George A. Romero event kicks off with short film winner chosen
DeKendrick Randolph, 22, of Charlotte, N.C., strikes a pose as a zombifed Michael Jackson from "Thriller" during the American Zombie event honoring George A. Romero.
This is the first article in a series of multmedia coverage of the American Zombie event in Charlotte, NC; come out to Midnight Dread Saturday night Feb 21 at Amos’ South End and YOU could be on ModernFilmZine!
By Michael Knox, mknox@modernfilmzine.com
George A. Romero, the director of such hit films as “Dawn of the Dead,” still seems surprised by the popularity his movies generate. Romero said so himself on Friday night during a screening of one of his films after waiting for the crowd’s applause to finally die down.
“Thank you so much for the warm welcome,” Romero said. “It’s wonderful to have people show all of these old movies. I can’t believe you guys actually sat here and watched a movie that’s older than me.”
The comment drew laughs from the crowd before Romero, jokingly corrected himself, “I’m a little older than the movie, but not by much.”
George A. Romero addresses the crowd after Friday's screening of "Night of the Living Dead."
More than 400 people came to the screening of Romero’s 1968 classic “Night of the Living Dead” movie in Charlotte, N.C. on Friday night. The movie was part of a three day Romero festival, titled American Zombie, which continues Saturday and Sunday. The event is being organized by The Light Factory and Reel Soul Cinema in Charlotte.
Romero may poke fun at his success, acting surprised that people care about his films, but officials know his importance to the film industry.
Aaron Syrett, the director of the North Carolina Film Office, talked about Romero’s work to the crowd. Syrett traveled from his office in Raleigh, N.C. for the event.
“He’s such a prolific filmmaker,” Syrett said. “A lot of scary stuff. My favorite is ‘Creepshow.’”
In addition to the screening of Romero’s movie, Friday night’s events included a zombified rendition of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”
DeKendrick Randolph, 22, of Charlotte, led the pack of zombies, dressed as a monstrous remake of Michael Jackson, with the crowd whooping and hollering in delight. He led the pack of zombies across the stage, dancing to the music, obviously enjoying himself and the crowd.
The evening also included the announcement of Creative Loafing’s American Zombie short film competition, with Romero himself picking the winner among the top five finalists.
Robert Filion, 36, of Rock Hill, S.C., was named the winner, with his short, “See the Dead.” The story sees the character of Sarah fighting of ghouls that advance on her home as she deals with psychological trauma of her son’s death.
Afterward, Filion said the news of Romero liking his film was a big boost.
“I was a little bit floored, you really can’t work yourself up for it or prepare yourself in any way,” Filion said. “It’s one of those things that you just kind of have to take in stride and hope you don’t stumble over every single word that comes out of your mouth.”
Filion said he shot the film specifically for Romero since the American Zombie film competition was a big part of the Romero festival.
“I am a huge Romero fan,” Filion said. “’Dawn of the Dead’ and ‘Creepshow,’ those are two of my favorite Romero films.”
Filion said he also made the movie in honor of his mother, June Filion, who recently died.
“It kind of held a special place there,” Filion said.
Robert Filion, 36, of Rock Hill, S.C., is named winner of the American Zombie short film competion with George A. Romero personally picking Filion's film as the winner.
Filion said preproduction on the short was about three weeks with four days of actual filming. He said the short was shot entirely in his neighborhood and at his home. He would often have more than 50 people in his home at one time.
“I once thought I had a big house, but I do not,” Filion said with a laugh. Filion said post-production on the short took about seven days.
Filion has worked on other projects before “See the Dead,” working as a cinematographer, writer, producer, editor and production manager. He was the unit production manager on the 2006 feature film, “Cold Storage.”
Romero said that Filion’s background helped him when the film competition and have Romero choose “See the Dead,” out of the other films.
During a Q & A session of the screening a fan asked what aspiring filmmakers should do to get their work noticed. Romero talked about how people simply need to make films in order to build a career and a reputation.
“I judged this film competition and all five of the films were really deserving, it was hard to make a choice,” he said. “The film that won I thought just had beautiful shot selections and I just thought it was that little inch above the other ones. But I would never have known this filmmaker or this film if not for this competition.”
