Growing up. Making movies.

I've been making movies since I was a kid in the late 80s, early 90s. My dream was to be a horror filmmaker and in 2006 that dream came true. But let's back up and look at the long road to get there.

Being this was my dream, in middle school in addition to making little movies I started reading movie scripts, writing scripts, asking my parents to buy me a word processor (it was the early 90s and we couldn't afford a "computer") so I could save/edit/print my scripts. I took typing class to type them faster. I also worked in haunted houses as I loved the theatricality and it was like I was acting in my own horror film.

In high school I took TV Communications class and learned how to properly shoot and edit on VHS analogue equipment. My little horror shorts started to get better in quality. I also discovered Industrial, Darkwave music and the aesthetic blended perfectly with my love of horror. Though I didn't know the term just yet (small town, internet was new) I was becoming a goth in my style, and I was obsessed with vampire movies.

Senior year (graduated in 96), we moved from Kentucky to Orlando, FL. It was a crazy adjustment losing all my friends but I took it in stride. Florida had film schools! That lonely senior year an idea struck me. I had made a few friends but wasn't great at meeting people, however I was great at talking to people about movies! I should come up with a new movie and get people involved. I began writing a vampire film called NIGHT. This would be action packed, kind of like Lethal Weapon meets Near Dark and The Lost Boys with a dash of Anne Rice and Hong Kong era John Woo. What I didn't realize is that I was writing about myself and processing my feelings through this cop that leaves everything he knows to enter this world of vampires, with his best friend desperately trying to save him. It's how I felt inside; I had to rip away the past to build the future. So I had a script and made even more friends by talking to people that I thought would be good in the roles but because I didn't take TV that year, I couldn't gain access to a proper camera or editing equipment. The movie would have to wait.

After high school.... I took some film classes at the local community college, made connections, worked on local movie sets, learned some of the ins and outs, kept writing scripts, and rewriting NIGHT. I got a job at a movie theater and quickly moved up to management. Like me, many theater employees wanted to be involved in movies. Many theater friends ended up working on NIGHT. Between 98 and 2001 NIGHT had many false starts. I met with local producers, film school graduates, potential investors, etc. and every time we were almost funded someone got cold feet and everything paused. 

 In 2001 I became good friends with Jasyn Bangert, and in 02 joined his Industrial band, God Module.  I started performing with the band at shows across the world. Jasyn urged me to do what he did to get the band going, do it myself. Don't wait for people to give me money etc. just make the movie with what I've got and go from there. So I did.

I scraped together around 5k, mostly from my late grandma, and in 2002-2003 we shot NIGHT. Being we had very little money it was a labor of love for everyone involved. Pulling all the resources to make something happen. Tons of things went wrong, I had to recast 2 of the lead characters twice because of actors quitting. Other actors disappeared before we could finish all of their scenes. But we pushed through. I spent about a year editing the movie on Adobe Premiere, my first time editing a feature, or using a digital editing program. Learning that stuff analog really helped. Digital editing seemed easy in comparison. Meanwhile Jasyn did all the sound and score.

Once it was done I sent out DVD screener copies to various horror websites and indie horror distributors. We got some decent early reviews and landed a worldwide distribution deal with Brain Damage Films.