| Tim Ritter is a diehard horror fanatic, heavy metal enthusiast, and filmmaker who has gotten notoriety for writing and directing such movies as the original “Truth or Dare” trilogy, “Killing Spree”, “Creep” and “Deadly Dares- Truth or Dare 4”. He has contributed to the independent movie scene in various capacities for three decades now. Ritter also penned The Hammer Will Fall and the semi-autobiographical Unreel. He is currently hard at work on delivering more outrageous books and movies to the unsuspecting public and works primarily with indie distributor SRS Cinema out of New York. Tim wrote and directed the segment “Switchblade Insane” for “Hi-8” and also contributed to the movie as an Executive Producer. |
| Marcus Koch is a special effects artist and director who got his start at a very young age. His parents raised him on horror films, watching movies at the drive-in and renting videos from his local mom and pop video store. Once he got his hands on his dad’s video camera, he began making shorts and testing out FX gags. At age 18, his 4th feature movie, "Rot" got picked up for distribution, which slowly gained a small cult following. For the next 10 years, he focused on honing his artistic skills and handling FX on many different movies, before jumping into directing again with the gorefest “100 Tears”. To this day, he continues to supervise FX for films, as well as directing. For “Hi-8”, Marcus wrote, directed, and did the special effects for “A Very Bad Situation”. |
| Tony Masiello is a filmmaker and visual effects artist from San Diego, CA. A devout horror fan sense childhood, Tony was inspired by the SOV (shot on video) horror films of the 80's and 90's to pursue his dream of working in the film industry. After attending college (studying digital video production), Tony worked on his first feature film "Hobgoblins 2". Since then he has worked on over 50 feature films spanning several genres. Currently, Tony is in post production on "SOV The True Independents", a documentary web series found at www.sovhorror.com. Tony directed “The Tape” for “Hi-8”. |
| Ron Bonk wrote and directed “Gang Them Style” for “Hi-8”. Ron has been making movies on video since 1992 and distributing them since 1993 under his companies Salt City Home Video, Sub Rosa Studios and SRS Cinema. His film "Clay" won several awards at the Bare Bones Film Festival including Best Filmmaker, and his most recent movie is "She Kills", an old to 1970's Grindhouse flicks, currently in post-production. |
| Chris Seaver has been making micro-budget films for twenty-two years, since founding Low Budget Pictures in 1991, and has made an astounding 50 features and over one hundred shorts. Many of his films are in worldwide circulation in stores and online, including Netflix. His work has been profiled in Fangoria, Rue Morgue, and Horrorhound and he has also appeared on the national television show “Movie Up” on the Reels Channel. In 2011, he launched Warlock Home Video, a label devoted to bringing back the glory days of 80's shot-on-VHS horror. For “Hi-8”, Chris contributed the segment “Genre Bending”. |
| Todd Sheets grew up in Drive In Theaters and Grindhouses in the Midwest, inspired by Famous Monsters of Filmland and Fangoria. Todd began making movies with his friends and his Father’s Super 8 camera at the age of 9. His first break came when B-Movie icon David DeCoteau signed Todd to a 6 picture deal for Cinema Home Video. Todd disowns many of those early movies, yet fans of underground cinema have embraced them. Since that time, he has made 13 films. His newest feature is “House of Forbidden Secrets,” which won 6 awards at the PollyGrind Film Fest and is currently enjoying a theatrical tour of the US. For “The Request”, his contribution to “Hi-8”, Todd created a short that was in the same style as the Marvel Horror and EC Comics he grew up reading, inspired by the same source material as films like Creepshow. For Todd being a part of Hi-8 was an incredible honor and a dream come true to work with many people whom he admires. |
| Donald Farmer is best known as the writer/director of over two dozen horror and action films including “Cannibal Hookers”, “Red Lips” and “Chainsaw Cheerleaders”. As a writer, he has contributed to Fangoria and created the 80's horror fanzine The Splatter Times, now revived in an online edition. Farmer also has a side career as an actor, starting as a zombie in George Romero's “Day of the Dead”, co-starring with Camille Keaton in “Savage Vengeance”, and most recently playing "The Producer" on the VH1 reality series “Megan Wants a Millionaire." Donald wrote and directed the segment “Thicker than Water” for “Hi-8”. |
| Brad Sykes received his first Hi-8 camera at age fifteen, and hasn’t stopped shooting since. Since his first feature “Scream Queen” in 1998, Brad has written and directed over 20 movies including the “Camp Blood” trilogy, “Death Factory”, “Goth”, and “Plaguers”, which played at festivals worldwide and won several awards. His films have been distributed worldwide and received attention in many publications including Entertainment Weekly, Fangoria, The Hollywood Reporter, The Dark Side, LA Weekly, and several books. Brad served as Executive Producer on “Hi-8” as well as writing and directing “The Scout” and the wraparound story “No Budget Film Presents…” |
| Josephina Sykes fell in love with film from a young age, spending her childhood on soundstages and screening rooms before attending film school in Bucharest and Paris. |
| Chris Lorusso has been a film junkie since birth. Growing up with the local video rental store within walking distance helped feed his voracious appetite for film. All this cinema consumption lead to his love of editing and soon enough was cutting his first feature film “Kalamity”. He has also worked in television and on several documentaries including “Cinemability”. As a fan of many of the contributing filmmakers, Chris was fully prepared to take on the duties of supervising editor of “Hi-8”. |
