I, Lawrie Brewster am really delighted to announce the launch of lawriebrewster.com, which will allow me to lend a personal perspective on the goings-on of my film career and life, with the opportunity to share personal and insightful experiences that I hope will provide inspiration, guidance and well… I said ‘hope’ already, right?
Hope is an important word, and an important feeling to nurture in the creative industries, especially among those who aspire to become independent filmmakers. I mean, even for veterans like myself, who’ve served as film producers for fifteen years now, it is a resource that must be protected and spent carefully; for the preservation of all those midnight post-production sessions and early morning meetings.
Some of you may be familiar with Lawrie Brewster, the director of Lord of Tears, and the co-creator of the Owlman, alongside Irish film producer and creative genius Sarah Daly. With Lord of Tears, and films such as The Unkindness of Ravens, and more recently our ‘80s-inspired The Slave and the Sorcerer, I’ve worked principally as a director and producer with Hex Studios.
This was our first horror film company, and it is now joined by the newly revived Amicus Productions, for which I am proud to serve as President, on behalf of the Subotsky Estate of the late Amicus founder Milton Subotsky. Suffice to say, it’s an honour to follow in the footsteps of the man who brought us Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors, or my personal Amicus favourite, Asylum.
With those companies, and with a charity operated by Sarah Daly, we founded the British Horror Studio as an inspirational community and horror studio that comprises all those companies and organisations as partners.
The British Horror Studio represents my greatest passion at the moment because it presents an opportunity to give back to the generations that follow me, who need guidance, both in terms of filmmaking and emotional support. After all, the world is just a little more brutal now.
That’s not to say that older folks aren’t welcome too, and in fairness, the British Horror Studio stands as a positive beacon for folks of all sorts. Even those who put pineapple on pizza.
In my articles, I might write about passing events, film news, or present highlights from the news published on the British Horror Studio Patreon, or our official news website, Amicus Horror. This website is something of an intimate space, and the opinions I express here will not represent those of the British Horror Studio, Hex Studios, Amicus Productions, or anything else, but my tawdry self.
A Path from Outsider to Filmmaker
Today, I released a very intimate article, the first of several that track how my career began. I always hate how so many filmmakers conceal the more difficult parts of their early career journeys, which, if we’re being honest, is the information that’s most useful to those staring from afar, wondering how the heck they can begin a life in film.
So in my article, I began writing about my youth… starting with my childhood, my misadventures at school, and the perilous, ever-winding journey that eventually led me to begin my education in film (which did not come about through any institution). I wrote about how Sarah Daly and I met, and how we began producing films with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Channing Tatum, which screened at Sundance and SXSW.
You can read the first part of The Journey of Lawrie Brewster right here.
The BHS Community Votes!
In the meantime, the British Horror Studio community on Patreon, which, incidentally, is free to join (though goodness knows we put any contributions to good use), has begun… let me draw some breath.
It has begun to vote on a proposed licensing agreement that will allow us to take the next step in a project we’ve developed with members called The Spooky Tales, whereby folks in the community submitted short stories, with the winning entries being adapted into narrated horror shorts.
The agreement we’ve proposed for vote is non-commercial and non-exclusive, but as always, we operate within the BHS in a completely transparent way. The benefit of joining the Patreon is that you actually get to become a part of a horror film studio, with a level of access like nothing you’ll experience outside of working as an intern at Blumhouse… or KFC.
And, Back to the Rest of my Saturday
And so, my friend, I must return to the rest of my Saturday, hopefully to take a wee nap, after a cup of tea kindly made by rising horror star Megan Tremethick… whose beauty is, unfortunately, not matched by her tea-making abilities!
I hope you’ll all come back to visit me, and I also hope you take the opportunity to be kind to yourselves. Weekends, for me, can often carry a stress and a weight of expectation, as if the weekend, which ironically should be the time to rest, is wasted if it cannot conquer a to-do list. Do your best to resist those urges. Take time to breathe, and until we meet again!
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