Guillermo Del Toro Boards Jovanka Vuckovic's Debut Short 'The Captured Bird'

Former Rue Morgue editor-in-chief Jovanka Vuckovic is preparing to shoot her debut short film, The Captured Bird, Executive Produced by Guillermo del Toro, Oscar-winning director of Pan's Labyrinth and the Hellboy films franchise.

Vuckovic was recently named by the Horror Society as one of the top thirteen most important women in the history of horror, alongside Mary Shelley, Kathryn Bigelow and Vamipra.

"Jovanka's vision has been honed to perfection and combines true poetry with savage instinct," says del Toro. "[It's] lyrical and brutal. Just what the doctor ordered."

Adds Vuckovic, "Having Guillermo [del Toro] on board as Executive Producer is like a dream come true for a first time filmmaker. His well of inspiration is as limitless as his generosity. Plus, The Captured Bird is just too ambitious to make without his guidance. I'm very grateful to have him as part of the team."

Mike Elizalde's Oscar-nominated special make-up effects studio Spectral Motion (Hellboy II, X-Men: The Last Stand) will provide creature effects. Emmy Award-nominated visual effects supervisor Tammy Sutton (Avatar, Spider-Man 2) as well as filmmakers Douglas Buck (Sisters) and Karim Hussain (La belle bête), will be serving as editor and director of photography, respectively.

"The Captured Bird is inspired in part by a childhood nightmare, the writings of H. P. Lovecraft, the fables of the Brothers Grimm and the paranormal phenomenon referred to as The Shadow People," explains writer-director Vuckovic. "It's sort of a dark fable that I hope people will find haunting, poetic and beautiful."

The Captured Bird.com, a feature-packed website will track the development of the film with regular blog updates from Vuckovic. The site will also feature videos of the film's progress, including location scouts, production meetings, and interviews with well-known genre filmmakers about how to approach making your first movie. Filmmakers such as del Toro, George Romero (Night of the Living Dead), John Landis (An American Werewolf in London) and Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) provide input.

The website makes use of "crowdfunding." Fans and supporters can make a donation in any amount towards production, which to date has raised thirty per cent of its budget through Canadian broadcaster Bravo!, which has first-time Canadian broadcast rights. All funders will receive a thank you credit in the film and donors of a certain amount are given special rewards, some of which include an autographed copy of Jovanka's forthcoming coffee-table book on zombies or a Pan's Labyrinth script autographed by del Toro.

The Captured Bird is scheduled to shoot in the spring of 2011 for a film festival tour through 2012. It has already been accepted to the prestigious Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal. Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas and the Toronto After Dark Film Festival and several international festivals have also already shown interest.

For more information visit The Captured Bird

For the latest Guillermo del Toro breaking news join the GDT Facebook Group.

* * *