Still recovering after the festival but want to announce the winners officially. We'll be updating the awards section once we've re-coded the awards section.
2008 Deep One Screenwriter Awards
The following screenplays were selected as best of out of a field of 54 entries. The head judges were author Robert M. Price, author Joseph S. Pulver, and festival director Andrew Migliore.
- Jeffrey Blake Palmer’s nightmare parade “The Sleeping Deep” won first prize
- Faisal A. Qureshi’s eerie “In Bright Darkness" won runner up
2008 Howie Awards
Both of these gentlemen have used Lovecraft's works as a springboard and have incorporated elements of it into there own works creating something new.
- Author Brian Lumley
- Artist Mike Mignola
2008 Brown Jenkin Awards
The following films were some of the best at this years festival. Through a combination of guest judges, audience feedback, and festival director's input the following films were nominated , with the winners indicated:
- AM 1200 by David Prior — Best of Festival, Best Cosmic Horror Film
- Eel Girl by Paul Campion — Best Short Film, Best Special Effects, Best Comedy
- The Outsider by Doug Bradley — Best Dramatic Reading
- Alien Raiders by Ben Rock — Audience Award Best Feature
Nominated for a Brown Jenkin
- The Dunwich Horror and Others by Ryo Shingawa — Nominated for Best of Festival
- Morella by Jeff Ferrell — Nominated for Best Period Adaptation
- The Casting Call of Cthulhu by Joseph Nanni — Nominated for Best Comedy
- Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown by Frank Woodward — Nominated for Best Documentary
They say membership has its benefits and it is true. If you sign up and are approved for an account on this site you can vote on films, leave comments, get instance updates, and be eligible for specials, prizes, and other news.
Thank you! Thanks to all who have supported the festival and attended. I hope everyone had fun. Please create an account, login and post comments on the films, events, and the forums. Your feedback is greatly appreciated.
Well I am still wiped out from running the festival. I'll start posting more news (including the award information) as soon as I am able.
Until then I am on a strict regiment of 40cc of gin every hour. Ha.
Thanks again!
Saturday night marks the return of the Darkest of the Hillside Thickets live and in concert! Don't miss the fun. You will need your festival pass to get in.
Sunday night is going to be our blow out wrap up party with ambient music and lightshow... and perhaps a visit by Elwood?
- Abusive Delay - live ambient music for synthesizer and tape, utilizing texts from H.P. Lovecraft
- Air Sine - Dynamic Live P.A./DJ Duo, ambient beats
- Seizure Labs - Visual projections
- Ally - Live painting
Indie film director, Aaron Vanek (The Yellow Sign), screenwriter Julia Fair (Alien Raiders), Scott Glancy (Pagan Publishing) and Edward Morris (author) will introduce The Blair Witch Project at 10:00 PM on Saturday. They will discuss the making of the film (Julia was involved in the creation of the "history" of the Blair Witch) and its Mythos connections. Aaron has called The Blair Witch Project "one of the best Lovecraftian films ever made."
Julia Fair, screenwriter on Alien Raiders, will be on hand to introduce the film and answer audience questions afterward. Our two screenings of Alien Raiders, which has plot elements reminiscent of the dark conspiracy themes of the Delta Green universe, will also feature comments from Scott Glancy, co-creator of Delta Green. Did Ms Fair intend these parallels or was it merely a "coincidence"? What real-life events inspired both creations? Watch Alien Raiders and join the discussion to find out.
Alien Raiders screens at 7:30 pm Saturday and 10:00 pm Sunday.
Julia started her career working on the most successful independent film of all time, THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT. As the “history fabricator” for the “Sticks and Stones” special that aired on the Sci-Fi channel, Julia helped to create the “legend” upon which the Blair Witch was based. From there she wrote/produced one of the first dramatic online webisodic series, THE STRAND (www.strandvenice.com).
With the Warner Brothers label, Raw Feed, Julia has quickly become the go-to-writer, penning two of their features: BELIEVERS, which received critical acclaim and the most recent, ALIEN RAIDERS, due on DVD in spring of 2009.
Outside of writing, Julia has been heavily involved in research as well as viral marketing for a variety of science fiction and paranormal movies and TV shows.
Friday night 12:30 am
Late-Nite Open Mic
- Lynn Cesar
- Joe Pulver
- Adam Niswander
- Michael Shea
Saturday 1:00-2:30 pm
Author’s Readings session 1
- Michael Shea (30 minutes)
- Adam Niswander (25 minutes)
- Bob Price (30 minutes)
- Richard Lupoff (30 minutes)
Saturday 2:00-3:00 pm
Brian Lumley Reading — Q&A
- Bob Price (moderator)
Saturday 2:30-3:30 pm
Ask S. T. Joshi
- S. T. Joshi
Saturday 3:00-4:00 pm
Future of the Lovecraftian Genre
- Laird Barron,
- Adam Niswander
- Bob Price
- Joe Pulver
- Stanley Sargent
- Michael Shea
Saturday 5:00-5:30 pm
Wedding
- Bob Price (officiating)
- Joe Pulver (giving away the bride)
- Wilum Pugmire (maid of honor)
- Stanley Sargent (giving away the bride)
Sunday 1:00-2:30 pm
Author’s Readings Session 2
- Joe Pulver (20 minutes)
- Stanley Sargent (8 minutes)
- Wilum Pugmire (20 minutes)
- Laird Barron (30 minutes)
- Edward Morris (10 minutes)
Sunday 1:30-2:30 pm
Lovecraft in Pop Culture
- Jovanka Vuckovic
- Mars
Sunday 2:30-3:30 pm
Robert E. Howard Panel
- Scott Connors
- Bob Price
- Scott Allie
- Philip Simon
Sunday 2:30-3:30
Filmmakers vs. Authors:
- Laird Barron
- Wilum Pugmire
- Stanley Sargent
- Michael Shea
Sunday 3:30-4:40
Ask Lumley
- Brian Lumley
- Scott Connors
- Bob Price (moderator)
Sunday 4:30-5:30
Before Lovecraft: Poe, Chambers,
James, and others influences:
- Scott Connors
- Dick Lupoff
- Robert Lloyd Parry
- Bob Price
- Wilum Pugmire
- Joe Pulver
- Michael Shea
- Maryanne Snyder
Sunday 4:30-5:30
Lumley Reading and Q&A:
- Bob Price (moderator)
See Shorts Blocks for information on which shorts are in which block.
Please note that openers and trailers are not listed as of yet.
Yes, we know our audience. We know what you like. And we know you like it even better when it's FREE!
That's why we're pleased to announce that there will be plenty of give-aways at the panels, Q&A's and other events this year.
So far, we can announce that we'll have:
- Comics from Asylum Press
- Hellboy Animated posters, along with Hellboy Animated DVD's and other DVD titles from Anchor Bay Entertainment.
- Plus, tasty chocolate truffles! (Mmm...chocolate....)
Our judges, despite (or rather because of) their highly refined esthetic sensibilities and their extensive savvy on what makes a good Lovecraftian film (besides the bottomless popcorn tub), have finally made their agonizing decision at to this year’s winning screenplay. That’s the truth: it was no easy matter. There were so many fine submissions, the decision came close to being a coin toss. Close, but not quite.
Jeffrey Blake Palmer’s nightmare parade “The Sleeping Deep” rose to the top, very, very narrowly followed by Faisal A. Qureshi’s eerie “In Bright Darkness,” Patrick Shiffrar and Eric Miller’s incredibly ingenious “The Unnamables,” Brock Chandler’s seemingly eyewitness account of “The Colour out of Space,” Marc Pilvinsky’s perfect updating of “The Thing on the Doorstep,” “Reborn,” David Prior’s unsettling version of “The Lurking Fear,” Tony Contento’s effective genre-spanning “The Reliquary of Ness,” Nathan Shelton’s hilarious “The Unspeakables,” and David W. Bertoni’s apocalyptic mystery, “The Stunning Box.” Truly, all would have been fit for the award. It was an embarrassment of riches!
The adaptations of Lovecraft’s own tales were boldly creative, deconstructing the originals to make explicit some matters that had been implicit, and never failing to deliver a stomach-full of authentic horror. All our authors dealt delicately and maturely with the elements of the Cthulhu Mythos, leaving certain things in the shadows of subtlety. The combination of Lovecraftian horror with elements of detective fiction, epic fantasy, and even broad comedy all worked amazingly well. Each screenplay looked like the sure winner—until you read the next!
Your judges, Robert M. Price, Joseph S. Pulver, Brian Lumley, and Andrew Migliore are putting their occult will power together to cause all of these screenplays to reach the screen. Together, there is a real threat they will end civilization (or at least cinema) as we know it. And who’s complaining?