Two months ago, Ed Douglas, the mastermind behind local goth/industrial heroes Midnight Syndicate, finished post-production work on The Dead Matter, a horror movie he directed. Shot in Northeast Ohio, the film is about a woman who tries to connect with her dead brother but inadvertantly enters a supernatural world. Douglas sent the movie to potential distributors. "We're trying to find the best match for us," says Douglas, who just returned from showing a trailer of the film at the Midwest Haunters convention in Columbus. "It's arguably the most important decision we'll make. It's completely up to the distributor whether it goes straight to DVD. I leave it up to the experts to make that decision. They know what makes the most sense." Douglas says the film will "definitely premiere in Cleveland," probably in late August or early September. "I'm trying to figure out the best way to do the premiere," he says. "It should be a fun event. I'm looking forward to it. It's not a groundbreaking horror film, but it is entertaining. That's for sure. That's what I like about it."
After about a year in the position, Christina Grozik announced that she's no longer the director of the Ohio Film Office. Grozik sent out a letter saying she has "been asked to assist in efforts of a new venture that will help to grow the film/video industry in Ohio." She also dropped lots of celeb names (George Clooney, Chuck Norris, for starters) she's worked with over the years, so it's anyone's guess as to what that "new venture" entails. "It's still new, and we're putting the pieces and parts together," says Grozik, who worked for several years for the Greater Cleveland Film Commission under former director Chris Carmody. In the letter announcing her new venture, she referred to her short-lived reign as director as "an exciting and educational journey," even though she admits a tax incentive would have changed the nature of the job. Grozik is also finishing post-production on a film she directed, which she plans to screen as part of a charity event in Cleveland sometime in August. "We're still working out the details on that," she says. And despite the state budget shortfall, Ohio Department of Development spokesperson Kelly Schlissberg says that the vacant Ohio Film Office director position should be filled sometime this summer.
