US Premiere

Finn Callan is an Irish filmmaker who specialises in transgressive, unusual and macabre subject matter. His work has been described as bleak, cacophonous, disturbing and at times incomprehensible. His feature length experimental film 'The Garden' was described as "the loudest silent movie ever made."

His work has also been recognised and showcased by various publications including Dread Central, NME and The Verge, as well as being screened by Picturehouse, The Horse Hospital Gallery in London and on Amazon Prime.

Originally from Norman, Oklahoma, John received his MFA in Film & TV Production from USC and his BA from UCLA in Theatre Directing and Playwriting. John co-founded production company Shatterproof Films, which specializes in genre-based films with topical social messages. He screened his short film “Dembanger” at Screamfest in 2013 and “The Labyrinth” in 2015. “Initiation,” a remake of “Dembanger”, is a topical reinvention of the slasher genre for the social media generation. He couldn't be more excited to come back home to Screamfest for his directorial debut.

“Canadian identical twin sister writing and directing duo, Jen and Sylvia Soska, known as the “Twisted Twins“, first broke onto the scene with their DIY love letter to Grindhouse filmmaking, DEAD HOOKER IN A TRUNK. The film quickly grew into an award winning, critically acclaimed, cult classic sensation, even getting the attention of director Eli Roth (HOSTEL) who praised it saying, “it’s fucking awesome”. The Twins went on to follow up their break through indie gem with the accomplished and genre defining AMERICAN MARY that placed horror icon Katharine Isabelle in the title role of Mary Mason, a medical student who gets drawn into the world of body modification and underground surgeries. “Fucking amazing. Extraordinary. A really superb picture. Katharine Isabelle is awesome“, hailed horror legend Clive Barker (HELLRAISER).

The Soska Sisters have gone on to be very outspoken about equal rights across the board including but not limited to the LGBTQ community. They’re actively involved in promoting blood donation and create a new PSA for it every February in celebration of Women In Horror Month, on which board they serve. And they are only just getting started.

In 2014 Soska Sisters started their studio directing career, bringing a new life to SEE NO EVIL 2 where they resurrect the WWE Studios franchise with WWE Superstar Glenn “Kane” Jacobs reprising his role as Jacob Goodnight and scream queens Danielle Harris and Katharine Isabelle appearing together for the first time. The Twins are also part of the all star director line up on ABCs of Death 2 with a segment that both shocked audiences and is destined for cult status where they reunite with AMERICAN MARY break out star Tristan Risk and numerous other familiar faces from the horror scene. Always ones to surprise their audiences and keep everyone guessing with what they’ll do next, the Soska Sisters completed their first film outside of horror, a balls to the wall, no holds barred action film with Lionsgate and WWE Studios called VENDETTA starring Dean Cain, Paul “The Big Show” Wight, and Michael Eklund like you’ve never seen them before scheduled for release in 2015.

Avid comic book fans, the Soska Sisters have teamed up with Daniel Way (DEADPOOL, DAKEN) to create their own very graphic novel entitled KILL-CRAZY NYMPHOS ATTACK! with artist Rob Dumo & cover artist Dave Johnson which is a pitch black satire on patriarchal society and women’s roles within it.

“The Soska Twins break half the established rules of screenwriting and somehow get away with it, and their direction is clever and assured throughout. More importantly, they show a sense of cultural awareness that most of their white male peers don’t even seem to know exists. This allows them to step into dangerous territory with a maturity, insight, and humanity that rarely seen in this genre anymore.” Dan Schaffer (DOGWITCH, THE SCRIBBLER)