ABOUT TWIN CITIES HORROR FESTIVAL
An artist-centric organization, TCHF strives to maximize both audience entertainment and payout to artists. Last year, TCHF issued more that 2,300 tickets during its 11 day run, and paid 85% of total ticket sales to participating artists.
Four Humors Theater launched the festival in 2012 as a juried, horror- themed, live-performance arts festival spanning the two weekends surrounding Halloween. In 2014, several artists and producers -- many of whom were involved with the first two seasons -- formalized their commitment to continuing TCHF by forming United Festival Group, LLC, which now oversees the festival's operation. The company’s owners include Jason Ballweber, Mike Fotis, Katie Hartman, Ryan Lear, Mark Long, Jenn Newman, Tyler Olsen, Dan Peltzman, Erin Sheppard, Matt Spring and Tim Uren.
In 2015, United Festival Group, LLC signed an agreement with the Southern Theater to present the Twin Cities Horror Festival at the historic (and purportedly haunted) venue through the fall of 2017.
Four Humors Theater launched the festival in 2012 as a juried, horror- themed, live-performance arts festival spanning the two weekends surrounding Halloween. In 2014, several artists and producers -- many of whom were involved with the first two seasons -- formalized their commitment to continuing TCHF by forming United Festival Group, LLC, which now oversees the festival's operation. The company’s owners include Jason Ballweber, Mike Fotis, Katie Hartman, Ryan Lear, Mark Long, Jenn Newman, Tyler Olsen, Dan Peltzman, Erin Sheppard, Matt Spring and Tim Uren.
In 2015, United Festival Group, LLC signed an agreement with the Southern Theater to present the Twin Cities Horror Festival at the historic (and purportedly haunted) venue through the fall of 2017.
Why Horror?
Why Horror?
The producers of the Twin Cities Horror Festival (TCHF) have been asked on a number of occasions, “Whyhorror?” It often is followed with a statement like, “There are so many horrible things happening in the real world, why show pain and suffering on stage?”
Horror is a very broad term. It seems simple, but the definition is slightly different for everyone. For some, horror is murder, blood, and gore: visual sensory overload. For some, it is pure fright and the unknown: a jump-scare from an expected place, something startling that raises your heart rate. For others, it is helplessness and dread: the inevitable that is moving toward you, either physically or psychologically, relentless and uncaring. For almost everyone, it is something in the darkness, something unseen, something nebulous. Horror is death, or such pain that you would wish for death.
“That all sounds awful. So why do it?” you may ask.
It is easy to deflect the questioner with a statement regarding personal entertainment choices. Not everyone wants to see a romantic comedy, or a classic ballet, or Eugene O’Neill’s plays on stage. There is a market for those who choose horror as entertainment. We have an audience that enjoys it.
“But why?” you might ask.
Depicting horror also is an artistic challenge. Every production hinges on its script, acting, and technical elements, but the stakes are higher when producers are trying to elicit the raw, extreme, and personal reactions associated with fear. The producers of the TCHF thrive on that challenge.
“”But why?” you might ask, more emphatically this time.
We will all die someday. It is the only certainty of life that your physical body will fail, and you will die. What may or may not happen after death is open to personal belief, but medically, scientifically, we know what death is: inevitable.
“So you show horror on stage so people come to terms with their own mortality?”
Sure- we’ll start there. We think coming to grips with your own mortality and understanding yourself will make you stronger. Your strength also may help someone else, even if it is only helping them understand their own mortality. That will help them appreciate their life and the lives of others.
That’s one answer. But there are many others.
Horror teaches empathy and allows us to “practice” the feelings of fear and terror, so when we are faced with those situations, we are not in uncharted waters. For those of us who have experienced terror, it also validates those feelings that the world isn’t always sunshine and rainbows.
Horror builds a community. One of the reasons that people started banding together in the first place was that the world was a scary place. We think that maybe we lost something when we were no longer sitting around the fire, with a dark and scary world waiting to devour, drown, crush, or otherwise end our lives. This banding together in a place of fear, even if it’s fiction- this is one of the building blocks of human togetherness.
Creating horror makes you analyze the crafting of fear. So many of the “higher powers” in the world rely on fear to keep us in check, and manipulate us. By creating work that demands us to scare people, we begin to break down the tactics so often used against us.
Horror gives us permission to be afraid. When we take delight in facing what frightens us, and when we are willing to be a little subversive once in awhile, we are a community that can never be bound by the unknown or the unsaid. We are a community that can be truly excited to discover what happens when we engage in the terrifying act of talking to each other.
Horror demands the exploration of the unknown and terrible. It’s easy to look away from the parts of our life and world that we do not like. Horror doesn’t allow such omissions- it forces us to dig deeper, even when we don’t want to. And, it allows us to do so with an imagination and explorative spirit.
We depict horror on stage because we know it is fake. The pain and deaths are not real. We have control. We know life is precious. It is not to be wasted. We also know the human experience is a complicated one full of wonderful and terrible things.
We want to learn something about ourselves.
The producers of the Twin Cities Horror Festival (TCHF) have been asked on a number of occasions, “Whyhorror?” It often is followed with a statement like, “There are so many horrible things happening in the real world, why show pain and suffering on stage?”
Horror is a very broad term. It seems simple, but the definition is slightly different for everyone. For some, horror is murder, blood, and gore: visual sensory overload. For some, it is pure fright and the unknown: a jump-scare from an expected place, something startling that raises your heart rate. For others, it is helplessness and dread: the inevitable that is moving toward you, either physically or psychologically, relentless and uncaring. For almost everyone, it is something in the darkness, something unseen, something nebulous. Horror is death, or such pain that you would wish for death.
“That all sounds awful. So why do it?” you may ask.
It is easy to deflect the questioner with a statement regarding personal entertainment choices. Not everyone wants to see a romantic comedy, or a classic ballet, or Eugene O’Neill’s plays on stage. There is a market for those who choose horror as entertainment. We have an audience that enjoys it.
“But why?” you might ask.
Depicting horror also is an artistic challenge. Every production hinges on its script, acting, and technical elements, but the stakes are higher when producers are trying to elicit the raw, extreme, and personal reactions associated with fear. The producers of the TCHF thrive on that challenge.
“”But why?” you might ask, more emphatically this time.
We will all die someday. It is the only certainty of life that your physical body will fail, and you will die. What may or may not happen after death is open to personal belief, but medically, scientifically, we know what death is: inevitable.
“So you show horror on stage so people come to terms with their own mortality?”
Sure- we’ll start there. We think coming to grips with your own mortality and understanding yourself will make you stronger. Your strength also may help someone else, even if it is only helping them understand their own mortality. That will help them appreciate their life and the lives of others.
That’s one answer. But there are many others.
Horror teaches empathy and allows us to “practice” the feelings of fear and terror, so when we are faced with those situations, we are not in uncharted waters. For those of us who have experienced terror, it also validates those feelings that the world isn’t always sunshine and rainbows.
Horror builds a community. One of the reasons that people started banding together in the first place was that the world was a scary place. We think that maybe we lost something when we were no longer sitting around the fire, with a dark and scary world waiting to devour, drown, crush, or otherwise end our lives. This banding together in a place of fear, even if it’s fiction- this is one of the building blocks of human togetherness.
Creating horror makes you analyze the crafting of fear. So many of the “higher powers” in the world rely on fear to keep us in check, and manipulate us. By creating work that demands us to scare people, we begin to break down the tactics so often used against us.
Horror gives us permission to be afraid. When we take delight in facing what frightens us, and when we are willing to be a little subversive once in awhile, we are a community that can never be bound by the unknown or the unsaid. We are a community that can be truly excited to discover what happens when we engage in the terrifying act of talking to each other.
Horror demands the exploration of the unknown and terrible. It’s easy to look away from the parts of our life and world that we do not like. Horror doesn’t allow such omissions- it forces us to dig deeper, even when we don’t want to. And, it allows us to do so with an imagination and explorative spirit.
We depict horror on stage because we know it is fake. The pain and deaths are not real. We have control. We know life is precious. It is not to be wasted. We also know the human experience is a complicated one full of wonderful and terrible things.
We want to learn something about ourselves.
United Festival Group, LLc
Code of Ethics and business conduct
Company Vision
The United Festival Group exists to produce festivals that provide the audience with the best possible experience while rewarding the artists for all of their efforts.
Principles and Policies
The United Festival Group values fair wages for fair work.
-We understand that artists do not need another outlet for their efforts if it does not mean receiving pay for all of the hours they put into their creations.
-We, as an artist- and producer-owned company, will strive to maximize revenue for the artists and all those involved in festival production process.
The United Festival Group is a for-profit company in official organization only.
-We do not intend to make unlimited profits from our festivals.
-We will operate within the financial laws governing Limited Liability Companies while distributing as much of our revenue to artists and employees as possible.
-Donations to the United Festival Groups and its other official entities are not tax deductible under Internal Revenue Service code.
-We will accept donations to the extent that we will offer appropriate recognition or opportunity for the gifts received.
The United Festival Group believes in open and honest communication.
-We will do our best to address the media, the audience and the general public in an honest and timely manner.
-We will communicate the content of our festivals while respecting our artists’ creations and intentions.
The United Festival Group respects the audience.
-We will instruct our performers to respect our audiences’ personal space. If a performance contains specific interaction with the audience, including physical contact, we will inform the audience ahead of time.
-We will inform the audience of any loud noises, gunshots, strobe or rapid-changing lights that may be used during the performances.
The United Festival Group respects the individual.
-We support an environment where all people are treated with dignity and respect with regard to gender, race, color, creed, ancestry, place of origin, political beliefs, religion, disabilty, marital status, age or sexual orientation.
-We are committed to providing an environment that is free of discrimination and free of abusive, offensive or harassing behavior.
-We understand that at times this policy may seem at odds with the content of the artistic performances. We understand that it is the nature of the business, and it is the policy of the United Festival Group that we do not censor our artists while on stage.
The United Festival Group will operate within the laws and codes of the State of Minnesota and the United States of America.
- We will make certain that all disclosures made in financial reports and public documents are full, fair, accurate, timely and understandable. All corporate records must be true, accurate and complete.
-We will create, retain and dispose of our company records as part of our normal course of business in compliance with all regulatory and legal requirements.
Process
In order to ensure a high standard of performance for our festivals, the ownership of the United Festival Group selects producers who have demonstrated consistent quality and originality of work. This includes the agreement that the founding members of the United Festival Group have the right of first refusal to participate in a festival. These members are Jason Ballweber, Mike Fotis, Katie Hartman, Tyler Olsen, Erin Sheppard and Tim Uren.
The owners of the United Festival Group hold ourselves to these standards and expect that our employees and volunteers do as well. If anyone feels there is any reason or incident in which these standards are not being upheld, please inform one of the United Festival Group owners.
The United Festival Group exists to produce festivals that provide the audience with the best possible experience while rewarding the artists for all of their efforts.
Principles and Policies
The United Festival Group values fair wages for fair work.
-We understand that artists do not need another outlet for their efforts if it does not mean receiving pay for all of the hours they put into their creations.
-We, as an artist- and producer-owned company, will strive to maximize revenue for the artists and all those involved in festival production process.
The United Festival Group is a for-profit company in official organization only.
-We do not intend to make unlimited profits from our festivals.
-We will operate within the financial laws governing Limited Liability Companies while distributing as much of our revenue to artists and employees as possible.
-Donations to the United Festival Groups and its other official entities are not tax deductible under Internal Revenue Service code.
-We will accept donations to the extent that we will offer appropriate recognition or opportunity for the gifts received.
The United Festival Group believes in open and honest communication.
-We will do our best to address the media, the audience and the general public in an honest and timely manner.
-We will communicate the content of our festivals while respecting our artists’ creations and intentions.
The United Festival Group respects the audience.
-We will instruct our performers to respect our audiences’ personal space. If a performance contains specific interaction with the audience, including physical contact, we will inform the audience ahead of time.
-We will inform the audience of any loud noises, gunshots, strobe or rapid-changing lights that may be used during the performances.
The United Festival Group respects the individual.
-We support an environment where all people are treated with dignity and respect with regard to gender, race, color, creed, ancestry, place of origin, political beliefs, religion, disabilty, marital status, age or sexual orientation.
-We are committed to providing an environment that is free of discrimination and free of abusive, offensive or harassing behavior.
-We understand that at times this policy may seem at odds with the content of the artistic performances. We understand that it is the nature of the business, and it is the policy of the United Festival Group that we do not censor our artists while on stage.
The United Festival Group will operate within the laws and codes of the State of Minnesota and the United States of America.
- We will make certain that all disclosures made in financial reports and public documents are full, fair, accurate, timely and understandable. All corporate records must be true, accurate and complete.
-We will create, retain and dispose of our company records as part of our normal course of business in compliance with all regulatory and legal requirements.
Process
In order to ensure a high standard of performance for our festivals, the ownership of the United Festival Group selects producers who have demonstrated consistent quality and originality of work. This includes the agreement that the founding members of the United Festival Group have the right of first refusal to participate in a festival. These members are Jason Ballweber, Mike Fotis, Katie Hartman, Tyler Olsen, Erin Sheppard and Tim Uren.
The owners of the United Festival Group hold ourselves to these standards and expect that our employees and volunteers do as well. If anyone feels there is any reason or incident in which these standards are not being upheld, please inform one of the United Festival Group owners.
