Currently Crowdfunding: ‘ZTV: Sympathy for the Devil’
For horror fans looking for something unique, director Jason Ragosta has the project for you. Ragosta is currently crowdfunding his latest short film ZTV: Sympathy for the Devil. The short is a proof-of-concept film for his full-length script ZTV: The Prezerve, which explores the post-apocalyptic world Ragosta has created. If the support for ZTV is there, Ragosta wants to build a whole franchise around the film and its concept.
ZTV: Sympathy for the Devil focuses on Douglas Sikes, a war criminal who runs a black market trading ring underneath the gruesome world faced with zombies and the evil ZTV broadcasting company.
On top of all that, ZTV runs a Hunger Games-style murder show where prisoners are brutally tortured and killed on live TV. After Doug’s daughter is forced to be a contestant, he goes on a rampage against ZTV to take them down once and for all.
Ragosta is no stranger to outlandish concepts. After working with Wreckless Abandon Studios in Connecticut after college, he moved out west and worked with Silence of the Lambs actress Diane Baker on a sound stage at the Academy of Art at the University of San Francisco. He finally got his first breakthrough working in the production office for John Carter, Disney’s flop that attempted to bring the Barsoom novels to life.
Once he was able to break into the industry, Ragosta worked on a number of short films including his directorial debut Boy in the Dark, Love Hurts, and Uh Oh. But during this time, Ragosta knew he wanted to do something big. Thanks to his position on John Carter, Ragosta got a taste of the big-budget film life and wanted to bring his ZTV saga to life.
The money donated to the Indiegogo campaign won’t just benefit ZTV: Sympathy for the Devil, but the whole world Ragosta plans on bringing to life. Along with the short film, he wants to design a prequel comic series called ZTV: Undead Empire, and of course, turn the series into a full horror feature called ZTV: The Prezerve.
Short film ZTV: Sympathy for the Devil is currently in post production, so the money donated will help fund the SFX and editing of the final product.
ZTV: Sympathy for the Devil is such an outlandish concept for a horror film, as most creators would just stick with zombies and call it a day. But Ragosta is trying to make something that pushes the envelope and changes the horror landscape. If you need the perfect example of why indie filmmakers are the future, just look at how Ragosta is trying to break what defines a horror film.
If you want to help support ZTV: Sympathy for the Devil, you can support Jason Ragosta’s Indiegogo campaign which has about a month left on it. The rewards include a physical copy of the movie once it’s finished, digital and physical copies of the graphic novel series he’s developing, and even making your way into the graphic novel or the credits of the film.
For those unable to financially support the film, you can also follow ZTV: Sympathy for the Devil on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook as well as director Jason Ragosta on Instagram and Twitter to stay up to date on the film’s progress.
ZTV: Sympathy for the Devil
“The short is essentially Big Brother meets Death Race but with zombies instead of cars.”
—Jonathan Barkan, Dread Central
ZTV: Sympathy for the Devil synopsis
Douglas Sikes, a convicted war criminal from the American Zombie War, runs a black-market trading ring from the bowels of a walled-in quarantine zone turned for-profit prison.
Sikes and the other prisoners live under the watchful eye of the ZTV Broadcasting Company, and at the whim of the Prezerve, a capital punishment reality game show that uses zombies, and horrific custom-built devices, to torture, infect, and execute the prisoners and their families on network television.
Paul and his daughter Lily arrive at Doug’s home to find him grief-stricken and consumed with rage after his daughter Steffie’s gruesome episode has aired her terrible fate for all the world to see. Paul and Lily find themselves in the crossfire as Doug readies to unleash bloody vengeance on the institution and the vengeful woman who have oppressed him. Come see it here! Come see it live! Only on ZTV.
Jason Ragosta biography
Jason Ragosta was born in Connecticut. He attended the Maryland Institute College of Art and started working in stop-motion animation at Wreckless Abandon Studios as a storyboard/concept artist and assistant cameraman, before moving to the west coast to work in film.
Jason then went on to manage a sound stage at the Academy of Art at the University in San Francisco for actress Diane Baker (Marnie, Silence of the Lambs) before working for a year as a production assistant in the editorial production office on the Disney film John Carter, directed by Andrew Stanton.
From there, Jason spent a decade working in animation, independent films, commercials, and music videos, before completing his first independent short film, Boy in the Dark. Currently, he is in post-production on ZTV: Sympathy for the Devil, a proof-of-concept short film for his horror feature script, ZTV: The Prezerve, as well as writing and illustrating his prequel comic book series, ZTV: Undead Empire.
