Gary was born in the City of Angels and raised on a healthy diet of Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, Night Gallery, The Hammer Horror Films, and his favorite, Universal Studio's Monster Movies. Presently, his affinity for the horror genre has broadened and spans the globe.
Gary is frequent guest on the Fanboy Confidential podcast, is part of the writing staff of Del Toro Films, and writes and manages his own horror blog, Dark Recess.
Rodrigo Gudiño, Publisher, Rue Morgue Magazine, Filmmaker
Rodrigo Gudiño is a filmmaker and founder and president of Rue Morgue, an independent magazine focusing on horror in culture and entertainment. Currently, he is working on several feature film projects. Rodrigo’s most recent short, The Facts in the Case of Mister Hollow, was a 2009 Genie Award nominee, and his film The Demonology of Desire premiered at the 2007 Worldwide Short Film Festival. He oversees the Cinemacabre Movie Nights, a monthly screening of classic and cult horror films in Toronto’s Bloor Cinema, the weekly program Rue Morgue Radio, and the Rue Morgue Festival of Fear, Canada’s largest, annual horror convention.
Joe Sena, President, FearWerx
Joe Sena runs SphereWerx, a marketing agency known for its EMCE Toys brand, and FearWerx.com, the largest horror ecommerce site. Joe has 21 years of production and marketing experience, including event and video production, product development, strategy and software engineering. Previously, Joe developed affinity programs and merchandise lines for Universal, Paramount and MGM. As Creative Director of Universal Studios New Media in the 1990s, Sena created the Universal Online Horror Channel, HorrorOnline.com and 13thStreet.com, credited as the first major presence of the horror genre on the internet. Sena also launched the first sites for genre magazines Fangoria and Starlog.
Lotti Pharriss Knowles, VAMPIRE-CON
Lotti Pharriss Knowles is a writer, producer and partner in Weirdsmobile Productions, Inc. Her producing credits include the short films SHADOW.NET (Winner, Best Thriller – Dragon*Con Independent Short Film Festival) and WEAK SPECIES (Winner, Best Short – FilmOut San Diego and Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival), and the world premiere run of her play BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO WORDS. Lotti'’s current producing projects include the horror-comedy feature film CHASTITY BITES, the annual event VAMPIRE-CON, and filmmaker Jeffrey Schwarz’s documentary feature ACTIVIST: THE TIMES OF VITO RUSSO (founder of ACT UP and GLAAD). As a horror expert she can be seen on the E! Channel special “Ten Vampires We Love,” and in the upcoming documentary “The 50 Greatest Horror Films You’ve Never Seen.”
Monica Winter Vigil, Filmmaker, Entrepreneur
Monica Winter Vigil is an entrepreneur, filmmaker, and script consultant. Her short films have played across the Unites States, Europe and South America. Her current short, Not Even Death, (www.stopjackie.com), recently made its European premiere at the Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival. Her screenplays have earned her many recognitions and placements in screenwriting contests. She has numerous shorts in pre-production and a slew of features in development. Previously, she worked on the daytime drama “The Young and the Restless,” and Nickelodeon’s family series “Rhodes Home.” Monica is the co-founder of the Gimme Credit International Screenplay Competition (www.gimmecreditcompetition.com) and teaches business and marketing at Ashford University.
Pablo Proenza, Filmmaker
Critically acclaimed filmmaker Pablo Proenza broke records for IFC Films with his feature debut 'Dark Mirror', which became their top-selling OnDemand title of all time. Variety compared the supernatural thriller to 'Repulsion' and 'The Others', praising it as a “spooky” and “fascinating spin on the genre.”
Proenza has been receiving rave reviews for his work ever since his break-out film, a short called 'ViDi' which screened at festivals around the world. (“Superbly accomplished. A masterpiece.” - Peter Keough, Boston Phoenix.) The son of Cuban-American immigrants, Proenza had an international upbringing (Washington, D.C.; San Jose, Costa Rica; Rome, Italy; Miami, Fl).
Jason Cuadrado, Filmmaker
Jason Cuadrado is an award-winning writer and filmmaker who has worked in independent film and new media for the last fifteen years. Currently, he is preparing to shoot the film Dark Desert Highway with Esperanza Productions, and developing a horror anthology series for television. Previously, he directed television in New York City and worked with John Leguizamo's production company, Lower East Side Films. Later, he relocated to Los Angeles where he wrote and directed the critically acclaimed feature Tales from the Dead, the first Japanese horror film shot in the United States.
He was the writer and director of his award-winning short Monstrous Nature.
