Fame Fatale: A Horror Comedy About An Actor Who Finally Snaps
Fame Fatale is an upcoming short horror comedy film created by writer/actor Michael James Daly and director/producer Michelle Iannantuono.
The colorful, 80s-drenched film follows a gay working actor, Michael, who has nearly reached his wit’s end with the acting industry. After recently losing what would be his “big break,” he visits a horror fan convention to take his mind off 20 years of hardship. Little does he know, the convention isn’t exactly a safe space for aspiring actors either…and a couple snide comments from some filmmaker panelists might just make him snap.
Why Make This Film?
Therapy? Catharsis? Fun? How about all three! Filmmaking is what we love, and this is a story we’ve both wanted to put to the screen for awhile. But beyond the fun concept and wicked script, we have a larger social message to portray with Fame Fatale.
Michael and I have both spent a lot of time on the film circuit, and we’ve seen a LOT of indie horror movies. And while gay characters are certainly becoming more prominent in horror films, they are still often the first to be victimized, or they are villainized due to their sexuality. Often, their sexuality is their singular character trait that defines and motivates them – which is simply not a reflection of reality. On top of that, very frequently heterosexual actors are hired to play gay roles, making the pool of opportunity even smaller for struggling LGBT performers.
We wanted to create a horror film that stars a gay character, played by a gay actor, who is well-rounded, funny, and sympathetic. His identity is core to his portrayal, but his character is not motivated by it.
Additionally, as a female director, it’s important to me to create a gender-diverse cast and crew as well. We want to use the budget of this film to include and support marginalized talent of all stripes – women, POC, LGBT, etc. And the best way to keep marginalized creators in the film industry is to give them work that pays their bills!
Who’s Involved In Making This?
The film was written by veteran actor Michael James Daly, based on his personal experiences with horror conventions, two decades of the film industry, and struggling to make it in Hollywood as a 40-year-old gay actor. Michael is a huge horror fan, and has starred in numerous indie horror films, such as A Nun’s Curse (dir. Tommy Faircloth), Skin Baby (dir. Ken Cohen), Devil’s Advocate (dir. Michelle Iannantuono), Lake Moultrie Massacre (dir. C. Michael Whaley) and Bobby (dir. William Stancil).
Michelle Iannantuono is an award-winning director, having directed five films to date. Her first feature, LIVESCREAM, was met with critical acclaim on the festival circuit – screening at established genre festivals like Crimson Screen Film Festival, Nightmares Film Festival, Gen Con Film Festival, and Horrorhound Cincinnati.
We also have some really amazing collaborators attached! 80’s pop queen Debbie Gibson will be creating an original song for the credits, and we also have the amazing Anna Kristen McKown (Wes Craven’s Carnival of Souls) attached as a co-star.
Fundraising Is Now Live!
We seek $20,000 in our pursuit of making this film. You can see a budget breakdown below – a large portion of our funds are allocated for labor, because both of us believe in paying talented actors and crew for their time and skills. We are also attempting to make make this a union film through SAG, in order to gain experience with working on a union production, and to ensure safety and equity for our collaborators. Our production is already insured with general liability insurance through Octopunk Media, so the rest of the budget can go to making the actual film!
We are fiscally sponsored through Fractured Atlas, a 501(c) organization that helps artists raise money from charitable sources. This means that all donations are eligible to receive a donation receipt, and are tax-deductible where permitted.
Although your donations are intended to be charitable in nature, so that you don’t have to deduct any “fair market value” on any perks received, we are willing to offer a scale of credits (including IMDB credits) to our donors, in the following scale:
– $1-$99: Special Thanks
– $100 – $499: Associate Producer
– $499 – $1999: Co-Producer
– $2000-$4999: Executive Producer
– $5000+: Producer
For donations of $250 or more, your business may also be listed in our “Thanks to our Sponsors!” section of the credits. We will be happy to place your logo in the credits as a thank you for sponsoring us.
Finally, if you have a non-cash donation, such as gear, food, props, insurance, or other non-cash goods, you may also donate those through Fractured Atlas as well. Please get in touch through our Contact Form if you would like to offer non-cash goods to the production!
