Andy Koontz

Andy got his start in movie-making at the age of 15. His first series of short films, simply titled, "The Prowler" were completely "shoot to edit" films, shot on a Super VHS home camcorder. At age 26, after nearly 8 years as a professional touring musician, Andy made the dramatic shift from Rock & Roll to Film. He graduated from the Super VHS "home video" of his early shorts to his first "DVC-Pro" short film, "Them Damn Zombies". The film, shot in 2 1/2 days with non-actors became a cult sensation among low budget horror film fans as well as fans of the Zombie horror genre. Andy quickly followed up, "Them Damn Zombies" with a rock music video styled "Zombie/action" short called, "Zombie Dawn", which was released alongside "Them Damn Zombies" in 2002. In November 2002 Andy began shooting yet another short film, this time veering way off the path of the "Zombie" genre and into the darker and more realistic style of the "Serial-Killer" film. The film, "Clearwater: Abduction", a creepy "black and white" thriller was shot in the pacific Northwest over 6 months. The film was a labor of love for Andy and his crew who worked tirelessly shooting all over Portland, Fairview and Aloha, Oregon during the Fall, Winter and Spring of 2002/2003. Andy's longtime friend Randy Bowden (who had never "seriously" acted before in his life) stepped up to the plate to play the leading role of Jonathan. Mike VanYserloo (aka: Cleatus) also made an appearance as Jonathan's oddball co-worker buddy, Barry. This was also Carissa Becker's first time working with Andy. In 2004 Andy began production on his first feature film, "Ekimmu", a dark supernatural thriller, filmed on location in his childhood hometown of Colton, Oregon. The film, shot during the summer of 2004 was the ultimate proving ground for Koontz, it was also the ultimate learning experience for him and his crew. In October 2004, after an exhausting 4 1/2 months of shooting Andy took some time away from the "Ekimmu" project to prepare himself for the enormous task of editing that lay ahead of him. In December 2004 (while on his "break") Andy was invited to showcase his brand of "horror madness" at a local "Christmas Themed" Horror Film Festival in Portland, Oregon. Andy immediately began digging through his pile of old scripts looking for something that could be shot quickly and with a very moderate budget. Enter..."X-Mas Eve"... Written, Directed and Shot all in one night...Andy, with the help of his Stone Dead Films team, put together this zany "christmas themed" horror schlock short film. Mike VanYserloo portraying the "Cleatus: The Evil Elf Madman", while Randy Bowden portrayed the "Evil Santa Claus Madman"...their victim..."Evelyn Marsh" played by none other than, Carissa Becker. In January 2005 Andy headed back to the editing studio and began working out the post-production for "Ekimmu"...