The late, great, legendary filmmaker George A. Romero had three children, and now two of of his children are working on their own zombie projects. While his son George Cameron Romero will be adding to the horror sub-genre created by the Romero patriarch with RISE OF THE LIVING DEAD, daughter Tina Romero (who had a cameo in LAND OF THE DEAD) is putting together a project called QUEENS OF THE DEAD.
A DJ (she works as DJ TRx) and dance enthusiast, Tina Romero will be making her feature directorial debut with QUEENS, which is about
the zombie apocalypse, seen through the eyes of the patrons at a drag nightclub.
Romero says her father gave her his blessing to delve into the zombie world, and that they had talked about the project at length. She describes QUEENS OF THE DEAD as
a fusion of two huge parts of my world: zombies and Gay nightlife. It’s a tribute to my father as well as my entrée into the genre he grandfathered. I can’t say too much yet, but what I can tell you is that this film will have all the hallmarks of a George A. Romero classic: farce, politics, heroes, assholes, and most importantly, herds of silly and slow moving walkers that you can’t help but love. But I’m doing it Tina-style, and bringing the glitter, choreography, queers & queens."
Before she gets to that feature, Romero is also working on a horror web series with writer/producer Robert Tinnell and her father's frequent collaborator, special effects master Tom Savini. There isn't much information available about the web series yet, but it is a collaboration between George A. Romero's filmmaking program and Savini's makeup effects program at the Douglas Education Center. Romero, Savini, and Tinnell are all working as directors on the series.
The first short being shot for the webseries is said to involve "magic tricks, violence, revenge, and horror in the style of a silent film". Actor Jason Baker described the short as "OLDBOY shot as a silent film starring Lon Chaney Sr."
We'll keep you informed on both the web series and QUEENS OF THE DEAD as they move forward. I think it's great that Romero's children are following him into filmmaking, and I'm very interested in seeing how these projects turn out.