Guest Blog: FEARnyc – John Capo on How to Program a Horror Film Festival
Steve Barton
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Programming a horror film festival is a daunting task. When I decided to produce FEARnyc, I knew that it would involve a lot of work. My main concern was curating the kinds of films people actually want to see. I watched hundreds of films to prepare for the task of arriving at which 65 films to screen. Let me explain how it all happened.
I knew that in order to stand out in a busy setting like New York City, we needed to do something that hadn’t been done before. We needed to combine a program of iconic films with a selection of classic films and a dynamic slate of new films. Putting the puzzle pieces together was both an art and a science.
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Arriving at which iconic films to show was difficult. There are just so many great horror films, and you can make a case for dozens of them. My initial list had something like fifty titles on it, but due to scheduling limitations I knew we couldn’t show all fifty. So I re-watched all the films. I researched them. What hasn’t been seen in New York lately? What would make for a true “event?” I spoke to horror fans, friends and family for recommendations. Through this, I was able to whittle down my list to about fifteen titles. Some titles were no-brainers. Hocus Pocus? Must show. Halloween? Must show. Others were a toss-up. Do you go with The Texas Chain Saw Massacre or Rosemary’s Baby? Child’s Play or The Monster Squad? And what about Carrie? Or Silence of the Lambs? Or Evil Dead? Where do you stop?
We arrived at a program I’m really proud of. I’m so glad audiences are getting to see A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors in a theater. I can’t wait to show Night of the Living Dead and Psycho. There are a lot of fans who only know about these movies from TV shows like “The Walking Dead” and “Bates Motel.” FEARnyc gives them a chance to see where these stories all began.
When I came up with the idea to have psychic Jesse Bravo lead a séance with the audience before The Exorcist, I knew we were on to something. That led to the planning of our Halloween Party around Carpenter’s Halloween, our Hocus Pocus Witch Party, and a few other surprises we have in store. People are really responding to our themed events and I think they’re going to be a lot of fun.
What wasn’t fun was the amount of work involved in licensing these films. Because each movie is controlled by a different licensing organization, it took weeks and in some cases months to track down the rights holders, negotiate a deal, and secure the clearance. Some of the older films like Chain Saw were particularly hard to track down. I actually had to contact Tobe Hooper’s lawyers in order to locate the licensor.
Once we had our iconic titles confirmed, it was time to program the new films. Unlike the licensing process, this was a lot of fun. Most of the films in the festival were submitted through our open submissions process. All types of films were submitted: slashers, ghost stories, monster flicks. It was cool to watch so many new films. There were so many promising films submitted. It was hard to narrow things down, but ultimately I think we made the right choices. We’ll see if audiences agree.
The other way I selected new films was by scouring the internet. What films were getting good reviews on the horror sites? What films were people talking about on social media? I must have watch two hundred trailers. With social media, a lot of the barriers to the film industry have been broken down. A filmmaker can really get their film out there by posting about it on Facebook and Twitter. What I want filmmakers to know is that people actually listen to this stuff. I found a lot of great films like Don’t Fuck in the Woods and The Possession Experiment by following what was being said online.
Of course, programming films is just one aspect of planning a film festival. We had to secure a venue, hire staff, buy props and merchandise for our themed events, and coordinate with a lot of people. Then, of course, one of the hallmarks of our festival, in my opinion, is our Jury. We’ve got some tremendous people on our Jury include Robert Eggers (The Witch), Kate Siegel (Hush), Peter Phok (The House of the Devil), tomandandy (The Strangers), Tuesday Knight (A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 4: The Dream Master) and Liz Vastola (The Purge). I’m so grateful to our entire Jury for providing their time and expertise in awarding our films. Selecting Wes Craven to receive our Legacy Honor was a no-brainer. The guy is the father of modern horror and I’m so happy his family will be in attendance to receive the honor.
Planning a horror film festival is like the greatest job in the world. It takes a lot of time, effort and money, but it really gives me a rush. I can’t wait for our audience to see what we have in store. Tickets for the films are available at the official FEARnyc website and Festival Passes, which include admission to all 65 films, are also available.
John Capo
Founder and Director, FEARnyc
Categorized:Editorials News
