Alexandra Holzer and her father, Dr. Hans Holzer.
Alexandra Holzer, a renowned, East Coast-based Paranormal Investigator, “Sensitive,” Journalist, and Author, and Vance Entertainment, a Hollywood-based entertainment development and production company, have announced a deal by which Vance Entertainment has optioned Ms. Holzer’s book Growing Up Haunted, to be developed as a potential feature film. Ms. Holzer is the daughter of the late, legendary, and renowned Paranormal Investigator and Author Dr. Hans Holzer, considered internationally as the “Founding Father of Modern Day Paranormal Research.” During his lifetime, Dr. Holzer counted actor/"Ghostbuster" Dan Aykroyd as a longtime fan.
Attorney Michael Weiss, with the Los Angeles-based law firm AGMB, is working with Vance Entertainment and Ms. Holzer to secure a prominent screenwriter to develop an initial treatment based on the Growing Up Haunted property. Vance Entertainment had previously (in 2006) optioned every ghost story (many hundreds) written by Dr. Holzer during the course of his decades-long paranormal research. These stories have been culled from a collection of over 150 of his books, including his very first, 1963’s Ghost Hunter.
Today’s announcement was made today by Ms. Holzer, and Marilyn Vance and Gregg Vance, Co-Founders of Vance Entertainment. “How many children, in this day and age, grow up with an internationally recognized Ghost Hunter and Paranormal Investigator as a father?” Marilyn Vance said. “Alex Holzer has a truly unique, zany, and remarkable life story – one which she depicts with remarkable candor and humor in her wonderful book Growing Up Haunted. Can you imagine being raised as a little girl in Manhattan, living with a Ghost Hunter dad that spoke like Count Dracula, and an actual Russian Countess for a mother? I am convinced that no one has ever seen anything like her life story before. We just know hers is a truly compelling tale, and one that cries out to be presented on the big screen!”
An Oscar-nominated Costume Designer, Marilyn Vance began her work as a film producer with The First Power in 1990. This was followed by Judgment Night, The Getaway and Timecop. Her first productions with The Ministry of Film (MOF) were the Erotic Confessions video series (1994-1997) and Embrace of the Vampire in 1995. In 1996, she produced TV’s The Legend of Gator Face for Hallmark Entertainment and the Pacific Blue series for the USA Network. Vance continued in film and television with her ongoing work as either costume designer, producer, or both for Pacific Blue (1996-2000), Red Letters (2000). Run for the Money (2002), The Girl Next Door (2004), and My Best Friend's Girl (2008.) Her son, Gregg Vance, produced the 2008 TV series Unknown Sender. He is currently acti ng, producing, writing and directing. Gregg has also been nominated for a Webby Award for producing the web series Unknown Sender.
Ms. Holzer also announced today that she has signed a development deal with reality-television producer Vem Miller and his Sweatshop Media to develop a reality-based television series based on the real adventures of her family. Sweatshop Media is the production company behind Spike TV’s Tattoo Rescue and Car Lot Rescue, and History Channel’s Harvest series. Miller will be shopping the Holzer pilot reel to a number of top cable TV networks.
The Holzer reality series development deal is centered around the premise of Alexandra Holzer’s everyday life: A 42 year old wife and mother living with a “normal” husband and four children (two of whom are “Sensitives” themselves,) living in Chester, New York. Described by Ms. Holzer as “A True Life, Modern Day Addams Family,” the Holzers regularly receive “visits” by the late Dr. Hans Holzer himself, investigate paranormal experiences occurring throughout their neighborhood, and explore apparitions, UFO sightings, poltergeist activity, and all things “wacky, weird and wonderful,” on a near-daily basis.
Also: Documentary filmmaker/director/producer Ryan Katzenbach has signed Ms. Holzer to appear within Part 3 of his on-going investigative documentary series Shattered Hopes: The True Story of the Amityville Murders. This multi-part series explores the controversial mass murder case that hit the small boating town of Amityville, Long Island, in November 1974. Part 3 of Shattered Hopes will be released in selected theaters and on DVD during Fall 2013.
Ms. Holzer will appear within Shattered Hopes: Part 3 discussing Mr. Katzenbach’s CSI-style investigative efforts to help solve this long-controversial case. During filming, Holzer’s psychic contributions to the project helped recover a crucial piece of long-missing evidence, which will be presented within the documentary. She will also present the back story on the Amityville murders case from a supernatural perspective, and contribute never before seen footage excerpted from her father's 1982 documentary about the case. Not coincidentally, Dr. Hans Holzer investigated the site of the Amityville murders in the mid 1970s, later writing the best-selling book Murder in Amityville. That book spawned the hit film Amityville II: The Possession, starring Burt Young and Rutanya A lda.
In related Holzer Family news: Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, has just announced that it plans to re-publish Dr. Holzer’s first book, Ghost Hunter, as a special 50th Anniversary Commemorative Edition, celebrating its initial 1963 publication. The re-issued book, with a new forward to be written by Ms. Holzer, will also feature never before seen photos culled from her father’s extensive archives. “Ghost Hunter: The 50th Anniversary Edition will be released by Barnes and Noble during Spring 2014.
