TAMPA, FL, OCTOBER 28, 2019 – Spooky Empire International Film Festival 2019 will showcase filmmaker Mark Wooden’s horror short film “Where the Heart Bleeds” on Sunday, November 3rd at 11:15 am.
Origins of horror
“Where the Heart Bleeds” is a co-production by Wooden Shed Creative and Dark Elf Films. Mark Wooden produced, wrote and directed the project.
“Where the Heart Bleeds” tells the story of two sisters on a webchat. One sister sees her angry father enter her room. Through the webcam, the other sister sees… something else.
Wooden wrote “Where the Heart Bleeds” as a feature. The short film is the opening sequence of that feature. The horror short serves as both a proof of concept and insurance his team could complete a project.
CENFLO and Spooky Empire premieres
The short film had its world premiere at the Central Florida Film Festival CENFLO (CENFLO) last September.
“It felt nice to have our premiere in our backyard,” Wooden says of the screening. “It allowed us to meet other local filmmakers and see what else was out there.”
“As for Spooky, I’ve always loved the event,” Wooden says. “I even met my special effects man, Alan Ostrander of AEO Studios, at a prior Spooky.”
After the showing at Spooky Empire, Wooden and his team are looking toward streaming distribution for the short version of “Where the Heart Bleeds.” There is still hope to one day produce the feature-length version.
On filmmaking and horror movies
“Filmmaking was always something me and my team wanted to do, but our initial ideas proved a bit lofty,” Wooden says. “We all grew up on big loud action movies.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have big loud action movie resources.”
“A friend of ours with years in the business suggested we try low-budget horror,” Wooden says. “I grew up watching low budget horror with my sister, so that was an easy suggestion for me to follow.”
The team used Wooden’s house for the location shoot of “Where the Heart Bleeds” and acquired gear through friends. Fake blood still stains Wooden’s office, but he says it was worth it.
Plans for after Spooky Empire
In addition to short horror films, Wooden Shed Creative publishes the “Shadowdance” action/ urban fantasy series of novels and short stories. Dark Elf Films has a few feature films in development.
The filmmaking team already has another short horror film in development for next year’s festival season.
