On Thursday, February 9th, cast, crew, friends and press gathered on the Sony lot in Culver City, CA at the Kim Novak Theater for the premiere of the film Blood Moon.
Directed by Farnaz (Samiinia), this psychological horror short stars Brandon Beemer as a mental hospital psychiatrist, faced with the daunting task of treating an extremely intelligent but deadly serial killer, played with terrifying aplomb by Gil Darnell. As the story progresses, however, we find that all is not what it seems, and the real terror for the doctor lies within himself.
Brandon Beemer can currently be seen playing Owen Knight on the soap The Bold and the Beautiful, which airs weekdays on Riverside CBS affiliate KCAL channel 9. Darnell has been seen in shows such as Entourage.
Check out the slide show of photos in the side bar from the pre-party, red carpet arrivals and Q&A.
On a budget of a mere $5000, shot in one weekend and in just one set location, Farnaz, who goes only by her first name, and her crew turned out an exceptional story.
Beemer does an amazing job of portraying a rapid decline from confident medical professional to a man questioning everything, including who - and what - he really is.
Gil Darnell's turn as psychopath William Titus is incredibly intense, and he skillfully manages to keep the character's demeanor evenly cold and calculating, even as Beemer's Dr. Parker demands answers.
The story ends with a transformation from human to werewolf that rivals some big budget features.
During the post-film Q&A, which was hosted by Homeland star Navid Negahban, Farnaz was asked how she came up with the idea for the film.
"I read the book and liked the characters and story. I optioned the book and was planning to turn that into a short or feature. It didn't work out, so I kind of took the characters and created my own story around it."
James Wolf, who co-wrote the script with Farnaz, said, "Farnaz sent me the structure and concept of what she wanted to do if she was to turn it into a feature. She had placeholder dialogue, so I worked on that."
Host Negahban pointed out that the Director of Photography, Don E. FauntLeRoy, who has worked on such films as The Goonies and Jeepers Creepers, has an interesting connection to the film's star Beemer.
"Don E. FauntLeRoy's wife is the famous British actress Lesley Anne Down, who was Brandon's wife on The Bold and the Beautiful."
"So we have that in common," joked Beemer.
When Gil Darnell was asked how he got the part, the actor laughed, "Farnaz said, 'I have the perfect part for you.' I said, 'wow, you think I'm a psycho?'"
Asked about the creature effects for their werewolf, Farnaz said, "it was actually a suit. Howard Berger, who won an Oscar for Chronicles of Narnia, he had the suit sitting in his shop, and I was bugging him for weeks until he finally said, 'fine, fine, you can have it.'"
So what does the future hold for Blood Moon? "I'm trying to turn it into a feature film and franchise it, "said Farnaz. "I'm also going to submit the film to festivals."
The director hopes to raise 20 million for the feature project.
Learn more about Blood Moon and upcoming festival screenings at the official web site and their Facebook page.
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