Panel Discussion: Making Cosmic Horror Films for Fun and Profit

Type: 
Panel Discussion
Location: 
Upper Right theater
Date and time: 
Sunday, October 4, 2026 - 3:00pm to 3:50pm

Over the course of a 26-year career spanning Emmy Award-winning television, cult genre cinema, and Cannes-calibre historical horror, Casey Walker has consistently done things his own way — and consistently come out ahead. His is a filmography defined not by the path of least resistance but by the conviction that the stories worth telling are the ones worth fighting for. He began his filmmaking career with the legendary Frank Oz, working on the Robert De Niro thriller The Score. His many credits include directing Emmy Award-winning children’s series Zoboomafoo, award-winning short film "The Morning After", episodes of Hulu’s The Hardy Boys and Overlord and the Underwoods, producing indie horror phenomenonsThe Void and supernatural thriller Pyewacket, and serving as the sole Executive Producer on In a Violent Nature.

For fifteen years, Walker refused to abandon Ithaqua. A $10 million historical horror set in the winter of 1821 at the fur trade outpost that now bears the name Thunder Bay, where he grew up. The film is shot in English, French, and Ojibwe/Cree, produced in active partnership with the Fort William First Nation on their ancestral lands, and is the first title to relaunch the legendary Hammer Films label under Executive Producer John Gore, multi-award-winning Broadway producer and billionaire. While awaiting Ithaqua’s post-production, Walker directed Home Bodies, produced alongside Karen Harnish (Sleeping Giant, Infinity Pool). Walker resides in the Muskoka region of Ontario with his wife, two dogs, and an impressive collection of broken motorcycles.

Attended these previous events

Previously attended:

Anthony returns to H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival with a double feature of Frogman (2023) and his newest feature Frogman Returns (winner audience choice award at Portland Horror Film Festival. He won Best Short in 2016 with "When Susurrus Stirs." Since then he's directed shorts "The Bloody Ballad of Squirt Reynolds" and "Every Time We Meet for Ice Cream Your Whole Fucking Face Explodes."

Attended these previous events

Previously attended:

Tyler Savage’s third feature Oddities is currently on the festival circuit. He also recently expanded his producing efforts, with features Marfa Lights and Iron Jane coming in 2027. A graduate of NYU Tisch, Savage worked as a Story Editor at Warner Bros before going on to work for Terrence Malick on four back-to-back features. Savage’s first feature (Inheritance, 2017) was lauded by genre critics after premiering at Brooklyn Horror Film Festival. His second feature (Stalker, 2020) premiered at Fright Fest, won the Dark Matters Award at the Austin Film Festival, and was acquired by Vertical Entertainment.

Attended these previous events

Previously attended:

Maxwell Morro is an independent filmmaker whose work spans narrative features, short films, and documentary storytelling. As a director, writer, and producer, he is drawn to complex characters, strange worlds, and emotionally driven genre stories. His latest feature, Valley of the Horntak, reflects his hands-on, multidisciplinary approach to filmmaking.

Attended these previous events

Previously attended:

Owner: 
H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival - Portland, OR