Underground Horror radio Interviews Andrea Albin Fatality Fest

Underground Horror Radio was fortunate enough to interview Andrea Albin, Owner of ADA Management Group, Producer at Fatality Films and the founder of Fatality Fest, West Palm Beach’s first Horror Convention. The convention will be held at the West Palm Beach Marriott on June 7-9, 2013. Check out the Fatality Fest website for details.

UHR      What is it about the Horror Genre that fascinates you to work in it?

AA: My mother once told me that adrenaline is what drives us. She said that if you're scared, you're motivated to do just about anything in your power to beat that fear. That's probably where my love of the genre mostly comes from; my love of being scared. I genuinely love frightening things- be it ghosts, serial killers, or other things that go bump in the night. I'm a rare form that enjoys having my heart race and breaking into a cold sweat. Honestly, I feel as if the horror genre is one of the most emotional. It's hard to explain- but when it comes down to it, I feel as if I get more from a horror flick than any other type of film. But it has to be done right. I'm very picky about the work that fascinates me. 

UHR: How did you get the title of Ms. Disgusting?

 AA: I had been writing for Bloody-Disgusting for about three months and had pumped out a ton of feature articles. Every time you refreshed the front page, there I was. I was surfing through the message boards one night and someone had said I was the 'Ms. Disgusting' to editor in chief Brad Miska's 'Mr. Disgusting.' It just kind of stuck. Not the coolest of nicknames, but when you work in horror it could most definitely be considered honorable! 

   

  UHR: What do you think the hardest part of screen writing is, the process of writing or the selling and producing part? 

  AA: They're both equally hard, but any writer will tell you that the creative process is tough. Diving into your characters, giving them life- it's one of the most rewarding and yet one of the hardest jobs you'll ever have. Every time I'm writing a new screenplay, I lose myself in the moment. I become those characters. And it's tough. Even after you finish the writing process you're still latched onto your script as if it's a part of you. And I guess that's what makes the selling and producing equally as difficult- part of you has to let go to make it happen. I'm working on a script right now that has literally been a part of my life and my career for the past six years. Hopefully I can let this one go in a few weeks. 

UHR: What is Fatality Films?

AA: I had this crazy idea that I wanted to own a production company and work on projects from the bottom up. My producing partner, Scott Spiegel, jumped on board and now we're putting together eight feature films and some television projects. We're operating under the idea that low cost doesn't have to be low quality- and I have every intention of staying true to my word. 

 UHR: If you had to pick what is the top three Horror/Scfi Movies you love?

AA: I'm definitely more of a horror nerd- so I'd have to say my top three films are...
1. The Exorcist- It was the first horror film I ever saw. I guess you could say it kick started my obsession.
2. Hostel- To this day, I have yet to figure out how Eli put together such a magnificent film.
3. Halloween- The original. Not the Rob Zombie remake, though I think he's a talented filmmaker and one of the few not to ruin a franchise with a re imagination.  

  UHR: Do you like remakes? If you were going to make a remake what movie would you like to do?

AA: I'm not a huge fan of remakes. I feel as if there are so many top-quality ideas out there that remakes just aren't what Hollywood is made of. Are there some that I've enjoyed? Absolutely- but whatever happened to originality? I'm a firm believer that remakes are nothing more than a money move to the studios.

It is funny though- if I were to ever take the director's chair and choose a film to remake, it would be Intruder. Not just because Scott is my producing partner, but because I feel as if you could reach a whole new generation with a film such as that. It was incredibly well made, but a remake could do it justice. 

     

  UHR: What inspired you to make Fatality Fest?

AA: Over the years my firm, ADA Management Group, has represented several individuals who frequent the convention circuit. I spent a good chunk of time since 2011 on the road with some of these clients and it's been a whirlwind of the good, the bad and the ugly. We took note of everything that we thought we could do better- and two years after the idea originated, we announced Fatality Fest! It was a long time in the making and we are THRILLED to be bringing a quality event to the area. By this time next year, we'll already be two events in. Aside from our West Palm Beach show, we are also planning a show in Montana and two additional locations in 2014. It's the train that just doesn't stop! 

     UHR: Of all the Major cities in Florida (Jacksonville ,Orlando, Miami, Tampa)

     What was it about West Palm Beach that made it the city to host Fatality Fest?

AA: When I was 19, I moved to the West Palm Beach area and fell in love. It's a big city, but at the same time it has a small town feel. Being that I'm originally from Montana, it was a place I easily adapted to- and what better place to hold a convention than right by the beach? It's minutes away from the best restaurants, shops- we couldn't have asked for a better location. 

The other reason we chose West Palm Beach is because we wanted to establish our event based upon quality, not location. There are so many amazing events already in the cities you've mentioned, we thought it was best to establish ourselves elsewhere. 

  UHR:  Last Question: In your opinion what do you think is better?

             Make a Movie or a TV show?  By that I mean to Film, write and produce for it.

   AA:  Film and television are SO different from one another. As a producer and screenwriter by trade,
           I'd have to say my first love will always be in film- but it would be killer to be a show runner. 

   

          Thank you, Andrea, for your time.

Check out Andrea Albin  and Fatality Fest on Facebook, Twitter
www.bloodybombshell.com

Visit Fatality Fest on Facebook to keep up with all of the great things coming to the convention!

The Legend of Sweet Creek Horror Convention

The Legend of Sweet Creek Horror Convention
by Tony Jenkins
Punk4Punx Publications

With the con already having been covered by the Field’s local news stations, I’m going to give you a first person inside look at the Legend of Sweet Creek Horror Convention that took place this past weekend, July 12^th-14^th at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. Let me first and foremost say if you weren’t able to make it, you really missed out. Sure, it’s always great to catch the larger, more established horror conventions; but it’s really fucking something when you’re able to support independent teams of artists doing their craft and make history by attending the first event celebrating such a thing. I was able to experience this all compliments of winning one of the contests for two VIP passes to the event, which allowed me to take my +1, my friend Daniel Conner, an aspiring writer/director hoping to get his own start into the business.

Falling asleep at 4 AM Saturday morning to not really wake up until 9 AM, my day had finally begun. Awoken by a beautiful girl that kept me in bed until noon had me worried I was going to be late, but what can I say? She was tempting and definitely had her charm about her, but I knew I had to get going and fulfill my obligations. Kidding, kidding. It was just a late start. My life isn’t that awesome, c’mon now. At one in the afternoon my bro and I set sail against the mighty winds of Illinois to travel two and a half hours to approach the damned land that is called Springfield, taken over by the dread crew of Infectious Effects for 48 hours during a weekend of horror and hell. This is definitely not something I would miss!

Coordinated by Laura Richter teaming up with Tyler Bauer and Infectious Effects Productions, the horror convention convened for preview for those holding passes on Saturday from 5 PM to 8 PM on Saturday and continued from 12 PM to 6 PM Sunday. In addition to primarily focusing on the Legend of Sweet Creek micro-series and its fundraising, part of the proceeds were sent to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. Anyone that says those in the horror community do not care about such things couldn’t be further from the truth.

Celebrity attractions at the Legend of Sweet Creek include Patrick Barnitt (Star Trek; Deep Space Nine and Voyager, Star Trek: First Contact, Patrick Stewart stand-in for Star Trek: Insurrection, The Coffin and 7even), and three individual “walkers” from The Walking Dead; Michael Koske, Michael Mundy and Michelle Flanagan-Helmeczy, each with their own respective celebrity histories. Other special guests range from wicked artist Roger Scholz, to former Penis Flytrap bassist and independent recording artist Lucifer Fulci, Infectious Effects’ own I Zombie and Lacy to paranormal activity investigators John Winterbauer and Jake Bonnett. Check out the con’s site for a complete list here: http://zenchyk.wix.com/sweetcreekhorrorcon#!guests/c9i5.

Daniel and I very much enjoyed the preview with our VIP status. We lived it up, met everyone we could and ended up laying down some cash to walk away with some goods. Daniel walked off with his signed pictures from all four celeb guests, we both enjoyed some of Roger’s signed artwork, I picked up a bizarro work called Strange Sex from Kevin Strange and his partner, and we definitely got involved in the scene with some of the monsters. I got choked by Jason Voorhees! How cool is that!? Zombie photobombed the picture in style, Daniel snapped shots with the walkers. It was all an introduction for us, but the real festivities started at the soundtrack party.

The soundtrack party brought the performance of three acts: Instrumental badass and guitar virtuoso Alex Chastain performing with Almaculate Conception, energetic and riot inspiring Us Against Them, and last but surely not least death metal greats Grim (Fuck Grim!). This was a chill sort of behind the scenes chance for the guests to chill and enjoy music, drinks, food and more. The multi-talented Lacy picked up some photos from the event with her camera. You can find them on the Infectious Effects Productions Facebook. This was probably my favorite part of the event, just getting to be in a familiar environment of a bar listening to kick ass bands. It definitely gave me a chance to kick it with the IE crew and have some bonding with Zombie himself over an IPA he introduced me to called Raging Bitch, Crown and Coke drinks and having his back when a dude decides to mosh in front of the stage. Now that was some good shit. Look these bands up on their respective pages and give them a listen. You’ll definitely want to hear them, and Grim has a video on YouTube actually done by Infectious Effects called Primeval (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61WnZL9BhL0). In fact, I’m going to jam it while writing the rest of this shit. Aw yeah… Here we go.

Out late and up early was the battle cry of the IE crew, myself and Daniel. Zombie and Lacy had us all beat, as the duo awoke to prepare his mohawk scar. If you haven’t seen some of her make up or custom paint work, you best get your ass online and check it out too. 8 AM, an hour before my alarm even goes off. As requested I’m handed a cup of probably the blackest coffee I’ve ever seen or had. Coming from Zombie himself, I can’t at all say I’m surprised. Thanks again for letting us crash at your home by the way man. I still dig the clowns! Oh, and thanks for driving us to McDonald’s for breakfast Lacy! You’re the best! After three of us (Zombie, “Pedro” and myself) suffer through our hangovers a little bit and fight the good fight of getting going, we manage to finally head out to get things set up for day two .

After a Facebook argument that was posted in the comments section on one of my posts, I’ve got to say I hope the fucker eats his words. It’s of course easy to say it doesn’t look like many showed up on a preview day that was intended for VIP’s and event people only. That does make it limited, but maybe it’s just my thinking. Sunday was loaded. The public were swarming in, little kids were being zombified by Lacy, crowds of 20 people at a time gathered to watch the highlight of the IE booth with the 12 minutes of footage the IE crew have put together of Legend of Sweet Creek. I had to have watched the footage at least in the double digits easily, and I loved it every time. The opening scenes are great, and Pedro’s crawling bit under the bridge is just badass as all hell. Hearing some of Zombie’s stories on the filming didn’t grant disenchantment, it made the scenes even more badass knowing what was done. They did some hella good work on it. Check the Infectious Effects website out to get a viewing and see what all the hype was about and why the namesake of the con.

I’ve got to say, the vendors were really great. Jim of Voodoo Comics gave me a great deal with purchasing Oxymoron, a Comix Tribe indie take on the Joker, throwing in issues one and two of The Red Ten, a new comic series featuring said character. Lucifer said he’d be honored to have me put a pin of his on my vest, and I picked up a horror soundtrack CD of his own work that he compared to John Carpenter’s work, alongside one of his death metal CD’s. I’ll give them a spin and maybe end up writing something on them another time. Roger signed my tasteful zombie pin up and gave free a smaller Cthulu work after a comment on another image I had made. I also picked up an antique instrument of dentistry, I’ve no idea what it’s called or was intended to do, but it looks like a small scale spear and well, having an instrument for such purposes on your person can’t be a bad thing. There were so many nifty things to look at, and not enough money in my pocket to get them all. Let me say real quick that the food vendors were good people. The prices weren’t bad at all and they were fun and charismatic when serving. You know it’s awesome when you ask for extra love on a tenderloin with cheese sandwich and somehow you know it’s there!

All in all, the weekend was a great success, and if I understand correctly, there are already plans for a return event next year. I’ve got it on good source that this will be the case. Will it still be named the Legend of Sweet Creek? That’s up in the air, but the idea of a returning horror convention is definitely out on the table. If that’s the case, you can definitely expect me to be doing everything I can to get in on the action and VIP again if possible, if I don’t just end up working at the damn thing. Trying to sell wares for the IE crew was fun and a throwback to memories of my own pulling work in St. Louis, Salem and elsewhere selling off our wares as a vend. Good times, good times. So if you’re in traveling distance or even a local of the central IL area and are looking for a new horror con, definitely be on the lookout next year for what IE will be cooking up. Check out the Facebook page and website to read up on everything that took place, and without a doubt you best damn add Infectious Effects on Facebook to support their efforts with Legend of Sweet Creek. Now, stop reading this damn thing and go check out www.infectiouseffects.com! Tony out.