Taking a stab...
When the idea was hatched to do a genre festival in the Upper Catskills of New York state, we at the Schoharie Scary Horror Film Fest thought we’d be real slick, just like the culturally hip, ultra cool festivals where everyone looks so good and dresses so fine. That’s what we thought.
But you know what? We don’t have a lot of money behind us, we’re only a handful of writers, filmmakers and musicians, and we’re horribly out of step with picture perfect people. Besides that our wardrobes exist only because there are laws against walking around public naked.
That said, SSHFF is well on its way to becoming upstate New York’s premier genre festival dedicated to showcasing new horror shorts and features from the most audacious DIY filmmakers in the world today.
Now when we say DIY, we truly mean Do It Yourself—digital filmmaking art, of, by, and for the artists working in their own spheres of creativity well outside the jurisdiction of the corporate controlled film industry.
Sure, nearly everyone loves the big screen, but there are so many other screens emerging on the moving picture exhibition and distribution scene that there no longer exists the need for someone on the inside to grant or deny an artist permission to create his or her own visual worlds.
The funny thing is, we’ve actually got a handful of Hollywood types on our Board of Advisors. Names like Danny DeVito, Tony Danza, Vincent Pastore, John “Cha Cha” Ciarcia, and Abel Ferrara. (Okay, Abel’s on the fringe, a classified bad boy, and Vinny Pastore and Cha Cha are too dyed-in-the-wool New York to give a rat’s ass whether they’re on the inside or on the outside of any system.)
Our point is that SSHFF is100% on the side of the bona fide artist, the real deal, the authentic visionaries among us who are informed solely by their own angels or demons and whose films evoke not a mishmash of regurgitated pop culture, but leaps of faith into the uncharted, random paths of personal creative imagination.
We do not charge the artist an entry fee. We believe it is the responsibility of local and national governments and corporate culture to underwrite the magic in our midst. The artist has already done much with his or her contribution of intellectual and cultural equity. Besides, as we grow, we’d like to do what we can to help our contributing filmmakers along.
The Schoharie Scary Horror Film Fest is produced in association with the Schoharie County Arts Council, a New York state non-profit, multi-arts organization that emphasizes the visual and performing arts.
Proceeds from the festival provide funding for the continuing development of digital filmmaking culture in the Upper Catskills, as well as assist in the development of independent short and feature film projects from emerging artists around the world.
Thanks for using your imaginations in a world gone mad!
Lewis Umbrellahem
Director, SSHFF