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Keep up with the always-hopping film festival world with our weekly Film Festival Roundup column. Check out last week’s Roundup right here.

Lineup Announcements

– Exclusive: The 12th Annual Sunscreen Film Festival announced its official selections for the 2017 event featuring films with Alec Baldwin, Dylan McDermott, John Cleese, Daphne Zuniga and more. Opening night will feature Michael Mailer’s newest film, “Blind,” a romantic-drama, starring Alec Baldwin, Demi Moore and Dylan McDermott. Closing night will wrap up the festival with “Albion: The Enchanted Stallion,” a family fantasy adventure, starring John Cleese, Debra Messing, Jennifer Morrison and Stephen Dorff.

Retrospective Screenings will include Daphne Zuniga appearance at the festival honoring the 30th anniversary of “Spaceballs.” Also in this category will be “The Greatest Show on Earth,” from 1952 directed by Cecile B. DeMille, which won the Oscar for Best Pictures and Best Writing in 1953. The screening will honor the closing of the Ringling Bros.

“Lizzie Borden took an ax and gave her mother forty whacks. When she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one…” because they were zombies?! That’s author C.A. Verstraete’s proposition in the horror novel Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter. Also in today’s Highlights: new promos for American Horror Story Season 6, Satanic Panic release details, and info on the world debut of Diani & Devine Meet the Apocalypse.

Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter Book Release Details & Cover Art: On September 13th, C.A. Verstraete’s Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter will be released in paperback and on Kindle.

“Every family has its secrets…

One hot August morning in 1892, Lizzie Borden picked up an ax and murdered her father and stepmother. Newspapers claim she did it for the oldest of reasons: family conflicts, jealousy, and greed. But what if her parents were already dead? What if Lizzie slaughtered them because they’d become zombies?...

The apocalypse has been a ripe source for comedy in recent years, with three features in 2013 exploring the topic, in the form of Rapture-palooza, This Is The End, and The World’s End. A somewhat less explored genre for comedic tellings are road trip movies, and a mix of the two yields a very limited number of offerings, let alone comedic offerings. Comedy duo Gabriel Diani and Etta Devine are looking to add to that number with their latest offering. The group, who was behind the recent tongue-in-cheek campaign to replace a slur against black people in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn with the word “robot”, is no stranger to filmmaking, with the webseries Mary Olson and their debut feature The Selling already under their belt. In addition, they have managed to assemble an impressive cast, including Barry Bostwick from The Rocky Horror Picture Show and the tv series Spin City,...

Gabriel Diani and Etta Devine are crowdfunding veterans, which is rare given that crowdfunding is still so new. After two successful campaigns, they're now on their third campaign for a feature film called "Diani & Devine Meet the Apocalypse," a comedy about a struggling comedy duo trying to survive the apocalypse. They're trying to raise $100,000 and after two days, have passed the $12,000 mark. Diani and Devine took the unusual step of producing 30 videos for their Kickstarter campaign and below, they explain why they went to the effort, as well as other tips for crowdfunding success: Crowdfunding is not for the weak of heart. Nor is it free money. It is a full time job with lots of moving parts that may not be in every filmmaker’s wheelhouse. The fact is most people will probably lose money on the deal even if they’re successful. It’s also an amazing way for filmmakers to get funding.

Emily Lou's ghostly horror comedy The Selling is now available on iTunes via GoDigital so if you're in the market for some lighthearted and spooky laughs this weekend (that are intentional, unlike another flick based on a video game franchise opening this week), this is your hot ticket!

The film stars Gabriel Diani, Jonathan Klein, Janet Varney, Etta Devine, Nancy Lenehan, and Barry Bostwick.

Synopsis

Richard Scarry is a real estate agent who tries to talk people out of buying houses they can’t afford. When his business partner, Dave Ross, comes up with a scheme to flip an old house for profit, he only agrees because he needs to find a way to pay for his sick mother’s medical bills. As Richard and Dave start fixing up the house for buyers, it becomes obvious why their real estate nemesis, Mary Best, was so eager to pass the house along to them.

The Selling marks Lou’s feature length directorial debut and second foray into producing. Gabriel Diani, who’s spent more time in front of the cameras rather than behind crafts the screenplay, which happens to be his first venture into full length screenwriting. He also stars in the film alongside Janet Varney (Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer), Jonathan Klein (Coyote Ugly), Etta Devine (Freakshow), Nancy Lenehan (Catch Me If You Can) and Barry Bostwick (The Rocky Horror Picture Show).

Finally some distribution news for director Emily Lou's ghostly horror comedy The Selling has come our way, and we've got all the details you need right here. We can never have too many ghost stories, damn it! Read on!

From the Press Release

GoDigital has announced its acquisition of the comedic horror feature The Selling. Directed by Emily Lou from an original screenplay by Gabriel Diani, The Selling is a supernatural comedy about ghosts, demonic possession, and real estate, which picked up 5 awards at last year’s La Comedy Film Festival, including Best Feature. The film stars Barry Bostwick (“Cougar Town”, Rocky Horror Picture Show), Simon Helberg (“The Big Bang Theory”), Janet Varney (“Entourage”, “The Legend of Korra”), Jonathan Klein (Hotel for Dogs), Nancy Lenehan (“The New Adventures of Old Christine”), and fresh faces Gabriel Diani and Etta Devine. GoDigital will release the film on August 21, 2012, on all major Internet VoD platforms.

GoDigital announced today the acquisition of the horror-comedy The Selling. Directed by Emily Lou, from an original screenplay by Gabriel Diani, The Selling is a supernatural comedy about ghosts, demonic possession, and real estate, which picked up 5 awards at least year’s La Comedy Film Festival, including Best Feature.

The film stars Barry Bostwick, Simon Helberg, Janet Varney, Jonathan Klein, Nancy Lenehan and newcomers Gabriel Diani and Etta Devine. GoDigital will release the film on August 21, 2012 on all major Internet VoD platforms.

Lou and Diani bring to audiences a story about a too-honest-for-his-own-good real estate agent who must sell a haunted housebefore its ghostly inhabitants ruin his life.

Read more...

A big problem with films that present themselves as horror-comedies is that, all too often, they are neither frightening nor funny. In direct opposition to this trend, Emily Lou’s new film “The Selling” succeeds on both of these fronts—it is strong low-budget comedy and strong low-budget horror. There are consistent, legitimate laughs throughout, and, especially as the movie builds and progresses towards the climax, some solid ghost story action in the midst of all the humor. Richard Scarry (Gabriel Diani, who also wrote the script)—like the children’s author—is your ideal real estate agent. He’s honest to a fault, to the point where he discourages potential buyers from purchasing a home because the mortgage is far beyond their means. Basically he is the kind of broker you want working for you because he will always tell you the truth, he’s just not much of...

The Maelstrom International Fantastic Film Festival (Mifff), a three day international showcase of genre films, is thrilled to announce its final lineup and schedule for its third annual event.

The festival is taking place September 16th-18th, 2011 in Seattle, Washington on the campus of Seattle Center. Siff Cinema at McCaw Hall will once again be the center of genre film mania in the Pacific Northwest for filmmakers and fans alike.

Mifff’s third year will debut 5 feature films and over 40 short films from 12 countries across the globe. Over 10 of the films will be North American Premiere’s while there’s 30 films that will be making either their Northwest or Seattle Premiere. Information about the films can be accessed at the Mifff website.

Several filmmakers will be in attendance.

Tickets are available in advance online. An entire festival pass can be purchased for $40. Single day passes for Saturday and Sunday are available at $25 per day.

The love letter to genre films known as Maelstrom International Fantastic Film Festival is gearing up for its third annual event, which run from September 16th-18th in Seattle, Washington. This year promises to be the biggest yet with 5 feature films and over 40 shorts, most making their Northwest or Seattle debut.

Tickets are still available online at Mifff.org, where you can find individual screening passes for $10. Or you can get yourself an all-festival pass for only $40 and see everything that the weekend has to offer.

Check out everything Mifff at the official site, including info on all 40 short films. For now, wet your whistle with a little bit about the four already revealed features (the fifth will be announced shortly).

Feature Films:

Absentia

Seattle Premiere

Director: Mike Flanagan, USA 91 minutes

Actors: Katie Parker, Courtney Bell, and Dave Levine

A woman and her sister begin to link a mysterious tunnel to a series of disappearances,...

Emily Lou’s debut feature The Selling is full of spooks and suspense—but, more than anything else, comedy. Written by and starring comedian Gabriel Diani, the film centers on Richard Scarry, a down-on-his-luck, overly nice real-estate agent. When he gets talked into taking on a house that is obviously haunted by the ghosts of a serial killer and his victims, he and his business partner have to come up with a strategy to sell it. Though no potential buyers seem interested, they attract the attention of a young waitress obsessed with ghost-hunting. Meanwhile, Richard has to help pay for his mother’s expensive surgery. Can they get the spirits out of the house in time to sell it?

Read more...

Emily Lou’s debut feature The Selling is full of spooks and suspense—but, more than anything else, comedy. Written by and starring comedian Gabriel Diani, the film centers on Richard Scarry, a down-on-his-luck, overly nice real-estate agent. When he gets talked into taking on a house that is obviously haunted by the ghosts of a serial killer and his victims, he and his business partner have to come up with a strategy to sell it. Though no potential buyers seem interested, they attract the attention of a young waitress obsessed with ghost-hunting. Meanwhile, Richard has to help pay for his mother’s expensive surgery. Can they get the spirits out of the house in time to sell it?

Read more...

When shopping for a house it's important to keep an eye on the amenities that it has to offer. You know, how many bathrooms, bedrooms, and or angry spirits that are looking to remove your heads from your shoulders. Find the right kind of wrong place that suits you? Move in!

Below you'll find the official one-sheet and trailer for The Selling from filmmaker Emily Lou. The flick stars Gabriel Diani, Janet Varney, Jonathan Klein, Etta Devine, With Nancy Lenehan and Barry Bostwick as "Father Jimmy". The film is scheduled to premiere at the San Francisco International Film Festival on April 29th at 11:30Pm and again May 4th at 4:15Pm.

The plot is as follows: A too honest for his own good real estate agent buys a property to flip for a profit... only to discover the house is haunted - by 12 ghosts.

Dig on the goods below...

Start: 04/29/2011 End: 05/04/2011 Start: 04/29/2011 End: 05/04/2011

I have to say, exploiting the recent real estate nightmares experienced by homeowners in the United States because of the recession (depression) is a savvy way to create a horror movie plot.

Barry Bostwick (Brad from The Rocky Horror Picture Show!!!!) is in this film as a demented excorcist - about a real estate agent named Richard Scarry (a tribute to the children's author?) who tries to sell a house. Only he can't, because it's haunted. Emily Lou directs The Selling, written by Gabriel Diani. It also stars Gabriel Diani, Janet Varney, Jonathan Klein, Etta Devine, and Nancy Lenehan.

This really silly-looking female-directed feature is screening at the San Francisco International Film Festival on April 29th and May 4th, 2011.

Watch the very amusing trailer:...

"Five Bedrooms. Four Baths. Twelve Ghosts."

This trailer for a new horror comedy called The Selling (formerly "The Selling of Scary Manor") has been floating around for a day or so. Not sure who disovered it first, but I just watched it over at 28Dla. Anyway, it looks to be a pretty funny little indie about the trials one real estate agent faces when trying to sell a haunted house.

Synopsis:

Richard Scarry is too nice. He’s a real estate agent who tries to talk people out of buying houses they can’t afford. When his business partner Dave Ross comes up with a scheme to flip an old house for profit he only agrees because he needs to find a way to pay for his sick mother’s medical bills.

As Richard and Dave start fixing up the house for buyers it becomes obvious why their real estate...

The Selling aka The Selling of Scarry Manor is a horror comedy, which recently completed production. The film stars writer Gabriel Dani, as a real estate broker who is trying to sell a haunted house. This is no easy task as portals open to hell and cabinets slam shut, with potential buyers running for the hills. A trailer is below, which shows some of the challenges that come with haunted real estate selling.

The synopsis for The Selling is here:

"A too-honest-for-his-own-good real estate agent has to sell a haunted house before its ghostly inhabitants ruin his life" (Film Catalogue).

Completion Date: 2011.

Director: Emily Lou.

Writer: Gabriel Diani.

Cast: Gabriel Diani, Jonathan Klein, Janet Varney, Etta Devine, Nancy Lenehan, Barry Bostwick, and Emily Lou.

The trailer for The Selling is here:

Find the film on Facebook:

The Selling on Fb

Or the homepage:

The Selling's Official Website

Source:

The Selling...

Formerly known as The Selling , a trailer for The Selling of Scarry Manor (stick with the original moniker, gang) has hit the web, giving you a first look at Emily Lou's upcoming horror-comedy. Gabriel Diani, Jonathan Klein, Janet Varney, Etta Devine, Nancy Lenehan, Barry Bostwick and Lou star in the film about a too-honest-for-his-own-good real estate agent who has to sell a haunted house before its ghostly inhabitants ruin his life. Real estate agents trying to sell spooky abodes have been seen in the genre before; most recently, Darren Bousman explored this territory with his comic book "Abattoir." Artist View Entertainment is currently seeking distribution for The Selling of Scarry Manor .

As if the real estate market weren't bad enough, try being a realtor having to sell a haunted house. That's the problem facing one hapless real estate agent in the new horror comedy The Selling of Scarry Manor.

Richard Scarry is too nice. He’s a real estate agent who tries to talk people out of buying houses they can’t afford. When his business partner Dave Ross comes up with a scheme to flip an old house for profit, he only agrees because he needs to find a way to pay for his sick mother’s medical bills.

As Richard and Dave start fixing up the house for buyers, it becomes obvious why their real estate nemesis, Mary Best, was so eager to pass the house along to them. Disembodied voices tell them to leave, walls bleed, and a portal to the spirit realm opens in an upstairs closet.