Beverly Sebastian

{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2013}} {{Infobox person |name=Beverly Sebastian |birth_date= |birth_place=United States |death_date= |death_place= |occupation=Film director }} {{Infobox person |name=Ferd Sebastian |birth_date=25 July 1933 |birth_place=Travis County, Texas, United States |death_date=27 March 2022 |death_place= |occupation=Film director }}

'''Beverly Sebastian''' and '''Ferd Sebastian''' are American film directors, producers and writers, whose independent films in the 1970s and 1980s were predominantly exploitation pictures similar to the work of Roger Corman and other directors in the 1960s at independent studios like American International Pictures.<ref>{{cite news|title=The good the bad the redneck|newspaper=Tampa Bay Times|date=16 April 1993|page=3|first=Victoria|last=White}}</ref>

The Sebastians were a working couple who collaborated on most aspects of filmmaking together. In an April 1999 interview with Ferd Sebastian by Andrew Leavold for the publication ''Mondo Stumpo'', Ferd stated Beverly was 18 and he was 19 when they met at a Houston, Texas, roller skating rink. They ran away and got married 10 days after they met and remained married for 70 years. They got their start in the industry by producing television commercials that utilized Ferd's photography skills.<ref>{{cite web |last1=DuFoe |first1=Terry and Tiffany |title=Ferd and Beverly Sebastian Gator Baiting for Fun and Profit |url=https://archive.org/details/videoscope.-true-pdf-fall.-2018/page/20/mode/1up |publisher=Videoscope Magazine |archive-url=https://archive.org/details/videoscope.-true-pdf-fall.-2018/page/19/mode/1up |archive-date=24 May 2017}}</ref>

During an interview with JA Kerswell of the UK publication, ''Hysteria Lives!'',<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kerswell |first1=JA |title=Hysterical Interview: JA Kerswell Talks with Ferd Sebastian |url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250624072530/https://www.hysteria-lives.co.uk/hysterialives/Hysteria/loose_talk_loses_lives_40.htm |website=Hysteria Lives! |access-date=3 February 2026}}</ref> Ferd Sebastian recalled, with his son Tracy's encouragement, he imported the French-made rock documentary about the Australian band AC/DC, AC/DC: Let There Be Rock, which played as a "midnight movie" in theaters across the United States.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Francis |first1=R.D (28 October 2022) |title=Ferd Sebastian: A Life in Film The '70s exploitation filmmaker behind the drive-in hits 'Rocktober Blood' and 'Gator Bait', passes |url=https://rdfranciswriter.medium.com/ferd-sebastian-a-life-in-film-7b5eff56b9e2 |website=Medium|date=February 21, 2025 }}</ref>

After directing ''Running Cool'' in 1993, she and her husband retired to Florida. As of 2012, Sebastian runs ''The Greyhound Foundation'' which saves Greyhound dogs retired from racing, gives them medical assistance, and trains them with prisoners. Beverly Sebastian explained to the Ocala StarBanner that the foundation hosts events in conjunction with prison ministries and biker clubs, such as the ''Hawgs and Dawgs Love Run''.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Smiley-Height |first1=Susan |title=Riding for a Good Cause |url=https://www.ocala.com/story/news/local/2013/01/17/riding-for-a-good-cause/31914282007/ |website=Ocala StarBanner.com |publisher=Gannett |access-date=17 January 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxRbPFtNKQk |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211217/gxRbPFtNKQk |archive-date=2021-12-17 |url-status=live|title=Interview with Beverly Sebastian about her life and career from 2012.|access-date=June 9, 2016}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name="hyst">{{cite web|url=https://www.hysteria-lives.co.uk/hysterialives/Hysteria/loose_talk_loses_lives_40.htm|website=Hysteria Lives|title=Loose talk loses lives - interview with Ferd Sebastian}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Behrend |first1=Barbara (November 27, 2005)|title=On Track for a Fresh Start: Second Chances|publisher=Tampa Bay Times}}</ref>

==Director and writer filmography==

*''Running Cool'' (1993) *''American Angels: Baptism of Blood'' (1989) *'''Gator Bait II: Cajun Justice'' (1988) *''Rocktober Blood'' (1984) *''On the Air Live with Captain Midnight'' (1979) *''Delta Fox'' (1979) *''Flash and the Firecat'' (1975) *'''Gator Bait'' (1974) *''The Single Girls'' (1974) *''The Hitchhikers'' (1972) *''Red, White and Blue'' (1971) *''The Love Clinic'' (1969) *''I Need'' (1968)

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{IMDb name|id=0780933}} *{{IMDb name|name=Ferd Sebastian|id=0780944}} {{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sebastian, Beverly}} Category:Living people Category:Film directors from Florida Category:American production designers Category:American women film directors Category:American women screenwriters Category:Place of birth missing (living people) Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:American women film producers Category:American women production designers Category:21st-century American women