We’re about to be rich in anthology series.
On top of Black Mirror‘s return to Netflix on October 21, Deadline reports that El Rey Network is getting into the short film collection game with The People’s Network Showcase, a quarterly block of shorts from promising filmmakers, launching with a horror edition hosted by John Carpenter on October 30!
The name of the show conjures up images of old timey television (as though it should be sponsored by Ovaltine and Chatteron Cigarettes), but it should be a thrilling, thoroughly modern lens on upcoming talent. By exposing those filmmakers to a broad audience, and exposing that audience to fresh ideas, it’s a win for everyone.
“When I started El Rey I wanted the network to provide a new pipeline for creators,” El Rey founder, director Robert Rodriguez, told Deadline. “My roots are in independent filmmaking and I believe in providing opportunities to people working outside of the studio system.”
Yes, please.
Deadline has the full slate of films, including a Sin City-esque take on Jack the Ripper, the story of a girl who finds a strange unicorn figurine deep in the woods, a totally normal clown who won’t give you nightmares, and the Eli Roth-produced Chainsaw, which tosses a mad killer into a carnival’s haunted house. Ahem:
Eli Roth presents CHAINSAW from Culprit Creative on Vimeo.
You can find some entries online already — like Kheireddine El-Helou’s Drudge and a fantastic behind-the-scenes look at Doug Jones turning into a demon for Nick Peterson’s The Visitant — but The People’s Network Showcase should be an excellent opportunity for us to see some great work, get to know the filmmakers, and gain some gravel-throated insight from Carpenter.
If you don’t wanna wait, you can check out some great short films right now.
Featured Image: Alessio Carone/Flickr
