The inaugural Jacksonville Horror Film Festival is set to launch March 13–14 at Hicks Auditorium, co-founded by UNF alumna Samantha Spaniak and award-winning filmmaker DJ Remark.
The two founders, a pairing of architecture and horror expertise, planned the festival with a “First Blood” theme aimed at first-time filmmakers. They promise “a staple event for the city for both casual movie goers and horror cinephiles alike.”
The Founders: an unlikely match
Spaniak, who graduated from the University of North Florida in 2010 with a major in Art History and a minor in Art Studio before earning a master’s in architecture from the University of Florida, is currently pursuing a career in architecture with Hoefer Welker, an architecture, planning & interior design firm.
Remark, a former IT professional who switched careers to filmmaking, is a member of the Downtown Council of Jacksonville.
The co-founders met while working on Remark’s feature film, “Hellgate,” available on Amazon. Spaniak used her architectural background to construct the “caves” for the movie, an experience that later fueled plans for the festival.
Remark and Spaniak’s collaboration can be attributed to Remark’s misjudgment of Florida’s geography while writing “Hellgate.”
“DJ is from Ohio, so he wrote the script while thinking there were caves in Florida, and there is not caves in Florida, so he needed someone to build a cave. This is where I came in,” said Spaniak. “Over that time, we bonded, and he introduced me to a form of appreciation for horror.”
When seeing her name in the movie’s credits, Spaniak explained how “random” yet exciting it all felt.
“The merging of these two art mediums [architecture and filmmaking] is kind of what I think gets me excited,” Spaniak said. “Architects are artists, and we have a way to influence the world and cultivate other mediums.”
Remark attributed his shift to filmmaking and his affinity for the genre to the “artistry” and creativity behind horror.
“I decided that I hated my life and wanted to do what I was meant to do, which was make films,” Remark said of his 2018 career change.
He shot his first short film on a cell phone, bought filmmaking starter gear off of Amazon, and moved to Jacksonville in 2021 to shoot “Hellgate.”
Festival debut
Both founders are motivated by a shared desire to “bring people together, especially over the arts,” and to “activate downtown” Jacksonville through the “First Blood” themed festival.
Remark said that horror is “a very enigmatic genre” that crosses all demographic boundaries.
“If we can, you know, help develop the culture and make the culture of Jacksonville a little more spooky, I’m all about that,” said Remark.
According to the co-founders, the “First Blood” festival has received 68 submissions from six countries and will feature 27 screenings of short films, feature films, and music videos.
While the co-founders described the festival as a small-scale event, Spaniak noted that one of the sponsors is Macabre Spirits, a horror-centric spirits brand co-founded by “Scream” star Matthew Lillard.
In addition to screenings, the event will feature cosplayers, vendors, specialty popcorn, and award several film-related prizes.
Further details on the festival can be found on the Jacksonville Horror Film Festival website.
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