THE OUTSIDER FILMMAKER Q&A (HPLFF 2024)

Here’s a fun peek into the philosophy and production methods we use to make our unique brand of handmade puppet films. (Note: the first minute or so was muted.)

On this Q&A my Co-Producer Mark Schneider and I join Gwen Callahan (H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival) to discuss how and why we made The Outsider, explaining how we fostered a successful collaboration even though we have different approaches to our work. We had a great time chatting with Gwen and Director Matthew Hardesty (Head Sighs, music video for Jumprope) about our films, sympathetic monsters, and practical effects.

Still have questions? Let me know so I can answer them on a video, podcast or post!

THE OUTSIDER FILM FESTIVAL SCREENINGS

The Outsider received SO MUCH LOVE at the 2024 H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival in Portland!

The huge crowd present for our screening was fun and responsive, and our Q&A afterward was a blast. Once people had seen what we’d created, we were treated to a steady stream of support, insightful questions, and thoughtful discussion about our film that felt wonderful. I’m grateful that our story and its presentation connected, but was extra inspired to learn how the different elements of The Outsider’s story and production - including the deeper, subtler ones I love - touched different people in particular ways. And we even inspired fan art!

Photo credit: Remy Peterson

Our Portland crew had the best time in and around the beautiful Hollywood Theatre, watching tons of films and making new friends at the after parties. I’m grateful for the community that creates and supports this fest (thanks Gwen and Brian for bringing us all together!), and I always come out of the weekend feeling inspired.

While preparing for HPLFF Portland, we learned that The Outsider had also been officially selected for more film festivals around the continent! First one is for my Bay Area friends: Weird Film Fest in Oakland, CA, a fun block of strange films screening October 28, 2024. This fest takes place at the amazing, couch-filled New Parkway Theater, which I’ve always enjoyed visiting. It’ll be a weird, fun time.

Next, we go way out to the edge of North America for FOGFEST! This Canadian premiere of The Outsider takes place Nov 7-12, 2024 on the foggy tip of Newfoundland and Labrador. In 2023 FOGFEST screened both my film Night-Gaunts and my music video Before She Was a Moth, so I’m excited to return!

Happening at the same time (but 2,500 miles away) is the Buried Alive Horror Film Festival in Atlanta, GA! This festival runs Nov 7-10, 2024, and I’m happy to say that The Outsider screens here for its Southeastern US premiere!

Though I won’t be in attendance for all of them, I’m excited and honored that The Outsider is screening at the kind of film festivals I would definitely enjoy. If you can make it, please go support The Outsider and all the other independent/weird films at these events!

MY NEW PUPPET FILM: THE OUTSIDER

I made a new puppet movie! The Outsider is a 15-minute short film using handmade puppets and sets to tell the tale of an isolated woman in a shadowy realm who braves the unknown to discover her true nature. The film is based on the bones of the H.P. Lovecraft story, but I made it my own…and added monsters, of course.

I’m excited and honored to be officially selected again this year for the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival! After having its WORLD PREMIERE at the festival in Providence, RI (Lovecraft’s birthplace), The Outsider returns home for the Portland festival on October 5th, 2024.

Lovecraft’s short story The Outsider has always been one of my favorites, and for years I had considered just how I could adapt it properly. Before I was making films I even considered adapting it into a comic, but eventually wasn’t satisfied with how it worked in that format. In 2023 I finally began developing the story for a film treatment and planned to produce it within just a few weeks, but soon realized that, if I wanted to do it right, it deserved much more time. I’m so glad that I gave it that extra time. After chasing it down a few different paths, my film version of The Outsider became a story that I loved, one that embraced some of my favorite themes and told its tale without using any words.

Making The Outsider was crazy fun. It greatly evolved the methods I used to make 2023’s Night-Gaunts, and grew me a lot as a creative force and a collaborator. As with Night-Gaunts, I did all the jobs - writing, directing, editing, producing, concepts, fabrication, sound design, you name it - but this time around I co-produced with my friend, collaborator and fellow Portland weirdo, Mark Schneider. Mark is an incredible sculptor, creature maker, and fabricator (to name just a few) and he brought all of that and much more into our production of The Outsider. Building and shooting was completed by us in a few weeks during the summer of 2024. It was an intense schedule, and kind of a crazy undertaking when we’d stop and think about it, but the whole thing was blessed with synchronicity and lots of happy accidents that enriched the film in unexpected ways.

Still from Monstark's handmade puppet film "The Outsider"

I’ll share more production and behind-the-scenes stuff later (check my socials and YouTube for that), but for now I’ll share this reminder: you have everything you need, right now, to make a film. If that path is calling to you, just start. Don’t wait for the perfect gear or the perfect story, don’t wait for anyone to tell you that you’re good enough…most of all, don’t gatekeep yourself out of a hugely satisfying path of creative expression. Start small and keep moving!

HPLFF FILMMAKER Q&A

Wanna see me ramble about film and art? Ever wonder how dorky I am in person? I joined the filmmaker Q&A for the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival’s streaming event - watch now!

Thanks to Gwen Callahan for hosting, and to the HPLFF Discord folks who came with comments and questions. I really enjoyed hangin’ with the other participating filmmakers, especially since they were responsible for two of my favorite films from the festival (Hideous Heart and Dead Enders).

MORE OFFICIAL SELECTIONS (AND INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE) FOR "NIGHT-GAUNTS"!

Swooping this way and that like the bat-winged monster for which it’s named, Night-Gaunts appears in three more film festivals around the US and Canada (where it enjoys its INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE), all inside just a few weeks!

First, it’s part of the Bleedingham horror short film festival, which hails from up here in the Northwest.

Next, it flaps on down to Mobile, AL for the brand new H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival in the South!

Then, for the Night-Gaunts international premiere it travels wayyy up to the easternmost edge of Canada (St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador) to play FOGFEST, a horror film festival taking place in a spooky zone surrounded by roaring ocean and dense woods.

So pleased with all the love and adventure this little film has enjoyed!

"NIGHT-GAUNTS" SELECTED FOR THE 2023 H.P. LOVECRAFT FILM FESTIVAL!

I’m extremely excited to announce that my new puppet film Night-Gaunts has been selected to play the 2023 H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival!

Night-Gaunts will be playing both at the Providence, RI festival (in Lovecraft’s hometown, on his birthday weekend!) and the Portland, OR festival. I’m absolutely honored to have my film shown at the HPLFF because I adore this festival and will be in attendance at the amazing Hollywood theatre in Portland.

MY NEW PUPPET FILM: "NIGHT-GAUNTS"

I made a new puppet film…in two weeks! It’s called Night-Gaunts and it’s a handcrafted short horror film based on an H.P. Lovecraft poem.

In mid-July 2023, I decided I needed to knock out a quick solo puppet film project. It had been a while since I’d built and shot anything to completion, so I had this burning desire to just dive back in. After a few days’ consideration, I chose an idea that seemed manageable: I would adapt the H.P. Lovecraft poem “Night-Gaunts”, weaving in my own weirdness.

A few factors made it a real challenge: I would make this film all by myself in a 10x15-foot shed, I had no budget to speak of, and the film needed to be completed in two weeks for a film festival deadline. But once I decided to make it happen, there was no stopping me - I created in a state of flow all the way to the end.

From building to shooting (on a smartphone), the process was low-tech, handmade and improvisational. I moved fast and had to constantly remind myself not to get too precious about the work. I built everything using materials on hand (recycled craft materials and parts of old sets and puppets), a method that always brings me joy. But the contributions of music and narration from a couple of talented friends were what really made the final product feel legitimate.

Night-Gaunts was completed on time and I’m so proud of both the process and the result. Making this film in such a challenging and playful way was a wild and wonderful experience, and I encourage you to try it yourself!

"KAIJU FODDER" WINS BEST BUMPER AWARD!

I’m absolutely delighted to share that my bloody little film bumper, “Kaiju Fodder”, has won the “Best Bumper Award” at the 2023 Portland Horror Film Festival! There’s so much talent in this festival that I’m simply honored to have received such love!

Watching my bumper play to a responsive crowd at the festival was sort of surreal, as this was my first time seeing my film work on such a big screen. Maybe extra surreal, as it was the same screen on which I’ve viewed many many fantastic films at the historic Hollywood Theatre.

Many thanks to the wonderful organizers, participants and attendees of the Portland Horror Film Festival!

Read more and see all of this year’s award winners at the PHFF awards page.

MUSIC VIDEO PREMIERE: THE MANX - "BEFORE SHE WAS A MOTH"

My music video for The Manx has dropped and I’m SO excited to share!

The puppet world of “Before She Was a Moth” was designed, built and shot by me in a workshop the size of a bedroom. I chose a very low-tech approach, avoiding green screens and complex digital effects. The creatures and environments were largely built upon found or recycled objects, and were sculpted, painted and manipulated by hand.

Head over to Janky Smooth for the premiere!

The Manx - “Before She Was a Moth“ music premiere at Janky Smooth

Sweatband Records

H.P. LOVECRAFT FILM FESTIVAL 2021 POSTER ART

I was very pleased and honored to be asked to create the poster art for the 2021 H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival! This year the theme was inspired by “From Beyond”, a Lovecraft story that was adapted into a popular film (as well as some shorts, as seen at the festival this year). Like any good cosmic horror protagonist, I went back to the old text to summon the original inspiration, and blended it with my own. My intention was a combination of black light effects, electron microscopy and deep sea bioluminescence.

FOREST OF IMMORTALS - DAVE CORREIA II: ELDER THING

It’s the return of artist Dave Correia! We discuss the making of our Elder Thing sculpture, which was featured at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival. We talk through the process, challenges and lessons that came with making a ten foot tall tentacle monster on a tiny budget.

Find Dave here:
davecorreiaart.com
instagram
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Intro music by Jean Baudin. Find his work at jeanbaudin.com.
Interviews and art by Monstark. Find his podcasts, art and products at monstark.com.
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