Guests
The H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival is about way more than watching movies. We'll also be featuring readings by some of today's most important Mythos authors, and presentations by other Lovecraftian creators. Below is a partial list of the guests you'll meet at the festival!
Guests
Edward Guimont received his PhD in history from the University of Connecticut and is currently assistant professor of world history at Bristol Community College in Fall River, Massachusetts. His research on Lovecraft has been published in Lovecraftian Proceedings, Lovecraft Annual, and Dead Reckonings. With Horace A. Smith, he is coauthor of the book When the Stars Are Right: H. P. Lovecraft and Astronomy, published by Hippocampus Press.
Guillaume Morin studied at the Université de Montréal, specializing in sound, and he was the sound-man for the short film "Tubers" by "Mountains of Madness Productions". He grew up surrounded by art, especially music, while also buried in books of fantastic stories. Lovecraft and the genre that followed have been with him since a young age. His passion for cinema was passed down by his cinephile father.
Working with director Vanessa-Tatjana Beerli and producer Pierre LeBlanc for their first two shorts in the realm of fantastic cinema was a dream come true for Guillaume, and the first step of a greater adventure.
Heather Humpleman is the director of “Whisper in the Static”, and the Co-Founder of Midnight Hour Studios, a Los Angeles-based production company. She graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts, and has been fortunate to serve and support their alumni as both the President of the Women of Cinematic Arts and the Director of Membership for the Trojan Entertainment Network. Heather is also a member of LA’s Asian Business Association, a graduate of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program, and a US-UK dual-citizen.
Kasie Heister is a Southern California native, and received her undergraduate degree from the University of Southern California and her Masters of Business Administration, specializing in Entertainment Management, from the University of California, Los Angeles. "Whisper in the Static" is her inaugural film, and she is currently in development on the feature version.
After studying at Cégep de Saint-Hyacinthe's School of Theatre, Marilyn Bastien founded "Pourquoi Scène" in 2012, a theatre company where she produced the French Canadian version of the play “The Vagina Monologues” as well as "Les fées ont soif". In 2018, she founded "Pourquoi Productions Inc.”, focusing on cinema and television. That same year, she produced and starred in director Jean Sébastien Lozeau's debut feature film, "Live Story”. Presently, she co-directs and produces "Dehors Novembre”, a show touring Quebec until 2024. On television, she appeared in various Quebec soap operas and series like "District 31" as Andréa Racicot, "Sans Rendez-vous”, and "Survivre à ses Enfants”. In 2022, Marilyn took the lead female role of “Albina” in the short horror film “Tubers” (Les Tubercules) by director Vanessa-Tatjana Beerli.
Matthew M. Bartlett is the author of several short story collections including Gateways to Abomination, its sequel Creeping Waves, and Where Night Cowers. His new short novel is entitled The Obsecration. He has recorded several spoken word records and has stories published in a variety of anthologies and journals. In late 2020 he joined the Great Resignation, immediately launching his current ongoing project, now in its third year: a subscription service for monthly illustrated chapbooks, entitled the WXXT Program Guide. He lives in Western Massachusetts with his wife Katie Saulnier (whose art graces the cover of Gateways to Abomination) and their cats Peachpie and Larry.
Pierre LeBlanc is new to filmmaking, but when it comes to Lovecraftian horror, he is the resident expert on the subject. In 2022, he co-founded "Mountains of Madness Productions" with his good friend and director, Vanessa-Tatjana Beerli, to produce their first short film: "Tubers".
As a producer, Pierre is always there to help find creative solutions for production issues. He is very active off-set as well as on-set, stepping in for any unfulfilled roles. Pierre and Vanessa are currently finishing the post-production on their second short film in less than a year, with many more projects on the horizon. Together, their goal is to produce and direct their own films, with the help of other talented filmmakers, and they would gladly assist anyone they have a connection with.
Rick Claypool is the author of the post-apocalyptic workplace horror novella The Mold Farmer (Six Gallery Press, 2020), the weird dystopian superhero novel Leech Girl Lives (Spaceboy Books, 2017), and the not-for-children horror children's book Tentacle Head (2022). His short fiction appears in several online publications and anthologies. If he’s not writing, he’s probably in the woods, looking under logs and rocks for fungi and slime molds. He lives in Rhode Island. Find him online at rickclaypool.org.
Vanessa-Tatjana Beerli directed a few short films, including Tv Dinner, nominated for the Canadian Screen Awards in 2005, before founding Ciné Tapis Rouge. The Organization's mission is to promote independent Quebec cinema all around the world. Vanessa works as this date with more than thirty countries and a hundred film festivals. She is also a programmer, producer, editor and a regular member of juries.
In 2022, Vanessa made a return to filmmaking by deciding to adapt the short story “Tubers” by Quebec author Frédéric Raymond. At the same time, Vanessa founded a production company with her colleague Pierre LeBlanc, Mountains of Madness productions. The company specializes in the production of genre films and wishes to develop several international co-productions. Vanessa directed the film Little red hen in the spring of 2023.
Vanessa is currently finishing writing a first feature film and preparing a new short film shooting in next spring.