abcs of death 2I’m a little bummed Drafthouse & co. didn’t follow the They Might Be Giants model and go with the 123s of Death for their  anthology sequel, but regardless, we’re in for another 26 horror shorts from 26 directors with ABCs Of Death 2.

You’ll recall 2012’s ABCs Of Death featured a short pulled from a public competition in which well over 100 <3min films explored the letter T. Lee Hardcastle’s T Is For Toilet won last year (after never not being ahead in the voting, btw), and it was definitely among the more special films in the spotty-but-sometime-sublime anthology.

This year you can expect a dozen or more masturbation-fixated shorts and probably an order of magnitude more shorts overall, as the letter for this year’s competition is the mighty M, and the profile is much higher.

Here’s the video announcing the competition:

And you can find the rest of the details on the submission page right here.

In other news, the full roster of directors has been announced for the rest of the anthology, though not associated with their letters. It’s definitely a cool group, and you should read through the full press release below to learn about some of the more interesting and far-flung filmmakers they’ve involved. Here are the newest names added to the list though…

Julian Barratt (THE MIGHTY BOOSH)

Todd Rohal (THE CATECHISM CATALYSM)

Steven Kostanski (MANBORG)

Alejandro Brugués (JUAN OF THE DEAD)

Jim Hosking (Commercial director)

Hajime Ohata (HENGE)

Chris Nash (SKINFECTIONS)

and here are the names that were out there already…

Álex de la Iglesia (THE LAST CIRCUS, DAY OF THE BEAST)

Rodney Ascher (ROOM 237)

Bill Plympton (Animator)

Erik Matti (ON THE JOB, MAGIC TEMPLE)

Kristina Buozyte and Bruno Samper (VANISHING WAVES)

Sion Sono (COLD FISH, SUICIDE CLUB)

Vincenzo Natali (SPLICE, CUBE)

Larry Fessenden (THE LAST WINTER, HABIT)

Marcus Dunstan (THE COLLECTION)

Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo (INSIDE, LIVID)

E.L. Katz (CHEAP THRILLS)

Jen and Sylvia Soska (AMERICAN MARY, DEAD HOOKER IN A TRUNK)

Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado (RABIES, BIG BAD WOLVES)

Julian Gilbey (A LONELY PLACE TO DIE)

Dennison Ramalho (NINJAS and LOVE FOR MOTHER ONLY)

Lancelot Imasuen (Nollywood director)

Jerome Sable (THE LEGEND OF BEAVER DAM, STAGEFRIGHT)

Robert Morgan (BOBBY YEAH)

Magnet Releasing in Association with Timpson Films and Drafthouse Films announce full directorial roster for ABCs OF DEATH 2

Popular fan submission competition returns, jury revealed


New York, NY – 14 August, 2013 
– Producers Ant Timpson, Tim League, and Magnet Releasing have announced the full lineup of acclaimed directors taking part in ABCs OF DEATH 2, a high-energy sequel to the 2012 hit, which delivers 26 new dark tales from the industry’s most celebrated genre directors. Accompanying the announcement, the production team has revealed the details for the film’s “26th Director Competition”, which, like the original, will place one exceptional fan-made entry in the finished film.

In a significant departure from the first installment, ABCs OF DEATH 2 is expanding beyond horror directors. Joining the sequel’s roster are Julian Barratt of The Mighty Boosh; Todd Rohal (THE CATECHISM CATALYSM); Canada’s king of lo-fi, Steven Kostanski (MANBORG); Cuba’s Alejandro Brugués (JUAN OF THE DEAD); acclaimed UK commercial director Jim Hosking; Japanese monster-maker Hajime Ohata (HENGE); and Canadian short film wizard Chris Nash (SKINFECTIONS).

Previously confirmed filmmakers include Goya Award winner Álex de la Iglesia (THE LAST CIRCUS, DAY OF THE BEAST), ROOM 237 mastermind Rodney Ascher, Academy Award-nominated animator Bill Plympton; Filipino icon – and Director’s Fortnight inductee – Erik Matti (ON THE JOB, MAGIC TEMPLE), Lithuania’s Kristina Buozyte and Bruno Samper (VANISHING WAVES), Japan’s arthouse provocateur Sion Sono (COLD FISH, SUICIDE CLUB), SPLICE and CUBE’s Vincenzo Natali, indie horror icon Larry Fessenden (THE LAST WINTER, HABIT), THE COLLECTION’s Marcus Dunstan, France’s Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo (INSIDE, LIVID), E.L. Katz (director of the SXSW breakout hit CHEAP THRILLS), twin auteurs Jen and Sylvia Soska (AMERICAN MARY, DEAD HOOKER IN A TRUNK), Israel’s Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado (RABIES, BIG BAD WOLVES), A LONELY PLACE TO DIE’s Julian Gilbey, Brazil’s most controversial filmmaker Dennison Ramalho (NINJAS and LOVE FOR MOTHER ONLY), the founder of Nigerian “Nollywood” cinema Lancelot Imasuen, THE LEGEND OF BEAVER DAM and the upcoming STAGEFRIGHT’s Jerome Sable, and animator Robert Morgan – creator of the BAFTA Award nominated short BOBBY YEAH.

The series’ popular “26th Director Competition” also returns, encouraging filmmakers from all over the world to create their own one-to-three minute segment, with the best being placed in the finished film itself.  Where the original film asked fans to create short “T is for…” films (with the winning segment going to Lee Hardcastle’s “T is for Toilet”), the sequel now switches its competition letter to “M”.

Votes for the competition will be tabulated via social media, as well as a jury, which, along with ABCs OF DEATH 2’s numerous other directors, includes producers Tim League and Ant Timpson, Associate Producer Ted Geoghegan, Magnolia Pictures president Eamonn Bowles, Entertainment Weekly Senior Editor Clark Collis, Horror-Movie-A-Day founder and Badass Digest contributor Brian Collins, author Grady Hendrix, and Fangoria Managing Editor Michael Gingold.

Contestants can visit http://26th.abcsofdeathpart2.com for additional details and to enter their films. Entries must be submitted by midnight on October 31, with the winner announced on December 15, 2013. The competition’s official announcement video can be found at http://vimeo.com/72230989

Magnet is planning a 2014 release of the film. ABCs OF DEATH 2 is produced by Ant Timpson and Tim League, in conjunction with associate producers Todd Brown, Marc Walkow, Mitch Davis, and Ted Geoghegan.