In a northwest suburb of Houston, just after midnight, a blood-curdling scream rips through the otherwise silent neighborhood. Lamps and porch lights flick on at nearby houses and somewhat frightened, but mostly curious eyes peer from behind drawn curtains. Once the destination of the screaming is discovered to be “that house on the corner with those weird lady film makers,” however, everyone just goes back to bed undaunted.

 

It’s just another weekend for independent horror film makers Shannon Casto and Michelle Henderson as they shoot a scene for their upcoming film, The Next Big Thing, the sixth film for new production company on the block, Little Oak Film Group.

 

The two ladies got their start in horror on Gerald Nott’s The Quick and the Undead, on which they were walk-on zombies. “As soon as we saw the set, the make-up, the blood, we were hooked,” Casto said.

 

They met Parish Randall, star of The Quick and the Undead on the set and were invited by Randall to play short rolls in his PRP film Texas Road Kill as both small part actors and production assistants. In PRP’s next project, Slaughter House, Henderson was the lead female in the film, and Casto played a small role and did most of the cinematography in the film, as well. In the summer of 2007, they branched out on their own in addition to working with Parrish and formed Little Oak Film Group. They produced their first feature film, Sinner, starring many of their current and former high school students (Oh, yes, did I mention Shannon and Michelle are high school teachers?), and later that year, they filmed and starred in Dark Spaces with Parrish, then The Caretaker, Protégé (also starring Michelle and Parrish) and His Will Be Done.

 

Casto is a fiction and screenplay writer, director, producer, actress, cinematographer and photographer. She is a high school journalism teacher for her day job and aspires to be a writer/filmmaker full time. She has written or co-written all of the Little Oak films. “I love to be creative, to see something develop from conception to a final product,” she said. “Writing is my first love and still my greatest passion, but I have really enjoyed learning the many roles of filmmaking.”

 

Michelle Henderson is a director, producer, actress, composer, musician, make-up artist, and has been heavily involved in the writing of most of the Little Oak films. She has scored all of the Little Oak films as well as some of PRP’s films including Slaughter House and Texas Road Kill. Her musical background began in early childhood, and she has been a professional musician since age 15. By day, Henderson is a high school social studies teacher, and while she loves it, she is looking forward to the day when her artistic ventures will be the only job she needs. “I love everything about film making,” she said. “It’s such a great experience to see a film develop. My favorite part is writing the music for the films, but I genuinely like it all.”

 

As with many low-to-no budget indie flicks, the film makers often wear many hats. “The biggest challenge is working on a film in which you act, direct, produce, film and even do some of the special effects,” Casto said, “but to have a screening and watch a crowd watching the film makes it all worth it.”

 

Henderson’s first major role was in Sinner, Little Oak Film Group’s first production, in which she played British witch Morgan. “I love to play Morgan,” she said. “She is this very together woman with control and power, but who is generous and caring.”

 

The next big film for Henderson was PRP’s Slaughter House, in which she plays Corona, a very tough, sadistic character. “I am nothing like Corona in real life, so playing her was tough but fun,” she said.

 

In Little Oak Film Group’s next films, Dark Spaces, The Caretaker and Protégé, Henderson plays a local town woman, an angry mother and wife and then the mother of a son she sees slipping away. Lastly, she reprises her role as Morgan in His Will Be Done. In this film, Morgan is the principal role. “I really wanted Morgan to be the main character of a film because she’s just a great character to play,” Henderson said. “We wrote His Will specifically with her in mind as well as a good-versus-evil plot.”

 

What makes these two stand out is the fact that they are women in a genre of film making filled with men.

 

“I have enjoyed being a woman in the independent horror field,” Casto said. “It is almost exclusively a boys club, and it can be frustrating to try to break into that club and be recognized as serious filmmakers, but we have stepped into the ‘Texas Blood’ film game and become one of the most prolific production companies in the group. We have gone from being zombie extras to having five completed films in less than four years. And while we have had limited luck with finding a distributor, so has everyone else we know.”

 

The Little Oak films are not terribly graphic, so Casto and Henderson say they are sometimes not taken as seriously as horror filmmakers as they feel they deserve.

 

“Our films are actually plot driven and character driven and are really enjoyable,” Casto said. “We aren’t into psychosexual films, but we have come up with some really gruesome stuff. Some of our films are true horror; some are escapist, one is really more of a crime thriller, one is a creature feature, but we truly believe they are all enjoyable and made with the audience in mind.”

 

As for the women in horror niche, Henderson says it’s just one of the aspects that makes the little film company stand out. “Our vision is to have a company that focuses on embracing women as more than tripping victims in horror films,” she said, “to place women in key roles in front of and behind the camera.”

 

So, what’s next for Little Oak Film Group? “We are submitting all of the completed films to festivals, contests, and every distributor we can,” Casto said. “Meanwhile, we are in post production of The Next Big Thing, a film I think will be our best film to date. The plan is to have that film completely shot by the end of November. We are in pre production of three films, a Voodoo supernatural film, a crime thriller and a series of vignettes, all to begin principle photography in summer, 2010.”