Virginia Creepers Documentary by Horse Archer Productions
Horse Archer Productions, is producing a documentary this summer about Virginia’s rich horror host tradition called Virginia Creepers: The Horror Host Tradition of the Old Dominion. Here’s the lowdown from Sean Kotz:
I think we will do most of the filming between the last week of April and the first week of June and we are currently planning a theater event in Richmond at the historic Byrd theater which seats 1300.
A couple of years ago, I formed a film company with my friend, Chris Valluzzo, and our first documentary, 2007’s HOKIE NATION, a film about Virginia Tech’s incredible football fans, has done very well and is now in a second pressing. The success of that film has given us the resources to pursue other projects that reflect our personal interests, including VIRGINIA CREEPERS.
As a kid, I lived in the Tidewater area of Virginia and became hooked by Dr. Madblood on WAVY TV 10, but I was also able to pick up a fuzzy signal from Channel 8 in Richmond and get Bowman Body on nights when the airwaves were generous. We moved to Northern Virginia in 1978 and soon I had Count Gore DeVol to keep me entertained. In other words, I was a host junkie back in the day, so perhaps it was inevitable that I would want to do something to capture that tradition as we experience it here in Virginia.
For this film, we want the microcosm of the Virginia experience to speak to people wherever they are. Naturally, we are interviewing the hosts, and a big part of our goal is to open up that history as well as the great hosts from the state who are still practicing the craft. At the same time, however, we really want to capture the fan experience and try to reveal why our hosts are so important to so many people. We don’t want to define the experience so much as celebrate it, and in that way, I think the film will be very unique.
Currently, we are inviting anyone who has an interest in this film to get in touch with us. We are looking for fans who have great stories, powerful memories and interesting memorabilia and perhaps some old clips unknown to the rest of the world. We are also seeking corporate and individual sponsors, AND we are looking for venues in Tidewater, Richmond and Northern Virginia for fan interviews and media events.