Joe Augustyn
| Joe Augustyn | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Joseph W. Augustyn Port Richmond, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Education | Temple University |
| Occupation | Film producer, screenwriter |
| Years active | 1985- present |
Joe Augustyn is a screenwriter, book author and film producer.[1] Born in Philadelphia, he pursued painting and cartooning before attending Temple University where he studied film theory and production. As a college freshman he won a FOCUS Award in the film studies category for a paper analyzing the symbolism in Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now. The only undergrad among eleven winners, he was flown to Los Angeles for the ceremonies, and subsequently moved to Los Angeles to attend the AFI Conservatory for Advanced Film Studies as a producing-fellow.
Early life
He was the son of a factory worker and a hairdresser in Port Richmond. Following graduation from AFI he worked as an associate of Steve Golin and Joni Sighvatsson, who later went on to found Propaganda Films. After producing two features he retired from producing to focus exclusively on screenwriting, completing assignments for such companies as Tristar, Propaganda and countless indie producers. Augustyn's first feature, Night of the Demons (1988 film), based on his original screenplay Halloween Party, was remade in 2008 by 7 Arts Productions, starring Shannon Elizabeth and Edward Furlong. Augustyn was not involved creatively in the remake and has pointed that out in interviews.
Augustyn's first novel "The Nine Lives of Felicia Miller" was published by Wildcat Press in 2012. In 2014 he published "Dead Rain: A Tale of the Zombie Apocalypse" and "Ghostwriter: The Polaroid Ghost & Other True Tales of the Paranormal," a non-fiction book of personal paranormal experiences including eyewitness accounts of events that took place in "the Wright House" (so named after the spirit that allegedly identified itself by name, writing on Polaroid film in ectoplasmic scrawl.) Augustyn was present at a Halloween party at which several guests who brought their own Polaroid cameras snapped remarkable photos. The case has been featured on several TV and cable shows including "Sightings," "My Ghost Story," "Unexplained Mysteries," and "Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files." It has been investigated by parapsychologist Kerry Gaynor of UCLA and photo experts from Polaroid Corporation and Brooks Institute, all of whom were baffled. Investigators from "Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files" attempted to debunk the ghostly Polaroids using carefully controlled experiments but instead got inexplicable results. Combined with voice stress analysis of the occupants of the house that indicated they were telling the truth, they declared the case authentic. On several occasions visitors brought their own Polaroid cameras loaded with their own film and also got ghostly results.
Besides writing fiction, Augustyn is an advocate for serious paranormal research, believing that scientific investigation into the metaphysical will reap benefits for humanity by confirming a spiritual aspect to the universe which in turn will foster greater respect among people and nations. He holds a Vedic view of reality, which holds that spirit precedes corporality, in the same way that energy generates matter, as well as a quantum connection of everything that exists on a spiritual level.
He is an active member of the Horror Writers Association currently serving as Membership Coordinator and a member of HWANJPA, the local affiliate.
Filmography
- Night of the Demons (1988 - also producer)
- Night Angel (1990 - also producer)
- Night of the Demons 2 (1994 co-written with James Penzi)
- Exit (1996)