Women directors are making some of horror's best films. So why do the franchises keep going to men?

In Part 3 of our Unpacking Horror series, Fantastic Fest director Lisa Dreyer gives us her answer, and explains what it takes for a horror film to earn a spot at a festival that takes film and fun equally seriously.

A former special education teacher, Lisa joined the festival in 2018 as a volunteer on the pre-screening team, worked her way up to features programmer, and took over in 2022.

We talk about:

• Where she draws the line on what's too far to show, and why depiction doesn't equal endorsement
• Why she's seeing fewer submissions from women filmmakers this year, even with a majority-women team picking the films
• The story behind Fantastic Pitches, the $100K competition whose first winner, Play House, was just acquired by Focus Features.

She also shares how teaching shaped the way she treats every film, what gets a submission passed on fast, why Smile's uncompromising vision paid off, and why half the lineup comes from outside the U.S.

Catch up on the series:

• Part 1 with Jacob Chase, writer-director of Insidious: Out of the Further
• Part 2 with behavioral scientist Coltan Scrivner.

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Horror is the least liked genre, and also the most loved. Behavioral scientist and horror producer Coltan Scrivner explains why there's almost no one in the middle. Coltan Scrivner is a psychologist at Arizona State University, a researcher with the Recreational Fear Lab in Denmark, creator of the Morbid Curiosity Scale, and author of Morbidly Curious: A Scientist Explains Why We Can't Look Away.

He also founded the Nightmare in the Ozarks Film Festival and runs the Eureka Springs Zombie Crawl.

In Part 2 of our Unpacking Horror series, Coltan gives us his definition of horror (it comes down to one word), pushes back on the idea that horror struggles on streaming, and explains why horror booms when it reflects what a generation is anxious about.

He also reveals which group scores highest on his morbid curiosity test and what haunted house operators understand about fear that filmmakers miss,. Plus: his pick for the best horror movie ever made, and why he doesn't think Get Out or Obsession will stand the test of time.

Take the Morbid Curiosity Scale: https://www.coltanscrivner.com/morbid...

Missed Part 1? Watch our conversation with Jacob Chase, writer-director of Insidious: Out of the Further.

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📫 Musings, Mixers, Workshops, and Exclusive Content

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WATCH/LISTEN

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iTunes: https://apple.co/3FDyhmC

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QUESTIONS

❔Answering your questions on our Subtasck! Submit here:

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Jacob Chase made his first short film with friends and no money. Nine years later, he was handed the keys to one of horror's biggest franchises. Jacob also directed Come Play, four episodes of Peacock's The Girl in the Woods, and is now in prep for Sleepover with Universal and Blumhouse Atomic Monster.

And while he's done a ton of great press for Insidious: Out of the Further, he hasn't talked about much the decade before it, which is the part you know I love.

The TV pilot that collapsed days before shooting, the student loan debt that shaped every creative choice he made in his twenties, the Doritos Super Bowl commercial that won him just enough money to breathe again. In this conversation, Carolina and her pal Jacob go past the franchise talking points. We explore:

• Going from a four-minute short film called Larry to a phone call from Amblin
• The fear of repeating his own parents' patterns while directing a film about generational trauma
• How becoming a father reshaped what scares him.

Jacob also tells the story of pitching Insidious the way he first told it to Carolina over brunch, before any of it was real.

Can't wait to hear what you take away!

xx CG