ROY FRUMKES
OWNER AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Enchanted by his grandfather’s stories of the golden days of vaudeville (Bernard Burke was the leading Keith Circuit Booking Agent of the 20’s and numbered Houdini among his clientele), Roy followed his childhood dreams of filmmaking and has been producing, writing and/or directing motion pictures for forty years.
His first, as Assistant Director and Associate Producer, was The Projectionist starring, in his film debut, a then-unknown Rodney Dangerfield. It developed a cult following and was chosen by The Museum of Modern Art as one of the three best films of 1971 (the other two were McCabe and Mrs. Miller and Death in Venice).
Roy directed the TV special An Evening at Dangerfield’s, and later wrote and directed Burt’s Bikers, a docudrama about Down’s Syndrome children narrated by Academy Award winner Glenda Jackson and telecast on NBC. The Comeback Trail with Buster Crabbe and Shriek-Out with Judd Hirsch, two films with which Roy was creatively involved, were either barely seen (the former) or not seen at all (the latter). In 1987, Roy wrote and produced the feature Street Trash, an aggressive black comedy destined for cult status. It won several foreign festival awards, and is still shown globally in fests, most recently at Fantasia Montreal and Fantasia Toronto, both in 1998.
From 1977 to 2011, Roy wrote/produced, directed and appeared in Document of the Dead. A comprehensive documentary study of independent filmmaking in the US., Document focusses on the career of director George Romero. A special edition of Document of the Dead was released on DVD by Synapse Films in 1998, featuring commentary by Roy and others involved in its production. Those who think Roy looks young for his years need only check out Document, in which he ages ten years before your eyes. The film’s latest iteration, The Definitive Document of the Dead, was released in 2012.
With writing partner Rocco Simnonelli, Roy has written dozens of screenplays over the past twenty years. The Substitute did quite well, particularly on video, and spawned Substitute 2,3, and 4.
Roy was a member until 2013 of the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures since he got out of college in 1966. He wrote for FIR for thirty years before purchasing the magazine from the NBR in ’96 with co-owner Joe Anderson. Prior to that Roy was Managing Editor of the exquisite home theater magazine The Perfect Vision.
From 1985 to 1994 Roy co-produced and co-directed the annual D.W.Griffith Awards Ceremony, working with the likes of Paul Newman, Bette Davis, William Hurt, Steven Spielberg, Kirk And Michael Douglas, Sidney Poitier, Jodie Foster and Sean Connery. These were wild events, and his stories will filter into FIR‘s pages for years to come.
Contributors
JOHN
LARKIN
MANAGING EDITOR
A lifelong cinephile and independent filmmaker, John Larkin has been making movies and writing about them since his early teens.
He made his first short film while attending Eastchester High School and won his first film festival award at age 15.
He attended The School of Visual Arts film school in NYC as a directing major and graduated in 2009.
He is also the star of the 2018 Independent film STRETCH MARKS. The film won the audience award at the 2018 Soho International Film Festival. The film deals with the subject of weight loss and body image issues and is based on John’s own personal life experiences.
Currently he is in production on a feature length documentary on the cultural impact of THE EXORCIST (1973) to be finished in time for the film’s 50th anniversary in 2023.
VICTORIA ALEXANDER
FIR'S Agent Provocateur
As Films In Review’s most visible critic and an esteemed member of the highly prestigious Las Vegas Film Critics Society, a short-list of the best of the best from that state, Victoria Alexander was one of the first critics to join the highly influential Rotten Tomatoes website where she remains a sought-after critic of motion pictures of all genres and retains a large following of readers. Victoria's film reviews are, by intention, controversial and provocative.
Victoria’s other passion is traveling, preferably to exotic locations on the verge of a coup d' état. So far, pre-pandemic, Victoria has been to 86 countries and currently favors Tibet, Burma and Mongolia. Victoria travels primarily to participate in the tribal ritual and religious ceremonies and is following a spiritist religion, Umbanda, in Brazil. With extensive experience in ayahuasca in Peru, Ecuador, and Brazil, Victoria has participated in healing modalities around the world. Victoria became a Sufi under Sufi Master Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan at age 17 and studied with Reverend June K. Burke, Kundalini Yoga master and her teacher Julian, a Seraph of the order of Seraphim. Victoria has extensive experience with ayahuasca in Peru, Ecuador and Brazil. Victoria first experienced ayahuasca in 2000. For the past few years, Victoria has studied Spiritism, attending Santo Daime and Aty Guarani ceremonies in Brazil.
Besides motion pictures and traveling, Victoria’s third focus is as the representative for Ayahuasquero Don Ron Wheelock and EL PURGUERO, his Ayahuasca Retreat & Healing Center in Iquitos, Peru. She counsels pre-ayahuasca and post-ayahuasca users. Victoria has a unique understanding of what has been called The Hidden Reality.
Victoria lives with her husband John in Las Vegas. She studies French with an advanced tutor and studies and plays Duplicate Bridge. She is also a materialistic ascetic.
Victoria can be emailed at victoria.alexander.lv@gmail.com Las Vegas Film Critics Society link http://www.lvfcs.org/index.html
Glenn Andreiev
REVIEWER AND RESIDENT FILM HISTORIAN
Now an esteemed film history lecturer the well-known Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington, Long Island, Glenn Andreiev spent his teenage years haunting New York City movie revival houses, catching hard to find films on the big screen. This sparked his film-making interest, where he made Super 8mm films which years later led to producing and directing independent features, A family of creative over-achievers, Glen's sister was the popular punk star Wendy Wild and his father, Alexis Andreiev, designed major portions of the Lunar Module for NASA during the Apollo Years.
After attaining degrees at the Suffolk Community College (Journalism), and the School of Visual Arts (motion picture production), Glenn worked in various aspects of film production. “I did everything from editing, sound recording, props, special effects. You name it. I even tried my hand at some acting,” Mr. Andreiev confesses. In 1988 he lensed his first feature film, "Angela" (renamed Vampire’s Embrace by the distributor), based on a Hindu vampire legend.
Since then, Glenn has made eight more feature films. His documentary, Film Making for $20 A Day (or how to make a feature film for less than pennies) has become a tonic for film students. He has written all his own screenplays as well as produced screenplays for hire. Additionally, for the past several years, he has written film reviews and celebrity interviews for The World of Fandom, a multimedia magazine as well as Films In Review.
Most recently, Glenn's documentary about film preservation, "Lost Emulsion", is already proving to be a must-have for film aficionados.
Personally, Glenn is hiding from fans in Long Island, with his cat Boris and his vast collection of hard-to-find DVDs and Blue-rays. His fascination with artistically-inclined cinema and otherwise unloved, eclectic tourist attractions knows no bounds.
You can reach Glen at gandreiev@aol.com
David Rosler
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
To 30-plus year NYC film and commercial vet, Films In Review is more than an online magazine, it's a cause. Established when motion pictures were still silent and finding their voice in every way, FIR was established to be a voice of conscience against censorship.
An accomplished producer and director, expert in special effects animation and sought-after consultant by production companies and television and projection manufacturers for his expertise in 3D production, David is well-suited to his role as FIR's resident special effects and 3D expert.
David's work has graced theatrical and TV motion pictures, television programs and hundreds of national television commercials. His cinematic love is to be found in the style and elegance of the classic motion pictures of the 1940's Hollywood studios and any project that attempts to rise to that standard.
As Producer, Director and purveyor of David Rosler Motion Picture Studios, as well as a skilled writer and reviewer, David will be bringing a new genre of motion picture to the screen.
David's studio can be toured at www.roslerstudios.com
You can reach David at david@davidrosler.com
