Portrait of a Demon Hunter - filmmaker Zoe Kavanagh raises hell
Filmmaker Zoe Kavanagh discusses the challenging production history of her independent horror films, Taryn Barker: Demon Hunter and its sequel. She details the financial hurdles and creative pivots required to bring her vision to the screen.
Why it matters
It highlights the realities of independent filmmaking and the persistence required to achieve distribution for niche genre projects.
Writer and director Zoe Kavanagh looks back on the long, ambitious journey behind her Demon Hunter films, ahead of a special double feature screening in Dublin this October.
I'm a Dublin-based filmmaker. I have directed numerous short films and music videos, but I have also directed two feature films, Taryn Barker: Demon Hunter and Demon Hunter: Time 2 Kill .
In 2012, I graduated with a BA Hons Degree in Directing & Editing from IADT, National Film School, Dun Laoghaire: my grad short film, Taryn Barker , became the origin flashback sequence for the feature. It followed a 16-year-old Taryn searching the dark streets of Dublin for her missing 12-year-old sister, Annabelle. She finds her in a warehouse, where Annabelle dies in her arms. Taryn's destiny was to become a demon hunter, and I used the short to establish the visual style of the world.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in