We are so tickled to share that Chomp’s Little Zombie Girl Ellah Durliat was honored with the Best Supporting Actress award at the Sunscreen Film Festival on Saturday, May 2. What an exciting way to cap off a fantastic festival for us! (That’s proud dad Andrew Durliat in the top picture with our five-year-old little star.) For more about Ellah on our Cast and Crew page.
Chomp is super-stoked to be playing at the Dead in Decatur Film Festival June 12-13, 2015. Full details here:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dead-in-Decatur/304237733102850
Chomp screening at Necon on Friday, July 17th at 10pm (estimated) in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. We’re so tickled we’re finally going to get to share Chomp with Camp Necon! More details about the convention here: http://www.campnecon.com/
Chomp’s director Lynne Hansen will be appearing at Tampa Bay Comic Con, July 31 – August 2, including taking part in the “Geek Filmmaking on a Budget” panel with Monique Guggino and Shelly Stokes from Wicked Window Productions.
Full programming details on the Tampa Bay Comic Con website here: http://tampabaycomiccon.com/
Chomp is pleased to announce that it is an official selection of the Innovative Film Festival June 12-14 in Tampa, Florida.
We play Sunday, June 14 at 1:15 pm
Full details here: https://www.facebook.com/InnovativeFilmFestival
Chomp has been selected for a special “Best of GeekFest Year 1” screening at the AC Boardwalk Con, the launch con for Year 2 of Geekfest Los Angeles‘s GeekFest Film Fest.
We’ll be playing on Friday, May at 3:00, along with Time Keeper, the award-winning web series written, produced, and directed by Daryn Murphy, Chomp‘s director of photography.
At 1:00 pm that same day, He’s Not Looking So Great, the short film directed by Gregory G. Kurczynski, written by Chomp’s Lynne Hansen, will also be screening.
Full details here:
http://geekfestla.com/atlantic-city-boardwalk-con/
And here:
http://geekfestla.com/acbc-schedule/
And here:
http://www.doacbc.com/
Chomp is pleased to announce that we will be screening at the World Horror Convention in Atlanta, Georgia May 7th – 10th with Gregory Lamberson’s Gave Up The Ghost (written by Jeff Strand) and the feature Jizzly Bear. The entire screening will be hosted by the indomitable John Skipp.
Come see it all on Thursday, May 7th at 9 pm!
For Chomp, director Lynne Hansen will be in attendance, and Jeff Strand, the screenwriter of Gave Up The Ghost, will be representing it.
You can also see Chomp‘s director at the Filmmaker’s Lounge panel Friday, May 8th at 5:00 pm, and the Horror as a Literacy Tool panel on Saturday, May 9th at 11:00 am.
Venue:
Atlanta Marriott Marquis
265 Peachtree Center Avenue
Atlanta, GA 30303, US
For more details about this convention, visit http://www.whc2015.org/.
Chomp is pleased to announce that it is an official selection of the Reel Bronx International Film Festival in Bronx, New York. Chomp will be screening during this three-day festival May 15-17, 2015.
Also screening at the festival is “He’s Not Looking So Great”, the first short film Lynne Hansen wrote. It will be released on DVD in July as part of the Vault of Terror II anthology film, but the Reel Bronx International Film Festival will provide a sneak preview of the final product. Pre-order the DVD here. As a special bonus, the star of He’s Not Looking So Great, Kat Lindsay, will be attending the event.
Showtimes:
Sunday, May 17 @ 5:30 pm (for Chomp)
Saturday, May 16 @ 7:00 pm (for He’s Not Looking So Great in Vault of Terror II: The Undead)
The Locust Point Civic Center
Bronx, New York
Full festival details here: https://www.facebook.com/reelbronxfilmfestival
Only through Friday 4/17: get your own limited-edition Chomp t-shirt for $15–any size, free shipping or hand-delivery at any one of our gigs after May 6th.
Email ChompMovie@Gmail.com with:
Then, I’ll send you a Pay Pal request to make it easy.
Join Team Chomp and show your support for indie film!
And don’t forget to like us on Facebook! 
It’s official! Chomp will be playing at a special movie night at FuMPFest, a comedy music convention June 5-7 in Chicago, Illinois, and Jeff and I will be there to see it happen. What’s really cool about this gig is that the Chomp soundtrack features music by two of our favorite comedy acts, Trevor Strong of The Arrogant Worms (who just happen to be the guests of honor at FuMPFest) and Marc With a C’s Claire and The Potatoes.
Screening: Friday, June 5 at 11:00 pm
More details here: http://fumpfest.com/
Chomp is an official selection of the Sunscreen Film Festival April 30-May 3. (Our first mainstream film festival!)
We’ll be screening three times during the festival at three different venues, as part of the Comedy/Romance Short Block:
Friday, May 1 from 3:15-5:00 pm
American Stage
163 3rd St N, St Petersburg, FL 33701
Saturday, May 2 from 12:45-2:30 pm
Muvico Theatre
151 2nd Ave N, St Petersburg, FL 33701
Saturday, May 2 from 10:15pm-12:45 am
Green Bench Brewing Company
1133 Baum Ave N, St Petersburg, FL 33705
Pros and cons of the various venues:
Friday @3:15 at American Stage: See Chomp first!
Saturday @12:45 at Muvico: See Chomp on the biggest screen!
Saturday @10:15 pm at Green Bench Brewing Company: See Chomp with Beer–for free!
Director and some subsection of the cast and crew will be there for each of the screenings, though I doubt there will be Q&A at the Green Bench Brewing Company at 12:45 am! Or maybe just a different kind of Q&A. lol
Come on out and support us and some other fantastic films from all over the world April 30 – May 3.
Times are subject to change, so check out the official festival website for full festival details here: http://www.sunscreenfilmfestival.com/
Chomp won $2,500 worth of prizes for taking Best of Fest at the GeekFest Film Festival at Shock Pop Comic Con in Fort Lauderdale. Here’s some of the haul (kitten not included), and some of the other great folks who helped make it happen.
We are very pleased to announce that Chomp has been selected for Rise of the Dead 2, whose main event is the Australian flick Wyrmwood, billed as “Mad Max meets Dawn of the Dead.” Come on, how can you NOT want to see this movie? Zombie fun all night long, so come on out to the Tampa Pitcher Show on Friday the 13th!
Full details here:
I’m so tickled to announce that Chomp not only won Best Short at the GeekFest Film Festival at Shock Pop Comic Con in Fort Lauderdale this past weekend, but we also took Best of Fest!
We’re also terribly proud of our director of photography Daryn Murphy’s Time Keeper which walked away with Best Web Series. (Daryn wrote, produced and directed the series.)
You can catch both again at GeekFest at the Long Beach Comic Expo February 28th, though Chomp will be taking a detour first, making its North Carolina premiere at the Nevermore Film Festival in Durham.
CHOMP may be playing this Saturday (3:10 pm) and Sunday (7:15 pm) at the Nevermore Film Festival in Durham, North Carolina, but that wouldn’t be possible without the hard work of many talented, dedicated folks. Here’s one of them. (The movie he wrote, Gave Up the Ghost, just also happens to be screening at Nevermore this weekend. More about that later.)
Jeff Strand is the four-time Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of such demented novels as Pressure, Dweller, Wolf Hunt, A Bad Day For Voodoo, and a bunch of others. His story “Gave Up The Ghost” was made into a short horror/comedy (mostly comedy) film, directed by Gregory Lamberson, as part of the anthology film Creepers. His novel Pressure is in development as a feature film. His “Associate Producer” credit in CHOMP basically meant that he bought food for the crew, hauled stuff to and from the van, ran the clapboard, took inaccurate notes on the sound recording, and sweated a lot in the really, really hot garage where filming took place. He is also married to the director, which explains a lot. Favorite zombie movie: Shaun of the Dead.
The Director Says: There are not enough words in the English language to tell you all the wonderful things Jeff did for me during the making of this movie. He became Craft Services, procuring all the yummy things we ate on set. He became Prop Master, running to Walmart at 2:00 am to get last-minute supplies needed for an 8:00 am call time. He logged miles just hauling stuff in and out of Sally’s garage. Most importantly, during crunch times, he made sure the cats didn’t starve and house didn’t collapse. He rocks.
Q: Why on earth did you agree to work with a new director on her very first short film? Are you insane?
A: As the spouse of the director, my choices in the matter were limited. Also, I am insane.
Q: Lots of things went wrong while making CHOMP. Tell me about one of the more memorable ones.
A: One of my most prestigious jobs was to pick up the ex-lead actor from the hotel where he’d stayed for a big high school drama festival. He, of course, was a no-show when I got there. For the next twenty minutes, I got to play the role of the Creepy 43-Year-Old Guy Wandering Around A Hotel Lobby Packed With Teenagers, with hotel staff asking “Uh, can we help you, sir?” multiple times. I was mad AND it was uncomfortable, which is a delightful combination.
Q: Lots of things went right while making CHOMP. Tell me about something that went right that surprised you.
A: Trevor Strong was an obvious choice to create a catchy little jingle for the show-within-a-movie, but the lyrics were already set: “It’s the Dr. Jon Croft, Pit Bulls & Zombies Hour!” All we needed was a tune and a professional recording. We knew he’d deliver…but the jingle is absolutely hilarious. I wouldn’t have expected something that was laugh-out-loud funny when he was just singing the pre-written lyric!
Q: Tell me about a time when you didn’t think CHOMP would ever get made.
A: I never thought it wouldn’t get made, but we did have two shooting days (in a movie that was only supposed to HAVE two shooting days) where we were suddenly told “[Crucial Actor] is going home.” Too much was invested in the movie by then to give up, but those were two great big “Oh, crap! What do we do?” moments. We stayed calm, shot what we could, and were lucky enough to have a crew who was willing to return on another day to finish it up.
Q: What’s one of the funniest things that happened while making CHOMP?
A: Kyle Porter was doing a scene where his character is screaming for help through an open window in the garage. He did this for several minutes, at full volume, and the whole time I was thinking, “Jeez, I sure hope none of the neighbors call the police.” He finished the scene and we moved on, and then it occurred to me that somebody can scream “Help! Help! I’m trapped! Somebody help me!” through an open window in a garage for several minutes without anybody bothering to call 911.
Q: Why do you think people will like CHOMP?
A: It’s funny, it’s weird, the acting is fantastic, the visuals are great, it’s got a couple of catchy tunes, and though you don’t see it in the actual movie, the handwriting on the clapboards was exquisite.
Q: Anything else you’d like to share or talk about?
I wrote the screenplay for a short film called GAVE UP THE GHOST which will also be part of the Nevermore Film Festival. It was directed by Gregory “SLIME CITY” Lamberson. It plays Saturday, February 21 and Sunday, February 22 at 5:10 pm.
More details here.
Kyle Porter will be a guest this weekend at GeekFest at Shock Pop Comic Con, so I wanted to let him share a little bit about what it was like to work on Chomp, screening Saturday, February 14th at noon. (Event details here.)
Kyle Porter threw himself headlong into the role of Kyle Frost, bringing with him fantastic instincts and natural talent that brought the character to life in ways that most directors can only dream of. I know you’ll enjoy this opportunity to get to know him a little better.
Q: Why on earth did you agree to work with a new director on her very first short film? Are you insane?
A: I agreed to perform in Chomp based on the same criteria I use for all my prior roles: the script. Lynne’s script was original with great character arcs. It was refreshing to read a short with such a strong story and real characters. The real question should be, how could I say no?
Q: What was the hardest thing you had to do while making CHOMP?
A: “What’s the hardest thing I had to do” is a loaded question. While I thoroughly enjoyed every moment, I was actually chained to a cinder block in an itchy zombie costume for about ten hours on my birthday weekend. I had an inch of thick zombie makeup constantly sweating into my eyes because we couldn’t run the air conditioning. CHOMP was a long, hard and fulfilling day at work, and I love my job.
Q: Lots of things went right while making CHOMP. Tell me about something that went right that surprised you.
A: We had one take to get an important shot and limited time to finish filming. With only one chance, we not only got our shot but we were also able to keep the scene going through the next shot, saving us at least an hour of extra work. The collaborative effort of the amazing director of photography, Daryn Murphy, and the director, Lynne Hansen, and myself came out to be better than the original plan. That should be the concept behind all films–art through collaboration.
Q: Why do you think people will like CHOMP?
A: I think people are going to like how funny and original it is. It stays true to its genre while stepping outside of itself.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I just wrapped a web series called Everyday Spooky which I acted in and helped write. It’s a sitcom set in a supernatural town. Check out the Facebook page Everyday Spooky for more details.
Kyle Porter is making his glorious return to film in the soon-to-be-classic, “Chomp”. He is a natural jack of all acting trades, from portraying characters on stage such as Tom in “Night of the Living Dead”, Benjamin Braddock in “The Graduate”, and Woody/The Hustler in “Six Degrees of Separation”, to his work on films like “Chomp” and various shorts and commercials. He will be featured as Topher in the upcoming web series, “Everyday Spooky”, to which he is proud to have contributed as both an actor and a writer. He is grateful for the opportunity to pour his blood, sweat, and brains into this character and excited to see it come to life. Favorite zombie movie: 28 Days Later.
The Director Says: Kyle brought a wonderful combination of vulnerability and wise-assed humor to the role of Kyle (named before he was cast!) He was game for anything, including wallering all over a grungy garage floor with a heavy chain around his neck for hours at a time. (He called the scar on his neck a “chain hickey.”) Kyle’s creativity and amazing instincts as an actor wowed me time and again.
Since Susan O’Gara will be a guest this weekend at the Nevermore Film Festival in Durham, North Carolina, I thought folks might like to know a little bit about her, and what was like to work on Chomp, which is screening Saturday, February 11th at 3:10.
Susan O’Gara came on board Team Chomp never having seen a zombie movie, and tackled the role with the most amazing verve and enthusiasm you could imagine. Enjoy this interview with her.
Q: Why on earth did you agree to work with a new director on her very first short film? Are you insane?
A: Yes, I guess, I must be a bit insane–so the part of Millie was a perfect fit-type casting. Seriously though, Lynne immediately presented as a dedicated, no nonsense, director. She was serious about covering all aspects of directing with the highest standards as well as caring personally for all the actors’ and crew’s needs. Also, her script was fun and beautifully written, if you can say “beautifully” about a zombie script. Another reason was the serendipity that a mutual friend’s garage was the location!
Q: What was the hardest thing you had to do while making CHOMP?
A: The hardest thing was watching our wonderful director get walloped with so many obstacles which would have derailed this project for other directors.
Q: What did you like most about being involved in CHOMP?
A: Playing such a fabulously insane character while supported by such an excellent director and crew and fellow actors.
Q: What’s one of the funniest thing that happened while making CHOMP?
A: Eating brains off camera was fun and funny-yum yum yummy and prepared by our fabulous location manager & provider Sally Bosco.
Q: Why do you think people will like CHOMP?
A: Because it is a well written humorous look at the zombie apocalypse and because the “bad guy” gets his/her comeuppance.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I’m working on a Christian short for Storyhub near Cocoa on the east coast of FL and on a Christian feature film Grace of the Father in the Mt. Dora area (will be script supervisor as well as a very small role in this). Also, I will be one of the Mrs. Clauses at Busch Gardens in their Christmas Town during November & December.
Susan O’Gara has performed in musicals, dramas and comedies in professional and community theatre in Ireland and Florida. Susan had the lead in the film Deserted, and the short “Chomp” and support roles in the shorts “The Wallet” and “How Not to Urn a Living.” She received her B.A. in Drama and M.S. in Speech Pathology from Florida State University. Favorite lead roles in theatre include Hello Dolly, Foxfire, The Secret Affairs of Mildred Wilde, Lettice and Lovage, The Rainmaker, and Morning’s at Seven. As well as acting, singing and dancing, Susan has directed plays for her church and worked as an assistant and script supervisor for Lazarus Filmworks. She received numerous acting awards in the Irish Drama Festival Circuit and Tampa Bay Community Theatre Awards. Susan is interested in film, radio and theatre which enrich the viewer bringing, not only joy and laughter, adventure and drama, but wisdom, compassion, forgiveness, and enlightenment to the soul. Favorite zombie movie: Return of the Living Dead.
The Director Says: Susan is an unparallelled talent. She took on this role never having even seen a zombie movie, and that’s a huge part of why she did so well. She saw Millie as a person, not a horror movie caricature of a crazy little old lady, and I am so very thankful for that. Susan was also our biggest cheerleader on the set, helping to keep everyone positive and upbeat. But that’s just who she is. When she scraped her arm on a rusty nail mid-shoot, her biggest worry was not tetanus, but whether or not people would notice the Band-aid on her arm in some shots. Now that’s a trooper!
How’s this for some FANtastic news? Because February is Women In Horror Month, the FANtastic Horror Film Festival in San Diego has made Chomp an official selection for their 2015 season. That’s a virtually unheard-of 9 months before the actual event. I am beyond ecstatic!
Read all the details here:
Come on out to the Nevermore Film Festival for the North Carolina premieres of both Chomp and Gave Up the Ghost Feb 20-22! Director Lynne Hansen and star Susan O’Gara will be attending for Chomp, and screenwriter Jeff Strand will be attending for Gave Up the Ghost.
Chomp:
Sat. Feb. 20 at 3:10 pm
Sun. Feb. 21 at 7:15 pm
Gave Up the Ghost:
Sat. Feb 20 at 5:10 pm
Sun. Feb. 21 at 5:10 pm
For full details about the festival, visit http://www.carolinatheatre.org/films/festivals/nevermore.
Check out our Facebook event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1546824998900730/
Chomp 