Emma Gilbert
Horror conventions are a great place to find independent creators and great little movies. At Carolina Fear Fest this year, I had the opportunity to talk with three different indie production companies, one of which was featured in my review of Kill Giggles, and the other two can be found right here! Slasher 15 Films and Kodi Films are two southern US companies with some exciting projects on the horizon.
On day one of the convention, I spoke to Michael McGlynn, a producer with Slasher 15 Films. They had premiered their most recent film, Bloody Summer Camp, at the local Alamo Drafthouse during the convention, and I was curious as to what else they had in the works.
Emma Gilbert: How long have you guys been in operations?
Michael McGlynn: We’ve been in operations now for about three years.
EG: Alright, sweet! What was your first movie?
McGlynn: Our very first movie was Curse of the Slasher Nurse. It was actually [a] throwback to ’80s slashers, but we wanted to star a female killer, ‘cause there’s not enough of them.
EG: Alright, I agree with that so much. So, are you guys based in [North Carolina]?
McGlynn: Uh, no, we’re actually based in Virginia.
EG: Ah, cool, cool. Do you have any more movies coming out, other than Bloody Summer Camp?
McGlynn: Uh, yes, actually! Our fourth film, Go Away, will be filming this fall. We got an all-star horror celebrity cast; we got Felissa Rose from Sleepaway Camp, Tuesday Knight from A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 [The Dream Master], Robert Mukes from House of 1,000 Corpses; we got Jeremy Spencer, the founding member of Five Finger Death Punch, the metal band. And our star of it will be Tom Matthews from Friday the 13th Part VI and The Return of the Living Dead series.
EG: Alright, that is awesome for you guys! That is so cool. […] Do you have a website that you can let us know about?
McGlynn: Oh, actually yeah! You can go to Facebook, and we are at Slasher 15 Productions LLC, or you can go to our website, which is Slasher15.com.
The following day, I stopped by Kodi Films’ booth to see what they were all about and learned of their upcoming feature, Tales of Legend.
Emma Gilbert: What was the first movie you guys made?
Sammy Bernardo: Well, this would be the first production. Y’know, we had another movie that we started, y’know, and because of COVID, we had to put a stop to it, and it was too expensive to start back up again.
EG: I see.
Bernardo: So, this time we’re going full bore with Tales of Legend. We’ve got two more weeks and it’ll be complete, and it goes to postproduction. We’re really excited. We’re a company based out of North Carolina, our home office is in Wilmington […] And Joey [Limongelli] here is an up-and-comer, he’s our star.
EG: Oh, that’s awesome!
Joey Limongelli: It’s my first movie.
Bernardo: […] We’re hoping to get him in more films.
EG: That’s great! Is there anything [either] of you guys can tell us about the movie?
Limongelli: Can’t reveal too much.
Bernardo: We can tell ya this: Joey plays a priest in the movie. We would consider him an assassin-priest […] And the movie is partially true. It’s based on a partial truth with the Vatican that has a department called The Black Archives, and they basically seek out supernatural demons and things like this. So, I myself play a cardinal that heads up that department.
[At this moment, Christy Johnson, another actress from Tales of Legend, returned to Kodi Films’ booth and joined in.]
EG: Anything you can tell us about your role?
Christy Johnson: So, this is a creature feature, can’t really reveal too much information about it, but I am a scientist in it, and, uh…gosh, I wish I could tell you! They’re secrets, though.
Bernardo: She plays a great scientist.
EG: Alright, very cool. Any idea of when we can expect to see [the movie]?
Bernardo: We’re shootin’ for Halloween 2021. And, if you go onto Facebook, Tales of Legend Films, friend us there, we’ll keep you up to date, we’ll send out trailers, and tell you when we’re gonna be at the film festivals. We’re all gonna be in a film festival in Toronto, Toronto After Dark, and also in Las Vegas […] in October.
EG: That sounds awesome […] Are you guys working on any other new films together?
Johnson: Yeah, yeah! So, I’m shootin’ a couple of projects right now […] I have The Fast Society, I’m working on something called Street Meds that’s [episodic]. I have, releasing in October, a feature film called Beneath the Old Dark House. So, yeah, a lot of great things coming up. I’m also shooting Night of the Living Dead: Genesis, so, a lot of projects going on. And the, I forgot to mention that I do all of the music for the soundtrack of Tales of Legend as well.
EG: Oh! That’s awesome.
Bernardo: Go on Spotify, look up Christy Johnson!
EG: Alright, will do! How ‘bout you, anything new cookin’ with you guys [Limongelli and Bernard]?
Limongelli: Uh, no, this is my first movie.
EG: How was your first experience?
Limongelli: Awesome, I love it.
EG: That is awesome.
Johnson: He’s a natural.
I’ve said such things before, but supporting small companies in this highly saturated market is so important, and so worth the effort. Please check out these guys on their websites and social media profiles, and consider donating to their projects this Halloween season!
