WiHM Massive Blood Drive PSA: WELCOME TO SANGUIS by Velma Drag
Josh Millican
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As previously announced, Dread Central is hosting Jen and Sylvia Soska’s Massive Blood Drive 2020.
Every February The Soska Sisters (American Mary, Rabid) invite filmmakers and feminists from across the world to celebrate Women In Horror Month by creating short PSAs encouraging blood donation. They can be as short as and uncomplicated as an artist desires, but they do limit the maximum run times to ten minutes.
“This will be our 11th year celebrating Women In Horror Recognition Month,” Jen explains. “It all started over a decade ago when founder Hannah Neurotica pointed out that women are not getting the recognition they deserve; in fact, they’re often being written out of history! And so Women In Horror Month was born and alongside it the Massive Blood Drive.”
All February long Dread and the Soskas are encouraging people to donate blood. That’s all. There’s no catch. You donate blood and everyone wins.
“It’s a civic duty that’s often overlooked,” Jen continues. “Not everyone has cash, but blood is just about the most selfless donation one can make.”
This year’s theme is Transformation and this year’s tag line is “Be The Change”. And, of course, there’s the classic: “Blood. It’s In You To Give.”
Today’s PSA is “Welcome to Sanguis” by Velma Drag! Give it a spin embedded at the top of the article!
Filmmaker & Company Bio:
I have been involved in the media industry for a number of years, mainly in the music world, but also teaching Media and Film Production to 16–19-year-olds in college. My background in production has mainly been in making music videos for my band DRAG, working as the entire production crew and as a band member (often challenging!). I also love to make horror shorts, I just like creating! I’m a keen photographer too, you’ll find me mainly in graveyards and abandoned sites, on digital and 35mm cameras, documenting and preserving moments in a rapidly changing world. My influences come from my love of horror, being bought up on a healthy diet of classic horror films with my dad from a pretty young age! My style reflects this passion of horror, in shot construction, tone, and sound.
Why blood donation matters to me:
It’s simple really, there’s a constant need for blood, it can’t be kept on a shelf until it’s needed, we have blood and we make more blood, it’s free to give it. Then you make more, so you can do it again (and again). It will save lives.
About my short:
With the theme transformation, I was really taken by old infomercials, the ones that gave massive bold claims to their products and promised to transform lives! So here we have “Sanguis”, a fabricated health company that promises to turn their clients from blood phobic, to confident, sharing lovers of blood. There’s a dark question about their methods, but they do offer your own bloodletting kit just for signing up! The final blood party is for the sharers, the lovers, they love blood, and they want you to be transformed with them, to share.
I was also influenced by the knowledge that many are turned off from giving blood because they are scared of the process, so that film does use that to challenge the audience, to do something new and different, to transform their own attitudes and go to donate.
PSA’s from the Soska’s Sister Massive Blood Drive 2020 will air every other day in February, so stay tuned and check back often!
