The Final Day
"This was one of the best filmmaking experiences I've ever had," states Director/Producer Paul Del Vecchio regarding, The Final Day, the winner of the Diary of the Dead DVD contest. "Making this movie was a lot of hard work, but it was definitely one of the most fun experiences I've ever had directing a film."

It all started with a phone call Del Vecchio made to David Doumeng and Douglas Frye (all three co-produced the film). Del Vecchio read about the Diary of the Dead contest on MySpace and immediately wanted to enter. "What's the worst thing that could happen?" Paul asked Mr. Doumeng and Mr. Frye. "People see our film and we get more attention. Maybe it'll get people interested in our other projects as well. And what's the best thing that could happen? If we win, then even more people will see our work. It's a win-win situation. We'd be stupid not to enter." Everyone agreed.

The group then set forth, each of them writing their own script. "In the end, we merged the best elements from all three scripts, but the main story was David's." says Mr. Del Vecchio. "We wanted to grab the audience's attention right away, so we started off with an action scene and threw small bits of story in there as well. We then made the second half of the film more about the character and the story," explains Doumeng. Del Vecchio adds, "I wanted to do this project only if it was going to have good character and plot stuff. I didn't want to make a film about blood and guts. I wanted to say something and have people actually like the character, empathize with him, and be on his side. David and Doug felt the same way."

After finalizing the script, the team scheduled the shoot for one weekend. However, something happened that almost cancelled the shoot. "We got snow!" says Del Vecchio. "David called me up and said, 'What are we going to do about all this snow?' I thought for a moment and said, 'We'll use it to our advantage. Have you ever seen a zombie movie in the snow?' I had to come up with any motivation I could because I really wanted to make this film."

After a long day of shooting in the basement, David Doumeng received a phone call that his sister was in labor. He rushed over to the hospital and spent the rest of the night there. "I got home at 6:30 in the morning." Later that afternoon, the group spent a few hours in a park on Long Island shooting all of the outdoor footage for the film. "We shot during, 'Magic Hour'. I think we spent maybe two hours shooting and one hour on makeup for actor, Michael Zone."

"The post production process took maybe three days," says Del Vecchio. "I edited after each shoot day, and two more days after that. David also came out the last day to help me tighten up the film and add music." Doumeng adds, "We worked from 6pm to 3am. It was great! We were watching the near-finished product at 3am and we were going nuts!"

The following day, Del Vecchio put the finishing touches on the film and sent it in to the contest page. "A few days later, the film went up, and the rest is history," says Doug Frye. "We all just wanted to get our names out there and hopefully get some exposure. We have a lot of ideas and a lot of projects in the works so hopefully this will open up a few doors and get some people interested in us," adds Doumeng.

Del Vecchio concludes, "George has been one of my favorite filmmakers as far back as I can remember and we are absolutely honored to be a part of his DVD release for Diary of the Dead. As David said, we are hoping this opens up a few doors because we have a lot of ideas, in horror and in other genres, and we believe we can deliver entertaining films that can both please the audience as well as profit for the studio."

DAVID R. DOUMENG
David Doumeng wrote, acted in, co-produced, and co-edited The Final Day. For him, it was an amazing experience from start to finish. Since his graduation from The Neighborhood Playhouse in 2006, David has appeared on All My Children, performed as Doc Porter in "Crimes of the Heart" at the Bridge Theater, and acted in a number of independent and short films. He would like to thank everyone involved in this project for their dedication, professionalism, and immense talent.

DOUGLAS FRYE
Douglas Frye is a New York City based screenwriter. He co-wrote the award winning feature film Forever with director Paul Del Vecchio and acted in and produced The Final Day with Del Vecchio and David Doumeng. Currently he, Del Vecchio and Doumeng are developing the web-series Asher.

And Teller
by Ezekiel Zabrowski

We wish Penn could have lived to see the release of this DVD.
- The Ghostworks Team

Deader Living Through Chemistry
Kern Saxton - Director

Kern received his BFA in Filmmaking with an emphasis on Directing from the illustrious North Carolina School of the Arts, where he studied under numerous industry professionals, including producers Dale Pollock and Nicole LaLoggia, author and assistant cameraman David Elkins, sound editor David Yewdall, director Dan McKinney, screenwriter Ron Stacker Thompson, and producer/director Wayne Crawford.

Throughout his four-year stint at NCSA, Kern also worked on over 25 short films in various positions, directing a total of 5 short films of his own. His work has been seen at many film festivals and on television. Roadside Convenience, Kern's junior year effort, has screened at the Tribeca Film Festival, the Riverrun International Film Festival, on UNC-TV as part of the North Carolina Visions program, and has won several awards, including Best Student Short at the Emerald Eye Film Festival and a Bronze Award at Houston WorldFest.

Upon graduation, Kern relocated to Los Angeles. He has worked on several projects in Hollywood, most notably for Sony Pictures Entertainment on the Lifetime Television show Strong Medicine, shadowing producer/director John Flynn and directing for the show's second unit. Kern has developed the feature films Red Christmas and Bloodlust with acclaimed producer Paul Aaron and writer James Waugh at Suntaur Entertainment, and has co-produced the internet comedy show Porntourage with Waugh and writer Destin Pfaff. He is currently developing a feature-length version of Deader Living Through Chemistry, as well as directing and producing the 70's horror exploitation throwback, Death Valley.