a horror fan`s dream come true.

a horror fan’s dream come true.
Contact
DAN RIESSER
driesser@gmail.com
(323) 308-9123
MIKE DE TRANA
Manager - Anvil Entertainment
mike@anvil-ent.com
(818) 987-2933
www.nightofthepunks.com
www.danriesser.com
project at a glance . . . 3
synopsis . . . 4
Budget top sheet . . . 5
Actor wish list . . . 6
Soundtrack wish list . . . 10
Press quotes . . . 11
Script coverage . . . 12
The short film . . . 13
About the filmmakers . . . 14
Inspirations & art . . . 15
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Project at a glance
WRITERS Dan Riesser &
Mike L. Kinshella
DIRECTOR Dan Riesser
PRODUCERS Mike De Trana
SHOOTING LOCATION Los Angeles, CA
GENRE Horror
FORMAT 16mm, 35mm, 5KHD, Color
EXPECTED LENGTH 95 Minutes
PROJECT STATUS In Development
PRE-PRODUCTION SCHEDULE 8 Weeks
PRODUCTION SCHEDULE 4 Weeks
POST-PRODUCTION SCHEDULE 10 Weeks
ESTIMATED BUDGET $1,000,000 USD
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Synopsis
At their first big city gig, a snot-nosed young punk band must do
battle with a horde of bloodthirsty demons hell-bent on turning
the band into their sacrificial meal.
The Brain Deads are a suburban teenaged punk band living in an idyllic 1980ʼs
America. Tonight is their first big downtown gig, but for lead guitarist Kenny, things arenʼt
looking up. Heʼs sick of his band going nowhere and his bandmates being more
interested in practicing their rock jumps than their scales. Heʼs worried about his future
and hopelessly in love with Sarah, their adorable merch girl. The rest of his band,
however, has visions of circle pits, tattooed groupies and punk rock rebellion in their
heads.
Unfortunately, the venue is practically deserted, the promoter Raymond is a
walking police sketch, and once the music starts, the mysterious hooded punks in the
audience reveal themselves to be bloodthirsty monsters out for blood. It turns out the
venue is built on a portal to Hell and our heroes are to be served up in a gruesome
demonic ritual.
Now itʼs up to Kenny to hack, slash, and guitar solo his way out of danger, rescue
his bandmates and save Sarah from becoming a demonic concubine. What comes next
is 90 minutes of over-the-top throwback horror, complete with insane practical gore FX,
gratuitous nudity, an impressive rock & roll soundtrack, and buckets upon buckets of red
blood and neon green demon ooze.
NIGHT OF THE PUNKS is a love letter to 1980ʼs splatterpunk horror, echoing
classics such as Return of the Living Dead, Demons and The Evil Dead. The film sports
the visual style of filmmakers like Walter Hill, Joe Dante, Sam Raimi & John Carpenter.
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Actor wish list
KENNY (19) - clean cut, smart, emotional, a reluctant hero
Dane DeHaan
Chronicle
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Josh Hutcherson
The Hunger Games
Red Dawn
Kieran Culkin
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
Igby Goes Down
SARAH (18) – punky, adorable, girl-next-door, surprisingly tough
Jane Levy
Evil Dead (2013)
Suburgatory (TV)
Aubrey Plaza
Safety Not Guaranteed
Parks & Recreation (TV)
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Emma Roberts
Scream 4
Celeste & Jesse Forever
SPIKE (19) – obnoxious, extroverted, funny, tattooed & pierced.
Kyle Gallner
Nightmare on Elm St.
The Haunting in Connecticut
Lukas Haas
Inception
Touch (TV)
Steven Yeun
The Walking Dead (TV)
HOOCH (18) – overweight, bearded, loveable, heroic when the time comes.
Zack Pearlman
The Virginity Hit
The In-Betweeners (TV)
Josh Gad
1600 Penn (TV)
The Book of Mormon
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Charlie Koontz
Rubber
Community (TV)
MIKEY (22) – stoned, burnout, funny, harmless
Jimmi Simpson
Breakout Kings (TV)
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Shawn Ashmore
Frozen
The Ruins
Joel David Moore
Avatar
Hatchet
DAMIEN (19) – evil, metalhead, heavily made up, affected.
Elijah Wood
Maniac (2013)
Lord of the Rings
Paul Dano
Little Miss Sunshine
There Will Be Blood
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Noel Fisher
Twilight: Breaking Dawn
Shameless (TV)
SKYLAR (20) – a knockout, New Wave look, confident & sexy, Pat Benatar look-alike.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead
The Thing (2011)
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
Emma Stone
Zombieland
The Amazing Spider-Man
Lizzy Caplan
Bachelorette
Cloverfield
RAYMOND (43) – a walking police sketch, creepy, untrustworthy, weak.
AJ Bowen
House of the Devil
A Horrible Way to Die
Michael Rooker
The Walking Dead (TV)
Slither
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Ray Wise
Twin Peaks
Reaper (TV)
Soundtrack wish list
Punk rock music is an integral part of Night of the Punks. In addition to original songs
and score composed for the film, there will be tracks by influential 1980ʼs era
punk rock bands. A short list of songs weʼd love on the soundtrack is below.
The Ramones - "Howling at The Moon"
The Misfits - "Children in Heat"
Black Flag - "Rise Above"
Oingo Boingo - "What You See"
Fear - "Fresh Flesh"
Agent Orange - "Bloodstains"
Sloppy Seconds - "Blackmail"
Bad Religion - "In the Night"
T.S.O.L. - "Dance With Me"
Dead Kennedys - "Cesspools in Eden"
The Descendants – “80ʼs Girl”
Screeching Weasel – “Stupid Over You”
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Press quotes
Praise for the 2010 Night of the Punks short film.
“An insanely enjoyable short film.”
Bloody –Disgusting.com
“Horror fans should be keeping an eye on
writer/director Dan Riesser.”
KillerFilm.com
“The only flaw of this film is that itʼs
not feature length.”
Fatally Yours
“Itʼs good enough that you actually wish
it were full length.”
Zombies Donʼt Run
“Shows
a great deal of potential, and would be much better served
as a feature length film.”
I Like Horror Movies
“I really enjoyed [the] film. Good luck with getting
the feature made!”
Kevin Tenney – Dir: Night of the Demons (1988)
“This is one case in which the short film
should have been a feature…”
Big Daddy Horror Reviews
“A hell of a good movie!”
Film School Rejects
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Script coverage
Selections from coverage on the Night of the Punks feature script
by Drew Devore
This movie is made by and for people just like me. I cut my teeth on the late horror
films of the 80ʼs and late 70ʼs. The B-movie horror film holds a soft spot in my heart, and
anyone who really “gets it” can pull my sort of crowd…
…With the number of 80ʼs horror remakes currently in production or nearing release,
I feel like an “original” like this holds a lot of water.
What I like about Night of the Punks is that it takes all of the 80ʼs kitsch without
blinking an eye toward the 90ʼs and the downfall of popular horror films. Itʼs funny. Itʼs
scary. Itʼs a little touching at times. And yes, itʼs goofy as hell. And I loved it!
Night of the Punks is scooping up all of that chutzpah and piling it on thick. If the
marketing is clever and aimed at people like me (mid-20ʼs to mid-30ʼs) rather than
teenagers and your average audience, this movie will pull in all of the cult kiddies that are
just dying for something like this to be done well.
Considering that the budget is low, I canʼt see this film being anything but
successful…
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The short film
Night of the Punks was originally produced as a short film in 2010. The film was
shot in Los Angeles, CA over 6 nights for under $10,000 and self-financed by director
Dan Riesser.
It starred LUKE EDWARDS, best known as the child star from The Wizard, Little
Big League and Newsies, and featured performances by rising sketch comedian NICK
MUNDY and adult film star ANDY SAN DIMAS. The film featured original music by
popular Los Angeles horror punk outfit MURDERLAND.
The short film screened at over 25 film festivals worldwide, including
SCREAMFEST Los Angeles. It took home multiple awards including Best Short Film at
The Indie Gathering and Best FX at the Thriller Chiller Film Festival. The short was listed
as one of BrutalAsHell.comʼs “Best Horror Shorts of 2010” and Dan Riesser was listed as
one of KillerFilm.comʼs “Directing Newcomers to Watch.”
The feature film hopes to expand upon the world created in the short. For more
information and to watch the original film, visit NIGHTOFTHEPUNKS.COM.
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About the filmmakers
Dan riesser
Writer / Director
Dan is a filmmaker and television producer in Los Angeles. His television producing and
directing can be seen weekly on E! Entertainmentʼs hit pop culture comedy The Soup
with Joel McHale. In 2012 Dan wrote, financed and directed his first feature film Stomping
Ground, a kinda scary relationship comedy about love & Bigfoot hunting. That film is
currently in post-production and Dan is eager to get to work on his next project.
http://www.danriesser.com
mike l. kinshella
Writer
Mike is a screenwriter, comic book writer & musician in Los Angeles. He co-wrote both
the short film and the feature length version, as well as developed comic book and web
series versions. He played Spike in the original short and also performed music in the film
with his band Murderland. Mike is a walking, talking horror encyclopedia.
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Inspiration & art
To view our “Inspiration & Tone Reel” log on to:
https://vimeo.com/25642565
password: punkrockdemons
An abandoned theater in Detroit, MI
A dingy graffiti-covered bathroom
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A-Haʼs “Take on Me” Music Video (Opening Credits)
The Cars ʻYou Might Think” Music Video (Hoochʼs Dream Sequences)
1980ʼs Filmmation Animation “He-Man” (Opening Credits)
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1980ʼs Hardcore Punk Scene
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Crust Punks (Demon Punk Costume Design)
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Night of the Demons (1988)
Demons (1985)
The Evil Dead (1981)
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The Brood (1979)
Class of 1984 (1982)
The Warriors (1979)
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The punk rock & New Wave heroes of The Return of the Living Dead (1985)
“You think this is a f*cking costume?
This is a way of life.”
-Suicide
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