2022 April Participants

pleasant fest laurels
See you at Pleasant Fest!

Congratulations to all the excellent talent!

Panic Terror Films: Dreu Moreland and Jason Scott Delzell

Panic Terror Films: Dreu Moreland is an independent artist/filmmaker and provided public service as an EMT in EMS. Dreu Moreland has a passion for the arts. She Graduated from Douglas Education Center with an associate degree in filmmaking. Dreu is known for her work on The 4Bidden Fables (2014) and Tradition of Service (2012). Jason Scott Delzell is an independent artist/filmmaker and has a passion for the arts. He has the determination to prove that anyone is capable of doing great things in life. Jason Scott Delzell is known as an actor for Deadlands: The Rising (2006), Pro Wrestlers vs Zombies (2014), and The 4Bidden Fables (2014). Together these individuals have a gritty life experience to show the film industry a whole different perspective.

“H is for Horror” is a mockumentary film based on the epidemic in America of the heroin drug abuse in a family household through a child’s perspective and documented by the victims as adults.

The Parishables

The Parishables are from South Park Pennsylvania. Their music is a mix of punk rock, metal, grunge, and alternative. We also have some soft stuff too. We formed in August 2020 and been playing rock shows around the greater Pittsburgh area!

John Peacefire

John Peacefire is a modern revolutionary folk musician who writes entirely original material. Currently producing songs in his studio, Peacefire Productions, John has dedicated himself to raising awareness of socio-political / economic turmoil through song. As a multi-instrumentalist, John also works with loop pedals to produce indie rock. This last year, he played multiple festivals including Mass n Tha Grass, Fowler Grove Autumn Craft, Arts, and Bluegrass Festival, and Sizerville State Park’s Autumn Festival. In the works is an album he is hoping to release this year.

Santos Ortiz-Pasterick

Santos Ortiz-Pasterick is an upcoming American Actor, Filmographer, and Musician that focuses on developing projects that entertain audiences. These projects consist of media such as film, music, and written content. Since his freshman year of high school, he has always loved performing on stage and creating art. Santos loves to entertain, so when the stage seemed to be too far from reach, he found a new home on Film. Santos created DowncastSpark Productions on November 11th, 2016. Since then, he has created many videos and was featured in other films, animation projects, shows, musicals, and more.

The Red Halloween – Samuel Green is an upcoming photographer working on his portfolio. He believes that one day everyone will remember his name and although this may come to pass, things don’t go according to plan. With a killer in the woods, Samuel learns why you should never wander in the forest alone.

D!RT, The Dirt Band

Three piece Drunk Rock band from Ohio.

Indigo Rae

Indigo Rae is a solo singer-songwriter exploring love and loss through a queer lens. Heavily influenced by 90’s alternative and modern pop-punk and folk. Their music transcends the commonplace acoustic sound with unexpected melodies and lyricism that defies codification.

Royce

A rock, hip hop, blues, soul, funk fusion band that creates original music that celebrates the reclamation of music genres that are rooted in African-American culture but connect to us all. The music addresses social injustices, equity in music, fragility of the human heart, and the triumphs over the daily struggles just to exist in a world that has often lost its humanity. The high energy performances and lyrical content speak to all facets of the human condition and appeals to audiences of all ages.

Sachem Orenda

Sachem Orenda is a solo electronic musician, avant-garde guitarist, and singer from Pittsburgh, PA.

Porters

Porters, a rock band from New Kensington, PA. Porters is Layne, lead singer and guitarist, and Liam, drummer and clown horn enthusiast. They have released their self titled debut “Porters” on streaming platforms.

Alexander Collins

Alexander Collins is a British media composer, with roots in indie rock, as a former singer/songwriter in a band. He has composed music for BBC Countryfile and the animated short ‘Blue’s Dream Suite’ among other projects. Alexander loves to compose music for the orchestra but is equally passionate about electronic and rock based music production.

Marc Cardillo

Marc Cardillo is a Cinema Production Major at Point Park with 2022 being his senior year. His love and focus is producing. His first “set experience” was in 10th grade and ever since has been hooked to the creation of film and TV commercials. Ever since High School he has been working to create tons of content, and that goal has not changed since coming to college where production quality has seen a big improvement.

Lauren Keller

Lauren Keller is an independent filmmaker based out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She is an award-winning filmmaker, photographer, and artist. Her films have been screened in festivals located in Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Spain, England and Argentina along with her artwork and photography being displayed in the Westmoreland Museum of American Art. She currently attends Point Park University, studying for a B.F.A. in Cinema Production with a focus in Cinematography and a minor in Photography. She also has touched into feature and commercial work as well, providing services for companies such as Netflix and Covalent.

Matthew Diulus

Matthew is a Pittsburgh filmmaker known for short films such as Duct Tape, Angel Hair, and Canvas. Matt’s production company (Shadowframe Productions) has also co-produced lots of other Pittsburgh short films such as Social Media Rehab and Mindbender, which Matt also worked as cinematographer and editor.

Just Buried Films: Todd Wolfson

Todd “Killer” Wolfson is a Writer, Director, and the Founder of Just Buried Entertainment. Todd was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA.

Todd grew up heavily inspired by Horror, Science Fiction, Dark Comedies, 1980’s cinema, Kung Fu/Martial Arts, Grind-house, and Creature Features from the 1950s &1960s. He also drew a lot of inspiration from directors and artists like Kevin Smith, John Carpenter, Sam Raimi, Stephen King, Tim Burton, and Wes Craven, to name a few.

At a young age, Todd found his craft and passion for creative writing and storytelling from watching many films and listening to some of his favorite musicians. In 2015, he started his own production company, Just Buried Productions, and made his first short film “8-Bit Blood Bath”. One year later, he also made a fun Grindhouse-style trailer called “Sponge” which was selected into many film festivals in California, New York, and in the UK. Todd’s first feature film “Batshit” is currently in post-production.

Sommelier

The songwriting team of guitarist Brian Ferrell and bassist/vocalist J. Trafford marries edged melodies and technicolor tempos. Embroidered by the supporting guitar of Zach Coss and drummer Chris Isaacs, the sound of Sommelier is a tight brocade of matured moods and sophisticated introspection.

Jacob Amsler

A musician with a passion for all types of music ranging from folk-horror to electronic brain-dance. Jacob Amsler has recently gotten himself into the world of filmmaking & photography. His work sparks interest easily with dark tones, mysterious vibes, and ambient sounds all made by none other than himself.

Banjiboi

Banjiboi, a rumored relative of the notorious Jesse James and descendent of Tex “Gold-Fingers” Calloway, a successful gold panner during the California gold rush, took a different trail to establishing himself as a household name during a time when social media and digital streaming started to change the ways of the wild and lawless West and the landscape of music forever.

Banjiboi is an eclectic fusion of bass driven electronic music and vintage hip hop beats with acoustic finger pickin’, and pull-off pluckin’ madness. With sounds derived from blues origins of The Mississippi Delta to darker country tones and blazing banjo licks, Banjiboi combines the best of modern and vintage styles in an attempt to breed positivity and unify a very polarized nation.

James Lockhart

Jamie Lockhart, also known as James Lockhart, is an independent filmmaker and freelance digital video editor.

He has edited and crafted bonus material for Blu-ray/DVD for several cult film labels including Severin Films, Second Sight Films, Blue Underground, Arrow Video, Shout Factory, and MVD.

He is also a dailies tech and colorist and has worked on such productions as Netflix’s THE CHAIR (2021) and RUSTIN (2022), Amazon’s MOTHER/ANDROID (2021), Miramax’s WHAT IF (2022), Disney’s first season of THE RIGHT STUFF (2020), Warner Brothers’ THOSE WHO WISH ME DEAD (2021), HBO’s AN AMERICAN PICKLE (2020), CBS All Access’ ONE DOLLAR (2018), and NBC’s first season of GONE (2017).

In 2021, Lockhart wrote, edited, and directed his first narrative science fiction feature film, FLATWOODS. He also co-directed the documentary TRAIL OF DRACULA (2017) for Severin Films.

Lockhart has edited over a dozen feature length independent films, several short films, web series, and more.

Erik Thompson

Erik has been acting for many years and recently got into the production side of film making. He has no formal training in any aspect of production but has picked up a lot over the years from being on various sets.

Jason Burke

Jason is an award-winning filmmaker (writer/director/actor), having been on over 70 film sets in the past four years. His directing credits include Mindbender, The Limbo Cafe, and Shackles. He’s also an independent author, having published six books since 2016. His available book titles include Never Say Goodbye, Behind Empty Eyes, and Fields of Madness. He’s also an activist, self-help blogger, YouTuber, and sports/film journalist. His company “Nostalgic Nightmare Productions” loves to find new ways to make you shiver through his shared horror universe, and he wants to create original work with depth, character, and a strong message

Fernando De La Cruz

Fernando De La Cruz is a Cinematographer, Director, Writer, and Actor. He is best known for his work on projects like Shattered, Hollow, Genocide, Our turn, Odium, and many more.

Mr. De La Cruz was born on December 31st, 1993, in Union New Jersey. The second of three children, Fernando’s first career path was a counselor. This changed once he went to college for Graphic Design. After picking up a camera he knew that Film was the right path for him.

Being mainly self-taught Mr. De La Cruz would start production on his first personal project, a short called Shattered. He would follow this with Hollow, The Message, Genocide, Our Turn, Odium, On Set, & Vagrant!

Michi Heckler

Originally from Austin, Texas and moved to Pittsburgh to enjoy the north. Former film student with a 9-5 with a love for passion projects.

NekroShark Films: Madeline Deering

Do you like your horror extreme? Cheesy? Fun? Do you like Sharks? You’ve come to the right place! NekroShark Films specializes in low budget horror!

Samuel Diggs

A filmmaker based in Pittsburgh, Pa, passionate about film, 5 years ago decided to take the journey of filmmaking. After 4 directorial shorts and a feature, still at it and loving every minute. Samuel loves being on a film set, telling stories, and showing people something exciting that takes them out of the dreadful day they may have had. Let’s tell some stories, shall we?

72nd St. Films

72nd St. Films produces film and television projects and sells them in the worldwide marketplace.

Jessica Bella Band

Music has always been a huge part of my life, and I want music to be the legacy I leave to the world. As long as I have blood flowing in my veins, the music is alive in me and needs to come out.

Belle Gold

Born and raised in Ithaca New York, Belle Gold is a singer-songwriter who draws inspiration from personal experience. She’s also a guitarist/vocalist for the band Second Spring, whose debut album, The Tide, was released on March 20th. Belle has been writing songs since she could talk but began taking music more seriously after the death of her friend and bandmate, Alek Travis. Music is her therapy, her form of self-expression, and her outlet for creativity. This is Belle’s first time performing as a solo artist and she could not be more excited to share her passion with the world. She is thankful to Pleasant Fest for this opportunity and to her friends and family who support and inspire her.

Matthew Otis

Matt Otis is a PA-based film-maker and musician. Otis’ new film “Here not Here” was filmed over the course of a 3 year period, while drawing upon an existential journey of two individuals encountering love, loss, and the supernatural. All music used within the film was created by Matt Otis and the Sound with their 2022 album “Here not Here.” Matt Otis and the Sound blends indie-acoustic with orchestral strings. Some of Otis’ recurring themes within both his films and music include existentialism, psychological-realism, & futurism.

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