From Spook Show Entertainment President Willy Adkins in regards to The Portage Theater. 4/7/2013:
I know I am long overdue for a comment on the new changes at The Portage Theater, but until I have been able to speak to Mr. Carranza myself and have any idea how these changes might effect not only my company / programming at the theater, but the many other independent artists who put heart into the landmark, I have decided to hold off on any comment beyond the following Q&A…
The hot question I keep getting right now is, “Will Spook Show Entertainment still be hosting festivals at the Portage?”… At this time my answer is this: I have called The Portage Theater home to Spook Show Entertainment events for many years and would absolutely love to maintain that family friendly type relationship with the venue under new owner/operator Eddie Carranza. At this time, SSE currently has 4 film festival events on the Portage 2013 calendar (under family friendly word of mouth without contract) and I’m anxiously waiting the new operator to make contact with me to talk details about any changes he might want to make. We are under a time crunch to establish dates for our 2014 festival season and are preparing to seek new venue if we can’t get clarification on dates and contracts soon. But our desire at this time is to keep calling the Portage Theater home. We hope to hear from Mr. Carranza soon so that we can bring clarification to the situation and positive feedback to our fans & followers.
With his golden locks and trademark shin pad wrapped around his boot, Greg “The Hammer” Valentine made an impact in WWE rings for more than a decade. With a career that has spanned more than 30 years, Valentine has seen and done it all in sports-entertainment. In 2004, he was honored for his contributions when he was officially inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
As a child, Greg Valentine was constantly surrounded by the business. His father was the legendary Johnny Valentine, who prior to a 1975 plane crash (which also involved Ric Flair) was one of the top stars in all of wrestling. However, until his late teens, Greg had no intentions of following in his father’s footsteps. It took an eye-opening road trip with his dad in the summer of 1969 to give the young Hammer the motivation he needed to step into the squared circle.
“I had my sights set on other things,” said Valentine. “I never wanted to follow him into the business, until I went on the road with him in ’69. The travel was very appealing to me because I was so young,” he continued. “Between that, the excitement of the wrestling itself and seeing my father perform to sold-out crowds every night was what inspired me.”
Following the road trip, Valentine returned to his home in Seattle where he was supposed to return to school. However, The Hammer soon realized that his heart was no longer in the classroom.
“When I got back to Seattle, I called my dad,” recalled the Valentine. “I called him and said that I didn’t want to go back to school, and that I wanted to become a wrestler. Soon after, he sent me up to the dungeon in Calgary to train with Stu Hart.”
After nearly eight months of zero degree temperatures and intensive “training” from the Hart family patriarch, Valentine returned to the United States where he began the next chapter of his long and storied career. In the decades that would follow, The Hammer won numerous championships, competing with the best in the business along the way. One of his favorite partners and opponents over the years was his good friend, Ric Flair. Valentine jokingly told WWE.com that he still has unfinished business with the Nature Boy.
“Flair was always a good friend, and a friendly enemy,” laughed The Hammer. “Of course, I was always better than him at two things, the Figure Four, and falling on my face. In fact, I want to send a personal challenge to Ric for a Retirement Match so I can retire him myself.”
Today, Greg Valentine operates out of his home base of 22 years, Clearwater, Fla. No longer committed to wrestling on a weekly basis, Valentine spends as much time as possible working in his garden, talking on the phone, lifting weights in the gym, or relaxing out on his boat. The Hall of Famer was even spotted on a recent episode of the hit VH1 reality show, Hogan Knows Best.
The Hammer still spends a lot of time on the road as well, hosting seminars and getting in the ring with the stars of tomorrow at WWE’s developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling. The veteran told WWE.com that contributing to the future of the business is one of the most rewarding experiences of his career, and he hopes to continue doing so as long as he can.
“I’ll never be able to do anything else,” said Valentine. “I can’t teach people how to fly a plane or how to work a computer, my profession is wrestling, and that’s what I’m going to teach them. I’ve learned things in my 35 plus years in the business that you couldn’t learn in any school or college, and I want to pass my knowledge on. I’m looking forward to contributing as much as I can.”
Aside from working with younger wrestlers, The Hammer is also enjoying the time he spends meeting fans he never got to meet during his many years on the road. Valentine wanted to send a message to those fans.
“I really appreciate their support,” said the Hall of Famer. “For a lot of years, I never got to meet my fans because I was so busy. Recently, I’ve gotten to meet and greet so many of them and it’s been great. Everyone has been so nice to me, and it’s really been a great compliment. I want to say thank you to everyone.”
Hello my blood thirsty friends! Mr. Willy here and I’m excited to announce that tickets for our 2013 Chicago Horror Film Festival – Decade of Destruction celebration are now available at www.chicagohorrorfest.com/tickets! As a little added bonus, I have included a discount code below to save 50% off the first 10 weekend passes sold using the code (you know that won’t last long)!
As we enter the 14th Season of CHFF I’m very excited to have the festival founder Jason R. Davis back as one of the festival producers and owners at Spook Show Entertainment! I think that our hardcore fans would agree that the best CHFF years are those in which he and I both assembled this awesome annual event!
This year we have MANY surprises in the works! From contests to celebrities and special guests, it is going to be the largest event we have ever produced! For those who run a business and would like to affiliate your name / company with this HUGE event, we have several sponsorship packages available that are sure to get your name to the masses! You can check them out on our Sponsor Page. The more sponsors we have the bigger and better we can make Chicago’s longest running horror film festival!
One thing we have learned over the years is that our guests love our vendors just as much as the films and entertainment! That’s right, having awesome “Art of Horror” vendors filling the lobby is something they just LOVE! It makes sense, shopping is fun right? It is even more fun when it is shopping the best Dark Artists in country! With that in mind, we will be keeping our vendor table costs down to a minimal price to encourage more vendors to join us! Our vendor table spots are now on sale as well, CLICK HERE to purchase one!
Well my friends, I have so much more I could say about this years event but I will save them for the days to come leading up to the festival. For filmmakers interested in submitting to the festival, you still have time but need to act quick! CLICK HERE to visit our submit a film page and gather our deadline information.
The Portage International Film Festival, brought to you by Spook Show Entertainment in conjunction with the Portage theater, brings this debut event in celebration of independent films. A one day festival held at the historic Portage Theater, the doors open January 12th at 9:30 a.m. and runs a full lineup of films over the course of the next 12 hours.
With an excellent lineup of films, the day starts with “Soul Catcher” and ends with the award winning feature film, “Stormy Night.” In between the day is filled with a mixture of short and feature length films.
Some of the great films showing throughout the day include “Summer of ’81.” An award winning short is about the unique story of Wyoming man, Bob Taylor and the spirit and struggles of his life’s journey. From teaching in the city, to being a Cowboy in Wyoming, to raising his family without electricity in the cabin he built by hand, and of course baseball. Above all, this film is about life and holding onto those memories that make us who we are. Good or bad, everyone has their own Summer of ’81.
Another selection comes from Chicago’s very own Columbia College by film student Rene Cadel. The film “Faster!” Is about Jasper (Jenny Strubin) a female Chicago bike messenger who is in a race not only against the clock, but in battle with the hostile city, its raging drivers, its surly security guards, and her tough dispatcher. She busts her butt to make ends meet, and Jasper finds herself pulling scams that she feels increasingly uncomfortable with. Frustrated, brazen, and ballsy – but also funny, intelligent and vulnerable – Jasper begs us to root for her even when her actions are less than admirable.
Hosted by Chicago’s very own alumni from Second City, Manya Palmer, and with 21 films playing throughout the day, Including a favorite “Elektrical Skeletal” which gives homage to sci/fi horror of the 1950′s, this event is sure to please. An all day treat, this festival is sure to have a film for every kind of film buff.
Coming to the Portage Theater, it is The Portage International Film Festival, January 12th, 2013 from 9:30 in the morning until 10 p.m. Come out and have some fun!
Tickets are only $15 at the door or you can preorder your tickets online before Midnight Jan. 8th for only $12. Vendor table space is also available via the festival website. Visit: www.PortageFilmFest.com
The Portage International Film Festival, brought to you by Spook Show Entertainment in conjunction with the Portage theater, brings this debut event in celebration of independent films. A one day festival held at the historic Portage Theater, the doors open January 12th at 9:30 a.m. and runs a full lineup of films over the course of the next 12 hours.
With an excellent lineup of films, the day starts with “Soul Catcher” and ends with the award winning feature film, “Stormy Night.” In between the day is filled with a mixture of short and feature length films.
Some of the great films showing throughout the day include “Summer of ’81.” An award winning short is about the unique story of Wyoming man, Bob Taylor and the spirit and struggles of his life’s journey. From teaching in the city, to being a Cowboy in Wyoming, to raising his family without electricity in the cabin he built by hand, and of course baseball. Above all, this film is about life and holding onto those memories that make us who we are. Good or bad, everyone has their own Summer of ’81.
Another selection comes from Chicago’s very own Columbia College by film student Rene Cadel. The film “Faster!” Is about Jasper (Jenny Strubin) a female Chicago bike messenger who is in a race not only against the clock, but in battle with the hostile city, its raging drivers, its surly security guards, and her tough dispatcher. She busts her butt to make ends meet, and Jasper finds herself pulling scams that she feels increasingly uncomfortable with. Frustrated, brazen, and ballsy – but also funny, intelligent and vulnerable – Jasper begs us to root for her even when her actions are less than admirable.
Hosted by Chicago’s very own alumni from Second City, Manya Palmer, and with 21 films playing throughout the day, Including a favorite “Elektrical Skeletal” which gives homage to sci/fi horror of the 1950′s, this event is sure to please. An all day treat, this festival is sure to have a film for every kind of film buff.
Coming to the Portage Theater, it is The Portage International Film Festival, January 12th, 2013 from 9:30 in the morning until 10 p.m. Come out and have some fun!
Tickets are only $15 at the door or you can preorder your tickets online before Midnight Jan. 8th for only $12. Vendor table space is also available via the festival website. Visit: www.PortageFilmFest.com
Spook Show Entertainment would like to thank all who attended this years Prairie State Film Festival and making it a huge success! Also a very special thanks to our host Jayson Bernard, Belly Dancer Cleo LaVamp, The Portage Theater and all of the talented individuals who assembled such awesome films for us to enjoy! A big congrats to all of those who won awards at the festival as well! Below are copies of the award certificates! Feel free to save / print them! (Made for 8 1/2 x 11 print size).
*Offer good while supplies lasts and/or July 5th 2012 (whichever comes first). Can not be combined with any other offer. Spook Show Entertainment Inc. reserves the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason. No refunds and/or exchanges offered.
More than 50 people showed up in support of The Portage Theater, a pretty good turnout for a weekday at 9am.
The ZBA took the Portage property case first, with the legal counsel of Chicago Tabernacle seeking an extension regarding the decision of the board. Citing “hardship”, the church claimed they weren’t given enough time to sort out all the particulars, especially with parts of The Portage now up for landmark designation.
A Six Corners Association rep and Alderman John Arena argued strictly along economic lines. Allowing the church to buy The Portage would stifle economic growth for Six Corners and the surroundingneighborhoods. Leases for businesses waiting to open near The Portage would be in jeopardy if the church was allowed purchase or with further delays.
The Board took note for the record that there were quite a number of people showing up opposed to the church purchase (over 50).
The bad news: ZBA decided to delay a decision on the sale of the property for 30 days (until July 20th).
The good news: This time period was half of what church counsel requested. In fact, when asked how long a delay was necessary to basically get its act together, counsel responded “oh, about a couple of months,” eliciting derisive laughter from some in the audience.
I think the ZBA was trying its best to be fair under the circumstances, but I definitely got a read that the chairman was frustrated with church counsel. It doesn’t look good when you don’t have all “your ducks in a row” as the chairman implied and you get a significant number of people siding against you showing up.
The next ZBA hearing will be July 20th at 2pm. Mark your calendars NOW.
The chairman could not affirm that 7/20/2012 will be the absolute final date of the decision, but it seems clear he doesn’t want this dragging on indefinitely, which is what Chicago Tabernacle seems intent on doing.
*Offer good while supplies lasts and/or May 13th 2012 (whichever comes first). Can not be combined with any other offer. Spook Show Entertainment Inc. reserves the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason. No refunds and/or exchanges offered.
The historic Portage Theater is currently threatened by the potential purchase of the building it is in by a church. The church proposes to convert the theater into their worship space, remove the marquee, alter the auditorium, and eliminate the storefronts and half the apartments for offices and classrooms.
There will be a public meeting about this challenge to our community on Monday, March 26th at 7:00 PM at the Portage Theater, 4050 N Milwaukee. More information at 45th Ward alderman John Arena’s website.
Can’t make it out to the community meeting?
Click the link below to see how you can help take action and help us save this amazing place!
The Indie Horror Film Festival will be going on March 23-25 at the historic Portage Theater
in Chicago for a weekend of blood, mayhem, and wicked horror. The festival was formally
known as The Indy Horror Film Festival, which was brought back from the dead by Spook Show
Entertainment in 2010. Spook Show Ent. is an active component in Chicago’s indie horror scene
is nearly every aspect. They also put on Indie’s sister festival, The Chicago Horror Film Festival
(the longest running film festival in Chicago). This year the festival will be hosted by lifelong
horror enthusiast and stand-up comic, Chris May.
Ari Lehmen will be one of the festivals special guests, who played Young Jason is the original
Friday the 13th and is still a working genre actor and member of the band, First Jason.
Other guests include horror novelist, John Everson, and gothic illusionist and actor, Ron
Fitzgerald. The festival doesn’t solely focus on films though. It also showcases the morbidly
intriguing “Horror of Art” display, a blood curdling scream contest, and after hours events so the
bloody good fun never has to stop.
The Indie Horror Film Festival is full of the best of indie horror around from gritty and intense
to eerie and more socially-charged films. There are a number of films that will be making
their world premiere at the festival including the creature feature Ed & The Awakening, the
supernaturally charged That’s My Girl, and the powerful dark thriller, Hand of Glory. Other
films include What They Say, Afraid of Sunrise, Dorthy, Dream Lover, Raymond Did It, House
of Mirrors, Vamperifica, Below Zero, Deadline, Plastic, Not Another B Movie, The Curse, The
Hitchhiker, The Barn, Slash in the Box, The Duty of Living, Alistair, Betania, Fractured Minds, 8,
Incubator, Divination, Love Bug, Purity, Ritual, The Fear, and Mind of a Mad Man.
The festival will end with an award ceremony to give special acknowledgement to the best of
the best. Particularly notable films, receiving the Special Recognition Award who have been
nominated in 5 or more categories are The Duty of Living, What They Say, Vamperifica, and
Below Zero.
A full list of the award nominees can be found by CLICKING HERE!
The 2012 Indie Horror Film Festival
Friday March 23rd – Sunday March 25th 2012 The Portage Theater
4050 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Chicago, IL 60115
The 2012 Indie Horror Film Festival Award Nominee’s
- ALL LISTED IN RANDOM ORDER -
BEST SOUND INCUBATOR BELOW ZERO RITUAL THE DUTY OF LIVING OCHO
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY DEADLINE DIVINATION VAMPERIFICA THE DUTY OF LIVING THE CURSE
BEST EDITING THE CURSE BELOW ZERO WHAT THEY SAY VAMPERIFICA THE BARN
BEST FX BETANIA BELOW ZERO FRACTURED MINDS VAMPERIFICA LOVE BUG
BEST COMEDY LOVE BUG ED AND THE AWAKENING NOT ANOTHER B MOVIE VAMPERIFICA FRACTURED MINDS
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS LINDSAY FELTON – RAYMOND DID IT DENEEN MELODY – AFRAID OF SUNRISE LINDSAY GARETH – NOT ANOTHER B MOVIE KELSEY ZUKOWSKI – WHAT THEY SAY WENDY WISLEY – THE DUTY OF LIVING
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR CHRISTIAN GRAY – PLASTIC MICHAEL SCHMID – HAND OF GLORY DAVID FAUSTINO – NOT ANOTHER B MOVIE TY YAEGAR – RAYMOND DID IT GEORGE RETELAS – THE DUTY OF LIVING
BEST DIRECTOR BRUCE ORNSTEIN – VAMPERIFICA JUSTIN R. ROMINE – WHAT THEY SAY CHRIS TASARA – DEADLINE JUSTIN THOMAS OSTENSEN – BELOW ZERO BRANDON HUNT – THE DUTY OF LIVING
BEST ACTRESS JULES WILCOX – DEADLINE COURTNEY MONSMA – DORTHY HEATHER DORFF – WHAT THEY SAY LYNN LAWRY – DIVINATION SONIA CASELLI – BETANIA
BEST ACTOR MARTIN YURKOVIC – VAMPERIFICA DARREN MARLAR – HAND OF GLORY NORTH ROBERTS – PLASTIC JUAN RIEDINGER – THE DUTY OF LIVING DAVE NILSON – MIND OF A MAD MAN
DIRECTORS CHOICE AWARD PLASTIC OCHO AFRAID OF SUNRISE DORTHY THE DUTY OF LIVING
BEST SHORT FILM DIVINATION INCUBATOR WHAT THEY SAY DORTHY THE DUTY OF LIVING
BEST FEATURE FILM BELOW ZERO VAMPERIFICA PLASTIC RAYMOND DID IT DEADLINE
OFFICIAL WINNERS OF THE SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD (NOMINATED IN 5 OR MORE CATEGORIES) THE DUTY OF LIVING WHAT THEY SAY VAMPERIFICA BELOW ZERO
Willy Adkins (President) and Jason Sullivan (Vice President) of Spook Show Entertainment will be in downtown Chicago tonight with a sealed envelope containing the official award nominee’s for the 2012 Indie Horror Film Festival! Provided the two don’t get jumped for this highly anticipated list of information, they will be giving the envelope to Heather Dorff & Deann Baker, the hosts of the new and growingly popular internet TV show “Filming Round Midtown” to be opened and read LIVE on air tonight! You can catch the show at 8PM CST on the EgenTV network at www.livestream.com/egentv!
Spook Show Entertainment has made several changes to this annual horror film festival this year. In Fall 2011 they made a huge announcement that the event would be changing names (formerly “Indy Horror Film Festival”) and along with the name change they moved the event to Chicago’s historic Portage Theater. They also stretched out the bloody good times from a one day event to three! Now they are going even one further and have added more award categories including Best Cinematography, Best Sound, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Editing!
More Information On The Indie Horror Film Festival Awards:
*Award Winners will be announced in a ceremony at the end of the festival. Winners in attendance will be presented a certificate. Those not in attendance will be sent a digital certificate to print by email. Winners will also be posted in the news feed (front page) of IndieHorrorFest.com / SpookShowEntertainment.com within 48 hours of the close of the festival.
** Our Selection / Awards Procedure: Festival Director / Producers make official selections for the festival by vote. Official Selections are then screened/graded by 5 different judges anonymously and given an overall grade on a 5 point scale for each of the qualifying award categories (with the exception of the “Directors Choice Award”). All judges points are then added together to give it a grade. The top 5 films by grade in each category are then considered an award nominee and listed on this page. The film with the highest grade in each category is considered and announced that category’s award winner at the festival. In the event of a tie for highest grade, the festival director, festival producer and festival founder will each vote on the tied films giving the majority vote the award. In the event that one of the production staff are involved in one of the films involving a tie, a 3rd party will be selected to vote in place of the production staff member involved.
*** Special Recognition Awards are given to any film that is nominated (in top 5 by votes) in 5 or more categories. The way we see it is, even if the film didn’t score the highest in any of the categories, to be a nominee in 5 or more categories means that the film was extremely good across the board. (The Festival Directors Choice Award category don’t qualify for the Special Recognition Awards)
**** The Festival Directors Choice Award nominee’s are the Film Festival Directors top 5 choice films of the festival. The Directors Choice Award is presented at the festival to the Directors favorite film of the festival. (Any film that the festival director is personally involved in at any level is not eligible for this award.)
We will have snack tables, video tables, equipment tables, and have raffles, prizes, and even entertainment.
We always choose a charity to help; in 2011 it was for a safe haven for battered women and children. We received over 400 pieces of clothing as well as some of our proceeds go to help maintenance costs for the location.
THIS YEAR WE HAVE CHOSEN TO HELP OUT A LOCAL HUMANE SOCIETY!
**Bring a blanket to help out needy animals! We will be donating these blankets to a local humane society or no-kill shelter so that these animals may stay comfortable until they are placed in their forever homes. Unopened bags and cans of animal food will also be accepted. Feel free to bring clean/laundered cat or dog toys.
•Bring 1 large blanket or large bag of unopened cat/dog food = 1 raffle ticket
•Bring 5 cans of cat food or 3 cans of 12 oz dog food = 1 raffle ticket
•Bring 3 large clean/laundered dog toys = 1 raffle ticket
•Bring 4 small clean/laundered cat toys = 1 raffle ticket
It’s roughly 6-8 hours of entertainment – featuring newly released para videos, as well as quick talks about the para field. This past year we had belly dancers too!
CPPI prides itself on helping our community above and beyond investigations, research, and public speeches regarding the many aspects of paranormal study.
*GIVE BACK TO OUR COMMUNITY AS WELL AS VIEW THE NEWEST PARA MOVIES!*
We will have snack tables, video tables, equipment tables, and have raffles, prizes, and even entertainment.
We always choose a charity to help; in 2011 it was for a safe haven for battered women and children. We received over 400 pieces of clothing as well as some of our proceeds go to help maintenance costs for the location.
THIS YEAR WE HAVE CHOSEN TO HELP OUT A LOCAL HUMANE SOCIETY!
**Bring a blanket to help out needy animals! We will be donating these blankets to a local humane society or no-kill shelter so that these animals may stay comfortable until they are placed in their forever homes. Unopened bags and cans of animal food will also be accepted. Feel free to bring clean/laundered cat or dog toys.
•Bring 1 large blanket or large bag of unopened cat/dog food = 1 raffle ticket
•Bring 5 cans of cat food or 3 cans of 12 oz dog food = 1 raffle ticket
•Bring 3 large clean/laundered dog toys = 1 raffle ticket
•Bring 4 small clean/laundered cat toys = 1 raffle ticket
It’s roughly 6-8 hours of entertainment – featuring newly released para videos, as well as quick talks about the para field. This past year we had belly dancers too!
CPPI prides itself on helping our community above and beyond investigations, research, and public speeches regarding the many aspects of paranormal study.
*GIVE BACK TO OUR COMMUNITY AS WELL AS VIEW THE NEWEST PARA MOVIES!*
