the longest time when that was coming out, you know, your, your eye kind of that uncanny valley of it all, like kind of sees. You know, all that didn't look like, that's not how blood moves or that's not how fluid moves. And now like it, people are getting better and better and better if the colors getting better, the, the, the look is getting better and it, it's just, it's pretty amazing.

Like you, you start to see it now. And now, now I think in the last probably five years, I will watch a film go through the credits and see like, who's their VFX coordinator, who's the guy that's doing it just to see, oh, I wonder if they even put some in here, if they even thought about that. And I think about like, even for the dead thing as well too.

Like our mobile app that we have in the film is actually not shot on the, on our app. It's actually green screened out and we built it in over top of it. And we were so worried about how that would look because we were like, it, you know, it, it, it might not track. Right. You know, we weren't even sure if we were shooting with the right color green at the time and before you knew it.

Like you see it on screen and you're, it's so seamless. And the guy who did our VFX was like, I. Oh yeah. It wasn't that hard. Like he, he was so calm about it. Like, we were like, oh, these, this is why these people get, get these jobs because they don't make it stressful at all. And we were stressed. I remember on set we were stressed.

We were like, oh, we aren't doing it right. We aren't sure what's going on. And then he just looks and he goes, oh, you guys got it all. We're good. Don't worry about it. And I'm like, maybe the thumb, 'cause the girl had to swipe on the, on the screen. So maybe the thumb's gonna get into it. It's gonna be an issue.

No, no problem at all. It looked perfect. I, I personally saw it last night, so.

Danny Marianino: Yeah. It's funny. You know, you're right. You said something that, uh, really makes a lot of sense there. I think we've all gotten a little bit more used to it as well. Because I remember when Spartacus came out the Showtime show.

Mm-hmm. And my dad was all about it. He was like, you gotta watch your show. Sparta, Gus and I put on the first episode and I'm like, this is all like digital bullshit blood. Like this is, there's nothing practical about how could you like this, like a cartoon fucking show. And, you know, then I continue watching it a little bit, and I got into season episode three was awesome, and then I'm like, I'm hooked.

But now I don't think twice about that. I mean, you know, uh, we mentioned Mandalorian earlier. Mm-hmm. I, I, I, I forgot that Mandalorian three came out and I never went back and watched it. So I, I literally started watching it like the last couple days. And I was thinking about it last night, like, how incredible this like dinosaur or bird thing that flew in that grabbed a little, uh, training, uh, kid from, uh, you know, the, the mandalorians, it took him off.

This thing looked incredible. I mean, it looked like it was real. Uh, the days of things looking a little shoddy in the background, you know, uh, it's really gotten absolutely incredible. And, and some of our independent filmmakers, uh. Have kind of tapped into this market and it's, it, it, it's, I'm seeing stuff that, that I'm just like, you know, even sometimes the story may not be that good, but he pulled off something and I'm like, do I put this in there because it deserves for this effect, deserves it?

Or an independent guy? Or do I, eh, the story's not that good. Sometimes I gotta flip that coin around.

Michael Stackpole: But I think you point out something which is really, really important. Yeah, the tools are getting better, but also what people are willing to accept when they use those tools. And the fact that they've got a lot of experience watching what other people have done and they're able to go, okay, I didn't like how they did it, so I'm gonna do it just this way, just a little bit more.

And everybody keeps refining the, their techniques and, and you know, the other filmmakers see that, they learn from it. And so it, there's just sort of an exhilaration, uh, of, of competence as, as you get this feedback built into the system.

Brandon Kinchen: Yeah. And like I was a few years ago, uh, we, the void was submitted. I don't know if you've seen the void.

It was probably about, probably about a decade ago. It actually got picked up for distribution before it could be in the festival. So it actually got pushed out. But I was blown away by the, the use of both practical and digital effects in it. They did such a good job of marrying the two together, together.

I was so stoked. I'm like, how, how they were able to do that on such a small shoestring budget was, was incredible. So, and that one was one that really stood out. It was unfortunate we couldn't actually show it at the end, but it was, there's there's several examples like that.

Paul DeNigris: Yeah. I mean, anytime that you can marry practical and digital together, that's, that's the sweet spot.

Right. You know, I always look at, uh, Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings versus his Hobbit movies. Right. Hobbit leaned way too heavily on digital, whereas Lord of the Rings trilogy, it was practical, it was digital. It was, it was. Small people in wigs. It was digital compositing to make Elijah Wood small. It was, you know, a CG creature in a miniature environment that was sculpted.

It was all of these different, different effects combined together to create this illusion of reality. Yeah.

Do you guys think that the increase and improvement in effects that you've seen over the years, do you think it's driven by technology? Is it driven by what I call YouTube film school, where there's a tutorial for everything?

Or is it just driven by filmmaker passion?

Brandon Kinchen: Well, probably a little bit of both, and it's the accessibility to it. You know, just be able to have access to the tools and know how to use them in a way that. You know, you can look up on YouTube how to do basically anything anymore. So if you wanna do something, you can get an idea of how to do it.

So there is some of that. I think that has helped drastically, and especially for people that were maybe afraid to get their feet wet to begin with. They know, okay, maybe I can give this a try and do it, instead of just going, you know what? I throw their hands over the head like, this is something we can't even attempt to do.

So I think it gives people more creative leeway to try and get to the places they're trying to go and they may have more of a, more of a pathway to do.

Danny Marianino: So everything is gonna evolve. Even like playing in a band and going into a recording studio with an engineer and a guy and he's doing the recording for you and he's an expert and he knows what he's doing.

You're gonna find that kid that figures out how to do that technology at home. He's gonna record his own album at home. He's gonna record his own guitar parts right into his, right into his computer and do it all like that and, and do it on his own. And. I, I'm one of those guys that still feels the need to find the expert to do things.

Uh, I, I like to try to figure some things out, but I really believe that somebody that is a master in their craft and does what they do for a living is gonna do it better than me trying to do it. But, you know, with technology today, you can learn how to do shit on your own. You can figure it out, and you can, if you find the right tools, as my father would say, it's the tools that make demand.

Uh, if you find the right tools and you learn how to do those tools, you could do a lot of it at home. I, I personally am a bigger, you know, Phil Tippet guy. You know, I, I, I, you know, I like the practical effects. The Ray Harryhausen moving the Medusa or the, uh, you know, the Cyclops a little bit, and I. I still love when I watch robocop and I see ED 2 0 9 come on stage and it's that wonky, you know, claymation, uh, thing versus, versus seeing, uh, something today that maybe is not.

But I, listen, I appreciate the, the work that goes into digitally making, you know, some of that stuff as well. I mean, it's, it's pretty incredible.

Michael Stackpole: I think, I think one other aspect involving the technology, um, yeah, you can go to YouTube and see how to do stuff, but then on the back end of, of pretty much any YouTube program, you know, there's always an invitation to go to their Discord, you know, where you're meeting other filmmakers that are doing the same sort of thing.

I mean, I see it with, with writers groups all over the place so that, you know, it, there's, there's this ability to reach out to people on a very informal one-on-one basis where they're all being treated as, Hey, we're all the same. Uh, and yeah, this is how I did this. You wanna look for this, this is the filter you want to use.

Um, and I think that that, uh, ability to share that information back and forth, democratizes everything and ends up raising the, um, raising the level of quality. I. Uh, just 'cause now everybody's starting from the same foundation. You know, it's not that, you know, back in the olden days, uh, you know, you'd have to go to Hollywood and you'd have to apprentice out there for 10 years before you, you'd have access to some of this stuff.

But now it's, you know, Hey, yeah, you're having fun doing this. So am I. You ought to try this. You'll be, it'll blow your mind.

Monte Yazzie: You know, I like to think too that there's a part of the idea that filmmakers' visions are just getting more and more passionate, right? They're, they wanna see things, uh, that they haven't seen before, which is making the developers, the programmers, the people that are doing the work, have to learn more and more aggressively and think bigger.

And, you know, you think back to like, you know what, um, James Cameron was doing on Terminator two, you know, with, you know, fluid liquid effects and like, how, like even that looked amazing. I still go back and watch that movie and I'm like, that's really good. That's really, really good.

Danny Marianino: And then you see, I just watched the Abyss like a month ago.

I seen that in years. Yeah. Talk about Oh, incredible. Yeah. And you know, like,

Monte Yazzie: you know that that's, that's where I think you also get that piece as well too. It's just the demand from filmmakers who are trying to make something more grand. You know, you think about, you know, some of these novels now that people are like, we don't know how to make it because we just don't know how to envision it.

And now, like with technology, you know, doing leaps and bounds from when I started on a terrible videotaped camera that I was shooting stuff on, and now, you know, my cell phone has a better camera set up than anything I had just five years ago. Mm-hmm. So, you know, that's, that's amazing that how far, how fast it's come in just that time, you know, to where it was before.

And I think, you know, it comes from a pa a thing of, of necessity and passion I feel like is where it comes from.

Paul DeNigris: Yeah, for sure. Technology, um, has always been a driver of art and vice versa. You know, if you think about it, like every, when we had, I also started with the, you know, crappy VHS cameras and stuff like that.

Every button on that camera existed because some artists was like, Hey, I want to do this. Hey, I need to control this aspect. And so then the engineers would figure out how to do it, right? So technology and art have always been in this dance throughout human history. Uh, and we're seeing it accelerate because of the internet, you know, uh, like you guys are talking about the, the accessibility of information, the, uh, accessibility of here's how I did it, and then I'm happy to share my, my secrets and show you behind the curtain and all of that.

Uh, which is, which is great. And I, I imagine, uh, I don't, I don't look at tutorials for practical effects as much, you know, squibs and, and gore effects and things like that. But I imagine it's the same as, as sort of, uh, what I see in the digital effects realm where. There's a dozen new tutorials every day on YouTube by reputable folks who've done serious, you know, excellent work.

Um, so, you know, for any filmmaker starting out to me film the YouTube film School is the, is the place to start. You're gonna find you, you wanna do an effect. You saw mo an effect in a Sam Remy movie or, you know, uh, a Robert Eggers movie or, or, or a, uh, you know, an a 24 horror movie. You wanna do that effect, hit YouTube first.

How do I do this effect? You're gonna find a tutorial for it.

Danny Marianino: If you wanna do anything, hit YouTube first. I had a hard wire, a garbage disposal in my sink because it doesn't come with a plug, and I'm reading instructions, no idea how to do this. I watched the YouTube video of a guy goes, you take the kit, you buy the wire kit, you do this plug.

I did it. Yeah. Yep. Yeah. So that same thing applies to, and I'm not handy, I promise you at all.

Paul DeNigris: He's not. Yep. Well, you're brave. Plumbing and electrical is where I draw the line. I could, I could swing a hammer, but don't ask me to fix anything that, uh, that, that doesn't just automatically come with a plug and, and I don't want to touch water at all now.

Forget it. So, question for, uh, for Brandon and Danny. What do you guys look for in selecting films for the horror portion of the festival? Are there specific themes or stories that appeal to you or specific sub genres? Like heart can be pretty broad. There's, you know, supernatural horror, there's slasher heart, you know, what are, what are the things that grab you when you're looking at, at, uh, these films that are submitted?

Brandon Kinchen: Well, myself, I mean, I, I love the whole genre and I have a soft spot for slasher horror from the, from the eighties. That's kind of where I ground my teeth, you might say. Uh, but I mean, as far as for these, it's, I mean, I particularly myself, do not like found footage films. But even this year there's a found footage film.

If it works, it works. You know, I try to take my, some of my personal preferences and maybe some of my things that I don't like and put 'em aside when I watch it and go, what is gonna work for an audience? For one. And sometimes there'll be, you know, some years there's six found footage films. Some years there's nine zombie films and you, nobody wants all, you know, I get three films.

You don't want all three of 'em to be a zombie film. So you go, alright, this is the best zombie film, this is the best one of this genre. And these will all kind of fit together to be an interesting spectrum. You know, you don't want all horror comedies, you don't want all vampire films, but you, so you go, you want to kind of.

When I, when I'm doing it, I want to kind of run a, a variety and not just be too pigeonholed in like one different area.

Danny Marianino: Yeah. You know, um, every year it seems to be, there's a certain theme going on and maybe it's just a theme of society or whatever it is. Mm-hmm. But like this year was a lot of ghost stuff that I got last year was a lot of women empowerment things that I had.

Uh, the pandemic years, you really saw that pandemic years was a lot of covid short films. Yeah. You know, I, I, I, I, when I watch the short films, I watch them over and over and over and I start to grade them in A, B, C, and then I go back and watch the A's and the B's and I go back and watch the A's and I make notes and, and I literally try to put together, it's like listening to a mix tape.

I. So, you know, you, you got the song that comes in, the first song of the album has gotta be nuts. And then it, it's, you got a good solid song and then the next song could be a little slower. And, and I, and I watch, once I put the list together of what I like, I start to watch them in order. Now I don't watch the whole thing over and over the, from start to finish, but I get the feel and to try to put it together in a, in a way where that mix tape flows well.

Um, one thing I, I, I. We get a lot of zombie stuff, and I try not to do too much zombie stuff. It's not that I don't like zombie stuff. I mean, you can see over that shoulder that's a dawn of the dead poster, you know, signed by Ken Foray back there. I'm a, I'm a big zombie fan. It's just, I feel like some of the zombie film, short films, it's just like they, it's like they called it in and just did it and we made a short film.

It's a zombie, you know, unless there's, unless there's something like a little bit more extraordinary, unique about the story that may grab me, uh, I, my, I really like, I'm a humor horror guy, you know, from, from the Evil Dead to, uh, you know, slither, uh, to, to even, uh, you know, Frank Lauder's stuff like, uh, basket Case and, and Franken Hooker.

I mean, I, I, I, so I like to mix a little bit of that into it as well, because I think if you've got too much horrific gore and blood and Guts. The average person isn't gonna wanna sit there and just watch that over and over. So I try to mix some of the comedy stuff in the middle of it, just to kind of bring you up and down, up and down a little bit of a rollercoaster, you know, with the, with the short films that got more leeway to kind of play than, uh, Brandon does.

'cause Brandon, if you got three movies, you got three movies, that's it. That's the end of the story. I have, uh, you know, maybe eight, 15 short films between two horror segments to put together a horror A and a horror B to really kind of get a good feel and that flow. And I have only had one or two movies, the short films have to come out of the festival for maybe they got picked up to make a feature film or something happened.

Brandon, I know you've lost a few here and there, like the volume

Brandon Kinchen: one. Yeah. Yeah. But I think almost every year what, what, at least by the, the, the winner usually gets picked up. I think every, we have a very good track rate of our films getting distribution that had been in the festival. It's, it's been, it's been very, yeah, yeah.

Like that

Danny Marianino: death metal horror movie. Uh, that was a selection one year, and I think they made a second one finally. That one. Uh, a lot of the, a lot of the ones he picks ends up getting picked up for sure.

Brandon Kinchen: Yeah. We've had, we've had really good luck with it. It's been really cool. And meeting filmmakers that were very small that are now, that have blown up.

You know, it's, it's, it's, it's crazy, you know?

Paul DeNigris: Yeah. That's also one of the exciting things about film festivals is you never know. You never know when the director whose hand you shake after the q and a is gonna blow up and be the next, the next big thing. And it's kind of neat to, uh, to see them at, at sort of that ground floor of their career.

Um, it sounds to me like. You guys put a lot of thought into how you program your films, which is great. And, and it's one thing that I don't think enough independent filmmakers realize. A lot of filmmakers, when they submit to festivals, when they get rejected, they think it's a statement about the quality of their film, or they think it's, uh, a statement about, you know, the politics of the film festival or, or that they didn't have an inside connection or anything.

But it's a lot more, it's, it's a lot more nuanced than that, right? It's absolutely, as you say, absolutely. Yeah. You're trying to program an experience. Um, you know, when I was making films, uh, before I shifted fully into VFX, one time, one and only time I got a, a, a, a letter, a handwritten letter from a festival programming committee that said, we loved your movie, we just couldn't fit it.

Danny Marianino: That's happened too.

Paul DeNigris: Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. There's plenty times where, where I'm sure you guys love a movie, but it's like, uh, like you said, I can't program three zombie horror movies, so I gotta pick the best one, even though I love these other two. Yeah.

Brandon Kinchen: Like when I, what I submit, I have like three, and for each of those films, there's an alternate.

So if this film doesn't make it, then this film needs to be the next one in line. Whether, but it, not if, but it goes by, if this film, then this film not, you know, a list that if what any one of these, this is the next one. But I very particular, but if this film can't make it, then this is the next film. If this one can't, then this one.

So, I mean, you have to really think about what's, because I mean, films get picked up. I mean, it happens almost every year. One of mine is gonna get picked up and it can't be shown. So you gotta, you gotta expect that. You have to anticipate it.

Paul DeNigris: Yeah. No, that's great. Michael, let's, let's turn to you on the sci-fi side of the festival.

You know, what guides you in selecting films? What, uh, what's your process? Uh, you know, what are the things that get you fired up when you're, when you're putting together a program?

Michael Stackpole: So, what I look for, um, especially in the features, uh, because it's, you're gonna have a long time commitment. Um, first thing I look for is, are there characters that are interesting?

Are these, are these characters I wanna spend time with? Uh, because if they're not, you know, then I really, the SFX budget and, and what they do really doesn't matter. And the second thing is, is this really science fiction? You know, does the technology you're representing does, does whatever the story is have something to do with science and, and how science is gonna help resolve the problem?

I mean, the, the classic sort of science fiction, uh, what separates classic science fiction from just the, the stories that would appear in Saturday evening post. Um, you know, it's gotta have that, that unreal element, uh, that works into it. Um, and then after that, if you've got good characters, if the acting's good, I mean, all of us are gonna be looking for, for good acting, and that's, that's part of it.

But if the story is good and the characters are good, then it comes down to the quality of that filmmaking. Uh, and so those are the, the main things that I look at, um, when it comes to the short films. Um, I. Exactly what Danny was saying. You know, you're looking for these films and it's, uh, to my mind it's, it's like, uh, curating an anthology of fiction.

You know, you're looking for all of these stories and you're gonna put 'em in a way that, uh, when the, the people go in that that first film is gonna hit them and sit there and go, they're gonna go, wow. And then you take 'em through that rollercoaster and, and hopefully that last film going out leaves them with another wow.

Uh, so, you know, they're looking at this whole package and saying, that was very cool. And because I have an A program and a b program, uh, my, a program is, is generally my, uh. Science fiction, you know, catchall basket. I sort of want, you know, if I can, if there's a cartoon, great. I want that to be in there. If there's a, you know, a star trekky kind of, you know, organized exploring picture, that's great.

If there's, you know, a, a nerd out on the web, that's great. Anything that would fit science fiction that will go into that. And then in other, um, in the other program, uh, as, as they were saying, there tend to be themes and so you're watching these films and there will be just a theme that that absolutely lines itself up.

And so you try and put all of those in there. You know, this year for me, the B program was my international program. Because we just, there were tons of films that came in from, from outta the United States, and it was, they were really, really good and they all just lined up really, really nicely. And going to a point that was, that was made earlier, one of the films that made it into that, uh, international program, uh, this year had been submitted two years previous.

And I hadn't been able to use it. And it wasn't, 'cause it was a bad film, it, it just didn't fit into any program. But, you know, this year it was like, oh, okay, you know it, now, now we've got something where we can accommodate this. And, and so yeah. Absolutely. You know, it's, it's, again, as a writer, I've gotten my share of rejection slips and you always do think, you know horrible things of, oh my God, they hated it.

I'm an awful person. And it's like, no, no, you know, loved your film. You did great things. You just weren't quite there yet. You know, the competition was fierce this year, you know, so, sorry, try again. Yeah. You know,

Danny Marianino: there was a short film a few years ago that I really wanted and, uh, it just, it was a little long and I just didn't fit.

I couldn't get it in either programs and I hit up Jason the next year, ask them to resubmit because I really wanna show this movie. This is the movie. I don't know whatever happened with that, but, uh, maybe they just were like, eh, I'm not resubmitting to this guy again. But I really wanted to show it. It just was a little long that year and it stuck with me.

It was like. It was like a black and white, it looked like king Diamond's, uh, uh, video for, um, sleepless nights in the graveyard. And it was all black and white and dark, and it was just, it was awesome. Uh, but sometimes, you know, you get a short film that's 35 minutes, 40 minutes. You, I mean, you're, I'm gonna, yeah, if you're gonna make a short film, make a short film, you know, yeah.

I'm gonna have to cut a lot of other people out that maybe make some really good films to fit that. And I think this year I got a, I think I've got one that's 24, 25 minutes. I liked it, it was really done well. But it definitely takes down the fact that I, you know, I could have fit maybe three or four more, five to seven minute short films that were really good.

But this guy's, 25 minute one was just, just, it was worth putting it into the mix, you know, uh, for at least 25.

Michael Stackpole: Yeah. If, if you're doing a short film in, in, in my Mind every second over 12 minutes, that film better be getting better and better and better. Yeah. Because otherwise, you know, you're, you, you are really hard to fit into a, I mean, we'd like what, eight films in a short program if you can do that.

I mean, we, we, our program's supposed to be 80, 90 minutes, so, you know, just as many films as you can get in, it'd be great. So

Danny Marianino: yeah, you're gonna lose people on that in God de drum solo just sitting there having a listen. Is this guy still playing the fucking drums already? Come on. You know,

Paul DeNigris: that's a great analogy.

Yeah.

Monte, anything you want to add as a, as a, you know, an overarching, uh, thought about programming or, or selecting movies or, or any of the stuff that these guys have talked about? I.

Monte Yazzie: So first and foremost, um, I work with a lot of other festivals and you know, my film toured a bunch of festivals this year.

You know, I, I love what just happened this last 10 minutes of conversation because this is why we have programmers who've been here for 20 years because they think about the films the way they do. And not saying that other film programmers don't do this, but there's a reason why these guys are doing it.

It's because they put so much thought into it. They put so much attention into it and, you know, the, you can feel how all three of them have kind of different feelings and ideas about what their program's gonna be. But that's what makes 'em so great. And that's why, you know, when we do come to the festival, I, I am, I'm oftentimes telling people, I say, oh, you got an open spot here in your schedule.

Here's horror shorts. A here's sci-fi B, here's a, here's a horror feature. Go watch 'em because I guarantee you, you're gonna get something that you haven't seen before. Something that is unique. Because that's what our programmers do. You know, for showcase films, it's a little different. You know, we're kind of at the, um, at the, at the beck and call of the distributor.

So, um, a lot of times these films have found distribution already, or they're on the festival circuit already looking for distribution. Um, so working with them, sometimes we, there's big asks. We have films that we really, really want that, you know, they aren't doing anybody that isn't South by Southwest or Sundance or one of the big, big major horror, horror, uh, festivals out there.

So, you know, we're constantly competing against those places. And, um, you know, this year we are, we, we have some crazy films that we were able to get, you know, freaky Tales with, uh, the Mandalorian. We got the surfer with Nick Cage. Um, you know, these big, big movies that are coming are already have major distribution and we, we have them in our program this year.

That's usually how it goes. We have these very big, well-known films and then, and you'll get something. Smaller, like, uh, you'll get something like, um, dead Lover, which is a small little indie. Um, and it's completely different than every other film. So yeah, I think that's where I, that's why I love, you know, horror sci-fi programming and the the stuff that we do is because you can get everything, you can get comedy, you can get something really dark, you can get something really unique.

You know, there's the, the, the themes and genres are so flexible, um, that you can get everything, um, out of these programs and yeah, it's, it's pretty, pretty amazing to see these all come together. Every year that I do this. I, I'm very, very, like, just blown away by how, how much better it feels like we're getting.

Right. I, I think to an extent, there's gonna be a time when I'm like, I don't know, like I, maybe this is the year that we, like, you know, it doesn't, it doesn't all work out or something like that. But I haven't gotten there yet. Every year just continues to blow me away, so, and that's the re the credit of these programmers.

Paul DeNigris: Well, that's a, uh, a perfect segue to my next question, Monte.

Let's talk about this year's festival. What films and filmmakers are you guys most excited about?

Brandon Kinchen: Well, I'm, I'm excited about my, my three films that I've got in, um, uh, McCurdy Point, uh, the Crucifix, blood of the Exorcist and Black Theta. Um, they're all three very small independent features.

Um, as far as Monte's picks, uh, there's two Texas Chainsaw Story films that I'm really interested in. And like you mentioned, the surfer. I'm really stoked to see that. Um, uh, let's see. There's, uh, Pedro Pascal horror film on that was on that list. I'm really looking forward to seeing him. Um, that looked really interesting.

Um, basically I'll go down there and I'll just. Look at the schedule and try and see as much as I can while I'm there. Because it usually, it's, if you have time, look to see what you got. And I pick a film and you go, fuck, love it. You know? It's, it's great to do it like that. So it's always fun and there's so much to do down at the festival, whether it's down in you going around looking at the, all the booths or with a silent auction, or going to the party pavilion or going to the panels.

You know, you could walk around and you go, oh shit, I need to get to a film in three minutes and run off. You know? And so there's so much to do. You feel like you're being pulled in 90 directions and that's awesome. I think that's a great aspect of the, of the festival. And I'm, I'm stoked for it.

I'm So for every year,

Danny Marianino: yeah.

I got a lot of good shorts in the mix. Um, one of them actually has C Thomas Howell, Penelope Ann Miller, and, uh, the little scrawny guy from, uh, the, the show Bookie. He was the guy that owns the, uh, the, the funeral parlor. He's in a lot outta the stuff. I think he, he was in road trip, uh. Uh, he hooked up with the girl.

Totally different sizes between the two.

Uh, there's stuff that's everything from witches to, uh, uh, a, a guy that works for like a UPS company who's gotta deliver body parts, um, to, there's one that I really liked called Porcelain that was, uh, almost like Ermo de Toro made the movie and then, uh, said, I'm gonna give it to another guy and put his name on it.

Uh, it, it really had a, a, a really cool feel with this, this guy that lives in this gothic castle and this kid, uh, shows up and jumps over the wall and he's got all these robots working for him that he's created. It really, you know, it's just a, it's a good mix of stuff. Me and Brandon are also hosting, uh, Jesse James meets Frankenstein's daughter.

Brandon Kinchen: Yeah, sounds like a mystery of science theater riff commentary thing. So this is the first time we've done this, so, yep. Looking forward

Danny Marianino: April 5th, uh, we're doing that. Uh, and it's not his daughter, by the way. It's his fucking granddaughter. Okay. Make a title like that. Two minutes into it, it says his grandfather did.

I'm like, grandfather. What the fuck? I, the title. What? I guess it just didn't ring Well, you know.

Monte Yazzie: Well, I want you to know that there's one film that I put at the top of my list for, for this, and it's these two riffing on that. I know just by being in a room with them and I, I've been in a room with them where I have done nothing but listen and laugh for like three hours straight.

So I, the only thing I asked

Brandon Kinchen: was, can we curse? 'cause if we couldn't curse, I don't think we could do it. Yeah, it's gonna be amazing. I can't wait.

Monte Yazzie: It's gonna be amazing. I bet.

Paul DeNigris: Well, I'll make sure now I have something I want to do there. So,

Mike, Michael, how about you? What, what, uh, what are you most excited about, uh, in terms of films and filmmakers? Well, again, listening to those two guys,

Michael Stackpole: I think is gonna, that's, that's really a lot of fun. Um, uh, you know, I'm really, uh, uh,

I'm really happy with the films that I've got. Uh, silent Planet is, uh, just a, a really cool science fiction film.

Two prisoners are on a planet serving out life sentences and, and just how they end up relating to each other and discovering things about themselves. You know, it's, it's, and the, it's just two really good actors, you know, in, in one place. And it's just, it's a brilliant film. Um, and I enjoyed that. And then there's another one called The Strange Dark, which is a, uh, a film about a family.

The father's made a discovery and other people want that discovery. And the funny thing about that was apparently they got picked up for another set of programs in the same festival. So there'd be plenty of opportunities, uh, to actually, uh, go ahead and see that. And again, the international program on the shorts, uh, we've got films from Malaysia, Canada, Korea, Germany, Sweden, Mexico, and Great Britain.

Uh, it just, it was just amazing watching these films come in from everywhere. Uh, and just seeing, you know, how much science fiction means to, to folks. I mean, you think of science fiction as being largely. You know, American, uh, and, uh, uh, sure it's popular in Germany and yeah, a little bit in England, but to see, you know, people coming in from all over the place is just unbelievably cool.

And I think, you know, at the festival, the other thing which I really, really enjoy, and we've, we've talked about this a little bit, um. Is getting to meet and talk with the filmmakers, getting to find out what their goals were. You know, here you've, you've chosen their films, they're in the thing, and now you get to find out, you know, what were you thinking?

You know, or, or, or, you know, in the conversation, having them, you know, say, look, I wasn't sure if this worked. What did you think? You know, and you just sort of watch this, this creative, uh, uh, creative dialogue going on where everybody is suddenly getting better or getting, getting some insights. And it really becomes kind of a, kind of a magical experience.

You know, even if you're just a fly on the wall, listening to filmmakers, talk to other filmmakers, uh, is just, it's, it's really, really cool.

Danny Marianino: I am excited to see too, it's not a horror sci-fi or anything like that, but there's a documentary on George Segal. Ah. Mm-hmm. I'm a real big fan of George Segal's stuff from St.

Valentine's Day massacre to that movie he did with Burt Reynolds. Anytime you see him in a movie, the movie did with, uh, um, uh, he found that his son was black. It was, uh, uh, what's the guy's name? Uh, from the equalizer. Uh oh. Um. Uh, depart of mental block. I met him in Italy, uh, with you. We can't help. Yeah, whatever.

Howard, you

Michael Stackpole: ever take us to Italy?

Danny Marianino: Yeah. No. No. Come on. What's the guy? Uh, hang on. Anyways. Uh. I gotta look him up now. I can't remember. I can't believe I can't remember his name. I have one of him days today. Uh, but, uh, yeah, he's just, he was a great actor. Uh, I I thought he was Denzel Washington. Come on,

Paul DeNigris: Denzel Washington.

There we go. Told the story.

Michael Stackpole: Well,

Paul DeNigris: I mean, to be fair, there's been three iterations of the equalizer. Yeah. I'm talking about,

Danny Marianino: I'm not talking about, uh, that guy, uh, the, the rapper girl. So really only now is it down to two Queen Latifah, the equalizer. There you go. Uh, but yeah, no, uh, and I was a huge fan of the Goldbergs when he was on that.

He was like one of those guys that like, seemed like he was like your old uncle that you had really love. And I guess they filmed a lot of stuff about him. They, because he had all these crazy stories. So during the Goldbergs, they were filming interviews with him and they put this, I can't wait to see it.

Brandon Kinchen: Yeah, I couldn't, I couldn't think of the name. Uh, earlier. Mike Flanagan is who I was thinking of the director that got his start at the Phoenix Film Festival, his first film in in Sia, I was the first festival he ever submitted to. First festival he got picked up, was I, I watched it, it was awesome. And he's blown up huge since then.

I can't wait to see what he does with the dark tower, you know? So it's awesome to be able to see these progressions of careers. He was such an awesome, cool guy. Very humble then. So it was, it was super awesome to do something like that.

Paul DeNigris: Yeah, I love his stuff. Uh, I'm, uh, by and large not a horror fan, but anything that Mike Flanagan does, I'm there for.

Um, and I actually, uh, I I, I was lucky enough to go to the Toronto Film Festival last year, and I stepped off the train from the airport, stepped off the train and ran into him and his wife on the street and talked to them for a bit and they were awesome. Oh, they're such lovely people. Yeah. Yeah. They're fantastic.

And, uh, the Life of Chuck, which is his film that comes out in a couple months, incredible movie and not Wow. It's got horror elements. It's, it's a, an adaptation, another Stephen King adaptation, um, which he's done several of. Uh, but it's not, it's not a, a straight horror movie. It's really wonderful.

Monte Yazzie: Cool.

Paul DeNigris: Looking forward to it. Monte, what are you, uh, what are you excited about, uh, this year's festival?

Monte Yazzie: I'm a, uh, I, I'm a, I love the movie Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and I, I often will tell people, people say, Mati, what's the, what's the best horror film ever made? And I say, it's Texas Chainsaw Massacre because there is a, everything that was before Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and there's everything after Texas Chainsaw Massacre because of how much impact that had for independent films.

Um, so we have two Texas Chainsaw Massacre themed, uh, films playing a documentary called, uh, dinner With Leatherface, which is a really heartfelt, uh, kind of, uh, story about, you know, gunner Hansen and his, uh, his, his upbringing within, within the, the leather face franchise being known as this, you know, pretty intimidating character, but being just a big softie, you know, behind the scenes, which I think if you get to know anybody who's a, a horror movie fan or horror movie lover, we might look a little rough on the outside, but I promise you we're all.

You know, a lot of us are doing pretty amazing things. I always look at these two guys, not that they look rough or anything like that, but, uh, yeah,

Paul DeNigris: I am actually for, for, for, uh, the audience members who are on audio only. Danny was just doing his best, uh, monstrous, uh, impression. My tour, my tour Johnson

Monte Yazzie: got a good one. So we got a dinner, dinner with leather face. And then we have another movie called Chain Reactions, which is a, uh, a, a breakdown of five artists who've been influenced by Texas Chainsaw Massacre, uh, Patton Oswalt's one of them, uh, Takashamieke in it.

Uh, Karen Kasama is in it as well too. Just people have been influenced by that movie, which I just found like really adorable in how, because I am very influenced by Texas Chainsaw, massacre

Freaky Tales, like we mentioned earlier with Pedro Pascal is a wild mixed tape of like. Five different genres molded into one.

All set in 1987 Oakland. Um, there's another movie we have, uh, the Surfer with Nicholas Cage, which just go watch the trailer. There's no other reason for me to explain it because once you see the trailer, you're gonna be sold.

Brandon Kinchen: Nicholas Cage. I love

Nicholas Cage.

Monte Yazzie: Yeah, we got a, uh, a really cool dystopian future film called 40 Acres, which is all about a post pandemic post, uh, post plague, uh, United States, uh, in Canada where a family is kind of living off the land, um, but are end up being hunted by cannibals.

Um, pretty great film has like, uh, uh, tones of Jordan Peele and, you know, social commentary about kind of where, where our world's at moving into the future. And, uh, lemme see. I'll give you a couple more. Um, there's a movie called, uh. Um, a desert, which is a, uh, Neil Noir horror film about a photographer who befriends, uh, two people on a road trip, and it just turns out to be just awful for him.

Uh, really great group of filmmakers. Um, really passionate filmmakers as well, too. Um, they, they just have done a really good job with this film. And then this one hasn't been seen a whole lot. I think we're like, maybe it's maybe fourth or fifth time it's being seen, but it's called Jimmy and Stiggs. Uh, Jimmy and Stiggs is a story about two best buddies who, uh, have a pretty wild night, and one of them believes that they've been kidnapped by aliens and believes that an alien invasions coming in.

So he gets his buddy to come and help him defend the world. Um, but it's, uh, directed by Joe Beos who has done. Some pretty wild out there horror films and really believes in like, practical effect goofiness. So, um, Jimmy and Siggs is gonna blow people away because it's, it's funny, it's a little different than what he's done before.

Um, and it's, uh, it's very, uh, hard edged in terms of it's, uh, it's, it's content as well too. So it's, uh, it's really good. I believe Joe is trying to be here for that screening. Um, for our major showcase films, you know, we're, we're pretty, we're pretty excited about who might show up to the film festival, so, um, just keep looking at that program, keep looking at social media.

We start doing announcements as we get a little bit closer, we'll tell you some pretty cool things that are coming up, um, uh, in terms of, uh, some guests that we'll be having as well as, uh, some cool events that will be, will be coming up as well too.

Paul DeNigris: Fantastic. Uh, can you guys think of any standout effects work?

You know, if, uh, if there's an effects fan, uh, listening or watching, you know, what, what's the, what's one or two movies that they definitely need to see?

Brandon Kinchen: The thing, just watch the thing. That's, that's

Paul DeNigris: No, no, no. I mean, in your festival.

Brandon Kinchen: Oh, in the festival. Sorry. Sorry. And overall, overall, um, and mine, Black Theta, um, it's got some really cool, very budget.

You could tell they're all done on a budget. It was, uh, it was, it's written, direct directed and starring, uh, Tim Conley, who, you know, he's did the whole thing. You could do the visual, visual effects. It's was done on a shoestring budget, but they did 'em very well, um, for very little. So it's, uh, the particular effects.

There's a lot of good blood, but it's a lot of digital blood and it works. So I would definitely check that out. As far as how to do some home spun effects on a budget, well,

Danny Marianino: I don't know if I would say anything that like, specifically really jumps out, uh, effects wise, but, uh, um, I really liked, uh, the makeup on the witches and lifeboat.

Um, they, they got these like kind of sea hag looking witches, and they're on this boat with this guy, and there's a little twist behind it, but, uh, uh, I, I, I, they got like a creature that we could see in the water that looks like a, like a kraken, you know, like you could kinda see like the, the, the tentacle.

It was, it was pretty cool. I mean, listen, it's short films. They got stuff that kind of comes in and comes out and it comes out quick and you're onto the next film. It's even hard for me to remember right now which ones that, uh, that had something that really jumped out. But, uh, um. Uh, I would say that one I really liked the, the porcelain robots.

I thought, I mean, for a short film that was pretty nuts out there. Uh, and, uh, the flying dick in the parcel, uh, gotta throw in the flying dick. There's a, there's a flying dick.

Brandon Kinchen: When there's a flying dick. You gotta look out for it.

Danny Marianino: Yeah, it's not my first dick in the short films. There was one a couple years ago, and I remember I hit up Jason, I'm like, there's a dick in this.

And he's like, well, if it's good, use it. And I was like, eh, okay, now the doors open on, on, on Dicks. I'm like, all I'll put flying. Dick.

Paul DeNigris: Michael, any, uh, any standout effects that you recommend?

Michael Stackpole: I think just Silent Planet, the way that they put together this, this. Prison world. I mean, this just world where people were in pods and, and showed the effects of them having been there for a long time.

That was very, very cool. And then in the shorts program, um, there's a film called While Some Must Sleep. And the there, the effects were used just really sparingly. But you know, little things here and there that just let you know that, you know, it's the future. This is different. Um, you know, so it's like, oh yeah, we're not, you know, we're not just in somebody's apartment anymore.

Uh, it made it very, uh, very live and very, very real.

Paul DeNigris: Monte, anything come to mind for you?

Monte Yazzie: Yeah, I got one called The Daemon, the Daemon. Um, uh, it's a, uh, lovecraftian cosmic horror film. Uh, really great special effects, really great practical effects. Really great VFX, uh, good combination of all those little pieces in there.

It's, uh, basically a, a slow burn horror film about a man who goes to a lake, kind of resolves some trauma and some things in the lake. And, uh, you take the Lovecraftian piece of it and, uh, take that wherever you want to take it and it's gonna take you there. So it's a, it's a pretty great one, uh, really good combination of a kind of everything Effects driven, um, freaky Tales, does some beautiful background effect.

Works some really great, like, uh, kind of built in designs that are really just kind of put there to kind of, uh, give a little bit more depth and drama to the atmosphere. There's some great stuff in that as well, too.

Paul DeNigris: Fantastic. Where can people find out more about the International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival?

Monte Yazzie: You can go to phoenix film festival.com. Uh, the full schedule's up there. We have, uh, what we'll be having our printed physical schedules, which is always something that everybody wants in a few, probably a week or so. Um, but right now you can look at your entire schedule. You can build your entire schedule for every day of the festival.

Um, I always tell people when they come to the film festival, go to that website. There's so much more than just movies as well too. You know, while we're there for movies, there's all these great interactive pieces. There's a lot of great parties. There's a lot of great educational elements as well too. So, you know, you don't just have to be a film lover to enjoy the film festival.

You could be a film maker, you could be just a film fan. You could just like going to a cool party. There's a lot going on. So we have a film prom, we have a lot of cool events during the week. So, um, look at the schedule. You'll find something that you'll love. The silent auction's

Danny Marianino: always awesome too. Yeah.

Mm-hmm. Yeah, just give good stuff. I got a Texas Chainsaw Massacre, uh, picture. Mm-hmm. Signed by Leatherface from part two last year.

Monte Yazzie: So I think we have, uh, I think we have one of our, uh, one of our posters this year is, has, is signed by all the leather faces. Oh, wow. Oh wow. Every leather face is written, original, mean Daniel is bending against each other on that, that has all of the leather faces have signed it.

So there, that might be cool to see.

Paul DeNigris: Very nice. And if listeners, viewers, if you've never been to the Phoenix Film Festival, um. You should know it's all happening in one place at the Scottsdale Harken. Scottsdale 1 0 1 location. The festival basically takes over half of the, the multiplex and, uh, opening weekend.

There's a big party tent out behind the theater where the silent auction will be. Industry night on, uh, on Friday night, kids' Day on Saturday during the day. Uh, film proms, Saturday night, um, panel discussions, all of that sort of stuff. Everything's central. It's all happening in one place. Um, I,

Danny Marianino: it's a great shopping center.

There's a ton of good restaurants in there. Yeah, tons of good restaurants. Trevor's is in there. I mean, the pizza, no, the cigar order a pizza have a cigar. And the cigar bar in Trevor's, you know.

Paul DeNigris: That's where we'll be. That's a good time. Yeah. I'll, I'll see you guys over at Trevor's for sure.

Danny Marianino: Trevor's is there seven times, by the way.

Trevor's got good pizza over there.

Paul DeNigris: Uh, DaPortnoyrno called rated rates at the best pizza in Arizona.

Danny Marianino: You know what it's, I I would say it's definitely, it was, I mean, what was it, 35, 40 bucks for the pizza. I think we got, it was, it wasn't cheap. Yeah. Wasn't cheap. It wasn't cheap. It wasn't cheap. But you can smoke a cigar and have

Monte Yazzie: a great old fashioned there.

Yeah. Yeah,

Paul DeNigris: we've done that several times. Yep. So in case if you haven't gotten the, the, the picture already, the film festival is just a great time all around. Um, I put everything else in my life on hold for the 11 days of the festival. I'm there as much as I possibly can be, and, uh, and I help out where I can, I'll be helping out at, uh, at Kids' Day on Saturday in, in the tent.

Uh, myself and Chris Lamont, uh, longtime friend and colleague, he and I run the, the VFX booth in the, uh, in kids' day. So we have the big green screen and kids can come and do their, their skits, uh, with costumes from Valley Youth Theater, and, um, and we put 'em in whatever background, whatever environment they want.

And it's, uh, it's a lot of fun. So if you've got kiddos who are thinking about film or just, uh, or super creative, bring 'em out to that. And that brings this episode of VFX for indies to a close. Don't forget, the International Horror Sci-Fi Film Festival runs parallel to the Phoenix Film Festival March 27th through April, April 6th, like I said, at the Harkin Scottsdale 1 0 1.

You can also see some VFX that were done by my team at Foxtrot X-Ray in two feature films at this year's Festival, Dark Side of Night, March 29th, March 31st and April 5th. That's a, uh, an Arizona made crime thriller. And the other film is Love Danielle. That's April 4th, fifth, and sixth. That's a, uh, a comedy drama about, uh, two sisters battling, uh, hereditary breast Cancer.

I know it doesn't sound funny, but it actually is. Um, and we did a. Bunch of really good, uh, invisible effects for that film. Uh, Showtime's ticket links found, as Monte said, at phoenix film festival.com. And I'll also have, uh, the links to those particular screenings on my website at uh, foxtrotxray.Com.

Thanks so much to my guests, Monte Yazzie, Brandon Kinchen, Danny Marianino, and Michael Stackpole for being here with me today. And thank you viewers for tuning into our discussion. If you enjoyed this episode, please like, follow, subscribe, leave a comment, or review all of those helpful things. Uh, help us get the word out about our show for Foxtrot X-Ray on Paul DeNigris.

Thanks so much for being part of the VFX for Indies community and I hope to see you at the film festival.