Chomp Hauls in the Prizes After Winning Best of Fest at GeekFest Film Festival

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.

Me with Chomp’s awards for Best Short and Best of Fest at the GeekFest Film Festival at Shock Pop Comic Con in Fort Lauderdale.

Chaos can’t believe how much this Energi+ Backpack from TYLT holds. This is the first backpack I’ve ever had that can hold my laptop, ipad, phone, glasses, DSLR camera AND 3 lenses plus bunches more. And it doesn’t hurt my back.

BorrisFx – Boris Continuum Complete Effects Package – Still can’t believe we won this! Going to make the next film even more awesome!

GraphicLab Tees – Two t-shirts (Captain America and The Ewoking Dead) – Soft and comfy–wear them all the time. (Ewoking Dead is my fave!)

The actual very cool plaques Chomp won.

Team Chomp goofing off on the red carpet after we won Best of Fest at GeekFest!

Shot Lister – Shot Lister App – Going to be very hand on set for the next film!

Valliant Comics – 4 Deluxe Edition hardcovers (Bloodshot, Harbinger, X-O Manowar, Archer & Armstrong) – I’ve got tons of great comics to read!

Fanboy Comics – Penguins vs Possums – I’m betting on the possums!

Beachtek – DXA-SLR ULTRA – This audio adapter connects directly to my DSLR. It is going to be awesome for the next film!

Chomp Wins Best of Fest at GeekFest at Shock Pop Comic Con

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.

Meet Kyle Porter – Kyle Frost

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.

Lynne’s Interview With Kyle

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.

Kyle being released from his sweaty costume and heavy chain for the very last time.

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.

Kyle in the middle of his one-take-wonder scene. The director swears it cut at least 2 hours out of the shooting day. He’s far too modest.

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.

About Kyle

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.

Meet Susan O’Gara – Millie

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.

Lynne’s Interview With Susan

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!

Fifteen-year-old Morgan Smedley adding blood to Susan O’Gara’s costume.

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.

Susan eating brains with Sally.

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.

About Susan O’Gara

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!

 

GeekFest at Shock Pop Comic Con – Fort Lauderdale, FL – Feb. 14 @12pm

GeekFest at Shock Pop Comic Con next weekend! We screen Saturday at 12pm, but you can also catch director Lynne Hansen on the Women in Horror panel Friday at 2pm, and Chomp cast and crew on the GeekFest Filmmakers Panel Sunday at 12:00 pm. (Lynne Hansen, Susan O’Gara, Kyle Porter, and Daryn Murphy!)

• Read about all the films playing over the weekend:
  • http://geekfestla.com/shockpop-comic-con/
• Peruse the GeekFest schedule:
  • http://geekfestla.com/shockpop-sched/
• Get full details on Shock Pop Comic Con:
  • http://www.shockpopcomiccon.com/

Geekfest at Long Beach Comic Expo – Long Beach, CA – Feb. 28 @11:30 am

Chomp is pleased to announce that we’ve been selected to play at Geekfest as part of the Long Beach Comic Expo! We’re screening at 11:30 am on Saturday, Feb. 28th.

More details here:

http://geekfestla.com/long-beach-comic-expo/

And here:

http://longbeachcomicexpo.com/