by Kimmie Chameleon:
As the “con” season kicks into high gear, “Clan of the Vein” has generated a swarming buzz, and rightfully so. Co-creators Neil D’Monte and Neo Edmund have joined forces with producing partner Neal Fischer to create this highly anticipated graphic novel and motion picture. As this project teases its future fans with highly detailed concept art and storyboards, the creators of “Clan of the Vein” are ready to pull the trigger on this project and start this journey to the big screen. DarkMedia has been given the opportunity to follow along this quest and present to you the process of making this vision a reality.
The Triad of Craft
Neal, Neil, and Neo. This situation begs for some kind of “N” name with a trinity reference. Equally gifted, the creators of “Clan of the Vein” each present this project with an exorbitant amount of talent. Neil D’Monte serves as co-creator and illustrator of the Clan. His multi-talents include acting in films with Chauntal Lewis, Lianne SpiderBaby, Brian Krause, and Bruce Dern to name a few. His most recent acting gig in “Toolbox Murders” (aka Coffin Baby) is set to be released soon. He also plays drums in a two-piece band with guitarist Peter DiStefano (Porno for Pyros/Satellite Party/Lance Herbstrong). He and Peter have recently started scoring for film/t.v. and video games. Neil has done quite a bit of artwork for such films as “Bunraku” and” The Mummy”. With such a creative and diverse gift for the arts, it is no wonder that his vision sparked an intense fire that would birth this epic story.
Enter Neo Edmund. Neo is the co-creator and screenwriter for “Clan of the Vein”. He has worked in the entertainment industry as a writer, story development exec, and a film producer for such companies as Zenescope, Silver Dragon Books, History Channel, Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, Spike TV, JumpStart Interactive, Branded Films, Platinum Studios, and Genetic Entertainment. He recently published his first novel titled A Tale of Red Riding: Rise of the Alpha Huntress which can be found here.
Neal Fischer is the producing partner for Clan of the Vein. He is also a producer at DAVIS Films which did True Romance, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Domino and the Resident Evil/Silent Hill Films. They are now producing Castle Wolfenstein. Neal produced the film Sushi Girl with Mark Hamill, Tony Todd and Noah Hathaway, which is out on DVD now. An exciting project that Neal is currently involved with is the re-release of The Last Unicorn. “We’re starting a promotional tour of the film starting April 20th to 40 different cities. Peter S. Beagle will be there. If we can get some of the actors from the film that are available, they might be there. We will have original cells from the movie that are signed. All different kinds of stuffed animals, artwork, graphic novels, the soundtrack, DVD’s, and Blu-rays. We’ll screen the movie and then Peter will do a Q&A with the audience. It’s the perfect time to re-awaken The Last Unicorn. While we’re touring the film, we’re going to be re-mastering it. Some additional scenes were nearly completed, so we will be adding that into it. All actors have already agreed to come back. America, the band has said that they will write a new song. Once all of that has been released, we will be working on a live-action version of the movie.” With so many projects laid out in front of Neal, nothing is as tantalizing to him as the Clan of the Vein motion picture.
“Vampgasm”
Worlds collided when the Neil and Neo met through mutual friends and effortlessly clicked right away.
Neo: “Neil had this idea, and all of these cool scenes in mind. He would tell me about them and I would ask what the story was about. Then he showed me his art. He had all of these cool concepts, but there was no story. We decided to get together and figure it all out. We literally sat in a Starbuck’s for a week just pounding coffee. Really just trying to find the core of the story, and we ended up with this big outline. Neil drew a zillion more pictures and started storyboarding stuff. Then we met Neal Fischer and started telling him about it.”
Neil: “I love working with Neo. The guy’s a god. Neo and I work so well together because I’m very visual, and he’s so good at telling the story. He can take the images from my head and get them out on paper, and then I get inspired. As we write it together, I draw these storyboards, and it gets him all excited. We kind of play off of each other. It’s mutual excitement.”
Neal: “It’s called a ‘vampgasm’.”
After hashing out the outline of the movie, they presented it to Neal Fischer during Comic Book Sunday (a gathering of like-minded writers, artists, etc. that come together every third Sunday at various locations in the Los Angeles area). Instantly, Neal was hooked. With the passion and drive that Neal possesses, this story will adorn the silver screen.
“It’s Die Hard meets Underworld”
The press released summary of the story is as follows:
The world has been rid of all vampires by a mysterious assassin named Ian MacBane. Or has it? MacBane, a vampire himself, has been living in isolation feeding his existence with a serum to avoid drinking the blood of the mortals he sought to protect. Earning his vast wealth by sales of his famed artwork, MacBane receives an invitation to an event showcasing his paintings. Spurred by the musical guest appearance of a mystery lady who has literally haunted his dreams, MacBane heads to an isolated resort made entirely of glass. When he finally meets his beautiful ghost of a woman, Lorro, the resort is invaded by a cult of the last remaining vampires known as The Children of Judas. Now MacBane must protect his fair lady love from the vampire savages who are searching for the last remaining blood of their vampire queen in a bid to repopulate their vampire species once again.
DarkMedia was given a closer look into the story of Clan of the Vein. One thing that the creators of this story want to stress is that it promises to be action-packed and on an intensely ticking clock.
Clan of the Vein Storyboard
Neo: “There are multiple species of vampires, which was the initial thing Neil and I were talking about. It’s unlike anything we’ve ever seen. It’s different species from all of these different mythologies. Each species has to be killed in a very specific way. From a storyteller point of view, that creates a lot of different complications for the hero.”
Neil: “I wanted all of the vampires to look like monsters. They’re not like something that could just be seen in public. I’ve seen so many vampires in movies that look like human beings, so why don’t we go back to the cultural roots of everything? For example, East India has the rakshasa. I took the basic mythos and designed it to fit these big vampire dogs with humps on their backs and travel in packs. Then you have the German neuntoter vampire species which can only be killed with lemon juice. The different vampire species have to team up to solve a certain goal in the film, even though they don’t like each other. Neo and I wanted to team up together and bring something that has never been seen on film before, with these different species all over the world.”
As the story progressed, the guys realized that the movie was becoming bigger than they could ever fit into just one feature film. They wanted to write a graphic novel prequel so that the back story to this film could be more fully enjoyed by the public. They have decided to run a Kickstarter for that prequel titled, “Clan of the Vein: The Girl of Hy Brasil” so that the novel will be ready for San Diego’s Comic Con in July. DarkMedia will keep everyone posted on the latest from this exciting project.
Neal: “The movie is stand alone. You can go in and watch the movie, but some people will want to check out the graphic novel and get excited that there’s a back story. It will be additional content. For our Kickstarter, we will have some really cool toys and memorabilia like cool swords and vials of blood.”
Neil: “The prequel is the set up that leads to the event in the movie that draws Ian MacBane out of retirement from vampire hunting. It takes place a couple of months before where the story begins in the film.”
Hype and great interest for the film Clan of the Vein is building daily. The film is currently in development phase and the team is finding the right home for the project. The many pros and cons of Independent vs. Studio is a huge consideration. DarkMedia will be following along closely as this project travels onward to the big screen.
You can find all the latest happenings with the Clan of the Vein on IMDb, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, and Twitter.
DarkMedia contributing writer Kimmie Chameleon was born and raised with a healthy appreciation for horror and science fiction. She currently covers Supernatural, Ghost Adventures, BBC’s Being Human, Syfy’s Being Human, and Sherlock. When she’s not out ghost hunting with her kids, you can find her stealing a moment to add to her own pieces of fiction. Follow her on Twitter @dvsduo and “friend” her on Facebook.
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