What do you do to blow off some steam, after you’ve successfully produced what is sure to become a modern midnight movie classic for ten thousand dollars?

If you’re Astron-6, the creative terror-cell behind FATHERS DAY, you go home for the holidays to spend time with old friends and family, sip egg nog in ill-fitting knitted sweaters, make strings of popcorn to adorn the family tree and then shoot a quick and dirty little video-nasty about Santa being lured into a family of sadists.

In fact, this is a bit of an Astron-6 tradition, as I’m told by Adam Brooks. “We used to make a Christmas short every year and we're rarely in the same city, so xmas came and Matt and Conor came home to see their families…”

The end result is going to be BREAKING SANTA; in post-production right now and should be released in the next few weeks.

It’s a return to form for the crew. They were discovered making shorts and releasing them online, and producing their own DVD collection. TROMA financed the production of their first feature FATHERS DAY, which is currently playing to rave reviews in select theatres. After the stress of making your first feature film–which really accomplished some incredible things on a budget that to most features would be impossibly restrictive–taking the time to unwind and do something fast and a little nuts was a welcome opportunity, as Brooks remarks, “BREAKING SANTA is just a fun, goofy short, but it's also a bit insane. I think you'll dig it. We didn't worry about any formal stuff with it. It's like a crazy nightmare; something we didn't have to take as seriously. Something fun.”

When talking with Brooks about the film I asked if this was a sign of their commitment to the short film medium that they came from, as opposed to making features. His answer was candid and shows the future is wide open for Astron-6. “That all depends on opportunity. We would love to make features most of all, but features require money, and we're not going to make another 10k feature. Until we have financing to make another feature we're back to no-budget shorts.”

Based on their track record, we are sure to be in for something uniquely twisted when BREAKING SANTA is released. Until then, here are some stills from the short which are exclusive to FANGORIA.

All images are provided courtesy of Astron-6.

PS: My personal vote is for a feature length LAZER GHOSTS but that’s just me.

PSS: In case anyone is curious about what the other “home for the holidays” shorts were like, I just happen to be armed with links and you can see all the hallmarks that make Astron-6 who they are, and see this technical and thematic development year to year. This is a great example of what I want this blog to be about. We may never see the student films of the past generations filmmakers, never see that process of growth and discovery. This new generation is coming up on desktop studios and YouTube and we can see it all. It’s inspiring to me, and I hope to filmmakers out there who want to know what to do next.

The answer is simple: Get a camera. Make movies. Put them online. Good things can happen to you.

SON OF SANTA

REVENGE OF SANTA

---

Bloody Blogs - Long Live the New Flesh