About Me
Friday, November 14, 2008
Pics from AFI Fest Deadgirl Oct 31, 2008
Fashion/Set Designer Lynh Haaga and I after the screening of Deadgirl
Go see a film and its called Deadgirl!!
AFI Gala Opening Night Red Carpet Interview
Pictures from Ghost Trestle in Adrian, Michigan
So its NOT all Deadgirl
What we experienced at Adrian College was nothing compared to our late late night Ghost Hunt. Oh man, I have never been so scared in my life. Okay maybe I have but this place was haunted! Scared the shit out of me. A couple students from Adrian came up to us and told us about this place in Adrian,MI that wasn't far from the college that happens to be one of Michigan's most haunted places. Let me give you a little background on Adrian, MI. I pulled this article up for you.
Also find it on Shadowlands
http://www.theshadowlands.net/places/michigan.htm
Scariest and Most Haunted Places in Michigan
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/622217/the_scariest_and_most_haunted_places.html?page=2&cat=16
A quiet little college town, a rural farming community, a thriving small town. Adrian, Michigan has it all. There are many reasons people choose to live, visit or stay here in Lenawee County, although some love it so much here that they choose to never leave even long after they have passed away.
Adrian is well known as being a great place to live but it also unknowingly a place where ghosts and spirits thrive and taunt those who happen to come across them.
Below are some of the most Haunted Places here in my home town of Adrian, Michigan, and some of the experiences that I have had with visiting these areas.
Ghost Trestle-
One of the creepiest haunted locations in Adrian is Ghost Trestle which is located in rural south east Lenawee County on Bailey Rd, just a few miles off of M52. While not too easy to find, it doesn't seem to have a lot of passerby's other than those who live on Bailey Rd, the teenagers who love to go there to get spooked out and of course the family that died near there many years ago. Legend has it that a barn and house on the nearby property caught fire back in the late 1800's. A man went into the barn to try to put out the fire, meanwhile his wife who was carrying their infant child in her arms went to the nearby train tracks to flag a train down for help. The mother slipped and fell into the path of the oncoming train killing both her and her infant child. The man later perished in the fire. To this day it is said that you are able to go to the trestle and be able to hear the women and child screaming late at night. It is said that this is a paranormal hot spot in which you can communicate with the dead, it is also well known to be a portal to the "other side".
Okay so obviously we headed out to this Ghost Trestle. We followed these guys down a dirt road that had nothing but corn fields and farmland with only maybe about 3 farm houses. We pull up to this area where we parked under this railway. Lucky us, we got to actually catch the train go over us! Thats just the beginning. I swear after the train passed things started to get really interesting!! We were seeing shadows, Electroics were going wacky, My camera liked to take pictures by itself. We saw orbs and flashes of lights. We are in the middle of nowhere, no cars..nothing!! All this shit was happening around us. It was nutts! Here are some pictures from that night!
After AFI Fest/ Hollywood Halloween Party
Elske(Jessika Rabid) and Jenny Spain
Hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween! Like I mentioned in my previous post deadgirl screened Halloween Night at AFI Fest and then again Nov 3rd. After our screening since it being halloween and all. I didn't have the opportunity to dress up for halloween but I did get a chance after the screening to hit up some of hollywoods Hotspots including a Halloween Party out in Hollywood. Here are some pictures.
AFI Los Angeles "Deadgirl Exclusive Interview"
Dead Girl - Junket - video powered by Metacafe
More Recent Deadgirl Reviews
"Deadgirl will remind you of the best of Cronenberg. Cleverly written, stylishly directed and morbidly fascinating. It isn't your average cookie-cutter horror film."
- Film Threat
"An audacious, perverse shocker... this adolescent fantasy gone wrong proves difficult to dismiss."
- Hollywood Reporter
"A teen-angst-and-terror opus."
Monday, September 22, 2008
Deadgirl Directors & Cast
Cast:
Candice Accola (Joanne), Eric podnar (Wheeler) , Andrew DiPalma (Johnny) ,
Jenny Spain(Deadgirl) , Noah Segan(JT) and Shiloh Fernandez (Rickie)
Directors:
Gadi Harel and Marcel Sarmiento
Sold Out!
Yup, you heard it! Deadgirl was SOLD OUT!! Seated over 1200 for its World Premier. I was a little scared at first going up against other films such as Quentin Tarantino's new flick Not Quit Hollywood but honestly I shouldn't have been worried because Deadgirl is a seriously sweet flick When I went to the premier of Not Quite Hollywood the theatre wasn't full and my company and I ended up walking out 30 so mins into it. Not that it was a bad movie but after Deadgirl wasn't something I was in the mood for.
Deadgirl was one of the FIRST in our selection to sell out at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Deadgirl trivia
Did you know..... Deadgirl was filmed at the same location as Nightmare On Elm Street!
Well now you know :)
As soon as the movie release's I will be able to tell you more about it. But for now, Hush... ;)
Red Carpet Footage
Deadgirl World Premier Tiff 08
Deadgirl Reviews
Deadgirl Reviews
Marcel Sarmiento and Gadi Harel bring strong direction to the film and the actors Shiloh Fernandez, Noah Segan and Jenny Spain (in the titular role) bring strong fearless performances to their respective roles.
"Pic the skirts the edge without going over, and judging from the raucous reception during its Midnight Madness preem at Toronto, twisted auds clearly do exist for such blatantly "wrong" material. The titular corpse more accurately qualifies as a "living deadgirl," with the pic joining the recent trend of zombie movies that never identify themselves as such. Instead, tyro horror helmers Marcel Sarmiento and Gadi Harel focus on the script's more "River's Edge"-like aspects… The directors maximize their location choice for some ominous haunted-house antics. Shooting on a Viper FilmStream camera at Linda Vista Hospital in East Los Angeles, the helmers capture every glint and shadow as they track the teens through creepy underground passages, matching the action with nerve-jangling sound design. Not since "Session 9" has an abandoned asylum been used to such unsettling effect… The two leads show promise, with Fernandez sporting the pinch-faced sneer of a young Joaquin Phoenix. Jenny Spain's a good sport as the deadgirl, flashing her grease-smeared breasts and blackened gums on command (a cult starlet in the making)." - VARIETY
Deadgirl: A well-made but seriously twisted movie about two teenage boys who find a girl chained up in the basement of an abandoned mental hospital, and then discover that she is immortal. Aside from the supernatural elements and the extreme violence, the film is derivative of mid-1980s John Hughes but completely watchable on account of Jenny Spain's inspired performance as the titular character.
"Two new faces at Toronto who show more artistic verve and bravery than many of the festival's masters are co-directors Marcel Sarmiento and Gadi Harel, the filmmakers behind the clever, scary, unsettlingly sexual teenage bondage thriller DEADGIRL. In the pulse-pounding story, high-school friends Rickie and JT skip school and break into an abandoned mental hospital for usual male mischief. Once inside, they discover the body of naked girl tied to a table. Once they decide to keep the woman imprisoned, matters turn bloody very quickly. DEADGIRL is one the smartest teen horrors I've watched in some time, a nervy twist on SAW-inspired victim movies. Companies that do not shy away from controversy and are willing to take risks in order to grasp a youthful audience would be wise to get in business with Sarmiento and Harel. DEADGIRL, from Hollywoodmade, invites gory comparisons to recent thrillers like HOSTEL and TEETH and delivers all the shocks horror fans demand. Any controversy that the film would generate due to the brutal treatment of its core female victim may help build interest from non-horror fans inclined to watch controversial art-house fare. Screened in the early hours of Sunday, the Toronto Festival audience who watched DEADGIRL appeared shocked and awed. For newcomers Sarmiento and Harel, that's the type of festival debut even veterans dream about having."
- INDIEWIRE
"Probably one of the most challenging films at this year's Midnight Madness (TIFF) is Marcel Sarmiento and Gadi Harel's DEADGIRL, which takes a dark and dreary trip into the underworld of teen adolescence… DEADGIRL, while taking cues from films like SAW and HOSTEL, moreso resembles STAND BY ME and RIVER'S EDGE. The creepy and dark premise, molded around a group of 'innocent' teens, has its main focus on the coming-of-age story than the brutal treatment of the 'deadgirl'... DEADGIRL is not a zombie movie per se, or maybe it is? Either way, the word should be banned from use when converging over the film, as it's something quite different. DEADGIRL is something that has never been done before and it will leave you shocked. A twisted turn of events make DEADGIRL an immediate indie classic and one of the best teen horror thrillers in years."
- BLOODY-DISGUSTING
"DEADGIRL obviously is going to get tongues wagging. It is explicitly violent, filled with bursts of shocking gore, and equally explicit sexually. Is this what coming of age looks like in our commodofied times, when we think of everything - people included - as objects to be consumed and disposed of at will? This is objectification of women pushed out to ludicrous, though frighteningly plausible, extremes. Like it or not we all know people who would choose JT's path. We probably wouldn't even have to think very hard to make a list of them, and that's where the film's true horror lies. As shocking as this is, as far fetched as the premise, on an emotional level it is entirely plausible… DEADGIRL has a number of images and sequences guaranteed to sear themselves into your brain, moments of moral degradation you won't quickly shake off. And, in this context, that is a very good thing." - TWITCH
80-85% Stayed
"DEADGIRL is the next evolution of sex-infused horror genre, which regained traction a couple years ago with the Sundance hit TEETH. For example, at one point, when the dead girl's body begins to dry up, its insinuated that they begin to have sex with the warm gooey wounds in her stomach. About 15-20% off the press in attendance at my screening walked out of the screening before the climax. But don't get me wrong, DEADGIRL is steps above the typical torture porn horror film. Directors Marcel Sarmiento and Gadi Harel have an incredible attention of mood and tone. DEADGIRL floats smoothly between dark comedy and horror, and the result is a coming-of-age film like you've never seen before (or will likely ever see again)."
- SLASHFILM
Deadgirl was written by Troma veteran Trent Haaga (Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV) which tells you what to expect. Ghoulish humour and sleazy gore are the order of the day as two high school losers find a bound body in the tunnels under an old asylum, and it develops that she's some kind of zombie who cannot die. One of the guys immediately starts using her as his sex slave (this was written by an ex-Troma guy, remember) and increasingly violent complications ensue. All along the characters seem surprisingly blase about standing around watching their friends have sex with a diseased zombie and then doing the same right afterwards.
There's better acting and more character development than you'd expect, though, and the movie thankfully doesn't go for the overplayed all-out gross-o-rama of so-called 'torture porn' films or recent Euro shockers. The directors seem more interested in telling a story - weird though it may be - than throwing gore in your face, which is a surprising approach given the subject matter. It's still pretty disgusting, though, so definitely keep the kids (and the sane people) away.
Special kudos to Jenny Spain as the Deadgirl; she's quite creepy and projects a lot of personality in a dialogue-free and, one would assume, physically demanding role. Great poster, too.
-Conall Pendergast
TIFF Must See Films
Another nice list to be on: Today's Variety lists 17 movies to answer its headline "What are buyers sizing up at the fest?" The batch includes new films by Darren Aronofsky, Richard Linklater, Paul Schrader and Guillermo Arriaga. It also includes DEADGIRL: "Dark fantasy laced with humor by tyro helmers Marcel Sarmiento and Gadi Harel. One of the few available offerings in the Midnight Madness section."
For its 8th annual "Chasing the Buzz" poll, the Toronto Star asked a 24-member panel to name the films they're most interested in seeing. Of the 312 movies at the festival, only 44 were named... and considering the winning pick, Steven Soderbergh's CHE, only received 5 votes, we're thrilled DEADGIRL was included at all. Our single vote came courtesy of Greg Cruse of Tofilmfest.com, who said...
DEADGIRL (Marcel Sarmiento and Gadi Harel): "Shot using digital gear from the next James Bond flick, this is a Midnight Madness choice I think program founder Noah Cowan would be proud of."
Friday, August 29, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
More Deadgirl Stills Released Today!
I haven't seen any of these images up on any other site. So check it out!!
www.myspace.com/deadgirlthemovie
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
"Deadgirl, the Next Mandy Lane"
http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/13335
Said to be this year's MANDY LANE, we've got your first ever still from Marcel Sarmien and Gadi Harel's Deadgirl, which is a horror/thriller about two teenagers who make a shocking discovery that not only threatens their friendship but also their lives. In a forgotten room of an abandoned asylum, they find a beautiful woman tied to a bed, and soon come to realize she is anything but dead. Shiloh Fernandez, Noah Segan, Michael Bowen, Candice Accola, Andrew DiPalma, Eric Podnar and Nolan Funk all star in this new coming-of-age horror film. The pic will have its World Premiere at the "Midnight Madness" section of the Toronto International Film Festival.
“Deadgirl Movie’s Screenings”
Toronto International Film Festival "Midnight Madness"
September 6 – WORLD PREMIERE
September 8
September 12
Fantastic Fest (Austin, TX)"Next Wave" - CompetitionSeptember (TBA) – U.S. PREMIERE
Sitges International Film Festival (Spain)"New Visions" - Competition
October 4 – EUROPEAN PREMIERE
Leeds International Film Festival (UK)"Fanomenon" - CompetitionNovember (TBA)
“Deadgirl’s European Premiere”
“Deadgirl World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival”
“Deadgirl U.S. Premiere at Fantastic Fest”
Sunday, July 27, 2008
News spreads fast...
Variety
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117989377.html?categoryid=13&cs=1&nid=2584
Hollywood Reporter
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3ied1a5dc29d3fa2ec3c85b2d8f3f0bb38
Plus if you haven't checked out the TIFF Trailer Park here is the link for multiple films for Midnight madness. They look Bad Ass!
http://twitchfilm.net/incoming/TIFFTrailerPark.html
Tv Series Canceled
I on the other hand will be nestled nicley back in my home state California hoping to work on some much bigger projects. All the best to Duchess!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2008
Here is the BIG NEWS the world has been waiting for on the movie that I be making my feature debut in. I am so exited to finally announce that DEADGIRL from the producers of" HEATHERS" and "HELLRAISER" will be making its WORLD PREMIERE SEPT 6th at THE TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2008.
DEADGIRL is "a very dark and disturbing portrait of youth that has to be seen to be believed..."
The TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL is among the top film festivals in the world. It is the 2nd Largest to CANNES. Toronto is the premiere film festival in North America, from which the Oscars race begins, and the world's largest festival open to the general public.
For Deadgirl info:
http://www.tiff08.ca/filmsandschedules/films/deadgirl
Here is a video from last year. Enjoy!
Thursday, July 17, 2008
DEADGIRL
Coming 2009
What can I say..It's going to be a bad ass flick. I am just as anxious as everyone else to see it and I'm even starring in it. Soon!! Trust Me. DeadGirl wrapped principal photography last year and is currently in post production. I will have some exiting news very soon..But it's Hush Hush for now. Thanks for your understanding!
You can also visit the Official DeadGirl Website.
www.deadgirlmovie.com
The Power Of Great Editing!!!
10 Things I Hate About Commandments
Must Love Jaws
Thanks to Nayeli Productions and Chris Fleming Video up from Queen Mary investigation
The Sights and Sounds of Queen Mary
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Chris Fleming & SciFi's GhostHunters
Well my first night back in California I stayed the Queen mary and we had just missed eachother 11/29/07. After getting everything taken care of while I was in town. I had another dinner meeting in Los Angeles 12/3/07. After that I was either going to just head straight to my hotel and check in and get a good nights sleep before my flight out early that next morning or head up to the Queen and top off my trip meeting the guys and maybe get a chance to investigate with them.
So I give Grant a buzz and I told him I'm on my way. Hopefully be able to experience some cool things on the ship before my early flight and i mean my flight left at 6am.blahh..which I will talk about all the hell I went through with American Airlines and how everything possible went wrong! But thats in my next blog.
My driver/Assistant and I arrive back at the Queen Mary. As I am walking up about to meet Grant it felt like the days of travel and also the wine I had drank from my previous meeting had caught up to me.Man exhaustion and alcohol DO NOT mix! Out of all days this day is when I need to be the most level headed. But honestly I didn't care just as long as I was there.lol
We walk up to the confrence/dining room where they are holding an auction and Grant comes to greet me at the door with a welcoming hug. What a cool dude! We couldnt really catch up on any talk till after the auction. As I am sitting a watching the guys go up on stage and model clothing...doing little strip teases (okay the strip tease I wished happened) haha..But they were all insainly cute on stage doing their thing. After the auction we all meet up and I am introduced to Chris Fleming and Patrick Burns and we discussed my current project DeadGirl and such.
After the Auction everyone just got together and just mingled for a bit. Everyone was so incredibly cool and sweet. I really didn't want to talk much because I know when I get extremely tired I will chat your ear off and not make much sense. Its like ADD kicks in. I will go from one subject to another in just minutes..haha. Throws people off its pretty funny. Well anyways they were talking about going and doing investigations and asked if I wanted to investigate the ship with them. Total rookie I am. Let me give you an idea of what I was wearing a black sleek top with open criss cross back, jeans and OPEN TOED HEELS! lol. Yes! Perfect attire for an investigation..oh yeah and my shoes because of the design made clingy sounds everytime I walked..haha. People probley thought there was a ghost behind them with rattling chains but nope it was ME! muahahaha lol
Well it was totally unexpected and I wish I had came more prepared. Well we all begin to separate and head to diffrent parts of the ship. head with Grant and his group first to the cargo room of the ship. A couple people had the same reaction and feelings of first entering the area. There was a heaviness in the air that just sent goose bumps down your spine. After an hour of being in pitch black dark and people asking questions hoping to get some results. It felt like whatever it was that was in that room had left. So few people were throwing out jokes. I had taken a light and placed it under my chin..Making scary and I mean scary ass faces. Jen was no longer glamourous anymore..I believe people could see up my nose.lol.
Well after all that goofiness..good times. It was time to split up again and I heard there was some activity in the pool area where Chris Fleming was. So i decided to move on and check it out since I had to be leaving soon. I had less than 5 hours till my flight left and I havent even checked into my hotel yet at LAX. So I head over to the pool area and i meet up with Chris Fleming. That part of the ship is incredibly interesting! I had a few experiences. While Chris was talking I was sitting on the floor and I got poked 4 times on my left side. There are claims that there are two little girl spirits named jackie and sara in the pool area. I was given a barbie and they proved to me that barbies legs could bend and her arms also there were times where barbie was being pulled from my hand. Pretty cool stuff! After investigating the pool area it was time to leave my buds and head back to my hotel.
I had such a wonderful time and I am so happy I was able to cruise back to the Queen Mary and meet up with the guys. Out of alot of other peeps from other shows these guys are true at heart and probley the coolest you'll ever meet. So if you ever get the chance to meet up with them do it..I promise you won't be disappointed!
Who is Jenny Spain?
BIOGRAPHY OF JENNY SPAIN
Born July 2, 1980, Jenny Spain grew up in the greater San Diego area of Southern California.She has always valued the support of her family as life's most important asset, a family that includes former members of the U.S. Secret Service,Private Detective who has also worked on Celebrity cases such as the Michael Jackson Trial. Jenny's mother was a singer in her church choir, Father is a Mechanical Engineer as well as her grandma who was a former model and beauty queen. Jenny attended Clairemont Senior High School aka(Fast times at Ridgemont High) in San Diego, California. After graduating high school she immediately began pursuing her interests in higher education, studying such varied subjects as Business,Graphic Design, Psychology and Theatre at San Diego Mesa College and nursing at Stratford Career Institute. Jenny then set her sights on following her family's civil service tradition, passing tests in preparation for the police academy. She soon realized, however, that her passion for the performing arts would lead the way in her future pursuits and entered the world of modeling and acting. Early successes came quickly for Jenny and her future career looked bright. In 2003 Jenny joined her extended family in a move to small-town Michigan. Many people wondered how a move east would affect her burgeoning entertainment career, but Jenny longed for the relaxed pace and beautiful scenery outside the hurried lifestyle of Southern California. She soon proved that she can make it anywhere, landing numerous modeling and acting jobs both locally and back in the Los Angeles area. Jenny is a former Featured Model in a few of America's Top Men's Magazines! She has proved she can do it all balancing work, career, travel, filming and family. In 2007 Jenny starred in her first short film "All The Fake Girls" that had won the Lansing Film Festival. Her big screen debut came with a starring role in 2009's "Dead Girl" - from the producers of "Heathers" and "Hellraiser". Deadgirl will be making its WORLD PREMIERE SEPT 6th,2008 at THE TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL. This will be Jenny's 2nd Film Festival within 2 years. The TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL is among the top film festivals in the world. It is the 2nd Largest to CANNES. Toronto is the premiere film festival in North America, from which the Oscars race begins, and the world's largest festival open to the general public. Jenny made her Big screen Debut The same year she secured other leading roles Such as the tv series "Duchess Of Detroit".