The Great Old One is being summoned into the basement of a disused apartment building and the only man who can stop Cthulhu's arrival is wrestling great Rowdy Roddy Piper. That's the basic hook on Portal To Hell!!! (yes, the punctuation is part of the title) - the Toronto International Film Festival selected short film that sadly goes down as the final on screen work for the WWE star, working here with acclaimed Canadian comedy director Vivieno Caldinelli (Picnicface, This Hour Has 22 Minutes) and SFX whiz Steve Kostanski (Manborg, The Void). The apartment-superintendent hero of this primo slice of Canuxploitation has enough on his plate, what with all the plumbing and electrical problems and high-maintenance tenants. But then some jerks open up a multidimensional...
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- 8/13/2015
- Screen Anarchy
Director Vivieno Caldinelli ("Picnicface") and writer Matt Watts ("The Newsroom") are preparing to shoot their short film Portal to Hell. The film is a Lovecraftian homage and a battle against Cthulhu. To star Roddy Piper (They Live), financing for this title has already begun. As well, the short film will be developed into a feature film, in late 2015. Raven Banner will distribute the feature in Canada. More details on Portal to Hell are previewed here. In the story, Jack (Piper) discovers several cultists in his basement. He also discovers that they are trying to bring the god Cthulhu into his world, through sorcery. Jack must enlist the help of others to stop this madness, or else everyone is doomed. This film is still in the early phases of production. And, the filmmakers could use the support of horror fans to bring the short film to life. Details on the film's Indiegogo campaign are listed below.
- 12/17/2014
- by noreply@blogger.com (Michael Allen)
- 28 Days Later Analysis
Anything involving H.P. Lovecraft is worth a look, but when it’s a short film that stars They Live’s Roddy Piper, then you have movie magic. Director Vivieno Caldinelli and writer Matt Watts have taken to Indiegogo to ask for help getting funding for their short film, Portal to Hell.
Here’s a little bit of info on the film itself:
Jack is a simple man with simple needs. Mostly he just needs to be left alone to read his book. It’s a good book and he likes it, or at least he would if the tenants of the building he manages weren’t so damn needy themselves. And it’s not just blown fuses and clogged toilets here … no, when the building power goes out the culprit is a pair of tenants opening a portal to hell in the basement. Does this count as building maintenance? Is...
Here’s a little bit of info on the film itself:
Jack is a simple man with simple needs. Mostly he just needs to be left alone to read his book. It’s a good book and he likes it, or at least he would if the tenants of the building he manages weren’t so damn needy themselves. And it’s not just blown fuses and clogged toilets here … no, when the building power goes out the culprit is a pair of tenants opening a portal to hell in the basement. Does this count as building maintenance? Is...
- 11/27/2014
- by Max Molinaro
- SoundOnSight
“I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass… and I’m all out of bubblegum.” John Carpenter fans remember this “Rowdy” Roddy Piper line from 1988’s They Live, but imagine if Piper said something similar to Cthulhu upon entering the demon city of R’lyeh. If this sounds epic, then you may be interested in funding Portal to Hell, a short film co-starring Piper and Cthulhu that just launched an Indiegogo campaign.
Portal to Hell is guaranteed to be made next March and contributions to the Indiegogo campaign will help fund the special effects creation. The better the film looks, the better its chances are of being turned into a feature film, as Portal to Hell’s creative team is planning on using the short film to pitch a full film version beginning next fall. To learn more about this project, visit:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/portal-to-hell...
Portal to Hell is guaranteed to be made next March and contributions to the Indiegogo campaign will help fund the special effects creation. The better the film looks, the better its chances are of being turned into a feature film, as Portal to Hell’s creative team is planning on using the short film to pitch a full film version beginning next fall. To learn more about this project, visit:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/portal-to-hell...
- 11/26/2014
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Some things are a given when you decide to make a '70s-set disco boogie spoof: there will be disco music, there will be gold lame, there will be big hair, there will be Bee Gees references and there will be roller skates.
But a long-dead dad who was murdered at the hands of video-game pushing gangsters? That's a Picnicface original.
The Haligonian comedy troupe hit the roller rink for their first feature film Roller Town, after their cheeky online videos made Will Ferrell a fan and The Comedy Network gave them their own show that, sadly, only lasted one season.
Drawing inspiration from Roller Boogie, Skatetown, U.S.A., Airplane, Monty Python's Holy Grail and Wet Hot American Summer, Mark Little and his Picnicface alumnus – co-writer Scott Vrooman, director and co-writer Andrew Bush, co-stars Kyle Dooley, Cheryl Haan, Brian MacQuarrie, Evany Rosen and Bill Wood – thought the era of...
But a long-dead dad who was murdered at the hands of video-game pushing gangsters? That's a Picnicface original.
The Haligonian comedy troupe hit the roller rink for their first feature film Roller Town, after their cheeky online videos made Will Ferrell a fan and The Comedy Network gave them their own show that, sadly, only lasted one season.
Drawing inspiration from Roller Boogie, Skatetown, U.S.A., Airplane, Monty Python's Holy Grail and Wet Hot American Summer, Mark Little and his Picnicface alumnus – co-writer Scott Vrooman, director and co-writer Andrew Bush, co-stars Kyle Dooley, Cheryl Haan, Brian MacQuarrie, Evany Rosen and Bill Wood – thought the era of...
- 9/20/2012
- by Andrea Miller
- Cineplex
Roller Town
Directed by Andrew Bush
Written by Andrew Bush, Mark Little, Scott Vrooman
Canada, 2012
If comedy is tragedy plus time, a satire of the cultural immolation that is the 1970’s is long overdue. From tacky flare trousers and ridiculously wide neckties, to disco music and roller rinks, the 70’s was, for the most part, a time of oblivious cheese and corn. The Canadian comedy, Roller Town, attempts to satirize that era, but instead of being sharp or witty, its scattershot skit-show approach leaves much to be desired and ultimately falls into the same kitsch.
In a time and place where he never has to take off his skates, Mark Little is Leo, a hotshot roller rink virtuoso who secretly wants to get into the roller-skating version of Julliard. One night, at the eponymous Roller Town, he meets a girl named Julia (Kayla Lorette), who’s in said school but...
Directed by Andrew Bush
Written by Andrew Bush, Mark Little, Scott Vrooman
Canada, 2012
If comedy is tragedy plus time, a satire of the cultural immolation that is the 1970’s is long overdue. From tacky flare trousers and ridiculously wide neckties, to disco music and roller rinks, the 70’s was, for the most part, a time of oblivious cheese and corn. The Canadian comedy, Roller Town, attempts to satirize that era, but instead of being sharp or witty, its scattershot skit-show approach leaves much to be desired and ultimately falls into the same kitsch.
In a time and place where he never has to take off his skates, Mark Little is Leo, a hotshot roller rink virtuoso who secretly wants to get into the roller-skating version of Julliard. One night, at the eponymous Roller Town, he meets a girl named Julia (Kayla Lorette), who’s in said school but...
- 9/19/2012
- by Justin Li
- SoundOnSight
What a difference a year makes. Last year at Tiff I attended the reception for the launch of the Hollywood Suite Broadcasting by Catherine Tait, Jeff Sackman, Jay Switzer, Michael McLaughlin and David Kines. Hollywood Suite is four Canadian wide new HD channels featuring commercial free HD movies 24/7, uncut and unedited. Both Warner Bros. and MGM launched last year. One year later they are announcing that Sony Movie Channel and Axn Movies are also moving into residence on the channels (replacing Hollywood Storm and Hollywood Festival.) 450 different movies are available every month on TV on demand, online and on mobile for one low monthly fee. The cost of $4.99 per month stands in stark contrast to HBO and Showtime costs of $18 per month.
Catherine is widely known on the international circuit. She was responsible for getting the New York Independent Feature Project up to the level that it has maintained throughout the tenure of Michelle Byrd and currently by Joane Vicente, who is taking it upwards once again to new heights.
Catherine's career in the film and television business spans two decades and includes leadership in the American independent film industry as well as in film and television financing and public company management. She is President of Duopoly, an independent production company that also provides business strategy services to the film and television industry. At Duopoly, she has executive produced a number of television programs including Pure Pwnage (a comedy based on Internet phenomenon www.purepwnage.com for Showcase), Chilly Beach (65 episodes of comedy animation for CBC), Yam Roll (39 episodes for CBC and Cartoon Network), as well as Lucky, a Sundance documentary which sold to HBO. Prior to founding Duopoly, Catherine was President and Chief Operating Officer of Salter Street Films, a publicly-traded television production & distribution company which produced hit programming such as This Hour Has 22 Minutes and Michael Moore's Bowling For Columbine. Catherine serves on the Boards of March Entertainment and Paperny Films; she is a past Director of eOne Entertainment's Canadian Board, of Aliant, of Chum Ltd, and was Chair of the Independent Feature Project in New York.
Catherine is also the founder of iThenic, an online and mobile video destination site, launched in 2006, that aggregates, produces and distributes web series and short-form video content. The company is headquartered in Toronto with offices in New York City and backed by three engaged and prominent shareholders: eOne Entertainment, Canada's largest entertainment company, the founders of iThentic LLC (led by Catherine Tait), and Smiley Guy Studios, an award winning animation and new media studio. Smiley Guy Studios is the operating partner with Jonas Diamond as CEO and Catherine Tait as Chair of the company.
iThentic strives to unite communities that include the creators, curators and viewers. The management team has a depth of experience in global production, distribution and marketing and is connected to a powerful international network of writers, directors, producers, animators and artists. This ensures that iThentic showcases the very best new work. iThentic's creative network is rooted in the independent film and television industry and has generated some of the most groundbreaking entertainment of the last two decades.
This year, iThentic launched its highly successful interactive web-series Guidestones on Hulu. Guidestones won a 2012 Rockie Award for Best Web Fiction Series and is now in production on season two. In addition, Catherine represented the Canadian comedy hit Roller Town (Slamdance 2012) written by and starring Picnicface's Mark Little, Scott Vrooman and Andy Bush and directed by Andy Bush. Roller Town has been sold to VOD leader Gravitas Ventures and is available now.
...
Catherine is widely known on the international circuit. She was responsible for getting the New York Independent Feature Project up to the level that it has maintained throughout the tenure of Michelle Byrd and currently by Joane Vicente, who is taking it upwards once again to new heights.
Catherine's career in the film and television business spans two decades and includes leadership in the American independent film industry as well as in film and television financing and public company management. She is President of Duopoly, an independent production company that also provides business strategy services to the film and television industry. At Duopoly, she has executive produced a number of television programs including Pure Pwnage (a comedy based on Internet phenomenon www.purepwnage.com for Showcase), Chilly Beach (65 episodes of comedy animation for CBC), Yam Roll (39 episodes for CBC and Cartoon Network), as well as Lucky, a Sundance documentary which sold to HBO. Prior to founding Duopoly, Catherine was President and Chief Operating Officer of Salter Street Films, a publicly-traded television production & distribution company which produced hit programming such as This Hour Has 22 Minutes and Michael Moore's Bowling For Columbine. Catherine serves on the Boards of March Entertainment and Paperny Films; she is a past Director of eOne Entertainment's Canadian Board, of Aliant, of Chum Ltd, and was Chair of the Independent Feature Project in New York.
Catherine is also the founder of iThenic, an online and mobile video destination site, launched in 2006, that aggregates, produces and distributes web series and short-form video content. The company is headquartered in Toronto with offices in New York City and backed by three engaged and prominent shareholders: eOne Entertainment, Canada's largest entertainment company, the founders of iThentic LLC (led by Catherine Tait), and Smiley Guy Studios, an award winning animation and new media studio. Smiley Guy Studios is the operating partner with Jonas Diamond as CEO and Catherine Tait as Chair of the company.
iThentic strives to unite communities that include the creators, curators and viewers. The management team has a depth of experience in global production, distribution and marketing and is connected to a powerful international network of writers, directors, producers, animators and artists. This ensures that iThentic showcases the very best new work. iThentic's creative network is rooted in the independent film and television industry and has generated some of the most groundbreaking entertainment of the last two decades.
This year, iThentic launched its highly successful interactive web-series Guidestones on Hulu. Guidestones won a 2012 Rockie Award for Best Web Fiction Series and is now in production on season two. In addition, Catherine represented the Canadian comedy hit Roller Town (Slamdance 2012) written by and starring Picnicface's Mark Little, Scott Vrooman and Andy Bush and directed by Andy Bush. Roller Town has been sold to VOD leader Gravitas Ventures and is available now.
...
- 9/7/2012
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Toronto – Oscar-winning actor Richard Dreyfuss has been cast in a co-starring role for Cas & Dylan, Jason Priestley’s directorial debut. Dreyfuss will play Dr. Cas Pepper, a dying man whose plans to check out on his own terms takes a reluctant detour when he winds up on the lam with a young woman, played by Tatiana Maslany. Priestley (Call Me Fitz, Beverly Hills, 90210) will direct the Canadian indie film from a script by Jessie Gabe (Being Erica). Story: Richard Dreyfuss Signs With Apa Mark Montefiore (Picnicface, Eating Buccaneers) is producing. Dreyfuss, who won an Oscar for
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- 8/13/2012
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Arriving on VOD and iTunes in the USA tomorrow (August 14th) with a theatrical release in its native Canada following on September 21st, comedy troupe Picnicface poke the corpse of the disco era with a sharp stick in their cult hit comedy Roller Town.Roller Town follows the story of Leo (Mark Little), a small-town roller-skating disco king (who happens to be an orphan with a back story) as he attempts to win the heart of the out-of-reach rich girl while staving off the hapless bad guys who are determined to kill the town roller rink. Once again, Canada scores with the funniest, weirdest take on a cultural phenomenon still dear to many: disco!Our own Andrew Mack raved about the film when it screened at...
- 8/13/2012
- Screen Anarchy
Disco didn't die, it was murdered.
How's that for a catchy tagline?
It comes to us courtesy of Roller Town, a Canadian comedy set in the vein of Austin Powers and Saturday Night Fever. We head back to the era of knee socks, bright colours and boogie to follow, Leo, a man born to do three things: disco, dance and rollerskate. Leo's simple existence is threatened when a gang of mobsters decide to turn the town’s roller rink into a video arcade. So what else can Leo do but harness the power of skating, friendship and The Boogie to thwart the bad guys’ plans, win the girl, and preserve the ways of the skate? Seems simple enough, right? I guess we'll see.
The big-screen disco feature marks the first big screen effort from Canuck comedy troupe Picnicface and was shot in and around Halifax last fall. Lead players include newcomers Mark Little,...
How's that for a catchy tagline?
It comes to us courtesy of Roller Town, a Canadian comedy set in the vein of Austin Powers and Saturday Night Fever. We head back to the era of knee socks, bright colours and boogie to follow, Leo, a man born to do three things: disco, dance and rollerskate. Leo's simple existence is threatened when a gang of mobsters decide to turn the town’s roller rink into a video arcade. So what else can Leo do but harness the power of skating, friendship and The Boogie to thwart the bad guys’ plans, win the girl, and preserve the ways of the skate? Seems simple enough, right? I guess we'll see.
The big-screen disco feature marks the first big screen effort from Canuck comedy troupe Picnicface and was shot in and around Halifax last fall. Lead players include newcomers Mark Little,...
- 7/19/2012
- by Emma Badame
- Cineplex
It’s that time again. The Fantasia Film Festival is once again imminent, ready to take over Montreal for three weeks with a barrage of genre films and oddball features from all over the world. Running from July 19th to August 7th, this year’s iteration promises to be another insane smorgasbord of the world’s wildest movies. Besides the initial list of films that have been confirmed below, expect another 10,000 or so when the full lineup is revealed.
We can also expect appearances from Tony Todd and Mark Hamill, promoting their new movie Sushi Girl, directed by Ken Saxton, as well as a spotlight on Jennifer Lynch (!), which will include her new feature Chained and the Hissss making-of documentary Despite the Gods. The Documentaries from the Edge section is getting a boost this year as well, though only two titles ( My Amityville Horror and We are Legion: The Story...
We can also expect appearances from Tony Todd and Mark Hamill, promoting their new movie Sushi Girl, directed by Ken Saxton, as well as a spotlight on Jennifer Lynch (!), which will include her new feature Chained and the Hissss making-of documentary Despite the Gods. The Documentaries from the Edge section is getting a boost this year as well, though only two titles ( My Amityville Horror and We are Legion: The Story...
- 6/18/2012
- by Simon Howell
- SoundOnSight
The 16th annual Fantasia International Film Festival is gearing up to take Montreal by storm with three weeks of inspiration and thrills starting July 19 and running all the way through August 7. Read on for the latest!
The full 2012 lineup of programming and special events will be revealed next month, and we've got all the preliminary details for you below!
Fantasia Proudly Presents The World Premiere Launch Of A Unique, All-star Travelling Art Show
If They Came From Within: An Alternative History of Canadian Horror Movies
Cinematheque Quebecoise, July 20– July 29
Opening gala July 20, 5Pm
Imagine an alternative universe of Canadian horror movies that didn’t get made, couldn’t get made and maybe even shouldn’t get made… but we’d still love to see.
Rue Morgue magazine Editor-in-Chief Dave Alexander brings together some of Canada and Quebec’s most celebrated genre filmmakers with some of the country’s best...
The full 2012 lineup of programming and special events will be revealed next month, and we've got all the preliminary details for you below!
Fantasia Proudly Presents The World Premiere Launch Of A Unique, All-star Travelling Art Show
If They Came From Within: An Alternative History of Canadian Horror Movies
Cinematheque Quebecoise, July 20– July 29
Opening gala July 20, 5Pm
Imagine an alternative universe of Canadian horror movies that didn’t get made, couldn’t get made and maybe even shouldn’t get made… but we’d still love to see.
Rue Morgue magazine Editor-in-Chief Dave Alexander brings together some of Canada and Quebec’s most celebrated genre filmmakers with some of the country’s best...
- 6/18/2012
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
If there is one thing Canadian television has done well through the years it is comedy. Specifically sketch comedy. Everyone of my generation grew up watching John Candy, Martin Short, Eugene Levy and more on Sctv and our comedy heritage includes cult hits like The Kids In The Hall and The Trailer Park Boys. And now we can add Picnicface to that list.A Halifax based sketch comedy troupe, Picnicface hit the airwaves - cable, actually - earlier this year with their own self titled show, one that certainly taps into the sense of the bizarre and absrud that marks the best Canadian comedy acts. Want an example? Check out the epic tale below....
- 11/21/2011
- Screen Anarchy
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