In Alphabetical Order • All guest appearances are tentative and subject to change.

Living Dead Girlz

Zombie Dance Troupe and Internet Sensation. Supporting RAINN: The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network

The Living Dead Girlz is first and foremost a dance troupe, paying homage to the zombie horror film genre, with its roots in splatter theater. The Living Dead Girlz maintains a touch of George Romero's use of zombies as symbols of commercialism with a rambunctious tounge-in-cheek attitude, event-stopping energy and irreverently bloody antics.

Each Living Dead Girlz show is creates a story through extensive choreography, props and prosthetics. With an exceedingly ironic musical twist, the Living Dead Girlz shows utilize commercial-jazz choreography, with break dancing, hip-hop and the occasional afro-haitian movement, line dance or period-specific partner dance appropriate to the show.

Also appearing with The Living Dead Girls is Shannon Lark, the Fangoria™ Magazine 2008 Spooksmodel! Dubbed by the press "San Francisco's Gore Gore Girl," Shannon is a progressive professional scream queen and the CEO of The Chainsaw Mafia networking circuit and horror production company.

At the tender age of four, Lark attended a gruesome ballet rendition of "Romeo and Juliet." When it was time for the star-crossed lovers to die, gigantic red streamers burst out of their chests and exploded hundreds of feet into the air. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever witnessed and was her very first association with blood and the act of death. From that moment, she has been obsessed with the horror genre, not only in film, but in theater, dance, and photography.

A self-taught artist, Lark picked up how-to books and followed crew members around relentlessly on films she starred in, asking questions on what to do/not to do when making her own movies. Thus, thechainsawmafia.com was born, a networking system she wished she'd had when first diving into the world of horror.

Not only does she direct, produce, write, and star in horror films, but she is also manager, gore wrangler, and dancer for The Living Dead Girlz, a zombie dance troupe based in San Francisco.

Lark writes a column called The Master of Disaster for Pretty-Scary, a website created by female industry professionals for the women in horror. She throws annual short horror film festivals, and spearheaded Viscera , a collection and festival of horror art made completely by women.

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Leif Jonker

Already inspired to make movies at the age of 7 when he saw "The Making of STAR WARS" on network TV, Leif Jonker forever fell in love with horror movies and the desire to make them when he convinced his folks at the age of 9 to take him to see the R-rated monster masterpiece ALIEN -- immediately afterwhich he wrote his own version of ALIEN 2. (A script he swears to this day was better than most of the Hollywood produced sequels.)

He began production on his first movie, the short film GHOST CAROL, at the age of 14 financing the project primarily by selling acting parts to his friend. A few years later he began production on his first feature DARKNESS in Wichita Kansas at the age of 19. Produced for an out-of-pocket budget of around ,000, Jonker came up with money by working a variety of odd jobs including forklift driver, dishwasher, security guard and hotel desk clerk. On more than one occassion he and actor Gary Miller sold their plasma to buy film stock. Yes, they sold their blood to make a vampire movie.

The micro-budgeted splatter flick became one of the premier titles of the underground horror wave of the early 90's, went on to be released on VHS and DVD worldwide, earned a small but devoted following and has been hailed by many horror fans as a genuine cult classic. The good buzz on the title led to script options with production companies in Los Angeles and Germany as well as directing job offers for a variety of features that have yet to be produced.

Over the last 19 years Leif has kept busy developing projects and working in the film industry in numerous crew positions (from producer to production assistant and almost everything in between) on projects ranging from the Wichita lensed MY DAY IN THE BARREL to various network television MOW's and big budget features like Tim Burton's MARS ATTACKS.

Eventually he went on to work in Hollywood for Charles Band's Full Moon Entertainment co-producing (and acting as stuntman in) the sci-fi/horror feature HORRORVISION, which has aired numerous times on the Sci-Fi Channel. More recently he has worked as a director/editor of industrial and promotional films for Evolution Digital Studios in Wilmington, NC, been a Special FX technician creating some of the alien creatures and props for the NBC sci-fi series SURFACE , and served as a freelance writer of trailer scripts for Paramount Picture's marketing division having contributed to the advertising campaigns for a number of Hollywood features including FOUR BROTHERS, AEON FLUX and FAILURE TO LAUNCH. Most recently he wrote trailer copy and contributed in-house work-print voice-overs for the ad campaign to THE RUINS.

In 2006 he oversaw the 13th Anniversary re-release of DARKNESS in a newly re-mastered "director's cut" which was featured as an official selection of the Cucalorus and Asheville Film Festivals as well as a "Centerpiece Selection" at the Nevermore Film Festival. The 2-Disc Special Edition DVD that followed was awarded "highest rating" by many websites and publications, was included on several critics "Best of 2006" lists and was deemed the "Cult DVD of the Year" by 10kBullets.com.

Leif and his wife Samantha currently reside in Wichita and in August welcomed their first child to the family -- daughter "Arrow Cosette Jonker". Samantha works at Riverside Retirement Village as an activities coordinator and Leif is continuing to develop a variety of films including DEMON MACHINE and GHOST CAROL hoping to have another indendent feature in the can before he turns 40 in July of next year.

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Gary Miller

Gary Miller, born in Kansas City, MO and raised in Wichita, KS, had a love for monsters dating back as early as three years old. He clearly recalls seeing THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK with a group of friends when he was nine and explaining to them in detail afterword how stop-motion animation works and trying to convince them to help him make their own movie. By the age of 12 Miller began experimenting with short films working in both live-action and animation. He pursued his interest in monsters as well, creating masks and make-ups, some with the help of FX master/actor Tom Savini's "How-To" make-up book GRANDE ILLUSIONS.

In high school, Miller got the chance to design his own Frankenstein's monster make-up for a play, in which he starred as the Dr. at age 17. It was around this time that Miller was working in a video rental store when he met Leif Jonker. Jonker took him on as a make-up artist giving him the opportunity to create a variety of gory make-ups and creatures for the micro-budgeted vampire film DARKNESS. He was later asked to take on one of the lead acting roles in the film. This is something he had dreamed of, following in the footsteps of his childhood hero, Savini.

DARKNESS took several years of work for both Jonker and Miller, but was eventually completed and has been released worldwide on VHS and DVD garnering Miller much praise from horror fans over the years for his grotesque contributions to the film. In the years since, Miller has collaborated with Jonker on several projects, including the trailers for DEMON MACHINE and SKULL FULL. He has also supplied make-up and special effects for four films (FEARSOME, 20 FUNERALS, DINNER-NO MOVIE, and THE MARK) and an episode of ONE TREE HILL, while living in North Carolina between 2003 and 2004.

Once Miller moved back to Wichita, KS he would begin working with Jonker on their original opus, DARKNESS, all over again, aiding in the creation of a special edition, 2-Disc DVD. This work paid off in seeing the remastered splatter flick play a number of festivals all over the country and receiving a limited theatrical run at the Warren Old Towne in Wichita, Ks that became a week long party for everyone who had been involved in the production years ago. Miller is currently working on developing projects in conjunction with Jonker and as well as a variety of solo efforts.

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Tentative 2009 Special Guests

 

Max Brooks

New York Times Best Selling Author and Zombie Preparedness Expert. Supporting TO BE ANNOUNCED

Max Brooks is considered by many to be one of the world's foremost Zombie preparedness experts. As we all know, the world we live in has become a rather scary place, and the global increase in the number of Zombie attacks isn't helping matters any. According to the Office of Homeland Security, Brooks is the preeminent authority on dispatching the relentless, flesh-eating armies of Zombies that seem to be everywhere these days.

The Zombie Survival Guide is your key to success against the hordes of the undead that may be stalking you right now. The book is the result of Brooks' tireless search for both the living dead and ways to eradicate them, which has taken him to over 30 countries and territories in Europe, Russia, Latin America, the Caribbean, the Arctic and Sub-Saharan Africa. His latest release, World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, tells the story of the world's desperate battle against the zombie threat with a series of first-person accounts "as told to the author" by various characters around the world.

The son of Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft, Max Brooks is completely dedicated to the cause of raising awareness on the issue of Zombie survival.

Born in New York City in 1972, Brooks' introduction to the living dead began with a traumatic childhood incident, an incident he still refuses to discuss. Since that time, he has devoted much of his life to the study and development of anti-ghoul security. He is, at present, the leading Western student in the Afro-Caribbean martial art of Mkunga-Lalem, the world's oldest and most effective anti-ghoul fighting skill.

After working for the B.B.C. in Great Britain and East Africa, Brooks began writing The Zombie Survival Guide. A former writer for Saturday Night Live, he lives in New York City with his wife, Michelle and his miniature dachshund, Maizey.

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Timothy Friend

Director/Editor/Writer, Bonnie and Clyde vs. Dracula, Supporting Film Alliance of the Midland Empire

Timothy Friend attended film classes at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He is a freelance writer and an independent filmmaker in the Kansas City area. He has written, edited, and directed several short films, including Tea Time, and INSEX, distributed internationally by ei Independent Cinema. His short story, The New Hire, was recently published in Outercast Magazine. His last feature, Cadaverella, was released on DVD in May 2007 by MaximMedia International. He most recently wrote, directed, and co-edited the feature action-horror film Bonnie & Clyde vs. Dracula, starring Tiffany Shepis and Trent Haaga, and is collaborating on a documentary feature film titled, Huzzah!!, that focuses on the Society for Creative Anachronism.

Jennifer Friend

Producer/Actress, Bonnie and Clyde vs. Dracula, Supporting Film Alliance of the Midland Empire

When she is not producing or writing, Jennifer Friend works as a professor of educational leadership at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Jennifer has a Ph.D. in Urban Leadership and Policy Studies in Education, and has experience working as a middle school administrator for 9 years. She recently directed and produced a documentary short film, What Kids Love and Hate about School, featuring urban elementary students sharing their perspectives on education. She has produced two feature films and several short films, and co-wrote the horror film Cadaverella. Her recent film acting includes dual roles in the film Cadaverella (Donna / Lenore), a lead role in Bonnie & Clyde vs. Dracula (Annabel), and acting in short films directed by Kansas filmmakers Patrick Rea and Todd Norris.

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Mel House

Supporting West Memphis 3 Legal Defense Fund http://www.wm3.org/live/howtohelp/letter.php

Ever since he did a 3rd grade book report on Christine, Mel House knew that horror was to be his lot in life.  After a brief attempt at majoring in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Texas, Mel promptly changed his major to film and never looked back.  He quickly amassed a number of independent film credits in a variety of on-set positions, all the while working towards his own feature.  Mel's debut movie Fade To Black premiered at the Bare Bones Film Festival in 2001, where it won the Grand Jury Award. 

Since then, Mel has DP'ed the horror movie Drawing Blood, the documentary Electric Purgatory - the fate of the black rocker, and he returned to the director's chair with Witchcraft 13: Blood Of The Chosen, (garnering some of the best reviews for the long-running series). 

He has just completed principal photography on the film Walking Distance, with Adrienne King of Friday the 13th fame, Glenn (24) Morshower, Kathy (Texas Chainsaw remake/prequel) Lamkin, Fangoria™ Radio’s Debbie Rochon, Phantasm’s Reggie Bannister, Katie (Paranormal Activity) Featherston, and Fangoria™ “Spooksmodel” Shannon Lark.

In addition to doing all this movie stuff, Mel also plays guitar and sings in a loud rock band and reviews music for Space City Rock.

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Lloyd Kaufman

Filmmaker, Author, President of Troma Entertainment, Supporting Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Lloyd Kaufman is the founder and President of Troma Entertainment, arguably the world’s longest running independent film company. In its 35-year history, Troma has achieved legendary status as a bastion of true independence and the world’s greatest concentration of camp.

In the 80’s, Troma had its first (and some would say only) taste of success with The Toxic Avenger. The title character, affectionately nicknamed Toxie, has become Troma’s official mascot, and the popularity of The Toxic Avenger eventually led to an animated spin-off series, Toxic Crusaders, several different comic book titles (published by Marvel and Troma’s own independent comic book imprint), and three sequels.

Its success was followed by a string of commercial and artistic triumphs that blended fantasy, heavy action, comedy, and eroticism in a style that the Cinemateque Francais described as “Tromatic,” including the Class of Nuke ‘Em High trilogy, Sgt. Kabukiman NYPD, and Tromeo and Juliet. These films created an entire generation of young fans some of whom, such as Quentin Tarantino, Kevin Smith, Mike Judge, Peter Jackson, and Trey Parker, went on to become filmmakers themselves, and consistently credit Kaufman as an influence.

Kaufman’s latest film, Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead, is currently playing in theaters throughout the country, and premiered as the #2 movie in the country per screen average its opening week in New York City, second only to Iron Man (which Kaufman often confuses with the other summer hit, Dry Cleaning Man.)

On a personal front, Kaufman has three daughters and his beloved wife, Patricia, is the New York State Film Commissioner—if you can believe that!

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