WE ARE THE MAD ONES
Mad Ones Films is an award-winning straight jacket-tested, doctor-approved independent filmmaking company located deep in the heart of Greensboro, North Carolina. The “Mad Ones” specialise in character-focused, dialogue-driven genre-juggling films including everything from Faustian rock & roll thrillers and supernatural noir comedies to Grindhouse gospels and thrilling chilling tales of terror.
The Mad Ones spent four years working on the award-winning mesmerizing theorizing tantalizing thrill ride of a short film trilogy, "The Gospel According to Booze, Bullets & Hot Pink Jesus." This innovative project by writer/director/mastermind Jaysen Buterin was a four-year labour of love that was initially released as three separate short films allowing viewers to literally watch the movie as it was being made. This multiple award-winning set of sinful stories is a “Twilight Zone meets Tarantino”/Shakespearean spaghetti western that will serenade your brain and ride off into the sunset with your heart.
After the HPJ Trilogy was complete, the Mad Ones released the black & white on-the-road killer thriller, “Between Hell and a Hard Place,” “Don’t Let the Light In,” a sinister short twist on the babysitter club, and “The Corner,” a terrifying tale that reminds us that home is truly where the horror is. In 2017 the Mad Ones shot a proof-of-concept called "Killing Giggles," that they used to raise awareness and funds for the feature that would follow.
MAD ONES FILMS has been hard at work for the last three years working on their first feature-length film, the coulrophobia-courting clown killer thriller, "Kill Giggles." Taking a timeless terror trope and turning it on its rainbow-wig covered head, "Kill Giggles" tells the tale of a serial killer OF clowns, as opposed to the madmen, murderers and monsters who just dress up like them. The cameras, and the clown heads, rolled last summer... so STAY TUNED for a 2020 release!!!
As the inmates running the cinematic asylum have proven time and time again, the “Mad Ones” have a proclivity for the profound and the profane, and a love for the salacious and the shadows that lurk in the minds and souls of sinners and saints alike.
The Inmates
Ever wonder what it looks like when the inmates run the cinematic asylum? Meet our Crazies and come find out!
Jaysen P. Buterin
Founder/Creative DirectorWriter. Director. Actor. Musician. Drummer. Model. Artist. Canvas. Columnist. Proudest Papa EVER. AND Creative Director of the straight jacket-tested/doctor-approved Mad Ones Films, from Greensboro NC.
JESSE H. KNIGHT
Director of Photography"I have deep appreciation for the craft and continue to be just as enthusiastic and impassioned as I was when I shot my first film on 16mm a long, long time ago." - Jesse
JENNIE RIKKOLA
Founder/Craft Services QueenOne of the original Mad Ones founders, Jennie has been monumental and instrumental both in front of, and behind, the camera for Mad Ones Films.
JOHN R. MAZZA
Producer/Financial AdvisorFrom producing films and film festivals, to appearing in both, John has had his hands in all sorts of movie magic. "Cinema is the passionate art of storytelling. I'm a passionate guy." - John
LOUIS BEKOE
Producer/Gear GuruPhotography, Videography, Film. Having fun with it all until the man or alleged mistresses shut us down.
CHAO VANG
Gaffer/Grip Commander
"The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes "Awww!""
JACK KEROUAC
"On The Road"“A perfect example of low-budget filmmaking done right.”
BLAIR HOYLE,
Cinema Slasher Magazine"Don’t Let the Light In is an outstanding display of existential and atmospheric horror that lures you right in and slams the door behind you. Buterin has clearly found his calling in more traditional horror, and shows a firm grasp on the fine line between fiction and believability, never once going too far overboard without underselling anything."
DAVE HARLEQUIN
Nerd Nation Magazine"Buterin's work combines elements of spaghetti Western, black comedy, gruesome horror, rockabilly music, mind-bending surrealism and divine intervention!"