WATCH: Local filmmaker Shawn Ewert previews his new feature film 'Sacrament' with teaser

Posted on August 30, 2011 by Rich Lopez

Dallas queer filmmaker Shawn Ewert, who co-founded the Fears For Queers film festival, is in the process of working on his newest horror flick, Sacrament. He previewed the movie with this teaser at the festival. At the same time, he and his company Right Left Turn Productions are also inviting people to contribute to the making of the film with donations. Basically, offer them some scratch and you could have a credit in a movie. How often does that happen?

They are about to release an extended clip after so many views of the one below. I wouldn't say this is NSFW, but if you're not that much into blood and cannibalism at the dinner table, well, maybe watch at home. Sacrament is the first feature-length film by Ewert and his company.

Oh yeah, what's the movie about? Well, here's the synopsis from RLTP:

Leaving work and school behind them for a weekend of hedonism, seven friends take a trip down to South Padre, Texas to relax and party it up. A breakdown lands them square in the rhinestone jewel of the bible-belt, Middle Spring during a tent revival. Middle Spring is known for their famous barbecue, and for their fervent preacher Isaac Renneker.

Our friends soon find themselves trapped in this town of food and faith. Every second that ticks by blurs the line between the two. With Renneker's fire and brimstone whipping the town into a righteous whirlwind, the friends have to stick together to keep from winding up at the altar, or on the menu.

Watch the teaser below

Congratulations to JT, Rebecca, Nalle, Lola, and Mark for their official selection.

Tonight, in association with Right Left Turn Productions, we are proud to announce the following films have been selected to screen as part of the Fears for Queers 2 LGBT Horror Film Festival on Saturday, June 25th, 2011 at The Texas Theatre:

George's Intervention  from JT Seaton

Cupcake from Rebecca Thomson

metsastysmaa from Nalle Mielonen

I Was a Tranny Werewolf from Lola Rocknrolla

Bite Marks from Mark Bessenger

The Fears For Queers 2 LGBT Film Festival, first held in 2010, will showcase a selection of independent feature and short horror films that have been written and/or directed by LBGT filmmakers and/or of gay interest.  The festival will be held on June 25th, 2011 at the historic Texas Theatre in Dallas, Texas.

Half of all ticket sales will be donated to Youth First Texas.  Youth First Texas is the only non-profit organization in Dallas exclusively committed to providing social services, education opportunities, recreational activities and leadership development to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, and Questioning (LGBTQ) Youth through age 22.  More information about YFT can be found at http://www.youthfirsttexas.org.

Please go to indiegogo.com to support us with your donation.

2ND ANNUAL FEARS FOR QUEERS LGBT HORROR FILM FESTIVAL

The Fears For Queers 2 LGBT Film Festival, first held in 2010, will showcase a selection of independent feature and short horror films that have been written and/or directed by LBGT filmmakers and/or of gay interest. The festival will be held on June 25th, 2011 at The Historic Texas Theatre in Dallas, Texas.

Half of all ticket sales will be donated to Youth First Texas. Youth First Texas is the only non-profit organization in Dallas exclusively committed to providing social services, education opportunities, recreational activities and leadership development to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, and Questioning (LGBTQ) Youth through age 22. More information about YFT can be found at http://www.youthfirsttexas.org.

Filmmakers can submit their short and feature films for consideration to:

DOA Bloodbath Entertainment
C/O FFQ2
PO Box 643
Farmersville, TX 75442

The entry deadline is 4/30/2011 and there is no cost to submit a film. Official selections will be announced on June 1st, 2011.

Contact Andrew Rose (info@doabloodbath.com) or Shawn Ewert (rightleftturnproductions@gmail.com) to discuss sponsorship opportunities.

DOA Blood Bath Entertainment is a sole-proprietorship of Dione and Andrew Rose, who seek to provide fans of horror opportunities to view independent horror films through film festivals and special screenings throughout the year.

Right Left Turn Productions is an independent film production company owned and operated by gay filmmaker Shawn Ewert.

More information will be posted at http://www.doabloodbath.com and http://www.rightleftturnproductions.com.

Contact: Andrew Rose
PO Box 643
Farmersville, TX 75442

Homo and horror collide as out filmmaker Shawn Ewert slices his way into the movies

For some people, every day is Halloween.

The monsters and nightmares stick around all year long and they are just fine with that.

Definitely Shawn Ewert is. Actually, if it wasn’t for those nightmares, he might be out of his profession as a horror film director.

“If I’m working around the house, I’ll throw in any scary movie for the background,” he says. “It’s just another day.”

When a “cool aunt” showed him A Nightmare on Elm Street, it scared him like it should any 5-year-old. Now 32, he admits he can’t get enough of it. So he decided to turn his photography work into filmmaking.

“I love film in general but because of that, horror has special place for me,” he says. “I watched a lot of Hitchcock growing up. He wasn’t going for gore — he was all about story. That’s what it is for me. If I don’t care about story, I don’t care about the film.”

SCARED (NOT) STRAIGHT | Shawn Ewert has wrapped up his second short film with his first feature in sight. (Arnold Wayne Jones | Dallas Voice)

In junior high, his writing began to manifest as his outlet for his “freakiness:” No one read his stuff for fear they would freak out. In the back of his mind, though, he wondered what his stories would actually look like.

“I knew those stories would be so much cooler if I could watch,” he says. “All I thought was how could I make this on the screen. I’d love to show to somebody someday the way I see all this in my head.”

Ewert rolls his eyes at the thought of reminiscing over high school. Like many gay youth, they weren’t the best of times for him. He came out to a select few, but was publicly outed by the girl he dated. Still, Ewert came out relatively unscathed — even in a Mesquite high school.

But his second family was in the horror film fan community, and it’s there he found solace and even acceptance. Unlike comedy or musicals, there isn’t an actual community of fans, but those who like scary movies — who really like them — come together and Ewert found a home. When he began his coming out process on his own terms, he found acceptance among his brethren.

“For me, the horror community is pretty accepting,” he says. “Horror fans can connect to so many other people that it’s almost a family atmosphere. In that group, you’re less of a freak and that made it easier to come out to those people.”

Fast-forward to June 2010. Ewert’s production company, Right Left Turn Productions, screened his short Jack’s Bad Day at the first Fears for Queers film festival in Addison. The one-day event featured all gay filmmakers in the horror genre.  His 20-minute film is about a serial killer who comes up short in his murderous proclivity. Ewert calls it a horror-comedy.

“The stuff we’ve made so far has been tongue-in-cheek,” he says. “There’s a certain comedy to Jack’s Bad Day. All his victims die right before he kills them. What it would it mean for a serial killer to have that kind of day?”

He’s wrapping up his second short The Sleepover, a 10-minute-long film that leaves the comedy out in favor of sheer fear. “Oh gosh, it’s a horrifying story about a serial killer of little girls,” he says.

So where’s the gay stuff? Ewert doesn’t see things that way. Although he’s gay and a filmmaker, his films aren’t going to “be gay” just because he is. Got it?

“The problem I have with most LGBT films is the filmmakers make them as gay as possible without much of a story,” he says. “They make films that are so narrow just to fit one community. I want to see the gay community in my films. I also want to have appeal to everyone. And I don’t write gay-centric necessarily, but I do have a script I couldn’t stop writing.”

That would be his latest short, Out Come the Wolves, and it’s both scary and topical. Ewert’s first gay horror piece is about one kid’s revenge on bullies. But Wolves is also personal to him because his own run-ins were far scarier than any movie.

“I used a lot of language in the film that if someone were to say to me and I would be pretty upset,” he says. “When a truckload of guys once chased and threatened me, it was my first dose of reality that they could literally take someone’s life. That made its way into this film. This is revenge for me.”

He’s taking baby steps with his short films, but his first full-length feature is in sight. Ewert has scripts and ideas ready to put on camera. If he runs out of ideas, well,  all he has to do is go to sleep.

“Almost everything I’ve done has come out of a dream, or as close to a dream as I can remember,” Ewert says. Or maybe he means nightmare.

Our first annual Fears for Queers GLBT Horror Film Festival was a tremendous success! Thank you to everyone who was able to make it out to see the films, and to everyone who donated to help make this happen. Without your support, we would never have been able to donate over $1,000.00 to Youth First Texas. We will be doing another round of films next year, but for now we are focusing on our upcoming projects, and helping out with the Blood Bath 2 film festival coming up in November.

We now have our first film, Jack's Bad Day available on our "Buy Stuff" page, so please go check it out!

We have also added Matthew Dupre to the cast of our upcoming film, The Sleepover.

Keep checking back for updates, and please tell your friends to check us out!

Buy Official T-Shirt


Official Selections - Short Films

Night Shadows by JT Seaton
Taste of Flesh, Taste of Fear by Stacie Ponder
Jack's Bad Day by Shawn Ewert
Mime After Midnight by Armando Munoz
Bumps in the Night by Erlingur Ottar Thoroddsen
Fresh by Adam Wojtowicz
Pleasure of His Company by Michelle Ayoub
A Far Cry From Home by Alan Rowe Kelly

Official Selections - Feature Films

Creatures From the Pink Lagoon by Chris Diani
Baby Jane? by Billy Clift (Special Test Market Screening)

Buy Advance Tickets Here
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Youth First Texas To Benefit from Fears For Queers Film Fest!

DOA Blood Bath Entertainment and Right Left Turn Productions will donate half of all profits to Youth First Texas
Youth First Texas is the only non-profit organization in North Texas exclusively committed to providing social services, education opportunities, and recreational activities to Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered, and Questioning (GLBTQ) Youth through age 22.

We Are Seeking Sponsorships and Providing Ad Opportunities!

Contact Dione or Andrew Rose at DOA Blood Bath Enterainment for sponsorship and advertising opportunities. We have many inexpensive advertising opportunites available.

As you can tell from the newly added opening page to the site, the poster for Jack's Bad Day is up! Hit up the Facebook page for JBD & let us know what you think & also spread the word about JBD!

Welcome to the Right Left Turn Productions website! This site will be updated when news comes down the line regarding RLTP. Also the website might go through some changes over time so what you are looking at is not the final product.The official poster for Jack's Bad Day will be up soon, so be sure to check back again...