'Uncle Peckerhead' by Alumni Premiered at Panic Fest

Uncle Peckerhead, a feature horror-comedy produced by alumni Nicholas Payne Santos '19 and Kristy Richman '19 and assistant directed by alumna Andrea Goocher '19, celebrated its world premiere at Panic Fest in Kansas City earlier this year where it was named among the Best of Fest. It will continue its festival run at Cinequest from March 9 - March 15.

Directed by Matthew John Lawrence, Uncle Peckerhead follows Judy, the bassist of the three-piece punk-rock band DUH, who dreams of quitting her job and touring full time. But when the band members find themselves on their first tour with a man-eating hillbilly for a roadie the “gig life” is filled with nightmares and half-eaten bodies. 

Held in the historic Screenland Armour theater in Kansas City, Panic Fest features 60+ horror, thriller and sci-fi films. Some of the films debuting in previous festivals include Elijah Wood’s Maniac remake, Flight of the Conchords' What We Do in the Shadows, Dark Was the Night and many more. In addition to the feature film lineup, the festival also hosts a short film showcase that attendees vote for the best of fest.

According to their website, “The 2020 edition of Cinequest will do as much with Film and Technology as ever while expanding to include additional creative experiences such as virtual and augmented realities, fashion, writing, television, dance, art and design, a creativity summit, and more! Cinequest has led the world in its showcase and implementation of the innovations that have revolutionized creativity and filmed media.

Nicholas Payne Santos is a filmmaker based out of Brooklyn, NY. Santos was born and raised on Cape Cod, Massachusetts and received his MFA in Film with a concentration in Creative Producing at Columbia University School of the Arts in 2019. He attended undergraduate studies at Ithaca College, where he graduated in 2010 with a Bachelor of Science in Cinema & Photography.

Kristy Richman is a creative producer, director and content developer with a past in casting, social media and line producing. She was born in Cape May County, NJ and currently lives and works in New York City. She obtained her MFA in Film and Creative Producing at Columbia University in 2019. Recently, she partnered with Fullscreen to develop her multi-genre fantasy show, TableTalk, which is now streaming on the Fullscreen platform. She is also in the process of developing her short film The Daughter into a short format anthology series. 

Andrea Goocher is a filmmaker in New York where she received her MFA in Creative Producing at Columbia University in 2019. She also holds a bachelor's degree from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts Filmmaking Conservatory. She specializes in creating audio/visual media from pitch to post, with a specialty in script development.