Women In Horror Month (WiHM) is meant to promote equality and celebrate the great artists both working today and the trail blazers who’ve come before.
As part of WiHM, each year The Twisted Twins, Jen & Sylvia Soska, search out filmmakers from across the globe to make their own Public Service Announcements for Blood Services and Red Cross. Each year has a different theme and the theme for this year is “BE A HERO”, this year is set to be the biggest year yet with a new P.S.A. being released every day.
To help celebrate and promote this cause each week I will be sharing these videos including the film-makers profiles and statements. Now, on with the show!
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| “Party Prick” by Sam Hawkins and Kim Pipkin |
ARTISTS’ STATEMENT:
We’re passionate about giving blood because it’s a universal gift that almost anyone can give. No matter where you’re from or how much money you make, your selfless donation can still make a difference. We also give because we’d like to think others would do the same for us. It’s so easy to distance ourselves from victims of natural disasters, gun violence, or traumatic accidents until we or someone we know becomes one of those victims. If we’re all afraid to donate, or if we all assume someone else will fill the need, who’ll be there in our time of need?
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| “It’s In You” by Izzy Lee
ABOUT THE ARTIST:
Izzy Lee is a writer, filmmaker, film festival programmer, and journalist for Birth.Movies.Death., Rue Morgue, and Diabolique, as well as an editor for ScreenAnarchy.
Her recently published short stories include: “Tilberian Holiday” (“Wicked Witches”) and “The Lake Children” (“Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep” and “Hydrophobia”). She’s currently at work on several short stories and scripts.
When she’s not writing, she’s making scary little films, often from an outsider perspective with a socio-political bent. Her shorts “Postpartum,” “Innsmouth,”Rites of Vengeance,” and “For A Good Time, Call…” have screened with American Psycho, Midnighters, The Love Witch, They Look Like People, The Sacrament, The Lords of Salem,
Prevenge, They Look Like People, The Master Cleanse, Excess Flesh, Baskin, and Antibirth.
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ARTIST’S STATEMENT:
I’m participating in the annual PSA Blood Drive for Women in Horror Month because life can change at any moment; you never know when you’ll need a little help from a strange. If you can, please give blood at your local donation center or spread the word!
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| “My Father, My Hero” by Andrew Hass & Kynda Laufmann |
ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
Andrew Hass was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. He moved away from Los Angeles in his late teens and has spent most of his time since in the PNW. He is married to his partner in both life and art, Kynda Laufmann, with whom he has two sons. Andrew’s close family has been involved in filmmaking since the 1930’s, when his great grandfather first worked as a stuntman. Most of his immediate family has worked in the film industry, since. Andrew had never worked in film until, in 2014, an opportunity to provide sound work for an independent feature horror film was brought to him and sparked an interest that has led to writing and directing. In the four years since he has worked on both feature and short films, working as director of photography, editor, sound department, writer, and director. Andrew’s passion and focus lies in making independent horror films.
Kynda Laufmann grew up in Colorado and moved to Washington for school. She graduated with a degree in Psychology and loves her day job working as a Clinical Supervisor helping kids with developmental disabilities. Kynda caught Andrew staring in 2009, and hasn’t let him go. Andrew has since piqued Kynda’s interest in film production and they decided to team up on their own projects, leading to the creation of Lost in the Woods Productions. Kynda enjoys being on set and contributing to the creative process, and likes to think her perfectionistic tendencies lend themselves to a better film.
ARTISTS’ STATEMENT:
Someone, at some point, donated the blood that was used to save my life. I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at 27, and during the ensuing hospital stay I needed blood to save my life. Additionally, since 2011 I have undergone multiple major surgeries that required blood transfusions. Blood donations are a direct part of why I am alive, today. There’s not a hospital in the world that isn’t in need of blood and there are never enough people donating.
Because of blood donations I am able to be here with my partner, creating the art that we love. That is why we are involved in the Women in Horror Month Blood Drive PSA’s and why we believe it is so important to donate blood!
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| “Sammy” by Aleah Anseth |
ABOUT THE ARTIST:
Aleah Anseth is a filmmaker residing in Saskatchewan, Canada. She studied her craft in Vancouver, British Columbia where she produced, directed, and wrote multiple independent projects. Currently, Aleah has her own media company FRAGMENT MEDIA where her and her fiance use their skills as photographers and video professionals. Aleah continues to write and create independent film projects and hopes to run her own production company one day.
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| “Bitch” by Stephanie Dugan |
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| “Haemo Eradication Services” by Angela Nolan & Martyn Fleetwood |
The Blood Drive PSA is particularly important to Angela as she can no longer donate blood for medical reasons so she was happy to have the opportunity to encourage others to donate.
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| “Donor” by Atropa Films |
ABOUT THE ARTIST:
Atropa Films is a an Edmonton-based independent filmmaking collective putting a queer gaze on genre films. With a shared lifelong love of horror movies and backgrounds in various artistic disciplines, our team brings queer visibility, narratives, and representation to all of our films both on and off screen. We aim to bring a voice and narrative focus that has been glaringly absent from many subgenres of horror, blending what we love about genre cinema with queer perspectives and storytelling.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT:
We are so excited to be involved in this year’s blood drive because horror and blood donation are two things we are very passionate about – a number of our crew members are actually students of or currently working in health sciences. Some of us can’t donate blood at this time due to various restrictions and ineligibilities, so we hope that taking part in this project will help bring awareness to those who can. We also want to use this platform as an opportunity to remind everyone that Canada still has incredibly archaic laws around blood donation that prevent many people we love from donating. Men, as well as trans women, who have sex with men are not allowed to donate blood without first meeting strict requirements that are not feasible for many. During the last Canadian federal election campaign, Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party stated that they “will bring an end to the discriminatory ban” as “this policy ignores scientific evidence.” Please get in touch with your MP and encourage them to push for an end to the stigmatizing blood donation ban so that more of our friends and community members can be heroes as well.
Raz's Midnight Macabre 