CREW BIOS

Jeremy Saulnier- Writer, Director, Cinematographer

Jeremy spent his youth making gross-out home movies with his pals. After graduating from NYU film school with honors, his high hopes were dashed by the brutal realities of corporate video production. After a test video he directed snowballed into a year long international advertising campaign, he saw the world and amassed a relative fortune. He blew it all on Murder Party.

His short film, Crabwalk, won "Best Narrative Short" at the 2004 Slamdance Film Festival and his cinematography is showcased in the feature film, Hamilton, which Richard Brody of The New Yorker online called “one of the most original, moving and accomplished American independent films in recent years”. He lives in Brooklyn with his darling wife and two dogs.

Chris Sharp – Producer/ Executive Producer

Chris went to Brown University and has lived in Park Slope Brooklyn ever since. He has worked as a producer and production manager in the commercial advertising world for the last seven years, (where his soul shrinks) and has been writing the great American fantasy novel in his downtime, (where it grows again.) He lives with his swell wife, has plans to get a new cat and will soon be the Premiere Fantasist of Our Time. Until then he will remain a producer, writer and hacktor for The Lab of Madness. He enjoys Snyders of Hannover Hard pretzels and Haribo Gold Bears.


Skei Saulnier- Producer

Skei transferred from The University of Virginia to study film at The New School University in New York City. A producer, wardrobe stylist and closeted thespian, Skei specializes in covering for the incompetent males that surround her. Her credits range from indie shorts to worldwide print campaigns for Fortune 500 companies.


Macon Blair - Executive Producer

As an executive producer, Macon wears a fancy Admiral’s hat, epaulets, an eyepatch, and smokes a corncob pipe. This is his "Means Business" outfit, in which he provides creative/ administrative/advertising juice for the Lab. He is the writer of the Hellcity comic book series published by Gigantic Graphic Novels, and numerous screenplays in various stages of production development. He has also appeared in several independent films, including Gretchen (directed by Steve Collins), UR4 Given (by Cinque Lee), Crabwalk (by Jeremy Saulnier), as well as various commercials, music videos, and episodic television.


Kate Barry – Line Producer

Although Kate Barry is a halfling, she has a mind like a steel laser, simultaneously capable of crunching numbers, managing a crew, and putting out fires (literally and figuratively.) In addition to Murder Party, Kate has line produced The Shanghai Hotel and The Dissection of Thanksgiving and produced Bert Prentice CEO. Kate was the duct tape that held together the slashed-up guts of Murder Party.


Christina Barth - Production Designer

A Brazilian badass who knows set building AND chokeholds, Christina’s tireless work ethic inspired and energized those around her. A graduate of Santa Marcelina, Brazil’s premiere design school (duh), Christina has worked on a wide variety of film and television projects, music videos, and installations. Her recent work includes designing the feature Dirty Salsa
and art directing a ten-million dollar (how many zeroes is that?) Bollywood super-production. Don’t fuck with Christina.

Marc Beroza - Editor

Despite his crippling Blackberry addiction, Marc is one of the most promising young editors on the scene. Murder Party is his debut feature film as a cutter, after years of extensive television experience that earned him his rep for speed. A true jack-of-all-trades, he continues developing new projects as a producer and director, most recently a music video for new recording star Peter Toh.

Erin Dougherty -Costume Designer

A NYC based fashion stylist/costume designer, Erin is as versatile as she it adorable (which is lots.) Although she’s worked for such big-shot commercial clients like Virgin Mobile, American Express, Bravo and Comedy Central, she’s also lent her considerable talents to more intimate personal projects like John Cameron Mitchell’s Shortbus, Home with Marcia Gay Harden, and Murder Party with a bunch of goofs that nobody knows yet. Erin’s unflagging cheerfulness and professionalism was a bright spot on set when everyone else wanted to strangle each other.

Brooke & Will Blair- Original Score


Brooke and Will live in Philadelphia and for years have composed for most Lab of Madness productions. This is because they are musically gifted and not at all because they are Macon's little brothers and thus can be pressed to work for free. Their “day job” is recording and playing shows with their band, East Hundred (the singer of which is Beryl Guceri, who appeared in Murder Party as Beryl the Unfortunate Photo Assistant.)


Paul Goldblatt- Special Makeup Effects

Paul Goldblatt is a special effects make-up artist whose credits include Death Cab For Cutie, National Geographic Explorer, The History Channel, and a number of feature and short film projects. He graduated from NYU’s Tisch
School of the Arts and currently lives in New Haven, CT with his wife, Liz, and dog, Rosie. Check out his portfolio at www.paulgoldblatt.com. Persistent rumors that Paul and the notorious Virginia club owner/racketeer Horace Goldfarb are the same person remain unfounded.


Dave Ellis – Steadicam

Dave Ellis is one of the most in-demand Steadicam ops in the New York area. His credits are vast and wide ranging, including indie and big budget features, television and music videos. Working the Steadicam unit is extremely physically demanding and Dave keeps himself in prime physical condition with an exclusive diet of raw beef (three pounds daily) and uncracked peppercorns (multiple handfuls daily.)

CAST BIOS


CHRIS SHARP plays 'Christopher S. Hawley' aka THE BROWN KNIGHT.

A graduate of Brown University, Chris is yet another novelist residing in the Park Slope area of Brooklyn, NY. He is proficient in edged weapons and detecting 'shitstorms'. Murder Party marks his feature film debut as a lead actor, although his hands were featured in the Joe “Joey Pants” Pantoliano film Taxman. Costume character credits include McGruff the Crime Dog at the Alexandria Fall Festival ('89-'90) and the King Street Blues Carnival Pig (summer '91.)

MACON BLAIR plays 'Macon', aka THE WOLFMELT.

He lives in Brooklyn, kinda near Flatbush. He writes screenplays and comic books and goes to his spiritually fulfilling office job when he’s not working on movies. He is disease-free, great with kids, and looking for “the whole package.” Enjoys cooking, dancing, long walks at dusk, and crystal meth directly off a hunting knife.


SKEI SAULNIER plays 'Sky'
aka THE JEERLEADER.

Bottom line: she’s banging the director. Despite the fact that she has studied acting with Stella Adler, managed international advertising campaigns, negotiated million-dollar property deals and is more qualified to do almost anything than just about anyone...she still only got this part because she’s banging the director. We all totally knew it.


SANDY BARNETT plays Alexander
aka THE MASTERMIND.

A member of the Lab since its early days as Butt Stupid Films, Sandy Barnett is now an old old man. Formerly a loudmouth gun-toting drunk, he recently started reading books about Buddhism and now he’s really into flowers and yoga workout DVDs. He also enjoys getting real with his true feelings, candle light diners and working to unite mankind in peace and understanding, stamping out hunger and war. He would also like a kick-ass Ferrari.

WILLIAM LACEY plays 'Bill'
aka THE GHOULYVILLE SLUGGER

William is a fixture on the New York rock scene, playing drums in the stealth-thrash outfit Battletorn and the grind juggernaut How We Lost The War, as well as recently forming the party rock four-piece Underpants. Murder Party is his acting debut, though he’s been seen lurking the peripheries of many a Lab production in the past. He also shits standing up.

PAUL GOLDBLATT plays 'Paul'
aka THE VAMP

A Fangoria nerd from way back when, Paul spent his youth traumatizing his suburban neighbors with ghastly make-up effects. His parent’s basement served as headquarters for The Lab of Madness during the high-school years and he’s always worn many hats on Lab productions: blood, guts, pyro, stunts, costumes, miniatures, props, animation and just about everything
else. Murder Party is his feature acting debut (if you don’t count his tenth grade masterworks like Mega Cop 2000 or Not Without My Bitch.)

BEAU SIA plays 'Cicero'

Beau Sia is the big time real deal. A published poet, he was an original cast member of the Tony award winning Def Poetry Jam on Broadway and turned up in every season of HBO’s Def Poetry, as well as in movies like Slam, The Manchurian Canditate and Hitch (which featured scene where he destroys the Fresh Prince in a rhyme battle but was cut from the theatrical release.) He
lives at www.beausia.com.

BILL TANGRADI plays 'Zycho'
aka THE DRUG DEALER

To research his role, Bill actually moved to Belarus for six months prior to shooting and worked for (the recently executed) Andrez “The King of Crank” Stabovich as a lookout and petty dealer. The intenstity he brought to the part scared the hell outta people. He recently sold out and moved to Hollywierd, but before that he was a working New York actor, frequently appearing on Law & Order and Third Watch, as well as in the short Lovesick, which he also wrote.


Stacy Rock plays 'Lexi'
aka FUTURE BITCH

A Brooklyn based singer/songwriter, Stacy Rock’s debut record One Way Home drew stellar reviews and comparisons to Aimee Mann, PJ Harvey, and “a lady Tom Waits.” Between recording and playing shows, she finds time to appear in wacked-out indie flicks like Until Death and Murder Party, rightly fearing that she could become typecast as “the hot lunatic.” (And for the record, Stacy was a real trooper, having to work with all these gross boys.)

Beryl Guceri plays 'Beryl'
aka THE UNFORTUNATE PHOTO ASSISTANT

Beryl is the enchanting lead singer for the band East Hundred, lately becoming one of the bright spots of the Philadelphia rock scene. Onstage, she epitomizes grace and understated beauty but don’t let it fool you: this chick is goofier than three coats of paint. She claims to be fluent in Turkish...but we think it’s just jibber-jabber.


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