FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

H. P. LOVECRAFT FILM FESTIVAL® ANNOUNCES
SAN PEDRO EVENT CLOSURE

PORTLAND, OR  October 7, 2016

After seven festivals since 2010, the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival® (HPLFF®) will not be returning to the Warner Grand Theatre in San Pedro, California. The epic final San Pedro event transpired from April 29 to May 1, 2016 over the auspicious Walpurgisnacht weekend, and featured author Joe Pulver, Sr. and a live cast accompaniment to the classic 1970 B-movie The Dunwich Horror.

“We wish to thank all our volunteers, vendors, filmmakers, authors, artists, game masters, and especially our devoted audience and Kickstarter donors of the past six years for their passion, devotion, support, and love,” said San Pedro event organizer Aaron Vanek.

Andrew Migliore, the founder and executive director of the HPLFF, stated “There were many reasons that led to making the difficult decision to not renew the San Pedro event. While the Warner Grand Theatre was a great venue, the event was never able to thrive over the course of its seven year run in that location. Other factors included Aaron Vanek stepping back as lead director and the difficulties of managing a consistent presentation across the HPLFF franchise with a remote committee. I personally want to thank the San Pedro organizers and staff for their efforts to bring the HPLFF to southern California.”

Brian Callahan, co-director of the HPLFF in Portland Oregon added, “We really enjoyed our yearly visits to San Pedro as vendors, and loved that it was fun in different ways than the event we organize here in Portland. It had its own style, and we’ll miss it and the wonderful Lovecraft fans of southern California, who made it special.”

The organizers of the annual San Pedro event regret the decision to close the festival, but are proud of its accomplishments over the years, including:

• The commission and creation of a Lovecraft-themed wall mural in San Pedro by noted underground artist Skinner.
• Screening a brand-new restored 35mm print of Berkeley Square (1933), presented by director Frank Lloyd’s grandson Christopher Gray. Famously reviewed by H. P. Lovecraft in a letter to R. H. Barlow, this film inspired Lovecraft’s classic tale The Shadow Out of Time.
• Presenting the Howie award (the HPLFF award for significant contributions to the genre of cosmic horror, weird tales, and Lovecraft cinema) to Michael Reaves, writer of The Real Ghostbusters cartoon episode “Collect Call of Cathulhu” and editor of the anthology Shadows Over Baker Street; and legendary filmmaker Roger Corman, who made the first cinematic adaptation of Lovecraft in The Haunted Palace starring Vincent Price (1963).

“Although the San Pedro chapter of the HPLFF is ending,” Andrew continued, “the organizers remain a part of the HPLFF family and you will almost certainly see them again at our other events.” Until then, the organizers won’t be sitting idle as they continue to pursue other projects:

• Cody Goodfellow can be experienced this October as he again writes, acts, and hosts the Cthulhu Prayer Breakfast at the HPLFF in Portland and promotes his newest book, Rapture Of The Deep & Other Lovecraftian Tales.
• James Knouse of Lovecraft Wines (lovecraftwines.com) will continue to press the spirits, and is slated to vend at the Portland festival, and wherever there is a need for his unique brand of bottled madness.
• Miguel Rodriguez directs the terrifyingly successful Horrible Imaginings Film Festival™ in San Diego, which is currently the #11 best-reviewed film festival on FilmFreeway (hifilmfest.com).
• Aaron Vanek will continue to write and design role-playing games, scenarios, and larps based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft, and is planning a DVD release of his Lovecraftian movies, including the rare and newly remastered Return to Innsmouth (1999).
• Frank Woodward is in pre-production on new documentaries as well as his first feature film, Exit. He will also be working for French television as screenwriter for the Elements of Disaster series. These TV movies begin production in 2017.

We encourage all of our San Pedro fans to attend the main H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival every October at the Hollywood Theatre in Portland, Oregon—taking place this October 7-9—and every even-numbered year in Providence, R.I. For more information please visit hplff.com.

For questions or comments, please contact us.

“H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival” is a registered trademark of Lurker Films, Inc.