| The Machete Zombie Newspaper |
NEW MACHETE ZOMBIE INTERVIEW ADDED !!!
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NEWS...NEWS...NEWS...
10/15/2008
A new script by Writer / Producer Leonard Lies.
"Chronicles of a Zombie"
A powerful and captivating story of survival and the never ending quest for love.
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MacheteZombie.com Reports New Book on George Romero’s DEAD Films Nears Completion
Exhaustive Historical Account on Night and DAWN Production Due Late 2008
By Brian Ridgway and Dan Roushey
Film98@hotmail.com
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The past five years have been an unusually prolific time in terms of horror film production, as well as the return of Director George A. Romero.
Who would have thought that approximately six years ago, when writer Dan Roushey and myself began production on our Romero-related book, Through Night ‘tll Dawn, Pittsburgh’s favorite son would go on creative overdrive. Lately, he’s produced and directed TWO new dead features, as well as a new limited comic book zombie series, Toe Tags, for DC Comics.
Prior to that, Romero had been relatively quiet, spending most of his time writing and attempting to create new development deals. Since the new millennium however, he seems everywhere – spreading himself quite liberally among the latest roster of horror directors, rightfully reclaiming his position as (dare I say) reigning king among the new crop who so-confidently label themselves Masters of Horror.
Internet interviews, magazine and newspaper articles, convention and film festival appearances across the U.S. and Canada have all offered Romero sightings of late. The man seems feverish in his attempt to satiate the demand for more adult and dead-related material. Few directors have publicly demonstrated such goodwill and access among the throngs of their followers. If we didn’t know better, we would say that Romero is running for some kind of office.
Which leads us to the production of our new book, Through Night ‘til Dawn. We can tell you that it’s not really a book about Romero, as a thorough documentation of all the hard work necessary to produce the two finest horror films in history. ‘What’s taking so damn long to write it?’ seems to be the rising consensus however, as people grow restless at our delays.
The answer is simple – great art takes time. We call it art, because it is a reflection of both individual politics and commercial melodrama. When the project was originally conceived, it was supposed to simply be a freelance article on the upcoming Anchor Bay release of DAWN OF THE DEAD on DVD. After some kind encouragement by Scott Reiniger however, it soon became apparent that the creation of DOTD would require more than a 500 word article – it would probably take a book. And there is really no way accurately tell about the production of DOTD without first interviewing the people who worked so hard to tell the first chapter of the story with Night of the Living Dead.
One of the advantages of such delays however, has been that since we began our journey, there has been much advancement in the field of independent book publishing and distribution. These advances will likely work in our favor as we decide the best and most economic way to distribute the material once it’s completed and people are ready to order. It may even be possible to include an electronic component to this book, as we may even offer DVDs with interview samples and video with future updates.
However, time is of the essence. In the last month of interviews, we have discovered that two more Romero alumni have died, so we’re literally racing against the clock to document history. It is sad and a bit unsettling to speak to a widowed spouse telling us of the recent departure of their mate. Art is created, and then life moves on until the clock runs out.
Our goal is to wrap up the production of this book by the end of this year. Yes, it would’ve been incredible if we could’ve had it ready to promote with Romero’s latest dead entry, Diary of the Dead. Unfortunately, George’s film has been so ‘quietly’ distributed (with little or NO publicity) that it’s been nearly impossible to find screenings of it anywhere, so hopes of such a co-venture were pipe dreams. We suspect Diary will make a stronger impression when released on DVD in a few short weeks.
In the meantime, thanks to all our dead-friends that continue to contribute to our book in so many ways. It is through your renewed enthusiasm and kindness that we continue to work through hours of interviews to compile a truly special account on a portion of Romero’s great legacy. We know there are thousands of DOTD fans hungry for new information or you wouldn’t be so strongly supporting sites like Machetezombie.com.
We thank you for your patience. We’re happy that our friend Leonard Lies, a.k.a. Machete Zombie of DAWN OF THE DEAD, has been such a positive force for the book’s completion. CHECK BACK on this site soon as we plan to make updates available several times a month, until the project is released. We’re thankful that Len has allowed us a home to spread the news!
Until our next living memorial…
Brian Ridgway and Dan Roushey
Michigan zombies #21 and 24
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