VHS, Atlanta, and The Sundance Film Festival

Watch Video Here: Sundancing_high_res

Atlanta based film director and good friend David Bruckner was asked to participate in a horror anthology (VHS) this past fall with a few other like-minded filmmakers from around the country. With a quick rush of inspiration, Dave and Nicholas Tecosky banged out a script, called in the local indie talent (all our friends) and with a shoestring budget cranked out a brilliant little horror flick. Next stop, the Sundance Film Festival.

I didn’t have time to help out with the making of the film much other then lending some gear and popping in to be an extra, but I did go to Park City for moral support and to experience firsthand all the magic that surrounds Sundance. So with a house of 18 people, 2 feet of fresh snow, and a whirlwind of events to attend, we hit the streets. Now I’m sure it’s one thing to go to Park City and watch all these experimental and amazing films, but to go with a group of creatives whose film became all the buzz and hottest ticket in town is quite a different experience. To be standing in line and hearing random people talk about VHS, then looking over at the restrained smiles of Victoria Warren (Cinematographer) and Elizabeth Davidovich (Stunt Double & Coordinator) as they lean in to hear more while trying to hide their obvious eavesdropping is certainly a different experience altogether. Things like “Holy Sh**, have you seen VHS yet?”.. “I’m not going to be able to sleep for weeks”.. “Did you hear someone fainted while watching the film?”.. the trip became very surreal and extremely exciting.

David Bruckner

The film itself falls in the Found Footage genre (like The Blair Witch Project) where much of the film is shot from the point of view of one of the actors, so there’s a lot of kinetic camera movement and ‘home movie’ feel. This type of shooting, while a little hard to watch, makes the movie seem more organic and real. David’s short “Amateur Night” was the first of 5 in the anthology and seems to have the most punch out of all of them; Of course I’m a little biased but it certainly seemed to be the most written-about in the reviews. What was really cool about the whole film is that, none of the directors shared any notes or had any conversations with each other about their particular part of the film.. in fact, the premier was the first time that most of them had ever met, and yet the movie seemed to flow really well. I won’t give anything away, but the beauty of every section was its unpredictability; it’s not what you might expect.

IFC.com called VHS “Sundance’s scariest film” and singles out Amateur Night as “sexy, scary and solid”, while describing the audience reaction as “going ballistic”. The reviewer himself had to turn away more than a few times, only to see one of his “veteran colleagues with his knuckles in his mouth.” You can read the entire article at http://www.ifc.com/fix/2012/01/vhs-review-sundance-horror

Slashfilm.com says VHS reinvents the horror anthology and singles out Amateur Night as the highlight. The whole article is here, complete with slightly amusing link: http://www.slashfilm.com/vhs-reinvents-horror-anthology-movie-terrifying-footage-sundance-2012/

Dreadcentral advises its readers to “see this as soon as you can, and treat yourself to a great piece of work from the gleefully twisted minds of the many talented directors”, but be wary before reading this article since its full of spoilers and doesn’t warn you in advance.

Local Atlanta Love from ‘The Loaf’ ”Sundance has been good to Dave Bruckner”

Indy Wire: “Bruckner’s “Amateur Night,” the standout of the bunch, opens the anthology with a frat party night gone very wrong”.

Linda Burns & Nicholas Tecosky

David Bruckner & Victoria K. Warren

Film in Atlanta has certainly changed over the last couple of years and in a big way. When asked where we were from the responses have been overwhelmingly positive and full of curiosity. So many things are happening here. We’ve been fortunate enough to be a part of a collective called Studio Outpost, a collection of amazingly creative filmmakers, producers, writers, animators, and post house that can pull together to make something like this happen. We are so proud to be a part of this group and very eager to see what will be brought to the table next. Currently, VHS was sold to Magnolia after a late-night bidding war that involved three prospective buyers. Magnolia bought it for over $1,000,000 and is scheduled for VOD as well as theatrical release in the fall, exciting time!