Archive for December, 2022

What is Wherewolves about?
Bullies, jocks, and geeks. A teacher. The woods. An unspeakable horror. A fresh take on an old theme where nothing is what it seems. What is out there? Can it really be werewolves?

Using a fun, explosive style, full of new slang and fresh dialogue, Wherewolves is the story of a group of high school seniors, most “military brats”, who are headed for an army-type survival weekend. The underdogs, Jeffrey and Doris, do not want to go as they fear for their safety among the disdain and cruelty of the popular students. Sergeant Tim O’Sullivan, their teacher, as well as their dysfunctional parents pressure them into going, but it is an unforgivable act by their peers that propels the pair to go. Likewise, Elie, a student resented because of his Arab roots, is even more determined to prove himself this weekend. In the background, a news report cautions of a wanted couple with alleged super-human strength supposedly brought on by a new drug on the streets.

In the woods, the students hike, hunt, camp, and soon act in unity as the forest brings them closer together. But does it? O’Sullivan leaves them alone for the night. The students bond, chant, tell campfire tales, and quickly lose their fears and inhibitions. HOO-AH! Though sexual tensions are high, it soon turns to violence and everything quickly turns sour. When the kids start disappearing one after the other, the remaining begin to unwittingly “act like the natives” carving spears, ready to face whatever is out there. What has gotten into them?

Amid blood-curdling growls and gruesome deaths, the story’s underlying layers are revealed. We see how misconceptions, prejudice, greed, fear, and hatred bring out the worst and best in us. What is out there? Can it really be werewolves?

What inspired Wherewolves?
Our love for horror films and George Romero’s body of work – which always includes an underlying social commentary – and particularly Martin (1976).

Tell us a little about you both, who are John Vamvas and Olga Montes?
John Vamvas and Olga Montes started as an acting team in 1992. They soon began to write their own scripts for lack of finding two-person plays they could tour across North America. They’ve written and toured four full-length critically acclaimed plays to packed houses across Canada and the United States, including Bad Boy, which they were invited to perform Off-Off-Broadway at New York’s Creative Place Theatre in the heart of Times Square.

In 2001, they were approached to star in and rewrite the dialogue for the short film, Things Never Said in Playa Perdida. Playa won the audience award at the New York Short Film Festival in 2002 and tied first place at the Festivalisimo festival in Montreal.

John and Olga wrote Wherewolves, a horror screenplay in 2010. It was quickly optioned but the project subsequently fell through. They then adapted WHEREWOLVES into a novel, edited by award-winning Canadian writer Shelley A. Leedahl.

The couple has now turned to indie film production, with Scarpedicemente, a play they wrote and toured in 1996, as their first feature. Scarpedicemente is currently on the Film Festival circuit and to date has garnered 51 Awards and 6 Nominations (watch the trailer for Scarpedicemente here!).

John has extensive experience directing for the stage, including A Hatful of Rain at Montreal’s Centaur Theatre, where he met Olga in 1992. He has as well directed two plays at NY’s Creative Space Theatre, including Frederick Stroppel’s The Mamet Women.

When not acting, Olga works as a freelance translator and simultaneous interpreter, working with high-profile clients, such as the United Nations.

How can we read Wherewolves?
You can find Wherewolves online at Amazon and you can find out more about John and Olga at their website.

Posted on December 26th, 2022 by ThePit | Leave a Comment
Filed Under Entertainment

For My Sister from writer/director Gabriel Rhenals is an india drama that focuses on a young woman desperate to save her sister from the grips of a serious and worsening depression. The movie stars Stephanie Maltez, Cristina De Fatima, Natalie Ramirez, William Guevara and Mireya Kilmon. It was distributed by Indie Rights Movies.

You can learn more about For My Sister here (The 5Ws and How: For My Sister) and you can watch the indie drama for free on Tubi TV.

Wow, October and November flew by in what seemed like the blink of an eye. We’re going to try to get new interviews and movie spotlights up as we head into the new year.

A couple months ago we had the pleasure of connecting with Mara Lesemann, the writer and producer of the independent film Detours. She shares with us details on how the film came together, the awesome cast, and the real road trip that they needed to take to bring the movie together.

Who?
I wrote and produced the road trip comedy Detours, which is my 2nd feature. Robert McCaskill directed, and Christopher Eadicicco was our director of photography. I knew from the beginning that I wanted Tara Westwood (The Grudge, Triggered) to play the daughter who’s moving to Florida and convinces her depressed, widowed dad (Carlo Fiorletta, Available) to drive south from NJ with her. Tara had a major supporting role in my first feature, Surviving Family, and I loved working with her. She traveled with me on several festival road trips for that movie, and after brainstorming with her for days, I asked her to also come on board as a producer. That turned out to be the smartest thing I could have done. Tara and our casting director, Caroline Sinclair, put together an amazing cast for a low-budget indie movie. It includes the amazing Richard Kind; the late great Paul Sorvino; multiple TONY award winner Michael Cerveris; Deirdre O’Connell, who won the 2022 TONY for Best Actress; NY stage and indie film standout Debargo Sanyal; and Vanessa Aspilla (Only Murders in the Building). We worked with indie musicians to create a fantastic soundtrack, including the closing credits song “Down the Road” by country music singer/songwriter Lane Turner.

What?
Detours travels from New York City to Saint Petersburg, Florida with Jennifer Giraldi, a NY-based actress whose marriage has just ended and who has vowed to build a new life and a new career in Florida. It’s been two years since her mom- a successful writer- died suddenly and her dad is struggling with depression. Dan still has his late wife’s ashes in a coffee can in his kitchen because he can’t decide what to do with them. The father and daughter re-discover their shared joys while they examine their very different perspectives on the late mom (played in flashbacks by Kim Director). They both also dip their toes back into the dating pool, with humorous but sometimes contentious results.

Where?
We shot all the indoor scenes in New York City and New Jersey. Then we hit the road with a skeleton crew and shot the actual drive that Jennifer and Dan take in the movie. We went south on Route 95, cut east over to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, then continued south to Saint Petersburg, Florida. Our camera team did an amazing job. Most of the movie was shot on an Arri Alexa, but the road trip incorporates some scenes shot with a Go Pro from a moving car.

When?
Detours takes place in the present, except for a few flashbacks to Jennifer’s childhood. We shot the movie in late summer and early fall of 2014, and it premiered at the 2016 Sunscreen Film Festival in Saint Petersburg, Florida. Introducing our movie in the city where the action hits a climax- a scene shot on a boat on Tampa Bay with help from Eckerd College’s student Search & Rescue Team- was great. I’ve worked with FilmHub to get the movie out to a range of streaming services, and that’s been a very good experience.

Why?
I love telling stories about families- the good, the bad, and the lies. My first feature was about alcoholism, mental illness, and suicide, so I wanted to look at the lighter but still very imperfect things that we all go through. Having full control of my projects is a joy, even though that comes with a (very!) tight budget.

How?
Detours is currently streaming on Tubi, The Roku Channel, Plex, and Freevee.

Watch Online for Free:

Learn more about the movie on its official website!