Fan Film, Fan Films

Peter’s Web: A Seven-Part Spider-Man Fan Film

peters-webEven though Marvel Comics is the biggest comic book company around, the DC Comics characters get all the fan film attention. This week, FCT takes a look at some of the Marvel-based fan flicks that have been flying under the radar.

Spider-Man is Marvel Comics’ most beloved superhero, but there aren’t a heck of a lot of fan films starring the Webbed Wonder, and with good reason: Who the heck wants to swing off a building without a net? (Well, besides Dan Poole?) It’s been a while since there was a full-on Spidey fan film that really went for it, and while I don’t know if this one will make a webshoot for the brass ring, the upcoming fan production, Peter’s Web, sure looks like it’s gonna try. Read More »

Like this story? Tell the world:

Coming Next Week to FCT: Marvel Fan Film Focus

Next week, it’s all Marvel, all the time. DC Comics’ characters get all the fan film love, so we’re gonna shine a light on the other major comic book company by focusing in on its characters and their underground movies. You’ll see the big names you’d expect and at least one that will leave you scratching your head, saying “whaaa?” Tune in Monday, true believers.

Like this story? Tell the world:

FCT Roadtrip Report: Five Towns College

Your humble blogger/author, laughing it up at Five Towns College.

Is a roadtrip a roadtrip if it’s only a 40-minute drive? On Election Day, I spoke about fan films as a guest speaker at Five Towns College in Dix Hills, NY. About a year ago, I sat in on the school’s “Comics To Film” course and interviewed its professor, Dan Galiardi, for Homemade Hollywood, so it was an honor to be invited back to contribute (at least, I think that’s what I did). Read More »

Like this story? Tell the world:

Star Wars Tales: An Animated Anthology

star wars talesDark Horse Comics used to print an interesting anthology comic book, Star Wars Tales, which offered up a batch of stories each issue, all set in the universe that George Lucas invented a long time ago (the Seventies) in a galaxy far, far away (California). Although it had its fans, the comic book came to an end with issue 24 and that was that…until now. Fan filmmaker Danny Mosier has spent the last three years creating his own stop-motion animated tribute to the series with the appropriately titled Star Wars Tales. Read More »

Like this story? Tell the world:

Homemade Hollywood Ready To Roll!

printing pressRemember that little book I’ve mentioned only about a billion times? Perhaps you recall how I kept saying it was coming out, month after month…and then it didn’t? Well, the latest news from my publisher, Continuum, is that Homemade Hollywood rolls off the presses on November 14!

From there, it gets shipped out to book distributors who will, you know, distribute it. So in theory… tentatively… maybe… possibly… perhaps it’ll end up on store shelves around the week of Thanksgiving. And if that happens, damn, I’ll be one thankful author. Read More »

Like this story? Tell the world:

More On Mark Twitchell Fan Film Murder Case

Mark Twitchell

Mark Twitchell

Mark Twitchell, the Canadian fan filmmaker accused of murdering a man in an effort to mimic a horror movie he’d recently shot, didn’t show up in court last Wednesday as had been initially expected. In fact, neither did his lawyer. The Edmonton Journal reported:

A student representing defence lawyer David Cunningham asked that the matter be put over for two weeks. Crown prosecutor Avril Herron asked for three weeks because she said there was “massive disclosure,” involved in the case, suggesting there is a lot of evidence to be turned over to the defense.

Read More »

Like this story? Tell the world:

Loads of Lord of the Rings Fan Films

Chris Bouchard, director of The Hunt For Gollum

Chris Bouchard, the director of The Hunt For Gollum

Superheroes and Sci-Fi always seem to lead the way when it comes to franchises that get the fan film treatment. Perhaps it’s because they’re more challenging to low-budget filmmakers; it’s not easy to make it look like your actors are on another planet, or that a superhero is tossing cars like empty beer cans.

Fantasy, on the other hand, has its own difficulties, but if you live in the country, your settings are easier to come by and you can get the privacy you need to film, so that your actors don’t feel quite so dopey dressed up in throw rugs as they wave swords around in the woods. OK, maybe I’m exaggerating a bit (which is to say, I am), but for some reason, fantasy fan films are few and far between (how’s that for alliteration?). Nonetheless, when the backyard productions turn to the realm of swords and sorcery, they usually take a shot at the world of J.R.R. Tolkein’s Middle Earth. For instance, take these productions: The Hunt for Gollum and . Read More »

Like this story? Tell the world:

Batman Fan Film Stuntman Blows Out Knee

Fan filmmakers are a certain breed: They work hard and they play hard, and sometimes the two things are one and same. So it’s good to be reminded every so often that it’s easy to get carried away, and your intensity can backfire on you if you’re not careful. Just take the unfinished flick, Batman Darkness, created by Bakersfield, CA-based Hectic Films and Dark Knight Productions.

As caught on tape by a local ABC-TV affiliate earlier this year—and posted on YouTube soon after—their . And to show it can happen to anyone, the actor in question was Jeff Smolek, a retired stuntman who’d worked in movies for 26 years, including a stint as the title character in the 1995 feature film, Batman Forever. Read More »

Like this story? Tell the world:

Help A Fan Film Fan Win ‘Greatest Fear’ Contest!

amc-greatest-fearHere’s a chance to easily help out a fan film fan and filmmaker. The other day, I spoke about fan films at Five Towns College (which I’ll blog about later) and afterwards, I met student filmmaker Joe Pomarico. A talented guy, he’s currently a top runner in AMC’s “Greatest Fear” Video Contest, where people submitted 60-second horror films. Viewers vote for the finalists, and then the winner will be chosen by shock rocker/horror director Rob Zombie.

Pomarico’s flick has been drifting up and down the top 10, so take a minute (literally) to watch his flick and vote for a fellow fan film fanatic. You don’t have to fill anything out; just click one button (They’re tracking votes by IP addresses). Read More »

Like this story? Tell the world:

Batman: Reborn is Reborn!

Batman Reborn

Batman Reborn

A few weeks ago, FCT profiled the unfinished fan film, Batman: Reborn. The brainchild of Bronx filmmaker Nick Ortiz, the flick took a radical new view of Batman as a denizen of the inner city instead of a rich multi-millionaire from the suburbs of Gotham.

Unfortunately, the promising production ground to a halt in 2007, and Ortiz confirmed this past summer that the project was dead.

Like many comic book stories, however, this one is rising from the dead: Ortiz recently dropped FCT a line to say that Batman: Reborn will live again!

In January, 2009, Granmas Basement Productions begins pre-production on the revamped and revitalized project, with shooting to commence in June. Read More »

Like this story? Tell the world:
RSS for Posts