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“Midnight Mass” and “The Fall of the House of Usher” actor Samantha Sloyan is set to star in upcoming sci-fi comedy Invaders from Proxima B. Variety reports today that the sci-fi comedy has been acquired by Buffalo 8.

Sloyan will star opposite director/star Ward Roberts.

In Invaders from Proxima B, “after a wise-cracking alien named Chuck (Roberts) crashes in the backyard, the Jankins family teams up with their new otherworldly friend to battle a dangerous array of pursuers.”

Mike C. Nelson, Richard Riehle, Jeremiah Birkett and Sarah Lassez also star.

Not only is Roberts directing from his own script and starring in what appears to be multiple roles, but the filmmaker also produced under his Drexel Box Productions outfit alongside Mike C. Nelson.

Buffalo 8’s Nikki Stier Justice said of the acquisition “’Invaders from Proxima B’ is a cinematic delight that Buffalo 8 is excited to bring home to audiences. It...

Film and media company Buffalo 8 has acquired worldwide rights to “Invaders from Proxima B,” the science fiction comedy from writer-director-star Ward Roberts.

The cast also includes Samantha Sloyan, Mike C. Nelson, Richard Riehle, Jeremiah Birkett and Sarah Lassez.

In the film, after a wise-cracking alien named Chuck (Roberts) crashes in the backyard, the Jankins family teams up with their new otherworldly friend to battle a dangerous array of pursuers.

“Invaders from Proxima B” was directed by Roberts from his own script. Roberts produced under his Drexel Box Productions outfit alongside Mike C. Nelson. The film had its world premiere at the Austin Film Festival.

The deal was negotiated between Nikki Stier Justice of Buffalo 8 and by Dan Fisher of Poppy Pictures on behalf of the filmmakers.

Stier Justice said: “’Invaders from Proxima B’ is a cinematic delight that Buffalo 8 is excited to bring home to audiences. It delivers a fresh...

"I'm not from Hell, I'm from Indiana!" A festival promo trailer crashes in for an indie sci-fi comedy called Invaders From Proxima B, made by actor / filmmaker Ward Roberts. It's premiering in the next week at the 2023 Austin Film Festival in Texas, though has no other release dates set - it'll be touring at more fests. When a cute, wise-cracking alien from Proxima B named Chuck crash lands in their backyard, the Jankins family must work together to save their new fuzzy friend from a dangerous array of weirdos that show up in hot pursuit. The stakes couldn't be higher for Chuck, the Jankins, and maybe even all of planet Earth. It's super wacky – when the puppet alien shows up gets really fun. Reminds me of the kind of mega low budget, kooky and amusing early films the Duplass Bros or Kevin Smith made early on. Ward Roberts also stars with Samantha Sloyan,...

Recently, CBS served up the new,official synopsis/description for their upcoming "NCIS: Los Angeles" episode 13 of season 7. The episode is entitled, "Matryoshka Part 2," and it turns out that we're going to see some pretty drama-filled and intense stuff go down as Eric gets a taste of field work from Kensi and Deeks. Then we'll see Sam and Anna trying to execute an elaborate plan to free Anna's dad from prison, and more! In the new, 13th episode press release: While They're In Russia, Callen, Sam And Anna Craft A Plan To Break Anna's Father And His CIA Agent Companion Out Of Prison, On Part Two Of A Special Two-part Episode Of "NCIS: Los Angeles," Monday, Feb. 22. Press release number 2: While they're in Russia, Callen, Sam and Anna (Bar Paly) are going to craft a plan to break Anna's father and his CIA agent companion out of prison. Also,...

Sneak Peek footage and images from Marvel's "Agent Carter", the ABC replacement series for the returning "Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.", airing a final episode titled "Valediction", February 24, 2015, written by Michele Fazekas, Tara Butters and directed by Christopher Misiano:

"...'Peggy' (Hayley Atwell) faces the full fury of 'Leviathan...

"...as Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper) makes his return...

"...in the explosive season finale of 'Marvel's Agent Carter'..."

Cast also includes James D'Arcy as 'Edwin Jarvis', Chad Michael Murray as 'Agent Jack Thompson', Enver Gjokaj as 'Agent Daniel Sousa' and Shea Whigham as 'Chief Roger Dooley'.

Guest stars include Lyndsy Fonseca as 'Angie Martinelli', Ralph Brown as 'Dr. Ivchenko', Bridget Regan as 'Dottie Underwood', Walker Roach as the 'Captain America Radio Actor', Erin Torpey as 'Betty Carver Radio Actor'...

...Ralph Garman as 'Radio Announcer', Dajuan Johnson as 'Officer Pike', Glen Taranto as 'Detective Prendergast', Kevin Ashworth as 'Agent Fisher', Patrick Smith...

"Valediction" - Peggy faces the full fury of Leviathan, as Howard Stark makes his return in the explosive season finale of "Marvel's Agent Carter," Tuesday, February 24 (9:00-10:00 p.m., Et) on the ABC Television Network.   Marvel's Agent Carter" stars Hayley Atwell as Agent Peggy Carter, James D'Arcy as Edwin Jarvis, Chad Michael Murray as Agent Jack Thompson, Enver Gjokaj as Agent Daniel Sousa and Shea Whigham as Chief Roger Dooley.   Guest starring are Lyndsy Fonseca as Angie Martinelli, Ralph Brown as Dr. Ivchenko, Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark, Bridget Regan as Dottie Underwood, Walker Roach as "Captain America" Radio Actor, Erin Torpey as "Betty Carver" Radio Actor, Ralph Garman as Radio Announcer, Dajuan Johnson as Officer Pike, Glen Taranto as Detective Prendergast, Kevin Ashworth as Agent Fisher, Patrick Smith as Agent Butch Wallace, Matt Raimo as Reporter #1, Ward Roberts as Reporter #2, John Prosky as Senator Walt Cooper, Gerald Webb...

Marvel's "Agent Carter", the ABC replacement series for the returning "Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D." will air a final episode titled "Valediction", February 24, 2015, written by Michele Fazekas, Tara Butters and directed by Christopher Misiano as 'Peggy' faces the fury of 'Leviathan':

"...'Peggy' (Hayley Atwell) faces the full fury of 'Leviathan, as Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper) makes his return in the explosive season finale of 'Marvel's Agent Carter'..."

Cast also includes James D'Arcy as 'Edwin Jarvis', Chad Michael Murray as 'Agent Jack Thompson', Enver Gjokaj as 'Agent Daniel Sousa' and Shea Whigham as 'Chief Roger Dooley'.

Guest stars include Lyndsy Fonseca as 'Angie Martinelli', Ralph Brown as 'Dr. Ivchenko', Bridget Regan as 'Dottie Underwood', Walker Roach as the 'Captain America Radio Actor', Erin Torpey as 'Betty Carver Radio Actor', Ralph Garman as 'Radio Announcer', Dajuan Johnson as 'Officer Pike', Glen Taranto as 'Detective Prendergast', Kevin Ashworth as 'Agent Fisher',...

"Valediction" - Peggy faces the full fury of Leviathan, as Howard Stark makes his return in the explosive season finale of "Marvel's Agent Carter," Tuesday, February 24 (9:00-10:00 p.m., Et) on the ABC Television Network.   Marvel's Agent Carter" stars Hayley Atwell as Agent Peggy Carter, James D'Arcy as Edwin Jarvis, Chad Michael Murray as Agent Jack Thompson, Enver Gjokaj as Agent Daniel Sousa and Shea Whigham as Chief Roger Dooley.   Guest starring are Lyndsy Fonseca as Angie Martinelli, Ralph Brown as Dr. Ivchenko, Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark, Bridget Regan as Dottie Underwood, Walker Roach as "Captain America" Radio Actor, Erin Torpey as "Betty Carver" Radio Actor, Ralph Garman as Radio Announcer, Dajuan Johnson as Officer Pike, Glen Taranto as Detective Prendergast, Kevin Ashworth as Agent Fisher, Patrick Smith as Agent Butch Wallace, Matt Raimo as Reporter #1, Ward Roberts as Reporter #2, John Prosky as Senator Walt Cooper, Gerald Webb...

Remember the "Choose Your Own Adventure" books from the 1970s and '80s? "Hawaii Five-0" is bringing the concept to television.

For the first time ever, viewers will get to choose the ending of an episode in real time via voting on Twitter and CBS.com. The Jan. 14 episode will present three possible suspects in the case and let fans choose which one committed the crime. Separate votes will take place for the show's Eastern/Central time airing and the Pacific time broadcast.

"I've always felt the most fun aspect of watching a mystery is trying to figure out 'whodunit,'" "Hawaii Five-0" executive producer Peter Lenkov says.  "Now the 'Hawaii Five-0' viewers will actually get the chance to tell us who they think committed the crime, and we will listen. I love that our dedicated and attentive fans will actually play a part in resolving our story.

Earlier, we posted a review of the action comedy Dust Up, a neo-western with shades of Quentin Tarantino, Sergio Leone, and Grindhouse films. The film was written and directed by Ward Roberts (Little Big Top), and can be found on VOD and PPV, and has been out since October and November. What follows is FM’s interview with Ward: our discussion about his influences, his hilarious cast, the case of the missing miniature pony, and the tenacity it takes to be an independent filmmaker.

Read our rave review here and be sure to check it out on VOD.

FM: I always ask this because I’m always curious. What kinds of films, or TV, or books did you grow up on? What inspired you to become a filmmaker?

Ward Roberts: You know, I would say, watching Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Superman, those are my very earliest cinematic influences.

Written and Directed by Ward Roberts

Featuring Amber Benson, Aaron Gaffey, Devin Barry, Travis Betz, Jeremiah Birkett

As a dumb kid, I spent considerable time camped out in front of cable TV. The programming I begrudgingly missed for school or basic hygiene, I captured with my Vcr set to record the maximum hours allotted on a standard VHS tape.

Poorer quality, sure, but it was suitable for the six hours worth of garbage movies and random junk I recorded on a daily basis. I was, however, able to discover some pretty nifty shit during that wondrous time; films like The Zero Boys, Hunter's Blood, Neon Maniacs, Alligator, Quiet Cool, Waxwork, and Dudes remain staples of my diet to this day. Today, I'm a dumb grown-up, and at the risk of this sounding like an Abe Simpson rant, I feel sorry for kids growing up today. I really do. My growth...

We have an exclusive clip from Dust Up, arriving on VOD formats October 2. Ward Roberts directs this western action comedy about a former outlaw named Jack (Aaron Gaffey) who protects a single mother from a ruthless drug lord. Take a look at this scene where the one-eyed Jack picks up a drifter, and receives an unusual proposition.

Dust Up - Exclusive A Handy for the Handyman

A one-eyed vigilante with a dark past has vowed to change his ways, trading his machine gun for a yoga mat. But when he encounters a beautiful young mother in deep trouble with a cannibalistic drug lord and his evil goons, he soon realizes that justice must be served. Teamed up with his smooth-talking Native American hipster sidekick, our hero rides into the bad-ass brawl of the century.

Dust Up will be released October 2nd, 2012 and stars Leigh Anne Bush, Amber Benson, Victoria De Mare,...

We’re back this weekend with another edition of the Indie Spotlight. Today, we bring you the first episode of the zombie webseries The Dead Feed, along with the latest independent horror news sent our way:

When Good Holiday’s Go Bad: Rise of the Fiend: “Halloween, that magical night that compels adults to act like children, children to gorge themselves and a host of creatures and ghouls, those nasty beasties that hide under your bed, in your closet or the deepest recesses of your mind, all come out to play, scaring and frightening their human victims; at least, that’s how it was in the old days.

Welcome to Halloween Hallow, a disturbing land where all the nefarious creatures that wander the world on Halloween night come to dwell during the off season. In this land of strange and weird creatures lives Jack, the only human ever allowed to live amongst them.

Amber Benson’S “Dust Up” Going Down In 2012 From Breaking Glass Pictures

Domestic distributor Breaking Glass Pictures (5 Star Day, The Fields, Easier With Practice) bought domestic rights to the indie grindhouse comedy Dust Up. The deal was struck last week between CEO Rich Wolff and writer/director/producer Ward Roberts of Drexel Box Productions. Dust Up stars genre favorite Amber Benson (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, Drones), Ezra Buzzington (“Justified”), Jeremiah Birkett, Travis Betz, Aaron Gaffey, Devin… More...

In the horror musical The Dead Inside, we meet tortured young lovers Wes and Fi, and while their love for each other burns strong, artistically their hearts have been locked in a box for years. Wes is a burned out photographer paying the bills by shooting weddings, and Fi is the writer's blocked author of a series of zombie novellas called "The Dead Survive."

When Fi begins to show signs of schizophrenia, Wes does everything in his power to help her get better. Strange behaviors and breathing patterns escalate; soon he discovers that darker forces lurk inside her. Afraid and completely lost, Wes has no choice but to imprison his girlfriend until he can figure out what to do with the evil that has taken over his true love.

Dread Central recently caught up with writer/director Travis Betz on the eve of his screening at the upcoming Shriekfest Film...

One of the big horror debuts of Comic-Con, Chillerama had a sneak preview last Friday night, followed by a Q & A with some of the talent involved. An anthology film, Chillerama features segments by Tim Sullivan, Adam Green, Adam Rifkin and Joe Lynch and a cast that includes Ray Wise, Eric Roberts, Joel David Moore, Kristina Klebe, Kane Hodder, Brent Corrigan, Anton Troy, Lin Shaye, Laura Ortiz, Ed Ackerman, Ward Roberts and Silvia Moore. Check out the video of the discussion in the player below and read Shock's positive review of the film by clicking here .

The latest video in Spindrift's ongoing homage to Spaghetti Western scores from their "Classic Soundtracks Vol. 1," also doubles as a title sequence for the independent modern Western craziness, "Dust Up." The film follows Ella, played by Amber Benson ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer"), along with a Native American hipster, a lizardman, and a generally wild cast of characters, through an action comedy set in the middle of the Mojave desert.

Just when you thought the band couldn't get any stranger than scoring an obscure 60's film by rogue director J.X. Williams, about female aliens bent on turning everyone gay... all right, maybe that is stranger than this, but "Dust Up," featuring Spindrift's western psychedelic soundtrack, looks like it's set to be a freaky cult classic and gory cartoon rolled into one. Working closely with Director Ward Roberts, Spindrift have just finished scoring the entire film in the studio with desert pals Gram Rabbit.

Lo Movie PosterThe following review has been written by UVic alum Ed Sum, who is also a Victoria resident, website owner, and lover of all things horror. Have a read of Ed's second review on Travis Betz's Lo, which is a challenging journey to hell for love.

Writer / Director: Travis Betz

Just how many puns can be made when talking about Lo? It is a flick that is lauded by some as terrible and others, as a genius work of art. One can search for the high points in this production, and there will be a few surprisingly good bits of drama.

There are a few moments of well acted camaraderie between the principal characters, once when the performers find that magical space. Unfortunately it just does not happen fast enough in this Faustian style play; so when Justin (Ward Roberts) stumbles his way to find unrequited love, it...

Writer/director: Travis Betz.

Lo is a film from Travis Betz that began filming within Los Angeles in the summer of 2007. The film has spent some time on the film festival circuit including the Austin Film Festival and now the film will be available on DVD, as of February 9th. Lacking in set design, Lo seems like a play divided into acts that would be suitable for a small audience rather than a solitary viewing. Lo tackles one of the most complex of emotions, love. According to Betz love is hell and so is the final scene of the film.

Lo centers around the concept of love, as Justin (Ward Roberts) travels to hell in search of his passion, April (Sarah Lassez). Justin is protected from death by a pentagram, but demon Lo (Jermiah Birkett) is able to torment "dinner" despite this magical protection. In search of his beloved Justin...

Castle Rock has obtained the rights to Playing Joe which Variety is describing as a Hitchcock-style thriller. Producer Mike Lobell says 'the script is a Rio-set romantic thriller in the vein of North by Northwest, with memory loss and recovery key to the plot'. I missed Lo when it played Shriekfest L.A. last year, but I heard nothing but good things about it. Below we have info regarding Lo's DVD release and cover art. One man's love is put to the ultimate test in Lo, raising hell on DVD Feb. 9 from Skd USA (Distributed by Entertainment One). Love is a tricky little devil, one with the power to command great sacrifice from those it touches.  Enter Justin (Ward Roberts, My Big Fat...

Lo is an indie film from director and writer Travis Betz. A movie about love and the underworld, Lo packs in many different genres, including comedy, into a story driven film. To be released on DVD February 9, 2010, Lo will star Jeremiah Birkett (Crossing Jordan), Sarah Lassez (The Pursuit), Ward Roberts (MANswers), and Aaron Gaffey (Cold Case). Have a look at the unique and interesting trailer below that hints at the comedy inside the DVD. Then, check this independent out at the video stores on February 9, 2010.

A movie synopsis for Lo here:

"Love presents many challenges to couples...but none so daunting as the one Justin faces with his girlfriend April. Kidnapped by demons, April's mystery begins to unfold when he finds an ancient book that she has left behind. Using the book, he contacts the demon Lo, ordering it to help him rescue his girl from the fiery pits. But...

Lo, the latest film from Travis Betz (Joshua), is hitting DVD on February 9th from Skd USA (distributed by Entertainment One), and we've got the skinny on what you can expect from this weird little tale starring Jeremiah Birkett, Sarah Lassez, Ward Roberts, Devin Barry, Aaron Gaffey, Travis Betz, Liz Loza, and Larissa Deckert.

Synopsis

Love is a tricky little devil, one with the power to command great sacrifice from those it touches. Enter Justin, a loser whose most exciting moment in any given day is the house salad/no dressing he orders on his lunch break from corporate HateMyJob.

But when a bizarre and curiously naive woman named April enters his life, he is forever changed. Suddenly the world is bright and full of hope and nothing could ever change...until April is mysteriously kidnapped by demons.

- Uncle Creepy

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Directed by Travis Betz (Joshua), one mans love is put to the ultimate test in Lo, raising hell on DVD February 9 from Skd USA (Distributed by Entertainment One). Starring Jeremiah Birkett, Sarah Lassez, Ward Roberts, Devin Barry, Aaron Gaffey, Travis Betz, Liz Loza and Larissa Deckert, beyond the break you ca read all about this micro-budget indie venture that's sure to impress the lot of you. Love is a tricky little devil, one with the power to command great sacrifice from those it touches. Enter Justin (Ward Roberts, My Big Fat Independent Movie, Dreamland, Doomed), a loser whose most exciting moment in any given day is the house salad/no dressing he orders on his lunch break from corporate HateMyJob. More...

Year: 2009

Directors: Travis Betz

Writers: Travis Betz

IMDb: link

Trailer: link

Review by: rochefort

Rating: 4 out of 10

Justin (Ward Roberts) is an unexceptional guy who works at the usual McJob. His life gets interesting with the arrival of April (Sarah Lassez), an eccentric little cutie whose only apparent possession is a book locked in a box that she carries everywhere she goes. Justin is immediately smitten with her, and before long she moves in and all seems right with the world. But April, see, is a demon, and her fellow minions of evil soon find her and take her back to hell. So lovesick Justin opens her locked box and uses the book, a tome for summoning demons, to call forth Lo (Jeremiah Birkett), a lesser demon of Hell, who must do whatever Justin commands as long as his steadily shrinking pentagram keeps the demon at bay. Justin orders Lo to return April to him,...