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LIZ ADAMS'S SIDE EFFECT WINS BIG AT 2010 VISCERA AWARDS
by Thomas M. Sipos, managing editor. [July 19, 2010]
[HollywoodInvestigtor.com]Filmmaker Liz Adams was the big winner at the 2010 Viscera Film Festival, held in at the Downtown Independent theater in Los Angeles on Saturday, July 17th.
Adams's short film, Side Effect, won both the Best Director Viscera Award and the Audience Choice Award.
The Viscera Festival honors women in horror filmmaking.
Side Effect is about a teenaged babysitter left to care for young boy and his baby brother. Despite the familiar setup, its gruesome ending surprised the audience of hardcore horror fans who'd likely thought they'd "seen it all." Their exceptionally enthusiastic applause indicated early on which of the 28 films screened would win their polling.
The Director's Award was determined by the festival's co-founders, Shannon Lark and Heidi Martinuzzi. Longtime horror film experts, Lark also founded San Francisco's Chainsaw Mafia film collective, while Martinuzzi founded the Pretty-Scary webzine (now FanGirltastic).
Adams told the Hollywood Investigator that she'd made Side Effect in hopes that its success on the festival circuit would allow her to expand the film into a feature -- adding that development on the feature film has already begun.
Tentatively titled Blood Level, the feature concerns a newly-released drug on the market -- with a dangerous "side effect." The short will serve as prologue to the feature.
Although founded in 2007, the Saturday event was the Viscera Film Festival's first screening. In past years, Viscera winners were screened on DVDs sold to the public, and at sponsoring horror film festivals -- including the Tabloid Witch Awards.
Saturday's event screened all Viscera winners and official selections to date. All films were short horror films, with women participating in one of more key roles (director, producer, or writer).
The complete list of 2010 Viscera Film Festival winners...
Viscera Award ..... Ginnetta Corelli (Mary Jane Go Round)
Best Direction ..... Side Effect (Liz Adams)
Best Cinematography ..... Wretched (Jessica Gallant)
Best Storyline ..... Beautiful as You Are (dir: Doug Mallette, prod: Mary Katherine Sisco)
Audience Choice ..... Side Effect (Liz Adams)
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