In February of 2021, we shot an independent feature on location in Binghamton New York. After the usual twists and turns of post-production, THE HARBINGER has been a hit on the festival circuit, and is now being released around the world.
A timely story set in the present day of our collective COVID nightmare, THE HARBINGER follows Monique as she ventures out of quarantine to visit an old friend in New York who’s plagued by nightmares she can’t wake up from. But the nightmares, and the dark force behind them who takes the form of a plague doctor, prove as contagious as any deadly virus, she finds herself drawn into a hellish dreamscape where she must face her greatest fears - or risk never having existed at all.
The talented cast includes Gabby Beans, Emily Davis, Jay Dunn, Ray Anthony Thomas, Justin Walker, Stephanie Roth Haberle, and Laura Heisler. It features cinematography by Ludovica Isidori, production design by Xiyu Lin, makeup design by Moung Hui Park, and costumes by Candace Phelan.
THE HARBINGER was released in the USA on December 1, 2022. Find it here on Amazon. Or here at the Apple Store. Or wherever you get your movies.
For audiences in the UK, Signature Entertainment will be releasing the film on January 23, 2023. There will be more releases in more territories to follow!
(Screenwriter, Director, Editor, Composer)
“Atmospheric, unsettling, and creepy as hell, The Witch in the Window is one of the most exciting horror movies of the year…packs just as much of an emotional punch as it does deliver gut-wrenching goosebumps. …The Witch in the Window is not to be missed, and we should all be paying attention to Andy Mitton.” Bloody Disgusting
“Frightening and shockingly emotional.” The Village Voice
“A masterstroke of technical discipline…taps deep into parental fears about keeping our loved ones safe in the face of everything horrible that’s happening in the world. Its quiet, unassuming menace stays with you long after the end” Dread Central
“The best part of watching films is the hunt for the elusive gem that surprises and surpasses expectations, and The Witch in the Window is it. …gloriously written, acted, and directed.” Screen Anarchy
THE WITCH IN THE WINDOW (aka THE VERMONT HOUSE) is my newest film as writer/director/editor/composer, a twist on the classic haunted house genre.
We had our world premiere at the incredible Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal, and travelled to FrightFest UK, Grimmfest, Mayhem Film Festival, Terror Molins, Telluride Horror, Night Visions, Scary Movies at the Lincoln Center for our US Premiere, and many more stops on the circuit before our release on SHUDDER in October of 2018, and subsequently on DVD through Uncork’d Media in the spring of 2019.
The story follows a wayward man named Simon who is taking his twelve-year old son Finn out of New York City and into the country for a summer to flip an old house in need of repair. Shortly after arriving, Simon and Finn begin having sightings of the previous owner, an infamously cruel woman named Lydia. Her spirit grows stronger with every repair and improvement they make. But through everything, Simon is determined to stay and finish the job. No matter what it takes.
A mind-bender of a haunted house movie, THE WITCH IN THE WINDOW is also a story about parenthood, and the impossible task of admitting to your child that there’s evil in the word you can’t protect them from.
We shot the movie in Middlebury, Vermont, with great collaboration from Middlebury College, where I attended as a student and also as a visiting staff member in the theater department. It stars Alex Draper, Charlie Tacker, Arija Bareikis, Greg Naughton, and Carol Stanzione.
Rent or Buy on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Witch-Window-Alex-Draper/dp/B07JN5GG6J
Or iTunes:
https://itunes.apple.com/ae/movie/the-witch-in-the-window/id1460004694
More Press:
“…a harrowing, scorchingly poignant and devastating glimpse into societal fears that have redefined family dinner conversations. Where Andy Mitton begins and ends cultivates a complete, massively successful arc that maximizes all the relevance and shivery tension spectral cinema might accomplish. Short, sweet, and like a dagger to the heart.” SlashFilm
“Few films genuinely creep me out or make me cry – The Witch In The Window expertly managed both.” SciFi Now
“…a tasteful, old-school frightener, emphasizing suspense and foreboding over blood and guts…a solid character-driven study with some of the best writing of any supernatural thriller in recent memory.” Sordid Cinema
(Screenwriter, Co-Director, Composer, Co-Editor)
"Filmmakers Andy Mitton and Jesse Holland may well have their breakout movie with WE GO ON, a scary and imaginative take on seeing dead people. With just two features, the duo have established themselves among the most interesting up-and-coming genre talents, and their new movie’s title can surely be applied to their careers as well."
- RUE MORGUE
"WE GO ON is a genuinely excellent genre film that is scary, bold and incredibly naturalistic in the most refreshing sense possible. Holland & Mitton's work in this film does not deserve to be overlooked or written-off, and the film is just as sure to please audiences as it is to impress critics. Simply put: WE GO ON is great, and might just be the rare sleeper indie horror surprise that offers substance over style."
- FANGORIA
If you love ghost stories, this is likely to be the best one you are going to see this year. WE GO ON takes you in several directions and each one is satisfying. There is a lot of creeping horror and plenty of authentic ghost story elements to go around. I really found myself enjoying the fact that those elements were all intertwined with family bonds, love and an interesting look at the afterlife. I’m currently in love with this film.
- ihorror.com
WE GO ON is now streaming in the US, UK, and Canada as an exclusive film on AMC's popular Shudder channel, devoted to great horror. And you can see it this spring in the US on Blu-ray, releasing April 4.
Miles Grissom is a video editor in Los Angeles who lives with a fear of death that keeps him alone, afraid, and stuck in his life. When he comes into some inheritance money, he buys an ad in the Times, offering a reward to the first person who can show him a ghost, a demon, a past-life memory – anything to prove we go on after we die.
He sorts through the thousands of responses to arrive at three viable candidates: a science professor, a local medium working in a Mexican restaurant, and a worldly entrepreneur. Charlotte, Miles’s protective mother and a dedicated non-believer, joins him on his quest, and they embark on an adventure through Los Angeles – one that will spiral into a nightmare.
The second feature film from Mitton and his YELLOWBRICKROAD collaborator, Jesse Holland, WE GO ON stars Annette O'Toole (Smallville, 48 HOURS, SUPERMAN 3), Clark Freeman (YELLOWBRICKROAD, BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA 2), John Glover (Smallville, ROBOCOP 2, GREMLINS 2), alongside Giovanna Zacarius, Jay Dunn, and Laura Heisler.
WE GO ON had its world premiere on March 5th at the Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose, and has since played the Cleveland International Film Festival, the Dead by Dawn in Scotland (Winner: Audience Award for Best Feature), Dances with Films (Winner: Audience Award for Best Feature), and Fantasia.
(Co-Writer, Co-Director, Co-Sound Designer, Co-Editor)
Slamdance Film Festival (World Premiere)
NYC Horror Festival (Winner, Best Feature)
ALSO: Atlanta Int. Film Festival & Screamfest
Released on DVD/VOD domestically & abroad
With a thirty-city U.S. theatrical run in AMC Theaters
“Writer/directors Andy Mitton and Jesse Holland prove to be one of the best new talents in horror.” Dread Central
“A deeply unsettling, well-crafted experience…one of the best independent horror films in the last several years.” Fangoria
“Proves that true original horror is still alive…these are the types of films that horror audiences want to see.” Horrorbid.com
Synopsis (from Wikipedia):
One morning in New England, 1940, the entire population of Friar, New Hampshire – 572 people – walked together up a winding mountain trail and into the wilderness. They left behind their clothes, their money, all of their essentials. Even their dogs were abandoned, tied to posts and left to starve. No one knows why. A search party dispatched by the U.S. Army eventually discovered the remains of nearly 300 of Friar's evacuees. Many had frozen to death. Others were cruelly and mysteriously slaughtered. The bodies of the remaining citizens are still unaccounted for. Over the years, a quiet cover-up operation managed to weave the story of Friar into the stuff of legends and backwoods fairy tales. The town has slowly repopulated, but the vast wilderness is mostly untracked, with the northern-most stretches off limits to local hunters and loggers. In 2008, the coordinates for the "YELLOWBRICKROAD" trail head were declassified. The first official expedition into a dark and twisted wilderness will attempt to solve the mystery of the lost citizens of Friar and reach the end of the trail.
The researchers hope to turn a legend into an item of recorded history. But all their expertise and their equipment fail to prepare them for the trail they follow. They themselves change while following their trail, and the darker sides of their personalities soon emerge.
BUY IT ON AMAZON HERE
BUY IT ON iTUNES HERE
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE OFFICIAL TRAILER.
Working once again with Aaron Posner, Patrick McDonnell, and Erin Weaver, my collaborators from The Gift of Nothing, I've had the honor of writing the music and lyrics and helping to script a new Kennedy Center Commission, a musical adaptation of Patrick's bestselling children's book, Me...Jane. The story follows the world-renowned Dr. Jane Goodall through a day in the life of her childhood, as she discovers the wonders of animals and the natural world while dreaming of one day living in the African wild.
The show had its premiere in late 2017 at the Kennedy Center, and recently completed a national tour during the first half of 2019. And I’m happy to announce that productions are upcoming at Oregon Children’s Theater in fall 2019, and Chicago Children’s Theater in spring of 2020.
(Composer and Lyricist)
Helen Hayes Award Winner - Outstanding Musical or Play Adaptation
Commissioned by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and playing there through the 2014 holiday season in its world premiere production, The Gift of Nothing is a stage musical for all ages based on the bestselling children's book of the same name, and starring characters from the internationally syndicated and beloved comic strip MUTTS.
Mitton joined an all-star creative team that includes renowned and multiple award-winning director Aaron Posner, as well as MUTTS creator and bestselling author Patrick McDonnell, who adapted his own book with Posner and Erin Weaver. Together, they won the 2014 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Play or Musical Adaptation.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO DEMO TRACKS FROM THE SHOW.
"The show’s lyrics succeed in their high word-playfulness as well as their occasional meditative mournfulness."
- Washington Post
"Mitton has a good way around a rhyme and a melody...the most direct hit for kids might be the kitty-mesmerizing 'Little Pink Sock,' whose total lyrics are just that."
- Maryland Theater Guide
"A fanciful, family-friendly musical that has a little bit of everything for everyone...with lively piano and sprightly drum/percussion accompaniment, the songs, with the exception of the more theatrical, multi-colored light-enhanced department-store number, 'Any Something Everywhere' and the moving 'Waiting at the Window,' are light, spirited and carefree. Rachel Zampelli (Millie), Michael John Casey (Frank) and Maggie Donnelly (Earl) beautifully harmonize in 'Waiting at the Window', simultaneously conveying each character’s feelings of joy, love, fear, worry, disappointment and loneliness. 'A Special Day' and 'Finale' also effectively exhibit each of the ensemble’s solid singing ability in exuberant, unifying fashion."
- D.C. Metro Theatre Arts
Composer
SWING STATE features book & lyrics by Dana Yeaton (a Helen Hayes Award nominee for his play Redshirts), and was produced in 2012's NYMF (New York Musical Theatre Festival) at Manhattan's 45th Street Theater. It was directed by Drama Desk Award-nominee Igor Goldin, with musical direction by Micah Young. It featured two Broadway talents in Morgan Weed (RENT) and Jed Resnick (Avenue Q).
What if the people who are ruining this country were your only friends? In SWING STATE, Bonnie has promised God she’ll save every little soul in her Appalachian Kindergarten class, and if that means risking her job, or happens to trigger her chronic back pain – well, so be it. Neil, the new chiropractor in town, sees things differently. A gay, new-age transplant from Brooklyn, Neil is over the moon when his first treatment turns out to be a miracle cure. But Bonnie is feeling things she hasn’t felt in years and has a different response: “Put me back.” The moment Neil refuses, they’re off…and another epic battle in the Culture Wars is ON. With both of their professional lives now in flux, Neil is determined to help Bonnie recover and return to a normal life, no matter what the cost…
With a contemporary musical theater score with hints of rock, gospel, and folk, and influences ranging from Sondheim and Gershwin to Brian Wilson and Ben Folds, musical numbers in SWING STATE include “Born Again Again,” “City Boy in the Hollow”, and “One Nation Under Blank.”
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO DEMO TRACKS FROM THE SHOW.
"The music by Andy Mitton is infectious and fresh. If I had to compare it to anything, it would be Elvis Costello’s “The Juliet Letters.” written for the Bronsky Quartet, meets Jason Robert Brown’s “The Last Five Years.” I want this album and I definitely want to hear more from this new composer to theatre." - Times Square Chronicles
“Yeaton and Mitton along with director Igor Goldin craft a story void of clichés with social and political undertones that are muted enough to let two vivid characters come to life.” - Theatremania.com
SEGMENT TITLE: LISTEN
(Co-Writer, Co-Director, Co-Editor)
“The makers of Yellowbrickroad deliver another wildly innovative story. …creates an effective sense of paranoia…this is probably the best section of the film.” - Aisle Seat
“The mood and central conceit are so strong, and the stark imagery so terrifyingly straight-faced that it easily takes the top spot…and leaves a very satisfying impression of the whole.” - Horror101
“I was immediately taken in...ripe with vivid and disturbing imagery…the carnage that ensues is pretty epic.” - Ain’t It Cool News
The final chapter in the Chiller TV made-for-television anthology that also features directors Nick Everhart, Miko Hughes, Emily Hagins, and Eric England, Listen follows two filmmakers who gradually piece together video evidence of a song that kills you if you hear it start to finish.
The full film is available through NBC/Universal on BluRay:
BUY IT ON AMAZON HERE
BUY IT ON iTUNES HERE
...or find it on your favorite VOD/Streaming service.
CLICK HERE (and scroll down) TO WATCH THE TV SPOT.
(Songwriter, Engineer, Producer, Vocals, Guitar, & Piano)
The Real D'Coy is the musical collaboration between Mitton, longtime friends Clark Freeman (drums, also an actor and producer), Cassidy Freeman (vocals and keyboards, also an actor and producer), and Kurtis Keber (bassist extraordinaire).
The band appeared on the Garden Stage in 2012's Isle of Wight Festival, which was headlined that year by Pearl Jam and Tom Petty. In Los Angeles, they've played clubs along the strip and elsewhere, including the Mint and the Whiskey a Go-Go. But since distance and other endeavors prevent them from being in the same place at the same time, mostly they live through their recordings.
Their newest album, Boys Against Girls, is their first LP.
CLICK HERE TO CHECK IT OUT ON ITUNES.
Their first EP, self-titled and released in 2007.
