Fantastic Fest 2008 Filmmaker/Industry Guests

We'll have lots of guests at Fantastic Fest this year, more than ever before. Here are just a few of the many interesting people who'll be joining us this year, in no particular order. We'll continually update our roster so keep an eye on this page.

Filmmakers and Actors

Norihiro Koizumi (Gachi Boy: Wrestling With A Memory)
A young, talented director who is quickly making his mark in the Japanese filmmaking scene. At the tender age of 25, he directed his first major feature-length film, “Midnight Sun.” “Midnight Sun” was not only critically-acclaimed, but became a commercial hit, grossing over 1 billion yen at the Japanese boxoffice. His latest film, “GACHI BOY Wrestling with a Memory,” won the grand prix at the Udine Far East Film Festival.

Nacho Vigalondo (Shorts Program)
Last year at Fantastic Fest noted Spanish director Nacho Vigalondo won the Next Wave competition, later securing domestic distribution for TIMECRIMES and selling remake rights to high-powered Hollywood producers. He also delighted all of North America by showing us all how to party like our pants were on fire. His award-winning and awesome shorts will be showcased this year at Fantastic Fest.


Bill Pullman (Surveillance, Your Name Here)
Born in Hornell, New York, he attended the State University of New York at Delhi and the State University of New York at Oneonta in the 1970s. He eventually received his Masters of Fine Arts from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Pullman taught theater at SUNY Delhi and Montana State University (where he was convinced by his students to attempt film). When he was 28, he moved to New York City to pursue an acting career. His first prominent movie role was in the film Ruthless People (which starred Danny DeVito and Bette Midler). Other notable films included the lead in Spaceballs (1987), The Serpent and the Rainbow (opposite Zakes Mokae), While You Were Sleeping (1995), Independence Day (1996), and Lost Highway (1997). Pullman continues to act in both theatre and in movies, independent and big budget. He is a well-recognized screen icon and respected stage actor.

Reynald Bertrand (La Creme)
Played in a rock group before suddenly giving up music and dedicating himself to films. Starting in 1991, he attended the classes of Jean Douchet at the University of Paris VII and made several short films that he wrote, filmed and edited himself. In 1994, he met Rémy Belvaux, the writer/director of "Man Bites Dog", and for ten years afterwards edited the commercials that Rémy directed. Since then Reynald has edited other features, including "OSS 117" by Michel Hazanavicius and "Babies" by Thomas Balmes and Alain Chabat.

Jon Gries (South Of Heaven)
Jon Gries has been not only starred in but lit up the freaking screen in an absurd number of our favorite movies. Sure, the whole world knows him as Uncle Rico from NAPOLEON DYNAMITE - but he was also Laszlo in REAL GENIUS, The Wolfman in MONSTER SQUAD, King Vidiot in Joysticks and O.D. in TERRORVISION!!! He's also wowed critics and audiences alike with great performances in the Polish Brothers' films TWIN FALLS IDAHO, JACKPOT and NORTHFORK. Even in small character roles he gives the audience memorable moments thay can relish. His performance in SOUTH OF HEAVEN shows the great actor striving for an even greater range and succeeding beautifully.

Amy Smart (Seventh Moon)
One of Hollywood’s brightest talents on both the silver screen and on television. She is currently in production on Crank 2: High Voltage reteaming her with both Jason Statham and directors Brian Taylor and Mark Neveldine. Amy recently appeared in the horror film Mirrors opposite Kiefer Sutherland. She will soon be seen in the drama Life in Flight opposite Patrick Wilson.

Kevin Smith (Zack & Miri Make A Porno)
You probably know this guy already. Writer, director, all-around renaissance man. Starting with CLERKS in 1994, he has changed the way we look at comics, low-budget films, dialogue, street hockey and New Jersey. His latest film Zack And Miri Make A Porno should be another large, gaudy feather in his already heavily plumage-burdened chapeau.

Scott Mosier (Zack & Miri Make A Porno)
Producer, bit-part actor, all-around filmmaker, Scott has collaborated with his friend Kevin Smith on all his films, ever since the legendary film-school debacle Mae-Day: The Crumbling Of A Documentary. From Clerks through Zack & Miri Make A Porno he is one of the forces that holds the View Askewniverse together.

JT Petty (The Burrowers)
JT is a writer and director of movies, videogames, books, and graphic novels. His first feature film, SOFT FOR DIGGING, was shot for $6000 when he was 20 years old. It was selected for Sundance and went on to dozens of festivals world-wide. He followed this with MIMIC: SENTINEL. His documentary on the world of underground horror, S&MAN (pronounced “sandman”) was selected for the Toronto International and SXSW Film Festivals. He has been writing for videogames since 1999, and was one of the creators of the game SPLINTER CELL, a best-selling franchise.

Eduardo Sanchez (Seventh Moon)
Born in Cuba, moved to Spain with his family and ultimately settled in Maryland where he discovered an early passion for film. In 1997, Eduardo co-wrote, co-edited and co-directed THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT. Eduardo's feature film follow-up to THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, ALTERED, is the story of five men whose lives are ruined by an alien abduction.

Brian Trenchard-Smith (The Man From Hong Kong, Turkey Shoot)
Director of 42 movies and TV series in various genres from martial arts to comedy to horror to action adventure. He is one of Quentin Tarantino’s (and our) favorite directors. His many films include STUNT ROCK, BMX BANDITS, LEPRECHAUN 3&4, THE MAN FROM HONG KONG and TURKEY SHOOT.

JL Vara (South Of Heaven)
Born in La Grange, Georgia and raised in Weatherford, Texas. He attended the American Film Institute where he graduated with a MA in Directing. Since graduation he completed a documentary, started a t-shirt company, and finished his first feature, SOUTH OF HEAVEN.


Angela Bettis (Wicked Lake)
As a theatre actress, Angela Bettis has garnered critical accolades peforming on stage alongside actor heavyweights Al Pacino in Salome, and Liam Neeson in The Crucible. Angela was awarded the prestigous Dramalogue and Garland awards for her stage performance in Arcadia, written by Tom Stoppard. She has starred in such films as Girl, Interrupted, May, Bless The Child, Toolbox Murders and many more. In 2006 she made her directorial debut Roman.

Yoshi Nishimura (Tokyo Gore Police)
Mr. Nishimura is one of Japan’s most creative and extreme special effects creators. He makes his long awaited feature directorial debut with Fever Dream’s TOKYO GORE POLICE, based on his award-winning 1995 short film ANATOMNIA EXTINCTION, Born 1967, Nishimura began by making models for independent films when he was in junior high school as he self-studied photography, lighting, art, special-effects makeup, and special-effects modeling. In 1995, Nishimura’s independently produced film, GENKAI JINKOU KEISU (Limit Population Factor) received the Special Judge’s Award at the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival. Soon Nishimura was put in charge of the special-effects modeling and makeup for many films such as SUICIDE CLUB (2002 / D: Shion Sono) and MEATBALL MACHINE (2005 / D: Yudai Yamaguchi). His most recent effects work includes L CHANGE THE WORLD, DETROIT METAL CITY, BE A MAN! SAMURAI SCHOOL, WELCOME TO THE QUIET ROOM and MACHINE GIRL.

Eric Shapiro (Rule Of Three)
Before conceiving, co-producing, and directing Rule of Three, he wrote the acclaimed novels It's Only Temporary, Days of Allison, and Strawberry Man, among many other works of fiction and nonfiction. Rule of Three not only marks Eric's directorial debut, but his first creative collaboration with his wife, Rhoda Jordan.

Marcel Sarmiento (Deadgirl)
Prior to Deadgirl, Marcel Sarmiento wrote and directed Heavy Petting, a comedy starring Malin Akerman and Kevin Sussman. Marcel also participated in the new director's program for 20th Century Fox's Searchlab, where he completed It's Better to be Wanted for Murder Than Not to Be Wanted At All featuring Zooey Deschanel and Marco Leonardi.

Gadi Harel (Deadgirl)
Wrote and directing the post-modern noir short, Nights Like These. Before that, he apprenticed for a private eye, penned episodic work for the Learning Channel, and reported for the New York Observer. In 2006, Marcel Sarmiento and Gadi Harel created Hollywoodmade, a Los Angeles-based production company for motion picture production and a wide variety of other creative pursuits. In April 2008, Bloomsbury published The Modern Con Man, a tongue-in-cheek lifestyle guide that they co-wrote. Deadgirl is Hollywoodmade's first feature film.

DJ Caruso (Eagle Eye)
D.J. Caruso is an American director and producer from Norwalk, Connecticut. Caruso has directed the films Disturbia, Two for the Money, Taking Lives, and The Salton Sea. He has also directed television episodes for shows such as The Shield, Smallville and Dark Angel. His current project, Eagle Eye is his most ambitious yet.

Tim Chiou (Seventh Moon)
Actor Tim Chiou has, in addition to SEVENTH MOON, recently completed work in two promising features: Wayne Kramer’s CROSSING OVER, with Harrison Ford, Sean Penn, Ray Liotta and Ashley Judd, which the Weinstein Company will open in August, and the independent comedy THE PEOPLE I’VE SLEPT WITH for director Quentin Lee’s Margin Films in which he stars opposite Wilson Cruz, Archie Kao and Lynn Chen.

Darren Bousman (Repo: A Genetic Opera)
Darren Lynn Bousman grew up in Kansas. Shortly after moving to Los Angeles, Darren began directing music videos and commercials. Darren was introduced to Twisted Pictures producers Gregg Hoffman, Mark Burg, and Oren Koules after penning the script THE DESPERATE, which sparked the seed that Leigh Whannell and Bousman would later turn into 2005's smash hit SAW II. Bousman returned to the helm of SAW III in 2006 after which Darren produced and directed a short 10 minute promo piece for his passion project REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA. He used this short to drum up interest for potential investors. Almost immediately after shopping and finding a home for REPO! Darren returned to the LIONS GATE / TWISTED family revisting the SAW world again, this time SAW IV. He is currently finishing post production on REPO! before heading off to helm an episode of the NBC show FEAR ITSELF.

Sean Donnelly (I Think We're Alone Now)
25-year old Sean Donnelly grew up in Santa Cruz, California. He has directed live action and animated clips for a host of commercial and music video projects since graduating from the NYU film school. "I Think We're Alone Now" is Sean's first feature length documentary. He has created work for clients and bands including AOL, Scion, Microsoft, VH1, TiVo, The Spinto Band, Tally Hall, Galactic and Angela McClusky, among others. He recently created all of the animated sequences for Resolved, a feature film that won the audience award for best documentary at the 2007 LA Film Festival.

John Gulager (Feast 2)
Born in 1957 in New York City to actress Miriam Byrd Nethery (LEATHERFACE: TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE III) and actor Clu Gulager (RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD). 47 years later John enters an internet contest, PROJECT GREENLIGHT. He wins. He directs FEAST as his prize. It plays at the first Fantastic Fest. He wins “Best Director”. His season of PROJECT GREENLIGHT is shown in universities and film schools across the country (sometimes as a cautionary tale). FEAST finds an audience and makes money. Now John Gulager is back with FEAST II: SLOPPY SECONDS.

Nicolas Lopez (Santos)
Wrote from the age of 12 to 17 for the most important Chilean newspaper. His weekly feature was a column regarding how to survive in high school being a comic book geek. At the age of 15, Lopez completed his first short film: Pajero, the story of a teenage boy who keeps getting interrupted while trying to masturbate. At 17, he produced the full length slasher Angel Negro, which was a success in his native Chile. Lopez directorial debut was at age 21 with an adaptation of his long running column. Promedio Rojo (F Minus), was a huge hit in Chile and received the praise of Quentin Tarantino (“the funniest movie of the year”), Guillermo Del Toro (“A pinnacle of Chilean cinema that proves that masturbation produces mental retardation”) and Ain’t It Cool News’s Harry Knowles (“a masterpiece in geek comedy”). Promedio Rojo was selected for the film festivals of Tokyo and Los Angeles. At 23 years old, Nicolas Lopez directed his second full length feature: Santos, a co-production between Chile, Spain, and the United States. It was filmed in Santiago, Chile and Tokyo, Japan with a budget of just under 8 million dollars (the average latin american budget being $400,000) and a cast of Spanish stars (Elsa Pataky, Guillermo Toledo, Leonardo Sbaraglia.

Jon Hewitt (Acolytes)
Cut his teeth in exhibition and distribution, working through the 80's and 90's in programming, acquisitions and marketing for Australia's largest arthouse cinema chain. He is also a prolific maverick filmmaker. Working completely outside the mainstream, he has written, produced and directed three uncompromising features. ACOLYTES is his 4th feature.

Marco Pecota (The Facts In The Case Of Mr. Hollow)
Vice-president of RUE MORGUE MAGAZINE. In 2001 he founded VENI VIDI VICI MOTION PICTURES INC., a production company whose mission statement is to create works that are vibrant and artistic, yet remain commercially viable and appealing. To date Marco has produced several films including POLISHED, DYING LIKE OPHELIA, and PINK, all have aired to acclaim at international festivals and on the CBC and BRAVO networks. In 2004 Marco made his directorial debut WHAT CASSANOVA TOLD ME based on the acclaimed story by Susan Swan. Marco is the producer of RUE MORGUE CINEMA’s new films THE EYES OF EDWARD JAMES and THE DEMONOLOGY OF DESIRE.

Aaron Marshall (Zombie Girl)
A Los Angeles resident who was born in Victoria, Texas and holds a BS in Radio/Television/Film from the University of Texas at Austin. He has written and directed a collection of short films and spec commercials and has had screenplays place in competitions such as the Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting and the Slamdance Screenplay Competition. Zombie Girl: THE MOVIE marks his feature-length directorial debut.

Eric Mauck (Zombie Girl)
Born in Yarmouth,Massachusetts and graduated from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale with a BA in Cinema and Photography. He worked as a freelance camera operator and editor for WSIU, the PBS affiliate in Cabondale, before moving to Austin, Texas. There he co-produced a “behind-the-scenes” show on local film productions for the Community Access Channel and began his documentary film work. He is currently working on two short documentaries and continues to cover the independent film community in Austin.

Justin Meeks (Wildman Of The Navidad)
Received degrees in psychology and film from Texas A&M before moving to Austin to pursue acting. Meeks recently landed roles on FOX's hit show "Prison Break," NBC's "Friday Night Lights" and the 35mm feature "Kings of the Evening." He currently is a published poet, registered Kahuna and co-founder of Greeks Productions.

Duane Graves (Wildman Of The Navidad)
Received a film degree from Texas A&M, then directed the critically-acclaimed documentary "Up Syndrome," an intimate portrait of a childhood friend who was born with Down Syndrome. Partially funded by the Austin Film Society, the film won several awards at festivals across the globe, including Slamdance.

James K. Jones (The Wreck)
Co-owner of IKM Productions along with his business and producing partner Patrick Moses. When Jim and Patrick created the company he was primarily producing and directing commercials and corporate image pieces for clients such as McDonalds, Proctor and Gamble, Allure, Oceana, etc. He also worked as cinematographer for various national agencies and television programs. Later, Jim moved into filming a variety of television shows and feature films. Jim and Patrick currently have a new television series in production and they are working on two new features. Aside from features, Jim continues to enjoy directing and shooting commercials and in 2007 he created a new branch of IKM Productions to provide support services for local film makers. Jim lives in New York City.

Zach Passero (Wicked Lake)
A Texas filmmaker wandering the deserts of El Paso, Texas in search of the rare, native Bunga Root. A natural hallucinogen, the Bunga Root need not be ingested to have a vision quest. One only need look at it, if one can find it. As well as directing Wicked Lake, he has directed and animated music videos for Ministry, Revolting Cocks, Jim White, amongst others. His animated segments have been featured in Lucky McKee's Masters of Horror entry, Sick Girl, as well as Angela Bettis' feature Roman. He is currently completing post production on the drug freak-out road movie Motel, Glimpse, which he co directed with Wicked's Justin Stone (Fred). He claims to have seen the Bunga Root recently, and promises a new change in creative output.

Javier Albarran (Dr. Infierno)
Born and raised in the Barrio del Pilar, along with the other principals of Doctor Infierno and Melanoma Flims, Javier Albarrán is one of many “human swiss army knives” that helped sustain the 8 year project Doctor Infierno. During the 8 years of production and beyond the credited work (live sound, sound editing, one and a half “acting” appereances and featured song in soundtrack), Javier has been always a helping hand when needed, accomplishing one of the first fundamentals of independient movie making: always be ready to volunteer.

Additional Filmmaker guests:
Aaron Lohr, Actor: The Wreck
Kays Alatrakchi, Composer: Alien Raiders
Keith Hudson, Actor: Alien Raiders
Ben Rock, Director: Alien Raiders
Otto Borg, Screenwriter: Astropia
Johann Grimson, Co-writer: Astropia
Gunnar Gudmundsson, Director: Astropia
Geoff Redknap, Director: Auburn Hills Breakdown
Katie Weekley, Producer: Auburn Hills Breakdown
Marie Gautier, Co-Producer: Cam2Cam
Davy Sihali, Director: Cam2Cam
Hakim Sihali, Co-Producer: Cam2Cam
Trent Haaga, Screenwriter: Dead Girl
Olly Blackburn, Director: Donkey Punch
Alex Kurtzman, Producer: Eagle Eye
Rodrigo Gudino, Director: Facts in the Case of Mr. Hollow
Marcus Dunstan, Screenwriter: Feast 2
Max Margulies, Director: Fish
Naoko Masuda, Director: Fish
John Pommotto, Editor/ Producer: I Think We're Alone Now
Jon Knautz, Director: Jack Brooks Monster Slayer
Trevor Matthews, Actor: Jack Brooks Monster Slayer
Pieter Van Hees, Director: Left Bank
Nahikari Ipina, Producer: Nacho Vigalondo Shorts
Joe Bishara, Music Producer: Repo! The Genetic Opera
Terrance Zdunich, Co-writer/Actor: Repo! The Genetic Opera
Andres "Kiro" Munoz, Visual Eff. Dir.: Rojo Red
Juan Diaz, Co-writer: Rojo Red
Rodney Eastman, Actor: Rule of Three
Rhoda Jordan, Writer/Producer: Rule of Three
Rizza Baker, Producer Assistant: Seventh Moon
Matt Compton, Co-Producer: Seventh Moon
Robin Cowie, Co-Producer: Seventh Moon
Bob Eick, Exec. Producer: Seventh Moon
Jeremy Walker, Publicist: Seventh Moon
James Moran, Screenwriter: Severance
Burke Roberts, Director: Some of An Equation
Glenn Abbott, Producer: South of Heaven
Jason Polstein, Producer: South of Heaven
Brian Udovich, Producer: South of Heaven
Shea Whigham, Actor: South of Heaven
Kent Harper, Writer: Surveillance/Some of an Equation
Keith Calder, Producer: Terra
Jennifer Wu, Producer: Terra
Jonathan Cherry, Actor: The Wreck
Daphne Herrick, exec producer: The Wreck
Judy Meier, Actor: The Wreck
Patrick Moses, Producer: The Wreck
Kara Ryan, Manager: The Wreck
Ryan Schifrin, Co-Director: Tiffany Problem
Theresa Schifrin, Producer: Tiffany Problem
Jason Eisener, Director: Treevenge
Tim Cawley, Director: Well Founded Concern
Mike Shaugnessy, Art Director: Well Founded Concern
John Carchietta, Producer: Wicked Lake
Kevin Ford, Producer: Wicked Lake
Zeque Pena, Camera Operator: Wicked Lake
Charlie Hurta, Actor: Wild Man Of The Navidad
Stacy Meeks, Actor: Wild Man Of The Navidad
Deborah Allison, Title Designer: Zombie Girl
Chelsea Hernandez, Prod. Ass.: Zombie Girl
Justin Johnson + 1, Director: Zombie Girl
Christopher Thomas, Music Composer: Zombie Girl
Mary Timmel, Prod. Ass.: Zombie Girl
Richard Gale, director: The Horribly Slow Murder with the Extremely Inefficient Weapon
Brian Rohan, actor: The Horribly Slow Murder with the Extremely Inefficient Weapon
Christopher Brady, director: The Horribly Slow Murder with the Extremely Inefficient Weapon


Press and Industry

Chris Gore
A television personality and writer who has built a solid reputation as an outspoken voice in the film world. As a teenager, he founded the brutally honest magazine Film Threat which has been named one of the top five movie sites on the web by the Wall Street Journal. He has traveled the world to over 100 different festivals and his book "The Ultimate Film Festival Survival Guide" is considered the bible of the industry. A 4th edition of the festival guide is due in Fall 2009 from Random House.

Jeff Deutchman
Graduated from Northwestern University with a BS in Film Studies. Since graduating, he has worked in distribution at IDP Distribution, the distribution arm for Samuel Goldwyn Films, and marketing at IFC Films where he was implemental in the grassroots marketing campaign for Wordplay, among other films. In 2007, Jeff transitioned to IFC Films's Acquisitions department, helping the company as it continued its successful day-and-date theatrical/VOD distribution platform and launched IFC Festival Direct, a VOD premiere program. As the Manager of Acquisitions, Jeff has been responsible for acquiring such titles as Medicine for Melancholy, Fermat's Room, My Effortless Brilliance and The Pleasure of Being Robbed.

Tom Quinn
Began his film career in Los Angeles doing domestic publicity at Dennis Davidson Associates working for Senior VP of West Coast publicity. He later moved on to work for Samuel Goldwyn Jr. eventually becoming the VP of Acquisitions where he was responsible for acquiring SUPERSIZEME. He is currently Senior VP of Magnolia Pictures.

Mike Wilson
The Grand Champeen and CEO of videogaming's leading champion of independent artists and original titles, Gamecock Media Group. He has spent most of his career fighting the good fight on behalf of independent artists from all forms of media, including but not limited to film, comics, video games, and food art. He's very happy to be passing judgment on the works of the filmmakers and busboys of tomorrow at Fantastic Fest.

Karina Longworth
A film and new media critic/blogger based in New York, NY. Her writing has appeared in FILMMAKER Magazine, The Huffington Post, Netscape, NewTeeVee, The Raw Story and TV Squad. She currently writes and edits SpoutBlog, a daily film culture blog dedicated to discovering under-the-radar hotness and deflating the over-exposed. She is a frequent festival juror and conference panelist, and has appeared on G4's Attack of the Show!, AMC's Movies That Shook The World, CNN.com Live, and Studio 360 on NPR. In 2005, Karina co-founded Cinematical, which quickly became one of the largest film blogs on the web. As editor and lead contributor at Cinematical, Karina covered film festivals, wrote 10-12 news items a day as well as 3-4 feature stories a week, and wrote, produced, and hosted a short-lived daily video podcast. Karina contributed to Cinematical through the early months of 2007.

Allison Willmore
Editor of IFC.com's film news site, the writer of the Indie Eye blog and the Thursday host of IFC's daily web show Lunchbox. Over the last few years her insights and info have become indispensible for the dedicated follower of film.


Doug Jones
After lying about his age, Doug Jones got his first job in film, shoveling popcorn behind a candy stand, at the age of 14. Since then he has worked at a half dozen different movie theaters, programmed films for a half dozen different film festivals and arts organizations and even made a few short films and music videos (which will never see the light of day again). He is currently Senior Programmer at Film Independent's Los Angeles Film Festival.

Marc Walkow
A member of Subway Cinema, the organizing and programming team behind the New York Asian Film Festival. He has worked in the video industry for 15 years, curating the Mario Bava, EuroShock, and Something Weird genre film labels and producing titles at The Criterion Collection. He recently formed his own company, Outcast Cinema, in order to concentrate on his true passion: promoting classic and contemporary Japanese genre cinema.

Jasper Sharp
A freelance writer/curator/researcher specialising mainly in Japanese cinema. He is the co-editor with Tom Mes of the Midnight Eye website. His book, joint-written with Tom, The Midnight Eye Guide to New Japanese Film was published by Stone Bridge Press in 2004. As well as curating the Japanese program of London’s Raindance Film Festival, his writings on cinema have appeared in a number of magazines and book anthologies published across the world. His new book, “Behind the Pink Curtain The Complete History of Japanese Sex Cinema” is available through FAB Press. He is based in Bath, England.

Don May, Jr.
President of the longest-running independent DVD company, Synapse Films. Known worldwide for his beautiful work in film restoration and exemplary DVD releases, Don is never one to turn down free festival passes and beer. He hasn’t been to Austin, Texas since his original work on the LaserDisc version of the original TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE so he’s looking forward to having a few buckets of crawfish and watching movies... And maybe some bull riding if he gets stupid.

Michael Lerman
A programmer for the Woodstock Film Festival and a frequent contributor to indieWIRE. In the past, he has programmed for the Philadelphia Film Festival, as well as written for Spout and Hammer to Nail. He is also the co-founder of Tiger Industry Films, an independent production company, and has produced two features including White on Rice and Natural Causes, which he also co-wrote and co-directed.

Ian Rattray
One of the co-organisers of the highly respected FrightFest Film Festival, the UK's premiere fantasy and horror event that is held each August in London. A film distributor and booker, Ian has over twenty years experience within the UK industry and runs his own distribution and booking company.

Devin Faraci
The main writer and muckraker for CHUD.com - Cinematic Happenings Under Development. A native Brooklynite transplanted to Los Angeles, he remains staunchly carless. You can see Devin in the documentary Heckler, now on DVD, where he hurls at Leonard Maltin unprintable but creative expletives.

Charlie Boswell
As Director of Digital Media & Entertainment for Advanced Micro Devices works directly with leading entertainment industry innovators and content creators including George Lucas, James Cameron, Robert Rodriguez to create technology solutions for creative challenges.

Daniel Pozarik
Followed up a five year stretch as a video store clerk with 4 years in international distribution & sales. Daniel's favorite film is BLADE RUNNER, prefers the new DAWN OF THE DEAD to the original, and is a big Lee Marvin fan.


Scott Weinberg
A self-appointed "horror advocate" who reviews films for FEARnet and Cinematical (he's now the managing editor!) and loves nothing more than a week full of high-end cinematic lunacy. Longtime Fantastic Fest juror and now the host of the infamous Fantastic Feud, Scott is easily one of the loudest, goofiest, and most insatiably passionate movie geeks you'll ever meet. His pet peeves are rude people, long walks on the beach, crappy sequels, documents that don't auto-save, PG-13 horror, drunk Britons, and Illinois Nazis. Oh, and if you talk during a FF screening, that annoying SHUSHING is coming from Scott. So shut up please.

Jette Kernion
A film critic and feature writer in Austin, Texas. She grew up in the New Orleans area, and has been writing online since 1998. While her high-school classmates were reading Seventeen and V.C. Andrews, Jette read Fantasy & Science Fiction magazine, in which Harlan Ellison's "Watching" essays inspired her to see and write about non-John Hughes films. Some of her favorite movies (this week) are Holiday, Some Like It Hot, The Wild Bunch, Evil Dead 2, and Brazil. In her free time, Jette also edits the Austin film blog Slackerwood and contributes to Cinematical.

Kier-la Janisse
Known to Austinites as a former programmer for the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema and creator of its "Music Monday" series. She is the founder of the CineMuerte Horror Film Festival and the BIG SMASH! Music-on-Film Festival, both in Vancouver, and is an independent exhibitor of exploitation cinema, curating programs at the Blinding Light!! Cinema and the Criminal Cinema in Vancouver and the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. She is currently a programmer for the Winnipeg Cinematheque, where she curates the weekly Big Smash! Music Scene series and the Cabin Fever childrens' retro series, and is the Asian film programmer for the San Francisco Indie Festival. She has written for Filmmaker, Rue Morgue and Fangoria magazine and is the author of A VIOLENT PROFESSIONAL: THE FILMS OF LUCIANO ROSSI, published by FAB Press in 2007

Additional press and industry guests:
Harry Knowles, Critic: Ain't It Cool News
Drew McWeeney, Critic: Ain't It Cool News
Eric Vespe, Critic: Ain't It Cool News
Michael Barnes, Editor: Austin American Statesman
Charles Ealy, Editor: Austin American Statesman
Chris Garcia, Critic: Austin American Statesman
John Defore, Critic: Austin American Statesman/Hollywood Reporter
Marc Savlov, Critic: Austin Chronicle
Marjorie Baumgarten, Critic: Austin Chronicle/Variety
Russ Hartman, Critic: Austin Daze
Bree Perlman, Critic: Austin Daze
Cole Dabney, Critic: Coleandbobby.com
Robert McCurdy, Critic: Coleandbobby.com
Hallie Lickteig, Critic: Daily Texan
Will Goss, Critic: eFilmCritic / Hollywood Bitchslap
Harvey Fenton, Critic: FAB Press/Fangoria
Jason Arnopp, Critic: Film Threat
Jay Slater, Critic: Film Threat
Adam Sweeney, Critic: filmschoolrejects.com
Alex Billington, Critic: First Showing
Doug Marshall, Producer: IFC TV
Matt Singer, Critic/Host: IFC TV
James Vianes, Reportrer: KeyeTV
Scott Von Doviak, Critic: Nerve.com
Tim Basham, Critic: Paste
Peter Sciretta, Critic: Slash Film
Chris Cargill, Critic: Spill.com
Chris Cox, Critic: Spill.com
Kevin Kelly, Critic: Spout.com
Scott Thomas, Critic: Texas State University Star
Sean O'Neal, Critic: The Onion
Jennifer Baldillez, Critic: The Reviewer
Todd Brown, Critic: Twitchfilm
Andrew Mack, Critic: Twitchfilm
Peter Martin, Critic: Twitchfilm
Rodney Perkins, Critic: Twitchfilm
Omar Swarez , Critic: Twitchfilm