Polonia brothers
| Mark Polonia | |
|---|---|
| Born |
September 30, 1968 Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Occupation | Film director, film producer, screenwriter, actor |
| John Polonia | |
|---|---|
| Born |
September 30, 1968 Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Died | February 25, 2008 (aged 39) United States |
| Occupation | Film director, film producer, screenwriter, actor |
Mark Polonia and John Polonia (born September 30, 1968) are twin brothers who founded Polonia Bros. Entertainment and Cinegraphic Productions. Between them they have written, directed and produced over 40 feature films, mostly in the genres of horror and sci fi, and are now low-budget film cult icons.
John Polonia died suddenly at the age of 39 on February 25, 2008. Mark Polonia then continued to make films with childhood friend and longtime film collaborator Matt Satterly, through their production company Cinegraphic Productions.
The youngest of five siblings, the brothers were interested in film, and were making films, from a very early age. Their first commercial release was Splatter Farm, released on VHS by Donna Michele Productions in 1987, a shot-on-video offering, written, acted, directed and filmed by the teenage brothers and a high school friend.
Although the brothers had mixed feelings about this film in later years (according to their DVD commentary), in part because the initial release was a rough cut and not edited to their satisfaction, it contained many of the signature elements that would come to define the Polonias' work – a primitive production quality reflecting a very limited budget; the brothers themselves appearing in key roles; liberal use of people and places available to them through their day-to-day lives, and homage to the horror films they grew up with and loved.
In 1996 the brothers' alien invasion film Feeders was picked up by Blockbuster in the aftermath of the commercial success of Independence Day, and became Blockbuster's No. 1 independent-film rental for the year. Starring John Polonia and fellow-B-movie maker Jon McBride (Cannibal Campout, Woodchipper Massacre) in their first foray together, this film about an invasion of Earth by small rubbery flesh-eating monsters with no mouths marked the Polonias' first wide distribution, and paved the way for future releases – perhaps 20 more of them before John's death in 2008.
Jon McBride became a regular collaborator with the brothers, and over time a fairly extensive group of actors, technicians, special effects artists and others came to work repeatedly with the brothers on horror films that aimed to entertain at all costs. Killer piranhas, killer Easter bunnies, haunted houses, trips to Mars, assorted demons, all were covered in the course of several decades of film-making.
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