PANIC BUTTON USA VOD premiere

As reported on DreadCentral, PANIC BUTTON makes its VOD debut in the USA this month. If you live in the U.S. of A. and fancy watching four strangers being terrorised by their mysterious captor aboard a private jet plane, then read on…

From distributor Phase 4 Films:

Make sure to watch Panic Button on VOD this month!

Four young people win a trip of a lifetime to New York City. On board the private jet, they are invited to take part in the in-flight entertainment – a new online gaming experience. But this is no ordinary game. Trapped at 30,000 feet, they are forced to play for their lives and the lives of their loved ones by their mysterious captor.

This (USA) Premiere can be found exclusively on Comcast, Cablevision, Cox and Insight

Use the following mapping to find Panic Button:

Cablevision
New Releases

Comcast
Top Picks > Movie Collections > World Premieres
Movies > Movie Collections > World Premieres

Cox
Movies on Demand > Early Screening > World Premieres
Movies on Demand > New Releases

Insight
Movies > World Premieres

Enjoy the movie and as always, love to hear your comments!

Happy Birthday to me: The Stay

FEB 1st: Today is my birthday. I’ve been overwhelmed by all the well-wishes, thanks everyone. I spent a lovely morning with my family opening presents, cards and eating cake!

Then I hit the road and travelled to a cottage in deepest, darkest Gloucestershire. For today is also another birthday – the birth of my new short film ‘The Stay’.

Last October I was at the London Screenwriter’s Festival participating in a panel discussion on Horror Films. After the panel, at the wrap-up session, organiser Chris Jones challenged all attendees to turn to the person next to them and pledge their goal to be accomplished by the next festival. Talented writer/director Steven Sheil (Mum & Dad) was with me and I pledged that I would direct my next film by the next Festival.

And today, that pledge was fulfilled thanks to the generosity and support of our Sponsume backers and my amazing cast & crew.

Everyone arrived right on cue, we set up and shot the first couple of scenes before dinner and a quick drink. Now it’s time for some shut-eye before 2 more days of shooting.

I’ll be Tweeting throughout the shoot & post-production, and posting updates, photos & videos on the official movie blog, so please check out Twitter hashtag #TheStay / http://twitter.com/frazer_lee and visit http://thestaymovie.wordpress.com

Best birthday ever?

This one will Stay with me for a long, long time

Panic Button: Meet the Team (Watch the Guerilla Filmmakers Masterclass Q&A Video)

With thanks to all at Movie Mogul Films and the inimitable Chris Jones, check out the Guerilla Filmmakers Masterclass Q&A, which details the creation of  indie horror/thriller ‘Panic Button’ from script to screen…and beyond. Hit the link below for the full video.

http://vimeo.com/37791495

And a reminder that the Official Movie Novelization is FREE for your Kindle for 5 days!

Amazon.com
http://amzn.to/xLIBEn

Amazon.co.uk
http://amzn.to/zKPm77

The Curse of the First Time Director

A few thoughts on filmmaking today, inspired by recent events and trends.

In addition to my screenwriting, novel writing and short stories, I also directed a couple of short films; On Edge (1999), Red Lines (2002) both with the now defunct Robber Baron Productions, and some TV promos; True Horror With Anthony Head (Discovery Channel, 2004).

So, I haven’t directed anything in eight years, and am often asked the question, in interviews and Q&As, why not?

Naive (and much younger) me thought that making a couple of award-winning shorts would pave the way to feature directing. Not so. I have scratched a living these past 8 years as a screenwriter/script doctor, secretly hoping those credits would also stand me in good stead for a feature debut. No dice, as yet.

It’s certainly not for lack of trying. Over the past decade I’ve had a number of potentially brilliant feature length projects in the works, writing and polishing and rewriting dozens of screenplay drafts for each at the behest of producers and executives keen on shaping the project to the demands of the marketplace.

Truth is, financing a movie seems to be the most difficult thing on earth. I recently completed a round of talks about one of my screenplays to which I’m attached as director and I was told point blank, by the producer that not one of his investors would risk financing a movie with a first time director attached – too risky.

So how do first time directors get to cut their first feature if no-one is willing to risk taking a punt on them? Surely the film biz is one built entirely on risk? “Nobody knows anything,” William Goldman reminds us – and even a seasoned director can make a turkey. It’s a frustrating chicken and egg situation and the longer it goes on, the greater the (perceived) risk.

All the meetings I’ve taken, all the unsuccessful funding applications I’ve made (for shorts and features) have taught me one thing – one simple, inconvenient truth: 

Movies cost money – and it is usually someone else’s money. Even if you go down the microbudget route, you have to pay insurance for your shoot, catering for your cast and crew, transportation costs, etc., etc.

Add to that the growing trend in the movie business; first-timers get it done for free. “Just pick up a camera and shoot” is an approach that has worked for some, sure. But it sets a precedent. First timers are expected to self-finance and prove themselves, screenplays are expected to be optioned for free. This is a difficult environment for anyone who has a family to support, bills to pay. It’s “a game for the young” as wise old Admiral James T. Kirk once said.

After reading Christopher Fowler’s revealing blog post on the subject of “the death of the script“, it seems the new wave of first-timers are eschewing a script entirely in favour of improvised microbudgeters, edited on-set on laptops. No risk to anyone else, and the filmmaker (no longer a first-timer anymore) then gets hired to do studio remakes…

See, after a decade in development hell I’m becoming cynical! Maybe it is time to give up after all.

But I might just take one more meeting first.

 

World Horror Convention 2012 Film Festival Schedule

Remember I said ‘On Edge‘ is playing WHC 2012? Well, the full film festival schedule has been released by the organizers, who have put together an amazing line-up of cinematic horrors old and new.

‘On Edge’, starring Doug Bradley (Hellraiser), Charley Boorman (The Emerald Forest) and Beth Murray, based on the short story by Christopher Fowler (Spanky, Hell Train) with cinematography by Alan Stewart (Sherlock Holmes) and special FX by Bob Keen (Hellraiser), screens in the International Horror Shorts selection on Friday March 30th, 3pm.

Entry to the film festival is free to anyone attending WHC 2012, and separate tickets are available for all screenings for those wishing to take in a few movies outside of the main event.

If you’re in Salt Lake City this weekend, be sure to check out the films. It is an honor to be part of such a cool line-up.

Here are the full details, courtesy of the WHC 2012 website: http://www.whc2012.org/filmfestival.html

Here is the film festival schedule for WHC 2012. We will be featuring entries from filmmakers across the U.S. as well as England and Australia, with a special emphasis on locally made (Utah) films. The festival will also serve as the world premiere location for “Down the Road” starring Clint Howard, and “Abraham vs. Zombies” from The Asylum. With the exception of “Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies” all films will be screened in the Blue Spruce Room:

Film Festival ~ Screening Schedule

Thursday, March 29th

4:00 p.m. “The Bake Street Haunting” (feature film)

6:00 p.m. “Down the Road” (feature film)

Friday, March 30th

1:00 p.m. “Bite Nite” (feature film)

3:00 p.m. International Horror Shorts, featuring “Alistair,” “On Edge,” “Love Bug,” and “Night of the Little Dead”

4:00 p.m. Viscera Film Festival Shorts, featuring 10 horror films from women filmmakers

5:00 p.m. John Skipp Screening, featuring “Stay at Home Dad” and “Rose: Fetching Danny” with filmmaker Q&A

6:00 p.m. “Ground Zero” (feature film) with filmmaker Q&A

Saturday, March 31st

12:00 p.m. “Disembodied” (short) and “Disembodied 2” (feature film) with filmmaker Q&A.

2:00 p.m. Favorite Shorts, featuring “Skye,” “Seance,” and three films from Killship Productions: “Living With Zombies,” “Ben Whitman Hears Voices,” and “Offing Adolf” with filmmaker Q&A

3:00 p.m. Best of Utah Shorts, featuring “Monstrosity,” “4,” “Capital Punishment,” and “Doppelganger” with filmmaker Q&A

4:30 p.m. “The Jar” (short) with filmmaker Q&A

5:00 p.m. “An Evening with My Comatose Mother” with filmmaker Q&A

6:00 p.m. Best of Utah Shorts 2, featuring the premiere of a zombie music video from Amorous, “Amendment,” “Serum X,” “All Night Laundry,” and “The Brink” with filmmaker Q&A

10:30 p.m. “Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies” (feature film)

Sunday, April 1st

12:00 p.m. Best Feature Film

2:00 p.m. Best Short Films

3:30 p.m. Awards Ceremony

4:00 p.m. 2012 WHC Film Festival Ends

if music be the food of fear… panic on!

I always write to music. Almost certainly my weapon of choice will be a film soundtrack or lush instrumental soundscape. Rarely music with lyrics as they’re oftentimes too distracting. I have a number of playlists that allow me to key into the emotional feeling and atmosphere of a particular project, which can be very useful when working on novel edits or screenplay rewrites for the umpteenth time. I guess it’s like using music as a form of self-hypnosis, fast-tracking the subconscious mind into a certain place, a particular narrative universe.

No surprise then that when I was commissioned by the film’s producers to write the Panic Button movie novel, I reached for the rough mixes of the movie’s soundtrack kindly sent to me by composer Mark Rutherford. The music has everything I needed to put myself back on Deppart Airlines Flight D-665 and into the heads of Jo, Max, Dave, Gwen and the Alligator himself (a very scary place to be, I assure you!)

I urge you to download the official soundtrack, available now on iTunes. It is (as it was for me during writing) the perfect accompaniment to the movie novel, currently flying high at #1 on Amazon’s horror and thriller charts.

Unhappy listening,
Frazer x

Panic Button: Uptown Top Ranking

source: IMDb Pro Movie Meter (Nov 15 2011)

News just in that Panic Button is currently ranked #31 on IMDb. Up 46,038% in popularity this week!

Some context – that’s higher global ranking than the likes of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 and Captain America: The First Avenger (dig: those: colons!).

That is a big deal for everyone involved, well done to the entire team!

A request – if you liked the movie, please take a moment to click thru & give the film a quick rating/review. It will make a big difference to a little indie picture, thank you. (if you hated the movie please go and have a nice cup of tea and a sit down instead…)

The Lamplighters: news digest!

Wow, what a week it’s been for The Lamplighters!

The ebook held the #1 spot in Samhain Publishing’s Horror Bestsellers for 10 days since its release on November 1st.

The first review of The Lamplighters came in and it’s a goody!

I did a guest blog about all things Lamplighters at The Top Shelf, my thanks to Misty Rayburn:
http://www.the-top-shelf.com/?p=2404

Then, my publisher Samhain got in touch and informed me I was “voted a close 2nd to Ramsey Campbell in their favorite horror author election.” I had no idea! Thanks to all the kind readers who voted, and am looking forward to cosying up in my Samhain Horror hoodie while working on my next book

"*model not included" dammit. she looks like she could keep a feller cosy!

And hey, if you’d like to win a Samhain Book Voucher worth $5 to spend on The Lamplighters or any other title, just ‘like’ this Facebook page. Go there now and do it folks. The winner will be drawn at random on November 13th.

Last but not least, a 2-page ad for the Samhain Horror line appeared in HorrorHound #32, go here to see a snapshot in all its glory.

What’s next? Well, the movie novelization of ‘Panic Button‘ (out now on UK DVD/Blu-ray to tons of great reviews) is coming soon, and I am working on book #3 along with new feature film projects. Yup, as the freezing English fog draws in, that hoodie is gonna be very handy!

‘Til next slime, take scare my f(r)iends.

Panic at the AFM

Here’s wishing the Panic Button production team lots of sales ops at the American Film Market where the movie screens today.

Check out the movie’s official site for this and other screening details, and a new poster created especially for the AFM:

Panic Button AFM poster

Still on topic, the folks over at the Panic Button’s Facebook just posted this photo, which made me smile:

smell the fear! the Panic Button team check out the movie novelization

Yes folks, the proof copy of the Panic Button movie novelization has arrived at their offices! More about the book soon, meantime I urge you to check out viral site All2gethr.com for some social networking satire and a few treats and surprises. All2gethr.com could well become your alternative to that other well-known social networking site, which is allegedly under threat from hacking group ‘Anonymous’. Hmmm, wonder who ‘Anonymous’ might be? And are they on Google+….?

Meantime, Panic Button releases on DVD and Bluray in the UK via CineBritannia, November 7th. It will be available as VOD on Sky Movies Box Office from Nov 7th.

For more info about Panic Button, check out my new page dedicated to the movie and forthcoming novel.

Countdown to The Lamplighters: 5 days

Today’s Lamplighters countdown post is all about ‘Simone’, a short horror film with… bite.

I wrote the screenplay, originally entitled ‘Hair of the Dog’, a few years back with a view to shooting it in London someday. Those plans never came to fruition (for further details on that, check out the print edition of ‘Urbane and Other Horror Tales).

The project was given a new lease of life when indie filmmakers 386 Films of Florida USA optioned the screenplay. Within just a few months, uber-prolific director Joops Fragale and producer Michael Long had adapted the screenplay, cast the film, assembled a killer crew – and shooting was underway.

Since its completion, the film has been very well received at film festivals, winning awards including Best Short (Audience Award) at Shockerfest, CA USA along the way, not to mention a raft of positive reviews. The finished film is almost double the length of my original screenplay, which focused mainly on the black comedy aspect of waking up with a hangover and not remembering what happened the night before. Joops and his team added a dark, melancholy love story to the mix and the end result is in my view a very unique and atmospheric movie.

Simone screens in London tonight at Crystal Palace Pictures‘ Halloween Special, opening for one of my very favourite movies of recent years, The Orphanage. If South London is a little far away from you, be sure to check out the 386 Films website for photos, reviews, an EPK, and those all-important DVDetails!

‘Til next slime, take scare.