| Screamfest Horror Film Festival | |
|---|---|
| Location | Los Angeles, California, USA |
| Language | International |
| Official website | |
Screamfest Horror Film Festival is the largest horror film festival in the United States.[1] Some of the largest horror online publications have called it the "Sundance of Horror". Previously held at Loews Universal Studios Cinemas, Universal CityWalk, the festival is now held annually at the prestigious Grauman's Mann Chinese 6 in Hollywood. Screamfest premieres and showcases new work from American and international independent horror filmmakers. Film entries are accepted in the categories of Best Feature, Directing, Cinematography, Editing, Special Effects and Musical Score. In addition, there are special categories for Best Animation, Best Short, Best Documentary and Best Student Film.
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The largest film festival held in Los Angeles, Screamfest (a non-profit 501 (3) (c) organization), is an internationally recognized showcase for independent filmmakers and writers of the horror, science fiction and fantasy genres.[2]
Screamfest was formed in August 2001 by film producers Rachel Belofsky and Ross Martin in order to give filmmakers and writers in the horror/science fiction genres a venue to have their work showcased to people in the industry.[3] The majority of the films showcased in the past now have distribution.
The festival began in 2001 at the Vogue Theater in Hollywood, California and has since moved on to the famous Grauman's Mann Chinese 6 in Hollywood.
The festival has hosted many famous filmmakers and actors as guests, including Sam Raimi, Wes Craven, Eli Roth, James Wan, Paris Hilton, Rob Zombie, David Arquette, Courteney Cox, Mike Mendez, Lance Henriksen, Clive Barker, Lin Shaye, Avenged Sevenfold, Fall Out Boy, Robert Englund, Mercedes McNab, Bill Moseley, Kane Hodder, Tobe Hooper, James Gunn, Michael Rooker, John Gulager, Snoop Dogg, Zack Snyder, Stan Winston, Sean Cunningham, Tim Sullivan and even John Landis. Screamfest has also introduced some major horror films onto the world, including The Tripper, Automaton Transfusion, Hatchet, Paranormal Activity, Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, Wolf Creek, The Lost, Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror, Boo!, Curandero, Feast, Three... Extremes, Sigaw, 2001 Maniacs, Cube Zero, Dead Meat, 28 Days Later, Dog Soldiers, Wrong Turn and many more.
While the horror boom continues to show no signs of slowing down, Screamfest continues to grow at an alarming rate. Annually Screamfest holds a private party at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah and has many exclusive engagements in Los Angeles and Hollywood throughout the year. The festival has been featured on Craig Ferguson and Entertainment Tonight and in Variety, Time magazine, The Hollywood Reporter, New York Times and other major online and print publications.
Rachel Belofsky (Festival Director/Founder)
Prior to creating Screamfest, Rachel Belofsky formed her production company Candy Heart Productions, LLC in the Fall of 1999. In the Spring of 2000, Rachel produced the multiple award winning women in racing documentary Fast Women. It aired nationally in October 2001 on Canada's WTN (Women's Television Network) and in the U.S. on Women's Entertainment (WE) in November 2001. In 2006, Candy Heart Productions. L.L.C. produced the horror documentary, Going to Pieces, for the Starz cable network. In addition to producing, Rachel has served as a sales agent at the AFM and Cannes Markets.
Stan Winston (Partner)
Winner of 4 Academy Awards and nominated for 10 total, Stan Winston, the “Master” of special effects has partnered up with Screamfest LA in 2004 to make this year our best ever. Some of Stan's movies include: Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Jurassic Park, Aliens, Batman Returns, Artificial Intelligence and Predator, just to name a few. The knowledge and experience Stan brings to the table for Los Angeles’ top horror film festival will only enhance the platform created to launch the latest films produced for this genre.
Brad Miska (Marketing and Promotions Manager)
The horror genre entered Brad Miska's veins the second he watched Don Mancini's Child's Play back in 1988, and since then has become a major horror fanatic. In 2000, he co-founded the horror website Bloody-Disgusting.com, which is now recognized as one of the elite sources for all things horror related in the nation. In 2003, he co-founded FreezeDriedMovies.com, which is a website designed to promote all genres of film. Continuing on the popularity of Bloody-Disgusting, Brad Miska co-founded MobileNightmare.com in 2006, which is the first ever mobile horror network. Being that the horror genre is such a major part of his life it only made sense for him to bring his knowledge and internet expertise to Screamfest to help take their presence to an even higher level.