CHARLES E. SELLIER, JR.
(11/19/1943 – 1/31/2011)
One of the most interesting and contradictory figures in the exploitation cinema history books, Sellier perfected the "four-walling" technique of film distribution while working for American National Enterprises and CVD Studio Center and later made millions for Sunn Classic Pictures as their senior v.p. and top producer. Even the Sunn films that were made without his involvement, like BROTHER OF THE WIND and CHARIOTS OF THE GODS?, continued to have theatrical life years after their initial releases thanks to his marketing ingenuity. It's been at least a quarter of a century since the T.O.S. crew tried to sit through a Sunn production, but we fondly recall the saturation TV advertising for their nature-oriented kiddie matinees and bullshit quasi-documentaries and still have the paperback tie-ins for every one of them (Sellier was a writer as well, and even penned the novelization of THE BOOGENS). To some, he's best known for THE LIFE AND TIMES OF GRIZZLY ADAMS (1974) and the television series that followed (1977-1978), while to others he'll be remembered as the man who made the notorious Santa Claus slasher flick SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT (1984). Sellier passed away January 31st at age 67.
