What is Outcasts about?
Outcasts is a Young Adult fantasy novel about four enhanced teens who try to discover their origins. Lest people think, “Oh, another Fantastic Four ripoff”… not so! It’s more of an examination of the why as opposed to the how. And while there’s no shortage of action, it also focuses mainly on the individual relationships within the group. We have the MC, Mitch Kessler, who transforms to a gargoyle only when he’s angry. (He learns to control his transformation process later on in the story). He has a relationship with Callie, who’s a gender switcher, and she’s confused as to which gender she’ll end up as. Neil is a rock-man… ’nuff said. And Mitch’s best friend, Joe, is a spinning top. He can run and spin at high speeds, making him very effective as a crime fighter.

The plot concerns the Outcasts uniting under the US government’s aegis, breaking up- most of the the public doesn’t trust them, while some elements are indifferent to them- and then uniting again is when, ostensibly, a black-ops group, tries to kill them. Along the way, Mitch re-examines his relationship with Callie, decides he wants to stay with her, and he also tries to help his friends realize who they are. There is a HFN ending… and a sequel.

What inspired this story?
I wanted to get away from the usual punch-’em-up teen type of superhero novels. I’ve done those in the past and liked writing them, but I wanted to approach this novel from the perspective that our MC and his friends don’t like their powers or want them, and that they’re shunned by society for being what they are. For the record, I’m straight and married, but I have a lot of LGBTQI friends who are discriminated against simply because they are LGBTQI- no other reason. Discrimination in any form, religious/racial/orientation, is just plain wrong. I don’t push that as an agenda in the novel, but it comes out quite clearly. I don’t believe in spouting polemics. That’s a sure way to turn any reader off. But if they can identify with the characters, in this case Callie, they’ll get a better picture of how reality is.

Tell us a little about you, who is J.S. Frankel?
I was born in Toronto, Canada, long ago, and in my mid-twenties, I moved to Japan to work as an ESL teacher. Eventually, I fell in love with my wife, Akiko, and we got married many moons ago. We have two sons, and perhaps that’s helped to shape my writing and my outlook on life. I divide my waking hours teaching ESL and writing, and writing, while not a full-time gig, takes up a lot of time. The rest is for my family, movies, and food! Oh, and I love music videos… they provide great inspiration for my books!

How can we read Outcasts?
The book is available on Amazon. Oh, and you can also check out my novels as ExtasyBooks (links below).

Purchase Links:

• Kindle Edition
• Paperback
• Check out all of J.S. Frankel’s available books on ExtasyBooks

Yesterday I asked indie filmmakers on Twitter to share their movies that are currently available to watch on Tubi TV for free! As I hoped for, we got a really diverse mix of independent films that really showcases that there is something available for everyone. Here are 5 indie flicks that you can watch tonight…

The Inevitable Death of the Crab
Director: Ahcitz Azcona
Starring: Costanza Andrade, Ahcitz Azcona, Ricardo Niño, Jesus Hernandez, and Yuriria Munguia. 
Description: An anonymous death threat to entrepreneur Carlos against his family in Mexico leads to the discovery of a high-level political corruption racket. (Source: Tubi)
Click here to watch on Tubi TV

Wheat Soup
Directors: Gerald Saul & Brian Stockton
Starring: Shaf Hussein, Sandi Happy, Gord Wilson, Leonard Cyrman, Mike Benny, and Bob Campbell.
Description: In a post-apocalyptic future, a wheat farmer embarks upon a journey and encounters a variety of unusual characters, while traveling across the land. (Source: Tubi)
Click here to watch on Tubi TV

Noah’s Shark
Director: Mark Polonia
Starring: Jeff Kirkendall, Tim Hatch, Jamie Morgan, Samantha Coolidge, and Ryan Dalton.
Description: A televangelist and his team set out to find the fabled Noah’s Ark, but discover it is guarded by an ancient curse and a deadly great white shark. (Source: Tubi)
Click here to watch on Tubi TV

The Mix
Director: Chris Mollica & Greg Townsend
Starring: Chris Mollica, Brian Silliman, and Cyrina Fiallo.
Description: Would you kidnap a man for stealing your cookies? Sal, the hapless owner of a home grown cookie company places his hopes for financial and personal success in the hands of the enigmatic Joshua Vandersteem. After the deal goes bad, Sal is forced into desperate action. Relationships are tested, feelings are hurt and ultimately blood is drawn. Can Sal redeem his misdeeds or will this be the way the cookie crumbles? (Source: Tubi)
Click here to watch on Tubi TV

My Best Friend’s Famous
Directors: Kevin Ignatius
Starring: Nick Psinakis, Mindy Sterling, Ryan O’Neal, Anne Akhila, and Darryl Gudmundson.
Description: An insecure New Yorker moves to Los Angeles and grapples with jealousy when his less-talented best friend becomes a star on a hit television show. (Source: Tubi)
Click here to watch on Tubi TV

What recent indies have you watched on Tubi TV? What is your favorite platform to watch indies on?

We recently connected with indie film producer Mark Stolaroff, who also happens to be the founder of No Budget Film School. He chatted with us about his latest flick, The Last Days of Capitalism.

Who?
The Last Days of Capitalism was written and directed by Adam Mervis, the screenwriter of 21 Bridges (which was produced by the Russo Brothers and starred Chadwick Boseman), and National Champions (starring J.K. Simmons, Uzo Aduba, Timothy Olyphant, and many others). Unlike those studio films, Last Days was made on a micro-budget ($40k) and produced by long-time indie producer Mark Stolaroff (the founder of No Budget Film School) and Kenny Harrison, who was a classmate of Adam’s at Florida State University. The cast of two is comprised of veteran actor Mike Faiola (Awkward) and newcomer Sarah Harper. It was shot by AFI grad Bethany Michalski and edited by filmmaker David Au. The music was scored and collected by Alexander Burke, co-founder of the band Magnolia Memoir. This was Adam’s feature directorial debut. It was released by Indie Rights Movies. 

What?
Last Days is about a wealthy man who has been holed up high above Las Vegas in a penthouse hotel room for nearly a month, clearly suffering from some unnamed trauma. His night with a mysterious young woman turns into several nights, as he discovers that she is more than a match for him intellectually. She, too, is intrigued and while she initially stays because he is paying her, the two begin a complex relationship that could turn into something more than just lustful desire. But both have secrets, and getting to the bottom of those—without the inevitability of money getting in the way—will be a challenge. Despite the title, Last Days is NOT a political film. 

Where?
Last Days was shot in 10 days in Las Vegas, entirely in a penthouse hotel room high above the city. We had no permits to shoot in the room, and somehow managed to sneak all our equipment up the elevator without anyone asking any questions. I mean, it’s Vegas, and a lot of crazy stuff happens there, so I don’t think anyone cared. The cast and crew drove up from Los Angeles, where everyone is based. We loaded Adam’s brother’s Suburban up with gear and caravanned to Vegas. 

When?
The film is set in the present and was shot in September 2019. It was completed in March 2020 and premiered at the Cinequest Film Festival, right before COVID shut everything down. It ended up playing a number of film festivals—virtually—winning several awards. It was released by Indie Rights Movies in November 2021. It is currently 100% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. 

Why?
Director Adam Mervis got what he likes to call “The Typical Hollywood Screenwriter Treatment” on 21 Bridges, where the writer (and original creator) of the film has no control over the project. He wanted to make something that was entirely his own, so he adapted a play he’d written for the screen, something that could be made on a small enough budget that he wouldn’t get stopped from making it. 

How?
The Last Days of Capitalism can currently be seen on Amazon Prime, Google Play, and YouTube.  

Watch Online:

• Amazon Prime

Purchase Links:

• YouTube (Buy or Rent)
• Google Play (Buy or Rent)

Official Sites:

• Website
• Facebook

Friend of My Hollywood Dream, writer, mental heath advocate, and independent filmmaker David Creighton is working on a new short animated film with a very deep and meaningful message and is looking for help via Kickstarter to get the film seen.

Summer Turns to Fall is a very personal animated film dedicated to suicide prevention. Based on a poem originally published in Creighton’s anthology Mania, Mirth, Melancholy, the film “weaves a story of heartache, captured with haunting sound and animation. Its stark black and white animation shows the heartache of the survivor, while the narrator’s monologue captures the lasting pain he lives with.”

Why did I donate? And why should you consider donating? I’ve known David for a long time, you may remember his weekly wrestling recaps, or his views on movies. He is one heck of a writer, and has used his disability, and his mental health struggles to not only become stronger, but to be an advocate for others and to use his stories, and more recently short movies, to express express these struggles.

I’ll also let David tell you in his own words why you should consider donating; “Like many, I have lost too many friends to suicide. I have been suicidal during my own life. I know how hard it is. I know deeply depressed people think the world will be better off without them. I hope this short film can shine some light on the pain suicide leaves behind. If this film can change one person’s mind, it will be more than worth making, crowdfunding or no.”

The short film itself is almost complete, but getting it seen can be a difficult uphill battle. Per the Kickstarter page, funds raised from the campaign will go towards film festival entry fees and associated costs. A few good festivals could get the message of the movie out far and wide. To make a donation towards Summer Turns to Fall, head over here.

What is your book, The Cutting Edge, about?
The Cutting Edge is a spiralling tale of Rochelle, a young girl who strives to overcome adversity. One of loss and pain, determination and anger. Rochelle experiences a life cast in shadow by bereavement, but she has a big dream, to win Olympic Gold. It’s a deeply moving story, where fate deals the hand, full of friendship, rivalry, setbacks and triumphs. Rochelle is a misfit, and an outcast but, above all, a survivor.

What inspired this story?
The inspiration for this story came from my own love of skating. I wanted to write a story that was inspirational and show that it is possible to overcome adversity even when the odds are stacked against you. The story was character led from the beginning and told through the eyes of Rochelle, as she grew from a young child to a woman.

Tell us a little about you, who is S.J. Gibbs?
My love of reading and writing started at a very young age and as a teenager I would often be found with my nose in a book and I used to read under the bedclothes with a torch after my father used to turn out my bedroom light. After leaving school, in my spare time, I wrote short stories for my own pleasure. Reading was still my passion.

In 1987, my first daughter was born and diagnosed with profound cerebral palsy. This prompted me to start writing a novel about the struggles of bringing up a daughter with a severe disability. However, I was forced to stop work on this when the emotions involved in the project became too much for me.

At the beginning of 2015, my writing began in earnest, after I joined a local writer’s group. Here I found a new love of writing fiction. I undertook The Writers Bureau Creative Writing Course, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The Cutting Edge is my debut fictional novel. I live in a West Midlands village in England, with my family and my dog.

How can we read The Cutting Edge?
The Cutting Edge is available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions.

Purchase Links:

• Paperback
• Kindle

In the past couple months there has been an extraordinary boom of independent films available to watch on YouTube for free. These flicks are AVOD (ad supported video on demand), so the filmmakers are still getting paid- please do not watch or support bootlegs! Here are 5 indie films that are available to watch right now on YouTube.

Evil at the Door
Director: Kipp Tribble
Starring: Andrea Sweeney Blanco, Bruce Davison, Sunny Doench, Robert Felsted Jr, Scot Hamm, and John James.
Description: One night every year, there is a drastic rise in violent home invasions. This is no coincidence. (Source: Terror Films)
Click here to watch on YouTube

Killer Concept
Director: Glenn Payne
Starring: Cody Bishop, Coley Bryant, Casey Dillard, Caleb Hall, and Maddie Ludt.
Description: Three creatives team up to write a screenplay chronicling a string of murders in their town, but one of the three may be closer to the story than the others realize. (Source: V Movies)
Click here to watch on YouTube

The Misguided
Director: Shannon Alexander
Starring: Katherine Langford, Caleb Galati, Steven J. Mihaljevich, and Jasmine Nibali.
Description: After planning to leave the city with his girlfriend, a young man must first betray her in order to save his brother from a deadly situation. (Source: Indie Rights Movies)
Click here to watch on YouTube

The Eve
Director: Ritchie Filippi
Starring: María DiDomenico, Al Thompson, Evan Bass, Miranda Noelle Wilson, and Rick Estabrook.
Description: Friends head off to the remote island of Martha’s Vineyard to celebrate New Year’s Eve and reconnect. As tensions rise, an unforeseen presence halts celebrations and instead turns their holiday into a fight to live through to the new year. (Source: MYT Horror)
Click here to watch on YouTube

Trap
Director: J Horton
Starring: Allen Perada, Alonzo F Jones, and Ashton Blanchard.
Description: A brutal abduction goes from bad to worse when one of the kidnappers falls in love with the victim. (Source: J Horton)
Click here to watch on YouTube

What movies are you watching on YouTube? Leave us a comment to let us know!

We recently connected with genre actor/producer Jeff Kirkendall on Twitter and were lucky to be able to chat with him about Return to Splatter Farm, an indie horror flick that he wrote and co-directed.

Who?
Return to Splatter Farm is a sequel to the 1987 movie Splatter Farm. That original film was produced by brothers John and Mark Polonia, along with their friend Todd Smith. I wrote the first draft of Return to Splatter Farm, and Mark Polonia added additional material which was included in the final shooting script. The two of us co-directed, while Mark handled the bulk of the camera work, as well as the editing chores. Prior to this production, I had appeared in numerous feature films Mark had directed for his company Polonia Brothers Entertainment (PBE).

The Return to Splatter Farm main cast was made up of many PBE regulars, including Danielle Donahue, Marie DeLorenzo, Nico Bryant, Tim Hatch, James Kelly, James Carolus, Ken Van Sant, Jennie Russo, Jamie Morgan, Drew Patrick, and popular model/scream queen Mel Heflin. I starred as (an older version of) the character Jeremy, who was the killer in the original 1987 film. The DVD and streaming distribution was handled by Wild Eye Releasing, a company that has released many past PBE movies.

What?
The original 1987 film was about twin brothers who spend a summer with their eccentric aunt on a rural Pennsylvania farm, unaware that her handyman Jeremy is a serial killer who stores the body parts of his victims in the barn. In Return to Splatter Farm a distant relative named Bobbi inherits the farm and travels there with some friends to determine what to do with the place. On the way they stop at a general store where some locals discourage them from visiting the place, calling it the “Death Farm”, referring to the unsolved murders which occurred there over 30 years ago. But the group doesn’t heed the warnings and continue on their way. Little do they know that a now grown-up Jeremy still resides at the old farmhouse, and that he has dispatched countless unlucky folks over the years. And keeping with his murderous tendencies, he now hunts down Bobbi and her friends one by one. Can the local sheriff save them? And will anyone survive?

Where?
As mentioned, the story takes place at a rural Pennsylvania farmhouse. Our goal was to find a place that resembled the location used in the original film as closely as possible. And fortunately, Mark was able to locate such a farm not too far from where he lives in Wellsboro, PA. The outside of the building was very similar looking to the one in the original movie, and also the owner hadn’t lived there in awhile, which suited our needs perfectly. And we had many other buildings (barns, storage sheds, etc.) and open fields to work with as well. For all but one afternoon (when we filmed the store scene) the cast and crew were at that farm location.

When?
Return to Splatter Farm takes place approximately 33 years after the events of the first movie. We filmed the sequel over a week during Summer 2019, and it was released in the United States on DVD and various pay streaming platforms in November 2020. Following this, it went on to play on the free streaming channel Tubi. There is even a VHS version available for collectors of that format.

Why?
I had previously directed several of my own short films and features, and as mentioned acted in many PBE movies. Mark Polonia and I were on a break during the filming of his feature Amityville Exorcism, and I asked him if he would ever consider producing a sequel to Splatter Farm. He said he would and shared some ideas. It turned out his ideas were similar to my own, so when I returned home from Pennsylvania I began working on a script. I surprised him with the finished draft a few months later and he really liked it. And a couple of years later we went into production together on it.

I was motivated to write Return to Splatter Farm because of my admiration for the first film. It has become an indie horror cult classic over the years, and I thought it was amazing that three teenagers with minimal resources could not only produce a feature back in the 1980’s, but also get it distributed nationally on VHS as well. Splatter Farm is a quintessential home-made, shot-on-video (SOV) example of what can be done with sheer determination and lots of imagination. And as for story, it is a compelling tale mixed with potent shock value that keeps one watching from beginning to end.

I wanted this sequel to be an entertaining standalone slasher movie, as well as a plausible continuation of the story. This was achieved by bringing a fun group of characters to the old farmhouse for a legitimate reason, where Jeremy is alive and well. For viewers new to the franchise it will be something of a mystery who the killer is, whereas fans will know his identity and have an idea what he’s up to. And speaking of kill scenes, I intentionally wrote each one to be as unique and different as I could in order to make the movie fresh and memorable. My personal favorite moments include one where Jeremy makes use of a flare gun, and a scene involving an 80’s boombox. And I would also mention there are several nods to famous 1980’s slasher films sprinkled throughout the movie. This was done because I’m a big fan of the genre and the films of that decade in particular, and I’m hoping other fans will enjoy these moments as well.

How?
Our film Return to Splatter Farm can be seen on the streaming platforms Tubi TV, Amazon Prime, Vimeo and Google Play, among other places. It is also available on DVD and VHS from various major retailers.

Watch Online for free:

• Tubi TV

Purchase/Rent Online:

• Amazon Prime
• Vimeo
• Google Play

Purchase Physical Media:

• Amazon (DVD)
• Walmart (DVD)
• HBS (VHS)