Aaron B. Koontz is an American producer, writer and director. He is the founder and CEO of Paper Street Pictures, a film production company in Austin, Texas.[1] He is also a producer behind The Pale Door, the Scare Package franchise, and Shelby Oaks, from YouTuber Chris Stuckmann.
Aaron B. Koontz | |
|---|---|
 Koontz on the set of Old Man | |
| Born | |
| Citizenship | American |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 2014–present |
| Notable work | |
Early life and education edit
Koontz was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. As a child, he shot home movies and wrote numerous short stories.[2]
After moving to Florida with his family he went on to attend Full Sail University, where he was a classmate of filmmakers Adam Wingard and E.L. Katz.[3] Koontz graduated in 2001 and worked as freelance crew on various film sets including Monster and studio films The Punisher and Out of Time.[4]
Career edit
In 2003, Koontz took a nearly ten-year detour where he worked in video game production as a producer and QA tester-manager for companies like EA Sports, THQ and Zynga.[5]
In 2012, Koontz left games to start the boutique genre production company Paper Street Pictures.[6] Through Paper Street, Koontz wrote and directed multiple short films including the award-winning Honor Student.[7] In 2014, Koontz was an executive producer of the SXSW hit Starry Eyes, and then in 2016, he co-wrote, produced and directed his first feature film, Camera Obscura, for NBC Universal. In 2019, Koontz lead the production team for the Shudder cult hit Scare Package, of which he also was the core story co-writer and director as well as the final segment director with Horror Hypothesis. In 2020, Aaron co-wrote, directed and produced The Pale Door, a horror-western he released with the help of executive producer Joe R. Lansdale.
In 2022, he produced five films, with the first was The Requin, starring Alicia Silverstone, followed by Revealer,[8] for which he also wrote the comic book tie-in with Vault Comics.[9] Old Man, starring Stephen Lang, came out in the fall, followed by Blood Relatives which premiered at Fantastic Fest, before releasing in select theaters on Thanksgiving week,[10] and Snow Valley.[11]
Koontz directed, produced and co-wrote Scare Package 2: Rad Chad's Revenge, the sequel to Scare Package. The film premiered at Fright Fest in August, before streaming exclusively on Shudder in December,[12] which was called a "superior and superbly silly sequel" by MovieWeb.[13]
In 2023, he led the production of Emily Hagins's Sorry About the Demon which premiered in January on Shudder. In March, he produced The Artifice Girl, starring Lance Henriksen, which had its U.S. Premiere at SXSW. It previously won Best International Feature at Fantasia in Montreal and Trieste in Italy.[14] Also in 2023, he produced the Christmas creature feature A Creature Was Stirring starring Chrissy Metz[15] and the horror thriller Trim Season starring Alex Essoe.[16]
Additional upcoming horror and thriller films Aaron lead productions on include The Bunker and Shelby Oaks. Koontz launched a Kickstarter for Shelby Oaks with Chris Stuckmann,[17] which went on to break the record as the most funded horror kickstarter of all-time,[18] and then began filming in May and June in and around Ohio.[19]
In late 2020, it was announced that Koontz had formed a new genre consulting firm, Blood Oath, with various other industry veterans.[20]
Koontz has said that he hoped to make a third Scare Package film with Shudder.[21][22]
Filmography edit
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Starry Eyes | Executive Producer |
| 2017 | Camera Obscura | Writer, producer, director |
| 2019 | Scare Package | Writer, producer, director, concept by |
| 2020 | The Pale Door | Writer, producer, director, editor |
| 15 Things You Didn't Know About Bigfoot | Executive Producer | |
| The Pizzagate Masacre | Executive Producer | |
| The Stylist | Production Consultant | |
| 2022 | The Requin | Producer |
| Revealer | Producer | |
| Old Man | Producer | |
| Blood Relatives | Producer | |
| Scare Package II: Rad Chad's Revenge | Writer, producer, director, created by | |
| Snow Valley | Producer | |
| 2023 | Sorry About the Demon | Producer |
| The Artifice Girl | Producer | |
| Trim Season | Producer | |
| A Creature Was Stirring | Producer | |
| 2024 | Shelby Oaks | Producer Post-production |
| The Bunker | Producer Post-production |
References edit
- ^ "Best Pandemic Production House: Paper Street Pictures". www.austinchronicle.com.
- ^ "Interview with Aaron B. Koontz (Scare Package)". Back Lot 605.
- ^ Navarro, Meagan (July 7, 2021). "These Horror Filmmakers All Graduated from Full Sail University in Florida".
- ^ Aaron B. Koontz IMDb
- ^ "Aaron B. Koontz Video Game Credits and Biography". MobyGames.
- ^ "Pandemic Production, One Year Later: Aaron B. Koontz, Co-founder, Paper Street Pictures". www.austinchronicle.com.
- ^ "Honor Student || Featured Short Film".
- ^ Squires, John (May 16, 2022). "'Revealer' Trailer – Shudder and 'Hack/Slash' Creator Take You Back to 1987 This Summer". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on July 4, 2022.
- ^ Johnston, Rich (May 19, 2022). "Vault Comics To Publish Tie-In Comic To Revealer Movie, From Shudder". Bleeding Cool News And Rumors. Archived from the original on June 29, 2022.
- ^ Blood Relatives is a Bloody Good Vampire Flick that Deserves your Attention
- ^ "Cooper Van Grootel, Tom Williamson, Barbara Crampton to Star in Brandon Murphy's 'Snow Valley' (Exclusive)". TheWrap. May 19, 2021. Archived from the original on March 11, 2023.
- ^ Swope, Michelle (December 20, 2022). "'Scare Package II: Rad Chad's Revenge' Review – A Fun and Bloody Love Letter to the Horror Genre". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on February 23, 2023.
- ^ Mahler, Matthew (December 22, 2022). "Scare Package 2 Review: Gross-Out Goofs and Scary Spoofs in Rad Chad's Revenge". MovieWeb. Archived from the original on February 23, 2023.
- ^ "Fantasia Festival | The Artifice Girl". Fantasia International Film Festival. Archived from the original on November 29, 2022.
- ^ Grobar, Matt (September 13, 2022). "Well Go USA Acquires Christmas Horror-Thriller 'A Creature Was Stirring' Starring 'This Is Us' Alum Chrissy Metz – First Look". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on February 23, 2023.
- ^ Couch, Aaron (November 4, 2021). "Horror Thriller 'Trim Season' Sets Cast". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on March 12, 2023.
- ^ Wiseman, Andreas (July 6, 2021). "YouTuber Chris Stuckmann To Make Horror Movie 'Shelby Oaks' About Missing Paranormal Investigators". Archived from the original on February 3, 2023.
- ^ Wiseman, Andreas (March 25, 2022). "Chris Stuckmann Horror Project 'Shelby Oaks' Flies Past $1M On Kickstarter, Studios Come Calling". Archived from the original on March 7, 2023.
- ^ Wiseman, Andreas (May 20, 2022). "Chris Stuckmann's Kickstarter Horror Record-Breaker 'Shelby Oaks' Begins Production, Reveals Cast – Cannes". Archived from the original on March 28, 2023.
- ^ Grater, Tom (November 19, 2020). "Genre Film Consulting Firm Blood Oath Launches With Chamber Thriller 'Old Man' & Horror 'Slashman'". Archived from the original on August 8, 2022.
- ^ "Exclusive: We're Getting A SCARE PACKAGE Sequel And Aaron B. Koontz Is Here To Tell Us About It". FANGORIA. Archived from the original on December 7, 2022.
- ^ "'Scare Package II: Rad Chad's Revenge' Is Coming To Shudder [Trailer]". December 14, 2021. Archived from the original on October 22, 2022.