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Showing posts from February, 2010

From Ohio University and ‘Relative Obscurity,’ filmmaker Jeff Rosenberg has found Hollywood success

A scene from 'Relative Obscurity' >>> It’s not that often a homework assignment turns into a feature film, but if you raise the curtain on filmmaker Jeff Rosenberg’s Relative Obscurity , that's what you'll discover. Rosenberg was sitting in class at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, when his international theater professor, Dr. Esiaba Irobi, shared with the class a quote from author and essayist Franz Fanon: "Each generation must, out of relative obscurity, discover it’s mission, betray it, or fulfill it. Dr. Irobi then asked the class to respond to the quote in written words – essay, poem, whatever struck their heart. “I wrote a 100-page screenplay,” says Rosenberg. From that screenplay, Rosenberg, a native of Shaker Heights, Ohio, set about turning words into pictures. The writer enlisted friends and business associates, including John Swartz, producer, Devin Doyle, director of photography, and editor Spencer Houck. Together they founded Par-T-Com Prod

Filmmaker Edward Douglas and friends remake ultra-low-budget horror movie 'The Dead Matter'

Director Ed Douglas, left, with Jason Carter >>> In 1996, three John Carroll University graduates got together and made an ultra-low-budget horror film, The Dead Matter . Shot on Super-VHS (remember VHS?), the horror flick – featuring zombies, vampires and the occult – was in the can for no more than $2,000. It caused a bit of a buzz among the Ohio film - and Ohio horror - community. And then, like a zombie rising from a freshly dug grave - and more than a decade later - those three friends - Ed Douglas,  Mark Rakocy and Jeff Kasunic -  were back at it, remaking their ultra low-budget film with a much bigger budget. Now they had professional actors – including Lost fan favorite Andrew (Mikhail) Divoff and horror FX maestro Tom Savini – and industry backing by way of  Creature Corps , once Precinct 13 Entertainment, headquartered in Crestline, Ohio. They even had their own production arm: Midnight Syndicate Films. But why remake a feature shot years ago on video? "Peo