News
“Distant” to Screen at Coney Island Film Fest
August 9, 2020
“DISTANT”, the 2-minute horror short that I created with my wife Ashlie while in quarantine, has just been accepted to the 20th annual Coney Island Film Festival.
This will be my second time participating in the festival. The first was with my documentary Fancy Feast: The Fat Burlesque Performer (a.k.a. “Character”), back in 2017.
“Distant” stars Ashlie Atkinson, Chris Kelly, and Jennifer Laine Williams. It was originally created for Roger Corman’s Quarantine Film Festival back in April.
Due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, this year’s festival will be virtual. Check back soon for more details!
Suzi Q
August 3, 2020
I was recently invited to be a guest on a very special crossover episode of the See/Hear Music Film Podcast, where I joined host Maurice Bursztynski—as well as the one and only Mike White of The Projection Booth—to discuss Suzi Q, the documentary about legendary rock’n’roll pioneer Suzi Quatro.
This episode also features exclusive interviews with the film’s director Liam Firmager, producer Tait Brady, and of course Ms. Quatro herself.
“Breaking the Silence” Trailer
July 25, 2020
I just cut this trailer for a very interesting short film: “Breaking the Silence”, directed by Seayoon Jeong.
It tackles the difficult subject of “comfort women” during WWII—and the movement in the 1980s to acknowledge them.
You can see more of my recent editing work here.
EDITOR REEL – 2020
July 13, 2020
I finally took some time to update the reel. Enjoy.
For more of my editing work, check out my Editor Page.
“Fever Dreams”
June 22, 2020
In my ongoing attempt to make sense of the world, I give you… “Fever Dreams”. This video started out being about my COVID-19 infection, but, as the world changed quickly around me, it became about much, much more.
This video—and the accompanying music—were created entirely from public-domain audio samples and video footage.
Blade Runner – The Lost Cut
April 14, 2020
My radical re-envisioning of Ridley Scott’s 1982 sci-fi classic.
I had been kicking this idea around for years. With the recent coronavirus pandemic, I suddenly found myself with a lot more time on my hands. This was the result.
Conceived and Edited by Leon Chase.
All content is property of the original copyright holders.
UPDATE: Much to my surprise, it appears that more than three people actually watched this thing. Thanks to The Verge, The AV Club, and Boing Boing for the love.
“The Big Johnson”
January 14, 2020
I am proud to be working as Editor on the upcoming feature documentary “The Big Johnson”, produced and directed by New York City’s own Lola RocknRolla.
The film is the story of Dean Johnson—a 6-foot-7 drag queen, musician, event promoter, AIDs activist, and prostitute who was a fixture of New York’s East Village club scene for two decades, until his mysterious death in 2007.
Warning: Super-Adult Content.
“Suzy Hotrod” Wins Audience Choice Award!
May 3, 2019
On June 3rd, my documentary “Suzy Hotrod: Roller Derby Star” appeared on the big screen as part of the 9th annual Art of Brooklyn Film Festival. The turnout was great, and the Q&A afterward was full of really good questions.
As an added bonus, we ended up walking away with the Audience Choice Award for the festival.
Big thanks to everyone who showed up and voted!
For more info about the movie, click here.
FLUFGOD – “RISE UP”
March 23, 2019
I just shot and edited my first-ever hip-hop music video.
Ladies and gentlemn, I give you the world premiere of… FLUFGOD
“Character” to Screen at Coney Island Film Festival
August 9, 2017
NOTE: This film was originally titled “Character”. Later, as it became apparent to me that “Character” was going to be a larger, ongoing series, I changed the title of this individual work to “Fancy Feast: The Fat Burlesque Performer”. – Leon
My film “Character” has been selected for the 2017 Coney Island Film Festival.
The screening will take place Sunday, September 10th at 3pm at the Coney Island Museum, located at 1208 Surf Ave. in Brooklyn, NY. Tickets are $8. This will be an ADULTS ONLY event.
Character – Episode 1 is the story of Fancy Feast, a self-described fat burlesque performer, sex educator, and winner of the Miss Coney Island 2016 pageant.
The “Character” project is my ongoing attempt to document a rapidly vanishing breed: The New York City Eccentric.
“Character” recently screened at Anthology Film Archives in New York City, and at the Center for Sex and Culture in San Francisco. The movie also got some love from The Huffington Post, among others. Read all about it on the Press page.
Please take a moment to subscribe to the official “Character” YouTube channel. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.