Macabre...ish Cults, Classics & Horrors Kimberly

Diane Foster is the director of Easter Bloody Easter and founder of Wallybird Productions. But before she became a filmmaker, she was an actor, singer and dancer. She trained her entire life in New Jersey, where she grew up in Union in a large family.

She started performing at 8 and was Little Miss Union and she did lots of regional theatre. Diane later went to the Paper Mill Playhouse in Milburn, New Jersey every Summer throughout high school.

Diane went to conservatory for years with Anne Hathaway and after winning an award, she realized, acting, could be a career. She moved to New York and did lots of off Broadway and a stint on Law and Order: SVU.

By 21, she was living in LA and after 2 weeks there, she met Robin Antin who created The Pussy Cat Dolls. Diane became a dancer for the live show, Pussy Cat Dolls Live at The Roxy. Prior to becoming a group and it was a revue with 20 dancers.

When she wasn’t dancing Diane was auditioning for independent films, her first role she was in a movie called Iowa and a documentary called Dying For Meth, she was 24 years old and Iowa was selected to show at Tribeca. Soon the Orphan Killer franchise began and after the sequel, she moved on to create her own production company called Wallybird Productions in 2018 and so far has 17 projects completed.

Easter Bloody Easter was inspired by a play that began in an acting class. So Diane and some other actors (Allison Lobell and Miles Cooper) from the play got together and took the show on the road but then the pandemic put a stop to that. So Diane decided to turn it into a film, Allison wrote the script and she, Diane and Kelly Grant hit the ground running. This was Diane’s directorial debut.

Easter Bloody Easter is an indie holiday film with physical effects, lots of hilarious killer bunnies and a monster jackelope. It’s a slow burn that only gets better as you watch it. Plus if you like music, this one has plenty of it. Rocky Horror and Little Shop of Horror Fans, this one is for you! And Diane and Co. has already started working on the sequel.

Ms. Foster does not just do horror, she is socially conscious and Wallybird Productions is about giving people opportunity who are too often overlooked, in front of and behind the camera. It’s her contribution to change the landscape of the film industry and you can expect every one of her productions to be diverse.

If you like docudramas, keep an eye out for My Home Unknown, in keeping with Wallybird’s dedication to change, this film is an eye opening story about a houseless woman struggling with mental illness.

Last but not least, Easter Bloody Easter is out and streaming on itunes, apply play and Amazon on March 26, 2024! There will be physical copies that begin releasing on April 2nd and pre-orders are open! And keep an eye out for the soundtrack.

Find all things Wallybird Productions right here:

https://wallybirdproductions.com

Find Diane Foster’s socials here:

https://www.instagram.com/wallybirdproductions

https://www.facebook.com/dianefosterofficial

https://www.instagram.com/dianefosterofficial/?hl=en

Find the rest of us:

Carlos Ibarra on IG @jekyl6669 and
https://www.fillintheblanksproductions.ca/

Christopher Thompson on IG @theauthor__

Kimberly at http://www.macabreish.com and IG and Tiktok @macabre_ish. https://linktr.ee/macabre_ish

Christopher Sheffield is a filmmaker who’s been in the film industry for 13 or so years, a decade in LA and three in Arizona. As soon as he graduated film school, he hit the ground running as making commercials for a trucking company.

But the dream began when he was a kid and received two video recorders, one that could record and one that could actually play the tape. He made shorts with his friends until he realized film school was an option.

Christopher or Sheff, saved a lot of his money from making commercials and used that to make his first feature at the end of that year, called Run For Your Life.

Sheff has a Youtube channel where he has shorts that he started back in film school called Split Lip. And inspired the name of his first action film called Split Lip.

He talks about how a feature fell through and he made a short instead called Welcome To The Sting. It was choreographed and co-produced by Billy Smith. A lead actor, James M. Black pulled a hamstring but the entire cast rallied and made it happen. This great short could one day become a series!

Sheff talks about navigating the pandemic and the strike and having to pivot and regroup.

Much of his work is examining mental illness and the struggle. Making it tangible and his upcoming film Eigengrau puts faces to mental illness by making them real life monsters. It’s an idea that lingered since he was a child and the concept grew as he approached his film career and his first stab at it was his first project, Run For Your Life.

But as the concept evolved and coalesced, it’s culminated in his feature to come, Eisengrau. Which is a German word that means the color of darkness behind your closed eyes. Sheff explains the concept and story behind the film and it’s an exciting story!

There are plenty of projects in the works! Keep an eye out for Christopher Sheffield!

Support indie filmmakers and check out the campaign for Eigengrau! This might be the only way to get a physical copy so there’s a blu ray pre-order and other perks. https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/eigengrau-horror-film-monster-fund/x/29269334#/


Find Christopher Sheffield here:

http://www.christophersheffield.com
Instagram: sheff_shoots_indie
Tiktok: sheff_shoots_indie

And find us:

Carlos Ibarra on IG @jekyl6669 and
https://www.fillintheblanksproductions.ca/

Christopher Thompson on IG @theauthor__

Kimberly at http://www.macabreish.com and IG and Tiktok @macabre_ish. https://linktr.ee/macabre_ish

Anthony Moran is an independent horror filmmaker out of Detroit. His specific style mixes the counter culture of bikers, with diversity and in the case of his second film, Let Us In, zombies! With Detroit as the back drop. His actors and crew all hail from Detroit and is truly made by the people for the people.

He talks about his inspiration for his zombies and why biker culture? The man responsible for those great zombie FX is James Bell, also a resident of Detroit. Anthony also explains who his films are for because are not for everyone.

In 2024 he hopes to film another feature called the Evil 1%.

If you see Independent American Pictures, you’ve found Anthony! Look for him:

on IG: https://www.instagram.com/independent_american_pictures?igsh=MWt2ODQ2dng1ZnU5bw==

Support indie films!! And support films made in Detroit!

And Find US:

Carlos Ibarra on IG @jekyl6669 and
https://www.fillintheblanksproductions.ca/

Christopher Thompson on IG @theauthor__

Kimberly at http://www.macabreish.com and IG and Tiktok @macabre_ish. https://linktr.ee/macabre_ish

Our Carlos Ibarra catches us up on his progress of his current project, a zombie comedy horror, Duck & Cover. Some of the struggle, timing and filming in 3 days. But it’s just the beginning, editing is next, coloring, sound mixing etc. A band will even being making music for the short and Carlos will be making a music video for them. The hope was to get it done by Halloween but it’ll get done when it’s done.

We also talk about short films and the purpose of them and the opportunity they could create. Challenges and pitfalls that are just a part of filmmaking.

But Carlos and the crew are still grinding and if you can help, please do, a pre-order, merch, anything helps. Please support our indie filmmakers because let’s be honest, they’re the one’s bringing us new horrors and they need our support. Support a horror fan in making horror films that we want to see.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/duck-and-cover-post-production-and-distribution#/

Find Carlos here:


Carlos Ibarra on IG @jekyl6669 and
https://www.fillintheblanksproductions.ca/

And me, Kimberly:

Kimberly at http://www.macabreish.com and IG and Tiktok @macabre_ish. https://linktr.ee/macabre_ish

You’ve probably seen this man in the background of movies, tv shows and in a certain Blockbuster commercial, you’re whole life and not realized it.

Bill was recently in a horror parody sequel called They Came Back From Somewhere, he was also in Puppet Master: Doktor Death and so much more.

Bill tells his story that is one of a blue collar actor, one that also started in Improv in Chicago back in the 80s. He was a bit of a contrarian earlier on but did find some commercial success in the 90s. You might recognize him from a ‘Perfect Store’ Blockbuster commercial, which shows up in the Last Blockbuster documentary as well as in the background of Home Alone.

He considers his first feature to be Wildcats, (the movie with Goldie Hawn) where he played a referee. He’s done America’s Funniest People and mystery series like Mysteries Unknown.

After a break, when his family came along, he returned to his Improv roots, teaching in 2014. He did some sketch shows in Second City, but because of his contradictory nature, Bill never sought the main stage there, like everyone else who aspired to act. But he was definitely inspired by a Second City success, Harold Ramis and actually auditioned for Ground Hog Day, three times.

Bill has a film streaming now called You’re Out, it’s not horror but you get to watch him play a huge a**hole in it! If you like baseball flicks, check it out. He will also be in the psychological thriller, Unseen (directed by Steve Merlo). Plus a slasher flick called Final Summer (John Isberg), check it out!! Bill has quite a few exciting projects coming out. It’s been a winding road but Bill is on his second wind of his career.

Follow him on IG to keep up with him. And if you see him at a convention say ‘Hi!’

Find Bill D. Russell on IG @ billxrussell

https://instagram.com/billxrussell?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

And find us:

Carlos Ibarra on IG @jekyl6669 and
https://www.fillintheblanksproductions.ca/

Christopher Thompson on IG @theauthor__

Kimberly at http://www.macabreish.com and IG and Tiktok @macabre_ish. https://linktr.ee/macabre_ish

Jill ‘Sixx’ Gevargizian is the director of The Stylist that first showed up as a short, in the 2018 anthology, Watch If You Dare. It was co-written by Eric Havens, who is also co-writer on Call Girl, Jill’s debut film and this year is the 10 year anniversary!

Jill talks her secret to success and why she surrounds herself with people who are good at what they do and who are better at it than she is. It’s been her version of film school. She points to her having a good network to source from when thinking about a project and that project’s success. Knowing people like Laurence Harvey (from Human Centipede) who she met at a convention and Tristan Risk (from American Mary) who she met through working with the Soska Sisters, knowing the right people just made it easy to execute her movies.

Jill brought her years of experience in her trade as a hairstylist in her film, The Stylist, to make it as realistic as possible. So she created the first hairstylist slasher flick! She talks about other amazing films and franchises that also got their starts as shorts like Saw and The Babadook.

Jill’s film career really began with the creation of Slaughter Movie House where weird indie horror shorts are shown.

She is producing on a film doing festivals right now (as of Summer 2023) called Black Mold, so keep an eye out!! Check out the Texas Chainsaw Massacre documentary, The Legacy of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Jill is also on that as a super fan and contributor!

There are some secret projects coming up including one produced with Ed Sanchez (Blair Witch Project) and written by Adam Cesare (Clown in the Cornfield book), so keep an eye out!

Support indie filmmakers!

Find Jill at:

https://www.sixxtape.com

And As usual find us here:

Carlos Ibarra on IG @jekyl6669 and
https://www.fillintheblanksproductions.ca/

Christopher Thompson on IG @theauthor__

Kimberly at http://www.macabreish.com and IG and Tiktok @macabre_ish. https://linktr.ee/macabre_ish