Tabloid Witch Award Winner Within Premieres on Lifetime

If you love ghostly horror stories about haunted children -- like The Sixth Sense! -- you'll want to see Within, premiering on the Lifetime network on Saturday, July 31st, 9 p.m. EST. It will also air on Sunday, Aug 15th, 7 p.m. EST, and Friday, Aug 20th, 9 p.m. EST.

Within won the 2009 Tabloid Witch Awards for Best Horror Feature Film, Best Child Actor (Mia Ford) and Best Supporting Actor (Brent Sexton). Within also won for Outstanding Feature Film at the Big Bear Horror Film Festival.



In Within, nine-year-old Rachel Weiss sees the evil spirits that reside within others and compel their "hosts" to do very bad things. When her new friend Michelle's schoolyard pranks turn from petty theft to life-threatening attacks on other children, Rachel's visions may be the key to stopping the violence -- and solving the mystery of a young boy's decade-old disappearance.

Within's soundtrack will be available on iTunes starting July 27th. Jeffrey Toyne composed the ambient score. Director Hanelle Culpepper and her husband wrote the lyrics for the Halloween song. Singer-songwriter Miriam contributed two tracks.

"Within is a slow turning screw of Horror, with each new scene slowly and surely stepping up the skin crawl factor. You might just find yourself a little bit paranoid around your child's new friend after this one." -- E.C. McMullen Jr, Feoamante.com

"...Within is never dull. Its well-paced story holds our interest, and even manages to surprise despite its familiar conceit. The fate of 'bad seed' Michelle is also unexpected; a surprisingly dark ending that may discomfort Hollywood studio executives who are always trying to up the 'feel good' factor in films." -- Thomas M. Sipos, Hollywood Investigator

"...I get back to the fest for Within, the winner of 'Outstanding Feature Film,' and rightfully so. Written by Rebecca Sonnenshine (The Haunting of Molly Hartley, American Zombie)and directed by Hanelle M. Culpepper,Within features two of the best child performances I've seen in ages by Sammi Hanratty (Young Chuck on Pushing Daisies" and Mia Ford. --Sean Abley, Fangoria.com

David Landsberg's Sex Tax Infringes Lady Magdalene's Copyright, Says Producer J. Neil Schulman

J. Neil Schulman is alleging that David Landsberg's upcoming film, Sex Tax, infringes the copyright to Schulman's own film, Lady Magdalene's.

Read the full story here.

UPDATE -- July 13, 2010

J. Neil Schulman has changed his mind. He now believes that David Landsberg did not copy Schulman's film.

Read latest story here.

The Hollywood Investigator Is Now an Urban Fantasy Novel

You've read the tabloid -- now read the novel!

Hollywood says it loves equal opportunity and multicultural diversity. Development executive Diana Däagen thinks the studio's hiring is based more on ageism, sexism, and nepotism.

And so, surrounded by followers of Wicca, astrology, Native American shamans, telephone psychics, UFO prophets, a channeled warlord from Atlantis, and the alchemy of Hermes Trismegistus, Diana's coven of New Age witches hatch a plot to infiltrate and diversify the entertainment industry until Hollywood "looks like America" -- no matter how many eggs must be broken along the way.

Only the intrepid supermarket tabloid reporters of the Hollywood Investigator and Weekly Universe family of family publications can stop Diana's path toward world media domination.

Hollywood Witches is an urban fantasy/satire, available on both paper and on Amazon Kindle.

Viscerea Ladies of Horror to Screen in Los Angeles, July 17, 2010

As a sponsor of the Viscera Film Festival, the Hollywood Investigator is pleased to announce the Viscera's premiere Los Angeles screening -- and an appeal for donations!

"Want to support women in horror? How about women horror filmmakers? Then donate today and become an official Sponsor of the Viscera 2010 Premiere!

What you do: Donate any amount from $1.00-$99.00.

What the Festival does for you: List your name/Company's name on the Viscera Festival Website. Project your name/Company’s name on the big screen. Hand out any of your promotional material.

What it means: Your donation of even $1 will help to pay the expenses of the theater, bloody carpet, backdrop, video/photography services, catering, and the organization of the Festival. We believe that women are truly coming together in one of the most difficult industries to break into today. Any donation will help to serve that purpose!

How to do it: Push the Paypal donation button and pay by Credit Card or Paypal account!

About the 2010 Viscera Festival:

The first annual all female-directed and/or produced horror film festival "Viscera" comes to Los Angeles on July 17th, 2010!

The Chainsaw Mafia, Pretty-Scary.net, and the Downtown Independent are excited to announced the Viscera 2010 Film Festival Premiere, which will be a bloody carpet theater event on July 17th, 2010 in Los Angeles, California!

Twenty-eight short female-directed/produced horror films, from 30 seconds to 30 minutes, and from all over the world, will appear on the big screen for one night only! These films represent 3 years of films painstakingly curated by Shannon Lark of The Chainsaw Mafia and released on the Viscera DVD collections.

Brea Grant (Heroes, Halloween II), Cerina Vincent (Cabin Fever, How to Love Like a Hot Chick) and Amber Benson (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Drones) are the Festival's special inspirational guest presenters and will host the award ceremonies. Special Guests in attendance include Juliet Landau (Angel, Ed Wood), Guinevere Turner (American Psycho, Go Fish), Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp), Mary Lambert (Pet Semetary), Jessica Harper (Suspiria), Micheline Pitt (PinUp Girl Clothing), and Allison Anders (Gas, Food, Lodging) as well as many of the filmmakers.

The Downtown Independent Theater features 222 stadium style seats within the theatre, along with a rooftop bar with a projection screen for those who don't want to miss the show.

Co-Directors Shannon Lark and Heidi Martinuzzi encourage both men, women, filmmakers, and all artists to attend the event in support of the ambition and drive of filmmakers who have stepped outside the traditional roles of women in horror films and taken on directing, writing, and producing their own independent projects. Several filmmakers will be present to walk the bloody carpet and accept their statues, followed by an after-party on the Downtown Independent rooftop until 2am.

Tickets are only $15.00 and available now online, with the carpet walk starting at 4 p.m. Show support for the event by joining Viscera's Facebook page, making a donation, and purchasing the newly released 2008-2009 Viscera DVD.

The Chainsaw Mafia was created by Chainsaw Mafia CEO Shannon Lark to promote independent filmmakers through internet-based networking, live performance, and annual film festivals with monetary awards. The Chainsaw Mafia was created and facilitated by women, who actively encourage progressive roles for women and men in all areas within the horror genre. Increasing and expanding boundaries of the genre with interactive theater, film, photography, and dance, The Chainsaw Mafia assists the men and women who create the horror genre to produce their art and promote themselves.

Pretty-Scary.net is an online entertainment magazine created in 2004 by Los Angeles-based film journalist Heidi Martinuzzi. Pretty/Scary celebrates creative, innovative, intelligent, and awesome images of women in horror, sci-fi & fantasy films, literature, and art."

Also read the Hollywood Investigator's interview with Shannon Lark!

Is Up in the Air Offensive to Asians?

Films have long been "edited for television," at least for broadcast TV. It's also common for airlines to edit (some would say, censor) the films they screen on planes.

That's natural. Passengers on a flight are a captive audience. They chose to fly, not to see a film. Nor can they change the channel. Besides, many flights carry children, which means no R rated films.

So when I flew American Airlines a few weeks ago, I was not surprised to see the curse words and a nude scene cut from Up in the Air. I was surprised to see the word "Asian" removed. Apparently, someone decided that the word "Asian" was used offensively.


It's the scene in which Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) lectures to Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick) about how to pick the quickest, fastest moving security line.

Ryan sees old people on one line, and passes. "Too much metal" in their bodies sets off the metal detector.

Then Ryan passes on a line with children. "I've yet to see a stroller folded in under twenty minutes" he says.


Then he sees Asians on a line, and says, "Bingo. Asians. They pack light, travel efficiently and have a thing for slip-on shoes. God love 'em."

Natalie replies, "That's racist."

Ryan says, "I'm like my mother. I stereotype. It's faster."

A funny line in an overall great film.

However, in the American Airlines version, the word "Asians" was replaced with "business people." (Not "businessmen" -- that would be sexist.)

This makes Natalie's "That's racist" reply nonsensical -- which is why her line was removed. Her lips move, but emit no sounds. Of course, passengers who could lip read knew what she said.

I think "business people" was spoken by actor George Clooney. It sounded like him, and it's common for actors to dub different versions of as film.

If you only saw Up in the Air on American Airlines, now you know why the joke fell flat. A line that flirts with political incorrectness is usually funnier than the polite choice.

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An American Rendition Tackles Torture and the "War on Terror"

Robert Johnson of the New Jersey Star-Ledger reviews An American Rendition, a new play that tackles America's pro-torture policy in the "War on Terror":

"Americans would rather not consider the suffering of people water-boarded, beaten and deprived of sleep as part of our government's so-called war on terror.

"Choreographer Jane Comfort tackles what she calls this 'collective unwillingness to look' in 'An American Rendition,' a grimly mocking work of contemporary dance-theater coming to the Theatre at Raritan Valley Community College on Saturday.



"The piece recalls the by-now much publicized activities of government agents who sequestered individuals without trial and have subjected them to practices explicitly prohibited under U.S. and international law.

"While 'An American Rendition' focuses on the plight of a fictional character mistakenly detained and transported to a U.S.-operated black site, the piece ironically juxtaposes the gruesome incidents of his captivity with weirdly light-hearted scenes inspired by reality television."

Read the rest of the article.

Also read: Pentagon Possessed: A Neocon Horror Story.

Film Independent Seeks Diverse Filmmakers

From Film Indepdendent:

Film Independent's signature diversity program Project:Involve, is dedicated to increasing diversity in the film industry by cultivating the careers of under-represented filmmakers. The program selects individuals from diverse backgrounds and filmmaking tracks; including writers, directors, producers, agents, managers, marketing, distribution, and acquisitions execs; to participate in the nine-month program which runs from October until June. As a Fellow, participants are paired one-on-one with industry mentors, assigned a team to make a short film, and attend monthly filmmaking workshops and other educational seminars.

Project:Involve receive...

* One-year membership with Film Independent
* One pass to the Los Angeles Film Festival
* One pass to the Film Independent Filmmaker Forum
* Year-round mentorship and alumni support
* Opportunity to screen short film at our Project:Involve screenings

Filmmakers including Effie T. Brown (Rocket Science), Jon Chu (Step Up 2), Cherien Dabis (Amreeka), and Tina Mabry (Mississippi Damned) are all Project:Involve Fellows - you could be next.

Submit by March 29, 2010.