Advisory Board Members
Stan Winston
Winner of 4 Academy Awards and nominated for 10 total, Stan Winston, the “Master” of special effects has partnered up with Screamfest LA in ‘04 to make this year our best ever. Some of Stan’s movies include: “Terminator 2: Judgement Day”, “Jurassic Park”, “Aliens”, “Batman Returns”, “Artificial Intelligence” and “Predator”, just to name a few. The knowledge and experience Stan brings to the table for Los Angeles’ top horror film festival will only enhance the platform created to launch the latest films produced for this genre.
Wes Craven
Wes Craven has been challenging audiences with his bold visions for more than 25 years. Most recently, he has created three dazzlingly different new works. He directed Academy –Award winning actress Meryl Streep in MUSIC OF THE HEART his first dramatic feature film; he completed the third film in the SCREAM trilogy; and made his debut novelist with Simon & Schuster’s publication FOUNTAIN SOCIETY.
Both creative and commercial milestones have marked Craven’s career. Most recently, he directed the hit SCREAM (1996), and it’s equally successful sequels SCREAM 2 (1997) and SCREAM 3 (2000). The irreverent, genre-bending winner of MTV’s 1996 Best Movie Award, SCREAM grossed more than $100 million domestically. SCREAM 2 the sequel about sequels also topped $100 million domestically. SCREAM 3 grossed over $89 million.
After SCREAM Miramax offered Craven a three picture deal, which included the green-light for a non-genre film. The former teacher and life long lover of classical music chose to make MUSIC OF THE HEART, based on Roberta Guaspari and her violin students in East Harlem. Recently, Craven and his long time producing partner, Marianne Maddalena, signed a four-year deal with Miramax and Dimension Films. Under the deal, Craven will direct and Maddalena will produce two films for Miramax and/or Dimension. In addition, they will executive produce four genre films for Dimension under the banner “Wes Craven Presents.” Craven is also set to direct the screen adaptation for his first novel, FOUNTAIN SOCIETY for DreamWorks.
Craven reinvented the youth horror genre in 1984 with the classic A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, a film he wrote and directed. Although he did not direct any of the next five sequels, he deconstructed the genre a decade later with the audacious WES CRAVENS NEW NIGHTMARE, which was nominated Best Feature at the 1995 Independent Spirit Awards.
Craven also directed VAMPIRE IN BROOKLYN (1995), THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW (1988), and DEADLY FRIEND (1986). He wrote and directed SWAMP THING (1980). He wrote, directed and edited THE HILLS HAVE EYES (1975). Craven’s first feature film was the audacious LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT which he wrote, directed and edited in 1972.
Wes Craven was born in Cleveland, Ohio and holds a Master’s Degree in writing and philosophy from John Hopkins University in Baltimore.
John Landis
Lambasted by critics and revered by fans, John Landis began his outrageous Hollywood ascent while still a teenager, working as a mailboy at 20th-Century Fox. He brought his adolescent sensibilities to the screen in such cult hits as the horror-film spoof Schlock (1976), which he wrote, directed, and starred in, Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), and National Lampoon's Animal House (1978). Soon afterward he cowrote (with Dan Aykroyd) and directed the classic Blues Brothers (1980), and wrote and directed An American Werewolf in London (1981). Landis also cowrote, produced, and directed Michael Jackson's groundbreaking Thriller video (1985).
Sam Raimi
Sam Raimi returns to helm a new adventure with one of the world’s most popular comic book superheroes in SPIDERMAN 2, after directing the record-breaking worldwide phenomenon SPIDERMAN, starring Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and Willem Dafoe. On May 3, 2002, Columbia Pictures released SPIDERMAN, which grossed 114.8 million in it’s opening weekend, making it the largest domestic opening of all time. To date, the film has surpassed 800 million in worldwide box office gross.
Raimi previously directed the supernatural thriller THE GIFT, starring Cate Blanchett, Hilary Swank, Keanu Reeves, Greg Kinnear and Giovanni Ribisi. Raimi also directed the suspense thriller A SIMPLE PLAN, which starred Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton and Bridget Fonda, and which earned Thornton an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He also directed the baseball homage FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME Starring Kevin Costner and Kelly Preston. Raimi is producing the forthcoming thriller BOOGEYMAN with partner Rob Tapert, which will be directed by Stephen T. Kay.
Known for his imaginative filmmaking style, richly drawn characters and offbeat humor, Raimi collaborated with Robert Tapert and Bruce Campbell on the cult classic EVIL DEAD, written and directed by Raimi, produced by Tapert and starring Campbell. This horror film became an immediate cult hit at the Cannes Film festival, and led to the equally impressive EVIL DEAD: DEAD BY DAWN, which was made under the auspices of the De Laurentiis Entertainment Group.
Raimi then proved his mastery over the mainstream fantasy thriller genre writing and directing DARKMAN, starring Liam Neeson and Frances McDormand, which he followed up with ARMY OF DARKNESS, a comic sword and sorcery fantasy [and 3rd film in the EVIL DEAD series] starring Bruce Campbell.
Raimi also served as executive producer for John Woo’s HARD TARGET, and he co-wrote (with Joel and Ethan Coen) the feature film THE HUDSUCKER PROXY, starring Paul Newman, Tim Robbins and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Raimi also directed the western THE QUICK AND THE DEAD starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Sharon Stone, Russell Crowe and Gene Hackman.
Raimi’s extensive television work includes the hit syndicated series XENA, WARRIOR PRINCESS, which he executive produced with Rob Tapert. The highly successful series starring Lucy Lawless ran six seasons. Raimi and Tapert also executive produced the enormously popular six season HERCULES: LEGENDARY JOURNEYS, and Raimi served as Executive producer for the CBS series AMERICAN GOTHIC.
Raimi’s interest in filmmaking began as a youngster in Michigan, where he directed his own super 8 films. Later, he left Michigan State University to form Renaissance Pictures with Rob Tapert and longtime friend Bruce Campbell.
Gary Tunnecliffe
Gary J. Tunnicliffe was born 27th February 1968 in Burntwood, England. It was early on in life that Gary discovered his love of horror. From listening to his older brother’s ghost stories to the hammer horror films of late night TV. By the age of nine, Gary had a new group of friends including Doctor Phibes and Professor Van Helsing, Peter Cushing, Vincent Price and Christopher Lee.
On leaving school (his aspirations of becoming an actor dashed) he worked first in optics and then advertising sales. Around this time he was introduced to a little known (in England) publication called Fangoria Magazine. “I didn’t realize it at the time, but I suppose that magazine changed the course of my life.” Tunnicliffe Learned about horror films and the craft of make-up effects and realized that’s what he wanted to do. He was working full time, so his evenings and weekends quickly became devoted to sculpting, molding, painting or applying make-ups or head casting anyone who would be his victim.
By the time Tunnicliffe was 20 years old he had built a large portfolio of photographs and had even created some masks and creations for local dramatic productions. He then decided to send some photographs to the only make-up effects artist he could find in England. Christopher Tucker, (THE ELEPHANT MAN) this lead to him to working on the ‘Phantom of the Opera’ stage show musical and a project called SHEWOLF OF LONDON with Tucker.
Then in 1990, Image Animation became Tunnicliffe’s new home. Based at the famed Pinewood Studios he would spend the next few years creating everything from teeth, prosthetic make-up’s, animals and robot suits for television, commercials and music videos and film work including WAXWORK 2, AMERICAN CYBORG, WARLOCK : ARMAGEDDON, CYBORG COP, HELLRAISER 3, CHILDREN OF THE CORN 2 and CANDYMAN.
In the spring of 1994 Tunnicliffe moved to Los Angeles to open up a work shop in the San Fernando Valley. Here he created effects for a host of shows that included HELLRAISER: BLOODLINE, SLEEPSTALKER and CHILDREN OF THE CORN 4 to name but a few.
In 1995, 27 year old Tunnicliffe wrote and directed his first film. WITHIN THE ROCK, which premiered a year later on the Sci Fi channel to good reviews and a Saturn Award nomination.
1996 saw Tunnicliffe back into the world of FX working on WISHMASTER, BLADE, TWIN FALLS IDAHO and CANDYMAN 3.
Then in 1998 it was back to merry old England for a nine month stint supervising the special make-up effects of SLEEPY HOLLOW for FX Designer Kevin Yagher.
May of 1999 Tunnicliffe returned to Los Angeles and to the familiar ground of HELLRAISER. It would bring Tunnicliffe back to Dimension (Miramax’s Genre Division) and to Neo Art and Logic and would prove to be the start to a very busy, very challenging and rewarding difficult 3 years where his nickname The Miramax Assassin would prove to become a fitting monicker.
Months upon months of decapitations, burnings, lacerations, corpses, skeletons, stabbings, gouges and eviscerations and gallons upon gallons of Tunnicliffe’s patented fake crimson body fluid on the following projects.
HELLRAISER: INFERNAL, MIMIC 2, DRacula 2000, HALLOWEEN: RESURRECTION, HELLRAISER: HELLSEEKER, DRACULA: ASCENSION, DRACULA: LEGACY, MIMIC: SENTINEL, HELLRAISER: DEADER HELLRAISER: HELLSEEKER & PROPHECY: REVELATION
Tunnicliffe also managed to ‘squeeze’ in directing and co-writing the ‘family film’ (of all things) HANSEL AND GRETEL which was released in February 2003 by Warner Brothers.
The last three years has seen Gary stretch his talents from mere make-up effects to prop creation, miniatures, vfx supervision, 2nd unit direction and acting etc.
“I am happiest when I am on a film set, I’ve just had to come to terms with that, some people work with a view to retirement, personally I’d like to die on set calling ‘action’… I feel very fortunate to have found a career that I love… even on the worse days I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
Gary Tunnicliffe lives in Chatsworth, California (very close to his Two Hours in the Dark, Inc. workshop and offices)
John Carpenter
Bio and Pic coming soon.
Sean Cunningham
Bio and Pic coming soon.
Roy Lee
Bio and Pic coming soon.
Clive Barker
Bio and Pic coming soon.
Eli Roth
Bio and Pic coming soon.
Tobe Hooper
Bio and Pic coming soon.