How George R.R. Martin Is Building Out A Howard Waldrop Short-Film Anthology With ‘Night Of The Cooters’, ‘The Ugly Chickens’ Starring Felicia Day – Santa Fe Int’l Film Festival
21.10.2022 - 04:03
/ deadline.com
Days before a Targaryen civil war erupts between Rhaenyra and Alicent on the Season 1 finale of HBO’s House of the Dragon, you’ll find series creator George R.R. Martin staying mum on fire-breathing animals and talking up his latest rotoscope animated short, Night of the Cooters, in his Santa Fe, NM stomping ground.
The Vincent D’Onofrio-directed cowboys vs. aliens film based on the Howard Waldrop short story is one of four short movies Martin is producing in what is shaping up to be an anthology either for the big screen (a la Creepshow) or TV (a la Love, Death and Robots).
Night of the Cooters follows a crusty Texas sheriff, played by D’Onofrio, who musters up his townspeople to take on an invading UFO. The pic played last night at the Martin-owned Jean Cocteau Cinema, where the Game of Thrones architect sat for a Q&A as part of the Santa Fe International Film Festival.
In addition to Night of the Cooters, Martin recently finished production on the second title he owns from sci-fi author Waldrop. Currently titled Friends Forever, the short was directed by Justin Duval, a producer and DP on Night of the Cooters, and is currently in post.
Another short currently shooting in Santa Fe under the helm of Steven Paul Judd is Mary Margaret Road-Grader, which Martin billed as a “Native American Mad Max story about tractor pulls and feminism.”
Then there’s Waldrop’s most notable work, The Ugly Chickens, about the extinction of the dodo, which is about to shoot in Toronto with Kodachrome‘s Mark Raso directing.
“We have Felicia Day signed up to play the lead role,” Martin told the audience.
Martin bought the rights to Waldrop’s short stories four years ago. When D’Onofrio was in town filming his directorial debut The Kid,