Rex Sikes' Movie Beat

Twisted Dreams Film Festival, founded in 2011 by Christopher K House and Stephen Milek, two friends with a passion for the silver screen. Chris can thank his parent's for his obsession with horror and the macabre. Both being horror fans, Chris grew up watching old horror films, specifically the Universal Monsters collection of fright films. He was born into a family of magicians and was weaned on sideshows and carnivals bringing a unique perspective to the festival. He is a member of the Online Film and Television Critic Association.

A lover of all movies, Steve will watch anything from classic silent films to modern big budget action films. After attending the Sundance Film Festival a few times he always wondered what it would be like to start his own film festival. Over time he became obsessed with the Oscars and for his first blog he watched every Oscar Best Picture winner in chronological order. 

What started out as a simple blog about movies, it grew to have an emphasis on local films and filmmakers. They wanted a true horror film festival in Milwaukee that showcased the best in not only local but also international horror, dark comedy and sci-fi films. The first year was a major hit with filmmakers and guests coming from all over the country and Canada. The duo plan on having the fest a yearly event and hope it grows each year. 

Stay tuned to Rex Sikes' Movie Beat for other great interviews, cast & crew listings, events, premieres & more at rexsikes.com and rexsikesmoviebeat.me

WIlliam Lu, director, served as a development assistant for David Madden and Robert Cort at the Cort/Madden Company at Paramount. He received his MFA in film and TV production from FSU where he produced the 35mm thesis film “Two-Bit,” which was a 2003 Student Academy Award finalist. He was Hired at the SyFy Channel and then spent three years at Herzog & Company where he worked in TV, web and marketing producing content for Disney, Paramount, Dreamworks and Sony Pictures. In 2005, as a recipient of the LA Asian Pacific Armed with a Camera Fellowship; he received a grant which funded his short film Spy Moms.  He wrote and directed Asian Task Force, a half-hour mock pilot that was awarded "Best Action Short" at the 2007 LA Digital Video Film Festival and screened at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con. William worked as post production supervisor at Machinima on their Terminator: Salvation web series. Hired on at Maker Studios he produced content for their gaming vertical and created and hosted the show “Retro Hardware”. He was co-producer for Rosanna Pansino’s “Nerdy Nummies” . In 2015, he directed the feature drama Comfort from his own original screenplay. Stay tuned to Rex Sikes' Movie Beat for other great interviews, cast & crew listings, events, premieres & more at rexsikes.com

David Murphy, casting director and acting coach, is co-founder of the Chicago acting school, The Green Room. There are multiple areas of expertise to his teaching. He's worked for 20 years  in the field of acting. Since 2001 he has worked as a Commercial Casting Director at O'Connor Casting. He splits time between casting and teaching. Around the casting office, there are two "David's" (David O'Connor is the owner), and this David, known as "Murphy". He has conducted well over 50,000 individual actor's auditions. For 16 years Murphy taught for the Players' Workshop of the Second City. He's directed over a hundred shows ranging from improv reviews to children's shows. He has created several touring groups performing for such clients as GE and Novis. He has worked as an artistic director for Bedlam Productions, has worked in casting for Toast productions and has been a consultant to several fledgling theatre companies. Beyond his acting and voice over credit, he has been a casting director, theatre director and instructor. What is not as widely known is Murphy is also a Reiki Master. Reiki is a healing modality using energy. Unfocused energy can be at the root of an uncreative and uninteresting performance. Murphy helps actors through self-reflection, energy work and discovery of higher creative self, to gain better control of their instrument so they can be present during the audition and bring their best self to the room. Stay tuned to Rex Sikes Movie Beat for other great archived interviews, cast and crew listings, events, festivals, premieres, and more at rexsikes.com

Craig A. Knitt, award winning artist, filmmaker, teacher, performer, writer and creator is a founder of the Wildwood Film Festival, a festival dedicated to Wisconsin film talent. The past three years Craig has also been a volunteer for the Sundance Institute and the Sundance Film Festival. When Craig is not busy teaching visual art, he is busy creating film projects or performing Improvisational Comedy with ComedyCity - DePere and DinnerTime Comedy. Craig was the male lead in last year's "Secrets of the Dead" which was premiered at the Gerold Theater in Weyauwega.

The Wildwood Film Festival's purpose is to promote Wisconsin film talent (actors, directors, writers, composers, editors, etc.). It strives to educate high school students and adults in film basics - script writing, story boarding, filming, lighting, sound, editing and marketing. The Wildwood Film Festival has been consistently dedicated to Wisconsin film talent. Now in it fifteenth year it will have showcased over 500 films that all have connections to the state. Events have been held at the Performing Arts Center (PAC) and the Big Picture Theatre. The Wildwood Film Festival continues to grow each year and the commitment to Wisconsin filmmakers and film talent is just as strong. Stay tuned to Rex Sikes Movie Beat for other great archived interviews, cast and crew listings, events, festivals, premieres, and more at rexsikes.com

James Breckenridge, script consultant, has worked in the entertainment industry for over 25 years. In 1995, he founded of The PlayCrafters Group. As its Director, he specializes in helping writers from all over the country develop producible scripts for motion pictures, television and theatre. Through creative counseling and objective feedback, he encourages writers to focus on the essential elements of their stories. 

His script development service has been rated in the Top Ten and recommended as the Best Of The Best Buys in Creative Screenwriting Magazine’s review of leading script consultants from all around the country

In addition to private coachings and consultations, James has created a number of Courses and Workshops for the beginning as well as the advanced screenwriter. Some of the most popular include Screenwriting Essentials, First Steps: Dramatic Steps to a Dynamic Screenplay and Pitching: Five Minutes to Fame. He has taught for The Bryn Mawr Film Institute, the Bucks County Writer’s Room, The Writers Corner USA and the Lehigh Valley Writer’s Academy. 

As a director and creative writing consultant, he has helped in the staging and conceptualizing of well over 200 dramatic scripts.

Stay tuned to Rex Sikes Movie Beat for other great archived interviews, cast and crew listings, events, festivals, premieres, and more at http://www.rexsikes.com Visit and subscribe to Rex Sikes' Movie Beat Blog at http://www.RexSikesMovieBeat.me for articles and more about the industry we love and work in.

Join Ian Teal co-director of The Weyauwega International Film Festival will be returning November 11-14 to the Gerold Opera House in Weyauwega, WI for it’s fifth year of films from around the globe.

This year the festival presented by Wega Arts will be screening forty-three films representing seventeen different countries. Many of the films were either made in Wisconsin or have Wisconsin connections.

This year Friday at the festival happens to fall on the 13th of the month which of course invites an opportunity to screen horror films.

The Weyauwega International Film Festival (WIFF) has seized this opportunity to satisfy the horror hounds in Central Wisconsin and will be screening horror films and thrillers all day on Friday the 13th in what they are calling a “Friday the 13th Fright Fest”. 

Of course WIFF is not all about horror films. Some great feature films and documentaries as well as a wide variety of short films will be screened this year.

Saturday starts with a filmmaker seminar with local filmmakers Dan Davies, Craig Knitt and Rex Sikes at 10am.

An encore screening of the previously mentioned EMBERS screens at 2:15pm. The very entertaining romantic comedy DIRTY BEAUTIFUL screens at 4pm.

Tickets are $12 for a day pass which are good for any one film or a whole day of films. Festival passes are $30 and are good for the whole festival and also include a free large popcorn!

The full schedule can be found at wegaarts.org. Festival passes can also be found online The box office: 920-867-4888. See you at the Gerold!

Stay tuned to Rex Sikes Movie Beat for other great archived interviews, cast and crew listings, events, festivals, premieres, and more at http://www.rexsikes.com Visit and subscribe to Rex Sikes' Movie Beat Blog at http://www.RexSikesMovieBeat.me for articles and more about the industry we love and work in.

Bill Rebane, Director, Producer, Screenwriter, Author started his assent from the mail room, at age 17, to Floor Manager, Asst. producer and assistant to the Executive producer, providing him the opportunity to partake in countless daily live television productions. His first independent production effort was “Twist Craze,” a ten minute musical theatrical short subject purchased by AIP became an international success theatrically and financially. “Dance Craze” surpassed the success of the earlier one and ultimately was purchased by Crown International Pictures for international release. At age 23, Rebane took the position as Executive in Charge of U.S. co-productions for Studio Bendestorf, Germany. Ultimately the films which found a partial or full home at his Bendestorf Studio facility  “Dollar” (Goldie Hawn/ Scott Brady,) “How I Won the War” (John Lennon) and “The Odessa File” (John Voight. Bill moved to Wisconsin where he established and built the one and only full time feature film studio in the Midwest, that flourished for over a quarter of a century, producing hundreds of commercials / industrial / corporate image films plus a string of theatrical features all of which enjoyed international theatrical theatrical distribution and exposure. Stay tuned to Rex Sikes Movie Beat for other great archived interviews, and more at http://www.rexsikes.com Visit and subscribe to Rex Sikes' Movie Beat Blog at http://www.RexSikesMovieBeat.me for articles and more about our industry.

Join Rick Vaicisu,The Flyway Film Festival Director and Rex Sikes discussing what's new at the upcoming 8th Fest in Pepin, Wisconsin. October 21-25, 2015. Flyway showcases top-notch emerging filmmakers from across the globe. Flyway has won accolades from industry pros, filmmakers, and audiences.Opening night film is The Driftless Area, starring John Hawkes, Zooey Deschanel, and Anton Yelchin. World premieres at the festival are Pictures of Lily, by British director Mark Banks; Remittance, by Patrick Daly and Joel Fendelman, and Second Honeymoon, by Dutch filmmaker Kristjan Knigge. There are workshops and mentor sessions with industry experts Seed&Spark's Erica Anderson, King is a Fink's Julie Keck and Jessica King, location manager Charlotte Ariss, and filmmakers Emily Ting (It's AlreadyTomorrow in Hong Kong) and Norah Shapiro (Miss Tibet: Beauty in Exile). Ted Hope and Brian Newman, will be around to chat with attendees. Stay tuned to Rex Sikes Movie Beat for other great archived interviews, and more at http://www.rexsikes.com Visit and subscribe to Rex Sikes' Movie Beat Blog at http://www.RexSikesMovieBeat.me for articles and more about our industry.