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:

Purchase Links:

Official Sites:

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.

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:

Purchase/Rent Online:

Purchase Physical Media:

Montes-Vamvas Productions shared with us the trailer for their debut independent feature film, Scarpedicemente.
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Scarpedicemente is a dark comedy directed by Victoria Sanchez and John Vamvas about a “delusional gangster, Luigi, celebrating his one year wedding anniversary with his ditzy wife, Holly.” The movie stars Olga Montes and John Vamvas, a husband and wife team that also wrote the screenplay for the movie.

You can find out more about Scarpedicemente at its official website, no release date has been announced yet for the independent movie.

Posted on February 18th, 2022 by ThePit | Leave a Comment (2)
Filed Under Entertainment

YouTube has increasingly become an awesome go to spot to watch independent films for free (AVOD, so the filmmakers get paid!). There are a lot of different channels to choose from that offer a variety of content. One channel is from Indie Rights movies, a film distributor and production company that has a vast library of films of all genres. Today we are going to focus on three indie dramas that they have on YouTube to watch tonight!

First Love
Director: Michael Masarof
Starring: Annie Heise, Aaron Costa Ganis, Arye Gross, Adam Huber, Mia Barron, Amin El Gamal and Malin Barr.
Description: When a notorious Hollywood actress suffers a nervous breakdown and hides in a seaside hotel, her slacker twin brother must make a choice: save his troubled sister from herself, or sell his explosive tell-all book and sacrifice their twin bond for good. (Source: YouTube Page)
Click here to watch on YouTube

Four Walls
Director: Darcy Touhey
Starring: Maddie Phillips, Debs Howard, Reece Thompson, Ryan Beil, Glynis Davies, Brenda Matthews, Caitlin Howden, Doralynn Mui, and Naika Toussaint.
Description: A glimpse into various people’s ever-changing relationships over the course of a day. (Source: YouTube)
Click here to watch on YouTube

3:13
Director: David Jaure Rosenbaum
Starring: Paul Alexandro, Marina Vidal, Julio Lourido, Giselle Torres, Bob Cady, Sheryl Carbonell, and Tatum Freeman.
Description: From living a normal life to surviving homelessness in the city of Miami, Peter is a victim of the turbulent US recession during late 2000’s. (Source: YouTube)
Click here to watch on YouTube

We would love to hear what you are watching online! Leave a comment on this post or send us a DM on Twitter @MyHWoodDream!

In part 1 we started putting together our new DCEU Justice League team. We included in the mix The Flash (Ezra Miller), Supergirl (Sasha Calle), Green Lantern John Stewart (John Boyega), and Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell). In part 2 we’re going to round out our eight member Justice League team. I got an assist on this from our contributor and friend Kris Greet.

Hawkman (Aldis Hodge)

Aldis Hodge was cast as Hawkman in the upcoming Dwayne Johnson led Black Adam movie and talk about fantastic casting! I seriously can not wait to see him and the rest of the JSA fight (or team up?) with Black Adam. I hope that Hawkman survives the movie, and if he does he’d be a perfect fit for the new Justice League.

John Constantine (Matt Ryan)

While talking about being perfectly cast I need to mention Matt Ryan as John Constantine. He looks and sounds exactly how I always expected John Constantine would. He is ripped directly from the page. He was great in his own short lived show, and I was glad to see him return for the the CW and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. With the character gone from the series, he should be the magical anchor for the Justice League (or the go between for the League and for the Justice League Dark!). He can be the version we already met, or he could be an all new version of the character (thank you multiverse!). Just like JK Simmons as J Jonah Jameson in the Spider-Man movies, if you have the perfect person in the role, just keep using them!

The Atom Ryan Choi (Zheng Kai)

Okay, so this pick might cause a little controversy. Zheng Kai was cast and filmed scenes as Ryan Choi (pre becoming The Atom) for the 2017 Justice League, but was cut from the final movie. Then in ZSJL cut, his scenes were restored. I love the character of the Atom. Brandon Routh made a great Ray Palmer Atom (in DC’s Legends of Tomorrow), and Kai has the potential to excel as Ryan Choi. With the multiverse, it does not matter what cut he appeared or didn’t appear in. I think we can use this casting and look forward instead of looking back.

Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot)

I can not imagine a Justice League team without at least one of the big three. Gadot is returning for Wonder Woman 3, so why not also another JL movie? She is perfect in the role and would be the proper choice to lead the new team into battle.

Presenting our new imagined Justice League Unlimited:

In part 3 we will talk about potential villains for our new Justice League to face off against. What do you think about our overall team?