Brad Sykes
Encyclopedia
Biography
Sykes got his first Hi-88 mm video format
The 8mm video format refers informally to three related videocassette formats for the NTSC and PAL/SECAM television systems. These are the original Video8 format and its improved successor Hi8 , as well as a more recent digital recording format known as Digital8.Their user base...
camera at age fifteen, and has not stopped shooting since. Growing up in Virginia Beach
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Virginia Beach is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia, on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, Sykes made eight features on video (many of which involved Karo syrup
Corn syrup
Corn syrup is a food syrup, which is made from the starch of maize and contains varying amounts of maltose and higher oligosaccharides, depending on the grade. Corn syrup is used in foods to soften texture, add volume, prevent crystallization of sugar, and enhance flavor...
, red food coloring
Food coloring
Food coloring is a substance, liquid or powder, that is added to food or drink to change its color. Food coloring is used both in commercial food production and in domestic cooking...
and "stunts" of dubious safety) while still in high school. He attended Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
's film program in 1993 and by the time he graduated cum laude
Latin honors
Latin honors are Latin phrases used to indicate the level of academic distinction with which an academic degree was earned. This system is primarily used in the United States, Canada, and in many countries of continental Europe, though some institutions also use the English translation of these...
in 1997, he had already worked for both Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
and Ridley
Ridley Scott
Sir Ridley Scott is an English film director and producer. His most famous films include The Duellists , Alien , Blade Runner , Legend , Thelma & Louise , G. I...
and Tony Scott
Tony Scott
Anthony D. L. "Tony" Scott is an English film director. His films include Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop II, The Last Boy Scout, True Romance, Crimson Tide, Enemy of the State, Spy Game, Man on Fire, Déjà Vu, The Taking of Pelham 123, and Unstoppable...
’s Scott Free Productions. After moving to Los Angeles, Sykes continued to work in film in various capacities both there and with Castel Film Romania
Castel Film Romania
Castel Film Romania was started in 1993 by Romanian film producer Vlad Paunescu and Hollywood producer Charles Band. Many Full Moon films were created at Castel including the Josh Kirby series, Trancers 4 and Hideous....
, before landing his first writing-directing job in 1998.
He has since written and directed nineteen features, including Mad Jack (2000), Goth (2003), Demon's Kiss and Within the Woods, along with creating two independent horror franchises, the Camp Blood
Camp Blood
Camp Blood is a 1999 horror film written and directed by Brad Sykes and produced by David S. Sterling.-Plot:A guide and a random tourist are birdwatching in the shades of Camp Blackwood and begin to have sex. Suddenly, a man in a clown mask appears and brutally murders them.The story then centers...
and Death Factory series. Sykes' latest science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
/horror movie film, Plaguers
Plaguers
Plaguers is a 2008 American science-fiction horror film written and directed by Brad Sykes and featuring Steve Railsback.-Plot:Tarver is a crew member on board Pandora, a freight transport carrier headed toward Earth with a desperately needed new energy supply, a strange substance called "Thanatos"...
, won the Silver Unicorn for Best Screenplay at the Estepona
Estepona
Estepona is a town and municipality in the region of the Costa del Sol, southern Spain. It is located in the province of Málaga, part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. Estepona is renowned for its beaches, which stretch along some 21 km of coastline...
Fantasy and Horror Film Festival in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy Feature at the Mid-Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
Con Film Festival, and the Best "B-Movie
B movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
" Award and Steve Railsback
Steve Railsback
Steve Railsback is an American theatre, film and television actor, born in Dallas, Texas.-Personal life:Railsback was born Stephen Hall Railsback, in Dallas, Texas, the son of Emerett Spencer and Clyde Webb Railsback.-Career:Railsback was a student of Lee Strasberg and the Actors Studio and in...
won the Best Actor Award at ShockerFest International Film Festival
ShockerFest International Film Festival
The ShockerFest International Film Festival is a Californian film and video festival for horror, fantasy and science fiction films since 2002.- ShockerFest 2009 :...
.
Sykes lives in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
with his wife, producer Josephina Sykes, where they operate Nightfall Pictures, a full-service development and production company
Production company
A production company provides the physical basis for works in the realms of the performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, and video.- Tasks and functions :...
.
Writer-director only
- Camp BloodCamp BloodCamp Blood is a 1999 horror film written and directed by Brad Sykes and produced by David S. Sterling.-Plot:A guide and a random tourist are birdwatching in the shades of Camp Blackwood and begin to have sex. Suddenly, a man in a clown mask appears and brutally murders them.The story then centers...
(V - direct-to-videoDirect-to-videoDirect-to-video is a term used to describe a film that has been released to the public on home video formats without being released in film theaters or broadcast on television...
release, 1999) - Nightmare in Shallow Point (2000; writer only)
- Camp Blood 2Camp Blood 2Camp Blood 2 is a 2000 horror film, and sequel to Camp Blood. The film was directed by Brad Sykes and produced by David S. Sterling.-Production:...
(V, 2000) - Babes in the Woods (V, 2000)
- Mad Jack (V, 2000; also producer)
- Zombie ChroniclesZombie ChroniclesZombie Chronicles is a 2001 horror film directed by Brad Sykes. It follows Tara Woodley, a reporter who visits an old desert town to research her article on the ghost town legends from around there...
(V, 2001; director only) - Evil Sister 2 (V, 2001)
- B-Witched (V, 2001)
- Witchcraft XII: In the Lair of the Serpent (V, 2002)
- Loving Angelique (V, 2002)
- Death Factory (V, 2002)
- The Coven (V, 2002; director only)
- Demon's Kiss (V, 2002)
- Lord of the Vampires (2002; also producer)
- Liars (V, 2002; writer only)
- Scream Queen (V, 2002)
- The Pact (2003; writer only)
- Goth (V, 2003)
- Bloody Tease (V, 2004; director only)
- Within the Woods (V, 2005)
- Mutation (V, 2006)
- PlaguersPlaguersPlaguers is a 2008 American science-fiction horror film written and directed by Brad Sykes and featuring Steve Railsback.-Plot:Tarver is a crew member on board Pandora, a freight transport carrier headed toward Earth with a desperately needed new energy supply, a strange substance called "Thanatos"...
(2008)
Producer
- Dead Letters (film)Dead Letters (film)Dead Letters is a 2007 independent feature film written and directed by Garrett Clancy, executive produced by Paul Hellweg, produced by Josephina Sykes, and co-produced by Brad Sykes. It stars C. Thomas Howell, Geoffrey Lewis, Kim Darby, Joe Unger and Duane Whitaker. It was originally entitled Cold...
aka Cold Ones (2009; co-producer) - Burying the Ex (2008; producer)