It's been a while since the trailer for Danish zombie apocalypse "Escaping the Dead" was shown to the world. The production has been on a hiatus, but the team behind it has definitely not been laying on the low nor stood still.
A new trailer has been released (below), featuring a cameo by none other than Mr. Troma, indie guru Lloyd Kaufman!
"Escaping the Dead" is inspired by a series of articles about the death drug "Krokodil" that was published about the same period of time when Ronald Poppo had his face eaten by a naked man hooked on bath salts in Miami. It is the perfect zombie plot: a death drug that turns people into zombies. The film has its starting point in a typical day for the lead character, David. David is the local marijuana pusher, but he is the kind of dealer that smokes more than he sells. In the meantime the country has been hit by a new deathdrug and when David and his partner in crime Ahmir is offered some exceptionally cheap cocaine they see it as an opportunity to earn big money at the big techno concert the following Friday, but the cocaine turns out to have a terrible side effect that creates a giant zombie outbreak that spreads across the entire Copenhagen. In the film we follow David and his bloody fight out of the city.
Directed by Martin Sonntag and Bastian Brinch Pedersen, the film stars Bastian Brinch Pedersen (who is also the co-director and producer of the film) as David, Rama Øzel as Ahmir, along with Dorte Rømer ("Breaking the Waves") and Kim Sønderholm ("Cannibal Fog", "Run", "House of Many Sorrows") playing Lars the policeman. Recently Lone Fleming, legendary horror actress from the "Blind Dead" series and Danish origin joined the cast to play Davids mother.
Since meeting on "Escaping the Dead" in late 2013, Sonntag and Brinch Pedersen have teamed up with Sønderholm to do the short horror film "Harvest" (Original Danish title "Høsten"). This film is now finished and will be available to the world via film festivals and the likes in the near future. Attached to this email is the poster for said short film.
This is a story I've been working on for some time now, as a fan of the Zombie genre before it was overused, I always felt that they were lacking something or were somewhat predictable. So I felt that it was my duty to write my own version of a Zombie outbreak that touched on other subjects that would be present in a zombie apocalypse.
First example is this isn't entirely set in the "apocalyptic" scenario we hear about most, instead this is what I hope will be the start of a trilogy of books, each delving deeper into the decay of our world. This being the first in the trilogy will be focused around the very start of the outbreak, and the way people (over)react, while the government figures out how to deal with the impending apocalypse.
The protagonist, if you can call him that is the last person you'd expect to survive, an adolescent, mischievous, troublemaker who can't listen to anyone, but would go to the end of the Earth to protect his family. Somewhat based on myself.
Risks and challenges
Its hard being an amateur writer, money is tight, studying takes up a good portion of my time and finding help is never easy.
The first thing to be done is obviously finish the final copy, but if I get funding my first expense will be hiring a graphic designer for cover art, as well as what illustrations the novel needs.
Secondly, is hiring an agent to get in touch with relevant publishers and also getting a good deal on the book. This will most likely be the more expensive of the expenses, and there is always the chance that it gets refused, in which case I will have to self publish, which would be more expensive and probably not as beneficial in the long run.
But that's enough from me, considering most people wouldn't have read this far, but if you have, I thank you very much for you time.
Classic pinup has a timeless appeal. We are looking to create a calendar done in a traditional painted style like the masters.
About this project
*Special note: while it's very rare that I go outside of the zombie genre on my blog, if Jim is involved, then I can guarantee that this will be worth your while to get involved! (even though he wouldn't let me model...)*
Classic pinup has always had an appeal for me. The sense of mystery about the women, the flirty nature of the expressions and most of all the beautiful artwork.
Modern day photography, while a great art form itself, just doesn't have the feeling the masters were able to create with a brush. We (the models and myself) are looking to capture the days of yesteryear with a loving tribute to the past masters and the timeless look they created.
Our process involves shooting our idea in the studio and then taking the image and painting the final work of art much like the traditional method used by the greats in the field. Where we differ is that the painting is done digitally, still by hand though. This is an involved process that duplicates the traditional method of building up colors, blending tones and creating a free flowing look that when printed is identical to what you would find in actual pieces from the day.
Our models love the styles and looks from the 1940's and will be wearing vintage looks as well as hair and makeup styles from the era. Funds will be used to purchase outfits for the shoots as well as cover printing costs.
Risks and challenges
After funding is done, we will get to work right away in the studio photographing our ideas (and we have some great ideas). From there I will select the images that really stand out and start the process of creating the art from the original images.
It takes 10 to 15 hours to complete the artwork on each image with various print tests to be sure the final look is perfect. So we've scheduled two months of production time for the work once shooting is done. This should be around the end of May.
After the artwork is completed we will do a test of the calendar with our printer and make any final adjustments to the images before going ahead with the full run of the calendar. We are projecting to be able to order the run by mid June with the calendars arriving to us the first week of July.
All the models will then get together for a fun day of signing calendars and creating personalized messages for the backers who opted for those rewards with shipping to follow within days.
With almost 30 years in the photography industry and a few in the printing field, I think our experience will allow us to get everything done in a timely fashion while maintaining a very high standard of quality.
MOVIE SYNOPSIS: Ted's pretty sure he's just got a "skin thing" he picked up on his trip to The Caribbean, but his well-meaning friends, unhealthy coworkers and hilariously dysfunctional family members aren't so sure... and they aren't so helpful either. Adding insult to injury, Ted seeks out an Austrian Psychoanalyst with issues of his own who specializes in Disorders of the Paranormal to help him with his problems, and he might have walked out in the first session, but it's hard to stay away when the woman of your dreams is in Group Therapy with you. Even if she does have fangs and a penchant for blood.
WHAT'S INTRIGUING: We're all in denial about something, right? What if you found yourself hungering for your best friend's brains, or you noticed your skin was falling off in large chunks, and people started treating you like a freak. Inside, you'd probably be terrified it was something serious, and that you might, in fact, be undead, so instead of reaching out for conventional help you might first make up excuses for yourself - and others - and eventually you might just have to start coming to grips with reality. That was the original concept from which this movie was born.
A NOTE ABOUT OUR PERKS: We are happy to switch out perks for something you saw in a lower dollar amount package - so don't be afraid to ask - the answer is YES!
HOW IT CAME ABOUT: Anne Welles and Geoff Mattera were in one of their weekly Screenwriting/Filmmaking/What To Do With Our Lives brainstorming sessions in 2013, which were usually held in his basement in Fairfax, VA while his young children were napping upstairs, when Anne said she wanted to make a low budget (but good) zombie movie; she figured it should have one lone zombie in it. Also, she wanted it to be a comedy. Geoff said “what if the zombie doesn't know he's a zombie?” which really excited Anne. As they started thinking about how someone would not know he was a zombie, Anne was reminded of the beginning scenes in one of her favorite movies, “Joe Versus The Volcano,” and the idea was born that Ted would be a zombie among zombies, and able to live in denial only because his everyday life was so distorted it was hard for him to tell that something was wrong. Ted's name was sealed almost instantly, several other brilliant ideas were born in that session, and Anne took the ideas home and started writing.
Mark Irvingsen & Mary Druzba on the Kickstarter Shoot
Almost every week, Anne would run bits and pieces of her script by Geoff, who would give some input and provide a sounding board, but basically, the script felt like it wrote itself. It just flowed. It was exactly what Anne wanted to write and exactly what she wanted to shoot, and Geoff's notes were exactly what the script needed.
Before the script was even completed Anne had started making phone calls, and by the time it was finished she was able to gently get the ball rolling down the hill on the way to production. Currently still buried in pre-production, but with the movie already cast and almost fully crewed, Anne has stuck to her starting shoot date of May 1st since she chose it, sometime in the spring of 2014.
ABOUT THE WRITER/DIRECTOR: Anne has been making her own movies and loving doing so since 2004 (and has been in the business since 1997) and if there is one thing she knows it's that the key to a successful production is organization, and luckily, she's good at that. She's also good at managing a set, making the daily shots, taking care of cast and crew, working with actors, and caring about every shot and exactly what's in the frame; i.e. directing.
Anne on the set of By God's Grace
THE TEAM: Along with Anne, our team consists of Executive Producer Jack Foster, former Corporate/Financial Executive at Paramount Pictures, ProducersChad Horn of Bard Tales Productions, Harold Jackson III of American Filmmaker, Wendy Anderson of Wonder Films, Jeff Cook of Cook Studios, Christian Oh, Executive Director of DC Asian Pacific American Film, Inc, and Greg Thompson of Runaway Pictures, Associate Producers Jonathan Zuck of DC Dogs, Ron Newcomb of Opening Act Productions, Paula O'Neal of Crazy LuLu Productions, and Erynn Dalton of Infinite Abyss Productions, Director of Photography (with over twenty years experience) Brian Edwards, Emmy Award-nominated, multiple-award winning Gaffer Jack Foley, First A.D. Jill Rhyne-Grey of One-Eyed Horse Productions, Production Designer Betsy Muller of D.C. Public Opera, Sound Engineer Bradly Baerwald of Studio 51 Media, Celebrity Photographer Barry J. Holmes, Makeup Artists Nasreen Alkhateeb and Melissa Solis, both of whom have worked on The Walking Dead, Crisger Santley of Star Makeup Studios, and Social Media Strategist Christopher Logan, among many others.
THE CAST: Leads are Roy Huang (Joyful Noise), Kimberly Leemans (America's Next Top Model), Chris Attoh (Tinsel), Jennifer Sun Bell (American Reunion),Brittany Taylor Visser (Hairbrained). We also have Hemky Madera (Weeds), Tim Brennen (Sex Tape), Mark Irvingsen (Hollywood Vampyr), and Erynn Dalton(Blowback), among many others.
FUNDING: The biggest hurdle to making a movie is financing, but it is not insurmountable. With a production budget of $200k, we are currently seeking $250k in a capital raise, $60k in this Kickstarter campaign, and $20k in product placement deals in order to cover any surprises and also marketing expenses, which can be extensive. Every penny raised will be used toward the production of Zombie Ted and/or the marketing of it afterward. If we make our $60k goal in this campaign that money will be added to whatever we bring in in the capital raise and with product placement, and we will continue to raise money until the end of March; if we end up with less than $200k in total when we get to the end of March, our cast and crew have already agreed to take slightly less money if needed, and we will stick to our shoot schedule; since they are all working for very little money to begin with, we are really hoping we don't have to exercise that option, but the entire team is passionate about this project, and we will make it happen one way or another. If we had to shoot the movie and then raise funds again for post-production, we would also do that. But we are confident we will find investors, and that we will make our goals in this campaign!
PARTICULARS: We have a completed budget (the summary is below), breakdown, finance packet, one-sheet, the entire cast and almost the entire crew already signed on, and our shoot schedule. We are currently working on the shot list, locations, and other details.
THANK YOU: We are so grateful to each and every one of the people willing to click on this link and read our story, and especially to those who can see the passion that has already gone into this project and believe in it enough to donate to the cause. Please read more about Zombie Ted on our website, followus on Twitter @ZombieTedMovie, Zombie Ted onIMDb, Lunatic Fringe Productions onFacebook, Google+ and MySpace, and Anne Welles onher website and on IMDb. And please consider donating to our campaign - EVERY pledge helps, so pledge at least $1 today to help us bring Zombie Ted to the big screen!
Anyone interested in being an investor (for a share in the profits/losses and a partial ownership of the Zombie Ted LLC) should contact Jack Foster, the Executive Producer, and inquire about an Investor Package. Jack can be reached at Jack@LunaticFringeProductions.com.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU TO ALL OUR DONORS!
STRETCH GOALS: $80,000... $100,000... $120,000
Risks and challenges
There are inevitable surprises and obstacles that arise when making a movie, but the team we have gathered is very experienced and well-equipped to handle any hurdle put in front of us. We work on this movie all day and into the night seven days a week; we aren't afraid of hard work, and we know how to make movies. We are so excited to show you what we can do. Bring on the challenges, we will face them as a team!
The zombie apocalypse is upon us. It has been for some time, actually – over 30 years now, if video games are anything to go by. (And they always are.) We've done a little digging, unearthing three decades' worth of the digital undead to see just how their depictions have changed over time.
The results are unsurprising on a technical level – as video game hardware has become more capable through the generations, these shuffling corpses, Crimson Heads and walkers have become more and more lifelike in their unliving appearance. Whereas it took a true leap of the imagination to extrapolate the idea of an attacking zombie from the sparse, blocky pixels of early '80s efforts, modern titles are so detailed in presenting these beasts' disfigurements that they're almost too gruesome to gaze upon at all.
But let's let you all be the judge of just how much grotesquery you can stomach. IGN presents The Visual History of Zombies in Video Games:
A total of 42 video game depictions of the undead were used to create that piece. They include, in mostly chronological order:
1984: The Evil Dead (Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum)
1984: Zombie Zombie (ZX Spectrum)
1986: Ghosts 'N Goblins (NES)
1989: Beast Busters (Arcade)
1989: Monster Party (NES)
1990: Horror Zombies from the Crypt (Amiga, Atari ST, DOS)
1990: Zombi (Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum); Original Version Published in 1986 for Amstrad CPC
We all know zombies are a creation of Hollywood and nothing else. Even if zombies were to start appearing, there's no way that they could take over the world like you see in the movies. Here are some scientific reasons why a zombie outbreak would fail.
Too Many Predators
Humans are at the top of the food chain for a reason. Humans have weapons, and intelligence at our disposal so killing mindless beasts that are running around trying to eat people is easier than it sounds. Also not to mention the other predators they'd have to deal with.
Zombies Can't Take the Heat
If there's one thing science knows, it is that heat speeds up the decomposition process. Once a heart stops beating, the rotting process begins. In a hot climate, zombies would decompose faster than they could become a true threat.
They Don't Like the Cold, Either
Because zombies are dead, they have no way of keeping themselves from freezing. Extreme cold temperatures will freeze the water in their bodies like a package of ground beef in the freezer. This will make them more rigid and slow them down considerably.
They Can't Heal from Damage
Zombies can't heal from the damage they would receive by aimlessly roaming around. That means that gunshots, lost limbs, and a bashed-in skull would greatly slow them down to the point that they could be killed easily.
People Have Weapons and Zombies Don't
Although most sources depict the undead as somewhat unstoppable, damage from a well-placed bullet is likely to stop a zombie. All you have to do is shoot one in the head and it's going down because it's not like it has the reflexes to move out of the way.
Zombies Lack Coordination
Zombies lack the necessary motor skills to pose much of a threat to anyone. They can't climb, they can't open doors and they can't run. This gives humans an even bigger advantage.
Biting Is a Horrible Way to Spread Disease
Viruses like the cold and flu infect via the air. In order for a zombie virus to spread, one person must bite another. This makes the form of transmission very unreliable. Those who are quick enough to sidestep a zombie would likely be safe from the disease.
