Do you remember early 2020?
Like, around, say, Aprilish. Covid-19 had begun its sweep of the planet.
Everything was LOCKED. DOWN. The world was QUIET.
Businesses.
Streets.
Homes.
Entire countries.
We were in a literal Netflix-and-Chill stasis. Groceries got delivered and then wiped down. People could only greet one another through glass. It wasn't all bad though. Money got saved. We took more walks and saw the neighborhood. The quiet was good. Serene even. For a bit.
But there was a charge that was missing. The firing of neurons and electrons. So I did what I always do to maintain my sanity, I made a movie. Our neighbor and dear friend from down under, Alison, an actress a filmmaker herself, lives across the courtyard from us so, using this setting and knowing we had to adhere to the restrictions of lockdown and the guidelines of the CDC, the three of us put our heads together as the "cast and crew infinitum" to make something fun.
Thus was born the Rear Windowesque ode to our collective pandemic plight, DON'T BE AFRAID.
We shot our pandemic horror short in 2 days and spent months editing it down to 3-minutes, finalizing the score with maestro Fernando Macias-Jimenez, and getting it in tip-top shape. Then, rather than tossing it onto the internet - I'd done this with the majority of my work over the years and I truly did not want to go the direct-to-digital release route any longer - we knew we wanted to try for film festivals. But festivals cost money and we, like everyone else, were not working at the moment. That left us with one option. YOU!
We took to Kickstarter (You remember?) seeking a measly sum and were honored to raise our funding on our first day, ultimately doubling our goal by the campaign's end. That was near the end of 2020/ beginning of 2021. In the 2 years since we submitted to a LOT of fests and went on to win 2 awards and place in over fifteen film festivals! Only a select few campaign contributors have even seen the short but that's about to change! Our campaign has ended and it's time to go public. As you read in the title...
DON'T BE AFRAID RELEASES ON VIMEO ON MARCH 10th!!
Sorry we kept you waiting for so long. Hopefully, you think it's worth it. Watch this space!
SO, WHAT IS THIS??
I've decided to start a blog. With social media platforms across the spectrum getting perpetually nosedived by their own frail-ego'd overlords, connecting with people and finding space to be your authentic self is a commodity that requires effort but one that's ultimately worth pursuing. Like a lot of my peers, I'm gonna go old school. I've created this blog as a means of discussing new projects I have in the pipeline as well as just my random everyday musings on the things and people I love in the world. Movies. Comics. Travel. Video Games. Family. Career. Culture.
It's all likely to come up in one way or another. I have no plan. Not yet.
For now, just consider this the place where I talk about cool shit I'm enjoying at the moment. :)
MORE COOL SHIT ABOUT MOVIES
Last year, my wife and I took a much-needed vacation from the States and spent MONTHS in Australia. That's a blog for another day. To say it was therapeutic does not do the trip justice. ALSO a blog for another day.
At first, I was going to use the opportunity to start writing a brand new script. But then I realized that I've been writing scripts for YEARS. I have hard drives full of first drafts and higher that I've never done ANYTHING with. I had no real sense of my own talent or worth. So, Instead of writing something new, I took 3 of my favorite feature scripts and spent those months giving them each a page-1 rewrite. They each had their own levels of difficulty. One was a good 90% rewrite (and is STILL getting finessed even now) while another was maybe a 65% rewrite and the last a good 30% rewrite. A lot of work. But much like I did with deciding to submit DON'T BE AFRAID to festivals, I knew I wanted to break old patterns and, what's more, I really wanted to know if I was actually any good at this or not.
Last year, after more polishing following a round of insightful peer reviews, I submitted those 3 scripts to various screenwriting competitions. I won't hear the results for most of them until later this year but the first fest has already made announcements.
Folks, both my psychodrama thriller THE CRIMSON POOL, AND my horror script THE GREAT ZOMBIE RECESS WAR have been selected as quarter-finalists for WeScreenplay's Feature Screenwriting Lab! Turns out I am pretty good at this.
Here's a rough poster mock-up I made for TCP. (Going to have to add a laurel to that. ;) )
I never made a poster for GZRW but here's a cool image drawn by artist Jason Chan for his never-finished video game "Zombie Playground." I found this art online a little bit ago and it totally captures the vibe of my script.
FRACTURED REALMS ANTHOLOGY CAMPAIGN
SURPASSES 50% FUNDING
I don't just make movies. I am finally getting off my ass after 40-some years on this Earth and MAKING COMICS! My first loves.
I have a story in the upcoming Norse legend anthology, FRACTURED REALMS. It's a cautionary horror tale based on the legend of the Huldra and it's drawn by Christian Abel Peña, colored by Aline Martins, and lettered by Nikki Powers! You do not want to miss out. This is a beautiful book.
Head on over to Limit Break Comics' Kickstarter page and back this project ASAP in order to guarantee yourself a copy.
Then stay tuned. Lots more Comic News coming your way very soon!
Lastly, remember that wife I keep mentioning above? Yeah, she's heaven on heels. She's taken all of the pics and videos from our many trips abroad and has created her very own travel 'gram. I implore everyone that enjoys seeing the world to follow her on Instagram at:
And THEN...
I'll be back soon. Say hello in the comments below.