Death By Toys Made A Mark Borchardt ‘COVEN’ Figure
Wisconsin indie filmmaker and star of the documentary American Movie has been imortalized in action figure form as his character from his debut horror
“It’s all right. It’s okay…
There’s something to live for.
Jesus told me so…”
Director Mark Borchardt gained fame as the focus of the 1999 Chris Smith documentary, American Movie, which chronicled his journey to make the independent short horror film, COVEN (pronounced “Koh-ven”), in his home town of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. Not only did American Movie gain critical acclaim, including the Sundance Grand Jury Prize for documentary, but COVEN itself has achieved beloved cult film status.
Largely financed by the savings of Borchardt’s uncle Bill, COVEN is a 35-minute black and white feature shot on 16mm and made with the help of area locals including the filmmaker’s friend’s and family. Mark stars as “Mike,” a struggling writer who is coaxed into attending a support group for his substance abuse only to discover the attendees are members of an occult society. Along with a producer credit, Bill makes one of the most memorable appearances as he yells an positive affirmation from a truck.
In 2017, the Chicago-based “one man action figure boutique” Death By Toys paid tribute to the low-budget thriller for its 20th anniversary. The man behind DBT, Dan Polydorous teamed up with Borchardt to release an official figure of a cloaked coven member. These were cast in resin with cloth hood and cape and came mounted on a light blue cardback that mirrored the simple design of the movies VHS release. These sold out limited edtion figures were also autographed by the director.
8 years after that initial collab, Polyorous is back with another tribute to the Midwest auteur and his achievement, but this time he’s crafted a figure of Mark Borchardt as “Mike.” These are again limited edition figures endorsed and autographed on the cardback by Mark.
The following is taken from the product page on the Death By Toys shop.
“Description
I’ve collabed again with filmmaker Mark Borchardt to bring the world fully colored Coven collectible action figures. They are hand cast in resin, non-posable, and individually hand painted, so no two are exactly the same. Plus they come mounted to a 6” x 9” cardback that’s signed by Mark himself.”
The figures are priced at $50 and currently available from Death By Toys in a limited run of 100 pieces.
I imagine that a custon COVEN Mark Borchardt action figure is a fairly niche product, but that only means that it’s the perfect gift for the right person and it’s often the type of person that can be difficult to shop for. I know this, because I am one.
If this is something you’re into or you have it in mind for someone else, allow me to point you toward some similar items. I just visited the official COVEN shop and am disappointed to discover that everything is SOLD OUT, including a limited run Uncle Bill t-shirt that closed preorders on October 1st. While the signed VHS is also out of stock, you can sign up on the waiting list to be informed of its next run.
What about something you can actually purchase right now? Well, just last week on October 16th, Joe Pickett of Found Footage Festival and Scott Miller of Strange Tapes Zine joined forced under their “Strange/Found VHS” banner to present a screening of COVEN. The showing took place at Milwaukee’s Times Cinema, where the short originally premiered on on June 12, 1997 and was introduced by Mark Borchardt at the event. A special COVEN hoodie was designed in conjunction with the screening and sold on site. Fortunately, for the rest of us, the sweatshirt is available to purchase on the Found Footage website. If you have a COVEN fan in your life, the sweatshirt and figure are a winning combo.
And for anyon who still hasn’t seen American Movie, you should definitely fix that.