Death's Parade Film Fest to Debut in San Jose

New horror film festivals are always debuting. One of these is Death's Parade in San Jose, which will hold its first even on October 4th and 5th, 2019. 

That's over a year from now, but the Early Bird Deadline is January 1, 2019 (Last Chance, June 30th), so it's not too early to enter.

"Because this is our inaugural run," says founder Anthony DeRouen, "the theme will be inspiration. This will be reflected in our selected filmmakers' bios." DeRouen wants filmmakers to explain "What excites you? Show us what drives you to create that wonderful, terrifying, insidious art you make."

Death's Parade welcomes every horror subgenre. Just be scary. "We want to scare the audience --and I mean scare them. We want to get under their skin, get those beads of sweat going, subvert their expectations, show them something fresh and original. We want to expose the audience to creators and voices outside the norm. If we receive a submission completely out of left field that gets our palms sweaty, we will give it serious consideration."

But though DeRouen wants "fresh and original" horror (don't we all?), he doesn't want to discourage anyone. "Don’t be afraid to make a film which has elements done before. If you have a fresh spin on a well-worn trope, explore it, probe it, expand it. Combine elements not usually seen in horror and flip it upside down. What happens when you do? We have no idea, but we’d love to see."

Even so, Death's Parade has some limits. "No adult films, please."

DeRouen stresses the importance of finding talented actors, willing to commit to the material. "It doesn’t matter if the actor has ten credits to their name or none. The audience is not going to judge their IMDB page. They are going to judge the actor's performance on screen and nothing else. Find actors willing to embody the characters you created and lift their emotional levels to heights you couldn’t imagine."

Post-production is also important. In the editing room "pay close attention the film’s pacing. Don't rush the final cut, or the music composition. Sound mixing and color grading are also important steps in delivering a worthwhile film."

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For a behind-the-scenes look at horror film festivals and the festival directors who manage them, see Horror Film Festivals and Awards. This book also includes a directory of over 200 horror film festivals, and a list of festival award winners from dozens of festivals over several decades.