This week I interviewed a great IG feed: @blackveilshortfilm !

Author’s Note: Below are the responses, answered by Aine Geraghty and Roberto Guevara, the co-writers and co-directors of Black Veil.

1. What is your movie short about?

“Roberto: Black Veil is a horror-comedy following a pair of best friends who get stalked by a masked assailant while working after hours at a Bridal Boutique. As writers, we were really excited about taking characters who are afraid of romantic commitment and plopping them in a setting where they’re constantly confronted by marriage. 

Aine: This ultimately plays into the feature-length script we wrote, which the short is based on, as they both tackle characters dealing with relationship issues. There can be so much anxiety surrounding a wedding because for some people commitment is the ultimate horror — but there’s no greater commitment than death so we really tried to have fun with that.”

2. CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE FUNDRAISING FOR THE SHORT?

“Roberto: Indie-filmmaking has been an incredibly enriching experience with so much room to explore and grow but it does come with limitations, especially financial ones. 

Aine: We’ve launched a Seed & Spark campaign: linked here to help crowdsource the film’s budget. We took our time constructing personal and unique incentives for those willing to pledge to show how thankful and mindful we are of people’s generosity. 

Roberto: Our incentives range from receiving a personalized movie watchlist and a “horrorscope,” showcasing your astrology chart as horror movies, to getting an executive producer credit on the film. There’s a lot of fun stuff there so I hope people take the time to look over it.”

3. WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO MAKE THIS SHORT?

“Aine: Something that bonded Roberto and I at the beginning of our friendship was a love of horror, which any fan of the genre knows can be incredibly unifying. Also, like many horror fans, we felt like slashers were becoming a dying genre and we wanted to create a project that could breathe new life into it. 

Roberto: In 2019 we developed a feature titled It’s My Wedding & I’ll Die if I Want To and for the last three years we’ve writing and re-writing. As young screenwriters without much access to the industry, it sometimes felt like that would be as far as the script would go — just a cycle of constant edits, waiting for someone to believe in our vision. That someone ended up being my good friend Maryam Fassihi, who is now producing the short. I met with her one day, recounted the trilogy long arc Aine and I created, and from there the Black Veil short was born. 

Aine: We see making this short — this proof of concept — as the first step in bringing our entire bloody vision to life!”

4.  IF YOU HAD TO MAKE A LIST OF FOUR MOVIES AND / OR BOOKS THAT BEST REPRESENT YOUR PERSONALITY. WHAT WOULD BE ON THAT LIST & WHY?

“AINE

1.) I Spy Spooky Mansion  Photography by Walter Wick & Riddles by Jean Marzollo.

This really encapsulates my love for maximalism, harmless haunts, and curling up in front of the fire to look out at the cemetery in your backyard. When I picture a world where I would be the happiest, it’s living in the pages of this book.”

2.) The Lost Boys (1987)

It’s unique in a way that makes even one viewing lastingly impactful, but it’s also a story that I believe centers on the love we have for our families and the lengths we will go to keep them together. While no members of my family are goddamn shit-sucking vampires (sadly), they are an incredibly important part of my life.

3.) Addams Family Values  (1993)

I would be insane not to include this as one of my selections since Wednesday Addams, in this film specifically, shaped me so much as a young woman. The way in which Wednesday is unapologetically herself, doesn’t obey corrupt authorities, and makes sure there are consequences for crossing her well-established boundaries, is something I’ve always tried to emulate.

4.) Thelma & Louise (1991)

While I find myself to often be a creature of habit, at the end of the day I’m an Aries that craves excitement and adventure. One of the happiest times in my life was driving cross country to Los Angeles in college, and I would do it again in a heartbeat if I could. The way this story explores this friendship between these two women also feels so personal to me, as both a big sister to a little sister and as someone who has always sought out female companionship as a source of safety and comfort.”

ROBERTO:

1.) Romy & Michele’s High School Reunion (1997)

Following your own, unconventional path can come with judgment from certain people in your life. This film is a personal reminder that although some may not understand my life choices, I’m still having the best time, even in the chaos. Plus, it’s silly, campy, values the power of friendship, and stars Lisa Kudrow who I subconsciously modeled many of my mannerisms off of. 

2.) Knife+Heart (2018)

It’s a gay, Giallo-inspired vortex of flashy horror, sensuality, style, and out-of-place supernatural elements. I don’t believe most people would associate me with those things at first glance, yet they’re things that thrill me. Murder and violence aside, I’d love to move through a neon-lit world with M83 as my score. 

3.) Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper by Diablo Cody

I may not have had a year as an unlikely stripper (yet), but I often find myself having a “yes, and” approach to trying new things. It does lead me to bizarre places in which I feel I have no business being in, but it does keep things interesting. 

4.) Xanadu (1980)

I think my interest and aesthetics can inspire a similar reaction to the way people see this movie. Some think it’s gaudy, confused, and in bad taste. Others can acknowledge some of that truth, yet still see it as a masterpiece filled with charisma, spectacle, and joy!

5. DO YOU HAVE ANY EXCITING EVENTS OR NEWS THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE?

Roberto: “In a few days, once callbacks and chemistry reads conclude, we will be able to announce the cast of Black Veil so stay tuned for that!”

Aine: “At the time of this interview there are officially 10 days left of our crowdsourcing campaign. Once that concludes we go into production which we could not be more excited about!”

If you would like more information. The following contact info is below:

Instagram: @blackveilshortfilm

Twitter: @blackveilshort

Email: blackveilshortfilm@gmail.com

Thank you so much for the interview!!!!

This week I had the pleasure of interviewing @wetboxx

1. Who is Wetboxx?

“Wetboxx is an experimental horror video collective. Storyline? It is more stream of consciousness than narrative. “Folie à deux” mother and her children making home videos to mask their crippling anxiety. 

They are shape shifters and pranksters who are extremely photogenic in the dark.“

2. What hobbies or interests does Wetboxx have?

“The characters enjoy making their home videos to amuse, confuse and frighten. “

3.  Are you more of a night or day personality?

“Night. We keep odd hours.”

4.What is the thought process of picking out the music that is on your instagram posts?

“There is an eclectic spontaneity when selecting music. Initially, it was strictly goth related (death rock, industrial, EBM, dark wave, post punk, noise etc.)”

5. Do you have any exciting news or events that you would like to share?

“A VHS compilation has been in the works. It’ll be a limited run with material never before seen on the internet. DIY Installation show(s) and merch will be coming in 2023. Follow us on Instagram and subscribe to our YOUTUBE page.”

“We’ve never accepted an interview, but we made an exception for you LADY CULT. We’re great admirers of all your page and writings. Thank you for taking the time to speak with us.”

This week’s artist’s spotlight is on @reallybadcartoons !

1. Tell me a little about yourself

“Hey Ladycult, my name is Joey P Curran and I am a cartoonist living in great ol’ Upstate New York. I have always been really into cartoons and have been doodling around my whole life – could never stay focused on much else.”

2. What 3 cartoons show growing up inspired your art and why?

“I grew up watching a lot of a local show called Pappyland.

I would spend hours at our coffee table drawing along with the main character Pappy Drewitt.

Looking back, that show is definitely what sparked my love for art.

As I got older, I shifted into watching stuff like Rocko’s Modern Life, Space Ghost Coast to Coast and Futurama, and getting into my grandparents’ Playboy collection. I would steal the pages with the comics and draw out my own versions.

Growing up in a strict, Catholic household, I naturally was addicted to the raunch/taboo cartoons. It was all a huge influence on my “style” for sure.”

“I just recently got into the whole commission thing. For a while I was straying away from low-brow art due to Instagram’s insane censorship but lately I have been back at it with the raunchier stuff. It’s been a lot more political, gory and perverse adult cartoons; which I enjoy the most. Typically prices range from $50-100 – dependent on size, time spent and the amount of detail. You can inquire about commissions, check out originals and what’s for sale at @reallybadcartoons on Instagram, email me at joeypcurran@gmail.com or https://www.reallybadcartoons.com/

4. Do you have any exciting news or events that you would like to share:

“As for the future, I’m hoping to just keep digging into the community of perverts and weirdos I found myself in. I’ve been meeting a lot of cool people and falling into some fun opportunities like this one, thanks to the legend Ladycult! We all appreciate everything you do, peace!”

If you would like more information about Joey. The following contacting information is below:

https://www.reallybadcartoons.com/

@reallybadcartoons

thank you so much for the interview Joey!!!!

Until next time!

When August feels like September: I am still heartbroken with the way you left things….

I loved you unconditionally, supported you in choices that I knew that would make you happy. Sold things when I had no job and no money to see you. Supported your happiness when you said no one did. It hurts that I have no communication with you. I still cry about this. There are times where I am so taken by grief that I start crying uncontrollably. But I know that when I do this it is my only way to grieve. So I decided to write when I feel this way. To write my words and my truth because you pretend that I do not exist. Like I am not a worthy person to have a conversation with. You cannot not hide from the world or from your own emotions. Perhaps it’s a pride thing that you feel justify in your actions I am not sure. But the only way I can feel out my pain is in writing. Sharing and communicating with others. I am not the only one in this journey. Although I admit it has been the most painful journey I have been on up to this point my life. However I know that I am not the only one walking this path. I know that others have been on this road, and was or still is walking these same steps. Not knowing where this path will lead, when to have a pit stop or when they finish their path. Know that you are not alone in this. But hiding is not the answer in healing that I know for sure. I might be on this path for months, years I don’t know but yet I continue to go forward. To walk on it because some days I walk quicker than others days. Some day I completely stop but I will still go forward.

Lester Gaba was an artist with a specialization in sculpting . Growing up in Hannibal, Missouri while his parents were working hard in the general store that they own. Lester was spending a good chunk of his time drawing instead. When he was ten years old he decided to enter a sculpting contest backed by Procter & Gamble with the medium being soap. That contest even though he lost left a huge impression on him. He decided then and there that he would only sculpt with soap.

He went on to an art college in Chicago and then landed a job at Balaban & Katz theater Corporation. The head of the art department was so captivated by Lester’s soap art they starting to use it in magazines covers and quickly caught the attention of other advertising companies. Lester’s soap figurines became the rage and his name was quickly known as the only person at the time to specialized in creating works of art with soap.

Lester decided to move to New York City in 1932 and there he had a massive career moment. Although there a many different stories of what happened. One theory is that he was at a party in Chicago and befriended a socialite who owned a major chain of department stores called Best & Company (1879-late 1970’s) in New York City. She knew of his art and asked him to create some kind of art installation for the department stores that would make it both fashionable and attract shoppers to their stores. He then created a line of mannequins that he named Gaba Girls and made them to look like popular socialites of the era:

Another theory is that when he moved to New York City. Saks Fifth Avenue approached him to create the same idea and execute the same concept. Either way the Gaba girls became a very popular and talked about thing in New York City. Lester started using other material to create his girls so they had a longer shelf life: Plaster of Paris become his choice art material. His choice to move on to a different material was due to the weight. Soap in the shape of a human could weigh up to 200 plus pounds vs plaster of Paris is a lighter material and weighs much less.

One particular Gaba Girl become more popular than the others. There was one that was made in the likeness of a well known wife of an industrialist named Cynthia:

Cynthia became the most popular Gaba Girl due to her human like posing and very human realistic features. One of her more famous posing is the one pictured above. She has hair, freckles and even had one foot smaller than the other.

She began receiving hundreds of letters of fan mail, a lot of well known jewelry and fashion houses like Cartier, and Tiffany’s began to send her items which made her closet the envy of the everyone. Even Saks Fifth Avenue issued Cynthia a credit card from them. So she can shop there anytime!

Cynthia was invited to the best parties in town and was even extended a wedding invitation of the wedding of Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson:

Cynthia was even given season box seat tickets to the Metropolitan Opera House:

There was even a time where she had her own newspaper column and radio show.

She even had a movie credit in a movie called “Artists and Models.” A 1938 comedy with Jack Benny and Ida Lupino.

Of course anywhere that Cynthia went Lester went as well. There was even a Life Magazine cover and cover story with her and Lester out on the town:

However Cynthia had an horrible accident when she was sitting on a chair getting her nails done and broken in to hundreds of pieces in the late 1930’s. Her demise was even reported in the newspapers. Lester was able to make her own again late 1941 however in December 1942 Lester was drafted into the army. So she went into forced retirement while he was serving in the army. By the time he got out Cynthia was no longer the popular “it girl.” She went missing in 1952 and was never to be found again.

Lester however went on to a great career past his Gaba girl craze. He took a mixture of careers. He was everything from a newspaper writer, a professor and he created and enlarged the visual merchandising field. Even writing a book in 1952 called “The Art of Window Display”. That is a landmark book in the visual merchandising field. He died in 1987.

Sources: https://www.scrappyland.com/blog/2012/10/27/lester-gaba-michelangelo-of-the-bathtub/

This amazing short:

Wikipedia

Until Next time!!!

This week I interview one of my favorite podcasts: @thevanishedpodcast !

1. What is the Vanished Podcast?

“The Vanished is a podcast about people who have gone missing. We try to focus on cases that have not garnered much media attention. We think that every story deserves to be heard, not just a select few that make national headlines.”

2. What made you want to start a podcast like this? 

“I have my own family mystery. My great-grandfather disappeared when my grandfather was a young child. It completely changed the trajectory of my grandfather’s life. He went into foster care and had some really negative experiences. I grew up hearing about this family mystery, which made me very interested in missing persons cases. I tried digging into it myself to find any trace of him. I never did. I even submitted my DNA to find relatives. The rumor was that he went out west to start a new life. I was looking to see if he had more children. I eventually decided that I was not making any progress with my case, and my energy could be spent elsewhere. What could I do to help others? That was when the idea for the podcast was born.”

3.Can you talk a little bit about your patreon? 

“We have a Patreon, but we only release episodes early and ad-free. Since our cases are unsolved, we don’t want to put any of them behind a paywall. We want as many people to hear them as possible. So, our Patrons get our episodes ad-free on Friday. Our main release day is Monday.”

Here is the link if you would like to join the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thevanishedpodcast

4. How can someone submit a case to you for your podcast?

“We have a case submission form. It helps us keep all of the submissions organized in a spreadsheet. Here is a link: https://www.thevanishedpodcast.com/case-submission

5.  Are there any particular missing cases you discuss on your podcasts that left a memorable impression? What made them so memorable for you?

“Yes, every story sticks with me for any number of reasons. The cases in which we create a series seem to stick with us the most. One example would be Ian Eckles. We covered Ian in a 3-part series in 2021. Ian seemed to have a larger-than-life personality and was loved by so many. You can’t help but wish you had a chance to meet him when you hear his loved ones discuss him. Ian went on a hunting trip in 2020. What I think sticks with me so much about what happened to Ian is that it was completely random. It is the kind of crime that haunts us all the most because of that randomness. There were no warning signs to look for, it was simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It is believed that Ian was likely sleeping in his vehicle before a planned early morning hunt with a friend when he was attacked by a complete stranger. There is physical evidence to support this, like brain matter inside the vehicle. But Ian disappeared along with his vehicle. His friends and family went to the mountains to search for him, thinking he was lost or in an accident. At one point, they were riding on a mountain road when Ian’s vehicle came around the corner at them, but it was not Ian behind the wheel. They have a brief altercation with the man and try to chase him down. Law enforcement searched in the woods for this man and Ian’s vehicle. They found the vehicle and another stolen vehicle belonging to a woman who had been found dead weeks prior. Now, they knew that they had someone very dangerous on the loose. It sparked a huge manhunt in the area that lasted for weeks. Residents had to be evacuated from the area. They did capture the man, Jorge Alcantara-Gonzalez, who is currently incarcerated. Ian is still missing, and his loved ones are still searching to find him.”

6.What steps do you take in order to prepare for an upcoming podcast? 

“We talk to friends, family, and request interviews with law enforcement. We also send in record requests for each case. Sometimes we are lucky enough to get large case files. Those are the cases that we can make into a series. We also dig through newspaper archives, and those can be especially helpful with very cold cases from decades ago.

This week, we covered Cynthia Constantine, who disappeared in 1969. She has one living relative, her brother, William. That made it difficult for us, but we found articles in newspaper archives that allowed us to give her mother a voice. “

7. Do you have any news or events that you would like to share?

“We don’t have any events coming up. I am actually moving from Pennsylvania to North Carolina this month. That has limited my ability to participate in any events this summer.

One big thing that I would like to share is a case that we covered earlier this year. Teresa Kennedy and her young daughter, Bethany Tiner, disappeared in 1997. We put extensive work into this case, and what we learned led us to believe that they had left and gone into hiding. Teresa believed that Bethany was being abused by her father. Speaking with family members, there were many alleged victims of this man across multiple generations. We handed over our evidence to law enforcement, and he was charged. Weeks after the podcast aired, Teresa and Bethany were found alive. They had gone into hiding under new identities. Covering that case and seeing the outcome has been an emotional roller coaster for us who work on the show. We can only imagine what it must be like for the family. We recently did an update on this case and hope to do more in the future.”

If you would like to learn more about this podcast. Here is the main website: https://linktr.ee/thevanishedpodcast