Pulp Features

Spain has produced many actresses who were hot beyond hot over the years, such as Emma Cohen, Esperanza Roy, Pilar Ordonez, Klara Badiola, Maria Paz Pondal, Julia Saly, Diana Conca, Helga Line, Eve Cobo, Ana Belen… The list goes on and on.

Now there’s Christie Levin, one of the most blazing of the hot, an actress who has an aura of sensuality about her like few others.

Born in Madrid on March 26, 1976, Christie was a model before entering the world of film. Thus far she has had just three pictures, but more are to come, while she awaits these and fills in time either by doing voice over or a handful of short movies.

She has been pushed heavily by Jesus Franco, the cult direct who gave us Lina Romy, as well as a flood of horror movies in the 1970s and 1980s. He is still active now in the 2000s.

Though some have been quick to downplay this director and his works, others love him. Levin has always been quick to praise him as a man of under rated talent and a person from whom, along with Lina Romy, she has learned a great deal.

Most recently, Levin may be seen in Snakewoman, a film about vampirism, with a strong lesbian subtext. The lesbian angle has been insinuated in past films, but seldom portrayed in full blast, until this go around. In this, Levin practically melts the TV screen when you watch the DVD.

Before this, Levin also played a major part and a purely slutty role/character in Franco’s Broken Dolls.

And before that, she was seen in Red Silk.

And people thought that the eroticism Spain was once known for in the heyday of Paul Naschy, was dying out.

Levin is a product of the times and by all accounts, a modern woman. Face it, when photos on her gallery depict various fetishes that would have given the late Francisco Franco a heart attack (the dictator and not the director), it is obvious Spain and its younger generation have changed. The taboos of old are gone and Levin is a prime example of this.

Repeatedly open about sexuality, nude poses and fetishes, Levin is somewhat like the lusty figures she portrays in the films. She has stated among other things, that the study of the history of sex fascinates her. One day she hopes to visit the Sex Museum in New York City. She also has love for Spanish food and wine, but not to the excesses that become destructive and is emphatic about keeping a good figure.

As time goes on, there will be a great deal more to say about this young actress. In the meantime, check out the DVDs and keep an eye on this actress, who is clearly on the move.

As an actress, Rosemary Gore has a real – and often terrifying – talent not just for playing unstable characters, but also investing them with a discomforting level of sympathy. This can be most clearly seen in Baby Doll, a film that she also produced.

Here, she talks to Dale Pierce about independent films, acting and what’s in store for the future.

Dale: Can you start by telling people a little about yourself?
Rosemary: I am originally from NC where I graduated with a BA in French Literature & Italian Language. While I was a model in high school, I studied acting. After college, I moved to NYC to study and work as an actor for many years. I recently relocated to LA. I am a stand-up comedienne and mezzo-soprano.

Dale: What films have you done?
Rosemary: Baby Doll and Fear of the Dark have been successful horror films in which I played the lead role. I enjoy playing complex characters; therefore, many of these characters lie within the horror, drama and comedy genre.

Dale: You also do some modeling? What do you prefer, model work or film?
Rosemary: I would not categorize myself as a model, since 99% of the time I work as an actor. I have worked as a model to help pay the bills. Above all, I enjoy acting the most.

Dale: Do you make the tours of various fan fests and conventions?
Rosemary: Whenever I am promoting a film, I will help to support it by doing the necessary publicity of going to the conventions and festivals.

Dale: Any future films?
Rosemary: I completed my Principal role as “Mrs. Simple” in the Andrew Sugerman (The Whole Ten Yards, Boat Trip, Undisputed) theatrical Soulmates, which is either be released theatrically or direct-to-video, and the Supporting role in Frances Megahy (The Disappearance of Kevin Johnson) as Terry.

Dale: Acting comes easily to some people. Did you study acting or just learn by experience?
Rosemary: Acting is an art form that takes years to master through studying and working. I worked very hard in both of those mediums, since my goal is to be good actor.

Dale: What advice or warnings could you give aspiring actresses wishing to get into the independent film scene?
Rosemary: Get everything in writing and don’t ever assume…

Dale: Aside from yourself, are there any indie actors or actresses you really think are promising and worth a real close look?
Rosemary: A few years ago, I had the pleasure of working with a gifted actor whose name is Frank Franconeri.

Dale: Any other stories you might want to tell concerning your career?
Rosemary: After a great audition with fantastic feedback, it is discouraging not to obtain the job due to my not being famous, my hair color and/or height.

Dale: In the mainstream, do you have a favorite film, actor, and actress?
Rosemary: I have so many favorite actors and films… I love American Beauty. I think Kevin Spacey, Kevin Kline, Anthony Hopkins, Meryl Streep, Hilary Swank, Bette Davis, Vivien Leigh, Julianne Moore, and Kim Basinger are fantastic actors.

Dale: Why these people?
Rosemary: I would have to write that I enjoy these actors for their dedication to the art form of acting, their style, and humanity.

Dale: Do you have a webpage where people can find out more about you and your films?
Rosemary: Three; www.rosemarygore.net, www.lakefilms.com (Baby Doll) and www.lightanddark.net (Fear of the Dark).

Dale: Any closing comments?
Rosemary: Thank you for your interest in learning of my career!

UpStart Productions is an organization of independent filmmakers in the Southern Ohio/Northern Kentucky area that seeks to facilitate its member’s film & video projects and promote independent filmmaking in general. They have a string of short films behind them as well as a full feature, Grimm Reality - an unvarnished look at the folk tales of Central Europe.

Producer, Eric Chatterjee talks to Dale Pierce about European fairy tales, independent films and goatnapping.

Dale: Your company, Upstart films, has been fairly active in the indie film world. Where are you located and when were you started?
Eric: UpStart Films grew out of UpStart Productions, a media company started in 1995 by a director, a lawyer, a musician, a screenwriter, an accountant and an administrative assistant.

Dale: How did you select the company name?
Eric: The name was a running battle in the beginning. On the one hand there were the creative types who wanted some crazy memorable name like Purple Chinchilla, or something to emphasize the company’s offbeat-ness. On the other side were the business heads that wanted something like Premiere Productions, to represent the company as a serious business.

Ultimately “UpStart” was a compromise both sides could accept. It came about because we were very influenced by the independent action film directors like Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez who were making a splash in the early 90s. Their companies were called “A Band Apart”, “Los Hooligans” and things like that. The names seemed to say “We are rebels, we are not Hollywood”, that resonated with us.

But, I’ve got to tell you; I’ve never been satisfied with the name. Since we started there have been lots of “upstart” companies. Unfortunately, it’s too late for us to change names now. There are literally thousands of materials out there with our name on it, and we’re still building our fan base.

Another trend that has become much more common since we started is the use of intercaps, which we used in our name UpStart that was my idea, and I still like it even if it has become cliché. Intercaps used to be used just by tech companies like WorldCom, now it’s everywhere – SnackWell cookies for example.

Dale: What is your URL?
Eric: Someone has been squatting on our domain name for years. We hope to eventually get it, and then roll out a full service website, but for the time being you can find us at upstartfilms.tripod.com

We don’t update very often though, since we are too busy out making movies. grimreality.com is the website of our most popular movie.

Dale: Perhaps you could talk about some of your films?
Eric: Sure.

We have a number of short films on the festival circuit, the latest being Toast & T. a spoof on the buddy cop film genre. Basically it is about a black police officer, Thomas AKA “T.” who is unfortunate enough to be partnered with an Italian screw-up named Toastello AKA “Toast”. The short was made as part of the 48 Hour Film Project – an international contest where you have 2 days to write, direct, shoot & edit a short film. The competition starts the minute you draw a genre, prop, character name & line of dialogue out of a hat. Another short we did was called Square Knot about the difficulty of “just being friends” with an ex.

We have produced one feature film, Grimm Reality, a movie based on the Grimm’s Fairy Tales the way they were originally told. Some of the fairy tales that we are so familiar with were originally quite graphic, and we decided that a movie should be made to set the record straight. These tales are not what cartoons would have you believe they are. They’re filled with sex and violence. We took 3 of them and anthologized them with a wraparound story, kind of like Disney meets Tales from the Crypt.
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We sold out of the initial print run of Grimm Reality, and are going to sign with a bigger distributor to get a wide release this summer.

Dale: What are your upcoming projects?
Eric: Well, we have been contracting our services out to other producers recently. We’ve worked on a ton of projects from music videos to feature films, and a whole lot of shorts. The most recent being The Bokor Mask, a zombie short, that’s part of the FANGORIA Blood Drive II.

That hasn’t left much time to mount our own projects, but we do have a biopic in development. It’s the story of a young girl who has a severe mental illness who still manages to have incredible misadventures. It’s dramatic and funny at the same time, kind of like a Gen X version of All About Eve. We still need investors though, so the project is far from green lighted at this stage.

Dale: Where do you find the actors and actresses you use? Do you run actual casting or just use people you know as some indie companies do as a budget-cutter?
Eric: Most of our talent comes from a local agency. If there are any roles they can’t fill, we put out casting calls through the local papers, the local film commission, and trade publications. Do we use people we know? If you mean actors we’ve worked with before, yes, if you mean friends, very rarely.

Dale: Are you considering making the circuits at indie conventions, horror fests or whatever at any time soon?
Eric: In the past we’ve done Dark Arts Expo, DragonCon, GenCon, Fantasm, Origins, Twisted Nightmare Weekend and others. Our busy production schedule sometimes limits the number of events we can attend.

This year we hope to make it back to one of those events, or maybe Chiller. Usually we only go if we’ve received an invitation from the organizers. Even then, we never know for sure until right beforehand. We’ve rented booth space before, and couldn’t show because other business needed our attention. We’re a real small company. Sometimes we’ve hired other companies to rep us at these things.

Dale: Among the people you have used, whom do you feel is really worth a big push and worth keeping an eye on?
Eric: That’s a tough question. We’ve worked with so many great people both in front of and behind the camera. I’m really bad at predicting who’s going to be “the next big thing”. I can say there are two actresses who I cast any chance I get, and they are Sara Elizabeth Timmins and Anastasia Heonis. One is the perfect “good girl” and the other the perfect “bad girl”. I also like “Drive-in Academy Award winner” Sean Nielsen for character roles. We got some music by Enduser of Sonic Terror Records, and he is definitely another one to keep your eye (or ear as the case may be) on.

Dale: Are there any interesting stories you can tell about your film experiences?
Eric: (laughs) Millions of them!

Here’s one: Last year we did a movie with a goat in it. Someone screwed up, and the goat was only booked for one day; I told the goat wrangler that he’d better have the goat back on set the next day. He ended up sneaking onto a farm and kidnapping (which we learned is the proper term for goat theft) the animal. On the way to the set he was carjacked and didn’t want to call 911 since he was illegally transporting stolen livestock across state lines to begin with!

Dale: Did you study film in school or just learn as you went along?
Eric: Both.

Dale: Any closing comments?
Eric: I’m really grateful to all the people who bought copies of Grimm Reality based on word of mouth, or without knowing anything about it at all.

In this day and age of entertainment giants and retail superstores, I think it’s important for people to seek out independent films. I’m not talking about multimillion dollar studio backed Sundance “indies” with mega stars like Sean Penn and Hilary Swank – I’m talking about movies made by guys who finance films on credit cards and sell copies out of the back of their ’82 Dodge. The next time you’re thinking about buying a DVD at WalMart, or even renting a movie, go home, log on the Internet, and take a chance on a grassroots B-movie instead.