Midwest Movie Maker

You know how at the end of every horror movie, the movie makers try to get you to believe the film is over? That all is well and you can happily collect your popcorn and go about your business? Then they throw one more big scare at you, just to send you home with your heart pounding and your stomach in your throat?
This is that post! One last scare before the Halloween season is over. And this time we’re chatting with Cleveland filmmaker Sage O’Bryant.
O’Bryant is the man behind Big Jones Productions and has lingered about the Cleveland movie scene for a few years now. He’s a sought after creator, directing two segments of Made in Cleveland, taking home a first place award in the 48 Hour Film Project a few years back (read about that here), and cutting his teeth on terror.
His latest, co-produced with special effects artist Maxwell Desotell, is titled M is for Model. The macabre movie is an entry in The ABCs of Death 2 competition. If selected, the film will be included in the upcoming h…

The final entry in our Five Horrific Questions series arrives just in time for Halloween. To send us off shaking, shivering and quaking in our boots, we turn to Alex Mann.
Mann is the executive producer, co-writer and director of Detention of the Dead, a “zombedy,” as Mann calls it, that pits a group of high schoolers trapped in detention against their zombie classmates. It’s his first feature, much of which was shot in and around Pontiac, Mich.
“It's now available in most of the major territories of the world,” Mann says. “The journey to get to this point is only comparable to running two or three marathons in a row and then climbing Mt.Everest in storm! What I learned about filmmaking and myself in that process is invaluable, and has made me a better man and artist.”
Viewers may recognize the New York actor from some of his professional work in front of the camera, including small parts in Mall Cop, Festival in Cannes, Bowfinger and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. He’s also appeare…

We first met Jeff Miller in March, just as he and filmmaking partner Gary Jones were wrapping work on what was then called Bunyan (and is now known as Axe Giant: The Wrath of Paul Bunyan). 
The terrifying spin on the classic tall tale was shot on location at MohicanStateForest and Park, Loudonville, Ohio, MalabarFarmState Park, Lucas, Ohio, and Pleasant Hill Dam in Ashland, Ohio. Part of the film was shot in and around Onaway, Mich., including actor Tim Lovelace’s home.
In the film, a young group of first-time offenders who, while doing time at a secluded boot camp deep in the woods, discover that Paul Bunyan is more than just a tall tale. They come face to face with the true story of Bunyan’s hidden dark past and feel the wrath of this legendary folk hero.
“It’s is a dark, contemporary take on the tale of the giant lumberjack,” says Miller. And a lot of bloody fun.
If you’re keen on checking out the film, catch it now on Netflix streaming or set your DVR for the Syfy Channel on Nov. 8. I…

Actress and filmmaker Deanna Sherman spent last weekend (Oct. 18 to 20) running from zombies. Or better said, the prospect of having to write, shoot, edit and deliver a 6-minute zombie horror film in less than 48 hours. It was all part of the 48 Hour Horror Film Project, a spin-off of the successful 48 Hour Film Project competition held each summer in Cleveland and cities around the world. Filmmaking teams are given a genre, character name, prop and line of dialogue – then they’re off, shooting an entire short in one weekend. “I was a team leader,” Sherman says. “The genre we drew was ‘zombie,’ and I was pretty mad. I didn't want to make a normal zombie movie, because there are so many.” But Sherman and her team came up with a unique story – something she swears is different than anything out there. “I had a great role in it and am extremely proud of the film,” she says. “It screens Oct. 29 at 7p.m. at TowerCity (in Cleveland). The film is called, Undead Fred from Team Blacklisted.…

The new trailer for Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier debuted about an hour ago – and it’s a corker. Fans will love Cap’s SHIELD uniform, our first glimpse of the Falcon in action, some Russo Brothers comedy and yet another giant piece of CGI machinery crashing, collapsing and otherwise crunching like a beer can.
And you can read all about that on other blogs. What we’re interested in are shots of Cleveland, where a nice slice of Cap 2 was shot last spring. We get a decent amount in this first trailer. Here’s what we spotted. If you see something we missed, comment below :
0:52. Ok, we don’t get much at 52 seconds in, but we do get Anthony Mackie in the back of an SUV driving along what probably is Lakeshore Blvd. downtown.0:56: Ah, here we go. This is Euclid Ave heading west, heading toward the corner of Euclid and E. 9th. If you’re a Spider-Man fan, you might recognize this intersection and stretch of road as the same one where Spidey battled Sandman in Spider-Man 3. There’s the …

The acting bug bit Pittsburgh hyphenate David Dietz early and often. (It’s Halloween, after all, so shouldn’t it be a swarm?)
“I've always acted in plays, going to back to when I was in elementary school,” says Dietz, who grew up outside Pittsburgh and attended Robert Morris University. “Then, when I got older, and learned that people would actually pay me to do it, I was sold! Now, with the technology making it easier for Hollywood outsiders to bring their visions to the screen, not only have I been cast in more films, I can even make my own!”

Since, Dietz has acted in a fistful of films made in and around Pittsburgh, including End Game and Death from Above, both starring Kurt Angle, Strange Girls and Fetish Dolls Die Laughing. 

Dietz is making his own movies these days. His proudest achievement (so far)? Indemnity: Rage of a Jealous Vampire. The horror film tells the tale of what happens when a woman, scorned, happens to also be a vampire, scorned.

“I pretty much did it all - wrote,…

We continue our quest to learn what frightens horror movie makers from the Midwest by trapping Branislav “Bruno” Tatalovic in the torture chamber.
Tatalovic, originally from Serbia, has spent nearly half his life in Ohio – and a fair amount of that pursuing his filmmaking passion. It’s a passion that began with photography and soon bled over into motion pictures.
He’s most proud of Dying 2 Meet U, a feature film Tatalovic co-wrote, co-produced and directed. The film tells the tortured tale of a troubled man who uses the guise of a reality show to choose a wife. Nine lovely ladies join the show. Not all survive “the elimination process.”
“This was a true ‘labor-of-luv’ indie film,” Tatalovic says. “And it’s a prime example of creating magic on minimal budget.”
Horrific Question No. 1: What’s makes a horror movie scary?Tatalovic: What makes a movie "scary" is director's ability to project audience’s expectations and touch their emotions, using this genre's tools and techn…

‘Tis the season for monsters and mayhem, and the Midwest is no stranger to horror movies or horror filmmakers. George Romero, Wes Craven and Sam Raimi all call the Midwest home. To celebrate all those things that go bump in the night, we’ve reached out to more than a dozen filmmakers who are either from the Midwest or shot their scary movie here. We asked each filmmaker the same five horrific questions. Just the thing to get you in the mood. First up is Rocky Karlage, writer and producer of The Ghost WalkSaga. Born and raised in Amelia, Ohio, Karlage had no intention of becoming a filmmaker. “I created a story sequence named The Ghost Walk Saga, which I planned to be a photo book with local model and my future partner at Ghost Walk Studios, Victoria Vardon,” explains Karlage. “I hoped the story would catch the imagination of a filmmaker.”    After meeting Steve Olander and striking up a friendship with the director, Karlage attended a film seminar and soon found himself producing the firs…