Chris LaMont is an independent filmmaker who co-founded the Phoenix Film Festival

Phoenix Film Festival

Phoenix Film Festival is a festival that celebrates feature films and their creators. The celebration takes place annually in the city of Phoenix, Arizona...

 in 2000 and is currently its president. He has produced and directed several independent films, including Film Club, Quality Time

Quality Time (film)

My Apocalypse is a 2008 independent film starring Corin Nemec, Bruce Weitz, Nancy Allen, John de Lancie, Gail Strickland, Meredith Salenger and Jesse Harper....

, Netherbeast Incorporated

Netherbeast Incorporated

Netherbeast Incorporated is an independent film directed by Dean Ronalds and written by Bruce Dellis. It is an undead office comedy concerning a telephone company in Arizona staffed entirely by flesh-eating, vampire-like employees who refer to themselves as "Netherfolk." Historical figures such as...

, and The Graves

The Graves

The Graves is an aggregation of rock outcroppings in Massachusetts Bay, Massachusetts, United States. Situated some offshore of downtown Boston, it is the outermost island in the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. It is the location of The Graves Light, at tall the tallest lighthouse...

.

Background

LaMont graduated Magna Cum Laude from Arizona State University

Arizona State University

Arizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...

, and while there he won an Emmy Award for Student Production for the local sketch comedy series, TV or Not TV. He directed his first feature with Steve Bencich (screenwriter of Brother Bear, Chicken Little

Chicken Little (2005 film)

Chicken Little is a 2005 computer-animated science fiction family comedy film loosely based on the fable The Sky Is Falling. It was the 46th animated feature produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation...

 and Open Season), The Best Movie Ever Made featuring TV’s Batman, Adam West

Adam West

William West Anderson , better known by the stage name Adam West, is an American actor best known for his lead role in the Batman TV series and the film of the same name...

. His next feature, Writer’s Block, was released to video stores, and the horror-thriller earned critic and fan praise, including a 3½ star rating in the Blockbuster Video Guide.

In 2000, he directed and co-wrote Film Club, a short film parody of David Fincher

David Fincher

David Andrew Leo Fincher is an American film and music video director. Known for his dark and stylish thrillers, such as Seven , The Game , Fight Club , Panic Room , and Zodiac , Fincher received Academy Award nominations for Best Director for his 2008 film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and...

’s Fight Club

Fight Club (film)

Fight Club is a 1999 American film based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Chuck Palahniuk. The film was directed by David Fincher and stars Edward Norton, Brad Pitt and Helena Bonham Carter. Norton plays the unnamed protagonist, an "everyman" who is discontented with his white-collar job...

. It was included on the George Lucas

George Lucas

George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...

 in Love DVD, one of the biggest short film compilation releases in history. The film was featured on CNN Headline News

CNN Headline News

HLN, formerly known as CNN Headline News and CNN2, is a cable television news channel based in the United States and a spinoff of the cable news television channel, CNN. Initially airing tightly-formatted 30-minute newscasts around the clock, since 2005, the channel has increasingly aired long-form...

 and MSNBC.com. Later, he directed the documentary feature 14 Days in America, and in 2006 he produced with Brian and Dean Ronalds the office-vampire comedy Netherbeast Incorporated

Netherbeast Incorporated

Netherbeast Incorporated is an independent film directed by Dean Ronalds and written by Bruce Dellis. It is an undead office comedy concerning a telephone company in Arizona staffed entirely by flesh-eating, vampire-like employees who refer to themselves as "Netherfolk." Historical figures such as...

, which was released in North America on DVD in January 2009 by Illuminata Films.

In 2008, he also produced the animated logos for "R&D TV" for writer/director Jerry Hultsch that appear on the end of the Season 4 episodes of SyFy Channel's Battlestar Galactica

Battlestar Galactica

Battlestar Galactica is an American science fiction franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The franchise began with the Battlestar Galactica TV series in 1978, and was followed by a brief sequel TV series in 1980, a line of book adaptations, original novels, comic books, a board game, and video games...

.

His film Quality Time (also known as My Apocalypse) is an avant-garde dark comedy/drama which had its world premier at the 2008 Boston Underground Film Festival

Boston Underground Film Festival

The Boston Underground Film Festival is an annual event held in the Boston, Massachusetts area that specializes in alternative film and video. The Boston Underground Film Festival, also known as BUFF, is the largest underground film festival in New England, spotlighting short films and feature...

. It has also screened as an Official Selection at the Sydney Underground Film Festival

Sydney Underground Film Festival

The Sydney Underground Film Festival is an annual film festival that takes place in Sydney, Australia, and shows independent, experimental and arthouse films from Australia and abroad...

, Strasbourg (France) International Film Festival, New Jersey Film Festival

New Jersey Film Festival

The New Jersey Film Festival is New Jersey's largest continuing public film series devoted to "experimental, offbeat and influential cinema". It is held in New Brunswick, New Jersey.-History:...

, Arizona International Film Festival

Arizona International Film Festival

The Arizona International Film Festival is the oldest and longest running independent film festival in Arizona. Taking place yearly, film programmes include a mix of shorts, children's films, feature length films, documentaries and animation films. The festival is also a Film Festival Grant...

, and the River's Edge Independent Film Festival during 2008.

In 2009 he produced the film The Graves

The Graves (film)

The Graves is a 2009 horror film. Described as a "supernatural survival shocker," it is written and directed by veteran comic book creator Brian Pulido and produced by Mischief Maker Studios, and Ronalds Brothers Productions.- Plot :...

 for first-time feature filmmaker, writer-director Brian Pulido

Brian Pulido

Brian Pulido is a creator, writer and producer of comic books and films.-Early life:Growing up in Long Branch, New Jersey, Pulido first developed an interest in the horror genre after the release of Night of the Living Dead when he was a child.-Comic book career:Pulido has created, written or...

, with the Ronalds Brothers. Starring Claire Grant, Jillian Murray, Bill Mosely and Tony Todd, the supernatural suspense genre film follows two sisters who are captured in an old ghost town

Ghost town

A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...

 controlled by a religious zealot and his brainwashed clan. The film was released in 2010 by AfterDark Films as one of the "Horrorfest 2010: Eight Films To Die For". It is available on DVD and will appear on the SyFy channel in June.

Organizations

In 2000, LaMont co-founded the Phoenix Film Festival

Phoenix Film Festival

Phoenix Film Festival is a festival that celebrates feature films and their creators. The celebration takes place annually in the city of Phoenix, Arizona...

, which had over 23,000 attendees in 2008. In past years, such luminaries as Tom Arnold

Tom Arnold (actor)

Thomas Dwaine "Tom" Arnold is an American actor and comedian. He has appeared in many films, perhaps most notably True Lies . He was the host of The Best Damn Sports Show Period for four years.-Early life:...

, Kevin Bacon

Kevin Bacon

Kevin Norwood Bacon is an American film and theater actor whose notable roles include Animal House, Diner, Footloose, Flatliners, Wild Things, A Few Good Men, JFK, Apollo 13, Mystic River, The Woodsman, Trapped, Friday the 13th, Hollow Man, Tremors, Death Sentence, Frost/Nixon, Crazy, Stupid, Love....

, Alan Cumming

Alan Cumming

Alan Cumming, OBE is a Scottish stage, television and film actor, singer, writer, director, producer and author. His roles have included the Emcee in Cabaret, Boris Grishenko in GoldenEye, Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler in X2: X-Men United, Mr. Elton in Emma, and Fegan Floop in the Spy Kids trilogy...

, Laurence Fishburne

Laurence Fishburne

Laurence John Fishburne III is an American film and stage actor, playwright, director, and producer. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Morpheus in the Matrix science fiction film trilogy, as Cowboy Curtis on the 1980's television show Pee-wee's Playhouse, and as singer-musician Ike Turner...

, Peter Fonda

Peter Fonda

Peter Henry Fonda is an American actor. He is the son of Henry Fonda, brother of Jane Fonda, and father of Bridget and Justin Fonda...

, Robert Forster

Robert Forster

Robert Forster is an American actor, best known for his roles as John Cassellis in Haskell Wexler's Medium Cool, and as Max Cherry in Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown, the latter of which gained him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.- Early life :Forster was born Robert Wallace...

, John Landis

John Landis

John David Landis is an American film director, screenwriter, actor, and producer. He is known for his comedies, his horror films, and his music videos with singer Michael Jackson.-Early life and career:...

, Kyra Sedgwick

Kyra Sedgwick

Kyra Minturn Sedgwick is an American actress.Sedgwick is best known for her starring role as Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson on the TNT crime drama The Closer. Sedgwick's role in the series won her a Golden Globe Award in 2007 and an Emmy Award in 2010...

, Jane Seymour

Jane Seymour (actress)

Jane Seymour, OBE is an English actress best known for her performances in the James Bond film Live and Let Die , East of Eden , Onassis: The Richest Man in the World , and the American television series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman...

, and John Waters

John Waters (filmmaker)

John Samuel Waters, Jr. is an American filmmaker, actor, stand-up comedian, writer, journalist, visual artist, and art collector, who rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films...

 have appeared. He is the Executive Director of the festival, and president of the non-profit Phoenix Film Foundation, which he also co-founded. In 2002, he started the Phoenix Film Project, an independent filmmaker community group, which has officially changed to IFP-Phoenix, and started the Phoenix Film Society in 2004.

With comic book writer Brian Pulido

Brian Pulido

Brian Pulido is a creator, writer and producer of comic books and films.-Early life:Growing up in Long Branch, New Jersey, Pulido first developed an interest in the horror genre after the release of Night of the Living Dead when he was a child.-Comic book career:Pulido has created, written or...

, he co-founded and is the Executive Director of the International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival

International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival

International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival is a film festival dedicated to the genres of horror and science fiction that is held annually in Tempe, Arizona, United States...

. The festival attracted over 4,000 attendees in 2006 and has featured such celebrities as Mick Garris

Mick Garris

Mick Garris is an American filmmaker and screenwriter born in Santa Monica, California.-Biography:He is best known for his adaptations of Stephen King stories, such as directing the horror film Sleepwalkers starring Madchen Amick and is the creator of the Showtime series Masters of Horror...

, Tobe Hooper

Tobe Hooper

Tobe Hooper is an American film director and screenwriter, best known for his work in the horror film genre. His works include the cult classic The Texas Chain Saw Massacre , along with its first sequel, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 ; the three-time Emmy-nominated Stephen King film adaptation...

, Nightmare on Elm Streets Heather Langenkamp

Heather Langenkamp

Heather Langenkamp is an American film and television actress. She is best known for her role as Nancy Thompson from the A Nightmare on Elm Street films...

, and Star Wars’ Chewbacca Peter Mayhew

Peter Mayhew

Peter Mayhew is an English actor known for playing the Wookiee Chewbacca in the Star Wars movies. His peak height was tall.-Career:...

. In 2007, he founded the Arizona Student Film Festival to encourage young statewide filmmakers.

Other Affiliations

LaMont has taught at the School of Theatre and Film at Arizona State University

Arizona State University

Arizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...

 since 2004. As a founding Board Member of the Arizona Film and Media Coalition, he fought for lower budget thresholds for state filming tax incentives that were signed into law by Governor Janet Napolitano in May 2005. He is currently involved in several feature projects in various stages of development, all set in Arizona.

As a producer

• The Graves
  The Graves (film)
  The Graves is a 2009 horror film. Described as a "supernatural survival shocker," it is written and directed by veteran comic book creator Brian Pulido and produced by Mischief Maker Studios, and Ronalds Brothers Productions.- Plot :...
  
   (2009)
• My Apocalypse (2008)
• Netherbeast Incorporated
  Netherbeast Incorporated
  Netherbeast Incorporated is an independent film directed by Dean Ronalds and written by Bruce Dellis. It is an undead office comedy concerning a telephone company in Arizona staffed entirely by flesh-eating, vampire-like employees who refer to themselves as "Netherfolk." Historical figures such as...
  
   (2006)
• Screen Wars
• Paychecked! (2006)
• Writer's Block (1995) ...aka Writer's Block: Truth or Dare 2 (USA: video box title)
• The Best Movie Ever Made (1994) ...aka The Battle for the Planet of Cheese

As a director

• My Apocalypse (2008)
• Paychecked! (2006)
• 14 Days in America (2005)
• Mating Rituals (2004)
• Film Club (2000)
• Writer's Block (1995)
• The Best Movie Ever Made (1994)

As a writer

• My Apocalypse (aka Quality Time) (2008)
• Paychecked! (2006)
• Mating Rituals (2004)
• Film Club (2000)
• Writer's Block (1995/I)
• The Best Movie Ever Made (1994)

As an editor

• My Apocalypse (aka Quality Time) (2008)
• Paychecked! (2006)
• Mating Rituals (2004)
• Writer's Block (1995)
• The Best Movie Ever Made (1994)

External links

• Chris Lamont, official site