Those of you who closely follow the doings in the horror genre are probably aware of The ABCs of Death, the upcoming high-concept anthology brainchild of Kiwi filmnerd Art Timpson and the Alamo Drafthouse’s fledgling Drafthouse Films. For those unfamiliar with The ABCs of Death, the gimmick of the film is that 26 different genre filmmakers were each is assigned a letter of the alphabet and a word that begins with that letter and they must make a short film exploring the topic of death using said word. The list of filmmakers currently stands at 25…

Kaare  Andrews (Altitude)
Angela Bettis
(Roman)
Ernesto Diaz Espinoza
(Mirageman, Mandrill)
Jason Eisener
(Hobo With A Shotgun)
Bruno Forzani and Héléne
(Amer)
Adrian Garcia Bogliano
(Cold Sweat)
Xavier Gens
(Frontiers, Hitman)
Noburo  Iguchi (
Machine Girl, Robo Geisha)
Thomas Malling
(Norwegian Ninja)
Yoshihiro Nishimura
(Tokyo Gore Police, Frankenstein Girl Vs. Vampire Girl)
JT Petty
(Soft For Digging, The Burrowers)
Banjong Pisanthanakun (
Shutter, Alone)
Simon Rumley
(The Living and the Dead; Red, White and Blue)
Marcel Sarmiento
(DeadGirl)
Chris Smith
(Severance, Triangle)
Srdjan Spasojevic
(A Serbian Film)
Timo Tjahjanto
(Macabre)
Andrew Traucki
(The Reef, Black Water)
Nacho Vigalondo
(TimeCrimes)
Jake West
(Doghouse, Evil Aliens)
Ti West
(House of the Devil, The Innkeepers)
Ben Wheatley
(Down Terrace, Kill List)
Adam Wingard
(Pop Skull, A Horrible Way to Die)
Anders Wulffmorgenthaler
(Princess)
Yudai Yamaguchi
(Yakuza Weapon, Battlefield Baseball)

So who will be the 26th? Maybe you. The final filmmaker will be selected through the time-honored tradition of sport. In this case, a short film competition.

Quoth the press release:

Drafthouse Films, Timpson Films and Magnet Releasing have secured genre heavyweights Xavier Gens (Frontiers, Hitman) and Christopher Smith (Severance, Black Death) to join Noburo Iguchi (RoboGeisha, Machine Girl) and Kaare Andrews (Altitude) along with 21 other directors to make up the talented roster behind THE ABCs OF DEATH, a twenty-six chapter anthology feature that showcases death letter by letter. The 26th Director spot will be determined by short film competition to discover an aspiring new talent. The winning filmmaker will receive a $5000 cash prize and will be included in the final release of the film.

Participants will choose their own word and create a short film based off the letter “T.”  The interpretation of the word and the format of the short film will be entirely up to competitors.  The top 10 shorts will be determined by public voting and the winning director will be selected by the 25 ABCs OF DEATH directors to become the 26th and final director.

“We expect a lot of talented folks around the world to step up to this challenge, I just hope someone attempts T is for Tabanid (blood-sucking insect) or Taws (a thong used for punishment)” said Ant Timpson.

Submissions are open now and close on October 1 at midnight PST, and there is no entry fee to submit. Finalists will be announced October 31st and the winning filmmaker announced on November 15th.  For more on the competition dates, parameters and rules, visit theabcsofdeath.com/the-26th-director.

Jason Eisener, one of THE ABCs OF DEATH directors, was propelled to a career in feature films after he won the GRINDHOUSE Trailer Contest with his entry for HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN.  Eisener went on to turn the winning fake movie trailer into a full-length feature.  THE ABCs OF DEATH “26th Director” competition offers the same kind of opportunity to aspiring directors with the hope of introducing some new blood to genre films.

For more information on the ABCs OF DEATH 26th Director Competition, visit our website at: http://26th.theabcsofdeath.com/

For more information and the list of confirmed directors for THE ABCs OF DEATH, visit our website at: theabcsofdeath.com