ABOUT THE FILM PLOT SYNOPSIS: Unfortunately, their party is soon crashed by a jealous boyfriend and an outbreak of bloodthirsty zombies from a nearby medical testing facility. Now, Benny, Smalls, and their friends must fight for their lives to escape from the flesh-eating horde, all while trying to make sense of teenage social life. Blending elements of Superbad, Return of the Living Dead, and The Sandlot with an absurdist comic sensability of it's own, DIE AND LET LIVE is a blood-drenched comedy/satire that will have you laughing and screaming at the same time! Featuring appearances by TRENT HAAGA and LLOYD KAUFMAN (as well as a voice cameo from DEBBIE ROCHON) and a soundtrack featuring CATCH-22, BIG D AND THE KIDS TABLE, PLANET SMASHERS, THE FLATLINERS, and more! ABOUT THE PRODUCTION DIE AND LET LIVE is the second feature film from young director Justin Channell, who was only 18 years old when the film began production in 2006. Channell and friends Zane Crosby and Joshua Lively began producing short films while they were in high school, under the brand name IWC Films. In 2005, they completed their first feature-length film, a vampire comedy titled Raising The Stakes. Despite the low-budget digital film being shot for less than $150 and only being available through a short-run DVD-R release, it was a modest sucess which won several awards in West Virginia film and arts scene and recieved a wealth of positive press and good word-of-mouth, including praise from Robot Chicken writer Tom Root. After following up their film with a segment on the microbudget horror anthology Faces of Schlock Vol. 2, the IWC Films began working on DIE AND LET LIVE. An early screenplay went into production on a very low budget in the summer of 2005, but Channell, Crosby, and Lively were ultimately unhappy with the results and took time off to rework the project. With a retooled script, IWC Films crew secured funds for DIE AND LET LIVE from DVD sales of their debut film and further financing from two reviewers who were fans of Raising The Stakes (T.W. Anderson and Brian Morton). Production began in May 2006 and ended in November of the same year. The film had much higher production values than anything the young crew had ever worked on before. Zane Crosby, who had provided the special effects and makeup for all of their previous films, was able to plan more elaborate effects and even enlisted the help of a crew of makeup artists to assist in designing the film's many zombies. Crosby showed his dedication by using real cow intestines for a scene in the fim - which he had to dig out of metal barrels which were sitting in a field during the 100 degree summer heat. The world premiere of DIE AND LET LIVE was held at the Warner Theatre in Morgantown, WV on December 1st, 2006 to a nearly packed theatre. The event was featured on the front page of Graffiti Magazine. (click here to watch the video!) As DIE AND LET LIVE began recieving positive reviews, many noting the film's humor and chemistry between Crosby and Lively.Heretic Films picked up the film for North American distribution and will be releasing it on DVD January 29th, '08. |