Guests

We have some amazing guests and independent filmmakers lined up this year, who will be taking part in Q&As and other special presentations. You can check the Schedule Page for updates.

2023 Guests

Kelli Maroney

Actor in “The Haunted Baby Carriage From Hell”

Kelli Maroney is a beloved actor among Horror Film fans, particularly for her roles in NIGHT OF THE COMET and CHOPPING MALL. Kelli got her first big break in Daytime TV, both as the evil adolescent Kimberly in RYAN’S HOPE and then as vengeful Tina in ONE LIFE TO LIVE. Her film debut as the ‘Spirit Bunny’ Cindy Carr in FAST TMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH caught a lot of attention, but Kelli achieved her greatest enduring cult popularity with her delightful turn as the endearingly spunky Samantha in the science-fiction end-of-the-world NIGHT OF THE COMET. She’s especially memorable as the sweet, killer-robot slayer Alison Parks in the entertaining romp, Cult Classic CHOPPING MALL, Jamie, a strong female survivor in THE ZERO BOYS, as well as many other films.
Amber Bariaktari

Director, Producer of “Seeds”

Amber Bariaktari is a producer, writer, director for film and web series. Amber is a producer at Hellbender Media and she is owner of Bullet Dance Films. Currently she is writing and drawing book one of her vampire horror love manga series, The Aeluras Chronicles that she will be publishing under Hellbender Media.
Amir Moini

Writer, Director of “SLASHR”

From Boston, Massachusetts, Amir Moini is a horror writer and director, residing in Los Angeles. Amir spent the first part of his career working at Netflix for seven years, where he led the global function of Employer Branding. This included social media curation and serving as a creative director of docu-vignette storytelling. In 2022, Amir left to pursue filmmaking, writing and directing his first narrative film “SLASHR.” Amir is also the co-creator and co-writer of the upcoming series SPRINGFIELD.
Brandon Carraway

Writer, Director of “The Handbook”

Brandon Carraway is a Provo, Utah-based filmmaker specializing in horror films. Collaborating with his wife, they create chilling tales heavily inspired by their religious beliefs.
Brooke H. Cellars

Writer, Director – “Violet Butterfield: Makeup Artist for the Dead”

Brooke is an award-winning filmmaker and has a BA in Moving Image Arts from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She has written and directed seven short horror films, Violet Butterfield being her sixth. Ever since she was a kid, she has written horror stories and always dreamed of being a filmmaker. It wasn’t until she was 37 when she had the opportunity and the confidence to direct her first short film. She is a multi-faceted filmmaker having worn many hats on others and her own productions. Other than filmmaking, Brooke is dedicated to growing the film community in her hometown. She independently founded the first horror film festival (Warped Witch). Most recently, she (alongside Wicken Taylor) became co-directors of the Pride Acadiana: Queer Film Festival.
Connor Martin

Writer, Director of “Nonno”

Connor is a Portland-based filmmaker and screenwriter inspired by stories that take big left turns. His favorite films include Scare Me, Rosemary’s Baby, Ready Or Not, and Child’s Play. He has written for the likes of Crackle (Extraction) and Studio 71 (V/H/S) and currently has projects in development with Automatik (Honey Boy, The Signal) and Echo Lake (The Great, Nebraska). “Nonno,” his directorial debut, premiered at the Austin Film Festival in 2022 and was filmed six blocks away from the Clinton Street Theater!
David J. Stieve

Writer, Director of “Wait For It”

Originally from Wisconsin, David moved to Los Angeles in 1999 to pursue a career in the entertainment industry, and has subsequently amassed experience in nearly every aspect of the business since then. Most notably, he has written a number of original screenplays, including the critically acclaimed, cult favorite horror-satire Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon and its sequel script Before the Mask: The Return of Leslie Vernon, as well the horror comedy The Hills Only Have Eyes For You.
Derek Willis

Director, Producer of “Whispers”

Originally from Oregon Derek Willis studied Cinema Production, Theatre, and creative writing at the University Of Redlands after which he spent 10 years working in the LA film industry, focused mainly as an editor, before moving back to Portland to pursue creative filmmaking as a director and producer with his new company MaRoZel LLC.
Dylan Wayne Lawrence

Actor, Producer of “The Haunted Baby Carriage From Hell”

Dylan Wayne Lawrence is an actor, producer and entrepreneur. He was born on September 24th, 1992 in La Grande, Oregon. He spent his childhood in Alaska involved in community theater, drama club and making “horror movies” with his friends. He is a proud member of the LGBTQIA community and owner of the Howliday Inn Doggie Daycare & Hotel in NE Portland. Dylan resides in Oregon with his three dogs.
Edward Martin III

Writer of “Seeds”

Edward Martin III is a writer and filmmaker scrabbling together a semblance of home in the Pacific Northwest. He’s surrounded by looming evergreens with sullen boughs, mountains that ponder the nature of death, and a relentless sea that dissolves everything it touches. Also, there are two cats. Big cats. Edward’s books and films are available via HellbenderMedia.com. Finally, you should probably get some rest.
Erin Lovett

Writer, Director of “The Knowing”

Erin Lovett is an award-winning director, writer, and producer who discovered her obsession with horror as a kid in the sleepy suburbs of the Pacific Northwest. With a decade of work that spans both documentary and narrative, Lovett’s filmmaking is intimate, bold and distinctly cinematic. Her film and television credits include This Is Life with Lisa Ling (CNN), Dark Net (Showtime) and Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope (PBS), to name a few. Her short psychological horror film “The Knowing” has just begun its festival run, and has taken home an award for best horror short in Berlin.
Hannah Grace Carraway

Writer, Producer of “The Handbook”

Hannah Grace Carraway is a Provo, Utah-based filmmaker specializing in horror films. Collaborating with her husband, they create chilling tales heavily inspired by their religious beliefs.
Jen McQueeney

Producer of “I Wanna See”

Jen is a photographer and filmmaker from Londonderry, NH. She loves dark chocolate, reality TV, and baby animals. She graduated from Ithaca College in 2019 and now lives in Los Angeles where she is in training to become an intimacy coordinator.
Joshua Conkel

Writer, Director of “He Watches”

Joshua Conkel is a queer screenwriter and filmmaker based in Los Angeles (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Dead Boy Detectives.) His short film Curmudgeons (directed by and starring Danny DeVito) premiered at the TriBeCa Film Festival and won numerous awards in festivals around the world. He is the co-host of the weekly arthouse horror podcast, Bloodhaus.
JT Seaton

Writer, Director, Producer of “The Haunted Baby Carriage From Hell”

JT Seaton graduated from California Institute of the Arts with a Masters Degree in Film Directing. After snagging a very costly diploma, he made dozens of films, including: “Nightshadows”, “Divination”, “The Peripheral”, “Do We Really Have To Say Goodbye” and the feature film “George: A Zombie Intervention” (available for rent at Movie Madness). In addition to his own little cinematic creations, JT co-founded and ran the NOLA Horror Film Fest (in New Orleans, LA) from 2010 to 2021. In 2022, he founded the Queer Screams Film Festival (in Portland, OR) – a celebration of LGBTQ+ Genre Cinema.
Kyle Mangione-Smith

Writer, Director of “Annihilator”

Kyle Mangione-Smith is a Los Angeles based filmmaker. He attended Emerson College for his BFA in Visual Media Arts and has had work featured at the Boston Underground Film Festival, Nightstream Film Festival, and Alter Streaming among others.
Lisa Ovies

Writer, Director of “Puppet Killer”

Lisa Ovies is a Queer Mexican/Canadian writer and director. She has been praised for her ability to seamlessly blend her love of horror and her skills as a comedian to create truly engaging characters. Lisa is known for being a strong voice for female representation both in front of and behind the camera and her constant push for engaging and truthful Hispanic stories. Called a “female Robert Rodriguez”, her love of action, blood and fast paced camera work mix with her passion for practical effects to tell truthful and gripping stories.
Logan Felber

Composer – “Annihilator”

Logan Felber is a music composer for games, mods, and short films with 15 years of practice in soundtrack genres ranging from tracker-style breakbeat to acoustic dark ambient and electronic rock. He is one half of the band EdenShard.
Matthew Robinson

Writer, Director “Mirrored Message” bumper

Matt says, “I am a blue collar guy. I work as a truck driver & Heavy equipment operator. A high school drop out, drug addict, and an ex con. After getting clean in 2000, a lot of things have changed about my life, but not my obsessive nature. My budgets are really limited. I was giddy when I was able to buy my flip camera, then I got a DSLR, now i’m on mirrorless. No matter what the obstacle, I get the project done. I use a lot of online sources, but mostly I have been learning by doing. I have never been burdened by confidence, but when I look back to my first videos, I can see that I have learned a lot since the beginning. I have noticed that I have a consistent trajectory, and that I will make something great. One day I will make a feature film I am proud of. I know because I have a strong work ethic, an obsessive nature, and I have the confidence that I will never run out of ideas.”
Max Friedman

Writer, Director of “I Wanna See”

Max is a writer and filmmaker from Iowa City, IA. He loves spicy food, live music & comedy, and watches arguably too much NBA. Max graduated from UT Austin in 2017 and now lives in Los Angeles.
Moka Pantages

Producer of “The Knowing”

Moka Pantages is a Korean-American filmmaker and theater nerd from the South. As a first-time film producer with “The Knowing,” she’s been able to fuse her background in the performing arts with her career developing stories to activate global audiences around critical social issues. Moka is currently based in Seattle and working on a documentary project focused on the life and work of early horror great, Jacques Tourneur.
Monstark

Writer, Director, Artist for “Kaiju Fodder” (bumper)

Monstark is a creative shapeshifter, monster maker, and cat dad living in Portland, Oregon
Rollyn Stafford

Writer, Director of “Zombie Chase”

Rollyn Stafford works primarily as a director, writer and actor in Portland, Oregon. Credits include Grimm, Chuck Palahniuk’s Romance, “Zombie Walk”, 1 Dead Dog, Nicole, Her Ex, & the Killer, and Exorcist: The Fallen. When not making movies, Rollyn works for the Portland Art Museum and follows Bob Dylan on tour.
Steven Jackley

Writer, Producer of “Whispers” & Director of “How to Summon a Demon” bumper

For as long as he could remember, Steven has had a notebook in his hands. After transitioning from short stories to Screenwriting, he moved to Portland, Oregon to pursue his filmmaking career. Since then he has Directed, Written, and Produced over 15 short films and is currently working on creating his first Feature.
Ty Huffer

Writer, Director of “Three Houses Down”

Ty Huffer is an award-winning filmmaker who resides in Seattle, Washington. A film fanatic from a young age, he was inspired to pursue a career in film by films like Big Trouble in Little China and Charlton Heston’s Omega Man. After graduating from the Seattle Film Institute, he has made his mark by thinking outside the box to create stories that are as fun as they are compelling. Ty’s content always aims to stretch the viewer’s imaginations, surprise them, and most importantly make them scream and laugh.
Tyler Savage

Writer, Director, Producer of “Oddities”

A graduate of NYU Tisch, Tyler was a Story Editor at Warner Bros before going on to work for Terrence Malick on four back-to-back features. He went on to write full-time for a few years before directing his first feature (Inheritance, 2017), which was lauded by genre critics after premiering at Brooklyn Horror Film Festival. His second feature (Stalker, 2020) premiered at Fright Fest, won an audience award at the Austin Film Festival, and went on to be acquired by Vertical Entertainment.