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Edward and Melissa Lyons: A Year on the Festival Circuit with “Alfred J. Hemlock”

Published

6 years ago

December 10, 2017

Edward and Melissa Lyons are the best kind of tired right now. They’ve spent most of 2017 traveling the film festival circuit promoting their film, Alfred J. Hemlock. Life on the road isn’t always easy, but the filmmakers will tell you that the benefits far outweigh the price.

I recently spoke with Ed and Melissa about life on the film festival circuit, lessons learned, and the future of Alfred J. Hemlock.

“Making a film is really only about a quarter of the job,” Edward explained as the conversation began. “There are a lot of challenges and overcoming obstacles to get the film made, but the real work is getting the film out there. There are a lot of films being made today because of the democratization of technology. Everyone is making a film. So, you have to do something special to cut through the noise and that’s where the festival circuit comes in.”

The first step, of course, is getting accepted into the festivals. The Lyons have worked hard, learning by trial and error, how to most successfully submit their work to festival runners, and to make sure they’re putting their best foot forward each time.

“When we submitted to the festivals, the job wasn’t done,” Ed pointed out. “Having contacts at the festival is important, but you have to have a good reason to reach out to them. If we won an award at another festival or if we had a really great review from someone, we’d send that information along to our festival contact. They’ve got so many films that are being submitted, and if it comes down to your film and someone else’s letting them know what people are saying about your film can really help them make the decision.”

“We also worked social media really hard,” Melissa added. “We tried to keep up awareness about the film by sharing articles and reviews and tagging film festivals and publications on Twitter and Instagram. It was time-consuming, but it was really worth it. I think it increased our visibility a lot.’

Again, though, just being accepted into the festival wasn’t the final step. For an independent filmmaker, especially, it’s often important to attend those festivals in person. It’s a costly endeavor, and all too often hard decisions have to be made. Decisions that, for Ed and Melissa at least, often came down to the opportunities and amenities the festivals offered filmmakers.

“If a festival seemed very excited about the film and seemed like they really wanted us there, then we were more likely to attend,” Melissa said. “If there was very little communication or they just didn’t seem interested, we were more likely not to go.”

“Yeah, it really came down to the festival with the warmest handshake some days,” Ed continued. “If we had to make the choice between two festivals, we would look at the bigger picture. What kind of venues are they showing your film in? Do they have a filmmakers lounge? Do they have panels? The Women in Horror Film Festival, as an example, had really great panels and we were excited to see them and be a part of them.”

Alfred J. Hemlock star Renaye Loryman (left) with writer/director Edward Lyons (center) and writer/producer Melissa Lyons (right) at the Women in Horror Film Festival.

But the final decision almost always rested on how the independent filmmaking community was received.

“I think the kind of film festivals that you sort of aim for are those where you get the best sense of community,” Edward said. “The environment is right to make those connections. It’s to see other people’s work and make friends. You can compare war stories and talk about the challenges you’ve faced and see that we’re really all in this together. This year has been a lot of work but it’s also be so rewarding. It’s like being at Summer Camp if camp meant spending four months in movie theaters around the world watching films and being inspired by other filmmakers.”

Of course, traveling with their film from festival to festival also means that they’ve seen Alfred J. Hemlock many times over and I wondered if they’d noticed things in the course of a year’s worth of viewings that they wished they’d done differently, or did the film stand up to multiple viewings? Melissa was quick to point out that she doesn’t really watch the film so much as she watches an audience during a viewing, gauging their reactions and how different audiences viewed different scenes.

“Every festival crowd is slightly different,” she said. “For example, at Women in Horror, we had the Soska sisters hooting and hollering in the background which was great! Then, at other festivals you’d have crowds that were more serious and just very intently watching. It’s kind of an adventure to see how it will be received in different venues. It’s also interesting to see what films you’re programmed with. Where do we fit in the eyes of the festival directors?”

The festival circuit has been very kind to Alfred J. Hemlock. The horror short has won around 40 awards this year including numerous awards for Best Short Film and various acting awards for the talented cast. All of that good publicity and the way it’s been received has cleared a path for a full length feature based on the short film and Edward and Melissa couldn’t be more excited about the prospect.

Still, their time on the circuit isn’t quite over and they’re announcing new appearances all the time. You can keep up with all the latest adventures in the life of an indie film by visiting the official Alfred J. Hemlock Facebook page, following them on Twitter @AlfredJHemlock, and on Instagram @alfredjhemlock.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcCQr5PqCZ4

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Russell Crowe To Star in Another Exorcism Movie & It’s Not a Sequel

Published

21 hours ago

April 22, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Maybe it’s because The Exorcist just celebrated its 50th-anniversary last year, or maybe it’s because aging Academy Award-winning actors aren’t too proud to take on obscure roles, but Russell Crowe is visiting the Devil once again in yet another possession film. And it’s not related to his last one, The Pope’s Exorcist.

According to Collider, the film titled The Exorcism was originally going to be released under the name The Georgetown Project. Rights for its North American release were once in the hands of Miramax but then went to Vertical Entertainment. It will release on June 7 in theaters then head over to Shudder for subscribers.

Crowe will also star in this year’s upcoming Kraven the Hunter which is set to drop in theaters on August 30.

As for The Exorcism, Collider provides us with what it’s about:

“The film centers around actor Anthony Miller (Crowe), whose troubles come to the forefront as he shoots a supernatural horror movie. His estranged daughter (Ryan Simpkins) has to figure out whether he’s lapsing into his past addictions, or if something even more horrific is occurring. “

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Movies

New F-Bomb Laden ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Trailer: Bloody Buddy Movie

Published

24 hours ago

April 22, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Deadpool & Wolverine might be the buddy movie of the decade. The two heterodox superheroes are back in the latest trailer for the summer blockbuster, this time with more f-bombs than a gangster film.

‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Movie Trailer

This time the focus is on Wolverine played by Hugh Jackman. The adamantium-infused X-Man is having a bit of a pity party when Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) arrives on the scene who then tries to convince him to team up for selfish reasons. The result is a profanity-filled trailer with a Strange surprise at the end.

Deadpool & Wolverine is one of the most anticipated movies of the year. It comes out on July 26. Here is the latest trailer, and we suggest if you are at work and your space isn’t private, you might want to put in headphones.

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Original Blair Witch Cast Ask Lionsgate for Retroactive Residuals in Light of New Film

Published

2 days ago

April 21, 2024

Cameron McFarland

Jason Blum is planning to reboot The Blair Witch Project for the second time. That’s a fairly large task considering none of the reboots or sequels have managed to capture the magic of the 1999 film that brought found footage into the mainstream.

This idea has not been lost on the original Blair Witch cast, who has recently reached out to Lionsgate to ask for what they feel is fair compensation for their role in the pivotal film. Lionsgate gained access to The Blair Witch Project in 2003 when they purchased Artisan Entertainment.

However, Artisan Entertainment was an independent studio before its purchase, meaning the actors were not part of SAG-AFTRA. As a result, the cast are not entitled to the same residuals from the project as actors in other major films. The cast doesn’t feel that the studio should be able to continue to profit off of their hard work and likenesses without fair compensation.

Their most recent request asks for “meaningful consultation on any future ‘Blair Witch’ reboot, sequel, prequel, toy, game, ride, escape room, etc., in which one could reasonably assume that Heather, Michael & Josh’s names and/or likenesses will be associated for promotional purposes in the public sphere.”

At this time, Lionsgate has not offered any comment about this issue.

The full statement made by the cast can be found below.

OUR ASKS OF LIONSGATE (From Heather, Michael & Josh, stars of “The Blair Witch Project”):

1. Retroactive + future residual payments to Heather, Michael and Josh for acting services rendered in the original BWP, equivalent to the sum that would’ve been allotted through SAG-AFTRA, had we had proper union or legal representation when the film was made.

2. Meaningful consultation on any future Blair Witch reboot, sequel, prequel, toy, game, ride, escape room, etc…, in which one could reasonably assume that Heather, Michael & Josh’s names and/or likenesses will be associated for promotional purposes in the public sphere.

Note: Our film has now been rebooted twice, both times were a disappointment from a fan/box office/critical perspective. Neither of these films were made with significant creative input from the original team. As the insiders who created the Blair Witch and have been listening to what fans love & want for 25 years, we’re your single greatest, yet thus-far un-utilized secret-weapon!

3. “The Blair Witch Grant”: A 60k grant (the budget of our original movie), paid out yearly by Lionsgate, to an unknown/aspiring genre filmmaker to assist in making theirfirst feature film. This is a GRANT, not a development fund, hence Lionsgate will not own any of the underlying rights to the project.

A PUBLIC STATEMENT FROM THE DIRECTORS & PRODUCERS OF “THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT”:

As we near the 25th anniversary of The Blair Witch Project, our pride in the storyworld we created and the film we produced is reaffirmed by the recent announcement of a reboot by horror icons Jason Blum and James Wan.

While we, the original filmmakers, respect Lionsgate’s right to monetize the intellectual property as it sees fit, we must highlight the significant contributions of the original cast — Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard, and Mike Williams. As the literal faces of what has become a franchise, their likenesses, voices, and real names are inseparably tied to The Blair Witch Project. Their unique contributions not only defined the film’s authenticity but continue to resonate with audiences around the world.

We celebrate our film’s legacy, and equally, we believe the actors deserve to be celebrated for their enduring association with the franchise.

Sincerely, Eduardo Sanchez, Dan Myrick, Gregg Hale, Robin Cowie, and Michael Monello