I went to an event I look forward to every year last night, the Shriekfest Film Festival Opening Night Party. My friend, the lovely and oh so talented actress Denise Gossett created the festival.
She started the festival in early 2001 when starred in the horror film “Chain Of Souls” and was searching for ways to get the word out. She soon discovered there really weren’t any film festivals focusing on horror and wisely came up with the idea to start a horror film festival.
“I told my sister-in-law Kimberlee my “silly” idea. She loved it! And even though we had no idea what we were doing, we immediately got to work, said Denise.
“I always say naivete will take you far and we are proof. We thought doing this festival would be fun and perhaps we’d be able to make some money to put towards making our own films. Little did we know how popular this “little” festival would become! After a few years Kimberlee ended up moving back to her home town in Michigan to raise her son. Her brother, my husband, Todd Beeson stepped in and 3 years ago I finally “let” him retire,” she added.
They are currently in their 15th year and submissions have gone through the roof and entries now come from every country!
“I just want to say how truly grateful I am for all of the supportive filmmakers, screenwriters, and fans. Thank you for keeping us around,” she said.
Denise moved to Los Angeles from Orlando, FL. Denise has been in the entertainment business for more than 20 years primarily as an actress. She can be seen in the latest Tom Hiddleston movie “I Saw the Light”, with Morris Chestnut in “When the Bough Breaks” in the Mel Gibson movie “Get the Gringo”, “The Last Ride” with Dennis Hopper and on such tv shows as “The Office”, “The New Adventures of Old Christine”, “Samantha Who?”, “Veronica Mars”, “Fashion House”, “Believers Among Us”, “Superboy”, “Guilty Or Innocent”, “The Life of Tonya Harding”, “What Should You Do?”, a recurring role on “Zoey 101”, “Drake & Josh”, “Born on a Bad Day”, and many more! Denise has also had lead roles in many feature films. She can also be seen in the SciFi film “Decaying Orbit” and the horror films “La Llorona”, “Carnies”, “The Mutilation Man”, “Fright Club”, and in the upcoming “The Cellar Door 2: Preymate.”
More info about the festival at https://www.shriekfest.com
