Tim writes: The cast and crew of “The Dork of the Rings” will be quite busy this August making appearances and running seminars on the making of the film at Gen Con in Indianapolis and Elf: A Weekend of Wonder in Orlando, as well as having the UK premiere of their trailer and footage at The Fellowship Festival. The film is currently in post-production with plans for a Spring 2006 release. [More]

The fantasy-laden, visually stunning “Lord of the Rings” films had the benefit of computer-enhanced animation, but when it came to bringing J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” to the small stage at Harwich Junior Theatre, director Lisa Canto was on her own—no high-tech studio graphics for this production. “I have to use real bodies and real makeup,” Canto said in an interview last week, just days before opening night. “But I’ve taken on the challenge with full gusto.” [More]

Twin Australian filmmakers Michael and Peter Spierig told SCI FI Wire that they were inspired to make their zombie thriller film Undead by audience reaction to some of New Zealand director Peter Jackson’s early schlock horror movies. “One of [my] best movie experiences was seeing Braindead [aka Dead Alive] in Brisbane,” Peter Spierig said in an interview (he and his brother, Michael, both attended Brisbane’s Queensland College of Art). “The audience had never seen anything like that, and it was so good. The audience went nuts.” [More]